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Air Pollution Smartphone App Seeks to Shame China’s Polluting Factories
written by Yale Environment 360
A new smartphone app seeks to shine a spotlight on major Chinese polluters by letting users see in real-time which factories are violating air pollution emissions limits.
The app, developed by Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), uses data from some 15,000 factories throughout China that are now required to report emissions to local officials and the Environment Ministry on an hourly basis.
The government made all the data public at the beginning of this year, but now, for the first time, those data are available in one place through IPE’s new app and website. The app allows users to check air quality data for 190 cities and share air emissions data from polluters in those areas.
Factories producing excessive emissions are shown in red, making them easily identifiable. “If the air quality is bad you can switch (to the factory map) and see who is in your neighborhood,” IPE’s senior project manager explained. “It will be a very effective tool for people to voice their concerns.” Environmental groups applauded IPE’s efforts and said public supervision is essential to stopping local officials from simply ignoring pollution from profitable factories.
Peak Pollution: China Aims For The Top So It Can Go Down
written by CleanTechies.com Contributor
City-dwelling Chinese may still be choking on smog, but amid all the haze, China may turning a corner in its fight on pollution. Top Chinese officials have hinted at the fact that China is working hard to achieve “peak” greenhouse gas emissions, which may come sooner than observers expect.
“Peak pollution” refers to the point at which a developing country’s economy reaches a high enough level of production to ensure it will continue to grow even as it begins to work on reducing pollution rates.
Despite off-the-chart air pollution levels in some cities, China has long been the world’s leading producer and user of clean energy. It already has the largest wind market in the world and its installed capacity has nearly doubled every year since 2005.
Last year, China accounted for 45 percent of total new wind power installations worldwide. The government has ambitious plans to more than double its wind capacity by the end of the decade. By 2020, it plans to have installed a cumulative 200 gigawatts (GW) of wind, up from the current 92 GW.
While China has dominated the wind industry for several years now, it has been a latecomer to the solar party. Chinese solar companies have been the biggest in terms of manufacturing and exporting cheap solar panels around the world, but domestic demand within China for solar has been slow. That changed in 2013, when China leapt to the front of the pack, installing 12 GW of solar and becoming the world’s largest solar market for the first time. This year will likely be even better as the government has set a target of 14 GW of solar.
With the largest wind and solar markets in the world, China is clearly a clean energy powerhouse.
Even so, China’s clean energy sector has experienced some serious growing pains. As of 2012, only 61 of the 75 GW of installed wind were actually connected to the grid. The remaining turbines were left idle even as China was claiming to be setting a global example for clean energy. Moreover, China often has to curtail some wind generation on certain days because the electrical grid has not been upgraded in order to handle the intermittency of wind.
And for all of the hype surrounding China’s clean energy sector, especially its massive wind market, wind power still only represented 2 percent of China’s electricity sector in 2012. Meanwhile, coal-powered plants continue to belch out black smoke, accounting for three-quarters of the country’s electricity generation.
In fact, China is by far the largest producer and consumer of coal. It burns through about as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Over the past 10 years, China alone accounted for 83 percent of the increase in global coal demand, which has more than offset its achievements in wind and solar installation.
But that may be about to change. In the wake of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, China has responded in kind. The vice president of China’s powerful National Development and Reform Commission, Xie Zhenhua, recently said that China would take additional steps to cut pollution.
China is “working very hard to address climate change,” Xie said. “We will try our utmost to peak as early as possible.”
The day after the Obama administration released its carbon rules, a senior Chinese official was quoted saying that China may consider a hard cap on carbon emissions in its next five-year plan, which is due in 2016.
If China does ratchet up efforts to clean up its economy, it could indeed reach “peak pollution” much quicker than anticipated. Some experts predict that China’s pollution won’t top out until the 2030s in a business-as-usual scenario.
This would be an extraordinary development if China articulates a plan to cap its carbon emissions in the near future. For years, global climate talks have been at a standstill because a bloc of developing countries led by China have been resistant to capping emissions, arguing that rich countries have had been polluting for far longer.
China has argued that it deserves more time – which would result in a continual increase in its annual greenhouse gas emissions. If China, influenced by U.S. action, decided to set a ceiling on its emissions rate, it could lead to a significant breakthrough in international negotiations.
Reaching peak pollution would necessarily mean closing coal plants. It would mean a massive increase in nuclear power. It would also mean using much more natural gas. It would require cleaner vehicles and more mass transit. And it would obviously mean a huge buildup of more solar and wind power.
There is still a long way to go, but the days of China’s smog-choked cities may be numbered.
Article by Nicholas Cunningham of Oilprice.com
Chinese Adviser’s Carbon Cap Remarks: Promising But Overblown?
A top Chinese climate adviser signaled Tuesday that the country planned to set a new cap on carbon emissions by the end of the decade, which would be the first such effort from the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
The comments by He Jiankun, chairman of China’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change, came a day after U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration proposed the first-ever carbon limits for existing power plants. (See related story: “Four Key Takeaways from EPA’s New Rules for Power Plants.”)
The adviser, speaking at a conference in Beijing, said that the cap on emissions starting from 2016 would come as part of China’s next five-year plan. “The government will use two ways to control CO2 emissions in the next five-year plan, by intensity and an absolute cap,” he said, according to Reuters. China is responsible for more than a quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. (See related interactive map: “Four Ways to Look at Carbon Footprints.”)
He did not provide specifics about what the target would be, and the comment was not an official announcement. But the way some media outlets interpreted the remarks became a story in and of itself, as The New York Times‘ Andrew Revkin noted that the Guardian and USA Today mistakenly billed the comments as a “pledge” from China to reduce emissions. Reuters later issued a corrected version of its original story, changing the attribution from “China said” to “a senior government adviser said.”
Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director for the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, said that He Jiankun is “effectively one of the most senior advisers” to the climate minister at China’s National Development Reform Commission, “one of the most powerful ministries in China.”
Schmidt said, “As with many things in China, these officials don’t speak unless there’s some emerging consensus in the government that this is a position that they’re trending toward. I think it’s a very positive sign that this kind of debate has taken hold.” (Take the related quiz: “What You Don’t Know About Energy in Asia.”)
The United States, which ranks second in world carbon emissions, has committed via the Copenhagen Accord to reducing its emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.
The rules proposed yesterday would require U.S. states to reduce pollution from power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels over the next 15 years. States will be able to create their own plans for how to meet the targets.
The carbon reductions at stake with the power plant goals are extremely modest from a global standpoint, but have been widely seen as momentous action on climate change from the Obama administration, which has been unable to push major climate legislation through Congress. (See related story: “One Key Question on Obama’s Push Against Climate Change: Will It Matter?“)
Sarah Ladislaw, a director and senior fellow of the energy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said last week that U.S. action on climate change was critical to shoring up confidence from other nations as the world prepares for international climate talks in Paris next year. She said, “It’s really about the United States and China trying to show—and actually define—what leadership is on this issue.”
The next round of climate talks under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change began this week in Bonn, Germany.
NRDC’s Schmidt said that ahead of next year’s climate talks in Paris, key emitting countries including the U.S., China, and India are expected to announce their climate targets beyond 2020. “In that context,” he said, “there’s a very intense debate in China about when its emissions will peak, and at what level.”
Article by Christina Nunez of National Geographic, appearing courtesy 3BL Media.
June 6, 2014 1 comment
Carbon Footprint of Solar Panels Made in China Far Exceeds Panels Made in Europe
written by CleanTechies Staff
How green is the manufacturing process for solar panels? According to a new study from Northwestern University and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, solar panels made in China and used in Europe have a carbon footprint that is about twice as high as solar panels made locally in Europe.
The study found that although shifting manufacturing to China might be economically attractive, “it is actually less sustainable from the life cycle energy and environmental perspective – especially under the motivation of using solar panels for a more sustainable future,” said Fenqi You, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and an author of the paper.
Much of the disparity is because China has fewer environmental and efficiency standards for its factories and plants and a high use of coal for electricity compared to European countries where renewable energy and nuclear energy are more common.
According to the study, a solar panel made in China would need to be used for 20 to 30 percent longer than a European made panel to produce energy to cancel out the energy used to make it. While these numbers suggest a large chasm, Argonne scientist and co-author Seth Darling noted, “This gap will like close over time as China strengthens environmental regulations.”
The study did not include the energy cost to transport the solar panels to their final destination. Had this cost been included in the study, the gap would be magnified further.
The authors suggest using a stick to encourage greater sustainability in the solar manufacturing process. They propose a break even carbon tariff in the range of 105 to 129 euros per ton of carbon dioxide to offset the emissions.
China’s BYD Engages in Risky Strategy to Boost EV Bus Sales
Will the requirement that 30% of municipal government purchases of new energy vehicles in the most recent Chinese government’s policy result in a mismanagement of resources? It will if automakers adopt BYD’s strategy. The Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer is building plants all over China to gain customers.
While the strategy may grow BYD’s sales both locally and globally, it could result in a massive waste of what is apparently dwindling capital. And as BYD’s missteps here in California prove, it may also sap a lot of BYD’s human capital as it works to resolve problems.
I started thinking about this as I read a story in Automotive News China regarding BYD’s plan to assemble buses in the central China city of Wuhan in order to convince the Wuhan government to buy BYD’s K9 electric bus for its local fleets.
This strategy is wrong on several levels. BYD will spend 3 billion yuan, or $480 million at current exchange rates, to build the plant, according to Chinese media. It will initially produce 1,000 K9 buses and, in a second phase whose cost was not revealed, it will assemble other BYD electric vehicles.
Selling to the Wuhan government is a challenge. The city is home to Dongfeng, one of China’s largest state-owned automakers (the former Third Auto Works). Dongfeng is China’s largest producer of medium- and heavy-duty trucks. It just announced a partnership with Volvo to produce commercial vehicles. And it partners with Nissan and PSA to produce passenger vehicles.
And, of course, Dongfeng has an obligatory Dongfeng EV Co. subsidiary. According to its website, Dongfeng EV Co. produces hybrid electric buses as well as a range of small low-speed EVs and a tiny passenger EV. But I’ll bet it will start turning out plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or battery electric vehicles, in the future as the central government pressures local governments to boost purchase of EVs. Why not produce those vehicles right in Wuhan so the money stays at home?
BYD may argue that the latest new energy vehicle policy from the central government requires at least 30% of such purchases be from automakers outside of the area and having a plant in Wuhan makes it the most likely company to grab those sales. Is that worth a $480 million bet?
If Wuhan were the only city where BYD has employed this strategy, it might be worth it But Wuhan will be the sixth city in China where BYD plans a bus plant. According to the press report, BYD also has agreements with Changsha, Nanjing, Tianjin, Dalian, and Hangzhou to assemble electric buses.
BYD is based in the south China city of Shenzhen, where it also produces electric buses, naturally. Will these additional plants merely assemble buses from kits sent from the Shenzhen plant? Probably. Then why not just drive the buses there from Shenzhen? No jobs or investment in the local where BYD hopes to sell buses, of course.
Internationally, BYD is also quickly expanding its manufacturing footprint. This is not a bad strategy. But does BYD have the human and financial capital to support this kind of expansion?
I am most familiar with BYD’s plans to produce electric buses in the city of Lancaster, near Los Angeles, where I live. That plant, the launch of which I attended in May of 2013, has encountered a series of potholes on the road to selling it buses here in California. Most recently, the southern California city of Long Beach announced it would cancel its contract to buy 10 BYD electric buses because BYD violated a California Labor Commission law in producing the buses.
BYD will be allowed to re-bid for the contract when the violation is corrected. BYD America senior vice president Stella Li said in a statement: “We are confident we will prevail in any competitive re-bid in the future for the same reason we prevailed last year: Our superior technology.”
This was not the first problem for the Lancaster plant, however. In July of 2013, cracks appeared above the rear door in a BYD bus undergoing federally-mandated tests. The cracks were a result of faulty welding at the plant in China where the bus was produced, said BYD. “There were no major design flaws discovered. However, there were some minor findings that we wanted to evaluate and review,” said Michael Austin, vice president of BYD America.
In November of 2013, BYD was hit with a $99,245 fine from the California Labor Commission for allowing workers to take one 20 minute break rather than two 10-minute breaks. BYD was also charged with under-paying some Chinese employees. The under payment charge was later dropped; the labor fine was reduced to $37,803.
None of these problems derailed BYD’s Lancaster plant plans. But they delayed the launch are costing BYD time and money to fix. Will they be repeated in other countries? BYD is also expanding its manufacturing footprint in other parts of the world. In 2012 it announced it would build electric buses in Bulgaria. It has also talked of plans to build a plant in Brazil and in Europe.
It might seem as if BYD has endless funding to build all these plants. That is not the case. The Hong Kong-listed company is raising money through stock sales. In late May it raised 3.4 billion yuan in its largest stock sale since the company’s 2002 initial public offering, according to Bloomberg.
Says Bloomberg: “The funds give Shenzhen-based BYD room to step up investments and bolster production of electric vehicles as governments worldwide step up efforts to fight pollution. Selling shares will also help alleviate the strain on a balance sheet saddled with surging debt.
The company has reason to raise funds via shares over bonds or loans. BYD’s net debt, or interest-bearing borrowings minus cash and equivalents, climbed 34 percent to a record 20.3 billion yuan ($3.3 billion) at the end of last year.”
BYD is betting that its electric vehicles will be its future. Meanwhile, sales of its gasoline-powered vehicles have plunged, along with its profits. In the first quarter of 2014, BYD’s profits were down 89 percent. BYD also engages in other “green” industries, including solar panels, LED lighting, and batteries.
To be sure, profits did surge last year after BYD reduced its auto dealership network and reduced losses at its solar business with the help of government incentive money. That is not a sustainable growth plan, however. BYD’s belief that electric vehicles are the future may pay off. But building plants all over China and the world is a dangerous way to back up that belief.
Article by Alysha Webb, a freelance automotive journalist and founder of ChinaEV Blog.
Chinese Military Hackers Charged with Disrupting U.S. Solar Market
written by Stuart Kaplow
A grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania has indicted Chinese military hackers for computer hacking, economic espionage and other offenses directed at a solar products manufacturer in America.
The indictments, the first time criminal charges have been filed against known state actors for hacking received wide spread attention earlier this week. And while the mainstream media described the U.S. corporate victims as in the nuclear power and metals industries and a labor organization, scant attention has been paid to the fact that one of the businesses is a solar panel manufacturer.
The indictment made public this past Monday, alleges that Wen Xinyu, one of five named defendants, who is officer in Unit 61398 of the Third Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, hacked the computers of U.S. subsidiaries of SolarWorld AG several times to glean its strategy in a trade dispute with China.
In 2012, at about the same time the Commerce Department found that Chinese solar product manufacturers had “dumped” products into U.S. markets at prices below fair value, Wen and at least one other, unidentified co-conspirator, stole thousands of files including information about SolarWorld’s cash flow, manufacturing metrics, production line information, costs, and privileged attorney-client communications relating to ongoing trade litigation, among other things. The information enabled Chinese competitors to target SolarWorld’s business operations aggressively from a variety of angles.
On February 5, 2014, Frank H. Asbeck, founder and CEO of SolarWorld, issued an open letter to President Barack Obama requesting his “support for both the U.S. manufacturing and installation wings of the domestic solar industry as they confront trade aggression from China.”
I had written in a blog post last October, Bankruptcy Trustee Sues Chinese Over Solar Panel Dumping, about a case filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, claiming the object of the Chinese state owned companies’ illegal dumping actions was to drive established solar industry leader, Energy Conversion Devices, out of business.
“For too long, the Chinese government has blatantly sought to use cyber espionage to obtain economic advantage for its state-owned industries,” said FBI Director James B. Comey. “There are many more victims, and there is much more to be done. With our unique criminal and national security authorities, we will continue to use all legal tools at our disposal to counter cyber espionage from all sources.”
This criminal case charging five Chinese military officers should be a wakeup call to all; not only have Alcoa, Westinghouse, and U.S Steel been damaged, but every U.S. business and homeowner with solar panels on a roof has been a victim of Chinese economic espionage.
Article by Stuart Kaplow, appearing courtesy Green Building Law Update.
China Plans to Accelerate Major Energy Projects
We all know the story. China is an energy hog. Coal fired power plants continue to be built to meet the energy demands of the country. Pollution is getting worse and not just in Beijing. We also know that China slowed its nuclear power plant approval process in the wake of the Fukushima disaster that hit Japan.
At a meeting of the State Energy Commission, Premier Li Keqiang made a point that China will move forward in reforming energy production and consumption, and make energy use greener. As part of these reforms, China now plans to speed up the approval process for new nuclear power plants. To put this in perspective, China approved the construction of two nuclear reactors in 2013 with a generating capacity of 2.1 GW. This year, China intends to give the go ahead for nuclear projects totaling 8.6 GW.
Besides nuclear, China intends to construct additional hydropower stations, wind and solar farms, and ultra-high voltage transmission lines to send power from the west to the power hungry east. According to Li, “These energy projects can ensure stable economic growth and increase China’s capability to safeguard energy security.” Li also noted that the country will attempt to boost electric vehicle use and upgrade existing coal power plants that fail to meet emission requirements.
April 22, 2014 0 comment
Scale and Extent of Dam Boom in China Detailed in Mapping Project
China is planning to build at least 84 major dams in its southwest region, as shown in a map from the Wilson Center, eventually boosting its hydropower capacity by more than 160 gigawatts. By next year China’s capacity will surpass Europe’s, and by 2020 it’s projected to be larger than that of the U.S. and Europe combined.
An interactive map shows the scale and number of major dams proposed, under construction, existing, and canceled. The dam rush is part of an ongoing effort by China to increase non-fossil energy sources to 11.4 percent of the country’s total energy consumption — a goal that has gained urgency due to severe air pollution in many northern Chinese cities. However, the hydropower push is not without its own major environmental consequences, the Wilson Center notes.
More than 70 of the dams planned or being constructed are located in so-called “biodiversity hotspots,” areas with rich species diversity that are threatened by development. The cascades of planned dams will submerge important corridors that connect tropical rainforests to the Tibetan Plateau and allow wildlife to migrate to cooler climates as temperatures rise.
Official Statements of Support for China EV Industry Won’t Do the Trick
Being a China watcher always involves parsing official statements to figure out who has the upper hand in Beijing and, if someone has some clout, what that person’s stand on an issue is. So I have been watching statements by Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang and Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei to figure out where each stands and who might carry the day.
Suddenly, however, a new official – more important than the above two — has burst on the scene voicing strong support for the electric vehicle industry. Alas, I don’t think his support will result in a sudden rush of EV purchases.
The latest official to weigh in on the future of EVs in China is Ma Kei, a vice premier and Politburo member. Let me thank my friend and former colleague Yang Jian for his column in Automotive News China that helped me figure out the impact of statements by vice premier Ma Kai. Yang Jian says Ma is senior to both Miao and Wan and that he was instrumental in convincing the central government to cut purchase subsidies for battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles by only 5 percent this year rather than the originally planned 10 percent. Ma apparently decided to push for the smaller cut in subsidies after visiting three local companies producing EVs, BYD Co, Jianghuai Automobile Co. , and Chery Automobile Co. , in early January.
Besides urging more central government support for EV purchases, Ma hit on the other key points to putting more EVs on China’s roads: More use in public transportation fleets; more charging stations; less local protectionism. He also suggested waiving the 10 percent new vehicle purchase sales tax for EVs.
A bit of background: Last September, the central government issued a revised subsidy policy for electric vehicles which said that subsidies for various electric vehicles would decrease over the next two years. The 60,000 RMB subsidy for battery electric passenger vehicles was to decrease by 10 percent in 2014 and 20 percent in 2015. Subsidies of up to 35,000 RMB for plug-in hybrid electric passenger vehicles would fall by the same percentages.
Apparently Ma Kai has managed to get those reductions revised to 5 percent in 2014 and 10 percent in 2015. And government support for the EV industry will continue after 2015, though details weren’t given.
That’s great. But it won’t be enough to get Chinese consumers to buy electric vehicles in any volume. The initial subsidies did not encourage EV purchases in 2013 when some 17,600 plug-in electric vehicles were sold in China, including battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric. Most of those sales were almost certainly fleet vehicles. Chinese consumers still worry about the high price of vehicles that depend on technology they consider risky, not to mention the lack of a charging infrastructure.
Ma’s support won’t change that. What such statements do accomplish in China is to reassure companies that are producing or could produce electric vehicles that the government will still put their money where their mouth is. That will be enough to keep China’s automakers continuing to play lip service to their grand plans for EV production in order to get a piece of that EV subsidy money.
According to a supplier friend of mine, an executive at a large multinational supplier, what he hears from the local automakers is that they will keep trumpeting their plans to produce EVs, and producing some, to show Beijing they are ready to produce a lot of EVs if necessary, to meet stiffer fuel efficiency requirements for example (the U.S. automakers will be nodding their heads). “We do this as long as the government is funding it,” said an exec at one Chinese automaker.
Ma’s statements are still a positive in the overall picture, of course. It tips the scales on the side of optimism. Wan Gang has generally been more positive about EVs than Miao Wei though both talk about EVs as the future. Both worry about a factor that will certainly slow the growth of China’s EV sector and stifle competition and thus innovation – local protectionism.
Said Wan Gang: With the production and sales numbers of new energy vehicles China saw in 2013, “we can’t hope to realize the goal of 500,000” NEVs on the road by 2015. Between cooperation and competition, one is not more important than the other in growing the EV sector, said Wan. “Local protectionism is the biggest obstruction to more growth,” said Wan. Miao Wei also worried about local protectionism but perhaps more realistically ruminated on the need for less expensive technology to truly grow the sector.
Both are right. Ma’s rosy future won’t happen without an end to local protectionism and a technological leap.
LDK Solar Delisted From NYSE
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced earlier this week that it would suspend trading and delist the shares of LDK Solar Co. In its announcement, the NYSE cited LDK’s “abnormally low” price for the shares, which had been falling for years and by February were trading below $1.
LDK, China’s second largest maker of solar wafers, has been in financial dire straits for quite some time. In the fourth quarter of 2013, the company secured a $256 million credit facility from a syndicate of Chinese banks. The terms of the credit facility were limited to financing LDK’s onshore operations in Jiangxi Province in China, preventing the funds from being used to service existing debt.
The company is seeking to restructure nearly $3 billion in debt after failing to pay a bond that matured in February. The company noted in an announcement on Tuesday that it wishes to “reiterate their commitment to continuing to work with LDK Solar’s offshore creditors to achieve the restructuring of LDK Solar’s offshore liabilities.” LDK further noted that “restructuring support agreements have been signed by holders of approximately 60% in aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 10% Senior Notes due 2014 and by holders of approximately 79% of the convertible preferred shares issued by an affiliate of the Company and involving claims against the Company.” LDK also recently received a commitment letter from Heng Rui Xin Energy (HK) Co., Limited, an existing shareholder of the Company, to provide interim financing up to an aggregate principal amount of $14 million.
April 2, 2014 0 comment
China Includes ESG in its Strategy for War on Pollution
In his recent state-of-the-nation speech, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang acknowledged the impact of environmental, social, and governance— ESG—issues on that country’s economic policies. He announced that the government will “declare war” on pollution. The environmental impact of China’s mainly coal-powered energy generation has been well documented, with levels of toxic air pollution many times higher than accepted safe standards that have negatively affect commerce and health.
What’s new is the growing social pressure from the Chinese public, and the implications it raises for the government’s governance over the Chinese economy. Last month, the smog that covers much of the country was declared its first “orange” alert, the second highest-level of new pollution standards. As the toxic haze persisted, China’s blogosphere began to ask why a top-level “red alert” had not been issued. Despite the government’s rigorous Internet censorship, the online questioning registered as widespread criticism that had to be answered.
The Prime Minister noted that smog was a growing problem that authorities needed to “fight” with more resources. As an example, he proposed that plans to close “backward” production facilities in the steel, cement, and glass-manufacturing industries be moved forward by one year. The combination of social media commentary and the questions about the government’s policies it raised have added the “S,” social, and the “G,” governance to China’s already admitted “E,” environmental, to complete its adoption of ESG as a guiding economic philosophy.
Article by John Howell.
Big Hurdle for Tesla: Building a Charging Network in China
I wrote the piece below for Automobile and Parts, a Chinese publication. Since I wrote it news came out that the State Grid will allow private investment in charging networks. But no timeline was mentioned. And no news regarding whether South Grid will follow suit. Allowing private investment offers a sliver of hope for Tesla. But as always in China, implementation will be the tricky part.
Tesla’s business model – a non-automotive company that has successfully produced and marketed a pure electric luxury vehicle – seems to be much admired by some parties in China. And despite disputes regarding its distribution model with automotive dealers in some states in the U.S., Tesla has sold well here. Based on that popularity, Tesla founder Elon Musk and his representatives in China are confidently predicting that Tesla will sell around 5,000 Model S electric sedans in China in 2014 and as many as 22,000 in 2015.
Those sales numbers are based on an underestimation of the difficulties Tesla will face in China, however, and won’t be achieved. Furthermore, Tesla will likely have trouble making a profit in China if the costs and difficulty of building out a distribution network and charging network are considered.
First, there is the price of the car itself. Tesla made a big deal out of the fact that it will charge “only” 734,000 RMB for a Model S sedan with an 85 kWh battery. That is the cost of the vehicle plus shipping and handling, customs and duties, and a value-added tax. Tesla’s electric vehicles come with several optional battery sizes; larger batteries cost more but provide more range. A car with an 85kWh battery provides about 300 miles per charge.
Tesla says it goal is to make the same level of profit per car no matter where it is sold. Even if Tesla isn’t making more profit, however, the price for the Model S is still more expensive then the majority of luxury cars sold in China. That price is not set in stone, by the way. Tesla will adjust the cost of the Model S in China when the USD/RMB exchange rate fluctuates, according to a Tesla spokesperson. Would someone prefer to buy an electric vehicle, even a Tesla, over say a similarly-priced gasoline-powered Porsche 911? Only a few would.
If someone does want to buy a Tesla in China, they first have to find a Tesla store. Tesla’s distribution model relies on company-owned stores rather than franchised dealerships. In the U.S., cars are sold through dealerships owned by individuals rather than the automakers themselves. That has made Tesla the target of a handful of lawsuits here in the U.S. by the owners of dealerships. Those lawsuits claim Tesla violated the state laws governing auto dealer ownership (each of the 50 states in the U.S. has its own auto franchise law.).
In China, Tesla may not run into such lawsuits, but will need to build out a nationwide Tesla store network to even begin to reach the sales numbers it predicts.
So far, it has one store, in Beijing. Elon Musk has said Tesla will have stores or service centers in six metropolitan areas in China by the end of 2014. Let’s say Tesla succeeds in opening those stores by then. Will each of those stores manage to sell nearly 1,000 units each? Let’s assume they will. To achieve sales of 22,000 in 2015, Tesla will have to quadruple the number of stores it has in China, and each will have to sell nearly 1,000 units each.
I think distribution i.e. a network of stores will be the easy element of achieving Tesla’s ambitions in China, however. I believe the biggest barrier to its success will be its inability to construct a nationwide charging network. Rather than rely on public charging, Tesla constructs a network of Superchargers that only owners of its EVs can use. To date it has installed 74 Supercharger stations in North America. Each station costs US$150,000 to build, according to a Tesla spokesperson. This does not include maintenance or monthly energy costs. “We cannot yet speak to cost of location of Supercharger stations in China,” said the spokesperson. “Elon plans to visit in March and more details will be unveiled at that time.”
Elon may find that building Supercharger stations in China will be not only expensive, but very difficult. For one, each station charges at 120kw. “That is more power than an electric bus consumes,” exclaimed an executive working on EV charging networks at a foreign automaker in China.
He also asked if Tesla has approval from the State Grid and the Southern Grid , China’s two largest utilities, to construct the Supercharger network. That is, are they willing to provide the power? What’s in it for them? Then there are the Supercharger stations themselves, said the executive. Have they been approved by Chinese regulators?
Elon Musk has succeeded when others have thought he would fail, and his self-confidence is well-earned. He founded and sold Pay Pal, an online money transfer service, for $1.5 billion. Musk also founded and still runs SpaceX, a company which designs and launches rockets. In China, however, he may meet his match.
UK Based Sevcon Bets on China EV Market Growth
I like to talk to little-known (to me at least) companies operating in China’s electric vehicle world to get a broader perspective. In that spirit, when I saw a notice that a U.K.-based company called Sevcon had formed a joint venture with a Chinese supplier named Risenbo to supply motor controllers and other components to China’s electric vehicle makers, I sent a note to Matthew Boyle, Sevcon’s president and CEO, asking if we could chat. Talking with Boyle opened a window for me to the many layers of the EV industry, and made me think again about how many companies will be disappointed if China doesn’t pull off its grand plan to produce lots of EVs. The opposite could also be true, or course. China may forge ahead and produce many EVs – though mainly for fleets, in my opinion.
Getting in on the ground floor as Sevcon is doing is the way to be positioned to benefit if China does turn into an EV-full country. That’s Matt Boyle’s attitude. “If you are prepared to take a long term view that China is a market that will grow substantially, if you’re not there now you will be too late,” he told me.
Sevcon produces inverters to change DC current into AC current, AC and DC motor controllers, DC/DC converters, and battery chargers for zero-emission vehicles and hybrids. “We try to take as much in electrical components as we can,” says Boyle.
Doing business worldwide, Sevcon has mostly marketed to companies supplying off-road vehicles such as quadracyles, as well as fork lifts and motorcycles.
But Sevcon’s components can also be used in on-road EVs, including fleet vehicles and passenger cars. With the Risenbo joint venture it hopes to capitalize on what many anticipate will be a growing demand in China for electric vehicles in the passenger car, commercial vehicle, and scooter segments. Sevcon’s on-road business has really taken off in the last two years, says Boyle. “We are well known in off-road market; what has become an emerging market for us is on-road,” he told ChinaEV.
As for its partner, I couldn’t find much info on Risenbo Technology Co. Ltd., other than that is Tier 1 Chinese supplier. The 50/50 joint venture will to be known as Sevcon (Hubei) New Energy Technology Co. Ltd. Boyle got to know Risenbo through an industry trade group in the U.K.
Risenbo already supplies components to automotive, bus, and truck manufacturers in China, according to Boyle. The joint venture will market Sevcon products in China targeting on-road applications. And since just about every vehicle producer in China is at least saying it will produce some EVs and the central government is telling local governments to add EVs to fleets, Risenbo could provide Sevcon with an excellent doorway into lucrative markets. Risenbo has mainly served large vehicle makers, says Boyle, but Sevcon’s products are scalable so it is targeting all vehicle segments.
Wisely, given the slowness of Chinese drivers to warm to EVs, Boyle says light commercial vehicles and busses seem to be the best market for its products right now. But, “passenger cars can’t be ruled out,” he says. And the latest EV policy, which ignored hybrids, is also to Sevcon’s advantage. There is no charger on board a hybrid, says Boyle. PHEVs and BEVs do have a charger on board. “If there is a charger on board it will double the revenue for us,” he says.
There are Chinese companies that produce similar products to Sevcon’s, such as Shanghai EDrive Co. Ltd., a company I visited and wrote about last October. Boyle admits that “the challenge in China is our selling prices have to be a modicum lower than in the rest of the world” to compete against local competitors. “Our quality and reputation give us somewhat of an advantage,” he says, “and our partner has a good reputation in China.”
Fortunately Sevcon has been doing contract manufacturing in China for export in a Free Trade Zone in Shanghai’s Pudong district for about 11 years. It won’t have to add capacity to serve the anticipated new domestic business, at least initially, says Boyle.
Companies manufacturing in China often worry about intellectual property protection; Sevcon has had IP issues in the past, says Boyle, but they have been small. “We aren’t unique in the world, but there aren’t that many people doing what we do so it is easy to spot what’s going on,” he says. Also, Sevcon’s customers are all large companies who also have something to lose if something goes on, he adds.
It will take a while to know if Sevcon’s China gamble has paid off. Product cycles in his industry are generally 18 months to three years, says Boyle. And what about all this news that China’s economic growth is slowing to perhaps as low as 7% this year and even lower in the future? “China’s GDP growth still means you are adding an economy the size of Singapore every year,” says Boyle.
Chinese Eco-mark Lawsuit Ends Well for Tesla
written by Eric Lane
A previous post reported on Tesla’s Chinese trademark problem. Apparently, a businessman named Zhan Baosheng had registered the TESLA (or “Te Si La” transliterated) trademark in China, blocking the American automaker from using the mark there.
Mr. Zhan was also operating a web site using the Tesla China domain (www.teslamotors.com.cn), and operating a Tesla-branded account on the Chinese microblog site Sina Weibo.
As part of a recent press release announcing its plan for growth in China the company said it resolved the trademark issue. More particularly, Tesla obtained a court decision granting it the right to use the TESLA mark in China (see the story here on Green Car Reports and covered by Clean Technica here).
Veronica Wu, Tesla’s vice president for China operations, said the company had won this right without the need to pay Mr. Zhan (who had apparently hinted that he would sell the trademark for millions of dollars). According to Wu, “we went to court and won.”
Though technically Zhan may have been the first user of the TESLA mark in China, the court decision seems right because his apparent high asking price for the mark signals bad faith on his part and that his use may not have been bona fide.
This decision bodes well for American and other non-Chinese companies who may need to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights against local competitors in China.
The highest profile cleantech IP dispute in China is the trade secrets and copyright case between American Superconductor and Chinese turbine manufacturer Sinovel, which made it all the way to, and is (as far as I know) still pending in, the Chinese Supreme Court.
Eric Lane is a patent and trademark attorney and the Principal at Green Patent Law in San Diego and the author of Green Patent Blog. Mr. Lane can be reached at (619) 818-6043 and at elane@greenpatentlaw.com.
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GreenX: Invest in green projects all over the world
Home » Crypto Projects » GreenX: Invest in green projects all over the world
Author: Danish Yasin Last Updated On Apr 26, 2018 @ 07:00
Natural energy resources are limited, and the world is in dire need of efficient renewable sources of energy. Companies like Tesla are actively striving to reduce the environmental impact of our economies but, their efforts, alone, are not enough.
The global community needs to act together, without borders to come up with ingenious new ways of using renewable sources of energy. The good news is that the green or renewable energy industry is growing steadily. In 2007, only 99 Gigawatts of renewable energy was produced from all over the world. In contrast, 2016 saw a record high of 2011.3 Gigawatts of energy being produced from renewable sources.
This accounts for 24% of the global electricity produced in 2016. Most of the energy was produced through hydropower, the rest with the help of solar and wind power. However, the green industry has historically been difficult to invest in. Mostly, due to high costs because it is still a comparatively new field.
GreenX wants to remove this limitation by making it easy for investors from all over the world to invest in green projects. This will remove the limitation of borders and pave the way for better research in the field of renewable energy. The trend for green energy is steadily increasing as people become more and more aware of the ill-effects of fossil fuel on the environment.
By developing a blockchain backed platform, GreenX aims to grow the green industry and at the same time make it more liquid. The platform the company is developing will benefit both, investors and the developers. For the former, GreenX will be providing accredited, transparent projects, in which they can invest and expect returns.
For the latter – developers – GreenX will provide investors from all over the world. What makes GreenX better than the conventional modes of investment is that the investments will be upfront and there will be no risk of delay.
The whole platform will be powered by an ERC-20 type GreenX token, which will be known as GEX on the platform. The investors will invest with the help of GEX, and the developers will receive their investments in the form of GEX.
As discussed above, the market for renewable energy resources is increasing. People are becoming more and more aware and want to protect the environment from the damage caused by fossil fuels.
In the USA alone, energy produced from renewable resources has increased from less than 10% to more than 17.5% in the last decade. This growth shows promise, and consequently, it is the right time for GreenX to enter this market. The blockchain based company will combine two of the most innovative technologies of the modern world to pave the way for a brighter future.
The trend for greener energy is not just limited to the USA, it is increasing all over the world. China is leading the world in increasing its wind power capacity. GreenX will support such projects all over the world, connecting eco-conscious investors with green companies, which want to improve the planet.
What GreenX Offers
GreenX is creating a platform that will benefit both the investors and the developers of the project. Normally, the green energy developers and companies face hurdles while collecting investments due to market limitations. They have little to no negotiation power while dealing with large investors since the industry is in such a nascent stage. Lastly, investors usually release funds slowly, and this can delay the completion of projects and cause more damage.
With GreenX, the institutional investors will be exposed to a larger pool of developers as the platform will hold developers from all over the world. The investors will have little difficulty finding new projects. Their investments will be much more liquid than usual.
For individual investors and small-time investors, GreenX will allow smaller investments and will offer them thorough reports on the projects. This will provide individual investors with an opportunity to invest with due diligence while protecting their privacy through blockchain. GreenX divides data into on-chain and off-chain. Sensitive information such as KYC clearances is encrypted and kept off-chain.
The GreenX platform is divided into two parts, the GreenX Capital Market and the GreenX Global Exchange. With the help of former, GreenX provides investors and developers with a platform to invest and raise funds respectively. The former helps in providing liquidity to the investments, by allowing easy trading of tokens on a global scale.
To protect the investors from scams, GreenX has a strict due diligence process, which includes:
Verification of documents
Legal due diligence
Financial audits
Once the study is completed, the team at GreenX publish their report along with a risk assessment, to provide investors with a detailed analysis of the projects. The risk assessment report is generated by the GreenX A.I. which profiles a project and analyses the risk of the investment.
The Token
The token is the center of the GreenX platform and is built on the Ethereum blockchain. The token allows its holder to participate in the GreenX platform. However, the token does not represent a legal share in GreenX as a legal entity.
The token is the most important aspect of the whole platform since it provides it with liquidity and the use of smart contracts. The token enables the platform to conduct its global operations and provides it stability.
The following are the main team members and advisors of the GreenX project:
Stanley Nguyen – CEO
Dennis Duong – CTO
Florain Wegmann – Investor Relations Advisor
Urs Lustenberger – Legal Advisor
Igor Alexander Turevsky – Energy Advisor
To learn more about GreenX and their product, you can go to the following links:
Telegram Group
GreenX Whitepaper
Danish Yasin View all posts by Danish Yasin
A freelance writer with more than three years of experience and can write research papers, blogs and web articles. An aspiring Computer Scientist and technology enthusiast. Contact Danish: LinkedIn
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Yeah, I Have Opinions
This past week has been a bit of a whirlwind for me. Some weeks are busier than others when it comes to the writing I do for Android Authority, but this past week was biz-ay (consistently and thoroughly). It seemed like every day there was a new “big story” to write about, so I barely got a breather.
The most significant article of the week was the one I did on the revelation that the upcoming OnePlus smartphone will feature a notched display. For those of you not up on your tech stuff, the “notch” refers to a cutout at the top of a smartphone to make room for sensors. It was popularized by the iPhone X, and now pretty much every smartphone manufacturer is producing a notched phone in response. To say that Android fans don’t like the notch is the understatement of the year; the vast majority of Android enthusiasts hate the notch almost as much as they hate the fact that Apple gets credit for the notch concept when Android phone maker Essential actually did it first.
Anyway, I wrote an article about how disappointing and infuriating it is that OnePlus will be releasing a notched phone, and the article got a lot of traction. In fact, my article combined with other articles at similar publications caused OnePlus’ CEO to make a statement explaining where the company is coming from. The whole thing is a big PR mess for OnePlus.
And really, I LOVE OnePlus. I use a OnePlus 5 as my primary device; I’m never without it. So it was hard for me to write an article that knocked the company down a peg.
But it’s really humbling and amazing that I have a job where I can express my opinions like that. Not only does it provide an outlet for what I think and feel, but it’s incredibly gratifying when the audience responds. The fact that I have a platform with an audience is not something I take for granted. It’s truly an honor, and I know a lot of writers out there won’t ever know what it’s like, which is something I always keep in mind.
Anyway, that’s my little spiel on that topic. Now I’ll talk about the cat in the photo up top. That’s my girlfriend’s cat; her name is Lexi. She really likes me, as you can tell in the picture, but she also prevents me from doing work a lot of the time. But what can you do? She’s sabotaged my desk with her cute face.
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News & Media Lindeen: I Oppose State Takeover of Federal Public Lands
Lindeen: I Oppose State Takeover of Federal Public Lands
csimt December 22, 2014 2014, Press Release
By Monica J. Lindeen, Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, Office of the Montana State Auditor
There has been a lot of discussion in Montana recently about public lands and whether the state should pursue taking over ownership of national forests and other federal lands. As a member of Montana’s Board of Land Commissioners, the body charged with managing our state lands including, presumably, any federal lands moved to state ownership, I strongly oppose any such takeover.
Public lands — both state and federal — play a key role in the economic and cultural life of Montanans. Ranchers depend on both state and federal grazing leases for healthy pasture. Communities in all corners of Montana, especially those around Glacier and Yellowstone national parks, rely heavily on tourists drawn to these public treasures. Every summer, more Montana children than we can count cast their bobbers into lakes in the Custer National Forest, the Flathead National Forest, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area and a long list of other federal lands in our state.
Combined, about 25 million acres of federal lands are found inside the borders of our state. Management of these lands is not always perfect, nor does it please every Montanan, but I believe transferring these lands, and the enormous cost of maintaining them, would create far more problems for Montanans and our state government than any such transfer could solve.
Access. Outdoor recreation is more than fun for Montanans. It is our identity and the economic engine of our tourist economy. That engine runs on access to public lands and it is far from certain that a takeover of these lands by the state would maintain the access Montanans and their customers currently enjoy. Protecting current access while millions of acres of land are moved between federal and state agencies would be a challenge, even with the best of intentions. I am not willing to take a gamble on this; the jobs of thousands of Montanans are at stake.
Cost. The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has struggled to come up with a true cost of maintaining an additional 25 million acres of land. One recent estimate exceeded $500 million. I don’t need to tell you that Montana does not have an extra half a billion dollars lying around. In reality, we lack even a small fraction of the resources necessary to maintain federal lands even in the shape they are currently in. State government would have to dramatically grow our bureaucracy to keep up with the enormous task of managing 25 million additional acres. For perspective, that’s a land mass as large as Scotland – plus 5.5 million more acres. I have grave concerns Montana would be forced to sell some of these public lands in order to pay for the cost of managing them, forever losing access to a part of our outdoor heritage.
I am proud of the Montana Land Board’s track record in properly maintaining Montana’s 5 million acres of state lands. But, I do not believe that growing our responsibility by 500 percent, with no obvious source of commensurate funding, would create anything other than a disaster.
That’s why I wrote a letter to Montana’s congressional delegation letting them know where I stand and asking them to protect our outdoor heritage and access to public lands, while at the same time ensuring Montana is not strapped with the enormous and impossible fiscal burden of attempting to manage federal lands. I can’t support setting Montana up for failure and I would encourage all of Montana’s elected leaders to join me in asking our congressional delegation to resist such efforts.
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Analysis: How Trump’s threat to scrap NAFTA could unfold (and what it means for western Canada)
As the fourth round of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations get underway, there is still understandable concern that U.S. President Donald Trump will make good on a threat he has made repeatedly since assuming the Oval Office: that the U.S. will terminate NAFTA.
With 76 per cent of Canadian goods exports (2016) and more than half our service exports (55 per cent in 2016) sent to the U.S., any disruption in our relationship with our largest trade partner would have serious consequences. While Trump’s bluster appears to be a negotiating ploy, it’s worth considering potential ramifications.
To skip to what a NAFTA withdrawal means for each western province, select it below
Scrapping NAFTA is not as easy as it sounds. Many scenarios could unfold. The four below cover the range of possible outcomes. The bottom line is that under any scenario, a Trump withdrawal from NAFTA is likely to turn into a legal and political mess.
Four scenarios for the U.S. terminating NAFTA
1) The President tries to end the deal but Congress doesn’t agree
NAFTA text is clear that any signatory may leave the pact after giving the other members six months notice of intent to withdraw from the agreement. But there are various opinions in the U.S. as to what would happen if a president unilaterally terminates a trade deal. The U.S. Congress passed legislation authorizing then-President Clinton to enter into NAFTA and integrate the measures into U.S. law. Congress also gave the president authority to withdraw from trade agreements – although it’s unclear that this is Constitutional. Under the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause, Congress has the sole power to regulate foreign trade. If President Trump terminates NAFTA on his own, there would likely be a legal challenge that would quickly wind up in the Supreme Court. And many congressional Republicans, like Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, support NAFTA. Congress could also attempt to block funding for activities needed to carry out the withdrawal.
2) President and Congress agree to pull out of NAFTA, CUSFTA kicks in
If the president could get congressional approval to leave NAFTA, the deal’s predecessor, the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), would kick into place.
CUSFTA measures froze when NAFTA came into force in 1994; if we revert back to CUSFTA, the agreement would enter year six. Tariffs on some goods would already be fully eliminated, while others would still have several years of reductions before they reached zero. NAFTA essentially rolled over the tariff eliminations made in the CUSFTA with added provisions for trade with Mexico. In this scenario, NAFTA would continue to exist between Canada and Mexico.
3) The U.S. withdraws from both NAFTA and CUSFTA, WTO trade rules govern trade
If the U.S. withdrew from NAFTA, it probably wouldn’t want essentially the same measures to continue governing its trade with Canada, under the CUSFTA. (Although it might, since a lot of its NAFTA concerns, like job losses, are directed at Mexico.) In addition to withdrawing from NAFTA, the Trump administration would also have to withdraw from CUSFTA to end all free trade deals with Canada; something that has not been discussed in the U.S. If the U.S. also broke the CUSFTA, then Word Trade Organization (WTO) most favoured nation (MFN) tariff rules would govern Canada-U.S. trade. The U.S. MFN average tariff in 2016 was 3.5 per cent (some goods have a WTO MFN of zero percent). NAFTA would continue to exist between Canada and Mexico.
4) The U.S. withdraws from both NAFTA and CUSFTA, imposes tariffs higher than WTO levels
It is possible the U.S. would impose tariffs higher than the WTO most-favoured-nation levels if it withdrew from NAFTA/CUSFTA. While WTO member countries agreed to reduce tariffs through the Uruguay Round Agreements of the late 1980s/early 1990s, the tariff reductions are not legally binding.
Despite the Constitution’s commerce clause, other U.S. laws give the president authority to impose tariffs during national emergencies and times of war. President Trump has mused about imposing 35 per cent tariffs on imports from companies that move operations out of the U.S., placing a 20 per cent tariff on imports from Mexico to fund construction of a border wall, and proposed a 45 per cent tariff on imports from China. It is unlikely the U.S. would impose tariffs this high on Canada, but it is possible we could face something higher than the 3.5 per cent average WTO MFN, or the 4 per cent average tariffs in place before the CUSFTA was implemented. If the U.S. imposed higher than MFN tariffs, Canada (and Mexico) may decide to retaliate, causing tariff escalation. It is also possible a U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA/CUSFTA would be combined with trade action against other countries, which could have trickle-down impacts on Canadian supply chains.
While it seems both legally and logistically difficult for the U.S. to withdraw from NAFTA, nothing should be taken for granted. It is worth considering the impact on western Canada’s merchandise trade with the U.S. under the scenarios above.
What trade data tells us about how the West would fare
The western provinces have varying levels of reliance on trade with the U.S. In 2016, 86 per cent of Alberta’s total exports were sent to the U.S. About half of B.C. and Saskatchewan’s exports go to the U.S., 53 per cent and 48 per cent respectively last year. Manitoba shipped 67 per cent of total goods exports to the U.S. in 2016.
The following charts show the top 10 merchandise exports to the U.S. for each western province by six-digit HS code, the most granular trade data publicly available. The corresponding tariff under the NAFTA, the CUSFTA and the WTO’s MFN give an idea of tariff barriers western goods exports would face if the U.S. broke both its trade deals with Canada.
Softwood lumber is B.C.’s biggest export to the U.S., accounting for more than 20 per cent of the value of all U.S.-bound exports in 2016. Since softwood lumber is excluded from NAFTA, U.S. withdrawal would not directly impact U.S. tariffs on this commodity. However, the U.S. is pushing for the removal of NAFTA’s Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism in a renegotiated deal. If this occurs, it will have a major impact on the current (and any future) Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute. NAFTA Chapter 19 provides a process for any NAFTA member to appeal the imposition of countervailing or anti-dumping duties on a good implemented by another NAFTA partner. Canada has used a NAFTA panel multiple times since the 1990s to overturn U.S. imposition of duties on Canadian softwood lumber. Prime Minister Trudeau has indicated the removal of Chapter 19 from a renewed NAFTA would be a deal-breaker for Canada.
Only one of B.C.’s top exports to the U.S. (zinc) would be subject to a tariff under CUSFTA, because it is in the category of products that had tariffs phased out over 10 years. Since CUSFTA would kick back in year six, zinc exporters would pay decreasing tariffs for the next four years until the tariff is eliminated to zero. This would not be too burdensome as the CUSFTA tariff rate would be less than one per cent.
Four of B.C.’s top 10 exports to the U.S. would be subject to a tariff if NAFTA/CUSFTA were no longer in place. However, the tariffs are relatively low and would be unlikely to have a major impact on the trade of these commodities.
None of Alberta’s top exports to the U.S. would face tariffs under CUSFTA; these products either had all tariffs eliminated by 1993, right before NAFTA kicked in, or did not face export tariffs in the first place.
Alberta’s number one export to the U.S., petroleum oils, accounted for more than 60 per cent of total provincial exports to the U.S. in 2016. If the U.S. were to withdraw from NAFTA/CUSFTA, these commodities would be subject to a charge under WTO MFN. The exact charge depends on its API gravity measure – whether it is a heavy or light oil. Tariffs on Canadian crude exports to the U.S. will also negatively impact the American economy – Canada supplied more than 40 per cent of U.S. oil imports last year.
Like B.C., Alberta’s second largest export to the U.S., is natural gas. Natural gas made up nearly 10 per cent of Alberta’s exports to the U.S. last year, and would face no additional tariff barriers under WTO MFN rules.
Five of Alberta’s other top 10 exports would be subject to WTO MFN tariffs if NAFTA/CUSFTA were not in place; combined these commodities account for seven per cent of the value of 2016 exports to the U.S.
Two of Saskatchewan’s top exports to the U.S. would face tariffs under CUSFTA: rape/colza (canola) seed oil-cake and wheat and meslin. These tariffs would be less than 35 cents and would decrease down to zero over the next four years. Like Alberta, petroleum oils are also Saskatchewan’s top export to the U.S., making up 36 per cent of the value of the province’s exports to the U.S. last year. Petroleum oils would be subject to a charge under WTO MFN rules, depending on its API gravity measure – whether it is a heavy or light oil.
Saskatchewan’s second biggest export, potassium chloride (fertilizer), accounted for close to 20 per cent of 2016 U.S. exports. It would not face WTO MFN tariffs if NAFTA/CUSFTA rules ceased.
Five other commodities that make up Saskatchewan’s top 10 exports to the U.S. would face WTO MFN tariffs if NAFTA/CUSFTA were not in place; combined these commodities account for 22 per cent of the value of 2016 provincial exports to the U.S.
Manitoba’s top two exports to the U.S. – pharmaceutical products and aircraft parts – would not see any additional tariffs if the U.S. withdrew from both NAFTA and CUSFTA. If the U.S. left NAFTA but the CUSFTA remained in place, some pharmaceutical products, like cough drops, would be subject to minor tariffs that would decrease down to zero over the next four years.Aircraft parts would face no tariffs under CUSFTA. Combined, these top two exports account for 12.5 per cent of the value of total provincial exports bound for the U.S. last year.
Three of Manitoba’s other eight top 10 exports to the U.S. would be subject to minor tariffs under CUSFTA, but these would all decrease down to zero within four years. Six of Manitoba’s other eight top 10 exports to the U.S. would be subject to tariffs under WTO MFN trade rules. Combined, these six exports make up 22 per cent of the value of the province’s total 2016 exports to the U.S.
North American supply chain at risk
Under WTO MFN rules, of the western provinces, Alberta would face tariffs on the largest share of the value of its top 10 exports to the U.S. – 70 per cent. B.C. would only face tariffs on eight per cent of the value of its top 10 exports to the U.S. Saskatchewan would see tariffs on 58 per cent and Manitoba 22 per cent of the value of top 10 exports destined for the U.S.
Still, western provincial exports to the U.S. would not be crippled if Canada’s trade relationship with the U.S. were to revert to WTO MFN rules. While tariff free-trade is the best scenario (under NAFTA or CUSFTA), the WTO MFN tariffs are relatively low.
But NAFTA brought about much more than the elimination of tariffs. It covers the trade of services as well as goods, fosters regulatory co-operation and enhances the movement of people. It also has a huge impact on the North American supply chain. Export Development Canada estimates 64 per cent of all goods and services trade between Canada and the U.S. is made up of intermediate inputs. In other words, raw materials, parts and services used by companies on both sides of the border in the supply chain.
U.S. withdrawal would also have a negative impact on investment in Canada, as Canadian companies would curtail export-oriented investment, and foreign companies would not be sure their Canadian operations would have access to the U.S. market.
If the U.S. abandons NAFTA, it is through these non-tariff measures that the biggest impact will be felt – in Canada, but also in the U.S.
– Naomi Christensen is a senior policy analyst at the Canada West Foundation and Carlo Dade is the director of the Trade & Investment Centre
Photo credit: YIFEI CHEN, Unsplash
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Marine police step up patrols on northwest coast to stop people smuggling after tip-off
By CNA News Service August 14, 2016 November 29, 2016 8 15
Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said on Sunday that authorities had stepped up marine patrols after receiving a tip-off that people smugglers were planning to drop 400 migrants off the coast.
He said that having evaluated tips on the likelihood of organised people smuggling to Cyprus, police were patrolling the shoreline off Kato Pyrgos village, in the Tylliria area on the island`s northwestern coast.
In the same area during the past two weeks, two incidents occurred involving Syrian immigrants who arrived from Turkey seeking asylum.
Nicolaou revealed that the police had been tipped that there were approximately 400 people the smugglers were planning to transport to Cyprus using the same route.
Thirty immigrants of Syrian origin in total had arrived from Mersin, Turkey in the first two weeks of August on two separate occasions, Nicolaou said. “A port police boat is regularly patrolling the entire maritime region which is likely to be used for the transport of immigrants,” he said. “It seems that the measures taken are acting as a deterrent so far,” he added.
Nicolaou said the the police presence aimed on the one hand to ensure the safety of immigrants and on the other hand to arrest and prosecute those who take advantage of the predicament refugees find themselves in and demand handsome payment in order to transport them, effectively acting as human traffickers.
“We believe that there is an organised plan in place and that is why we have taken these strict security measures as well as others so that we can become aware immediately of any boats transporting immigrants,” he added.
Asked whether the measures would become permanent, he said this was something the police would evaluate but did not dismiss the possibility of setting up a permanent police port presence in the Pyrgos area.
Ionas NicolaouKato Pyrgosmigrantspeople smugglingrouteturkeyTylliriasShare0
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CNA News Service
The Cyprus News Agency or CNA is the major news agency in Cyprus. CNA currently has commercial agreements with Reuters, AFP, ITAR-TASS, RIA NOVOSTI and MENA and cooperation agreements with ANA, SANA, XINHUA, ANSA, IRNA, PAP, APS and ATA. CNA also exchanges news with the Macedonian Press Agency
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‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ Lassos $847M Global & Tops Franchise Offshore With $573M; ‘Lion King’ Reigns In China – International Box Office
The Irwin Family Returning To Animal Planet With New Projects – Mipcom
Nancy Tartaglione
International Editor
@DeadlineNancy
More Stories By Nancy
Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp Confirms Discussions With Vine Alternative Investments – Update
‘The Lion King’ Rises To $35M In China Through Saturday
The Irwin family — Terri, Bindi and Robert — is back in business with Discovery Communications. President and CEO David Zaslav said at Mipcom today that the family will return to Animal Planet which will work with the Irwins to develop and produce new projects that will air across the network’s platforms. The Irwin family will also serve as global ambassadors for Discovery Communications.
Zaslav told Mipcom attendees the series will be “action oriented.” The kids have been following in their father’s footsteps, “there is an authenticity,” Zaslav added. “They live with the animals and represent that. Hopefully we’ll take them around the world.”
The late Steve Irwin helped create a distinctive new style of wildlife documentary and The Crocodile Hunter featured both Steve and wife Terri as co-hosts along with the animals of Far North Queensland. The series was a worldwide hit, airing on Animal Planet from 1996 through 2007 and also featured Terri and Steve’s children, Bindi and Robert.
“Steve Irwin was a champion for all wildlife and he and Terri’s excitement and enthusiasm brought viewers from around the world in touch with nature. Their passion for animals, love for their family, and leadership in conservation awareness left a strong legacy that continues today. We are thrilled to have Terri, Bindi and Robert back in the Animal Planet family,” said Patrice Andrews, General Manager of Animal Planet. Irwin died in 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming an underwater documentary.
Terri Irwin has become a passionate wildlife spokesperson and conservation icon around the world. She supports the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve, a 135,000-hectare property in Cape York and in 2015, she won the Award for Excellence in Women’s Leadership in Queensland and received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from The University of Queensland.
Discovery Puts Squeeze On Unscripted Producers With New Series Financing Mechanism
Bindi has dedicated her life to wildlife conservation and inspiring the next generation to make a difference in the world. She received a Daytime Emmy Award in 2009 for her Discovery Kids series, Bindi, The Jungle Girl; co-created a series of books, and in 2015 appeared on Dancing With The Stars.
Robert co-hosted the Discovery Kids series, Wild But True and has recently made several appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that have left people in awe of his talent and enthusiasm for animals.
The entire Irwin family strives to make Queensland, Australia-based Australia Zoo, a global zoological destination and leader in conservation relating to both wildlife and their habitat, the biggest and best wildlife conservation facility. Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors was established in 2002, initially by Steve and Terri, as a way to include and involve other caring people to support the protection of injured, threatened or endangered wildlife — from the individual animal to an entire species.
David Zaslav
Paul Auster Novel 'In The Country Of Last Things' Gets Movie Adapt With Director Alejandro Chomski, Shoot Underway
Sky Italia & 'Gomorrah' Producer Cattleya Unveil First-Look At Latin Drama 'Romulus'
'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Lassos $847M Global & Tops Franchise Offshore With $573M; 'Lion King' Reigns In China - International Box Office
Luc Besson's EuropaCorp Confirms Discussions With Vine Alternative Investments - Update
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Employee References
Employee References Law and Legal Definition
Employee references are the positive or negative comments about an employee's job performance provided to a prospective employer. In most cases, a prospective employer will contact a person's current or former employer to seek references as part of the process of considering that person for a new position. Prospective employers check references during the interview process in order to ensure that a candidate's assertions about his or her job skills and work experience are accurate. In fact, obtaining references is one of the most important parts of the hiring process because it can provide valuable information that sets one candidate apart from others and facilitates a sound hiring decision.
Although seeking references has a number of benefits for the prospective employer, providing references can be a complicated issue for the current or former employer. As Olga Aikin pointed out in People Management, companies that provide references have a duty both to the employee who is the subject of the reference and to the prospective employer who is the recipient of the reference. Giving a negative reference may expose the company to legal liability if the former employee does not get a desired job and decides to sue for defamation or slander. But providing a falsely positive reference or failing to disclose potentially damaging information can leave the company open to legal liability as well.
If a candidate is selected for a position on the basis of a reference and then commits a crime or causes harm to another person while on the job, the new employer might sue the provider of the reference. Several court decisions have held a former employer liable for crimes committed by a former employee in a new job because that employer had provided a positive reference and failed to notify the prospective employer about one or more negative aspects of the former employee's performance. As a result of these dual sources of liability, providing references sometimes leaves small business owners stuck in the middle. "The issue of references is always controversial, involving a balance of employers' fears of legal liability, interests in providing relevant information to prospective employers, and concerns for fairness to former employees," Ellen Harshman and Denise R. Chachere wrote in the Journal of Business Ethics.
AVOIDING LEGAL LIABILITY WHEN PROVIDING REFERENCES
In recent years, many companies have tried to avoid the legal liability involved in providing employee references by enacting policies that strictly limit the information they are willing to supply. When asked for a reference, these companies will not provide any assessment of an employee's job performance. Instead, they will only confirm the person's job title, dates of employment, and salary. "Due to legal ramifications, corporate executives are increasingly wary of being specific about former employees and their work histories," Max Messmer wrote in Business Credit. "Providing references can be a double-edged sword." In fact, Messmer noted that 74 percent of Fortune 1000 companies have a policy limiting employee references to a confirmation of basic employment information. However, half of the executives polled said they were willing to bend the company rules in order to give positive references for their best performers.
According to Robert A. Siegel and Anne E. Garrett in the Los Angeles Business Journal, small business owners have two main options in providing employee references without exposing themselves to legal liability. First, as noted above, they can simply verify the candidate's basic employment information without making any positive or negative assessment of his or her performance or qualifications. This is known as a "no comment" reference. It has become the policy at a wide range of companies, despite the fact that the prospective employer gains very little information upon which to base a hiring decision.
The second option open to small business owners is to provide a "full disclosure" reference. This type of reference often consists of a letter containing all the relevant facts of a person's employment, including an appraisal of their performance and potential. Experts suggest that an employer cannot be held liable for defamation in providing this type of reference as long as it is made without malice and the information is based on credible evidence. In fact, several states have enacted laws protecting employers from civil liability when they provide references that include job performance information. But some employers still choose to play it safe by only providing information based on performance appraisals that were signed by the former employee.
"In making a decision between the two alternatives, employers will have to balance the value of full disclosure to prospective employers against the risks of litigation presented by that choice," Siegel and Garrett wrote. "While full disclosure is viewed by many observers as the most desirable course, and it is clear that many employers will decide to select that alternative in the future, employers should do so with care in order to avoid litigation challenges by unhappy employees."
TIPS FOR EMPLOYERS CHECKING REFERENCES
With so many companies limiting the reference information they are willing to provide about former employees, small business owners often face a challenge in obtaining the information they need to make sound hiring decisions. In his article, Messmer supplied a series of suggestions for small business owners to use in obtaining references for prospective employees. First, he noted that companies should inform all prospective employees that their backgrounds will be checked carefully prior to hiring. It may be helpful to obtain written approval from all candidates to check their references, as well as a signed release allowing former employers to speak freely without fear of legal liability.
Messmer also suggested that the small business owner, or the person doing the hiring, call prospective employees' references themselves, rather than delegating the task to a human resources representative. It may be helpful to learn something about the candidate's former employer in advance in order to establish trust during the call. If the former employer is reluctant to provide much information—perhaps due to a company policy limiting employee references—Messmer suggests that the small business owner try to engage him or her in conversation by asking open-ended questions. If all else fails, Messmer recommends at least reading parts of the candidate's resume to the former employer and asking him or her to confirm the information it contains.
Other suggestions for small business owners include making sure the references you check are legitimate by calling a central switchboard number at the former employer's offices and asking for the person providing the reference, and checking several references for each candidate to be certain you obtain a clear picture of their qualifications. The Internet may offer another source of basic information about some potential employees. However, small business owners should keep in mind that the same anti-discrimination laws apply to checking references that apply to interviewing: you cannot ask about a candidate's age, marital status, race, religion, etc. or use that information in your hiring decisions. In filling sensitive positions, it may be helpful to hire an outside firm to conduct a detailed background check.
Although the process of checking references may be time-consuming, it is a vital part of making good hiring decisions. "In the current low unemployment environment, it can be tempting to skip calling references in favor of making a quick decision," Messmer noted. "However, it is important not to overlook this important step in the employment process, because one poor hiring decision can affect the productivity of an entire department. Reference checking is hard work and not without pitfalls, but with a little extra effort it can be one of the most useful tools in making the right hiring decisions."
SEE ALSO Employee Hiring
Aikin, Olga. "Watch Your Back, Referee." People Management. 13 April 2000.
Harshman, Ellen, and Denise R. Chachere. "Employee References: Between the Legal Devil and the Ethical Deep Blue Sea." Journal of Business Ethics. 1 January 2000.
Messmer, Max. "The Delicate Art of Reference Checking." Business Credit. May 1999.
Rogerson, Pam. "Insider-Insight: Employee References—Putting pen to paper. The fear of litigation and employment tribunals is putting employers off writing a reference for even valued staff. But it doesn't have to be that way." Accountancy Age. 14 July 2004.
Siegel, Robert A., and Anne E. Garrett. "Giving Employee References: Potential Pitfalls and Protections." Los Angeles Business Journal. 12 January 1998.
Swanson, Sandra. "Rave Reviews." Crain's Chicago Business. 3 October 2005.
Hillstrom, Northern Lights
updated by Magee, ECDI
Employee Profit Sharing
Employee Pro Hac Vice
Employee Performance Appraisals
Employee Registration Procedures
Employee Reinstatement
Employee Reward and Recognition Systems
Actuarial Experience [Employee Retirement]
Actuarial Services [Employee Retirement]
Administrative Employee
Administrator of an Employee Benefit Plan
Affected Employees
Alien Employees
Allotment from Federal Employee
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
At-Will Employee
Atomic Weapons Employee
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How Are S And C Corporations Different?
How Are S And C Corporations Different? iDzyn5 2017-09-28T14:00:20-07:00
Entrepreneurs looking to start a new business in Arizona need to know the difference between an S corporation and a C corporation.
When launching a new company in Tempe, many business people may be unsure of whether they should develop a C corporation or an S corporation. Which one is the better choice? Entrepreneur explains that there is no one-size-fits all answer to this question.
With both the S corporation and the C corporation operational model, shareholders and business owners are able to keep their personal assets shielded from lawsuits or creditors. Beyond that similarity, there are several differences in the two approaches.
A C Corporation Is The Recognized Default
According to Fox Business, the Internal Revenue Service assumes that any new corporation is a C corporation unless a special form is completed and filed. The IRS Form 2553 is required to establish an S corporation, in order to meet the federal requirements for this type of business model.
How Federal Taxes Are Handled
As outlined by the IRS, taxation for S and C corporations at the federal level is different. For a C corporation, taxes are calculated directly on the losses or profits of the business. For an S corporation, a flow-through model is adopted.
Under the flow-through taxation approach for S corporations, a business’ losses or profits are moved down to the shareholders.
Each shareholder is then responsible for paying personal income taxes based upon this information and any other personal income data. The corporations’ loss or profit value will impact the individual taxes of each shareholder. Depending upon the profitability of the business in a given year, this may contribute to an increase or a decrease in a what the shareholder owes.
How State Taxes Are Handled
From a state perspective, when it comes time to file income taxes, there are special requirements. The Arizona Department of Revenue indicates that an S corporation must file a Form 120S with its tax return. If a parent-subsidiary relationship exists where the subsidiary is an S corporation, it is the parent corporation that is required to file the income taxes.
Administrative Features Unique To Each Corporation Type
If a business is established as a C corporation, an accrual method for accounting is used. A business that is established as an S corporation may opt instead to operate on a cash basis. By making this election, a business may enjoy a simplified accounting process.
Generally, there are multiple types of stocks that may be issued by corporations. However, an S corporation is restricted to the use of common stock only, limiting the solicitation of future funding possibilities.
S corporations are also more restricted on who they may allow to be shareholders and where they may operate. Individuals are the most common form of shareholder with an S corporation but estates or trusts are also allowed. S corporations cannot issue stocks to non-resident aliens. The S corporation designation is for domestic companies only.
Recommendations For Starting A New Corporation
Before making a final decision about which type of business model to establish, entrepreneurs in Arizona should consult with an experienced corporate attorney. Doing so ensures that all legalities are properly thought through ahead of time so that the best choice is ultimately made.
Call us today at 480-407-4440 or email us through this website.
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Stephen Leopold in a Green Beret uniform (right) given him at Clark Air Force base in the Philippines shakes hands in 1973 with officers at the base. He had been released days earlier from a North Vietnamese POW camp after five years in prison. Photo provided
2nd Lt. Stephen Leopold was Vietnam MIA for almost 5 years before his release
It made no difference that 23-year-old 2nd Lt. Stephen Leopold was a Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University who served as a member of the U.S. Army’s elite Special Forces in Vietnam. Three weeks after arriving in country he was captured by the North Vietnam Army near Ben Het, in the jungles of Two Corps, May 9, 1968.
“When the NVA carried me off that was the last anyone heard of me for four years, 10 months and 23 days,” the 66-year-old retired Green Beret colonel said. “I was serving in an A-Team with a couple of companies of Montagnards, the indigenous people of Vietnam, when I was caught.
“We were out there supposedly showing the Montagnards how to fight the North Vietnamese. We were to provide a road block so the NVA couldn’t bring tanks and mechanized equipment through the Western Highlands of South Vietnam,” he said.
Ben Het, their base camp, was where South Vietnam intersects Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
“A couple of companies of Montagnards, 300 or 400 soldiers, were supposed to patrol a 20 square mile triple canopy jungle crawling with divisions of NVA,” Leopold said. “After the first two or three weeks in the camp I ended up on the wrong hill, at the wrong time in the wrong place.”
His unit A-243 was over run by NVA one morning.
“It was a typical A-Team camp. You had a group of American advisors, a bunch of ill-equipped Montagnard troops, and some South Vietnamese soldiers they hated all living together on a hill,” he said.
Because he was a Green Beret, Special Forces and the junior officer in the A-Team, his primary job was take the Montagnards out on patrols looking for the enemy. Leopold was also nation building with the indigenous troops. It was his job to show them how to establish a local government, schools, improve their agriculture and generally live better.
With him in the bush was Staff Sgt. Michael McCain.
“He loved the Highlands and he loved the Montagnards. This was his third tour in Vietnam,” Leopold recalled. “We did an air assault on Hill 875 in the morning, but it turned out not to be a hot hill.
“Next morning a company-size unit of NVA attacked our hooch atop Hill 875. McCain was killed by grenades thrown in the hooch and I was blown out of it by the concussion from the same grenades,” he recalled. “When I came to there was a kid with an AK-47 standing over me wearing a conical hat yelling: ‘SURRENDER OR DIE!'”
He didn’t resist.
Leopold in his dress blues at an awards ceremony in July 1985. Photo provided
“I was very lucky because we were right near the NVA staging area. If I had been 20 or 30 miles inland they would have shot me,”he said. “One of the reasons we were over run by the NVA was that the Montagnards were equipped with old American World War II .30 caliber carbines. They had no up-to-date weapons because the South Vietnamese were terrified of them.
“When the Montagnards were attacked by trained NVA troops with modern AK-47 assault rifles they melted into the jungle. The South Vietnamese advisors, who were with them, went right along, too,” he said.
For the next 10 days Leopold was moved to an NVA jungle camp in Northern Cambodia.
“We were deep enough in Cambodia – I never heard B-52 (bomber) raids. We moved into the mountains of Cambodia and stayed there in a jungle camp for 18 months,” he said. “I was living in a big bamboo cage that had a floor in it. There was a guard no more than 25 feet away at all times. When it became dark I was locked in heavy wooden stocks. I wasn’t going anywhere.”
Life in the NVA camp was boring right down to the propaganda indoctrination sessions they tried to feed him that he didn’t like. His situation improved when Peter Trabic, a 17-year-old soldier captured five days after arriving in Vietnam, was captured. They put him in solitary in one of the huts in the camp.
Then Mike Benze, the deputy province chief for USAID, was brought in. He had been captured during the Tet Offensive. He was put in solitary in another of the huts in the compound.
“Sometime around Thanksgiving of 1968 they took the three of us out of the compound and marched us around the hill blindfolded. We ended up in a similar camp with five big huts,” Leopold said. “There were eight other enlisted guys in this camp that had been captured by the NVA in various places in the Highlands,. “I was given a two month course by the camp commander on: “‘The True Nature of the U.S. Imperialist War in Vietnam.’ I had to write my answers in a college blue book for the camp commander who spoke and wrote English,” he said.
“He told me: ‘I was an odious member of the Nixon clique.’ He also said, ‘I was a war monger,’ Leopold recalled four decades later with a grin. “In the 1990s this same little Communist bastard rose to the number three person in the North Vietnamese defense hierarchy. ”
By this time Leopold had been in captivity 18 months he and almost all of the Americans in the NVA’s camp in the Cambodian bush were marched north toward Hanoi and an uncertain future.
“It was November and for 48 days they fed us well and walked us up to Laos,” he said. “They trucked us the rest of the way at night to a prison camp 20 clicks southwest of Hanoi.
“Camp 101 was a hell hole. We got there on Christmas day. They threw me in solitary in a black washed room. It was one of the few days I was in captivity I sat down and cried,” he recalled. “That’s where I was going to sit like a mushroom for the rest of the war I thought.”
2nd Lt. Stephan Leopold’s MIA experiences in North Vietnam would continue for almost another three years. Things for him would get a lot worse before they got better.
The second part of Leopold’s POW story will appear on Wednesday.
Leopold’s File
Name: Stephen Ryder Leopold
D.O.B: 19 June 1944
Hometown: Johnson City, SD
Current: Milwaukee, WI
Entered Service: 30 June 1966
Discharged: 15 July 1973
Rank: Colonel
Unit: 5th Special Forces Group
Commendations: Silver Star, Bronze Star, 2 Purple Hearts, Vietnam Campaign Medal, POW Medal
Battles/Campaigns: Vietnam
Children: Cassandra and Christopher
This story was first published in the Charlotte Sun newspaper, Port Charlotte, Florida on Monday, May 2, 2011 and is republished with permission.
Click here to view Leopold’s collection in the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.
05.09.2011 – Bronze Star / Purple Heart / Silver Star / U.S. Air Force / Vietnam War / Ben Het / Camp 101 / Green Beret / Hanoi Hilton / MIA/POW / Montagnards / Radio Hanoi / US Army Special Forces
09.21.2011 - 8:43 pm
I’ve often wondered why men like this were never brought back into the Army to help teach newer soldiers. LURS (Q6 identifier) and SERE would have been much improved with them. In any event, Mr Leopold, you are an American Hero and I salute you.
Ann File Kasparek
07.03.2016 - 2:19 am
You told me in spring, 1973 you survived by recreating a complete baseball season – national/american leagues – through the World Series. I’ve revisited your story many times in my mind…probably b/c our 3 sons were all baseball players and b/c I’m a diehard Astros fan. Did you have a specific year in your mind or just your ideal season? Go ‘Stros!
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Pfc. Robert Jones of Florida Pines Mobile Home Court, Venice when he got out of basic training in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943 during WW II. He was 18-years-old at the time. Photo provided
Cpl. Robert Jones fought on Okinawa with the 1st Marine Division
Robert Jones of Florida Pines Mobile Home Court in Venice recalls the war years like they were yesterday. He saw action in the Pacific during World War II in New Guinea, Cape Gloucester, New Britain, Peleliu Island, Okinawa, and the Ryukyu Islands.
The 1st Marine Division, of which he was a member, served a tour as occupation forces in Peking, China after the war. Jones was there.
“I signed up for the Marine Corps during my senior year in high school,” the 94-year-old said the other day. “I got to stay in school until I graduated in ’43, then I went right into the service. After basic I got put in the intelligence section. I became a Marine scout during the war in the Pacific.
“I left to go to war from Oakland, Calif. We sailed for New Caledonia and Australia. We became replacement troops on New Guinea about 200 of us,” Jones said. “That’s where I got my first experience as a scout. Three of us set up camp in the jungle and the next day we went down the river to where the Japs were. Then we got lost in the jungle overnight.
“Two weeks later a boat picked us up and we sailed to New Britain where we joined the rest of the 1st Marine Division. New Britain was full of jungle, coconut trees, and Japs. That base cost the Americans 3,946 casualties and weeks of fighting.
The 1st Marine Division was sent to Peleliu on Sept. 1, 1944. It invaded the small island the Japanese had invested a considerable amount of manpower and equipment. Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur wanted to control Peleliu because the Japanese had built a small fighter airbase on the island that U.S. would turn into a bomber base for bombing Japan.
“Some of the Japanese big guns were hidden in caves in the mountains on Peleliu,” Jones said. “Some of these guns were mounted on railroad tracks and disappeared behind closed steel doors when not being fired.
“We spent three months on Peleliu before we were through the Army came in and helped us out. We started out with 13,000 1st Division Marines. By the time we were though we were down to 7,000 Marines. It was bad, we lost the difference,.
A tank crew works its way through the jungles of New Britain in the Pacific. Pfc. Robert Jones of Venice took part in the fight as a member of the 1st Division. Photo provided
Jones and the 1st Division were involved in the capture of Okinawa, the largest battle in the Pacific Theatre. The division was involved in the invasion that began on April 1, 1945. Before the island was in Allied hands more invasion troops were involved on Okinawa than took part in the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944 along the coast of France. The 1st Marine Division cleared the northern half of the 65-mile-long island after 82 days of fierce fighting.
“Kamakazie fighter planes started hitting our fleet. It was terrible how effective they were against our ships.”
“Immediately after the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, our division became an occupation force in China. We were in Peking, the capital city, and the people were very poor. One American dollar was worth 20,000 Chinese yen.
“I was glad to get out of there. I wanted to get home,” he said. “It took us a month to sail home first aboard an LST (Landing Ship Tank) from China to Guam. Then I took a troop transport from Guam to U.S.,” Jones said.
“We were hit by a big typhoon in Guam on the way home,” Jones recalled. “For several days we had nothing to eat but sandwiches aboard ship because of the storm. We couldn’t go on deck because of the storm.”
1st Division Marines advance on Peleliu in the Pacific during World War II. Pfc. Robert Jones was a member of the division who fought his way through the islands during the war. Photo provided
They returned to San Francisco, Calif. and from there were sent to The Great Lakes Receiving Center outside Chicago were the Marines were discharged from the service in February 1946.
He got into building construction for a short while. Then he went to work as a station manager for the Milwaukee Railroad. Finally Jones took a position with the U.S. Postal Service in Terre Haute, Ind. were he worked for 23 years until he retired in 1972. He and his late wife, Ellen, married for 63 years, moved to this area after his retirement. They have two adult children: Kathy
and Karen.
Name: Robert Theodore Jones
D.O.B: 10 Aug. 1924
Hometown: Washington, Ind.
Entered Service: June 1943
Discharged: Jan. 1946
Rank: Corporal
Unit: 1st Marine Division
Commendations: Presidential Unit Citation with 2 bronze stars for service at Peleliu and Okinawa, Asiatic, Pacific Theatre Medal, World War II Victory Medal, China Service Medal, Commendation from Commander 1st Marine Division, Citation for efficient performance of duty at New Britain, Peleliu, Okinawa, Good Conduct Medal
Battles/Campaigns: New Guinea area, Cape Gloucester, New Britain, Peleliu, Okinawa, Ryukuyus Islands
This story was first published in the Charlotte Sun newspaper, Port Charlotte, Fla. on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018 and is republished with permission.
12.19.2018 – U.S. Marine Corps / World War II / 1st Marine Division / Cape Gloucester / New Britain / New Guinea / Okinawa / Peleliu Island / Ryukyu Islands
FTB1(SS)
12.19.2018 - 11:15 am
Reblogged this on Dave Loves History.
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New York Rangers youngster Neal Pionk is the real deal
Brian Paget
New York Rangers young defenseman Neal Pionk continues to impress the hockey world. In other words, Neal is the real deal.
The New York Rangers are more than a quarter of the way through their season and they continue to send shockwaves through the rest of the NHL. The Blueshirts, who were supposedly in the midst of a rebuild, are currently playing high-level hockey while possessing the third spot in the Metropolitan Division standings.
In my opinion, one of New York’s biggest early-season bright spots has been Neal Pionk.
I’ve thought that the youngster’s play has been impressive all season long. However, there are also plenty of people that would disagree with my assessment, as Pionk has emerged as the most hotly debated player among the Garden Faithful. The main worry expressed by the anti-Pionk crowd is in regards to his defensive-zone play.
Despite the concerns, Neal is looking like the real deal.
Through his first 50 NHL games, the 23-year-old defenseman has put up elite numbers. Pionk has tallied 29 points in this span, putting him fourth on the list of most points by a Rangers defenseman through his first 50 career NHL games. He sits behind Brian Leetch, Ron Greschner, and Sergei Zubov. Not bad company to be in for the Minnesota native that went undrafted.
Pionk’s boxcar stats are superb, but that is only one of many factors to weigh when evaluating a player. Pionk also passes the eye test. If you watch the Rangers play, the young blueliner is often the team’s noticeable defenseman. Pionk is a good decision-maker, he is defensively responsible, he blocks shots (he leads the team with 47), he plays with toughness (he ranks third on the team with 43 hits ), he’s on the ice a ton (leads the team in average time-on-ice), he’s a one-man defensive-zone breakout, he has emerged as an excellent power-play quarterback, and he makes some highlight-reel plays.
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) November 7, 2018
His traditional stats are excellent, but the “advanced stats,” also known as the underlying numbers, don’t do Pionk much justice.
Corsi is a stat that measures puck-control when a player is on the ice. A Corsi rating above 50 percent is desired because that means that the player’s team possesses the puck more often than not with that player on the ice. Pionk boasts an even-strength Corsi of 40.8 percent, which is the second-worst mark among Blueshirts that have played more than 10 games this season (Lias Andersson has the lowest Corsi). This suggests that the Rangers spend lots of time pinned in their own zone when Pionk is on the ice.
Another one of these up and coming stats is expected plus-minus. This statistic looks at where shots are taken from when a player is on the ice and uses the league average shooting-percentage from those spots from last season to come up with a number. Pionk’s expected plus-minus is -1.8, which is worse than all of New York’s defensemen other than Brendan Smith. This means that the Rangers are surrendering higher quality shots than they are getting when Pionk is playing. Additionally, Pionk’s actual plus-minus rating thus far this year is -4.
Furthermore, a closer look is needed when looking at Pionk’s production early in the 2018-19 campaign. The Minnesota Duluth product has registered 15 points. On the positive side, 12 of his 15 points have been or the primary variety. On the negative side, only four of his 15 points have come at even strength. Pionk has clearly established himself as a top-tier power-play producer, as he ranks tied for third among NHL defensemen in power-play points, but that begs the question of whether or not Pionk is anything more than a power-play specialist?
I believe that he is. Advanced stats are important and should not be overlooked, but they don’t always tell the full story.
For example, in Pionk’s case, he has been stapled to Marc Staal all season. While Staal has been fine this season, he is not a defenseman that thrives at keeping possession of the puck and exiting the defensive zone. This obviously hurts Pionk’s underlying metrics. Although some stats show otherwise, Pionk has the potential to become a key cog of the Rangers’ future core.
RELATED: New York Rangers: The plan to fix the defensive logjam
When assessing players, the key is to find a balance between the eye test and all of the different types of stats. In Pionk’s case, the eye test and the boxcar stats paint a better picture. He is a very effective player, who makes his presence felt at both ends of the ice.
If the Rangers want to build upon their solid start to the season, they are going to need guys to continue to step up. Arguably the most pleasant surprise thus far has been the emergence of Neal Pionk, but he must continue to raise his level of play in order for the Blueshirts to sustain their success.
Follow Brian Paget on TWITTER
NEXT: Vladislav Namestnikov Has Been A Pleasant Surprise In 2018-19
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/ Celebrities and Showbiz
Rapper 6ix9ine innocent of racketeering charges
Associated Press /
This April 3, 2018 still image from a surveillance video, provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, was released by federal prosecutors to document alleged involvement by rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine in several violent incidents and to support their request to a judge that the rapper be denied bail. Image: U.S. Attorney’s Office / AP
NEW YORK (AP) — The defense attorney for Brooklyn rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine says his client is “completely innocent” of federal racketeering and firearms charges.
The rapper, whose legal name is Daniel Hernandez, is among five people indicted this week on charges that he directed or participated in violent acts as part of a deadly gang known as the 9 Trey Bloods.
The indictment alleges that the violent episodes involving 6ix9ine included the July shooting of a bystander in Brooklyn and the gunpoint robbery of one of the gang’s rivals last spring.
6ix9ine was held without bail after an initial appearance before a Manhattan federal magistrate judge Monday.
On Wednesday, defense attorney Lance Lazzaro said in a statement that his client was “completely innocent of all charges.”
“An entertainer who portrays a ‘gangster image’ to promote his music does not make him a member of an enterprise,” Lazzaro said.
“Mr. Hernandez became a victim of this enterprise and later took steps by firing employees and publicly denounced this enterprise through a morning show. Threats were then made against his life which resulted in this case being brought immediately,” he added.
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At Monday’s hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Longyear said the rapper did not renounce his membership in the gang on the radio show last week.
He said 6ix9ine would have been arrested this week anyway, but the timetable was speeded up when authorities learned that he planned to go to a Connecticut casino where it would be harder to protect him from the threats.
Longyear said the threats were overheard on phone calls intercepted Saturday by investigators, including one in which an individual was heard saying that gang members wanted to “super violate him.”
The prosecutor noted that violence seemed to surround the entertainer. He said 10 shots were fired into a Beverly Hills, California, home where he was filming a music video a week ago. AB
Brooklyn rapper 6ix9ine arrested on racketeering charges
Rapper Tekashi69 says men forced him from car, took jewelry
Ludwig Goransson is having the best year ever. Period.
TAGS: Firearms, Rapper, recketeering, Tekashi 6ix9ine
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All hail the popular black model and former slave who was in everybody’s home in the 1890s as ‘Aunt Jemima’
November 17, 2018 at 08:00 am | History
Nancy Green made history as one of the first African American models employed by an American company to promote a product --- Pinterest
The world knew her as “Aunt Jemima”, but this former slave’s real name was Nancy Green and she made history as being one of the first African American models employed by an American company to promote a product.
Between the 1890s to the early 1920s, “Aunt Jemima’s pancakes” was a common phrase in Chicago when good things to eat were discussed and this has been attributed to Green, who became not only the company’s first living trademark but the whole advertising world.
The original idea of “Aunt Jemima”, a packaged, ready-mixed, self-rising pancake flour began with Chris Rutt, a newspaperman, and Charles Underwood who bought the Pearl Milling Company to develop the product.
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Nancy Green — Twitter
But to make it in an industry that was so competitive, they needed an image to sell their product. When Rutt, in 1889, attended a vaudeville show where he heard a catchy tune called “Aunt Jemima” sung by a blackface performer who was wearing an apron and bandanna headband, he decided to call their product “Aunt Jemima.”
In 1890, Rutt and Underwood went broke so they sold the formula to the R.T. Davis Milling Company, which also started a search for a Black woman to represent the product as a living trademark.
When they found Green in Chicago, she was 56 years, who was working as a domestic for the Walker family, a well-known household whose children grew up to become Chicago Circuit Judge Charles M. Walker and Dr. Samuel Walker.
Aunt Jemima pancakes — Shub’s Thoughts
Green’s rise to fame began in 1893 during the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where she was to promote “Aunt Jemima.”
Being an amiable person and a good storyteller, historical accounts say Green demonstrated the pancake mix with ease and served over a thousand pancakes.
She attracted so many people to her exhibition booth that security had to step in to restore order and keep the crowds moving.
After her tremendous work at the exhibition, the Davis Milling company received over 5,000 orders, and Green was subsequently awarded a medal and certificate by Fair officials for her showmanship.
Green, who soon became a household name, and was widely proclaimed as “Pancake Queen,” got signed to a lifetime contract to serve as spokesperson and travelled on promotional tours across the country.
Through her, flour sales went up, and following the impact she had made, the company was renamed Aunt Jemima Mills Company in 1914.
Green maintained her job until her death on September 23, 1923 after a car crash in Chicago.
The Davis Milling Company, now Aunt Jemima Mills, went broke after her passing, and Quaker Oats Company purchased the company in 1925.
Current Aunt Jemima products
— WGN-TV
You may find Aunt Jemima products in your household and stores now, but not with Green’s image, as the Aunt Jemima image has since been switched with several other images of women.
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Theresa May 2018 Davos Speech: Lies, Misdirection And Threats
January 31, 2018 ducksoap1 Comment
As a side-show to Trump’s clownish posturing and to Macron’s rehearsed arrogance, Theresa May was given a few minutes at exploiters’ circle jerkfest Davos last week to talk nonsense to a small crowd that steadily diminished as she spoke. A transcript of her speech is here: Full speech.
Davos is not a meeting of world leaders who exchange ideas on fiscal management of the global economy; Davos is a gathering of wealth terrorists’ gimps who seek to assure their masters (and assure each other) that they are capable of continuing to exploit 99% of the world’s population. Throughout her speech May used “we” to mean the (current) ruling class of exploiters and not to mean the people of the world.
May chose to focus on new technologies. “Today I am going to make the case for how we can best harness the huge potential of technology.” Is that not what human beings have always sought to do? We – meaning humans – have always wanted to improve the tools available to us to make our lives better and easier. However, the “we” as May used the word want to be sure that changes in technology will further enhance their unearned profits.
“Let me start with how we can embrace technology. Key to this is channelling the power of government and business in partnership to seize the opportunities of technology and create high-quality, well-paid jobs right across the world.” Was May reading from her GCSE essay in stating the obvious? “Harnessing the power of technology is not just in all our interests but fundamental to the advance of humanity” declared May to the disappointment of the Amish community.
May’s intent in her speech was to pretend that the Tories want Britain to be a leader in digital technology including artificial intelligence. This pretence was presented as a series of platitudes spliced together randomly alongside namechecks of some Tory pseudo-initiatives including Modern Industrial Strategy, National Retraining Scheme and Institute of Coding. There was nothing illuminating or inspiring within her comments on the requirements for governments and businesses regarding digital technology. It was all vacuous waffle. The reason for her focus on this technology is to try to create false optimism regarding Brexit. Faced with clear calamitous consequences of Brexit, the Tory plan is to say that future unknown benefits of AI and digital technology will save us all, so we shouldn’t worry.
She claimed to be aware of the need to protect the availability of jobs. “We need to act decisively to help people benefit from global growth now. That is why as part of our industrial strategy, there is a focus on supporting new jobs and industries that build on the strengths of local communities. And just as we act to help support new jobs today, so we also need to help people secure the jobs of tomorrow.” As an example of “the jobs of tomorrow” May lauded Uber. “Take the example of Uber – a ground-breaking use of technology that has radically changed how people move around in cities across the world.” Uber is entirely exploitative toward its employees and exists because public transport is inadequate. A city with a good public transport system would have no need for Uber.
“We are delivering the UK’s biggest ever increase in public investment in research and development, which could increase public and private R&D investment by as much as £80 billion over the next 10 years” claimed May. How much of that “investment” will be tax-payers money handed over to the arms industry?
“We are using technology to support the needs of an ageing society, for example by employing powerful datasets to help diagnose and treat illnesses earlier.” This claim was made by May as the Tory government continues to deliberately destroy the NHS.
“Imagine a world in which self-driving cars radically reduce the number of deaths on our roads. Imagine a world where remote monitoring and inspection of critical infrastructure makes dangerous jobs safer. Imagine a world where we can predict and prevent the spread of diseases around the globe.” It’s easy if you try. It is easy if the focus is better technology that benefits mankind rather than just a different method of exploitation and different channelling of tax-payers’ money into the hands of a few. The Tories will always chose the latter option.
May forgot that she is leader of a government (and party) that will gleefully remove any protection for workers in order to maximise exploitation profit and she forgot that the Tories’ main focus with Brexit is a bonfire of workers’ protections and employment rules and regulations. In imaginary opposite world she proclaimed that “we need to make sure that our employment law keeps pace with the way that technology is shaping modern working practices. So employment law needs to preserve vital rights and protections – and the flexibilities that businesses and workers value. But we must make sure those flexibilities really do work for everyone, and don’t become a one-sided deal that can become exploitative.” Due to continuous examples to the contrary, no-one believes these words of May’s are sincere.
The comments about new technology and AI were encased in May’s oft-repeated pleas for capitalism to survive. “Last year, on this platform, I argued that the benefits of free trade were not being felt by all. And I warned that the failure of political and business leaders to address this threatened to undermine popular support for the entire rules based system on which our global security and prosperity depends.” The “rules based system,” a phrase May used four times in her speech, means bog standard international exploitative capitalism. Bizarrely, May’s emphasis of a “rules based system” was an attempt to imply there exists somewhere a capitalism without rules; no such anarchocapitalism operates anywhere.
As people starve to death or freeze to death on the street due to vicious social murder of benefit cuts and sanctions, and many people are employed in zero-hours or sub-minimum wage jobs, Theresa May saw only a fake reduction in unemployment: “In the UK, we have seen productivity rising, unemployment at its lowest rate for over 40 years and more and more examples of government and business working together to bring new jobs and opportunities to communities across our country.” The “working together” of “government and business” under the Tories means more opportunities for businesses to utterly exploit the workforce.
To be fair, May has noted how worried people are about Tories being in charge: “Many fear that because of technology they and their children will lose out on the jobs of the future and they worry too about how new technologies might be exploited by those with malevolent intentions; and what that could mean for the safety and wellbeing of their families and children.” But, she claimed everything has worked out fine: “Right across the long sweep of history – from the invention of electricity to the advent of factory production – time and again initially disquieting innovations have delivered previously unthinkable advances and we have found the way to make those changes work for all our people.” The 1980s Tories handed electricity supply to racketeers who have fleeced the public for thirty years and factory production is becoming increasingly less safe and lower paid.
The Tory government has actively allowed the major international internet companies to dodge billions of due taxes but May stated there are too many “barriers” for e-commerce: “While the likes of eBay, Amazon and Alibaba have grown into global giants, taking on a central role in the lives of billions around the world, the WTO has been struggling to remove barriers to e-commerce trade for almost twenty years.”
May concluded her speech with threats to curtail free speech online. “The Digital Charter we are developing in the UK sets out the principles of our approach to agree the rights and responsibilities of the online world and to put them into practice.” The Tories have already revealed their intent to censor online communication. Via the pretence of attacking fake news the Tories want to remove political criticism and they also asked Lord Bew to concoct a review and a report to over-state intimidation of politicians – see links below.
Tories preparing to censor revolutionary politics: Fake news
Tories preparing to censor revolutionary politics: Intimidation of politicians
Tories preparing to censor revolutionary politics: Bew Report
In an echo of Joe McCarthy, May implored the shareholders of social media companies to assist with the censorship. “Investors can play a vital role by considering the social impact of the companies they are investing in. This is fundamental to the proper functioning of markets, choice and competition. They can use their influence to ensure these issues are taken seriously. For example, earlier this month a group of shareholders demanded that Facebook and Twitter disclose more information about sexual harassment, fake news, hate speech and other forms of abuse that take place on the companies’ platforms. So investors can make a big difference here and I urge them to do so.“
US politician Joe McCarthy
The Tories desire to control goes further. May stated an intent to make sure robots are programmed to serve the same people May serves. She invoked the elite “we” again. “In a global digital age we need the norms and rules we establish to be shared by all. This includes establishing the rules and standards that can make the most of Artificial Intelligence in a responsible way, such as by ensuring that algorithms don’t perpetuate the human biases of their developers. So we want our new world-leading Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation to work closely with international partners to build a common understanding of how to ensure the safe, ethical and innovative deployment of Artificial Intelligence.” There is no intelligence in the Tory party or their co-conspirators; they should be as far away as possible from determining any guidelines for artificial intelligence.
It was another empty speech by May. It was constructed to provide soundbites for the media. It failed to do even that.
Tory Reshuffle: Internal party appointments emphasise its weaknesses
January 11, 2018 January 17, 2018 ducksoap2 Comments
Alongside a few ministerial changes in this week’s error-strewn Tory reshuffle, the prime minister made some appointments within the party.
Four new party appointments are:
1. Tory Party Chairman: Brandon Lewis
When housing minister, Lewis was keen to remove as many heath and safety regulations and requirements for property developers regardless of potential risk to users of the properties. He opposed the mandatory installation of sprinklers in buildings. In typical conman’s gobblydegook Lewis said “we believe that it is the responsibility of the fire industry, rather than the Government, to market fire sprinkler systems effectively and to encourage their wider installation” – Lewis on sprinklers. What is the “fire industry?” The fire service is a public service. (Most property developers are willing donors to the Tory party.)
Lewis swindled the tax payers of tens of thousands of pounds in decadent expensive hotel stays in London despite living within commutable distance: Lewis hotel stays.
As immigration minister, Lewis lied in the House of Commons about the indefinite detention of immigrants. Quoted in Lewis on immigration detention, he said “we do not have indefinite detention in this country. In our policies is always a presumption of liberty. Individuals are detained for no longer than is necessary.” Every word in those sentences is a lie.
He elucidated his views on immigration in Lewis on immigration wherein he pretended to conclude that “it is the Conservatives who are showing true compassion” immediately before he declared “we [the Tories] are the ones focused on preventing illegal migration.” He blamed immigrants for the exploitative landlords and employers who house or employ them. The entire article was from a far-right template for anti-immigrant diatribes. Utterly disreputable and wholly dishonest.
2. Tory Party Deputy Chairman: James Cleverly
Intellectually, Cleverly is bathophobic. He uses a brattish mode of communication to obscure his abject lack of knowledge and wit. His social media performances imitate the output of bot trolls. His preferred tactic when engaged with someone to his left politically is to shout “Stalin!” Coincidently, here is a photo of Cleverly taking instructions from a murdering, thieving dictator:
Yes, your majesty
3. Tory Party Vice Chair For Youth: Ben Bradley
Ben Bradley is twenty-eight years old and, thus, for that reason only, he has been assigned the impossible role of persuading younger people to vote Tory. In preparation for this role Bradley has voted “against increased funding of public services; against scrapping university tuition fees; against restoring Education Maintenance Allowance, maintenance grants and nurses’ bursaries; against ending the public sector pay cap and against increasing the minimum wage.” (Taken from Bradley parliament votes)
He voted to stay in the EU but changed his mind after the referendum because he didn’t like the EU’s response to the Brexit vote – Bradley In/Out. Was he ignorant ahead of the referendum or is his change of mind pragmatic careerism? He expressed his newly found support for Brexit with gibberish: “Yes, I want security and certainty for my children, but I also want them to be able to forge their own path. Yes, I want them to be part of a global economy and to be able to travel and deal with the whole world, but actually that’s exactly what Brexit can achieve for them: a Britain that is outward-looking and that has a positive relationship not just with Europe but with countries all over the world; a Britain that is more comfortable with itself and more able to control its own destiny; an independent country that recognises its global role but actually puts Britain and British people first.”
Bradley stated that people who claim benefits should have vasectomies: “How many children you have is a choice; if you can’t afford them, stop having them! Vasectomies are free,” quoted in Bradley on families.
He asked the police to be violent and to break the law in an analysis of civil unrest that was a consequence of the police killing of Mark Duggan: Bradley wants brutality.
He criticised public service employees who had campaigned for better pay, pensions and working conditions, all of which had been attacked relentlessly by the Tories. Quoted in Bradley on public sector workers, he said “if you think your job or your pay isn’t good enough for you, quit! There are millions and millions of other people who will quite happily take your burden off your hands! If you think you deserve better pay, then get a job with better pay. If you don’t feel capable of getting a job with better pay then be grateful for the one you’ve got!”
4. Tory Party Vice Chair For Women: Maria Caulfield
Maria Caulfield is opposed to abortion and she has supported use of a 19th century law that limited abortion: Caulfield on abortion.
Caulfield admitted in a submission to a Bew Report (page 77) that she has developed many tactics to dodge speaking to her constituents: “I now have video entry only into my constituency office. I have panic alarms installed. I only post on social media after I have attended events so people can’t track my movements, on the advice of local police. I no longer put anything personal on social media. I no longer hold open surgeries, they are by appointment only and are not advertised in advance.“
Lewis is a typical detached Tory who favours elite wealth terrorists and who promotes prejudice to encourage division.
Cleverly is a clown.
Bradley is a careerist with no principles and no consistency of opinion.
Caulfield doesn’t enjoy being an MP and is opposed to gender equality.
None of these appointments will help the Tory party to increase its membership or its appeal. Opponents of the Tories have nothing to be concerned about.
Privatisation Of Public Services? It’s Just Theft
January 9, 2018 ducksoap3 Comments
The Tories perceive all public services as merely schemes to enhance the unearned wealth of financial gangsters. The process that enables the transfer of tax-payers’ money into the hands of wealth terrorists is well-established and used widely.
Privatise and/or remove the public service from central government or council control.
Hand over tax-payers’ money to the new “owners/administrators” of the public service.
The charlatans who run the service fleece a huge percentage of the public money given to them and the service is poor and expensive for the public.
The public pay three times to feed the unearned profits of the financial charlatans:
Taxes that are handed over to the administrators of the public service.
Extortionate cost of using the service (for example rail fares, gas bills, etc.).
Poor quality service that encourages some people (who can afford it) to use private services that require extra fees (for example private healthcare and schools).
Throughout the 1980s and since 2010, the Tories have “privatised” most necessary public services including utilities (gas, electricity, water), housing, education, health service, transport, police, prisons, probation service, immigration services, refuse collection, welfare services, etc. For all of these necessary public services, there has been a stream of billions of tax-payers’ money being swallowed by the insatiable appetites of the wealth terrorists (and Tory party donors) accompanied by huge increases in costs of the services and rapid decline in their quality. The decline in quality has led to deaths.
The so-called “privatisation,” started by Thatcher’s Tories, was never intended to improve quality or to provide better value for (tax-payers’) money. It is not privatisation; it is theft, theft of money from the British public and theft of vital services. The current Tories exist to assist with this theft. Most Tory MPs and peers are in parliament to focus on finding more services that can be used to feed the financial gangsters.
Public services handed over to privateers provide a constant and never-ending stream of free money because the services are both a monopoly and a necessity. If any difficulties arise then the government just hands over some more cash to be siphoned off by the privateers. The private businesses that run public services never need to be concerned with quality, or competition or value for money because the necessity of the service makes them immune from the normal vagaries of running a business. Unearned profits are guaranteed regardless of quality of service or of cost to the users; they just sit there as open-mouthed gluttons.
Typically, the public money is handed over by the Tories to a handful of racketeers who register a fake company in a tax haven and “employ” people locally to do the work, in insecure jobs, with inadequate training, low pay and an absence of legally required employer commitments such as holiday pay, sick pay, over-time pay, redundancy pay, union recognition, etc. There is complete separation between the owners of the private businesses that run public services and the people who do the work. All the people doing the work could be employed by government, councils or other state agencies. Most of the public services are locally managed services. There is nothing that the owners do that could not be done by a public body.
An ill person, a disabled person or a child that needs an education are used as opportunities for the lowest breed of human to make money and the Tories are their enablers. Human necessities like water, heating, housing, health services, police service, fire service, etc. are exploited as means of profit for a small elite of grotesques.
Tory privatisation is theft and a scam.
An ambulance with a G4S logo on it
Neon-lit Tory Lies
It an axiom of political discourse that if a Tory is speaking or writing then a Tory is lying. The public know the Tory government lies constantly and brazenly about the NHS, housing, education, public transport, welfare provision, pensions, etc. and the public know the Tory government lies about pretending to tackle mass tax avoidance.
The Tory government and its enablers are aware their destructive intent is common knowledge. They are aware their continuous lies, obfuscations, misdirections, misrepresentations and confidence tricks are transparent and read easily. The typical Tory persona essays detached arrogance and confidence but Tories know they are not conning the majority of people.
The growing appeal of left of centre politics in Britain is partly a consequence of the disdain felt by many for Tories and Tory-lite like Liberal Democrats or Progress. Equally, the cohesiveness and focus of resurgent left-wing politics, both within and outside Labour, has helped to expose and highlight Tory dishonesty. For the Tories, the failure of the general election gamble this year emphasised the decline of the public’s faith in Tory integrity.
If the lies are no longer believed by enough people, with the number of naysayers increasing all the time, and if the Tories have nothing to offer, and if their shambolic, directionless and duplicitous handling of Brexit produces only ridicule, then they need a new tactic to cling onto power.
Censorship of opposition
A year before the 2015 general election the Tory/Lib Dem government created a gagging law to prevent charities revealing the effects of government cuts to vital public services; this law was initially applicable during election campaigns. The purpose of the law was to hide the devastating consequences of Tory policy from the voters. A month prior to the 2017 general election the Tories demanded financial details from charities, including money spent on awareness campaigns about the effects of government policy, for the year up to the date of the election with a concomitant threat of criminal proceedings. This gagging law enhancement, enacted without parliamentary approval, was introduced to stop charities from ever spending any money to expose the severity of government social policy.
A focussed parliamentary opposition, a well-organised support group – Momentum, and a healthy exchange of information and ideas via social media involving various left-of-centre perspectives have all been part of an effective challenge to the Tory government and have been a strong counter to lopsided balance in the media. To stifle this success the establishment response is to seek to restrict the capacity to communicate.
In some countries the governments restrict communication with the use of force and outside of parliamentary, judicial or journalistic inspection. In less openly authoritarian countries like Britain forceful tactics are considered uncouth. Thus, the Tory government has needed to be creative by grossly over-exaggerating a problem and developing the framework for some censorship; new laws can then be used to silence critics.
The Tories’ aim to censor the internet was signposted in the manifesto ahead of the 2017 general election including direct censorship and prohibitive cost.
As tools to be used to enable censorship of opposition, the Tories and like-minded politicians and enablers are trying to direct consensus regarding two invented problems, namely fake news and intimidation of politicians.
An account of how intimidation of politicians has been used to try to create the groundwork for further censorship of political opposition is here: Tories preparing to censor revolutionary politics: Intimidation of politicians.
Fake news is a directional description applied to (mostly) online information that is posted with the author’s full knowledge of its mendacity. In t’olden days, such comments were classified as satire and/or having a laugh. News, meaning serious information, can easily and quickly be checked for veracity by media outlets and by members of the public. The tendency for some untrue stories to gain an online life of their own is inconvenient but not a sufficient reason to want to erase everything apart from absolute verifiable truths.
Tories and their cohorts are not worried about fake stories but they are very worried about the success of left-wing voices online. The popularity of the fake news scare has created a spurious opportunity to restrict online communication: Fake news is cited as the enemy to be fought but revolutionary politics is the real target. Bankers’ puppet Emmanuel Macron has stated his intent to change the law in France to reduce opposition during election campaigns and he has presented his plans as a response to fake news: Macron censorship. The Tories have a similar plan.
Damian Collins, the chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) parliamentary committee, has been on a mission to combat social media fake news for a year. “The growing phenomenon of fake news is a threat to democracy and undermines confidence in the media in general” he declared in January 2017 in Collins on fake news. “The committee will be looking into the sources of fake news, what motivates people to spread it, and how it has been used around elections and other important political debates.”
During the campaign for the 2017 general election most of the daily newspapers published a barrage of fake stories about Labour, with the motivation of supporting the Tories. However, Collins has not started an investigation into fake news on the front pages of newspapers because he doesn’t want parliament to interfere in newspaper stories, as he explained (also in January 2017) in Collins on Leveson/IPSO:
“Press regulation is an important issue. But the greatest threat to the credibility of the media no longer emanates from newspapers. Instead it comes via the internet, where fake news spreads without regulation through social media platforms and numerous other channels. That should be a greater concern for us now.”
Collins’ support for the discredited and disreputable IPSO sits comfortably with his pretended ignorance of the motivation of most of the national newspapers in Britain.
To promote the invented problem of social media fake news, Collins has sought the assistance of the largest social media platforms Google, Facebook and Twitter. Clearly, such platforms are not vanguards of a revolution – (they exist to make a lot of money quickly for their shareholders and, usually, indulge in mass avoidance of tax) – but the users of these platforms have utilised them positively to help with political activism. The immediate world-wide exchange of information and political opinions online has become an effective challenge to filtered news and state political propaganda. This challenge scares not just governments but also the international financial elite that the governments serve.
Some authoritarian governments have simply shut down various social media tools to restrict online activism but the Tories have needed to be craftier. Presented as a response to “fake news” and to cross-border political interference, Collins has conducted a pantomime wherein he has acted out his attempts to coerce, persuade and threaten the social media companies. He sent a series of public letters to Google, Twitter and Facebook to which he published his analysis of their responses and their representatives attended a DCMS select committee hearing.
Google, Facebook and Twitter at DCMS select committee
His first letter to Facebook began with a plea for information about “Russian-linked accounts,“
“I am writing to you to request information regarding the use of Facebook advertising and pages by Russian-linked accounts in the lead up to, and during, the 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union and the 2017 British general election.” (Full letter at foot of blog)
and he concluded a letter to Twitter on December 14th 2017 with
“It seems odd that so far we have received more information about activities that have taken place on your platform from journalists and academics than from you. If Twitter is serious about cooperating with the work of this committee and tackling the spread of disinformation then you should provide me with a full response to the clear questions that I set out [in earlier letters] no later than Monday 15th January 2018.”
As the quotes above show, Collins’ letters were clunky, pompous, condescending and displayed mock authority. Despite his claim of “clear questions” there was no clarity about what Collins identified as a problem or what he wanted from the recipients. The purpose of these letters was not to obtain any information. They were intended as public signposts to direct attention to the issue of social media fake news. Any ensuing disputes between social media companies and the Tory government will also be part of this signposting.
The December letter to Twitter was a follow-up response to information being sent by Twitter to Collins that he felt was inadequate. He was equally (or pretended to be) unsatisfied by information supplied by Facebook – quoted in Collins Facebook response.
“It would appear that no work has been done by Facebook to look for Russian activity around the EU referendum, other than from funded advertisements from those accounts that had already been identified as part of the US Senate’s investigation. No work has been done by Facebook to look for other fake accounts and pages that could be linked to Russian-backed agencies and which were active during the EU referendum, as I requested. Are we to believe that Russian-backed targeting of voters through social media with fake news was limited only to Twitter during the referendum, when both Twitter and Facebook had been used in the USA during the presidential election?“
Again, Collins chose to make allegations as statements of fact and he presumed that he had any authority over Facebook.
His interactions with the social media companies have been a drama. The purpose of this drama is to create and keep newsworthy the concocted concept of the problem of fake news.
Right-wingers seeking to reduce freedoms can always rely on support from useful idiots among the illiberal liberal community. The Guardian’s Alex Hern might claim his job includes reporting on fake news because he is a ‘technology features writer at the Guardian’ but that job title doesn’t imply every such report is written from Collins’ perspective like a PR memo from the latter’s private office. Both Hern on Facebook (“Facebook has been slammed [by Collins]“) and Hern on Twtter (“Twitter has been attacked [by Collins]“) began with Hern’s facsimile of Collins’ PR lines. In January 2017 the Guardian’s Jane Martinson wrote a bland article about Collins, Martinson on Collins, wherein she said “Collins is a moderate” with no context to what that means and she regurgitated his anti-social media diatribe without any counter-analysis or comment; she presented Collins’ arguments as if they were uncontestable.
Collins’ (recently sacked) Tory colleague Damian Green showed that the campaign to create an anti social media consensus has no ethical boundaries by his comments in a speech to journalists, quoted in Green on fake news. He attacked independent left-wing news sites Canary and Skwawkbox, conflated them with the far-right cabal of professional trolls at Breitbart, and said “If we don’t respect each other motives then we risk feeding an atmosphere of increasing hatred which at the most horrible of extremes led to the killing of Jo Cox.” Canary‘s Editor-in-Chief Kerry-Anne Mendoza’s excellent response (from the same article) is worth quoting in full.
“The Secretary of State does a disservice to himself and his office with these appalling comments. Jo Cox lost her life due to bigotry and intolerance – she was killed by a racist man with Nazi sympathies. For decades, such hateful ideas have been actively promoted by mainstream outlets like The Sun and The Daily Mail. Every day, these outlets are attacking ethnic minorities, immigrants, LGBT+ communities and people who rely on the welfare state. Instead of speaking out against these billionaire-backed peddlers of bigotry, Mr Green is attacking one of the few independently owned, progressive outlets in the UK. An outlet led by a gay woman of colour as Editor-in-Chief. The truth is that we set up The Canary precisely because of the one-sided reporting already happening in the mainstream media – we are presenting the other side of that story. And we do that as probably the most diverse media outlet in the whole country. Our mission is to disrupt the hateful messages of the right-wing UK press, reminding people that we have more in common than the superficial differences. By disrupting those messages, we have helped to change the public conversation. This will always be threatening to those who benefit from an unjust status quo.”
In February, Matt Turner from Evolve Politics had written on how left-wing news sites counter false reporting of much of the mainstream media: Turner on fake news. The percentage of purposefully fake news in mainstream media, in the literature and verbal contributions of think-tank members and in the lobbying of PR consultancies is significantly greater in volume and reach than any similar inventions in independent media. Right-wing free market think tanks are created to promote a particular political perspective and their main tactic is to espouse that view while pretending to be independent. Their members inveigle access to media and are allowed to present their fallacious arguments without challenge and without queries about the funding of the think-tanks. Political PR consultancies are professional con artists.
Giles Kenningham, an adviser to David Cameron for the 2015 general election campaign, “founded” PR consultancy Trafalgar Strategy that “advises on reputation and media management, campaigns, public affairs and complex communication challenges.” That quote translates as “advises politicians how to mislead, distract and lie successfully.” The Spectator magazine, known for its loose relationship with truth, gave a platform to Kenningham for him to accuse social media networks of the crimes that he, the government he worked for and the magazine he wrote for, have committed as a key component of their communication. In the same paragraph in Kenningham in Spectator he said “now it’s [fake news] threatening to undermine democracies across the world” and “you can normally assume newspapers, irrespective of their political stance, have sourced and doubled checked their facts.” No, the newspapers that support the Tories have no interest in facts. “Disinformation has become a new front in the cyberwar” claimed Kenningham. Yes, all the official Tory government department, minister and party social media accounts spout only lies, misinformation and misdirection. For example, @Conservatives, the official Tory party twitter account, is entirely lies.
“Politicians so far in this country have chosen not to regulate. But I think the time has come for them to act. To be quite blunt, will it take an act of unimaginable horror triggered by the spread of false information for the UK government to wake up?“
exclaimed Kenningham dramatically. The party that he helped to be elected is enabling “unimaginable horrors” in Yemen alongside continuous misinformation from government ministers. Kenningham’s job was to advise Cameron how best to deceive. His concern for fake reporting and its effects is beyond hypocrisy.
In his Spectator piece, Kenningham mentions the BBC’s project to teach children about fake news. BBC newsreaders will visit schools to educate children “to identify real news and filter out fake or false information.” In BBC Project on fake news James Harding, the (thankfully) soon to be departed Director of BBC News and Current Affairs, said
“Never has it been so important for young people to develop their critical thinking and to be news literate, and have the skills to filter out fakery from the truth, especially on their busy social media feeds. BBC News, as the most trusted news provider and home of Reality Check, is ideally placed to bring this project to schools and young people around the country.”
Perhaps, Harding’s successor Fran Unsworth could ask the producer of Question Time to take the course to ensure that fake “independent” “experts” from right-wing think-tanks don’t slip onto the show as panellists, and she could invite some of the BBC’s reporters to check their own social media output. Harding wants young people “to develop their critical thinking” but his career has been guided by stifling critical thought. The recent behaviour of the BBC, particularly the reluctance to interrogate Tory ministers properly when they are guests on TV and radio, means it is not adequately qualified to be a leader against fake news.
The BBC’s project isn’t necessary: Young people are naturally wary. In BBC Project on fake news 2 the BBC said “last month a survey by media watchdog Ofcom found almost three-quarters of children aged between 12 and 15 were aware of so-called fake news and that half of them has read a story they suspected of being false.” That is, fake news is spotted easily by younger people and so no need for the scare stories.
Fake News: A fake problem and a fake enemy
Fake news exists but it is not the problem that the Tory government and cohorts claim it is. The campaign against fake news is really a campaign against political challenge; the former is being used as a reason to silence the latter.
Links to related blogs
Damian Green Fears Left-Wing Media
Tom Watson’s (aborted) fake news inquiry
Transparent politicians and transparent media are nearing extinction
BBC News: Bias and Balance
Right-Wing Think-Tanks
Tory Manifesto 2017: Lies and Slander
January 5, 2018 January 6, 2018 ducksoap5 Comments
Taking a break from laughing their heads off in unison in parliament whenever an opposition MP speaks about evictions, malnutrition, starvation, destitution and death caused by vicious Tory policy, the Tories have exercised their time and energy discussing “intimidation of parliamentary candidates.” Paul Bew, a peer in the House of Lords and a Statement of Principles signatory of the right-wing imperialist think-tank the Henry Jackson Society, chaired a review by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) and compiled a report. Theresa May asked for the review and report.
The purpose of the review and report was to create false impetus for a new criminal offence of intimidating parliamentary candidates and party campaigners. The objective of the new offence is to restrict criticism of political parties and their supporters during election campaigning. Specifically, the intent is to lessen valid criticism and fact-checking of the typical lies, smears and omissions of the Tories’ public presentation of their record and their plans, while simultaneously applying no restrictions at all on the extreme bias of most of the mainstream media that favours the Tories.
Mail smears Labour MPs during 2017 election campaign
Another tactic being used to censor political opposition is a campaign against fake news which is really a campaign against political challenge: Tories preparing to censor revolutionary politics: Fake news.
A dissection of the Bew Report is here: Tories preparing to censor revolutionary politics: Bew Report
The analysis and discussion that helped to inform the Bew Report included a CSPL discussion of parliamentarians and invited guests, a debate in parliament and an Electoral Commission report.
CSPL roundtable discussion
In his introduction to a CPSL roundtable discussion, in September, Paul Bew said “the committee is independent” with no explanation of from what it is independent. He claimed he wanted input from guests invited to the committee discussion: “We need the help of those of you who are in this room today [invited guests]. We are very keen to hear your thoughts. We want to know what can be done, what your views are on the changing tone of political debate, and what the responsibilities of individuals, political parties in Parliament and social media companies are in this context” but he had already restrictively defined said context earlier in his introduction: “We have come to the conclusion, in the work we have carried out so far, that we have a special problem in recent times in and around the issue of intimidation.” Bew was keen to keep all contributions within set boundaries.
Bew’s colleague Jane Ramsey said “I should say that our current definition of intimidation is, ‘Words or behaviour intended or likely to block participation in public life’.” That is an absurd definition. Ramsey wants elected representatives and candidates to be free of any criticism. She wants special provision for those who should face the most political criticism. Anyone attempting to acquire a representative role “in public life” should be the target of exhaustive criticism and, if necessary, dissuaded from trying. Charlatans, liars, crooks, confidence tricksters, fraudsters and gimps of wealth terrorists need to be exposed before they are elected and prevented from progressing further but Ramsey wants them to have an unfetterred passage to power.
Some of the contributors at the roundtable discussion made valid points about abuse of politicians and their colleagues. The discussion was designed to focus on behaviour by members of the public and political activists but the main perpetrators of abuse, lies, libel, smears and encouragement of violence – right-wing newspapers like Mail, Express and Sun – were excused thorough investigation by this inquiry. Below are a few extracts from the discussion.
Tory MP Simon Hart expressed concern for his campaign donors and businesses that support him. “The other reason why I did this was the impact of all this on the families of MPs and candidates, our donors, our supporters, our volunteers and businesses that might want to support us.” Hart’s donors include the Countryside Alliance and businesses associated with hunting; he is its chairman and its former (highly paid) chief executive. On behalf of the Countryside Alliance he physically disrupted a meeting in parliament and invited trouble-makers into parliament to assist with the disruption: Hart disrupts meeting.
Later in his contribution, Hart blamed “a social media campaign” for Tory MP Byron Davies losing his seat. Davies had been ungracious in defeat:
Hart had already attacked left-wing activists earlier this year by claiming they are the main perpetrators of abuse at MPs – Hart in Huffpost.
“What’s the difference between 2015 and 2017? Actually it’s not the economy, that’s much the same. Lot’s of things are the same, there is very little new stuff in terms of the state of the nation. What is new is the rise of Corbynism and Momentum. There are plenty of articles you can read and observations you can make from [Guardian columnist] Owen Jones to [Labour MP] Yvette Cooper which suggest that Momentum wield quite a heavy weapon when it comes to this kind of stuff. I don’t care or know whether Momentum formally sanctions this or organises this sort of stuff or not. But as long as they refuse to condemn and deal with it there is always the possibility people will reach that conclusion. Because what else is driving it? Is silence from Momentum and silence from Jeremy Corbyn actually just giving people permission.”
Hart’s comment about the differences between 2015 and 2017 is a lie. The effects of Tory destruction of society increased markedly in those two years: More homelessness, more destitution and more deaths, particularly for people with disabilities. Hart’s hypocritical comments were a response to political combat that confronts the Tories.
At the roundtable discussion Tim Bale blamed Corbyn’s supporters.
“But we also have to take account of the fact that politics has become more polarised since 2015 when Jeremy Corbyn took over the Labour Party, and there has been an influx of people into the party of people who are rather more used to a kind of factionalised and vituperative culture of politics in which it is perhaps a little bit more normal and acceptable to conduct debate in these very polarised and in some ways violent terms, at least if we are speaking about speech rather than necessarily actions.”
Does he mean that there are people in political combat who know who the enemy is and are seeking to challenge? Politics needs to be “polarised.” His objection is to the fact that there is a growing political movement, within and outside of Labour, that sees enemies to be fought against. Ultimately, Bale wants no challenge whatsoever; he wants options on a similar theme. Challengers to the Tories shouldn’t “conduct debate” with them; it is not possible to debate with confidence tricksters. Bale added a smear about anti-Semitism without evidence: “Also, for those people [Corbyn supporters]—this goes to the comments about anti-Semitism—foreign policy is a very big issue, particularly Israel/Palestine, and that sometimes shades over into anti-Semitism directed at people with whom they disagree.”
Former Murdoch hack Peter Riddell continued Bale’s anti-left theme. “I have only one complication to what Tim [Bale] was saying. Intimidation has appeared more recently in the Militant phase in Liverpool in the 1980s.”
Bale piped up again to admonish Aneurin Bevan. “Aneurin Bevan saying that Tories were lower than vermin. That was pretty vituperative, and I think if a politician said that these days they would be severely criticised.” Bevan, of course, was correct then and his comment is correct now. His description of Tories has been quoted often recently and Bale is aware how positively Bevan’s comment has been repeated and promoted. Bale attacked Labour MP Laura Pidcock for her entirely sensible comment that she would not be friends with a Tory MP.
“Even something like the Labour MP [Laura Pidcock] who recently said she could not possibly imagine having a friend who was a Conservative—that begins to legitimise the idea that these people are two tribes, not that they are conducting a debate between fellow human beings who have differences.”
Again, Bale reveals his insistence that mainstream politics should be a choice between two (or more) similar parties with “differences.” To fight against the Tories requires the understanding that they are an enemy. That is what Bale wants to suppress. He wants to suppress genuine challenge.
A debate in parliament in September exposed further the intent of the Tories.
Tory MP Sarah Newton began the debate with a prepared speech that sought to set the tone of increased problems for parliamentary candidates regarding intimidation and abuse.
“The Government absolutely recognise that this is a very serious issue that affects not only MPs and parliamentary candidates from all parties, but the wider public.”
“Fear of abuse or intimidation can have far-reaching consequences. It has the potential to affect people’s desire to stand for office or public service in the first place. In turn, that can have a negative impact for us all and for our democracy. That is why in July the Prime Minister asked the Committee on Standards in Public Life to carry out a review of the intimidation experienced by parliamentary candidates.”
No, the reason why Theresa May asked the CSPL for this review was to try to create impetus for changes to the law to dampen opposition to the Tories and shut down effective criticism.
Newton correctly highlighted that a lot of abuse (at politicians) is racist, sexist, homophobic or a demonstration of religious intolerance. Newton did not state (as she should have done) that much of this abuse is a consequence of the rabble rousing of many newspapers and of the comments by some MPs, councillors and MEPS. Nowhere in her introduction to the debate did she mention the actions of the newspapers. “I know that, for many Members, the issue of online abuse is one of particular concern” said Newton, a directional comment, but the key adverserial feature of the 2017 general election was the behaviour of some newspapers who partook in a continuous, vicious, mendacious assault on the Tories’ opponents. Later, Newton explained how current law is sufficient to respond to criminal acts online including abuse.
“The law does not differentiate between criminal offences committed on social media and those committed anywhere else. It is the action that is illegal. Robust legislation is in place to deal with internet trolls, cyber-stalking, harassment, and perpetrators of grossly offensive, obscene or menacing behaviour. A number of criminal offences may be committed by those abusing others on social media. These include credible threats of violence; damage to property; sending grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing messages; harassment; and stalking.”
So, a new law is unnecessary.
Tory MP Rachel Maclean praised the BBC’s fact-checking as a contrast to “fake news” on social media. Maclean didn’t mention that the BBC’s fact checking is far from unbiased; for example, the BBC uses the right-wing corporate-funded think-tank Science Media Centre as a guide to what should and, crucially, what should not be broadcast. Equally, Maclean didn’t mention the constant barrage of lies, smears and abuse in the mainstream media. Newton was happy to join in with the praise for the BBC’s willingness to be guided by such think-tanks. “Its fact-checking work is invaluable during elections and all year round. A number of extremely good programmes on the radio and television look at statistics and provide really good rebuttals to some of the myths we hear peddled.” By “myths,” she meant exposure of the intent and of the consequences of Tory policy.
Newton followed her misrepresentation of BBC fact-checking with a similar presentation of the government’s attitude to “critical thinking” among young people.
“The work we are doing in schools is incredibly important so that young people are taught to be critical thinkers, are robust and are able to ask themselves some straightforward questions about the motivation of the person putting information before them. They will then become more resilient and questioning, coming to their own conclusions and accessing the very good resources that give the facts of the matter.”
Young people are naturally critical. They do not need a biased government directing them in how to become critical thinkers. By “the very good resources that give the facts of the matter” Newton meant the right-wing media, the Tory government and right-wing think-tanks. Her comments about “critical thinking” expressed the opposite of the Tory government’s intent.
Labour MP Cat Smith responded to Newton with a reasonable speech that was peppered with interruptions from Tories whenever Smith’s factual analysis strayed from the Tories’ desired narrative. She rightly stated that abuse is not a new phenomena, which got an interruption by Tory MP Alex Chalk who wanted to push the claim that everything started with the 2017 election, and she highlighted the threats of violence made by former Tory chancellor George Osborne which got a complaint from Tory MP Hugo Swire who objected because said ex-chancellor (and current Evening Standard editor) wasn’t there to defend himself.
After Smith had rightly exposed the racism of Lynton Crosby’s management of Zac Goldsmith’s mayoral campaign against Sadiq Khan, Chalk complained that the word “murderers” had been used in discussion of the cause of the Grenfell Tower fire.
“It does not help to use language like the word ‘murderers’ in the context of the Grenfell Tower atrocity, because it revs people up. Is there not a duty on all of us to be careful about what we say in the public domain?”
As Engels described 150 years ago, social murder is a tactic of the capitalist system. Chalk’s objection is that a truthful analysis will encourage people to know the causes of an event like the Grenfell fire. His comment epitomised the objective of this investigation: Clamp down on genuine opposition and disallow criticism and knowledge of Tory destruction. Chalk displayed his contemptibleness by attempting to equate reasonable assessment of the cause of the Grenfell fire with Crosby’s deliberate use of racism.
Tory Pauline Latham complained about a leaflet distributed as part of the campaign against Derby North candidate Amanda Solloway. The leaflet – text below – highlighted facts about the candidate, who had previously been the MP for that constituency.
“Voted against ending rough sleeping and causes of rising homelessness. Voted against accepting 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children. Visited Israel with Conservative Friends of Israel as a Tory candidate. Voted for UK to support Saudis’ bombing of Yemen. Do you want this Tory MP to represent you…? You decide on June 8th“.
Clearly, there is not one word in the leaflet that is false and none of it is abusive, threatening or intimidating. But, Latham pretended she thinks that “the leaflet in my view was bullying and intimidatory, and it was not even truthful.” Latham’s objection is that a political leaflet exposed the truth about a Tory candidate. The facts stated in it can be confirmed easily via public parliamentary records. Latham’s “bullying and intimidatory” claim about a list of facts is an alarm that screams the real motive for the Tory’s creation of the new intimidation of politicians law: The Tories want to shut down effective criticism of their record and of their plans.
Alex Chalk complained about the exposure of the bankruptcy of a company of which Solloway was a director alongside her husband. Many people lost money and it was absolutely right that a parliamentary candidate’s directorship of a bankrupt business should play a part in the election campaign. The then Labour candidate, now MP, Chris Williamson offered to help those who lost money due to Solloway’s recklessness and abandonment of responsibilities. Chalk expressed his disapproval of Williamson’s involvement.
“She [Solloway] had no connection to her husband’s business” claimed Chalk about someone who was a director of the business.
“Nobody in this House would expect to be deemed responsible for a relative’s business.”
It was her husband and she was a director of the business.
“Bringing family into any political debate is unreasonable.”
No, it is bringing in bankruptcy and abandonment of responsibilities for a director of a business who is also a parliamentary candidate.
“This was a targeted, personal and unfair campaign against our former colleague. In fact, I would say it was bullying.”
No, it was exposure of extremely reckless behaviour that robbed people of money.
Latham joined in with the smears against Williamson re. Solloway’s bankruptcy.
“The final straw was when the current Member of Parliament [Williamson] asked people who had been affected by the bankruptcy to join him at a meeting to discuss how he would return their money. He said he would pay their expenses to attend the meeting, and the money was raised from donations through a YouCaring compassionate crowdfunding page. All this was done on the page by video. The new Member for Derby North asked for donations, so that he could meet at a venue in Derby those who had lost money—most of them were not from Derby—and presumably promise that he, and he alone, would stand up for them, and probably ask them to help his campaign. In fact, at the first business questions following the election, he tried to trick the Leader of the House into condemning Amanda and her husband’s company. He knows the ropes, because of course he had been an MP before Amanda Solloway won in 2015—something he has never come to terms with.”
The snide and libellous comments (underlined) above by Latham regarding Williamson’s motivation are quite pathetic. It is not coincidence that Chalk and Latham’s target Chris Williamson is a successful colleague of Jeremy Corbyn.
Swire added to the attack on Corbyn’s supporters with a wild unproven swipe.
“It is regrettable when we have people such as Len McCluskey and the shadow Chancellor seeking to cherry-pick which laws of the country should be obeyed, and encouraging, at times, civil disturbance if they do not get their way.”
After an obsequious comment of agreement to the above from Progress MP Graham Jones, Swire libelled Momentum.
“I also feel tremendous sympathy for my friends on the Opposition Benches—and I do have friends of long-standing on the Opposition Benches—who have come under horrendous criticism from the Momentum movement in their own party. Some of that has been absolutely vile, and I feel extremely sorry for them, having to operate with that going on as well.”
Soon, Swire will not have any “long-standing” friends “on the opposition benches” and that time cannot come too soon.
Tory Matt Warman said “I would like the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary to set out what constitutes free speech” which is disturbing and must always be challenged.
Tory Alex Burghart‘s opening line, “it is a real pleasure to speak in a debate in which there is so much to agree with on both sides of the House,” encapsulates a huge problem with British parliamentary politics and indicates a reason why there is antagonism toward politicians. Burghart equated revolutionary language with the language of criminals.
“We have to stay away from phrases such as ‘day of rage’. Rage is the language of uncontrolled emotion. Perhaps I am being oversensitive—perhaps it is the language of the barricade and of romantic revolution, or perhaps just a little political Viagra to some doddery old militants—but it is also the language of the flick-knife, of the boot in the face, of the garrotte; it is the language of violence, and it does not belong in the mouths of hon. Members of this Chamber.”
It is amusing to consider how these sensitive Tory souls would cope with real revolutionary fervour.
The prevalent themes from the Tories in the debate were
Whinges about opponents’ valid criticisms
Exaggerations and falsehoods about the behaviour of Labour MPs and supporters
Inventions of concern about combative politics
It is clear that the Tories’ objective is to suffocate effective opposition. They do not want their intent and the consequences of their actions to be scrutinised adequately. They want genuine opposition to be gagged.
Chris Skidmore, the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, concluded the debate with a scripted statement that emphasised the government’s intent.
“We [parliament] have a duty to safeguard our democracy and to ensure that such abuse has no place in it.”
This duty doesn’t extend to any concern about The Sun, Mail, Express and Evening Standard wherein promotion of racism, religious intolerance and political abuse and libel is daily and intrinsic.
“The independent committee—it is vital that it is independent—is looking at the nature of the problem of intimidation and considering the current protections and measures in place for candidates.”
Independent of what? It is claimed to be independent to provide an ephemeral buffer in front of the Tory government.
“We should not prejudge or pre-empt the conclusions now.”
Bew did exactly that.
“The code will set out guidance on what social media providers should do in relation to conduct on their platforms that involves the bullying or insulting of an individual, or other behaviour likely to intimidate or humiliate.”
“Insulting?” Are insults to be banned? “Behaviour likely to?” Who decides what is likely to “intimidate or humiliate?”
“Our democracy is built on the foundation of inclusion and tolerance.”
All “inclusion and tolerance” that exists in British democracy has had to be fought for by those previously excluded. The outsiders, the radicals, the revolutionaries, the people who are being cast as wrongdoers by this debate and by Bew’s investigation are precisely those who created, via antagonistic combative politics, the “inclusion and tolerance” that exists and that still needs to exist.
(Skidmore’s problematic history includes membership of a rock band whose lyrics were deliberately vulgar and sexist: Skidmore rocks, and membership of right-wing think-tank Bow Group, a subset of the Tory party through which many future Tory MPs pass.)
Parliamentarians had been asked to submit evidence of abuse and intimidation for the Bew Report; this evidence is available here: Intimidation in Public Life: Evidence.
Electoral Commission report
The Electoral Commission was asked to contribute to the investigation into intimidation of parliamentary candidates. Specifically, it was asked to respond to four questions put by the CSPL:
What is the nature and degree of intimidation experienced by Parliamentary
candidates, in particular at the 2017 General Election?
Is existing legislation sufficient to address intimidation of Parliamentary
candidates?
What other measures might be effective in addressing the intimidation of Parliamentary candidates, and candidates for public offices more broadly?
What role should political parties play in preventing the intimidation of
Parliamentary candidates and encouraging constructive debate?
Its responses are taken from Electoral Commission response.
CSPL question: What is the nature and degree of intimidation experienced by Parliamentary candidates, in particular at the 2017 General Election?
“Of the 3,304 candidates who stood, we received feedback from 780 candidates
(24%). From this total, 13 responses included references to issues of intimidation.“
13 candidates out of 3304 reported “references to issues of intimidation.” That is O.39% or 1 in 254.
The thirteen candidates’ responses were
“4 responses raised general concerns that intimidation had taken place, including posters being ripped down and vandalised, false allegations made over the internet and malicious statements made about candidates, but they did not provide any specific examples or details.”
Compare a handful (<= 4) of “false allegations made over the internet and malicious statements made about candidates” with the daily deluge of vicious, libellous vitriol by the right-wing newspapers directed at Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon and their respective colleagues.
“2 respondents said that they had been intimidated and received threats at their own homes.”
The Electoral Commission didn’t provide specific details. A reasonable guess is someone (or two) walked past a Tory’s home and shouted “Tory wanker!” Meanwhile, the right-wing press routinely harass candidates at their homes.
“1 respondent said they were harassed by attendees at the count. 1 respondent said that another candidate was rude and aggressive to them at the count.”
So what? Counts should sometimes be adverserial with an exchange of views. There should be strong celebrations if a corrupt gimp of wealth terrorists lost in an election. The filth in the far-right should be treated with continuous contempt. Two candidates, out of 3304, reported a minor issue to the Electoral Commission. Two!
“1 respondent said they were subjected to covert and overt bullying, dirty tricks and misogyny. 2 respondents said that their tellers had been subject to intimidation and abuse. 1 respondent said that one of their volunteers had been assaulted delivering leaflets. 1 respondent said that attempts had been made to intimidate other candidates in order to make them stand down.”
A very small number of reports by parliamentary candidates of behaviour they felt was wrong. It is such a small number that, for the purposes of analysis, it equates to zero.
CSPL questions: Is existing legislation sufficient to address intimidation of Parliamentary candidates? What other measures might be effective in addressing the intimidation of Parliamentary candidates, and candidates for public offices more broadly?
The Electoral Commission answers these two questions together. The commission showed that laws exist to counter abusive or intimidatory behaviour in person and online and that laws exist to counter interference in the electoral process. It recommended two additions to the law. One recommendation is the introduction of a digital imprint as a tool to certify online content; the second recommendation, below, is very worrying.
“In some instances, electoral law does specify offences in respect of behaviour
that could also amount to an offence under the general criminal law. This is often
because electoral offences have special consequences, in that their commission
could invalidate the election result and result in the person convicted losing their
elected office and/or being subject to a period of disqualification from being
registered as an elector, voting in an election and standing for election (section 173
RPA 1983). It may be that similar special electoral consequences could act as a
deterrent to abusive behaviour in relation to candidates and campaigners.”
The underlined section is a suggestion of support for straightforward voter suppression and for denial of the right to be elected. This is how far the Tories are prepared to go to cling onto power. They have noted the success of voter suppression in the USA and the continued application of it by Kris Kobach since Donald Trump’s election. They have also noted how the denial of the right to stand in an election has helped many world leaders stay in power like, for example, Vladimir Putin. The reason Theresa May asked for the investigation into intimidation of MPs and candidates was to stifle opposition. The electoral Commission was happy to play along and obediently suggested the possibility of both the removal of the right to stand for election and the removal of the right to vote.
CSPL question: What role should political parties play in preventing the intimidation of
The Electoral Commission’s answer included a request that political parties try to ensure that their members’ and supporters’ behaviour is acceptable during election campaigns. There was no mention of political parties “encouraging constructive debate” by the media or by the right-wing think-tanks.
The Bow Group
Tory Bratboys in Parliament
Murder or Social Murder? Grenfell, disability benefit cuts and NHS destruction
Tories and campaign abuse
George Osborne: A Typical Financial Gangsters’ Mascot
January 5, 2018 January 14, 2018 ducksoap6 Comments
Paul Bew published his report on ‘Intimidation in Public Life’ in December 2017. The full report is here: Bew Report. The purpose of the report, and its preceding investigation of intimidatory behaviour at public figures, particularly MPs, is to spuriously set the groundwork for a new law designed to further limit public examination during election campaigns of a government’s or potential government’s record and/or plans.
It was easy to expose the dishonesty and lack of consistency in the report’s analysis and conclusions. Everything in italics below is a quote from the report.
Paul Bew at Westminster
To set a tone of philosophical entrapment imbued with pomposity, the report began with a list of ‘The Seven Principles of Public Life,’ devised by Michael Nolan in 1955.
The Seven Principles of Public Life (The Nolan Principles)
Does the current Tory government satisfy these principles? Let’s have a look.
1. Selflessness
Nolan: “Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.”
Tories: The Tory government always acts entirely in the service of elite financial gangsters.
2. Integrity
Nolan: “Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.”
Tories: Tory MPs and the party receive large donations, directly or indirectly (secretly), that are designed to direct policy. Tory MPs employ family members and house family members as ruses to extract further public payment. Theresa May’s husband’s job is to advise wealthy people how to avoid British tax payments.
3. Objectivity
Nolan: “Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.”
Tories: No decision made by the Tory government is based on merit. Every decision is designed to serve an elite. Decisions are often devised by right-wing think-tanks who are paid by said elite and who infest government.
Nolan: “Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.”
Tories: Theresa May dodged interviews and debates in 2017 election campaign. She never answers any questions put to her in media interviews or in parliament. She requested this report in order to further reduce scrutiny of the government’s behaviour.
5. Openness
Nolan: “Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and
lawful reasons for so doing.”
Tories: The debacle regarding the Impact Assessments of leaving the EU is a clear example of the government’s attitude to openness.
6. Honesty
Nolan: “Holders of public office should be truthful.”
Tories: The entire public presentation of the Tories’ acts and their plans is dishonest. Lying, purposefully and unashamedly, is normal behaviour for government ministers and MPs.
7. Leadership
Nolan: “Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and be willing to challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.”
Tories: Theresa May is a very poor leader. She is a vacuum. By example, she encourages her party to reject all of the other six of the Nolan Principles.
Open letter to PM
In an open letter to Theresa May (page 7 of the report) Bew assured her that he has done what she wants.
“The increasing prevalence of intimidation of Parliamentary candidates, and others in public life, should concern everyone who cares about our democracy.”
So, Bew concluded that there is an “increasing prevalence” has he? It was his remit to choose to reach that conclusion.
“A significant proportion of candidates at the 2017 general election experienced harassment, abuse and intimidation.”
What is a “significant proportion?”
“Intimidatory behaviour is already affecting the way in which MPs are relating to their constituents.”
Some MPs, mostly Tory, are finding any reason to dodge having to answer to their constituents. The restrictions on access to MPs’ surgeries have become a deterrent to constituents seeking advice or redress.
“At a watershed moment in our political history, it is time for a new and concerted response.”
There is no “watershed moment.” There is a planned, multi-facetted campaign to reduce criticism of government and to stifle opposition. This exists because of the separation between the Tories’ objectives and what is needed for the British people.
“We must see greater energy and action from social media companies, political parties, Parliament, the police, broadcast and print media, and from MPs and Parliamentary candidates themselves.”
The purpose of the government’s campaign is to target criticism from the public, online and elsewhere. The Tories have no intention of reducing the newspapers’ capacity to lie, libel and encourage extreme prejudice and violence.
“We propose legislative changes that the government should bring forward on an electoral offence of intimidating Parliamentary candidates and party campaigners.”
That is the purpose of the investigation and of this report: Crush criticism of and challenge to the Tory government.
There is a lot of deliberate repetition in Bew’s summary (starts page 13) of the “investigation.” The points he made in the executive summary are few in number.
Bew claimed abuse of politicians is increasing.
Bew claimed social media networks are not treating abuse by users of the networks seriously enough.
Bew claimed politicians share some responsibility for not addressing abuse by their respective supporters.
Bew claimed police have not dealt with online abuse sufficiently.
Bew claimed electoral law is out of date with respect to online abuse.
The most contentious of the above conclusions by Bew is the first and the most worrying is the fifth.
Bew listed the contributors to the investigation.
“To understand this issue we have heard from a range of individuals and organisations, including candidates, MPs, social media companies, local councillors, regulatory bodies, broadcasters and journalists, police and security authorities, and other relevant stakeholders. We held 34 individual meetings, a roundtable, and a public and private hearing. We also received 88 written submissions to our call for evidence.”
Thus, an abject absence of members of the public, only one public hearing and only 88 written submissions, with no details of how many, if any, of those 88 submissions were from members of the public and no details of how many were submissions from journalists, right-wing think-tank members or PR consultants. For such an important proposed change in the law, a change that seeks to greatly reduce opposition, criticism and scrutiny, it is an insult to any democracy to have such a limited pool of contributors.
“The call for evidence [as written submissions] stated the terms of reference of the review and invited evidence and comments on the following themes” explained Bew in the Methodology appendix of his report (page 82). His invitation for evidence was presented as questions to whoever was submitting. These questions were designed as tools to guide and to restrict the submission. The most marked aspect of his questions was that all assumed the conclusion that Bew was aiming for: They stated the assumption that there exists a problem with intimidation of parliamentary candidates that needs corrective action. Thus, anyone submitting is bound by Bew’s aim. Such a tactic makes a balanced investigation impossible. The questions are listed below.
What is the nature and degree of intimidation experienced by Parliamentary candidates, in particular at the 2017 general election?
Does the issue of the intimidation of Parliamentary candidates reflect a wider change in the relationship and discourse between public office holders and the public?
Has the media or social media significantly changed the nature, scale, or effect of intimidation of Parliamentary candidates? If so, what measures would you suggest to help address these issues?
Is existing legislation sufficient to address intimidation of Parliamentary candidates?
What role should political parties play in preventing the intimidation of Parliamentary candidates and encouraging constructive debate?
Could the experience of intimidation by Parliamentary candidates discourage people from standing for elected or appointed public offices?
Has the intimidation of Parliamentary candidates led to a change in the way in which public office holders interact with the public in correspondence, on social media, or at in-person events?
In the summary section on social media (page 13) Bew said
“The government should seek to legislate to shift the balance of liability for illegal content to the social media companies away from them being passive ‘platforms’ for illegal content. Given the government’s stated intention to leave the EU Single Market, legislation can be introduced to this effect without being in breach of EU law. [E-Commerce Directive (2000)]”
The Tories’ desire to leave the EU is primarily to dodge EU law that protects freedoms and Bew knows his recommendations fit into that objective.
Bew claimed social networks have not addressed an issue of online abuse adequately.
“Political tensions run high during election campaigns, and this also plays out online. During election campaigns, political debate and discussion online can become particularly heated. This can be amplified when intimidatory content online is not
taken down quickly enough, as it shapes the tone of political debate.”
That is, Bew and the Tories want all forceful, assertive, directed and effective political criticism of a government or a potential government to be watered down, quietened and made impotent during the crucial time of election campaigns.
In the summary section on the behaviour of politicians (page 15), Bew asked that they should set an example for good behaviour and challenge poor behaviour by party members and supporters.
Did Bew mean poor behaviour like David Davis lying repeatedly and brazenly in the House of Commons and at parliamentary committees about the existence, or lack, of Impact Assessments for the effect of Brexit, or Boris Johnson jeopardising the freedom and life of a British citizen in Iran with irresponsible reckless comments, or Damian Green lying to all and sundry about what may or may not have been on his ministerial computer, or Mark Garnier the dildo boy?
Did Bew mean poor behaviour like the blatant racism from two Scottish Tory councillors who were suspended and then re-instated soon afterward: Scottish Tory racists, or Tory MP Lucy Allan’s doctoring of a facebook message wherein Allan added a death threat not sent by the messager: Lucy Allan ‘death threat’, or Tory MP David Morris’ accusation that teachers and doctors were lying when they commented on financial difficulties and diseases that existed in Morris’ constituency: David Morris accusations, or Tory MP Guto Bebb’s observation that a constituent was ‘talking out of his arse’ followed by a claim from Bebb that the expression is a popular idiom in the Welsh language: Bebb’s arse, or Tory MP Andrew Percy’s aggressive response to myself when I (rightly) raised the issue of reduced investment in flood defences by recent Tory governments: Percy petulance, or disgraced former minister Priti Patel’s description of elderly and disabled NHS protesters at her constituency office as “thugs:” Patel’s thugs, or Tory Kensington and Chelsea councillor Andrew Lomas who, just days after the Grenfell Tower fire, described protesters at Kensington Town Hall as a “mob” and falsely accused them of intimidation and criminal damage,
or Tory MP Anne Marie Morris’ use of an extremely offensive racist word in an extremely offensive historical context that led to suspension from the party but, a few months later, reinstatement: Morris racism, or Tory councillor Dominic Peacock’s comment that he would donate the “steam off his piss” to a memorial fund for murdered Labour MP Jo Cox: Peacock’s piss, or Tory MP Andrew Griffiths’ childish remark referencing Jeremy Corbyn’s age when the latter was describing the difficult circumstances for many elderly people in Britain with respect to access to adequate care: Griffith’s childishness?
In the summary section on changes to the law (page 16) Bew claimed that
“Intimidation of Parliamentary candidates is of particular significance because of the threat it poses to the integrity of the democratic process and of public service more widely. Specific electoral sanctions would reflect the seriousness of this threat. A new electoral offence of intimidating Parliamentary candidates and party campaigners during an election should be considered. This would serve to highlight the seriousness of the issue, result in more appropriate sanctions, and serve as a deterrent to those specifically targeting Parliamentary candidates and their supporters.”
During election campaigns, normally six to eight weeks, there needs to be full-on, exhaustive, continuous and accurate scrutiny, criticism and exposure of a government’s record and of the plans of potential new governments. This scrutiny should not be suppressed, neutered or quietened. The mainstream media has failed to scrutinise accurately or exhaustively; moreover, the majority of the newspapers have ignored facts and analysis and have focussed on lies, smears and misdirection, almost always favouring the Tories. It is vital that independent media and activists are able to reveal the truth about political parties’ intentions, and reveal who is funding the parties and who is driving their policies. Equally, all consequences of a government’s actions should be available for inspection during an election campaign. The Tory government gagged charities from publicising harmful effects of policy via the gagging law. As Bew explained above, the single purpose of his investigation, report and recommendations is to add further curbs on scrutiny in order that the Tories can keep the electorate ignorant.
Bew concluded his executive summary with a section on taking responsibility (page 18). Much of this section appears to make reasonable suggestions but it is at odds with the behaviour of the Tories in general, and particularly their behaviour during the 2017 election campaign, and at odds with how the Tory-supporting section of the media operates. By asking for politicians and media to take responsibility to behave well, is Bew being optimistic, or ignorant, or is he pretending to be offering some balance?
Prime minister laughs at the victims of Tory destruction
Main body of the Bew Report
Bew’s report included evidence and comment in sections that match the sections in his executive summary.
Rightly, in Intimidation in Public Life (Chapter 1 – starts page 26) Bew highlighted the fact that a lot of abuse is racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic or prejudiced against particular faiths. Some of the evidence revealed disgusting behaviour, in person and online. Women have received the worst online abuse and it was sometimes accompanied by physical threats. Labour’s shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has received more online abuse than any other elected representative and she has received the most disturbing abuse. A lot of the abuse directed at her has been extremely racist.
Bew stressed that the volume of abuse and its severity is aided by the ease of access and the partial anonymity of social media.
“The rise of social media has been the most significant factor accelerating the prevalence of intimidatory behaviour in recent years.”
“One clear trend is that social media is changing the way in which election campaigns are conducted and has led to a marked shift in how the public engages with Parliamentary candidates. Online intimidation is now a persistent characteristic
of election campaigns for a large number of Parliamentary candidates, who can be subject to intimidatory messages 24 hours a day.”
But, Bew barely mentioned the role of the newspapers, radio and TV as contributors to abuse at politicians. Right-wing newspapers – Telegraph, Times, Express, Sun, Mail, Evening Standard – promote and encourage racism, sexism, homophobia and anti-Islam prejudice daily, in large volume. False stories are the norm and are designed to generate bigotry, prejudice and hatred. Front page headlines, editorials and regular columns are used by the proprietors of the newspapers as tools to rabble rouse and to create an entirely mendacious narrative. The stories include direct attacks on politicians. A boundless cesspit of professionals trolls make a living out of writing bile; there is always a newspaper or radio station like LBC willing to offer money for trash from Katie Hopkins, Quentin Letts, Nick Ferrari, Richard Littlejohn, Rod Liddle, Isabel Oakeshott, Nigel Farage, Stephen Pollard, etc. The only comment that Bew made about the mainstream media in the chapter on intimidation in public life were the three words underlined below.
“As we explain in chapter 5, some abuse takes place in response to an unhealthy public political culture. This can be a result of an unhealthy public discourse of those in public life – including the media – needlessly undermining trust in public institutions.”
In the section on the responsibility of the media (pages 74/5 in chapter 5), Bew made a brief remark on the media’s responsibility to watch its language when writing about politicians.
“Threatening or contemptuous language [in the media] to describe public officials, especially when they are upholding high professional and ethical standards, can shape a culture that makes intimidation more likely.”
However, bizarrely, Bew sought to blame the media’s misdoings on “reporting on twitterstorms” (page 74) and “freelance journalists” (page 75). Nowhere in this section did Bew blame the proprietors, editors or senior journalists for any unacceptable reporting.
“Broadcast and print media can amplify the effects of intimidation that takes place on social media, for example, by reporting on ‘twitterstorms’. As the distinction between traditional and social media becomes increasingly blurred, for example, with online-only news outlets with a high profile on social media such as Buzzfeed, The Canary, and Guido Fawkes, the media should be increasingly attentive to how stories are reported can give rise to intimidatory behaviour.”
“News organisations should make clear to freelance journalists that they expect
the same standards of conduct from them as with staff reporters.”
Bew completely absolved the newspapers; he cast them as vessels that have been led astray by outside forces.
“News organisations should only consider stories from freelance journalists that meet the standards of IPSO’s Editors Code, or the Editorial Guidelines of Impress, as appropriate, and ensure that freelance journalists are aware of this policy.”
IPSO is a joke. It is controlled by the people who are responsible for false stories, for smears, lies and libel, for promotion of bigotry and prejudice, but Bew elevated it to a reputable body that has had to control others’ misdemeanors. Bew blamed criminal behaviour on the tools the criminals used rather than the criminals themselves.
In chapter 2 on Social Media (starts page 31), Bew went swiftly from “social media can be a democratising force” to “this can take a dark turn” with the rapidity of a voiceover for a horror film trailer.
Bew said that “we” will be keeping on eye of the social media platforms.
“In the fast-paced and rapidly developing world of social media, the companies and the government must proactively address the issue of intimidation online. So far, not enough has been done. We have met with Twitter, Facebook, and Google, and we are deeply concerned about the lack of progress all three companies are making in protecting users online. We will be monitoring their progress in implementing our recommendations.”
Or what? Does Bew support state interference in social media access similar to Turkey and China, for example?
His assessment of how social media works displayed Bew’s (possibly willful) ignorance.
“Social media has revolutionised how voters and candidates receive information. This has dramatically altered the pace of political debate by encouraging and enabling its users to comment on political news stories in real time. When commenting in this fast-paced environment, messages can be sent immediately without the deliberation which may take place in face-to-face communication.”
That is a nonsensical comment by Bew. On social media there is more time to respond than when talking to someone face-to-face.
“The format of social media, most obviously Twitter, encourages brevity. While concise communication can make political messages more accessible, the motivation to boil down complex political ideas into short messages can change the tone of debate. The norms of appropriate communication online are not well established.”
“The detailed discussion of a political idea or concept may be too long or complex to
deliberate or debate on social media.”
“Social media therefore incentivises content which is more likely to be negative.”
Has Bew never listened to how Theresa May and her colleagues communicate in the House of Commons? Their style consists of snide remarks and silly catchphrases that would not exhaust even the old 140 character limit of Twitter. The comment section on Facebook has no character limit. Even Twitter allows full discussion via threading. To put it bluntly, Bew is lying.
He compared moderation of social media platforms with the, apparently spotless, world of mainstream newspapers.
“While communication and discussion in the traditional media also encourages brevity, these publications receive editorial oversight and operate within a regulatory framework which moderates content.”
The only Jackson possible in response to the underlined comment above is to invite the Smash Robots to express their opinion.
Smash robots laugh heartily and derisively
The section on the law and social media was a repeated declaration of Bew’s opposition to the EU E-Commerce Directive. Such freedom of communication is not to his liking, but he announced triumphantly that “when the UK leaves the EU, it will cease to have obligations under EU law.”
Bew’s analysis of how social media companies operate (page 36) was purposefully flawed, particularly regarding their legal responsibilities with respect to illegal content on their respective platforms. His description of their liability, as host versus publisher of content, was entirely spurious. He concocted a rambling, inventive narrative that claimed current law doesn’t allow removal of some illegal content, a false statement, blamed the EU directive mentioned above as a cause of all ills, a false statement, and said that “prompt, automated identification of illegal content would have a positive impact on combatting the intimidatory tone of online political discussions.” “Illegal” and “intimidatory” are not synonyms.
Bew asserted that government and social media companies should work together. But, the political success of social media access is due to its separation from government. The usefulness of social media communication to the opposition to conservative politics, worldwide, is huge. Social media has allowed rapid and uncensored exchange of information and ideas. The effect of this billion strong community is demonstrable in many countries. It is an effective challenge to whatever establishment is in power, and these establishments are frightened by its success. Some countries – Turkey, China, Saudi Arabia, etc. – use extreme censorship of social media access to shut down opposition. Bew’s preferred methodology would imitate the subtle intimidation of a gofer sent round to someone’s small business to offer protection:
“The social media companies must uphold their responsibility to engage with government to help tackle these issues. The government should take a coordinated approach to promote joint working with the social media companies. Government and Parliament should consider the recommendations we make to social media companies, and make efforts to take them forward as part of their wider work with the companies.”
Some of the technical analysis in the report of how the social media platforms function is observationally correct and the necessary improvements mentioned have been suggested by users many times independently of any government action. The problems that exist with respect to illegal online content and targetted abuse are not new and are definitely not specific to parliamentary candidates during an election campaign. The government, via Bew, has astroturfed onto existing complaints in order to use such complaints as a means of censoring social media.
“Social media provides a means by which citizens can engage with the political process during these times, but the darker side of such engagement is the intimidation that Parliamentary candidates, party campaigners, and others in public life experience.”
“Analysis of offensive language targeted at MPs during the month leading up to the 2017 general election found that in general, between 2% and 4% of all tweets sent to politicians on a given day could be identified as abusive.”
The “darker side” is “between 2% and 4%.” That much!
Bew demanded that “social media platforms should work proactively during elections,” (page 43). He meant that comments should be removed before complaints occur. Alongside an incomplete definition of “abuse,” the too-wide definition of “intimidation” of politicians and the thinly veiled threats aimed at social media companies if they don’t co-operate with the government, the report is a shoddy attempt to justify changes to the law that are designed to remove criticism of the government.
Bew discussed “trusted flaggers” (page 44) who are an army of online censors who could remove contentious content.
“Twitter, Facebook and Google should work with the government to create a ‘pop-up’ election social media reporting team of trusted flaggers. This team should receive specific training on online activity which breaches the site’s rules, so that their
recommendations for takedown can be expedited.”
That is, the government would be party to censoring online content that was too critical of the government during an election. Bew reiterated throughout his report what he perceived as the necessity to control criticism during an election because he knows that is when such criticism can be most effective.
The chapter on social media in Bew’s report is fanciful, comically dramatic, misleading, contradictory and, often, downright lies. Some ongoing changes need to be made, generally, about abuse and illegal content online. All such changes are entirely independent of so-called intimidation of politicians. Bew’s objective – creating impetus for new laws to restrict criticism during elections – is present in every paragraph in his report. His approach is very deceitful, dishonest and an insult to whoever reads the report.
In chapter 3 on Political Parties (starts page 46) Bew reported that “evidence submitted to the Committee suggests that Conservative candidates were more likely to be subject to intimidatory behaviour than candidates representing the other political parties.” I wonder why that could be. That is something to ponder on.
This chapter was a repetitive plea for everyone involved in election campaigns to be so terribly nice to each other including many mentions of all-party agreements. With reference to the Nolan Principles, Bew asked for party leaders to set the tone and “take steps to eradicate a culture of intimidation.” The Electoral Commission recorded thirteen examples of “intimidation” in the 2017 general election – page 3 of Electoral Commission Report; thus, Bew’s claim of a “culture of intimidation” is an invention.
The effect of normal interaction between opposing party members has been exaggerated comically throughout this chapter, without examples or evidence. “Given the seriousness of these issues, parties must use the full range of sanctions available to them to penalise inappropriate behaviour by their members.” What “seriousness?” Election campaigns should be much more adversarial than they have been. Opposition should be forceful, assertive, relentless and cold. The next general election, whenever that occurs, is a vital election. What will not be needed is a friendly, insipid, flaccid campaign; what will be needed is combat. The Tory government wants to prevent an effective challenge at the next election. Bew’s dramatic bluster about nothing is just a tool to help neuter opposition.
In a section critical of fringe groups Bew repeated the word “fringe” several times. In the absence of any other information or any group being named, one can only assume that by “fringe groups” Bew meant
Right-wing think-tanks that infest government
Right-wing PR consultancies who often employ ex-Tory MPs
Right-wing newspapers who spend each election campaign spouting lies, smears and prejudices
It was good to see that Bew highlighted these problematic “fringe groups.”
The chapter on Law, Policing and Prosecution (starts page 57) began with clear statements that sufficient laws exist to deal with any of the (real or otherwise) issues raised in the report.
“We have seen no evidence to suggest that the current criminal law is insufficient in covering the full range of cases that we have defined as intimidation for the purpose of this report. As such, the current criminal law should remain as it is.”
Undeterred by facts, Bew ploughed on with his objective. The section on electoral law is the crux of his report.
It is unclear if the report asked for new sentencing (or “sanctions“) specific to elections for existing law, or else asked for new offences.
New sentencing? (page 60)
“As we conclude above, we believe the current criminal law is sufficient to cover the full range of cases of intimidation. Therefore any new offence in electoral law should be no broader than the existing criminal law.“
“However, the Committee considers that the issue of intimidation is of particular significance because of the threat that it poses to the integrity of public service and the democratic process. During an election period, it would therefore be appropriate to have specific electoral sanctions that reflect the threat that intimidation of Parliamentary candidates and their supporters poses to the integrity of elections. Any such offence in electoral law should be tightly defined, to capture intimidatory behaviour that is directed towards an individual specifically in their capacity as a Parliamentary candidate or party campaigner, which intends unduly to influence the result of the election (for example, by affecting their candidature or inhibiting their campaigning).”
New offence? (pages 60/61)
“We believe that any new electoral offence that is introduced should not have any wider scope than the existing criminal law in respect of intimidatory behaviour. No behaviour which is currently legal should be made illegal.“
“However, we believe that the introduction of a distinct electoral offence will serve to highlight the seriousness of the threat of intimidation of Parliamentary candidates to the integrity of public life and of the electoral process, and will result in more appropriate sanctions. We believe that specific electoral offences will also serve as an effective deterrent to those who are specifically targeting Parliamentary candidates and their supporters.”
Whichever of the above two options was the intended stance of the Bew Report, the consequential threat was not ambiguous.
“Electoral law can overlap with and complement the criminal law, such that offences with criminal sanctions can also involve sanctions under electoral law. These sanctions are specific to the election process, such as being barred from voting for a certain period, or removal from the electoral register.”
Clearly, any attempt to remove the right to vote or the right to stand for election would be difficult to enforce in a court but the threat of such a sanction is the real aim.
After he noted what appears to be a clear assessment of CPS guidelines (page 64),
“The high evidential threshold [set by the CPS] required to proceed with a prosecution reflects how commonplace offensive comments are in everyday life, and the importance of context to determining if an offence has been committed. In particular, a communication must be more than simply offensive, shocking or disturbing.”
Bew squeezed out a wholly unconvincing conclusion: “In practice, on the guidelines provided, a number of cases of intimidation of Parliamentary candidates would seem to us to meet the requirement for prosecution but did not proceed to prosecution.” The use of “us” is self-indictment. Bew sought more “evidence” to arm his objective and encountered the European Convention on Human Rights.
“We sought further evidence, and heard that the test for grossly offensive communications is a demanding evidential standard because it must be compatible with the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
He didn’t give up and pretended to find one crumb to help him.
“The CPS guidance states that one aggravating factor that tips the public interest test towards prosecution is that the target of a communication is a person serving the public at the time.”
“Parliamentary candidates meeting the evidential test for prosecution would almost certainly also meet the public interest test. As such, the current enforcement of the criminal law in respect of prosecution seems to us to be satisfactory.”
“We are confident that cases of intimidation of Parliamentary candidates that meet the high evidential standard would proceed to prosecution.”
Bew’s linguistic contortions coupled with conclusions that are unattached to the preceding analysis are embarrassing; he stumbled toward the spurious point that a new law-or-sentence is needed.
The most noticeable point in chapter 5 on Taking Responsibility (starts page 70) is what Bew omitted or glossed over. His absolution of the mainstream media was noted earlier. The purposefully abusive and rabble-rousing editorial policies and front page headlines of many newspapers were ignored. He did not mention the behaviour of right-wing think tanks and PR consultancies that are embedded in government and are lobbying constantly, always with no care about the abusive, dishonest and prejudicial content of their advice and statements. His analysis of parliamentary behaviour was too general and woolly. There exists a government that behaves abusively, childishly, dishonestly and evasively without pause. Bew’s report saw nothing.
In chapter 6 on The Impact of Intimidation (starts page 77) Bew tried to conclude that public figures are under constant threat of intimidation and that something needs to be done. He had not acquired evidence to support this conclusion; the review that preceded his report had not tried to gather sufficient evidence. Throughout he was dealing with crumbs.
“Now is the right moment to address intimidatory behaviour,” he declared. What Bew meant is that the Tories and those they work for fear a genuine challenge to the exploitative system they operate and so they want to suffocate opposition in advance.
Summary of Bew’s Report and of government intent
The purpose of the review and report was to create impetus for restrictions on challenges to the Tories during election campaigns. The desired restrictions include stifling effective criticism, particularly online. The main targets of the restrictions are left-wing news sites and political activists. The restrictions would be enacted via changes to the law and/or sentencing to censor activism and punish activists. The report claimed that such law changes could be made simpler to enforce following Britain’s departure from the EU and associated abandonment of legal protections for citizens.
To attain the invented conclusion of the necessity for law changes, the report attempted to develop a narrative of “intimidation of public figures.” Despite many facts, data and surveys, referred to in the report, that disputed such a narrative, Bew did not waver from his intent. Contortions of argument, clumsy contradictions and comical non-deductions were all used plentifully throughout the report. The submissions of evidence for the report were few and were directed via signposting questions.
The report ignored the appalling biased behaviour of mainstream media, particularly newspapers, that are full of lies, smears and extreme encouragement of prejudice and bigotry; the report ignored the mob of right-wing think-tanks that spout constructed lies and have teams of con artists infested in government and in the media; the report barely mentioned the childish, bratty and abusive behaviour of Tory MPs in parliament; the report didn’t criticise Theresa May for lying constantly and for evading every question put to her.
The report attacked social media disproportionately and dishonestly. The presented arguments about social media were convoluted and fanciful. What is clear is how much the power of mass communication frightens the establishment and the report displayed this fear throughout.
The fake conclusions of the Bew Report were determined before any review occurred. The entire process of evidence gathering, review and report was a pantomime that eschewed logic and consistency. It was a sham.
A Tory Is Not Your Friend
Collaborator Theresa May
Tories And GE2017 Campaign Abuse
Shafted By The Tories
Tory Values Versus Human Values
BBC: Bias And Balance
Kuenssberg
January 4, 2018 April 16, 2019 ducksoap18 Comments
(Website: Human Security Centre)
“The HSC aims to promote and help create an international society in which individuals and communities everywhere are able to live free from fear, free from want and free from indignity.”
A mix of the Henry Jackson Society’s new colonialism, the UK Defence Journal’s arms industry porn and Breitbart’s divisive exclamations of prejudice, the Human Security Centre (HSC) promotes worldwide imperialist economic control via the use of military force.
In its Mission Statement HSC says it believes that “the international community must be willing and prepared to protect the lives of innocent people with all necessary means, including force as the last resort.” However, “innocent people” doesn’t include all innocent people in every country.
In Yemen, thousands of civilians have been killed by deliberate targetting of homes, schools and hospitals by the Saudi Arabian air force and hundreds of thousands of people are facing starvation and fatal diseases due to the Saudi Arabian navy’s blockade of food and medical supplies. The Saudi armed forces are receiving assistance from UK and USA. The British government is using the carpet bombing of Yemeni civilians and infrastructure as an opportunity for lucrative arms deals. The recently departed foreign secretary Michael Fallon complained to a parliamentary select committee a few weeks ago that
“I have to repeat, sadly, to this committee that obviously other criticism of Saudi Arabia in this parliament is not helpful and … I’ll leave it there, but we need to do everything possible to encourage Saudi Arabia towards batch two [of aircraft sales]. I believe they will commit to batch two.”
However, these innocent civilians in Yemen do not appear to be within the caring remit of HSC. In August in Lenarz on Yemen the HSC executive director Julie Lenarz tried to justify the continuous targetting of Yemeni civilians by stating that every act against them was a response to actions taken by or sponsored by Iran. Her main source of (dis)information for the recent history of the conflict in Yemen was Benjamin Weinthal from Foundation for Defense of Democracies, an extremely biased and discredited far-right think-tank in the USA. Nowhere in the article did Lenarz criticise the Saudi tactic of targetting civilians and civilian infrastructure. She noted coldly the direct involvement of the US air force:
“Underscoring what appears to be a major escalation of U.S. involvement in Yemen, the U.S. military, on orders of the President, carried out 70 airstrikes in the country in March 2017 – more than twice the number for all of 2016.”
The entire article was purposeful misinformation that erased the slaughter of the Yemeni civilians by Saudi Arabia and used the conflict as a tool to politicise against Iran. Pure unashamed criminal propaganda.
In their HSC bios both Lenarz and fellow director Dwayne Menezes are described as “lead Coordinator of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Yemen in the UK Parliament.” The good servants of Saudi money in the Tory government are, of course, capable of choosing to reach an extremely biased opinion and conclusion on Yemen without outside assistance but it is an intrusion on democracy that the APPG is advised by members of a partisan think-tank of puppets operated by US neocons.
Consequence of UK arms profits in Yemen
HSC political philosophy
Both HSC directors expressed their political philosophies in articles presented as (fake) interviews.
In Lenarz speaks to Clarion she said “the HSC believes that the practice, promotion, toleration and relativisation of terrorism or otherwise the intentional killing of civilians should be vigorously challenged.” This belief doesn’t apply to all civilians, as the analysis on Yemen shows.
Lenarz’s description of what she calls “Islamism” is straight from the hard right handbook. “Do not get intimidated by charges of Islamophobia” she advised, rather than asking people not to be Islamophobic. Without proof Lenarz claimed that “a significantly larger minority [of Muslims] than we had originally anticipated sympathizes with and supports non-violent and violent-Islamism.” Her response to the question ‘What do you see as the biggest obstacle to defeating Islamism?’ was to accuse the then US president Obama of “denial.” This is the same US president that bombed the middle east and north Africa more than any US president in history but, because he didn’t use the inflammatory language that Lenarz wanted him to use, she accused him of denial.
“We have to be more confident and stop apologizing for our own position. The West’s perpetual sense of guilt, the absurd notion that we are somehow to blame for Islamist extremism, is playing right into their hands.”
Who is the “we” here? It couldn’t be the arms dealers and the gimps in government because they never feel any “guilt.” Perhaps, Lorenz is worried about liberal guilt. Clearly, humanity and intelligence are not qualities that HSC admires.
HSC’s diktat is that everyone must join in with its blinkered dogmatic perspective: “This [HSC ideology] is what every ordinary citizen must internalize because only if that thinking takes hold in our collective mindset, we will stand a chance of defeating the ideology of Islamism.” Apparently, “think tanks can provide expertise and policy advice in areas not available within government,” concluded Lorenz. Think-tanks like HSC provide nothing positive whatsoever and their presence in government analysis is very destructive.
“For too long, we have been simply too afraid to call a spade a spade” explained HSC director Dwayne Menezes in Menezes on “Islamism.” There is no need to read anymore in another fake interview. He espoused the same rhetoric as his colleague.
In Persecution of Christians Paul Adams said “this postmodern secularist pose of Western elites approves of every culture but its own, and values, in the name of diversity, every religion except those at the heart of its own culture and civilization, Christianity and Judaism.” The HSC’s division of the world is faith-based.
“Most of the more extreme objections to the ships can be readily dismissed as the work of cranks and the poorly informed,” declared Rowan Allport in his Aircraft carrier porn PR piece.
When Israeli soldiers fired across a border at peaceful Palestinian protesters, injuring hundreds and killing many, Lenarz absolved the Israeli government of blame alongside a photograph showing chemical weapons being deployed against the Palestinians.
The HSC could be dismissed as just a mob of bog-standard right-wing screaming heads and professional trolls but its infestation at the APPG on Yemen means it must be challenged constantly and aggressively.
Links to brief descriptions of other right-wing think-tanks
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Telstra Exchange > Network > 5G > Unveiling our first 5G device, after a year of network evolution
Unveiling our first 5G device, after a year of network evolution
Network 5G
by Channa Seneviratne
Executive, Network Engineering - Telstra
In the last year we’ve made huge strides forward in rolling out our 5G technology at many sites across Australia – a move that has been the result of extensive testing and validation at our 5G Innovation Centre on the Gold Coast. We’ve used a variety of devices over that time to test the technology, and that has led us to our first 5G device demonstration – the HTC 5G Hub.
Over that time, we have used a range of test platforms to evaluate and demonstrate 5G technology. Our road to 5G started with a comparatively large test device from Ericsson which arrived in September 2016, that we nicknamed the ‘bar fridge’. That test bed gave us our first live trial of 5G in Australia. After being used for early testing, it’s now employed to power the world’s first 5G-enabled free Wi-Fi precinct at Southport.
In February 2018 we also started testing 5G using the Intel 5G Mobile Test Platform (MTP), and in July that test platform was further upgraded to suit the developing 5G standards. This MTP helped us achieve several world-first 5G milestones including a competitive esports gaming experience at very low latency and our first 5G non-standalone data call on a commercial mobile network. The test platform also operated in Australia’s first 5G connected car.
In just over a year, we’ve moved from a testing platform the size of a bar fridge to a prototype ‘form factor’ device from Qualcomm Technologies – still slightly larger than a current smartphone, and a little thicker and heavier. The Qualcomm MTP recently helped make possible our first real world 5G data call using a commercial 5G chipset that will power many future 5G-ready smartphones and other devices.
We’re also continuing our 5G testing using current generation form factor prototypes for 5G handsets and mobile broadband hotspots from several technology partners including Inseego and ZTE.
All of the behind-the-scenes testing at our 5G Innovation Centre and across the country has led us to this point. We’re finally ready to unveil our first 5G device: the HTC 5G Hub, a smart mobile broadband device that has been co-developed with Telstra and, subject to further testing, will be the first commercial 5G device that we will retail in the first half of 2019. The 5G Hub has successfully been connected to our 5G service – the first in Australia and the first 5G mid-band device in the world to do so.
The HTC 5G Hub.
“HTC is leading a new wave of mobile innovation with 5G technology that paves the way for a more connected future,” said Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO of HTC. “We’re proud to work with Telstra to bring 5G to Australia and to showcase one of the first instances of live 5G in the world.”
Our 5G rollout continues as we work to enable 200 base stations with 5G technology before the end of the year, across cities like Canberra, Perth and Adelaide and regional areas like Toowoomba, as part of our commitment to lead the development of 5G in Australia.
When we think about the future of 5G, we’re only just starting to experience the promise and potential of our new networks. We’ve hit milestones for data and video calls, but the real future capability lies in transformative technologies like the Internet of Things, smart cities, and autonomous connected cars. Only time will tell how our customers use the power of 5G to create a world where we’re more connected than ever before.
Tags: 5g,
Channa Seneviratne
Channa has over 25 years of experience in Telecommunications networks having worked in both Operations and Engineering across both fixed and wireless technologies. During his time in Telstra, Channa has played key roles in the introduction and operation of Telstra’s 2G (GSM & CDMA), 3G and now 4G networks. Away from work Channa enjoys travel, sport, wildlife photography and spending time with his wife and two young daughters.
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Forterra announces bold effort for a town hit hard by floods
Forterra secures upland parcel to build new town center; plans include sustainable, affordable housing and restoration of river key to survival of Chinook and Orca
HAMILTON, Wash. 30 APRIL 2019 — Today, the conservation group Forterra announced that is has committed $1 million to help residents move out of the flood plain and to restore the river in Hamilton, a small Skagit Valley community that for years has faced recurrent and devastating floods.
In coordination with Hamilton’s leaders and residents, Forterra has purchased a 40-acre upland parcel, with the goal of building a sustainable new development that will give families and individuals the chance to move out of harm’s way. Shifting the community to higher ground will also enable restoration of a section of the Skagit River that is key to threatened Chinook salmon and Orca populations.
“If we want Chinook and Orca to thrive, we need rural communities like Hamilton to thrive. We want to help create a new town center where residents are safe from floods, where they can put down roots, and where they can feel proud of their role in protecting the natural resources around them,” remarked Michelle Connor, Forterra President and CEO.
Forterra has been working closely on the new development with the Hamilton Town Council, led by Mayor Joan Cromley. The river restoration effort builds on the work of a number of partners, including the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, the Upper Skagit Tribe, the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, Skagit Land Trust, Skagit County, The Nature Conservancy of Washington, Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, Skagit Watershed Council, and the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board.
Forterra’s $1 million investment in the project was made possible by a generous legacy gift from a donor deeply committed to wildlife. Additional funding is anticipated from philanthropy, private investment, FEMA, and other government sources.
Imagining a new rural town
The aim of the project is to create a new town center (“Hamilton Center”) that is rooted in sustainability and honors the community’s history, culture, and natural assets. The engineering firm HDR has been working pro bono with Forterra and the town to address infrastructure challenges and keep the development’s footprint light on the land. Likely features of the project include:
Affordable homes for current Hamilton residents.
Retail and community space that could be used for a coffee shop, a farmer’s market, the local food bank, or a recreation center.
Buildings constructed from locally- and responsibly-sourced Cross Laminated Timber (CLT).
Ample open space, which could include playfields, parks, and natural areas.
“Net Zero” goals for energy consumption, water use, and carbon emissions. Means to this could include affordable, available technology like solar photovoltaics, combined with high-capacity batteries, rainwater collection, and recycling systems.
Advanced wastewater and sewage treatment via new, proven technologies, avoiding negative effects on the environment and river downslope.
A restored ecosystem for nature and people
Set about 30 miles east of the tulip country around La Conner, Hamilton nestles in a deep oxbow of the Skagit River, a stretch that supports one of the largest wintering colonies of bald eagles in the country and serves as a spawning site for all five native species of Pacific salmon. Among these are Chinook, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and a prime food for the struggling Orca of southern Puget Sound. The Skagit River produces 60 percent of Puget Sound’s wild Chinook salmon. Shifting Hamilton’s town center upland will enable significant restoration of this segment of the river.
A proud town with a storied past
Today Hamilton is home to about 300 people, but during its peak as a center of coal mining and logging, its population surpassed 2,500. In 1903, a national magazine predicted the town would become “the Pittsburgh of the West.” However, as the coal seams gave out, and most big trees succumbed to the axe, Hamilton fell on hard times. And flooding made matters profoundly worse. Despite warnings from Native Americans about the risk of flooding, the town’s founders settled in what they viewed as prime riverside real estate. Then the waters came, with particular savagery in 1896, 1980, 1990,1995, 2003 (a flood severe enough to make national TV), 2007, and 2017. Today, a significant flood hits the town roughly every three-and-a-half years.
A model for climate adaptation
Scientists with the Skagit Climate Science Consortium say severe flooding will become even more frequent on the river over the coming years. Without intervention, damage to property and disruption of lives will increase, with the costs of recovery to be borne locally and by state and federal taxpayers. Towns across the U.S. face similar threats as climate change worsens. One aim of the project is to prototype a model for thoughtful, sustainable climate adaptation strategies.
Michelle Connor, President and CEO, Forterra
“We know communities everywhere are going to face more and more disasters as climate change worsens. Residents of Hamilton are pioneering a solution. By reimagining their town, this small community will help solve a huge problem — dwindling Chinook and Orca populations. They’ll also ensure that their families will be able to stay in the area for generations to come.”
Joan Cromley, Mayor, Hamilton
“The Town of Hamilton has been trying to move out of the floodplain for over five decades. We’ve been waiting to take steps in the right direction, and that time is now. This is a chance for Hamilton to get right with the land and shift to a new community nearby where we can protect and steward this stretch of river. We want a town where everyone can afford a comfortable home, and where families can put down roots for their children and grandchildren. We’re proud to be a part of this.”
Chairman Brian Cladoosby, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
“When settlers came to Fir Island at the mouth of the Skagit River, they asked where to build their houses. Our elders said, ‘Do you see those mud marks up on the trees? Build above there.’ Unfortunately, recent settlers did not hear that advice and built right next to the river in harm’s way. We are thankful for the efforts of Forterra and Mayor Cromley for beginning this important effort to move people out of the floodplain and reconnect our salmon with the habitats that are so critical to their existence.”
Scott Schuyler, Policy Representative, Upper Skagit Indian Tribe
“The Upper Skagit Tribe has inhabited the Skagit Valley since time immemorial. Our villages extended from Mount Vernon upstream to Newhalem with smaller seasonal hunting and gathering camps extending into Eastern Washington. We were the salmon people of the Skagit River. We have fished in areas like Hamilton for thousands of years. By repairing habitat to ensure sustainable fisheries for future generations, we can honor the sacrifices of our ancestors.”
Richard Brocksmith, Skagit Watershed Council
“During high water, floodplains and estuaries are a sanctuary for young fish to hide and rest, which is why these habitats are our highest priorities for restoration in the Skagit River and Puget Sound. Floods form and maintain side channels that provide year-round feeding opportunities. This project works with the local community to move them out of harm’s way and creates a win for both them and the environment.”
Kaia Nesbitt, HDR Development Director
“With Hamilton, we have a chance to create a model for attainable rural development that serves and restores its ecosystem—something that will become increasingly important in the face of climate change. We’re addressing infrastructure challenges with smarter, economically viable solutions. We’re also working to build a community with net zero energy, water, and carbon footprints, which is incredibly exciting.”
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO REQUEST AN INTERVIEW:
Kristina Avery, kavery@forterra.org
Director of Special Projects – Forterra
Michael Beneke, mbeneke@forterra.org
Vice President, Communications – Forterra
206-204-8059 | 206-250-4993 (cell)
Hamilton Web Resource
Hamilton Press Release
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Morgan: IBM Watson Creates World’s First Movie Trailer Using AI
Aditya Tiwari
Short Bytes: The 20th Century Fox teamed up with IBM Research to create the world’s first cognitive movie trailer with the help of the AI bot IBM Watson. It chose 10 moments out of the horror flick Morgan and then a human editor stitched them to come up with a trailer.
The IBM Watson is getting better every day. Last time, we heard about it when it detected a rare form of leukemia in a patient’s body and when it was used to drive a bus. Now, doctor IBM Watson is preparing for a Hollywood debut. The supercomputer IBM Watson was used to create the trailer of the 20th Century Fox horror movie Morgan.
For a scary movie, an important thing is how a person digests it. “Our team was faced with the challenge of not only teaching a system to understand, “what is scary”, but then to create a trailer that would be considered “frightening and suspenseful” by a majority of viewers,” writes Michael Zimmerman for IBM.
Over 100 horror movie trailers were fed to the IBM Watson in order to give IBM Watson the “feel” of a horror movie. Though in reality, it is just some binary numbers for the AI bot.
The trailer videos were segmented into small moments on which IBM Watson performed an analysis of audio, video, and how each scene was composed. It helped Watson detect what scenes were depicting, for example, a frightened person or an eerie moment.
After watching the 90-minute Morgan, IBM Watson came up with 10 moments (6-minutes of total length) that “would be the best candidate for the trailer”.
The final trailer, however, required the help of a human as the AI-bot didn’t have editing capabilities. “Our system could select the moments, but it’s not an editor. We partnered with a resident IBM filmmaker to arrange and edit each of the moments together into a comprehensive trailer.”
An average time of ten to thirty days is required for the creation of a movie trailer. The editing team manually analyses every moment of the movie that could become a part of the trailer. The eligible candidates are then stitched together in such a way that it gives an overview of the movie. Watson’s involvement shrunk down the whole process to a matter of around 24 hours.
“Reducing the time of a process from weeks to hours –that is the true power of AI.”
The combination of machine intelligence and human expertise is a powerful one. This research investigation is simply the first of many into what we hope will be a promising area of machine and human creativity. We don’t have the only solution for this challenge, but we’re excited about pushing the possibilities of how AI can augment the expertise and creativity of individuals.
Source: IBM
If you have something to add, tell us in the comments below.
Also Read: How To Code Your Own ‘Watson’ AI Bot In 50 Lines Of Code?
“Red Hat Will Remain Independent; I’m Not Buying Them To Destroy Them,” Says IBM CEO
IBM’s AI Computer Loses To Human In A Debate
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Board director, human rights activist, cricket tragic, sailor
Graeme Innes
Finding a Way – Order Now
Kicking an own-goal for Team Australia
Mitch Fifield is one of the best ministers in the Abbot government- you would have to be to have piloted the National Disability Insurance Scheme unscathed through the tsunami of the recent federal budget. But he has been badly advised if he blames the situation of employees with disabilities in sheltered workshops or Australian Disability Enterprises on the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Let me tell you the real story.
This government, and the previous two, have continually dragged their feet on this issue. In the late 90s, when the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool was being developed, representatives of the Commission told the government that the tool was probably discriminatory. As Deputy Disability Commissioner (1999 to 2005) and Commissioner (2005-2014) I regularly reminded them. They chose to take no action.
Mean while, about half of Australia’s ADE’s have operated, and continue to operate, using other wage assessment tools which were not discriminatory. Most of those come out with assessments which result in employees being paid higher wages than those assessed using the BSWAT.
When the Federal Court found the BSWAT to be discriminatory in 2012 I encouraged the government to support ADE’s to begin transitioning to other wage assessment tools. Instead of doing that, they sought leave from the High Court to overturn the Federal Court decision.
When the High Court did not grant leave I suggested that they apply to the Human Rights Commission for an exemption from the DDA while the transitioning took place. They took almost twelve months to lodge that application.
Minister Fifield said last week that the Commission denied the exemption application. That is not correct. The Commission granted the application, but for a period of twelve months rather than three years.
In granting a twelve month exemption, the Commission balanced the threatening of jobs against the very low wages received, and weighed the time government and ADE’s had already had to act on this matter. The Commission was not persuaded that more than twelve months would be necessary. The government had indicated in its submissions that the transition process had commenced. Other non-discriminatory assessment tools exist. The Commission wanted to ensure that the conduct which had been found to be discriminatory continued for the shortest time realistically possible.
The assertion that “there was very little consultation with the people who would be affected by the decision before it was handed down” is not true. As Commissioner, I made sure that I met with parties on all sides of the exemption process- government, National Disability Services representing the ADE’s, and organisations representing employees with disabilities. I also visited a number of ADE’s themselves, and spoke to many employees with disabilities.
In the last few years the government did economic modelling on ADE’s. This showed that some of them were not economically viable, and would be unsustainable whether the BSWAT was discriminatory or not.
It is true that ADE employees are in receipt of the Disability Support Pension- an amount of less than $20’000 a year. This does not make an hourly rate of $1, $2000 a year on top of the DSP, irrelevant. I support the concept of the “dignity of work”, but it needs to be matched by the “dignity of a fair wage”.
To suggest that without ADE’s many people would just “stay home” is an over-simplification. As the National Disability Insurance Scheme which Minister Fifield did such a great job of protecting rolls out, people with disabilities will gain far more choice and control, and be enabled to participate in a wider range of community activities.
The way to give people with disabilities “the best chance possible for a fulfilling life through employment” is for government to have a jobs plan. They could begin, as I have also said since the late 90s, by improving the percentage of people with disabilities employed in the Commonwealth Public Service. This figure has dropped from 7,5 % to 2,9 % in that time, when there are 15% of people with disabilities of working age. by not developing a jobs plan to accompany its welfare plan, the government risks kicking a spectacular own-goal for Team Australia in the hard-fought game of economic success.
The Human Rights Commission was strongly criticised by both the government and ADE’s on one side, and employee advocates on the other side, for granting a twelve-month rather than a three-year, exemption. Rather than idealism, or misplaced eutopianism, I would describe that as a realistic path towards appropriate change, along which the government and ADE’s still appear reluctant to walk.
First published in The Australian. This is the unedited version.
Graeme Innes AM
abbot government
ade's
bswat
business services wage assessment tool
commonwealth public service
dignity of a fair wage
dignity of work
employee advocates
employees with disabilities
fifield
jobs plan
national disability services
own-goal
sheltered workshops
wage assessment tools
welfare plan
Slip slop slap
Five minute flicks part three
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ΕL
Mind Gamers Types
by Great Escape | Sep 11, 2018 | Blog | Great Escape Rooms
Each game is played in its own way. Whether individual or in groups, requires the player to activate his or her mental capacity to progress to the end or to be rewarded with as much score as possible. This is also the challenge of the game. But what if the game requires more players? If more than two people are needed or if the single player is in contact with others who share the same game as with online RPGs or similar online games? How smooth can the flow of the game be and how feasible is victory if that is the ultimate goal? And what if the game is free, without a coordinator to recall the rules or to put order where he should?
Behavior and motivation
All this depends on the players themselves. It does not matter how good gamers are or how much experience and skill they are. The behavior and motivation of each player is a priority. Behavior, is the way in which a player treats the teammates as well as the game and motivation itself, that is differs from person to person. We do not all play for the same enjoyment nor with the same mood, and that’s what makes gaming even more interesting not only from entertainment, but also from social and psychological point of view. In simple words: Through the game we discover who we are.
6 gamer categories
Others play for tension, others for peace. Some are shouting angry, some are quiet and methodical. Some go unnoticed and some stand out whether they are pursuing it or not. Many play fairly and many steal. And of course there are those who live for the game and those who just happened to be there. These are some random examples of the types of gamers we have all met. They are different but they act every time in the same way, whatever they play. Behavior and motivation do not change whether they play a single video game with difficult levels, or they are together with other players in an escape room. Andrzej Marczewski, the author and designer of the gaming culture, in his book “Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play: Gamification, Game Thinking and Motivational Design” separates the players into six categories. In his research we find the Socializers, Achievers, Free Spirits, Players, Philanthropists and Disruptors. Below we will see each category separately as well as their reactions in escape rooms. In simple words: Through the game we discover who we are.
Socializers
Socializers play for the company. They are there to enjoy the game with their teammates, to get to know a new world and make friends. The success or failure of gaming goes a second step for them. They play to get along well with the other team players (even the opponent if they exist) and are looking for new games to share more experiences with friends. They love group gaming as much as any other category. Their real dealings with gaming stem from the inner need for communication and coexistence. Socializers love escape rooms because they can share an interactive experience with their friends, socialize and get to know game masters and actors. They will never say no to the challenge of a new room because the teamwork that requires collaboration is for those ideal gaming.
Achievers do not just play to play. They want to win 100% of the game, each game. Break the high score, unlock all the slopes, solve each puzzle, get each item, win prizes, reach the top. Achievers are conquerors. They have turned gaming into championship. Each game is for them a challenge with their own self. And what’s more tempting for an Achiever than an escape room full of mind challenges? It’s not hard to find an Achiever in a team trying to escape. He is usually the most experienced and competent, as well as the one who speaks much. He often plays using all his intensity and hurry. The team either follows or breaks with him because they are not all playing for the scoring or the top. But if the whole team is composed of Achievers, it is irresistible as the motivation is the same. They must definitely come out of the room in the shortest possible time by solving each puzzle without help from game masters and entering the list of the best.
Players are the original players. It’s there for the game and only for that, as long as it’s going to last. They do not play to achieve a high goal or to meet a deeper internal need. They face gaming like the professional his job. They operate methodically, calmly and patiently. They respect the rules of the game and remain focused on their purpose and are the ideal teams in the escape rooms. The motivation of Players is the reward. And what is better for a Player if not the ultimate escape from a live mind game and a game master to say “congratulations!” At the exit?
The game is fun, entertaining, escaping and releasing, and that’s what Free Spirits know. Players in this category prefer to live the magic of gaming rather than faithfully follow the rules. They are the guys in an endless adventure game going around the map, leaving aside the quests. They love exploration and are addicted to mind games. Their escape rooms offer autonomy and mental integrity. There is always something to discover in a room of escape, where the game is synonymous with exploration and challenge.
As their name betrays, players in this category cause a disturbance in the game. They are the ones who will spoil the good climate, bring about friction, deconstruct the team and try to take control and everything else. Disruptors include grinning, negative, camouflage, “thieves” and those who do not comply with the rules of the game. Disruptors are the ones who offend and curse other players in an online game and sneak into the escape room team. Many times, whole groups are made up of Disruptors. It is these groups that will enter an escape room to cause damage, disturb the actors, fight with the game masters and demote the room.
The opposite of Disruptors are the Philanthropists. For them, the human factor is more important and then the game itself. They have an increased sense of teamwork and self-help. Philanthropists are the players who get through the difficult levels in a video game, account of a weak player who give advice to online forums and who will arrive to help to achieve a demanding quest in an online rpg. The characters they prefer to play are usually healers and similar supporting roles. The escape rooms never create a problem, but the game rolls smoothly and without damage or friction. True to the spirit of teamwork, Philanthropists are essential in team mind games and escape rooms.
Great Escape Rooms is a real life escape game, with ample amounts of creativity melded together to form an extremely entertaining experience. As a member of a team, consisted of 2 to 7 players, you depart on a “locked” journey to solve the riddles of each interactive theme room, and have a Great Escape…!!!
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Home News Buzzing News Beyoncé And John D. Rockefeller Invested In HBCUs. Here’s Why You Should...
Beyoncé And John D. Rockefeller Invested In HBCUs. Here’s Why You Should Too.
HBCU Editors
Pop quiz! What do Beyoncé and John D. Rockefeller have in common?
At first glance, the two American icons couldn’t be more different. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (you’ve heard of her, right?) is a paragon of contemporary black excellence. World-famous for her talent and drive, Beyoncé’s life and artistry in 2019 would likely have been unimaginable to Rockefeller.
Not to be confused with Jay-Z’s former record label Roc-A-Fella, John D. Rockefeller was an oil magnate and philanthropist. Born before the Civil War, Rockefeller died in 1937 and is generally considered to have been the richest person of the modern age. So what interests could these two legendary figures, separated by a century, possibly both share?
The answer is surprisingly simple: both are known as strong supporters of historically black colleges and universities, also known as HBCUs. And there are several reasons why these schools continue to be incredible sources of diverse talent in today’s world.
But first, a quick history lesson. In 1882, the founders of what’s now called Spelman College (keep that name in mind) were on a crucial fundraising tour for their school, which was one of the first higher education institutions for black women in the United States. After meeting with them at a church conference, Rockefeller made a relatively small investment: $250. This was just his first donation toward black education; eventually, he would invest millions. Rockefeller soon paid off the debt for the college’s property and made large donations toward the construction of campus buildings. By 1884, the school’s name had been changed to honor Laura Spelman, Rockefeller’s wife, and her abolitionist parents.
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Removing This Invasive Shrub's Flowers Could Help Combat Malaria
by Laurie L. Dove Jul 10, 2017
The Prosopis juliflora shrub, an invasive species in Africa, is a type of mesquite. Forest and Kim Starr/Flickr/CC BY 2.0
Swat a mosquito? You've just conquered one of humankind's greatest enemies, as mosquitoes may be the deadliest animal in the world. Each year, they kill more than 1 million people by transmitting the parasites that cause malaria, a disease that destroys red blood cells and, if untreated, can lead to systemic organ failure.
The solution, however, may be as close as a common shrub. Researchers have discovered that removing the flowers of an invasive shrub from mosquito-rich areas makes significant headway in reducing malaria numbers. A new study published in the Malaria Journal reports that malaria-carrying mosquito populations plummeted by as much as 60 percent in areas using this flower-removal method.
Mosquitoes feed on the flowers of the Prosopis juliflora, and a new study shows that targeted pruning could have an impact on the spread of malaria.
Muller et al., Malaria Journal, 2017
Mali, a country of nearly 15 million people in West Africa, is the site of this first effort to control mosquitoes through environmental manipulation. The targeted shrub, Prosopis juliflora, is a type of mesquite plant native to Central and South America and the Caribbean, but was introduced to Africa to aid in deforestation recovery. The shrub now takes up millions of acres on the African continent — and its flowers have become a favorite of mosquitoes.
To determine the effect of the shrub on mosquito populations, researchers traveled to the Bandiagra District in Mali, where they cut flowering branches off P. juliflora in three of six mosquito-infested villages. In the villages where the flowers were removed, mosquito numbers (as evidenced by mosquito traps) dropped by about 60 percent when compared to mosquito populations in villages where the flowers remained intact.
"Mosquitos obtain most of their energy needs from plant sugars taken from the nectar of flowers," said Dr. Gunter Muller, the study's lead author, in a press release. "Our results show that removal of this particular shrub reduces total population levels of mosquitoes and reduces the number of older female mosquitoes in the population, which are known to transmit malaria parasites to humans. This suggests that removal of the flowers could be a new way to shift inherently high malaria transmission areas to low transmission areas, making elimination more feasible."
The researchers also believe the P. juliflora flower serves as a cautionary tale for those introducing exotic plants to new areas. Not only could these plants become invasive to local flora and fauna, but they could negatively impact public health — just like the P. juliflora attracts mosquitoes that carry malaria.
Malaria is spread to humans by female Anopheles mosquitoes, which transmit Plasmodium parasites. The parasite causes malaria, and in some cases, must be treated in 24 hours or it leads to death.
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Tag Archives: Hansel and Gretel
I finished DIS MEM BER by Joyce Carol Oates, and for me, it’s kind of meh compared to some of her other works. I prefer the short-story collection HEAT, where the females are allowed to be mean and fierce. The female protagonists in this collection seem limp and boxed in, which maybe is the point—that the stories show how girls and women are forced into these positions by society. But I want heroes, dammit.
There are two stories about widows, which speak to Oates’s own experience, I think, after unexpectedly losing her first husband. And I’m glad to have a few short stories on the subject because I haven’t encountered many. In “Great Blue Heron,” a brother-in-law pressures a widow to sell the lakefront home she’s always lived in and “invest” in some technology that he deems worthy. The other widow story was the reason why I wanted to read this collection (“The Crawl Space”), since it won a Stoker Award this year. It’s a creepy, claustrophobic story about a widow missing the house she once lived in with her husband and feeling like she’s neglected his memory—eventually when she visits, she’s trapped with his possessions . It reminded me of “Hansel and Gretel” when the witch is pushed into the oven.
“Heartbreak” really hit me with younger sister, Steff, who’s terribly jealous of her older sister, Caitlin, and the attention she gets from her slightly older stepcousin Hunt. It ended completely different from how I pictured it. There’s gunplay going on in the story, and Chekhov has said if a gun’s introduced, it has to be used. I still wasn’t ready for the massive guilt, which I think is the right reaction to an “accidental” shooting. We need more stories showing the consequences.
“The Drowned Girl” seems to be a take on the real-life Elisa Lam story, where a young woman drowned in a hotel’s rooftop water tank (the Cecil Hotel) and contaminated the water supply. For more than a week, guests complained about the foul water, and then a security guard went to the top and found the bloated, dead body of the girl. Cops say she had a psychotic break (Lam was bipolar) and killed herself by accident, but there are suspicious things in the case: She was naked, the top to the tank was put back in place (too heavy to do one’s self), and the rape kit was never processed. Anyway, Joyce Carol Oates sets the story in a college town, where the woman is named Miri Kim, and she’s already died, but another student becomes obsessed with the case and water and pipes. It kind of reminded me of the protagonist who goes a little crazy in Joan Didion’s PLAY IT AS IT LAYS.
Joyce Carol Oates at the 2013 LA Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California campus on Saturday April 21, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Katy Winn/Invision/AP)
filed under Books, Horror, Uncategorized
tagged as "Great Blue Heron", "Heartbreak", "The Crawl Space", "The Drowned Girl", Cecil Hotel, Chekhov, DIS MEM BER, Elisa Lam, Hansel and Gretel, Heat, joan didion, joyce carol oates, play it as it lays, short stories, Stoker Award
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Tag Archives: Sanjar
International, Politics, Religion
The Islamic State Is Right About Some Things
BY RAZIB KHAN
I’ve talked about the Yezidis many times over the years. The main reason is that I find the obscure marginal sects in the Middle East interesting, because this is a region of the world where religious pluralism existed under very precise and strict conditions, and these groups deviated from those conditions and lived to tell the tale. The Muslim rulers, and more specifically in historical memory the Ottomans, tolerated a specific set of enumerated dhimmi, generally traditional Christian and Jewish groups. Though subject to persecution and oppression, in principle these groups had rights to exist within the Islamic framework. Heretics and pagans on the other hand were not tolerated. For example I have read the account of from the 17th century of an Ottoman official who was making a progress from Baghdad to Istanbul which is an excellent piece of ethnography. His entourage stopped in an isolated mountain valley in what is today Kurdistan. The local population were not Muslims, and when the official inquired as to their religion they told of how they worshipped the sun. Whatever the details of their origin this group obviously would be classed as pagans, and the official was faced with what to do with these people. The choices were conversion to Islam or death, the implementation of which would have been difficult at that moment. As a solution the local Jacobite Orthodox Christian bishop agreed to accept the people as his own, with nominal baptism. Presumably these people eventually became Christians in fact as well as name. But it goes to show that in the pre-modern world of the Middle East religious diversity persisted in the isolated places of the world. Groups such as the Druze offend Sunni Muslims because they are clearly derived from Islam itself, and Islam is the capstone religion in its own conception. Alawites seem to have emerged from the same milieu as the Druze, but they have retained a tenuous Muslim identity, which has accelerated under the Assad family. The Sunni Muslim stance toward these groups is that they are viewed as illegitimate heresies, not protected religions. The extent of Salafi* influence in one’s orientation also conditions how Sunnis view Shia (and there is variation within the Shia group, the Ismailis in particular viewed as heretical because their practice and theology differs more in obvious ways from Sunni orthodoxy; the Zaydi Shia are at the opposite extreme, being very similar to Sunni norms).
All this leads up to why the Islamic State, and Muslims generally to a lesser extent, tend to be extremely harsh in their attitude toward the Yezidi sect. The details of the Yezidi belief system are somewhat obscure, like that of the Druze, but they are clearly not Muslim. The media reports that the Yezidi are an ancient religion, with some relationship to Zoroastrianism. Many Kurds will also agree with this statement, assuming that something like Yezidism was the primal faith of their ethnic group. This may or may not be true. The origins of the Yezidi may actually be more like the Druze, if somewhat more ancient and obscure. Part of the lack of clarity I think goes back to the fact that there is some opaqueness overall in the first century or so of Islam. The social-religious world of the Middle East was a product of those years, but it is very different from them. For example Zoroastrianism and Zoroastrian influenced syncretistic Muslim sects were powerful anti-establishment forces across the Iranian cultural zone down to the 9th century. Quite a few extremist Shia sects (ghulat) seem to have made the transition to post-Islam, often imbibing Zoroastrianism of a Mazdakite flavor. Such a transition though was usually a cultural death sentence. Survival usually depended upon attaching oneself to a Shia identity, however tenuous (the Alawite strategy), or, fleeing to a geographically isolated region (in some cases these sectarians fled to the Byzantine Empire, and converted to Orthodox Christianity rather than revert to normative Islam!). Flight from the world is what the Druze and Yezidi have done in their fastness.
The current capture of Sinjar has been a humanitarian catastrophe for the Yezidi because it has been one of their traditional redoubts. The kidnapping of women, and the summary beheading or crucifixion of men, can be comprehensible in light of the Salafi Muslim vision of groups such as the Yezidi, which literally should not exist. Their obliteration would bring balance back into the Salafi world. While Christians and Jews may persist with the barest of sufferance, the existence of the Yezidi is an abomination to Salafi Muslims. What is occurring is a ethnic cleansing and genocide in straightforward terms. In fact Salafi Muslims would probably agree with the appellation cleansing, because the Yezidi to them are an offence to Being itself. Their existence is a matter is a matter of ritual purity in a metaphysical sense. I am wary of ever making analogies to Nazi Germany and the way it viewed the Jews, but this one clearly is a close fit. There is no path toward accommodation of Yezidi existence for the Islamic State, it is now down to an animal battle of survival for them, as they flee into the mountains as they have done so many times in the past.
Read more » http://www.unz.com/gnxp/the-islamic-state-is-right-about-some-things/
ChristianDruzeIraqIsmailisJewishKurdistanSalafiSanjarshiasunniSyriaYezidisZaydi ShiaZorosastrian
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Behzod Abduraimov, Piano & Truls Mørk, Cello in Concert, May 1
Park ICM 1900 Series
1900 Building, 1900 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Mission Woods, Kansas 66205
TICKETS: $15-30
“When the Nordic mage of the cello meets the impressive Uzbek pianist, there is electricity in the air. At the top for thirty years, Truls Mork captivates the public by its class, its elegance, its interpretations always radiant. As for Behzod Abduraimov, he is at the forefront of a generation rich in talent. His naturalness, his transcendent technique and the quiet strength of his playing make him a partner of choice for the Norwegian musician.” Théâtre des Champs-Élysée
Two Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
1. Prelude
2. Oriental Dance
Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36 by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Allegro agitato
Andante molto tranquillo
*** Intermission ***
Intermezzo in A minor for Cello and Piano, EG 115 by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19 by Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Lento. Allegro moderato
Allegro scherzando
Allegro mosso
Performer Biographies
Behzod Abduraimov, Piano
Described by The Times as the “master of all he surveys” and with The Washington Post noting to “keep your ear on this one”, Behzod’s captivating performances continue to receive international praise.
Recent seasons have seen Behzod work with leading orchestras worldwide, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, NHK Symphony and Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestras, and prestigious conductors including Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Manfred Honeck, Vasily Petrenko, James Gaffigan, Jakub Hrusa, Thomas Dausgaard and Vladimir Jurowski. Last season he made his debut with the Münchner Philharmoniker under Gergiev featuring in their new 360 degree Festival and subsequently made his BBC Proms debut with them.
Upcoming European highlights include the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester as part of the Elb Philharmonie opening, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and further afield he will work with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In recital Behzod is one of the featured artists for the Junge Wilde series at the Konzerthaus Dortmund, he appears at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and returns to the Verbier Festival and La Roque d’Anthéron.
In North America Behzod will perform in recital at the Stern Auditorium following his debut success at Carnegie Hall in 2015, as well as for the Cliburn Concerts, Carolina Performing Arts, the Vancouver Recital series and concerts with Houston and Pittsburgh, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Minnesota Orchestra amongst others. He has recently appeared at the Aspen Music Festival and with orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony and Seattle Symphony.
In 2017 Behzod will tour to Asia for performances with Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra, Beijing and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and also embark upon a recital tour of Australia. An award-winning recording artist – his debut recital CD won both the Choc de Classica and the Diapason Découverte – Behzod released his first concerto disc in 2014 on Decca
Classics which features Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.3 and Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No.1 with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai under Juraj Valčuha.
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1990, Behzod began to play the piano at the age of five as a pupil of Tamara Popovich at Uspensky State Central Lyceum in Tashkent. He is an alumnus of Park University’s International Center for Music where he studied with Stanislav Ioudenitch, and now serves as the ICM’s artist-in- residence.
Truls Mørk, Cello
Truls Mørk’s compelling performances, combining fierce intensity, integrity and grace, have established him as one of the pre-eminent cellists of our time.
He is a celebrated artist who performs with the most distinguished orchestras including the Orchestre de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, Philharmonia and London Philharmonic orchestras and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. In North America he has appeared withthe New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conductor collaborations include Mariss Jansons, David Zinman, Manfred Honeck, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Christoph Eschenbach, amongst others.
During the 2016/17 season Truls Mørk will be Artist-in- Residence with the Gothenburg Symphony which will include both concerto performances and chamber music. He continues to give regular recitals at major venues and festivals throughout the world – he was one of the featured artists at the 2016 Piatigorsky International Cello Festival in Los Angeles and will return to the Verbier Festival in 2017.
A great champion of contemporary music, Truls Mørk has given in excess of 30 premieres. These include Rautavaara’s Towards the Horizon with the BBC Symphony Orchestra/John Storgårds, Pavel Haas’ Cello Concerto with Wiener Philharmoniker/Jonathan Nott, Krzysztof Penderecki’s Concerto for Three Cellos with the NHK Symphony Orchestra/Charles Dutoit and Haflidi Hallgrimsson’s Cello
Concerto, co-commissioned by the Oslo Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony and Scottish Chamber orchestras.
With an impressive recording output, Truls Mørk has recorded many of the great cello concertos for labels such as Virgin Classics, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Ondine, Arte Nova and Chandos many of which have won international awards including Gramophone, Grammy, Midem and ECHO Klassik awards. These include Dvořák’s Concerto (Mariss Jansons/Oslo Philharmonic), Britten’s Cello Symphony and Elgar’s Concerto (Sir Simon Rattle/CBSO), Miaskovsky Concerto and Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante (Paavo Järvi/CBSO), Dutilleux (Myung-Whun Chung/Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France), CPE Bach (Bernard Labadie/Les Violons du Roy), Haydn’s Concertos (Iona Brown/Norwegian Chamber Orchestra), Rautavaara’s Towards the Horizon (John Storgårds/Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra) as well as the complete Bach Cello Suites and Britten Cello Suites. His most recent recordings include Shostakovich’s Concertos with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko, works for cello and orchestra by Massenet with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Neeme Järvi and the Saint-Saens Concertos together with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Neeme Järvi.
Initially taught by his father, Truls Mørk continued his studies with Frans Helmerson, Heinrich Schiff and Natalia Schakowskaya. In his early career he won a number of competitions such as the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition (1982), Cassado Cello Competition in Florence (1983), the Unesco Prize at the European Radio-Union competition in Bratislava (1983) and the Naumberg Competition in New York (1986).
devicm 2018-04-10T16:05:33+00:00 April 10th, 2018|@ 1900 Series|
Park ICM 1900 Series Featuring Irina Muresanu, Violin
Park International Center for Music Announces 2018-2019 Season and Performance Home of the 1900 Building
Park ICM Masters in Concert Presents Daniel Veis, Cello, and Helena Veisova, Piano
Park ICM 1900 Series Featuring Dang Thai Son, Piano
Park ICM Masters in Concert Presents Ben Sayevich, Violin & Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich, Piano
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Fashion, Lifestyle, Style
Vicomte A: Lifestyle In Colour
by Jessica Brassington - Freelance Writer
Vicomte A is inspired by lifestyle events and codes of dress, but what sets the brand apart from the rest is the use of colour. From the bold to the more subtle, founder, Arthur de Soultrait, always incorporates vibrant colours that add an element of fun to his very wearable designs. As a businessman, however, it was not always the most evident route for the young entrepreneur. At 21 years old, Arthur was a student in his third year at a Parisian business school. With little clue of what business he wanted to create, it was by chance that his interest turned to fashion. After finding out that the company he had started interning for in North Carolina had gone bankrupt, Arthur was left with no money or accommodation. It was here that the opportunity arose: Arthur went from door to door selling his own personal collection of colourful ties. It was a total success, he raised enough money to travel home to France and, more importantly, the motivation to begin his own business venture.
A year later, Arthur gained his first contract selling ties to the French delegation representing the bid to host the Olympics Games in 2012. It was this contract that gave him enough funds to set up Vicomte A.
Did you feel there was something missing in the market when you first founded the company and how do you think Vicomte A has filled that gap?
The market was very dark in colour at the time with a lot of black, but I love to see colour. My grandfather was breeding horses to race and was one of the best breeders in France during the 1990s so we used to attend the horse races on a regular basis. I was inspired by the colours of the Jockey’s shirts and so when I started my tie business I wanted to incorporate these bright colours. One year later, I launched the polo shirts, which are also made in similar colours. I think there are few companies that match lifestyle with colour in this way.
The clothing is linked with everyday life; clothes that match lifestyles that are practical as well as stylish.
In the photo: Autumn/Winter 2015 collection
How have your visions and perceptions changed since starting Vicomte A?
I would say that it is not the same brand anymore. At the beginning, I was just selling ties and polo shirts, but now we have 600 different products each season that sell in 32 different countries. The French market knows the brand well and the connection with the bright coloured polo shirt will remain the staple piece. However, now there is a stronger focus on the new collections with the introduction of more urban styles. Vicomte A is constantly growing as a brand, it is not just sports and events wear now; we have introduced high-end styles as well.
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How has the use of colour changed over the course of the company?
I like to think the company has grown in maturity; the colours are more seen in the details of the clothing, for example, in the lining of the pockets. Of course, Summer is a little bolder, but it is all in the details. When I speak to the team at Vicomte A, I always ask them to think about the colour. It is one of the most important elements of the brand.
How important do you think the campaigns are to the branding of the company?
The most recent campaign was photographed in a forest in Burgundy, a place where I rent a home. I took models and friends and shot the campaign there and worked with print designers, Violaine and Jérémy, who have a great reputation in the industry. Campaigns like these are important to the company because it is a real life brand. The clothing is linked with everyday life; clothes that match lifestyles that are practical as well as stylish.
In the photo: Sping/Summer 2015 collection
Do you see Vicomte A branching out in the future with different lines or occasions?
It is just great to be in a place where I have a great team working with me. I am really enjoying where the company is right now. Sometimes I have to reign myself in a bit because I have lots of ideas, but the challenge now is to branch out to new countries. We are currently in the process of putting our first store in Johannesburg and we recently sponsored a Polo company. So the idea is to conquer new places, keep targeting younger markets, something that older competitors selling similar clothing are not doing, but also stay true to the brand. The logo, the designs and the colours I have chosen represent the soul of brand so choosing the right partners is very important at a time when the company is growing.
What is your favourite Vicomte A item and do you wear all the designs?
The polo shirt is my favourite item because it is classic Vicomte A and a staple wardrobe piece. I wear most things because I design what I like, what myself and my friends would wear. At the moment I am working on a dinner jacket; I wanted to design something elegant for special occasions.
Where do you find inspiration for the themes of the collections?
I mainly think about my lifestyle and the things I enjoy doing and then think about how clothes can fit in with that. For example, Summer 2016 is all about fishing, which is one of my favourite hobbies. My first time fishing was in Scotland in 1996 and this is what inspired me to design this specific collection. Bringing my own life and loves into the brand makes the process easier and more fun when working with the designer. Not many brands incorporate style and fashion with lifestyle, whether it is urban or country living, but I think it is important.
Did you think you would be here ten years ago?
Not at all. Ten years ago I was a student and it all started because I needed some money. When I first created Vicomte A I just wanted to be able to make 1000 euro per month through selling the ties because I wanted to be independent of my parents. At the beginning, you have nothing so it is hard to see that far ahead. Now, it is all about the team and the everyday. It is a very difficult business, the market is extremely tough because the competition is large and you’re competing with brands all over the world. Every month new brands are added to the market. You have to be a bit crazy sometimes to stand out from the crowd.
Leading image: Arthur de Soultrait
#Arthur de Soultrait, #Vicomte A, Color, fashion, France, Impakter, Jessica Brassington, lifestyle, paris, thingser
About the Author / Jessica Brassington
With a master’s degree in modern history from the University of Sheffield, Jessica Brassington has used her knowledge and research skills in various roles since graduating in 2013. Working freelance on historical and art projects in the UK, as well as gaining experience in content writing, Jessica has also volunteered on the local radio in order to entertain her long-lived passion for music. In her decision to learn a language and move to Paris, France, Jessica created the time to focus on her passion and start writing about the Alt/Indie music scene.
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Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump and his top advisers on Monday stepped up their drive to win congressional passage of a trade deal with Canada and Mexico, as the administration's top trade official prepared to meet with Democratic lawmakers again this week.
German minister pushing to resolve trade disputes with U.S.
WASHINGTON German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier on Thursday said he sees a 50-50 chance of averting U.S. auto tariffs, and that it will likely take weeks or months to resolve at least some of the thorny trade disputes clouding U.S.-European relations.
Europe should brace for U.S. tariffs on several fronts - German official
WASHINGTON European Union member states should brace for U.S. tariffs on several fronts in the months ahead, a senior German official warned late on Tuesday, just hours before Washington launched a probe of a planned French digital tax that could trigger future tariffs.
WASHINGTON, July 10 European Union member states should brace for U.S. tariffs on several fronts in the coming months, a senior German official said late on Tuesday, following meetings with U.S. officials and lawmakers in Washington.
White House official optimistic on U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal
WASHINGTON White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday said he was optimistic that U.S. House of Representatives leader Nancy Pelosi would allow a vote on a new North American trade agreement this summer or early fall.
German diplomat tells U.S., EU: don't use agriculture to block trade deal
WASHINGTON The United States and European Union should use common sense to move forward with formal negotiations about a trade agreement, instead of allowing disagreements over agriculture to block progress, a senior German diplomat told Reuters.
EU open to talks with U.S. in aircraft subsidies dispute
BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON The European Union said on Tuesday it was open to talks with Washington in a dispute over aircraft subsidies after the United States threatened an additional $4 bln in tariffs on EU goods including olives, Italian cheese and Scotch whisky.
The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a new rule to bar almost all immigrants from applying for asylum at the southern border, requiring them to first pursue safe haven in a third country through which they had travelled on the way to the United States.
Nuclear deal parties not ready to launch dispute mechanism against Iran, prefer more diplomacy -EU
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New York's growing gender-free community embraced by gender fluid model - 01:48
"I don't think we can count on anything" - Obama on Ukraine agreement
Friday, April 18, 2014 - 02:01
April 17 - U.S. President Obama said ''I don't think we can count on anything'' after U.S., Russia, Ukraine and EU together called for an immediate halt to violence in Ukraine. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) STORY: U.S. President Obama said "I don't think we can count on anything" after U.S., Russia, Ukraine and EU together called for an immediate halt to violence in Ukraine. Ukrainian, Russian and Western diplomats held emergency talks in Geneva seeking to resolve a confrontation that has seen pro-Russian fighters seize official buildings across eastern Ukraine while Moscow masses tens of thousands of troops on the frontier. "All sides must refrain from any violence, intimidation or provocative actions," a joint statement issued after the Geneva talks said. "All illegal armed groups must be disarmed; all illegally seized buildings must be returned to legitimate owners; all illegally occupied streets, squares and other public places in Ukrainian cities and towns must be vacated," it added. Obama said it will not be clear for a few days whether those agreements are honored.
https://in.reuters.com/video/2014/04/17/i-dont-think-we-can-count-on-anything-ob?videoId=311325639&videoChannel=13423
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Home > IN3 and Indiana Biosciences Research Institute form strategic alliance to collaborate on health, data and defense projects
IN3 and Indiana Biosciences Research Institute form strategic alliance to collaborate on health, data and defense projects
Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI)
INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 16, 2019 – The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) and the Indiana Innovation Institute (IN3) today announced the formation of a strategic alliance allowing both institutes to collaborate on projects relevant to their respective missions.
Under the terms of a recently signed memorandum of understanding, the IBRI and IN3 agreed to collaborate on securing funding, especially federal funding for projects; use of facilities for research and development; management capabilities and leveraging each other’s network of collaborators.
“Since both institutes have common stakeholders, including the state of Indiana, Indiana’s research universities and several others, it makes sense for us to work closely together on existing and new projects where our stakeholders are already involved,” said Rainer Fischer, Ph.D., the IBRI’s chief executive officer and chief scientific and innovation officer. “We can achieve results faster and more efficiently by helping industry and academia to collaborate in these efforts, which is our mission.”
Some projects may include:
Trusted microelectronics, especially related to biomedical applications, including wearables and devices making use of the Internet of Things (IoT).
“Big Data” analytics, especially related to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Million Veteran Program (MVP), a large health database designed to help improve veterans’ health.
Biomedical sensors, including deployable Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN), wearable sensors, and laboratory-based analytic systems.
IN3 brings together top leaders from government, military, industry and research universities in collaboration with Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, to solve difficult technical challenges facing the U.S. Department of Defense and industry.
“This partnership with the IBRI adds another level of expertise here in Indiana to help us solve a number of technical challenges that impact lives every day,” said General Gene Renuart, USAF (Ret.), chairman and CEO, IN3. “We know that these kinds of strategic partnerships are essential in creating scientific and technical breakthroughs that can benefit Hoosiers, warfighters and others across the globe.”
About the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute
The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit and independent applied research institute formed in 2013. The IBRI exists to bring together companies and universities to work collaboratively on interrelated health issues that are of both global significance and have a disproportionate impact on Hoosiers—diabetes, metabolic disease and poor nutrition, and related health data science and analytics. Our motto is Discovery With Purpose, reflecting our commitment to the translation of scientific discovery into improved outcomes. http://indianabiosciences.org
The Indiana Innovation Institute (IN3) is a non-profit applied research institute that brings together top leaders from government, military, industry and research universities in collaboration with Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane). IN3 facilitates and manages collaborative research teams from Indiana University, Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame and other Indiana colleges and universities to perform research in participants’ areas of technical expertise. IN3’s focus is on trusted microelectronics technology and security, hypersonics, electro-optics, sensor fusion, data assurance and energy storage. Work conducted through IN3, accelerates technology commercialization that supports economic prosperity across Indiana with a specific focus on the Indiana Uplands region. For more information about the Indiana Innovation Institute, visit www.IN3Indiana.com.
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Tori Kelly, Big Sean, Janelle Monae + More Perform at 2015 BET Awards
Emily Tan
Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images
When BET wanted to celebrate the 15th year of its award show, the network decided to go all out. And they did, especially with the endless list of big performances.
Kendrick Lamar kicked off the night with a lively rendition of "Alright." From standing on cars to all the American flags waving around in the air, it was a great way to get the awards show off to a strong start.
Janelle Monae traded her tailored suits for a more athletic white and black accented pant and crop top number. But stage wear aside, she proved that the crown on her head was quite fitting as she performed "Yoga" where the singer did everything from the moonwalk to a steady tree pose. Right after Janelle finished her song, Jidenna, who's signed to her label, Wondaland Records, performed his hit "Classic Man."
Chris Brown and Tyga took the stage next. Their performance started off with Chris' new track, "Liquor" while a girl danced on him -- literally. Only singing the first verse and chorus, the performance than transitioned to the more upbeat "Ayo." As Breezy sang the chorus and danced, Tyga attacked the stage sharp precision on his lyrical delivery. When you think it's over, Omarion got onstage as his single, "Pose to Be," which features Chris and Jhene Aiko, and started to perform. While the two guys sang their hearts out, Jhene didn't make it and her recording played instead.
The Voice alum Avery Wilson treated everyone to his single "If I Have To." The Weeknd performed "The Hills" but really surprised the crowd when Alicia Keys appeared onstage at the piano singing the first verse of "Worth It." Weeknd came in on the second verse, and the two played off each other. And what was once a solo song naturally turned into a duet.
Celebrating Bad Boy Records 20th birthday, Diddy and the rest of the label family did a special performance and brought us all back to the 90s. Ma$e, 112, Faith Evans performed hits like "Feel So Good," "Love Like This," "I Need a Girl" and "Peaches and Cream." And even Pharrell made a cameo and reminded us that he can spit rhymes as well as he can sing. However, "It's All About the Benjamins (Remix)" was probably one of the performance's highlights because the Queen Bee herself Lil Kim came out to do her verse. It was glorious.
This year, BET honored Smokey Robinson with the Lifetime Achievement Award and a special performance by some notable artists. Tori Kelly paid homage to the legendary R&B artist by performing a soulful version of the Jackson 5's "Who's Lovin' You," which Smokey penned for the group. The tribute continued with Robin Thicke's rendition of "Ooo Baby Baby" and Ne-Yo's toe-tapping cover of "The Tears of a Clown." And after an inspiring acceptance speech, Smokey performed "The Tracks of My Tears" and "Crusin'," which had brought so many in the crowd to start slow dancing. The medley ended with "My Girl" and brought Ne-Yo, Tori and Robin back on the stage -- another big moment of the night.
With Meek Mill now out of jail and getting all snuggly with his boo Nicki Minaj, their performance of "All Eyes on You" clearly got a lot of love. And although it seemed like Chris Brown was playing third wheel, his buttery vocals on the chorus made up for the fact that Nicki and Meek look too cute onstage together.
Big Sean performed a medley of "One Man Can Change the World," "Blessed" and "I Don't F--- With You." And although it seemed like the stage was huge, Sean took advantage of the size by putting some explosive weather scenes behind him and was elevated high above the stage. But before he went into the harder hip-hop track with E-40, he thanked everyone for giving the best year of his life.
The cast of Empire performed the hit songs from their show while K. Michelle, Tamar Braxton and Patti LaBelle combined their strong voices for a jaw-dropping performance. Fetty Wap may have only become a household name over the past few months, but he held it down and got everyone dancing with "Trap Queen."
The 2015 BET Awards were full of so many stage moments this year. Which one was your favorite?
See Celebs on the 2015 BET Awards Red Carpet
Next: The Winners of the 2015 BET Awards
Source: Tori Kelly, Big Sean, Janelle Monae + More Perform at 2015 BET Awards
Filed Under: Big Sean, Chris Brown, Diddy, Fetty Wap, Ne-Yo, Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke
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Issue emergency, published April 24, 2019
The Joe Rogan Experience to withdraw from Luminary
The Joe Rogan Experience has requested to be removed from the Luminary platform, I’ve confirmed.
The team explicitly cites licensing issues as the reason behind the intent to withdraw. “There was not a license agreement or permission for Luminary to have The Joe Rogan Experience on their platform,” a representative from the team told me last night. “His reps were surprised to see the show there today and requested it be removed.”
Luminary declined to comment for this story.
If the request is honored, The Joe Rogan Experience would be yet another high-profile podcast to actively withdraw from the app following The New York Times’ The Daily and Spotify’s various show assets, including programming from Gimlet Media and Parcast. (Hat tip to The Verge, which broke the The Daily and Spotify pull-outs on Monday.)
It’s also another massive podcast, next to The Daily, to do so. Now almost a decade old, the Joe Rogan Experience is widely thought to be among the most downloaded and consequential podcasts in operation. Apple has listed the show as one of the twenty most-downloaded podcasts on its platform in both 2017 and 2018, and the show routinely drives headlines off its distinctly Dark Web-ish politics and attention-grabbing booking prowess, with a guest list that has included Elon Musk, Sam Harris, Mike Tyson, and the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Last month, Slate published a cover story on the podcast, calling it “an essential platform for ‘freethinkers’ who hate the left.”
It’s worth noting that Luminary won’t be the only podcast-distributing platform to not have The Joe Rogan Experience; in fact, the podcast is missing from Spotify as well. But the show’s absence on Luminary, as part of what appears to be a broader cascade of publisher withdrawals, will surely sting the upstart more. As I’ve pointed out, it’s likely that Luminary’s audience strategy relies on using its free tier to bring people into the app in the first place, after which the app will try to push them down the paid funnel. Losing access to some of these bigger shows certainly complicates the first part of that equation.
Anyway, not to be gauche, but I think this development further supports the analysis I laid out in yesterday’s column: the industry push-back to the Luminary launch that we’re seeing is less an overt expression of the brewing podcast platform war, but the result of more mundane procedural breakdowns around licensing agreements. Furthermore, my sense is that this story treads less on the question about who gets to do what under the soft cultural tenets around podcasting and openness, and is more about the line beyond which an action becomes exploitative of someone else’s intellectual property.
What a rough roll-out for Luminary, yikes. It will continue to be rough, too, as The Joe Rogan Experience isn’t the only publisher outside of The Daily and Spotify that’s withdrawn from the platform. If you poke around the app, you’ll find that shows from the recently-launched Endeavor Audio are also blacked out as well. And it’s likely there will be others more to come.
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CSI & “What Would You Do About It?”
February 8, 2011 September 2, 2011 Joanna T Witulski Leave a comment
CSI’s show on 3 February and “What Would You Do About It?” on 4 February are too close for comfort because it is a rarity to see two episodes covering deaf issues/stories two days in a row and not only that, Super Bowl on 6 February promises to be 100% caption. I certainly hope it is not a one time hype.
CSI always amuses and educates. When it first started, I was a bit disappointed that the camera would cut out the hands signing, just because it was being captioned. As it progressed throughout the show, the camera widened to proper viewing of signers. It is a pretty average story but amusing because of how the people would interact and with Sara’s marriage to Grissom and having her mother in law being deaf. It is also encouraging that someone marrying into a family which has a deaf member, like Sara who is willing to learn to sign so she can communicate with her mother-in-law to the best of her ability. What also impresses me is how the characters are able to switch between languages when an interpreter is present. I also like the fact that the interpreter is not in the picture the entire time.
Some people mentioned that they didn’t like how the criminals are portrayed in the storyline. Reality is that, we have people defrauding the system, all because the system continues to support and encourage dependency rather than ‘booting’ them on the street and let nature (not society) take its course. Fraud is typical, a natural aspect of human (or animal) behavior, it just goes deeper when it comes to a system that a certain percentage of population uses because of their “social difference”. We, deaf or hoh people, often don’t like how we are portrayed on shows and movies as well, so the shoes are on the other foot.
Now I did DVR the “What Would You Do About It” February 4th episode about 2 NTID (National Technical Institute of the Deaf/Rochester, NY) trying to apply for a job. At first the idea of replacing the actual workers with actors wasn’t my taste of tea but the concept behind it is valid. So I watched it on ABC, of course the episode is not 100% captioned (despite Congress passing two laws mandating caption for internet based shows/movies in 2010). It did have some caption for certain aspects and signing was clear so I could get what was going on and tell you the truth, it was a common occurrence, no matter when, where or why for people with disabilities to be rejected for the “inability” to the job.
Overall it was a good show, I liked the backstage comments and the like but what made my day was this: people who actually said on public TV that one should not discriminate, take the application and here’s the killer – “put it on the back of the application “not a fit”” and “don’t call them.” What contradicted the comments was “Handicapped people they have more rights than anyone in this world”. Thank goodness that the people’s faces was blurred out, either she’d be fired or jumped on the street.
Now the question lies with all of us, “what would we do about it?” Whew…..
What Would You Do?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJcAymTu-CE
http://deafness.about.com/b/2011/02/04/if-human-resources-folks-act-that-way.htm
Attitude, Deaf, General, Mind-boggling...
← Inalienable Rights
To Listen or Not to Listen →
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Ricky Burns Excited For U.S. Debut On CBS, Saturday
04 May 2015 Lukie Ketelle
Ricky Burns says that beating Omar Figueroa in Texas on Saturday will put him back on the World title trail. The former two-weight world champion Burns meets the former WBC lightweight king at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo live on CBS in the US as part of the Premier Boxing Champions series. Burns is looking to return to the top of the boxing tree having lost his WBO Lightweight crown to Terence Crawford and then slipped up against Dejan Zlaticanin as he looked to make waves in the WBC rankings.
The Coatbridge ace stepped back into the ring and up at light welterweight for the first time in Leeds in October with a confidence boosting win over Alexandre Lepelley, and the 32 year old expects a classic on a must-win night.
“This is such a huge fight for me,” said Burns. “I have had a tough time of it in and out of the ring recently but that’s in the past and it’s time to get back to performing in the ring and doing what I love. We wouldn’t have taken the fight if we didn’t think I can win it and I am confident that I will. I don’t want to contemplate defeat, I am not thinking about it – but there’s no doubt that I need to win this to get back on track and into more big fights.
“I’ve been in Texas for a couple of weeks already getting used to the heat – it’s a wee bit warmer than Glasgow and Essex I can tell you that! Kevin Mitchell and John Ryder have been out there with me too so it’s been a really great camp with those guys, they both have big fights in London on May 30 so they are right in the zone too. John is a cracking guy and Kevin is just the funniest bloke you could meet, so it’s been good fun as well as a lot of hard work.
“I can’t wait to fight in America, it’s something that I have always wanted to do and I can tick it off the list. Before the fight was confirmed there were a few names mentioned and Figueroa in America was one of them – when I was told that it was likely I was going to be fighting in America I didn’t really care who it was, I am just looking forward to the challenge of boxing in the States. I’m going into his hometown and he’ll have the crowd behind him, but they can’t help him when the bell goes, it’s down to him and I and the best man will win on the night.
“Omar is a very good fighter, there’s no denying that – you don’t become WBC champion without being good. We’ve seen a lot of him though, Kevin beat the guy that Figueroa beat last time out so Tony has seen plenty of him and so have I.
“Our styles will mix and it’s his debut at 140lbs so it’s a new thing for him to cope with. He was tight at the weight before and he still might struggle even at this weight as they were talking about going up another weight too, so we will see. We had been talking about moving down to Lightweight and I believe that is where my future lies, but this fight is too good to turn down so I am not going to grumble at a few pounds, I just want to get in there and get on with it. Tony has been working on lots of tactics so I have more than one game-plan to beat him and the fans are in for a treat.”
Tags:#boxingOmar Figueroa Jr.Omar FigureoapbcPBC on CBSPremier Boxing ChampionsPress ReleaseRicky burns
ESPN First Take's Skip Bayless 'Loses It' Over Mayweather-Pacquiao Result
Mayweather-Golovkin is the new Mayweather-Pacquiao and that's not a good thing
What’s Next For Ryan Martin?
Deontay Wilder, and when do words go too far to sell a fight?
J-Rock Williams defeats Jarrett Hurd, new world champion
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Tag Archives: Police
Who and How F@*%$d Up Are You?-The Departed and Identity
Posted by Joshua Ryan "Jammer" Smith in Film Review, History, Masculinity Studies
"How fucked up are you?", Anti-Hero, Boston, Cop Movies, Crime, Crime Films, Drama, Father-Son Relationship, fathers, Film, film review, fuck, Goodfellas, history, Human Developement, Identity, integrity, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mafia, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Scorsese, Martin Sheen, Masculinity Studies, Matt Damon, Personal Development, Police, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino, The Departed, violence, Working Class Men
I had only seen Taxi Driver and Goodfellas when I watched Martin Scorsese tickle Stan Smith with his eyebrows. Despite my ignorance of the man’s larger body of work at the time the scene still made me laugh because I knew enough about Martin Scorsese to know that those eyebrows are their own caricature and I’m positive they have their own star on the Hollywood block somewhere between Cher and Elizabeth Taylor. The biopic of their life is supposed to be directed by Edgar Wright but that’s one of those rumors I don’t put much stock in.
I’m trying more and more to stop thinking so much about who I was. This is not because I hate my past, I don’t, but my regular reader has probably heard me describe my youth and adolescence as a less than enjoyable period of my life. I was a privileged kid who came from a great and loving family, but more and more I’ve realized that I have always had some modicum of depression. I just never really liked myself and I didn’t enjoy it much when people complimented me or told me they thought I was exceptional. This self loathing really kicked in during puberty and it was during this time that I found an outlet for the growing darkness and search for identity in three outlets: heavy metal, writing, and cinema. My sophomore English teacher helped me with the second two, first by giving me her water damaged paperback copy of Stephen King’s The Green Mile, and the second by recommending me to watch a film called Pulp Fiction.
Quentin Tarantino hit my brain like a typhoon and I just ingested the man’s collected work, and because I’ve always been the kind of person I am, when I find an artist that I like I disappear into their world and philosophy. There could never be enough interviews by Tarantino to read, there could never be enough essays written by Tarantino, and there could never be enough books about Tarantino. Somewhere, in all this research I kept hearing the same name over and over again, Martin Scorsese. This name became something important, and so when I got the chance I went to Hastings and checked out Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, and Goodfellas. If Tarantino was god, then Scorsese was a titan because I recognized something in the man’s oeuvre, even if I didn’t or couldn’t explain what it was.
Somewhere in all this endless consumption of media The Departed came to theaters and I begged my dad to take me to see it. To the man’s credit he did and afterwards we discussed Jack Nicholson’s character. Dad tried to argue that the man basically recycled every single one of his previous roles and formed it into one central character. I believed him at the time but now I’m a little dubious. I didn’t, and still don’t, see any of the President from Mars Attacks in Frank Costello but maybe if he’d spoken a little French.
The Departed is a movie that I must have watched somewhere around twenty or thirty times, and that number honestly feels a little low. Being a teenage boy the film mostly appealed to me fo it’s non-stop irreverence. One need only look at one early scene in the film when Mark Wahlberg’s character Staff Seargent Dignam makes a small address to members of an investigative unit:
Ellerby: [during a conference briefing about Costello and his crew] Staff Sergeant Dignam is our liaison to the the undercover department, his undercover work is extensive. He’s here to give us his report. Sergeant Dignam.
Dignam: Ok. My people are out there. They’re like fuckin’ indians. You’re not gonna see ’em you’re not gonna hear about ’em except from me or Captain Queenan. You will not ever know the identity of undercover people. Unfortunately, this shithole has more fuckin’ leaks than the Iraqi Navy.
Ellerby: Fuck yourself.
Dignam: I’m tired from fuckin’ your wife.
Ellerby: How’s your mother?
Dignam: Good, she’s tired from fuckin’ my father.
Or perhaps another when Billy Costigan, played Leonardo DiCaprio, orders a drink at a bar:
Billy Costigan: [to the bartender] Cranberry juice.
Man Glassed in Bar: It’s a natural diuretic. My girlfriend drinks it when she’s got her period. What, do you got your period?
[Billy grabs an empty glass and smashes it onto the man’s head. Mr. French grabs Billy throws him against the wall. Billy tries to go towards the man again and French holds him against the wall. Billy pushes French’s hands away]
Billy Costigan: Get your fuckin’ hands off me!
Mr. French: [calmly] Hey, hey, hey… do you know me?
Billy Costigan: No, no.
Mr. French: Well, I’m the guy that tells you there are guys you can hit and there’s guys you can’t. Now, that’s not quite a guy you can’t hit, but it’s almost a guy you can’t hit. So I’m gonna make a fuckin’ ruling on this right now. You don’t fuckin’ hit him. You understand?
Billy Costigan: Yeah, excellent. Fine, fine, fine.
Mr. French: I fucking know you. I know your family. You make one more drug deal with that idiot fucking cop-magnet of a cousin of yours and I’ll forget your grandmother was so nice to me. I’ll cut your fucking nuts off. You understand that?
Billy Costigan: Yeah, yeah, I do.
Mr. French: What are you drinkin’?
Billy Costigan: [embarrassed] A cranberry juice.
Mr. French: What is it, your period?
These scenes are probably easy bait in terms of showing the character of the film, but when I was a teenage boy the free use of “fucks” and the constant violence of the film was something deeply fascinating. Part of it was probably because I grew up with a working class father who would regail me with stories about the violence of the Rugby pitch, and the irreverent songs that would accompany a game. Listening to dad I developed early an appreciation for vulgar language and considered a point of pride when I developed my own limerick about the woman named “Runt.” Language and violence were the means of expression, as I understood them, or working class men. Men who, it should be noted, I wanted to be and wasn’t.
They were also men I wanted to fuck, but that’s for another essay.
The Departed was a film about men acting and being themselves, and the darkness implied by all of this violence was lost on me, to some extent. Being a kid who loved Stephen King, being the kid who loved Heavy Metal, and being the kid who memorized every scene and line in almost every Scorsese and Tarantino movie, I’ve recognized more and more that the darkness of those films was it’s own sort of therapy. It’s a pathetic aphorism, but young men don’t know who they are, they don’t know what they want, and they don’t understand how to really find what identifies them. And because of all that constant shifting of identity and confusion, it’s not uncommon for young men to find solace in spiritual, intellectual, and philosophical darkness.
I gravitated to gangsters, murderers, and sociopaths in movies not because I wanted to be them, but because in their stories I found some kind of emotional solace. My world, really my brain, was trying to manage my personal darkness, and the only way to really handle it was to watch movies about sociopaths who stabbed people to death with pens, or, in the case of The Departed, asked people which hand they jerked off with before cutting off the other hand.
At this point though my reader is probably wondering where this is going. Allright, they say, you’ve told us ad nauseam about the fact that you were bummed out as a teenager and so you became an edge lord. Big fucking whooped-dee-doo, why should I care? What relevance does your depression have to do with The Departed?
This is a fair question and it actually gets me back on track. You see the other day I had another spell of my depression and it became so unendurable that I had to take a day off from writing. I spent most of the morning cleaning around the house, trying not to think about blaming myself for something stupid I’d done and in an effort to channel Special Agent Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks (“Once a day, everyday, give yourself a present”) I decided to go grab some Taco Bueno and watch a movie I hadn’t watched in ages. The Departed was on my shelf when I came home and I watched it, reciting most of the lines from memory, but by the end of the film I realized that I had missed something.
The Departed is a film that explores the violence and vulgarity of criminals, but it also, like every Martin Scorsese film, explores identity and how young men create it.
The first lines of the film lay this concept out plainly as it opens to two men fighting in the streets, and Frank Costello begins:
Frank Costello: I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.
Right from the start Scorsese sets the expectation of the audience and the character of the film. Frank Costello is a man who knows who and what he is, and as he narrates his philosophy of life the reader becomes more and more aware of his individual philosophy concerning what is and isn’t one’s sense of self:
Years ago we had the church. That was only a way of saying, we had each other. The Knights of Columbus were real head-breakers; true guineas. They took over their piece of the city. Twenty years after an Irishman couldn’t get a fucking job, we had the presidency. May he rest in peace. That’s what the niggers don’t realize. If I got one thing against the black chappies, it’s this: no one gives it to you. You have to take it.
Scorsese opens his film with the steady integration of races showing how the lower classes of Boston handled the push, which tended to be violent, and as he narrates he focuses on his identity of being Irish has impacted his views. Scorsese is effective in opening Frank as a man composed of darkness (Nicholson is literally hidden in shadow for the first five to ten minutes of the film) who can only see violence as a means of advancing anywhere culturally.
The idea of identity isn’t just a minor opening idea however, it’s a question and concept that’s repeated througout the film as the central conflict lies in the two protagonists William Costigan and Colin Sullivan, two “rats.” Sullivan works for the Boston State Police Department but is a rat for Costello, and the other, Billy Costigan working for Costello, but really working as an undercover officer for the Boston State Police Department. Scorsese plays these two men as a sort of duality, each trying to figure out who they are and what it is that they actually want. Costigan, played by deCaprio, has an early interaction with the head of Special Investigative Services and one scene only further’s this question of what identity actually is:
Oliver Queenan: [during Costigan’s interview] We have a question: Do you want to be a cop, or do you want to appear to be a cop? It’s an honest question. A lot of guys just want to appear to be cops. Gun, badge, pretend they’re on TV.
Dignam: Yeah, a lot of people just wanna slam a nigger’s head through a plate-glass window.
Billy Costigan: I’m all set without your own personal job application. Alright, Sergeant?
Dignam: What the fuck did you say to me, trainee?
Billy Costigan: [to Queenan] With all due respect, sir, what do you want from me?
Dignam: Hey asshole, he can’t help you! I know what you are, okay? I know what you are and I know what you are not. I’m the best friend you have on the face of this earth, and I’m gonna help you understand something, you punk. You’re no fuckin’ cop!
There really isn’t a quote which feels so dramatically powerful to me than this one. This is largely because of it’s applicability to almost any situation in life. I’m a realist, and often that translates to a poor worldview concerning humanity that borders on cynicism, but I don’t believe I’m too far off the mark when I observe that most people in this life aspire to be something. Often it’s not even the identity that matters so much as the societal benefits and advantages. Looking at myself I wanted to be a rock star. I would listen to Appetite for Destruction over and over again, I’d listen to all of my Slipknot records, and for two years after High School I made plans to “go up to Dallas” and become a musician. What’s important about this story is that in that time I never learned how to play a musical instrument, I never got a job working in a music store, and I never took the initiative to leave my parents house and join a band.
The reason was, I didn’t want to be a rock star, I wanted to appear to be a rock star. A lot of people do. They want to smash their guitars, date supermodels and porn stars, throw tvs out windows, and just generally not give a shit.
The Departed is a film about identity and how young men create it for themselves, and who are the icons of masculinity that help them establish that modicum of masculinity. For Sullivan it’s Costello, for Costigan it’s father first, and then eventually Captain Oliver Queenan. The reader follows these two men as they try to be something they are, and aren’t, for entirely different reasons. Sullivan wants to appear to be a cop so that he can enjoy the societal and monetary perks that comes with being a corrupt cop, for Costigan wants to work alongside criminals bearing witness to atrocity after atrocity because he wants to help his community and his environment. And in each of these men’s struggle there is something relevant and human.
In a scene about halfway through the film Costigan meets with Dignam and Queenan beneath a bridge and there’s a brief exchange:
Billy Costigan: I’m going fucking nuts, man. I can’t be someone else every fuckin’ day. It’s been a year of this. I’ve had enough of this shit!
Dignam: Calm down, alright? Most people in the world do it every day. What’s the big deal?
It’s easy sometimes to lose who you are in this impersonal modern world. It’s easy to pretend like you didn’t hear someone mutter the n-word when a black person walks onto the subway. It’s easy to pretend that it doesn’t bother or offend you when somebody slaps a confederate flag on the back of their truck. It’s easy to smile and nod at work when a customer tells you that ever since the fags started getting married that the country’s values are imploding. It’s easy to say that you’re going to be a rockstar when your fourteen because you’ve never lived outside your parents house. And a million minor abuses and challenges of integrity are expected in this life because ultimately because in this impersonal modern age integrity is not always observed as a virtue.
Life, unfortunately is often about compromises, and far too often about disappointments. My rock star fantasies ended up in the crapper as my parents finally had to confront me and tell me that I could either go to school or get a job, I chose the former and it was one of the best choices I could ever make. I met my wife, I came to terms with my pansexuality, and I made friends that have impacted my life in ways I can’t even begin to imagine. It was a moment of compromise that lead me to my current station in life, but it was also a moment of integrity. I knew I couldn’t just get a job and start floating through life, that wasn’t me. I knew who I was and what I was was an academic pussy, and a writer.
Identity isn’t something that comes without sacrifice, pain, and honesty. William Costigan was a man who came from privilege, and by the end of the film he’s helped bring down a man who’s plagued the working class neighborhoods of Boston, while Sullivan has plundered and gained at the expense of good people who are trying to make their world better. Scorsese is able to make a relevant comment about what identity is in the Information Age, which is often not what it at first appears. Many people have to pretend to be something else either because they’re tired, because they’re afraid of other people’s opinion, because they want to be something they’re not, or perhaps they’re lying to get something out of this world because that want to be something else.
The Departed offers up to the reader the idea that life is about choices, and that ultimately beneath all the clutter and data of “who you are.” Put another way, the only real determining factor of identity is what you actually do. A rat is a rat, but the rat who steals the cheese, rather than waiting for it to fall from the plate are two entirely different creatures.
All quotes from The Departed were provided by IMDB.com
I’ve provided a few links to reviews about The Departed in case the reader would like a bit of outside perspective instead of my non-stop introspective nonsense. Enjoy:
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-departed-2007
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/movies/06depa.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2007/02/the-movie-review-the-departed/69423/
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/oct/06/thriller.mattdamon
Can You Fool the White Wizard?
Posted by Joshua Ryan "Jammer" Smith in Art, Biography, History, Politics, Race, Writing
Art, biography, Black Klansman, glasses, history, Joshua Jammer Smith, KKK, Ku-Klux-Klan, original photograph, Police, Politics, race, Ron Stallworth, still life, tea, Undercover Investigation
Be Wary of Wackadoodles
Posted by Joshua Ryan "Jammer" Smith in Blurb, Politics, Race
Alton Sterling, Black Lives Matter, Bloody Sunday, Blurb, Dallas Shooting, Diamond “Lavish” Renyold, Ferguson, Mass Shooting, Michael Brown, Othering, Philando Castile, Police, Political Apathy, Political Discourse, Politics, race, Race relations, Rodney King, Tamir Rice, The Other, Wackadoodles
Be Wary of Wackadoodles.
If you don’t know what a Wackadoodle is, I’m afraid you’re mistaken because they’re everywhere, you just try to ignore them because seeing them and recognizing them is unpleasant. Much like a pimple, or a mole on your arm that keeps growing, you try to ignore it, or else you try to lance/pop it which tends to leave you in pain. Wackadoodles are obnoxious creatures, but what makes them so damn frustrating is the fact that they blend in with those people who are actually trying to do good things and just make sure that everybody is okay.
This Morning in Dallas Five Police Officers were gunned down by a lunatic who wanted to kill white people during a Black Lives Matter march. Earlier this week at least three black men were shot by police. These are tragedies and just about everyone on the face of the earth recognized this…almost everyone.
Before Alton Sterling was even cold, and before anybody could bother to ask whether or not Diamond “Lavish” Renyold’s daughter was okay, or as okay as a four-year-old child could be after watching her mother’s boy friend get shot by a police officer less than a foot away from her, people, Wackadoodles, were already screaming All Lives Matter. Some Wackadoodles were also shouting out Blue Lives Matter. Likewise before these men were given a chance to be recognized a victims of tragedy their names were already being sullied by News media outlets (both liberal and conservative) as petty thugs who criminals and so therefore not worthy of the bullets that killed them.
The Wackadoodles in this instance were the people who wanted to label the Black Lives Matter Movement as the ones responsible rather than the actual police officers who fucked.
This morning in Dallas during a Black Lives Matter march, a lone gunman shot five police officers because he hated white people and because he felt the Black Lives Matter movement wasn’t violent enough for his taste. Before the cops were even named Black Matter became a paria and the talking heads at once began to draw sides.
The rest of us were trying to breath.
It’s been a rotten week, a rotten month, a rotten year, and Wackadoodles are having the time of their life.
It’s important to differentiate between the Wackadoodles and normal people however, for right now the struggle is to sift through the bullshit and find what’s real. I’m an unapologetic supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, but before I can continue half of the readers have labeled me a “cop killer sympathizer” and probably somebody who spits on cops and calls them “pigs.” This attitude reveals the extent of the damage Wackadoodles. There are many sane, competent people in Black Lives Matter who want only, and I repeat only, to make sure that when black people are victims of tragedy and violence that real justice can be done and that they are no longer disproportionately profiled by police forces.
There are Wackadoodles however, that actually want to kill cops. The problem is Wackadoodles are often chameleons. A great example would be the feminist movement. Despite the naysayers feminism is first and foremost the idea that men and women are equal philosophically, economically, individually, politically, etc. The feminist movement was started because even in the 1960s there wasn’t any law on the books to handle issues like wage disparity or marital rape. Women began to protest to try and acquire real civil liberties. While they were doing so the Wackadoodles joined their party. The Wackadoodles that call themselves feminists typically scream about the abolishing of all male roles and call for a woman led only society. This is often a cartoon character pulled out by news media and political pundits and bad political satirists. Because the Wackadoodles are camouflaged by the word “feminist” however, the women who genuinely care about making sure everybody’s equal are permanently damaged by the association. As such when a woman says she’s a feminist, the Wackadoodle parasite poisons her argument before she can even begin.
Black Lives Matter began not long after Michael Brown was gunned down by the police. While he was not innocent of any crime as we later found out, he was still an unarmed man who deserved a fair trial by jury. He didn’t deserve to be shot. Since the fires of Ferguson, Black Lives Matter has become an important and controversial political movement in America because they are no quiet about it. The Black Lives Matter movement has been infected by Wackadoodles however because like feminists before them, the Wackadoodles camouflaged into their ranks.
A few individual citizens, who possess more anger than other, have assumed the mantel of representatives for Black Lives Matter and called for the death or attack of police officers. Because film editing is easy, and because nuance is no longer part of public vocabulary, these Wackadoodles become the face of the organization while the good people who want to make sure that cops do their jobs right are left defending their movement rather than being able to actually do anything.
Wackadoodles are good chameleons, entering every political party, social club, book club, D &D click, etc. and eventually they entered government. Wackadoodles thrive in politics because two party systems allow for othering, the process of treating people as if they aren’t human, and Wackadoodles devour this kind of rhetoric and attitude the way most of us inhale lobster or shrimp. But beyond the surface level of government sometimes Wackadoodles infect the acting aspects of government including law enforcement. This creates problems. Following Bloody Sunday, the Rodney King beating, Michael Brown’s death, Tamir Rice’s death, and now most recently the death of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Police have become the familiar monsters that people need to blame problems on.
I won’t deny that police have, in the past, always freaked me out but that stems more from my childhood and the developed lack of trust I have concerning authority figures. No matter what, I will never condone the murdering of police officers for it is a cowardly and despicable rhetoric that only further divides us. Part of the reason I live where I do is because I live next door to two police officers. Nice people who always smile and talk to me when I say hello, and the thought that someone could hate them simply because of their uniforms is repulsive.
Wackadoodles have infected the police force, and because people cannot differentiate between Wackadoodles and regular people, cops become the enemy that only leads to further violence like Dallas.
Wackadoodles are not going anywhere, and they will never completely disappear. It’s ridiculous to ask people not to be angry, just as it’s pointless to ask people not to react to violent atrocities. In moments of tragedy however Wackadoodles work their hardest to hide their work. Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, Cops are killers, Cops are heroes, this divisional rhetoric serves only to fuel rather than soothe emotion. People are people, and people are hurting, and people will continue to hurt. In these moments however giving into anger, rather than crying and processing grief for those lives lost is only proof that Wackadoodles are good at their job.
This essay reeks of self-righteousness I know, but my effort as the writer isn’t to tell people how to live, it’s simply to act as a kind of cold shower. People are dead, or dying, but already I’ve heard the tones and read the Facebook posts and listened to pundit after pundit tell me that X person represents everything that Group A stand for, and rather than hear somebody speak up and remind this person that life is about nuance and details and sometimes there are just Wackadoodle assholes, the people who are trying to do good work in our world, like the Black Lives Matter supporter who just wants to make sure people get justice, or the cop who doesn’t have a bad mark on her record and just wants to help her community, these people are getting screwed.
Be wary of Wackadoodles, because the impulse to join them, or believe that they honestly have any other agenda other than violence, is what got us here in the first place.
I received my first name "Jammer" as a drunk rugby player pointed to my mother as she suffered my relentless in utero kicking and said, "Hey he's jammin her! Jammer!" Since then the name has stuck. As of this writing I'm in my mid twenties, dreading my early thirties, attempting to grow a beard, working on achieving my masters in English and Rhetoric, doing everything in my power to get a collection of short stories published, and as always trying to understand what my wife sees in me. I knew that I had to be a writer (one does not become an artist one simply becomes aware of one's abilities) during my sophomore year of high school when my teacher gave me her copy of Stephen King's The Green Mile. Like a man possessed I
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What We Do in the Shadows Review
Published on November 1, 2017 by Just Alright Reviews
“… one of the funniest movies from the past couple of years.”
What We Do in the Shadows is a movie that kind of came out of nowhere for a lot of people when it was released in 2014. Made by a couple of New Zealand comedians/filmmakers Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, most people didn’t know what to expect until that first trailer dropped and everyone fell in love with the concept. What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary film that follows a group of vampires who are roommates, each of which from a different period of history. The entire movie essentially follows this group as they try to make it in a modern world, while simultaneously lampooning a lot of common vampire tropes that we have grown accustomed to over the years.
The best part about What We Do in the Shadows is hands down the comedy. This movie is so fucking hilarious that I remember seeing it in theatres and laughing almost non-stop from start to finish; and I experienced the same thing yesterday when I watched it again. Now to break down comedy and try and critique it or explain it kills any form of a joke that may or may not have existed in the first place, so I really kind of have to leave it at that. I know that some people won’t be a fan of the comedy present in What We Do in the Shadows because it can get a little silly, but I think that everyone who is familiar with the horror genre will get a kick out of it. One of the best parts of the comedy in What We Do in the Shadows is the way that the film took on the vampire tropes that have been present for years, without being dumb. I’ve seen my fair share of parody films and a lot of them often reduce themselves to jokes that kids would come up with on the playground. What We Do in the Shadows took the idea of vampires and made fun of it, while also having respect for it. For instance, it never really attacked anything about vampires in general, instead making its characters the butt of the jokes. It also allowed for a lot of actual vampire lore to be used because of the decision to include vampires from all different eras in the film. This not only allowed the film to cast a wide net so-to-speak, but also allowed for more comedy to occur between characters (difference of opinions/methods, etc.). But you can also see that a lot of respect was payed to the idea of vampires with things like the costume and set design, both of which were immaculate. Once again this idea of different eras comes into play because each of the characters has a different wardrobe that they’ve no doubt amassed throughout the years of their lives, but they also have very different senses of style which is funny in itself. And the set design may seem like nothing special, but having a dilapidated mansion that once again is in-line with what we know about vampires in an otherwise urban setting was once again a joke in itself; and being able to look at the detail that went into the decoration showed so much about each character.
But it’s not all jokes in What We Do in the Shadows because there is also a little taste of horror here and there; and this blend was handled spectacularly. It’s nothing overt, but they do manage to make it clear that although we are laughing at them, vampires are still fucking terrifying. And what brings this all together are the performances in the film which are very funny and very believable (well, as much as they can be anyway). Everybody involved did such a good job with their performances, and that is a large part of what makes this movie so great to me. And it’s not even just the vampires, but the werewolf pack was also phenomenally acted. The interactions that these groups had, as well as the introduction of other groups really made the world of What We Do in the Shadows feel more real. And that is another reason why the mockumentary style worked so well for this film. It allowed for this bizarre scenario to be grounded in reality, which is a joke in itself. The idea that there are vampires walking around New Zealand with a documentary film crew is fucking hilarious, and that just goes to show how layered the comedy is in What We Do in the Shadows.
Overall What We Do in the Shadows is one of the funniest movies from the past couple of years. The way that it blends horror and comedy is masterful, and there is so much care put into giving vampires the respect that they deserve. If you haven’t seen What We Do in the Shadows, definitely give it a watch; it’s worth it.
I give What We Do in the Shadows an A
Previous Harbinger Down Review
Next Thor: Ragnarok Review
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JAMA Surgery
Subscribe to the JAMA Surgery journal
On the history of surgery in austria
Surgical service in austria at the present
Theodor Billroth performing an operation in the auditorium, 1890. Assistants: Leopold Dittel, Anton von Eiselsberg, and Friedrich Salzer. Painting by Aalbert Franz Seligmann, Vienna, Austria, 1890. Reprinted with permission from the NOCOD Esterreichische Gallerie, Vienna.
Number of Health Care Practitioners in Austria
Surgical Operations Performed in Austria in 1998
Lesky E Gerhard van Swieten: Auftrag und Erfüllung. Lesky EWandruszka A Gerhard van Swieten und seine Zeit. Vienna, Austria Böhlau1973;11- 62Google Scholar
Clairmont P Die Wiener chirurgischen Schulen und ihre Auswirkungen in 150 Jahren. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 1935;48935- 940961- 971Google Scholar
Wyklicky H Zur Geschichte der I: Chirurgischen Klinik in Wien. Festrschrift zum 60. Geburtstag Ihres Vorstandes o. Univ. Prof. Dr. Arnulf Fritsch. Vienna, Austria Eigenverlag1986;16- 26Google Scholar
Williams LLevij IS The Vienna Medical School of the 19th Century. Lesky Etrans-ed. Baltimore, Md The Johns Hopkins University Press1976;168- 181392- 415
Pitha F Verleizungen und Krankheiten der Extremitäten. Pitha FBillroth T Handbuch der allgemeinen und speciellen Chirurgie. Band 4, Abteilung 2, Abschnitt 10. Stuttgart, Germany Enke1868;Google Scholar
Billroths Erbe In: Vorträge gehalten anläßlich des 50. Todestages von Theodor Billroth in Wien am 5. und 6. February1944;Denk WSchönbauer LRisak E Vienna, Austria Springer1944;Google Scholar
Killian H Meister der Chirurgie und die Chirurgenschulen im gesamten deutschen Sprachraum. Stuttgart, Germany Thieme1980;65- 83
Wyklicky H Vor hundert Jahren Billroths erste Pylorusresektion, seine diesbezügliche Publikationen in der "Wiener Medizinischen Wochenschrift" und ein Rückblick auf seine Zeit. Wien Med Wochenschr. 1981;1311- 13Google Scholar
Brunn W Kurze Geschichte der Chirurgie. Berlin, Germany Springer1928;285- 287
Billroth T Die allgemeine chirurgische Pathologie und Therapie in 50 Vorlesungen: Ein Handbuch für Studierende und Ärzte. Berlin, Germany Reimer1863;
Not Available, Letter to Professor Wilhelm His, 6 January, 1893. Fischer G Briefe von Theodor Billroth. Hannover, Germany Hahnsche Buchhandlung1895;432Google Scholar
Albert E Lehrbuch der Chirurgie und Operationslehre. Vienna, Austria Urban & Schwarzenberg1877-1880;
Skopec M Adolf Lorenz und das Ringen um die Verselbständigung der Orthopädie in Wien. Kotz REngel ASchiller C 100 Jahre Orthopädie an der Universität Wien. Vienna, Austria Verlag der Wiener Medizinischen Akademie1987;1- 45Google Scholar
Böhler L Technik der Knochenbruchbehandlung. Vienna, Austria Maudrich1929;
Skopec M Die Entwicklung der Chirurgie und Unfallchirurgie in Wien–zum 100. Geburtstag von Leopold Schönbauer am 13. Österreichische Krankenhaus-Zeitung. 1988;29659- 666Google Scholar
Wayand W, Feil W, Skopec M. Surgery in Austria. Arch Surg. 2002;137(2):217–220. doi:10.1001/archsurg.137.2.217
Surgery in Austria
W. Wayand, MD; W. Feil, MD; Manfred Skopec, DozDrPhil
From the Surgical Department AKh-Linz und Ludwig Boltzmann Institut f[[uuml]]r Operative Laparoskopie, Krankenhausstr, Linz (Dr Wayand), Donauspital SM2 Ost der Stadt Wien, Chirurgische Abteilung, Langobardenstr, Wien (Dr Feil), and Institut f[[uuml]]r Geschichte der Medizin der Universit[[auml]]t Wien, W[[auml]]hringerstr, Wien (Dr Skopec), Austria.
Arch Surg. 2002;137(2):217-220. doi:10.1001/archsurg.137.2.217
In 1747, Gerhard van Swieten (1700-1772), personal physician to Empress Maria Theresia and reformer of medical education in Austria, founded a bonne école de chirurgie in Vienna. He invited the Florentine Natalis Giuseppe Pallucci (1719-1797), whom he had specially trained in Paris, France, to Vienna to assist him with the school. However, although van Swieten was highly successful as a reformer of the medical curriculum, his attempt to transform surgery from a craft into an academic discipline failed.1 Emperor Joseph II, son of Empress Maria Theresia and successor to the throne, also attempted to raise the standing of surgery. In 1785, he founded a school for military surgeons later called Joseph's Academy. Joseph II's protochirurgus, Giovanni Alessandro Brambilla (1728-1800), became the first director of the school, which was modeled on the Academie Royale de Chirurgie in Paris. The Josephinum, a building in beautiful classical style, still exists today in Vienna.
In 1805, Vincenz Kern (1760-1805) began the development of civil surgical training, that is, the foundation of an efficient university school of surgery. It was Kern's life work to transform surgery from a craft to a science. In 1807, Kern founded the Imperial Royal Surgeons' Institute, which became the springboard for future Austrian surgeons. Kern's successor, Joseph Wattmann (1786-1866), developed plastic surgery and orthopedics. Two of his students, Johann Dumreicher (1815-1880) and Franz Schuh (1804-1865), were instrumental in furthering surgery in the following decades. In 1842, Schuh became the head of the newly founded Second University Clinic of Surgery in Vienna.2,3
The acceptance of physical diagnostics, Schuh's own pathophysiologic experiments, and a mind open to new surgical methods (neurectomy as therapy for the trigeminus, myotenotomy, plastic surgery) demonstrate Schuh's ardent desire to provide a thorough scientific grounding for surgery. By 1840, Schuh had already performed a successful pericardiac aspiration, and on January 27, 1847, he was the first to use ether as an anesthetic on a human in Austria.2,4
Franz von Pitha (1810-1875) was the chair of surgery at Joseph's Academy from 1857 until the academy's closure in 1874. Pitha came from Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he had been rector of Charles University. His experience in the war zones in Italy was summarized in Verletzungen und Krankheiten der Extremitäten (Injuries and Diseases of the Extremities).5 Pitha's important influence on Austrian surgery led to an invitation to Theodor Billroth (1829-1894) to come to Vienna.2,4,6-9 Billroth was a Prussian who had taught for 6 years in Zürich, Germany. Because of the defeat by Prussia at Königgrätz in the Czech Republic, Austrians did not take too kindly to Prussians. Despite this, Pitha was successful in acquiring a position for Billroth among the medical faculty.
The coexistence of 2 surgical clinics and a chair of surgery in Vienna was important to separate surgical procedures into different working areas. Surgical clinics also existed in Prague, Graz, Austria, and Innsbruck, Austria.
Theodor Billroth, the son of a pastor who was born in Bergen on the island of Rügen (Germany), had all the qualifications required by the medical faculty (Figure 1). In Vienna, he excelled and became the leading surgeon of his time.
Billroth learned the experimental, physiologic, and histologic direction of medicine from his teachers, Rudolf Wagner in Göttingen, Germany, and Johannes Müller in Berlin, Germany. When he became assistant to his surgical teacher Bernard von Langenbeck (1810-1887) in Berlin in 1853, he also learned experimental pathology. During his years as an assistant, Billroth produced a series of anatomic and pathohistologic works. Because of these works, he was nominated with Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) for the chair of pathological anatomy in Berlin. His reputation as a clinician was further enhanced during the years he worked in Zürich (1860-1867) with the publication of his book Die Allgemeine Chirurgische Pathologie und Therapie (General Surgical Pathology and Therapeutics).10 The combination of clinical symptomatology with the pathohistologic research of Billroth's years in Berlin emphasized once more the basic problems of surgery, such as wound healing, regeneration, hemorrhage, and inflammation.
Billroth's important surgical period began when he performed 6 ovariotomies from 1865 to 1870; however, he performed new operations only in Vienna. He became a pioneer in 3 fields of major surgery: esophageal resection (1871), laryngectomy (1873), and gastrectomy (1881).
According to Billroth, "What has given me the most joy in my life is the establishment of a school that carries on my aspirations and aims, be it scientific or humanitarian thereby ensuring a legacy for the future."11 Indeed, the school of Billroth was the most lasting and influential school in most of Europe. Its representatives headed surgical clinics in Lüttich, Belgium (Karl Gussenbauer, Alexander Winiwarter), Utrecht, the Netherlands (Friedrich Salzer, Albert Narath, Anton von Eiselsberg), Freiburg, Germany (Vincenz Czerny), Heidelberg, Germany (Czerny, Narath), Königsberg, Prussia (Eiselsberg), Krakau (Johann von Mikulicz [1850-1905], who developed esophagoscopy and gastroscopy), Prague (Gussenbauer, Anton Wölfler, Hermann Schloffer, Karl Maydl), Innsbruck (Viktor Hacker, Schloffer), and Graz (Wölfler, Hacker).
Practically all organs, including the kidney, spleen, liver, bladder, lungs, and brain, were treated surgically at Billroth's clinic. Important stimuli from this clinic spread to gynecology, urology, and plastic surgery. During Billroth's tenure (the last half of the 19th century), the Second University Clinic of Surgery was the dynamic international center for modern surgery. Billroth also founded a training school for nurses in Vienna (Rudolfinerhaus) and a new home for the Society of Physicians.
Karl Gussenbauer (1842-1903) became Billroth's successor in October 1884. Gussenbauer investigated the growth of tumors. He raised the question of whether these tumors could be of a parasitic nature and was one of the first surgeons to advocate the removal of regional lymph nodes.2,4
In 1881, Eduard Albert (1841-1900) was appointed Johann Dumreicher's successor as head of the First University Clinic of Surgery in Vienna. From 1877 to 1880, Albert published a 4-volume work: Lehrbuch der Chirurgie und Operationslehre (Textbook of Surgery and Operations).12 Albert's favorite field of work was the surgery of extremities. In this field, he laid the groundwork for the great era of Viennese orthopedics that would follow under the tutelage of Adolf Lorenz (1854-1946). In treating congenital clubfoot and different forms of paralytic deformities, Lorenz showed that it was possible to overcome the resistance of even the most severe deformities. He termed these attempts at correction without violence molding reduction (modellierendes Redressement). According to Lorenz, his greatest success, healing congenital hip luxation, was also the result of this molding reduction. Lorenz's method for treating joint tuberculosis with plaster fixation was also a great success.13
Billroth's spiritual heritage and teaching tradition were taken over by Anton von Eiselsberg (1860-1939). Eiselsberg2,4 was head of the First University Clinic of Surgery from 1901 to 1931. When he started to work for Billroth as a young assistant, an era of hormone research had just begun. Eiselsberg studied tetany following cerebral trauma, loss of hair after thyroidectomy, and transplantation of the thyroid gland. Eiselsberg devoted much energy to a new surgical specialty, neurosurgery, which was continued by his student, Egon Ranzi (1875-1939). However, in keeping with the tradition of the Billroth school, Eiselsberg's main focus remained gastrointestinal surgery. He recognized early the significance of orofacial and maxillofacial surgery and as a result established his own surgical department in his specialty in 1915, which was headed by Hans Pichler (1877-1949).
Together with Julius von Hochenegg (1859-1940), Eiselsberg was able to establish emergency wards in the clinics in 1909. This was historically important because these wards were the first in the world in which trauma services were institutionalized.3
In the period that followed, many leading Austrian surgeons, whose influence lasted long after World War II, emerged from the First University Clinic of Surgery: Burghard Breitner (1884-1956), Paul Clairmont (1875-1942), Rudolf Demel (1891-1952), Wolfgang Denk (1882-1970), Ernest Gold (1891-1967), Hans von Haberer (1875-1958), Robert Oppolzer (1899-1972), Leopold Schönbauer (1888-1963), Peter Walzel (1882-1937), and Adolf Winkelbauer (1890-1965).4
Working as Eduard Albert's assistant, Julius von Hochenegg continued the tradition of Eduard Albert's school in the 20th century. In 1887, Hochenegg introduced the transsacral method devised by Kraske in 1885 for the incision of colon tumors. He improved this method and made the fight against cancer the central theme of his clinical work. With his excellent technical and anatomic training, Hochenegg dared to perform difficult operations, such as the partial liver resection, which he accomplished successfully for the first time in 1890.4
In 1911, Hochenegg asked a young graduate student named Lorenz Böhler to become an assistant at his clinic (Second University Clinic of Surgery) after completion of his surgical examination. Lorenz Böhler, the son of a carpenter, eventually became the praeceptor traumatologiae totus mundi ("teacher of traumatology in the whole world"). In 1929, he published his principles of treatment in his main work Technik der Knochenbruchbehandlung (The Treatment of Fractures).14 This work was printed at Böhler's own expense. Thirteen editions appeared until 1963, and the text was translated into almost every language. Böhler, the father of traumatology, also founded Austria's first emergency hospital in Vienna (1929). This hospital became a role-model for numerous emergency hospitals not only in Austria but all over the world.
The most popular representative of Austrian surgery after World War II was Leopold Schönbauer (1888-1963). Schönbauer was probably the last general surgeon in Austria whose skills encompassed the whole field of surgery, since the field eventually split into surgical specialties.15
Surgical service is a part of the medical and social care system for approximately 8 million inhabitants of the Republic of Austria. The social and political system is organized so that statutory social security provides all medical supplies to the entire population. Additionally, private medical insurance is available, which grants, in addition to a high level of medical quality, more comfort and the freedom to choose physicians and hospitals. In the last 4 decades, the life expectancy of women increased from 71.9 to 80.9 years; for men, from 65.4 to 74.7 years. The public health expenditures also increased, from Euro $0.4 billion in 1960 to Euro $11 billion in 1997. Health expenditures measured as the gross domestic product (Euro $12.4 billion in 1960, and Euro $181.7 billion) doubled in the last 40 years from 4.3% (1960) to 8.3% (2000). The average annual increase is 6.9%, where the percentile distribution of public and private costs (6%) moved to private costs (26%). The total morbidity of the population did not change significantly. However, the incidence of cancer increased to 32 000 new cases per year.
The number of physicians in Austria has tripled during the last 40 years, whereas the population has grown only about 10%. A total of 33 854 health care practitioners covered the medical care demand in 1999 (Table 1).
General medicine physicians work mostly privately; 28% of all specialists are exclusively employed, and 72% of all specialists have a private office. Surgical service is provided in 138 surgical departments and clinics. Based on cultural, economic, and juridical conditions, surgical services, including general surgery and trauma services, are provided predominantly in inpatient departments or clinics. Such departments are occupied on average by 5 staff surgeons and 2 to 5 residents. The surgical service system in Austria also has 3 university clinics (Vienna, Innsbruck, and Graz) that provide advanced clinical service, graduate education, and research. In 1998, there were 2 135 350 inpatients registered, and half of them (1 037 131) underwent surgery (Table 2). Within the European Union, Austria is the leading country in transplantation and organ harvesting (28 organs harvested per million inhabitants a year).
After finishing the required medical courses (1100 students annually), students must achieve the grade ius practicandi (approbation to work at own responsibility) to be authorized to work as a medical care practitioner. For a general practitioner, this grade can be achieved after a 3-year internship.
The postgraduate education for a specialist (43 special subjects or general practitioner) can start immediately after graduation from medical school or after completion of the general practitioner postgraduate education. Postgraduate medical education is regulated by Austrian medical law and the medical postgraduate education rules. It is regulated by a logbook, lasts at least 6 years, and is completed by a legally bound specialist examination.
From 138 surgical departments and clinics in 105 hospitals, there are 109 that are authorized to provide postgraduate education in surgery. Of the 390 jobs for postgraduate education in general surgery, pediatric surgery, plastic surgery, and traumatology, there are 130 in 3 university hospitals and 260 in other general hospitals.
Currently under consideration is a course in visceral surgery. On completion of this course, the surgeon would be allowed to acquire other selected licenses (diplomas of the scientific society) to practice such as coloproctology, endocrine surgery, surgical oncology, and transplant surgery. Courses on the common trunk, pediatric surgery, and plastic surgery are also planned. A fusion of traumatology and orthopedics is under discussion.
The 6 years of postgraduate education consist of 4 years of studies in the main subject (surgery), 21 months of compulsory side subjects (6 months of traumatology; 6 months of internal medicine; 6 months of anatomy, pathology, and forensic medicine; and 3 months of anesthesia and intensive care medicine), and 3 months of general, free-selected subjects. The physicians must also perform 400 supervised operations in the fields of head and neck (20), thoracic (50), abdominal (200), muscle and skeleton (100), and vessels and peripheral nerves (30), as well as 150 flexible endoscopic investigations (100 gastroscopies, 50 colonoscopies) and 100 ultrasound investigations.
The Austrian Society of Surgery (Österreichische Gesellschaft für Chirurgie) aims to support science in the field of surgery and to keep and coordinate interaction among different surgical fields and specializations. The Austrian Society of Surgery organizes an annual scientific congress and awards annually the Billroth Award for the best research project. The Austrian Society of Surgery administers a repetitive series of postgraduate education events, covering all fields of surgery in 6-year cycles. Additionally, the Austrian Society of Surgery is authorized by the Austrian Medical Chamber to administer the specialists' examination.
The Austrian Society of Surgery is a member of the Union Européenne des Médicins Spécialistes, which was founded in 1958. Within the Union Européenne des Médicins Spécialistes, there are sections responsible for the professional defense of their specialty and coordination of the profession in Europe. Within those sections, there are boards that, assisted by experts from the scientific world, concentrate on the patient's interests and quality control in continuing medical education. Within the surgery section of the Union Européenne des Médicins Spécialistes, there is the European Board of Surgery and the European Board of Surgical Qualification. In both of these sections, the Austrian Society of Surgery is an active member represented by one of the authors (W.F.).
Finally, the surgical service in Austria is still developing and cooperating with other disciplines of research and service. Recently, the Austrian surgical service introduced a genetic research and tissue engineering program. In the future, the Austrian surgical service needs to focus on reforming medical schools by reducing the amount of theoretical courses and increasing the practical aspects of the curriculum. In addition, unlimited access to medical schools has to be prevented to avoid producing more unemployed physicians.
Corresponding author and reprints: W. Wayand, MD, Allgemeines offentliches Krankenhaus de Stadt Linz Vorstand, Prim. Univ., Krankenhausstr 9, 4020 Linz, Austria (e-mail: chirurgie2@akh.linz.at).
Get the latest from JAMA Surgery
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Yuki Kawabata
Saitama Astraia infielder Yuki Kawabata announced her retirement at the end of December. Kawabata played softball in high school and after graduation played for Shionogi Pharmaceutical in what I'm guessing is basically corporate league women's softball. She tried out for the Japan Women's Baseball League (then called the GPBL - Girl's Professional Baseball League) when they started up in 2009 and joined the Kyoto Asto Dreams. When the league reorganized (and renamed itself) after the 2012 season she joined the East Astraia team that was renamed Saitama Astraia in 2015. She's pretty much been the face of women's professional baseball in Japan for the past 10 years and one of the best players in the league. She led the league in batting three times, hitting .393 in 2010, .406 in 2011 and .417 in 2013. She also led the league in OBP three times with a value of .497 in 2011, .537 in 2013 and .509 in 2017. She was league MVP once (in 2013), won a Golden Glove Award once (in 2017) and was named to the Best 9 team three times (2011, 2013 and 2017). She did not actually play in the JWBL last season (although she's in Epoch's card set for the league) but she did play in the Women's Baseball World Cup for Japan last August.
I have a number of cards of her, most of which I've shown before (a couple as recently as earlier this month) but I thought I'd show all of them here. Ryan has at least one other card of hers and I suspect there are others in some of the other JWBL/GPBL sets he's come across.
2010 BBM Real Venus #03
2016 Epoch JWBL #22
2018 BBM Infinity #036
That last card shows her with her brother, Shingo Kawabata of the Swallows.
Posted by NPB Card Guy at 9:16 PM 1 comment: Links to this post
Labels: Retirement
They're Coming Back!
After a two year absence the Shikoku Island League All Stars will again be taking part in the independent Can-Am League this summer. They will play 18 games (3 each against the six teams in the league) starting on June 14th against the Sussex County and finishing up on July 4th in Ottawa.
I'm hoping I'll make it back up to New Jersey again and see them like I did in 2015 and 2016.
Kenji Ohtonari
Hawks and Marines pitcher Kenji Ohtonari called it quits at the end of the 2018 season. Ohtonari was the top pick of the Hawks in the College/Corporate League portion of the 2006 NPB draft out of Kinki University. He was not their first round pick but something that by 2006 was called the "preferred entry frame" but I suspect was similar to the "freedom acquisition frame" used by the Lions to sign Taketoshi Gotoh four years earlier. He made his debut with the top team in mid-season 2007 and was a mainstay of the rotation by the following year. He missed most of the 2011 season due to illness but bounced back in 2012 with what was probably his best season of his career, going 12-8 with a 2.03 ERA. His playing time was severely diminished after that, only appearing in 29 games with the ichi-gun Hawks over the next five seasons (including only single games in each of 2016 & 17). Injuries were partly to blame - he developed lower back issues in 2013 and had an elbow injury in 2015. Softbank released him following the 2017 season and after participating in the 12 team tryout that December he eventually signed with Lotte in mid-February of this year. He really only made one start for the ichi-gun Marines and he got hammered in it - his former team the hawks lit him up for seven runs in 1 2/3 innings on seven hits including a pair of two run home runs by Yuki Yanagita and Alfredo Despaigne. He had a second start on October 3rd against the Hawks again which was really just his retirement game - he only faced one batter, giving up a hit to Seiji Uebayashi. Unfortunately due to Tomohito Sakai's pitching in relief, Ohtonari was ultimately charged with an unearned run and the loss in a game the Marines dropped 10-2. So his numbers for the year ended up being 0-2 with a 37.80 ERA. He will be one of the pitching coaches for the Marines farm team next season.
Ohtonari made the All Star team in 2012 and pitched for the Japanese National Team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Despite Softbank playing in (and winning) four Nippon Series during his time with them, he only appeared in one of them - he started and won Game 3 of the 2014 Series against the Hanshin Tigers.
Ohonari's BBM rookie cards are #20 from the 2007 Rookie Edition set and #104 from the 2007 1st Version set. His Calbee rookie is #241 from the 2007 Series Three set.
2007 BBM Rookie Edition #20
2012 BBM All Stars #A09
2013 Topps Tribute WBC #32
2018 BBM Marines #M28
Card Of The Week January 27
A few months back I did a Card Of The Week post for Tigers pitcher Joichiro Maki's 2018 BBM 1st Version card. I was amused that Maki was shown running as I had always read that pitchers generally hate to run. When I was going through the BBM team sets that I had gotten from Ryan a few weeks back I noticed that Maki's card from the Tigers team set from last year (#T32) also showed him running:
Like on the 1st Version card he's not wearing a batting helmet or a glove so this is obviously not from a game. There's nothing I see on his Japanese Wikipedia page that would make me think he was a runner in his spare time and none of his Epoch cards (one card in the NPB set and three in the Tigers Rookies & Stars set) show him running. I have no idea why BBM choose two photos of him running for their only cards of him this year (other than his Rookie Edition card).
Taketoshi Gotoh
Yet another player who retired at the end of the 2018 season was Baystars pinch hitter Taketoshi Gotoh. Gotoh had been a collegiate star at Hosei University. He won the Tokyo Big Six University League Triple Crown during the 2000 spring season (I think) and the batting crown during the fall season that year. He played for the collegiate National team in both the 2001 Baseball World Cup and the 2002 World University Championship. He was the Lions top draft pick in the 2002 NPB draft. He wasn't their first round pick but he was taken in something called the "Freedom Acquisition Frame" which I think was some way that a team and a player could come to a pre-draft agreement. The Lions signed two players this way in the 2002 draft (the other was Suichiro Osada) but Gotoh was the first of the two.
There were high expectations for Gotoh during his rookie year of 2003 and he played in 101 games, hitting .262 with 11 home runs. His defense apparently was atrocious however and he got banished to the farm team for most of the remainder of his career. 2003 was the only season in which he played in over 100 games at the ichi-gun level. He was mostly used as a pinch hitter - the second most games he got into in a single season was 70 in 2015 - he only had 76 at bats and only played in the field in four games.
He was traded from the Lions to the Baystars in November of 2011 for Shingo Takeyama. He started using the registered name of "G Taketoshi Gotoh" in 2015 - I'm not really understanding the Google translation of his Japanese Wikipedia page but I think he somehow picked up the nickname "Gomez" and the extra "G" has something to do with that. He'll be one of the Eagles ni-gun hitting coaches in 2019.
He appeared in one Nippon Series - 2008 with the Lions.
Gotoh is one of the few Japanese players to have a "pre-rookie" card as he appeared in BBM's 2002 set for the 2001 Baseball World Cup team. His first cards with an NPB team came in 2003 - he's card #51 in BBM's Rookie Edition set, #214 in BBM's 1st Version set and #127 in Calbee's Series Two set.
2002 BBM Japan National Team #22
2003 BBM 1st Version #51
2006 Lions Original Player Card #6
2014 Front Runner Baystars Rookies & Young Stars #04
Tadashi Settsu
Former Hawks pitcher Tadashi Settsu announced his retirement late last month. He'd been released by Softbank at the end of last season and had hoped to sign on with another team but no one made him an offer. Settsu was the Hawks's fifth pick in the 2008 draft of the roster of JR East Tohoku of the industrial leagues. He immediately joined the ichi-gun team's bullpen and went 5-2 with an ERA of 1.47 in 70 games in middle relief. He led the league in "Hold Points" that season, made the All Star team and was named Rookie Of The Year. He led the league in "Hold Points" again in 2010 and then the Hawks moved him into the starting rotation for 2011. He made the All Star team again in 2011 and then had his best season in 2012, going 17-5 with a 1.91 ERA, leading the Pacific League in wins and winning the Sawamura Award. His numbers began to decline after that with his ERA topping 3 runs each of the next three seasons. After 2015 his appearances with the top team severely dropped off as he only made 7 starts in each of his last three seasons. I don't think there was an injury involved, just a lack of effectiveness.
Settsu pitched for the Hawks in four of the five Nippon Series that they played in (and won) during his career - 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2017 - he was left off the Series roster this autumn. He pitched for the Japanese National Team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
His main BBM rookie cards are #043 from the 2009 Rookie Edition set and #214 from the 2009 1st Version set. His first Calbee card was #HP-06 from the "Hot Player" subset in the 2009 Series Two set although his first "regular" card wasn't until Series Three that year (#250).
2009 BBM Rookie Edition #043
2015 Bandai Owners League 01 #003
2018 Epoch NPB #13
Kenji Yano
Fighters outfielder Kenji Yano retired at the end of last season. Yano was a sixth round pick of the Giants out of Kokugakuin University in the 2002 NPB draft. He was a regular outfielder for the Giants in 2006 but moved into a backup/pinch hitter role for 2007. Injuries cost him most of 2008-09 as he only got into 9 games with the ichi-gun team. Once healthy again in 2010 he resumed his backup role which is pretty much how he spent the remainder of his career. He set the Giants record for pinch hits in 2013 with 19. He was traded to the Fighters along with Hideki Sunaga midway through the 2015 season for Toshiyuki Yanuki and Atsushi Kita.
Yano got into two Nippon Series with the Giants, winning in 2012 against the Fighters but losing in 2013 against the Eagles (Masahiro Tanaka stuck him out to end Game Seven in the rain in Sendai). He was back on the winning side in the Nippon Series in 2016 with the Fighters.
His first BBM cards were #5 from the 2003 Rookie Edition set and #29 from the 2003 BBM 1st Version set. His first Calbee card was #210 from the 2005 set.
2003 BBM Rookie Edition #5
2007 Konami Baseball Heroes 3 Black Edition #B07B199
2011 BBM Tohto 80th Memorial #87
2016 BBM Fighters Opening #26
2018 BBM Fighters #F66
I used his Baseball-Reference Bullpen article as one of my sources for this post.
And I'm still amused I came across of jersey of his in London last September...
Toshiya Sugiuchi
Getting back to the retirement posts...
Pitcher Toshiya Sugiuchi of the Giants announced his retirement back in mid-September. Sugiuchi originally was from Kyushu - he was born in Onojo, went to high school in Kagoshima and played in the corporate leagues for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagaski - so it was fitting that he was the third round pick of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in the 2001 NPB draft. By 2003 he was in the Hawks starting rotation and he had his best season in 2005 when he went 18-4 with a 2.11 ERA and 218 strikeouts in 196.2 innings. He left the Hawks for the Giants as a free agent following the 2011 season. He threw a no-hitter against the Eagles in 2012. He injured his hip during the 2015 season and despite having surgery has never been able to make it back to the ichi-gun team. He has been named as one of the pitching coaches for the Giants farm team for 2019.
Sugiuchi was named Pacific League MVP in 2005. He lead the league in wins and winning percentage that year and led the league in strikeouts in 2008 and 2009. He also led the Central League in strikeouts in 2012. He won the Sawamura Award in 2005 and was named "Best Pitcher" in 2009 and 2010. He was named to the Best 9 team in 2005 and made the All Star team seven times (2005, 2007-12). He played in three Nippon Series (2003, 2011 and 2013) and was named MVP of the 2003 Series and won an "Outstanding Player Award" for the 2011 Series. (A shoulder injury prevented him from appearing in the 2012 Series.) He pitched for the Japan National Team on five different occasions - the 2000 and 2008 Olympics and the 2006, 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classics.
Because he was still an amateur when he played in the 2000 Olympics, Sugiuchi is one of the rare players to have a "pre-rookie" card in Japan as he had a card in the 2000 Upper Deck Sydney Olympic Games Japanese Team Cards set. His first BBM and Calbee cards were both from 2002 - card #235 in BBM's 1st Version set and card #N-14 in the "New Faces" subset from Calbee.
2000 Upper Deck Sydney Olympic Games Japanese Team Cards #221
2007 Hawks "Club Hawks" #110-RB-18
2009 Konami Baseball Heroes WBC #W09R097
2012 BBM No-Hitters #81
2018 BBM Giants #G06
2018 BBM Team Sets
Fighters In Arizona, 2019 Edition
2018 SCC All Star Stickers
New Cards For The New Year
Giants Postcards from 1976 or 1977
2018 BBM Hawks 80th Anniversary Celebration Set
To Infinity...But Not Beyond
More Epoch Cards From Ryan
2018 Epoch One
Package From Ryan
Card Of The Week January 6
Yusei Kikuchi Of The Seattle Mariners
Favorite Card Of 2018
2019 BBM Time Travel 1979
2018 In Review - Everything else (including Korea)...
2018 In Review - Epoch
2018 In Review - Calbee
2018 In Review - BBM
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« Republican Debate: S. Carolina (1-16-12) | Justice Gableman: A Question of Ethics »
Republican Debate: S Carolina (1-19-12)
MILITARY: Paul, who served along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the 1960s when he was in the Air Force, would cut overseas military spending. He asked why we have troops in Korea, 59 years after the Korean War ended; or in Japan and Germany, 67 years since WWII. We subsidize those countries, he said. Why are we in Afghanistan now for 10 years, and fighting so many undeclared wars? He argued it is making us bankrupt. Romney thinks we have an aging Navy and Air Force, and it is wrong to balance the budget on the back of the military. He wants a military so strong no one would even think of testing it.
VETERANS: Paul receives twice as much support from veterans than all the others combined, he said. Santorum would continue the multitude of veteran’s preferences.
SOVIET UNION: Gingrich harbors the delusional belief he and Reagan were somehow responsible for Gorbachev’s unilateral decision to dissolve the Soviet Union.
TRADE: Romney wants to crack down on China, since he thinks they cheat with unfair trade. Santorum was asked about Apple Computers, an American company with 40,000 employed here, and 500,000 in China. He would cut to zero corporate income taxes for companies who manufacture in the U.S. Paul tried to explain the consumer benefits from cheaper products made in China. He said a $100 computer instead of one $1,000 is a benefit, but the audience reaction fell flat. He mentioned foreign auto companies still make money assembling cars in America.
IMMIGRATION: Gingrich would control the border and if needed, move half of the 23,000 who work for Homeland Security to Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. He would: 1) enforce English as an official language; 2) modernize visas; 3) make it easier to deport; 4) allow guest worker programs; 5) impose enormous sanctions against businesses that hire illegals; 6) have local boards review residency permit applications for those here 25 years; and 7) drop federal lawsuits against South Carolina, Alabama and Arizona. Romney said immigration is a simple matter of forcing employers to check a data base. Those illegally here need to go home, and apply for citizenship, like everyone else. No one should gain an advantage by coming here illegally. Santorum said if you want to become an American, the first thing you have to do is respect our laws. Someone who has been here 25 years, he said, has been breaking the law 25 years, and probably stole someone’s Social Security number. Paul does not believe those who hire should be forced to become policemen, as border guards and the federal government have that job. There should be no federal mandate that forces states to provide medical or educational needs, Paul said. Instead of protecting borders in Afghanistan, Paul said, we should use those resources at home.
VULTURE CAPITALISM: Santorum wants capitalism that works for everybody, including working men and women. Gingrich argued Romney’s Bain Capital leveraged a company in South Carolina and left it with debt. Romney claimed he created 120,000 jobs at four places, and only 10,000 lost their jobs. He said a lot of people benefitted, as profits went to pension funds, charities, and a wide variety of institutions.
JOBS: Santorum wants a Republican Party that talks about putting back to work the men and women who built this country. Paul said the solution is for the government to get out of the way, by reducing regulations, and dropping taxes to zero. The country has to liquidate their debt, Paul said. Regarding jobs, Gingrich would repeal Dodd-Frank, as he thinks it is killing small banks. He would develop natural gas and overhaul the Corps of Engineers.
LABOR: Romney thinks Obama is stacking the NLRB with labor stooges. Santorum pledged to sign a national right-to-work law.
MANUFACTURING: Romney claimed GM was given to the UAW. Santorum noted manufacturing dropped from 21% to 9%, because it costs our companies, excluding labor, 20% more than our top nine trading partners, to do business in America.
ENERGY: Romney wants to use our resources to become energy secure. He complained the 500 million dollar solar energy loan to Solyndra was a waste, as Obama’s rejected the Keystone Pipeline.
ENTITLEMENTS: Santorum believes all Obama wants to do is give people food stamps and Medicaid. He heard Iowa was being fined, because they didn’t sign up enough people for Medicaid. Romney thinks Obama wants to create a European style social welfare state.
HEALTH CARE: Santorum claimed he consistently favored health savings accounts. He accused Romney of promoting a Mass plan, which was not based on the free market. Over half the new people buying health insurance in Mass, he said, were fully subsidized by the state. He also accused Gingrich of supporting an individual mandate for over 10 years, from the 1990s through 2008. As to Gingrich’s idea to make everyone post a $150,000 bond, if they did not buy insurance, Santorum asked how many in the audience could post $150,000. Romney said he would go for a complete repeal of Obamacare. People should be able to take their own insurance with them as they go from job to job, he said. He denied setting up a government-run health care system, since they bought insurance from private companies. He accused Obama of creating a 2,700 page, tax-increasing, Medicare-cutting, monster. He would return health care to the states, and get the government out of Medicaid. Gingrich said to repeal it, a Republican House and Senate must be elected. He claimed to have led the charge against Hillarycare and help write the Health Savings Accounts law. He admitted he was wrong for supporting a mandate. Paul, who apparently did not practice medicine in poor areas, thinks health care “worked rather well” before the government got involved in the 1960s with Medicare and Medicaid. He remembers a fictional world, where “there was nobody on the streets suffering with no medical care.” He accused Santorum of expanding government with the unfunded Prescription Drug law.
BUDGET: Gingrich erroneously took total credit for the 4 years when President Clinton and a Democratic majority in the Senate balanced the federal budget.
TAXES: Santorum would cut the corporate income tax rate to zero. Gingrich opposed President Bush Sr. when he raised taxes, despite a pledge not to do so.
TAX RETURNS: Gingrich put his 2011 tax returns online, showing he paid 31% of 3 million in income taxes. Romney said, over jeers, he would disclose his tax return for this year, when it is due in April, and probably for other years too. He thinks disclose would only serve the purpose of allowing people to attack his financial success. He lied as he added: “I didn’t inherit money from my parents.” He claimed he pays a lot in taxes. When he was asked if he would follow his father’s lead in 1967 and release 12 years of tax returns, because only one year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show., Mitt said just “maybe” and “I don’t know how many years I’ll release.” As the audience jeered him, he then said he would release “multiple” years. Santorum, whose tax rate is higher than Romney’s 15%, said he keeps his records on his laptop, and would release them when he gets home. Paul said he would be embarrassed to disclose his tax returns, because they show so little, but added Congressional financial statements show everything a person might need to know, and he has no conflicts of interest, since he doesn’t even talk to lobbyists.
FREE SPEECH: A question arose regarding the Stop Online Piracy Act, which pits anti-censorship groups against those who say movies and other property are being pirated. Gingrich said the degree of pre-emptive censorship in the law is unacceptable. He though people could use Copyright and Patent protections to sue infringers. Romney argued we should more narrowly go after offshore pirates. Paul said Republicans have been on the wrong side of this issue, as he joined Democrats to oppose it. Santorum opposed the law, but added the Internet is not a zone where people can trample on the rights of others, as property must be respected.
MARRIAGE: The hypocrite Gingrich, who went after President Clinton with a vengeance when he had an affair with Monica Lewinsky, was appalled, as he denounced the media for having the audacity to ask him questions about his affair, while married to his second wife. He described it as a vicious attack of the sort that makes it hard to find descent people to run for public office, and harder still to govern. He then distracted everyone by coming up with the preposterous diversion that he was tired of the media protecting Obama by attacking Republicans.
ABORTION: Romney said he was pro-life, and it was the Mass Supreme Court that made abortion available under his health care law. Planned Parenthood was not mentioned in his law, he said. Gingrich claimed a pro-life voting record of 98.6%. Dr. Paul was taught pregnant women are two patients. Santorum said Paul’s right to life record was only 50%. Paul said abortion should be handled by states, where murder and violent crimes are dealt with.
Posted on 01/20/2012 at 2:33 pm in Campaigns Elections, Debates | RSS feed | Reply | Trackback URL
Tags: Abortion, Budget, Campaigns Elections, Capitalism, Debates, Energy Policy, Entitlements, Free Speech, Gingrich, Health Care, Illegal Immigration, Jobs, Labor, Manufacturing, Military, Political Sex Scandals, Republican Debates, Romney, Ron Paul, Santorum, South Carolina Debate, Soviet Union, Tax Returns of Candidates, Taxes, Trade, Veterans
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Tag Archives: Democratic socialist
Experience Of New Virginia Legislator Points To Difficulty Of Multi-State Claims For Injured Workers
May 24, 2018 Government, Legislation, Workers' Compensation, Workplace InjuryDemocratic socialist, elections, Lee Carter, OSHA, Virginia legislature, WILGPaul J. McAndrew, Jr.
Democrat Lee Carter, a democratic socialist, won an election to represent Virginia’s 50th District in the state’s House of Delegates.
Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Rehm, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.
Lee Carter took a bad experience with a work injury and turned it into motivation to win election to the Virginia legislature last November. But the nature of Carter’s bad experience with his work injury shows why electing true worker advocates to state legislatures may not be enough to protect injured workers.
Carter was a Virginia resident who was injured in Illinois working for a Georgia company. Carter attempted to bring his claim in Virginia but he was unable to do so because of lack of jurisdiction. Tennessee lawyer Denty Cheatham pointed out on the WILG listserv that Carter’s difficulty in bringing a claim was why national standards are needed for workers compensation.
So-called federalization is controversial in the world of workers’ compensation. Workers’ compensation is a creature of state law by what amounts to a fluke of legal history. When workers compensation laws were passed in the 1910s, the Supreme Court held that regulation of workplace safety was outside of the federal government’s ability to regulate interstate commerce but was within the so-called police power of the states.
Two decades later during the New Deal era, the Supreme Court expanded the definition of interstate commerce in the 1930s which allowed Congress to enact laws impacting the workplace such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).
OSHA was implemented in the 1970s as concerns about the adequacy of state-based workers compensation systems arose from organized labor and the civil rights movement. Part of the OSHA Act was a National Commission that called for minimum standards for workers compensation claims. Part of having standardized state laws would mean that state laws would be more uniform and multi-state claims would be easier to navigate for injured workers.
Our firm is part of WILG which is a national organization of workers’ compensation lawyers. Multi-state or multi-jurisdictional claims are probably one of the most discussed topic on the WILG listserv. Mainly lawyers discuss which state’s have the best laws for a particular case. In some circumstances workers can also bring claims in and collect benefits in multiple states. The current system works for knowledgeable lawyers, but it can fail injured workers who may not even be able to bring claim because of questions over jurisdiction.
Multi-state claims can also subvert democratic rule. A worker has some input over workers compensation laws in the state where he or she lives and votes through their respective state legislatures. A worker who is forced to bring a claim in another state does not have that influence unless they happen to be among the 6 percent of private sector employees represented by a union. But even then, it may be burdensome to bring a claim in another state.
But workers have a say over national laws through their Congressional representatives. Minimum standards and some uniformity in state workers’ compensation laws would give injured workers more say in the types of benefits they would receive if they were hurt out of their home state or hurt for an out of state employer. Minimum standards legislation would also draw more national attention to the short coming of various state workers’ compensation laws. Renewed pushes for federal standards for workers’ compensation happened in the early Obama administration and towards the end of the Obama administration. National standards for workers’ compensation legislation will probably have to wait for a change in the partisan makeup of the two elected branches of the federal government.
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What to Know About U.S. Entity Formation for Non-Resident Aliens Doing Business in the United States
Gallery Owner’s Guilty Plea Highlights the Dangers Posed to Tax Cheats by IRS Tax Whistleblowers
Published by David Klasing at February 8, 2019
Language study concept. Textbooks or dictionaries of foreign language near flags on dark wooden backgrond top view.
The Internal Revenue Service classifies taxpayers as U.S. citizens, resident aliens, or non-resident aliens. Resident aliens are non-citizens who pass certain IRS tests, such as the “green card test” or “substantial presence test” and thus are subject to U.S. worldwide information and income reporting. An alien who does not pass either of these tests is generally classified as a non-resident alien. However, some taxpayers are classified as “dual status” aliens. As the IRS explains, a dual status alien is an individual who “can be both a non-resident alien and a resident alien during the same tax year.” If you are a dual status or non-resident alien, there are certain factors you must keep in mind when starting a company or doing business in the United States, such as how different business entities compare, what types of entities you may legally own as a non-resident, and what types of tax documents you may need to file.
Can a Non-Resident Alien (foreigner) Own a Business in the United States?
When forming a business entity in the United States, non-residents (foreigners) must choose between forming a corporation, limited liability company, partnership or a sole proprietorship. However, there are federal laws that prohibit non-residents from owning certain types of businesses and entities.
Non-Citizens and Corporations
There are two types of corporations in the United States: S corporations, which are “pass-through entities,” taxed at the individual level only and C corporations that are taxed first at the entity level and subsequently at the shareholder level when dividends are paid. Non-residents may own and operate C corporations but are prohibited from owning S corporations.
Non-Citizens and LLCs
Though a non-resident cannot be the owner, or shareholder, of an S corporation, he or she can still avoid double-taxation by forming a limited liability company instead of a C corporation, as there are no citizenship requirements to form an LLC in the United States. An LLC can elect for federal purposes to be taxed as a partnership or as an S or C Corporation. However, a single member LLC taxed as a partnership is a disregarded entity for federal purposes and thus taxed as a sole proprietorship and nonresident aliens are prohibited from electing to have an LLC taxed as an S Corporation. This effectively leaves, LLC’s taxed as C Corporations and LLC’s taxed as a partnership where two or more owners, available to nonresident aliens.
What Are the Basics of Forming an LLC or Corporation in the U.S. for Non-Residents?
Below, our business tax lawyers have compiled some important issues for non-residents to be aware of when forming a business in the United States.
No U.S. address is necessary. You do not need a U.S. street address to incorporate your business in the United States.
Owning a company that does business in the U.S. does not automatically grant you the legal right to work in the United States. Becoming the member or shareholder of an LLC or corporation does not automatically grant you the right to work in the United States. To work in the U.S. legally, you will need to either obtain the appropriate visa, such as an O-1 Visa (which is meant for aliens with “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics”), or obtain a green card. (Note, however, that most green card holders are resident aliens, rather than non-residents.)
Some entities offer stronger protection from personal liability than others. Corporations and LLCs are often favored over partnerships or sole proprietorships because they provide the owners a greater degree of financial protection from personal liability for debts incurred by the business. That being said, there are situations where it is possible for creditors to “pierce the corporate veil” and hold shareholders personally liable for business debts.
There are no limits on the number of members or shareholders. There is no restriction on the maximum number of “members” (owners) in an LLC, which offers flexibility and allows room for growth. An LLC can have hundreds of members, a small group, or just one. There is also no restriction on the number of shareholders in a C corporation. At minimum, however, a C corporation requires at least one shareholder, in addition to a board of directors, which meets annually (or more frequently) and guides overall business strategy.
You will need an ITIN from the IRS. An ITIN, or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, will enable you to file and pay U.S. taxes with the IRS – even without a Social Security Number (SSN). You must file Form W-7 (Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) to request an ITIN. Though essential, this step can slow down the incorporation process for non-resident business owners, as it can take the IRS up to 10 weeks to issue an ITIN.
International Tax Attorneys for Foreign Companies Doing Business in the U.S.
At the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing, our international business & tax attorneys and CPAs have decades of experience providing tax planning services for foreign companies and non-residents. Working with entities all over the world, we use our in-depth knowledge of international tax regulations to help make doing business in the United States simpler and more cost-efficient.
From entity selection and formation, to corporate tax compliance, to strategies for minimizing tax liabilities and IRS penalties, our international tax lawyers and CPAs are here to guide your business. Contact us online to schedule a reduced-rate consultation or call the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing at (800) 681-1295 today.
Note: If you have concerns about the privacy of our initial or subsequent communication and are unable to easily travel to our Irvine / Orange County Main Office, consider scheduling a GoToMeeting to safely and securely establish an initial or maintain an existing attorney client relationship. With end-to-end encryption, strong passwords and top-rated reliability, no one is messing with your meeting. To schedule a reduced rate initial consultation via GoToMeeting follow this link. Call our office and request a GoToMeeting if you are an existing client. We are generally happy to travel to any of our appointment only satellite offices for a subsequent meeting in appropriate circumstances once a relationship is established via a signed engagement letter and the payment of an initial retainer or where enough retainer is available where a current client to cover the reasonable travel time and time required for the meeting.
Will it cost me more to hire the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, who’s main office and the vast majority of the firm’s staff is located in Irvine California, but an appointment only Satellite office is close to my location, as opposed to a local company? Absolutely not! See our policies that address this issue here:
Helpful Q and A Library: https://klasing-associates.com/topics/international-tax-law-faq/
What to Know About U.S. Entity Formation for Non-Resident Aliens Doing Business in the United States was last modified: February 15th, 2019 by David Klasing
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Student Loan News
National Student Loans
Regional Student Loans
Industry Student Loans
Credit Cards News
Personal Loan News
Navient Buys Student Loan Portfolio From JPMorgan Amid Fight With CFPB
Navient, the student loan servicer that is in a battle with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over its loan servicing practices, is acquiring a portfolio of student loans from JPMorgan Chase.
Navient reported last week that it is paying $6.9 billion for JPMorgan Chase’s student loans which include around $3.7 billion in federally backed loans, less than half of which are securitized, and around $3.2 billion in private student loans. The deal came just five days after JPMorgan announced that it was looking to get rid of the student loans. Navient is aiming to complete the purchase in stages throughout the quarter and said that the deal will likely be accretive to earnings in 2017.
The move on the part of JPMorgan to sell its student loans comes at a time when millions of people are defaulting on their student loans or are struggling to pay them back. Naturally, many people are looking for student loan forgiveness or forbearance on their federally backed student debt.
According to recent research by LendEDU, the student loan default rate for federally backed loans stands at 11.8 percent with 60 percent of college graduates owing at least one student loan. The average debt per borrower stands at $28,400 with over 7 million people defaulting on their student loans.
Navient, in theory, is in the best position to help these borrowers because it services thousands upon thousands of loans each year. “We welcome our new customers, and we commit to delivering best-in-class support to ensure a seamless transition,” Navient Chief Executive Officer Jack Remondi said in the statement, reported Bloomberg. “We will provide ongoing assistance to help our new customers continue to successfully manage their education loans.”
While Navient is promising to do right by the new student loan borrowers it will be servicing, not everyone is so convinced. Take the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), currently embroiled in a fight with Navient over its student loan servicing practices. Earlier this year, the CFPB lodged a lawsuit against Navient, contending that it provided borrowers with faulty information about loan payments, processed payments incorrectly, and failed to act accordingly when borrowers complained. The student loan servicer was also charged with steering borrowers into costlier programs.
Navient hasn’t been sitting quietly by when it comes to the charges. It has fired back, most recently filing a motion to dismiss the CFPB’s lawsuit arguing it should be tossed out because the CFPB suit is vague and sets its basis in undefined requirements that aren’t laws and regulations on the books. What’s more, Navient says that it hasn’t run afoul of laws and regulations set forth by the Department of Education under the Higher Education Act. Based on the deal with JPMorgan, at least the bank seems to believe the student loan servicer or simply doesn’t care.
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Home » Africa South of the Sahara » Kenya
Africa South of the Sahara
Kenya Menu
See also: Kenya news
Africa Online
An internet service provider and online service, founded by Kenyan engineers, formerly owned by African Lakes acquired by South African company Telkom SA Ltd., February 2007. http://www.AfricaOnline.com
Africa Policy Institute
Independent, non profit think tank, founded in 2007. Produces reports (Kenya 2017 election, China in Africa). Based in Nairobi, Kenya. https://www.africapi.org/
Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre, ARSRC
Funded by the Ford Foundation. Has full text Seminar Papers, full text newsletter, Sexuality in Africa magazine with topics on sexuality and health, religion, violence against women and girls, adolescent education, HIV / AIDS, re-thinking masculinities. Countries of focus are Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Lists conferences, events. Is compiling a database of Social Scientists, Anthropologists, Researchers. Based in Lagos, Nigeria. http://www.arsrc.org/
African Centre for Economic Growth
"...private non-profit, non-partisan organisation." Provides "...policy advisory services to governments, private sector organisations and leadership groups in local communities." Publications list. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.aceg.org/
African Centre for Technology Studies (Nairobi, Kenya)
"An Institute for Policy Research & Training For Sustainable Development in Africa." "...an international non-governmental policy training and research institute...." The Centre is particularly concerned with environmental issues. Has full text papers in Adobe PDF, the full text of "Governing the Environment," (in Adobe PDF), "What ails Kenya's policy on wildlife?," "What killed our agriculture?," by Prof H.W.O. Okoth-Ogendo, "Enhacing the Arusha Agreement: Environmental Aspects of the Burundi Peace Process" (in Adobe PDF), "Water Tenure and Conflicts in Tanzania" (in MS Word), "Water Rights and Wrongs: State Policies and Local-Level Conflicts in Kenya and Tanzania" (in MS Word). Hosts discussion groups (Ecological Sources of Conflicts). http://www.acts.or.ke
African Economic Research Consortium
Established in 1988, a public not-for-profit organization devoted to advanced policy research and training in economics. Has many full text research reports and other publications. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.aercafrica.org/
African Human Security Initiative
One-year project for seven established African Non-Governmental Organisations "to embark upon a process of benchmarking the performance of key African governments in respect of human security issues, measured against the commitments taken at the level at OAU/AU heads of state meetings." The eight countries being evaluated are Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. Full text Project and Background Papers. Full text Monographs and Research Reports. http://www.africanreview.org/
African Journals On-Line
"...offers the tables of contents and abstracts of articles from up to 50 journals in agricultural sciences, science and technology, health and social sciences, published in Africa." A keyword Search covers all journals. A pilot project of the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (London), a cooperative network to improve access by developing countries to scientific information. One can order photocopies of articles. http://www.ajol.info/
African Regional Centre for Computing, ARCC
An NGO "to promote the development and usage of computing and communication technologies in Africa, with specific emphasis on Internet Technologies. The initial focus is on Kenya." Provided the first full internet access in Kenya. Dr. Shem Ochuodho is the Executive Director. Based in Nairobi. http://www.arcc.or.ke/
Aguilar, Mario I. & Laurel Birch de Aguilar - Women's Organizing Abilities: Two Case Studies of Kenya and Malawi
"...research project for Organizing for Development, an International Institute [Washington, D.C.]...to compare two cases studies in women's organizing abilities...The purpose of this comparative study is to examine how two separate societies express women's roles in decision-making." http://www.odii.com/Papers/Malawi1.htm
Airlift to America: How Barack Obama Sr., John F. Kennedy, Tom Mboya, and 800 East African Students Changed Their World and Ours. By Tom Shachtman
Site for the book on the “airlift” to U.S. universities, between 1959 and 1963, of 800 young East African students. Among the students was Wangari Maathai, future Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Full text primary documents. Videos - Tom Shachtman & Cora Weiss (former Executive Director of the African American Students Foundation) Library of Congress talk; Cora Weiss talk at the African Studies Association 2009 conference; Reunion of the "Airlift Generation" Nairobi 2007. http://www.airlifttoamerica.org/
Akpan, Uwem - An Ex-mas Feast
New Yorker short story of a street family in Nairobi, Kenya. Akpan, from Nigeria, is a Jesuit priest. See also an interview with the writer and the New Yorker's deputy fiction editor, Cressida Leyshon. http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/content/articles/050613fi_fiction1
Alliance High School
Famous Kenya secondary school founded "in 1926 by the Alliance of Protestant Missions." Information on alumni, student academics, academic performance, list of past school Heads. Based in Kikuyu , Kenya. http://www.ahs.co.ke/
American University - Study Abroad in Kenya
An Enclave Program is open to non-American University students. Cost c. $4000-5000. http://auabroad.american.edu/enclave/nairobi.cfm
Anglican Church of Kenya
http://www.ackenya.org/
Billy Graham Center Archives, Wheaton College, IL
Collections on African Christianity from mainly North American Protestant missionaries and some African churches and organizations. Most records are 20th century; 75% concern east or central Africa. An example is the diaries of Elwood Davis, a physician, in Kenya 1910 to 1949. Collections include those of the Africa Inland Mission and individual missionaries. Its Images of Colonial Africa exhibit are photographs by missionary Laura Collins of Kenya, Cameroon, Congo (Kinshasa), and Uganda in the early 1900s. http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/archhp1.html
Malcolm MacDonald Papers
Description of the Papers held in Durham University Library, England. MacDonald was Governor of Kenya 1963-4, High Commissioner for Kenya and involved in diplomatic missions to Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Links to a detailed finding aid for the Papers.
http://flambard.dur.ac.uk:6336/dynaweb/guides/ascguide/xmlpointer(ID(MAC))
Arid Lands Newsletter
Published by the Office of Arid Lands Studies, University of Arizona. The 1994-1996 issues are online. No. 40 (Fall/Winter 1996) has Sibenaler, Alain - Building Partnerships for the CCD: a Success Story from Kenya. CCD is the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. Has links to web resources on desertification. http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/ALNHome.html
ArtMatters.Info
"...the website of ComMattersKenya Limited, a Nairobi-based arts, culture, communications and media firm...covers fine art, books, music & dance, film, video & television, fashion & beauty, puppetry, storytelling & theatre, entertainment, leisure and lifestyle in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania..." Web magazine founded by Ogova Ondego. Articles on copyright in Kenya, homosexuality, festivals, etc. http://www.artmatters.info/
Article 19 - Kenya, Post Election Political Violence and Freedom of Expression
Full text of a Dec. 1998 print article. Article 19 is a human rights organization in London. http://www.article19.org/docimages/465.htm
Awaaz (Nairobi, Kenya)
Kenyan journal devoted to South Asians and East Africans in history, arts and politics. "...record the history, and establish linkages with the Indian subcontinent and the South Asian Diaspora in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom." Full text articles - on Pio Gama Pinto, Asian-African relations, The role of minorities in business E.Asia and E.Africa compared, by Prof. Michael Chege, Wangari Maathai Africa’s wonder woman, by Jonathan Kariara, book reviews, etc. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.awaazmag.com
BBC - Kenya Camel Library
BBC report on the impact on education of the Kenyan camel library. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_kenyan_camel_library/html/1.stm
BEADS, Beads for Education Advancement, Development and Success
"...supports Maasai women's groups in Kenya and sponsors their daughters education. We now sponsor 145 girls in Kenya who are guaranteed their school fees until their education is completed instead of marrying as young as 13 which is Maasai tradition in Kenya." Based in Ventnor, New Jersey.
http://beadsforeducation.org/
Beth, Tim and Lara - Kenya Page
Tim Beth lived in Kenya for 14 years. Site has information on the history, people, language, geography, culture, sports, travel, the national anthem (audio file and sheet music). Includes Swahili sayings, riddles, Swahili translations of Christmas carols and hymns, recipes, graphics of postage stamps, music, etc. http://www.blissites.com/kenya/
Black Star Kenya HipHop Records
Kenyan hiphop and R & B music. Music samples. Send an audio postcard. Site based in Champaign, Illinois. http://www.blackstarkenya.com/
Blixen, Karen (Isak Dinesen) - Karen Blixen Museum
In English and Danish. On the Danish writer who lived in Kenya for 17 years, biography, her works, excerpts from her letters, photographs, and a graphic of a painting of an African girl by Blixen.The Blixen Archives are in Copenhagen. http://www.karen-blixen.dk/
Blixen, Karen - Karen Blixen Museum (Kenya)
"This museum was originally the home of Karen Blixen, who came to Kenya from Denmark in the early part of this century; the present museum site is at the heart of the larger coffee plantation run by Blixen between 1914 and 1931. The house and surrounding land was donated by the Danish government to Kenya at independence; the house was restored by the Danish government and was used during the filming of Out of Africa, which immortalised Karen Blixen's book by the same name." http://www.museums.or.ke/karen/index.html
Blixen, Karen - Isak Dinesen
Site on Blixen by Linda G. Donelson, M.D. who has written a book about Blixen (Out of Isak Dinesen in Africa: Karen Blixen's untold story). Has a chronology, bibliography, many links to other sites about Blixen, her medical history (excerpt from Donelson's book). http://www.karenblixen.com/
Brilliant Image Productions
Established in 2001 in Kenya by Julius Keya, an international filmmaker. Video productions ranging from documentaries, music videos, advertisements, feature films. Videos clips of films. Produced a film on Gacaca (Rwanda). Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.brilliantimageproductions.com
British Pathe Film Archive
A rich video news archive covering historical events, sport, social history and entertainment from 1896 to 1970. Obtain free low resolution video clips after the free registration. High resolution copies for PowerPoint Presentations and Web Publishing require a license fee.* The purpose of the site is mainly educational use. Commercial users who wish to order a videotape or DVD must order through a British Pathe librarian. The original film is 35mm. The free downloaded files may be e-mailed to others. By spring 2003, JPEG images will be available. For best search results, one needs to use a one word search such as Kenya or Nigeria and then look through the entire results. Includes many clips on the Mau Mau, the capture of Dedan Kimathi, Tom Mboya's Funeral, the Lari massacre trial, the 1952 trip to Kenya of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, with Sir Philip Mitchell, Governor of Kenya, the 1969 population census in Kenya, 1963 Kenya Independence. http://www.britishpathe.com/flashintro.cfm
* Higher quality hard copy on VHS (PAL format only) can be ordered. "There are three options for purchasing clips; single stories can be bought for £18 each, up to 7 stories costs £75, and 8 or more stories costs £10 each, all inclusive of VAT. Postage and Packing is an additional £2.25 for customers inside the United Kingdom, £10.00 for customers outside the United Kingdom."
Business Kenya
Discussion list (non-profit) to bring together all who have an interest in doing business in East Africa and those who already have running businesses here. It will discuss the many pitfalls & benefits of doing business...." http://www.egroups.com/group/BusinessKenya
Moderator: BusinessKenya-owner@egroups.com
To join, write: BusinessKenya-subscribe@egroups.com
Bwana Zulia
Has a Kenya Travel Guide (accomodations, travel tips, shopping, books, etc.) http://www.bwanazulia.com/
Cana Publising U.K. Ltd.
"...an independent, not-for-profit Christian publishing house." Its "...primary mission is to develop, publish, promote and distribute excellent, culturally appropriate spiritual books that proclaim the Gospel and strengthen the church and society in Africa." Founded by David Waweru. Based in England. http://www.canapublishinguk.com/
Capital FM, 98.4 FM
Nairobi radio station. Has a top 25 list. http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/
CARE in Kenya
Basic information on Kenya, describes CARE projects in Kenya. http://www.care.org/programs/country_profile.cfm?ID=124
Carolina for Kibera
http://cfk.unc.edu/
Has full Monthly Economic Reviews from 2001 to date and the Annual Reports. http://www.centralbank.go.ke/
Chemchemi Ya Ukweli, CYU / Wellspring of Truth
"...an interfaith peace movement concerned about the growing violence in Kenya." "created in October 1997 to train civil society leaders in Active-Non Violence (ANV)." Online issues of their newsletter. http://www.chemchemi.org/
Chu, Jenny - Images of Africa
Photographs from Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Somalia taken in 2002 on relief activities of the International Medical Corps. The IMC site has additional photographs. http://home.earthlink.net/~jechu/africacover.html
Cities/Buildings Archive
A online digital image archive of cities and buildings around the world. Includes Kenya (traditional granaries, houses, church). All files on this site are copyright controlled. Maintained by Meredith Clausen, Professor of Architectual History, Univ. of Washington, Seattle. Prof. Simon Ottenberg is Africa section consultant and his collection of images will be added. http://www.washington.edu/ark2/
Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW) - Kenya
"...non-partisan, secular, feminist network of individuals and organizations who are committed to eradicating violence against women." Based in Nairobi. http://www.nbnet.co.ke/covaw
COMESA, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
"COMESA [formerly the PTA] exists as an organisation of free independent sovereign states which have agreed to co-operate in developing their natural and human resources for the good of all their people'. With its 19 member states and population of 300 million it forms a major integrated trading block." Has information on customs tariffs by country, road/transport including road distances, economic profiles for each country (Angola, Burundi, Comoros, D.R. Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe) etc. Has the text of Doing Business with COMESA: the Handbook, legal guides to establishing business, etc. http://www.comesa.int/
Communications Commission of Kenya
Regulates telecommunications services, postal service, fixed and mobile phone operations, internet service providers, radio & TV. License fees, speeches, contact addresses, etc. http://www.cck.go.ke/
Constitution of Kenya Review Commission
In English and Kiswahili. Extensive site with many full text documents. Historical background to Kenya's Constitution, academic essays on the Constitution, the Constitution as it was in 1963, the Constitution (as of 2002), the issues to be discussed in public hearings, reports of the public hearings, discussion papers by Kenyan professors, public lectures, issues regarding gender, minorities, the disabled, submissions by political groups, civil society groups. Commission Chairman is Professor Professor Yash Pal Ghai. http://www.kenyaconstitution.org/
Coral Reefs - Action Atlas
Site by Mother Jones magazine and the Coral Reef Alliance in Berkeley, California on endangered coral reefs in Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Comoros, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Reunion.
Main page: http://www.motherjones.com/coral_reef/
African coral reefs: http://www.motherjones.com/coral_reef/indian_ocean.html
Crawfurd, Jacob
Jacob Crawfurd's 100 photographs of Cameroon, East Africa slide show and video clips, a panorama photograph of the valley in Bafang, Cameroon, plus a few 1937 historical photographs (no captions). Crawfurd, from Denmark, also heads JCJ Film, a one-man production company producing documentaries and short features. Learn about his video short story, Low Tide, with the Kizingo Arts Troupe, a group of 25 young Kenyan artists based in Mombasa, who perform Malaika. http://crawfurd.dk/africa
Cyber-Africa.net
"A Monthly e-zine Reporting on Kenya and Kenyans." Has a directory of web sites on Kenya. Includes a directory of Kenyan companies, organizations, Kenyan worldwide social calendar, commentary on issues, educational opportunities, death and funeral announcements, jobs, etc. Maintained by a Kenyan in Dayton, NJ. http://www.cyber-africa.net
Daraja Academy
"...free all-girls secondary school" located near Mt. Kenya. Students come from the Nairobi slums, Northern ethnic groups (Samburu, Turkana, Maasai) and the local community around the school – The Likipia Plateau. Founded by the Carr Educational Foundation, based in San Rafael, California. http://daraja-academy.org/
De Souza, Ruth - The Indian Diaspora in Africa
History of South Asians in East Africa. Articles, links to related sites. De Souza was born in East Africa. She is a Senior Research Fellow at Auckland University of Technology's Centre for Asian and Migrant Health Research. Based in Waitakere City, New Zealand. http://www.wairua.com/ruth/culture/africa.html
http://www.measuredhs.com/countries/country_main.cfm?ctry_id=20&c=Kenya
Site takes a while to load. "The East African Community (EAC) is the regional intergovernmental organisation of the Republics of Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania..." Has the full text of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, press releases, speeches, statistics databases, staff directory. Based in Arusha, Tanzania. http://www.eachq.org/
East, Central and Southern African (ECSA) Health Community
Promotes regional cooperation in health. Formerly the Commonwealth Regional Health Community for East, Central and Southern Africa. Members are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Mauritius, and Bostwana. Has some full text reports such as Challenges Facing the Malawian Health Workforce in the Era of HIV/AIDS and Challenges facing the Kenyan Health Workforce in the era of AIDS. Based in Arusha, Tanzania. http://www.crhcs.or.tz/
Eastern Africa Journal of Humanities & Sciences (Nairobi, Kenya)
Published by the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Department of Research, Nairobi, Kenya. Full text articles. http://bij.hosting.kun.nl/esap/selectuniversity.php?univ=cuea&PHPSESSID=7da04c2326697cb509798538b6093816
Full text articles, in Adobe pdf, include:
Jane K. Onsongo, "The Life Approach Method in Teaching Christian Religious Education in Secondary Schools"
Paul A. Ogula, "The Evaluation Experience of Primary and Secondary Education Projects in Kenya"
Catherine N. Machyo, "The Catholic Church and the HIV/AIDS Pandemic in Kenya: An Exploration of Issues"
Book Review:Kennedy M. Moindi, "Building on the Indigenous: Selected Essays 1981-1998," by Bethwell A Ogot
Eastern Arc Mountains Information Source
"The Eastern Arc Mountains are a chain of mountains in Kenya and Tanzania that are influenced by the Indian Ocean...These mountains are recognized as one of 24 globally important 'hot spots' for forest biodiversity according to Conservation International." Has a directory of organizations (Kenya, Tanzania, U.S.), map with links to photographs and reports. Part of the Bugwood Network hosted by the University of Georgia and the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. http://www.easternarc.org/
EcoFarm Holidays
"Under EcoFarm Holidays, you shall be hosted by ordinary Kenyan families, with whom you shall cook, go fishing and even engage in leisurely work on the coffee or tea farm during your stay in their farmhouse and home area." "will organize for you a homestay holiday in any part of Kenya. Our principal destination is Kiamariga, an idyllic farming hamlet at the edge of the Mount Kenya Forest." http://www.ibbp.com/obb/ecofarms.html
Ecosandals.com
A non-profit importer and reseller of sandals produced by the Wikyo Akala Project funded entirely by the work of volunteers. Proceeds benefit Kenyans in shantytowns. Based in Ann Arbor, MI and Nairobi. http://www.ecosandals.com/
Ekegusii Dictionary Project
Open source online Ekegusii-English dictionary. Ekegusii is the language of the Gusii in Kenya. Site founded by a student at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. http://www.ekegusii.org
Mwai Kibaki. Site is gone; it was the site for the December 2007 Presidential Election bid of incumbent President Kwai Kibaki. Includes the Party Manifesto (64 p. in PDF). http://www.kibaki.co.ke/
See also Mwai Kibaki's blog - http://kibakiupdate.wordpress.com/ and Zinduka, a web site aimed at Kenyan youth. http://www.zinduka.co.ke/
Kalonzo Musyoka. Site is gone, was for the December 2007 Presidential Election bid.
Raila Odinga. Site has closed, was created for the December 2007 Presidential Election bid of Raila Odinga.
Kenya Votes 2007 - voter information site from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (Washington, D.C.). Has party manifestos, up-to-date news, candidate lists, candidates’ stances on important issues, party platforms, general voter and election information, and videos, etc. http://kenyavotes.org
Election Commentary. http://zeleza.com/blogging/african-affairs/2007-kenya-elections-holding-nation-hostage-bankrupt-political-class
Pambazuka - January 4, 2008 http://www.pambazuka.org/
Site is gone, was for the political party led by Raila Odinga. http://www.odm07.com/ Has a Facebook page.
Institute for Education in Democracy
An NGO "to promote democracy through programmes in the electoral process, voter education, research and dissemination programmes." Has detailed 2002 election information (parliamentary seats by province, turnout by province, charts, number of registered voters by constituency, electoral law changes, a 49 page report (in Adobe pdf) on Registration of Voters in 2002). Includes a report, Political Party Organisation and Management in Kenya. An Audit. (86 pages, 1998, in Adobe pdf). Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.iedafrica.org/
Election 2002 - Candidates
Kenyatta, Uhuru - Uhuru Kenyatta for President Forum
Site has closed. Comments on the candidates, parties. http://www.uhurukenyatta.com/web/forums/
Expression Today, The journal of Human Rights, Democracy and the Media (Nairobi)
Takes a while to load. Older articles, political analysis, literature, female circumcision. http://www.kenyanews.com/eXpression/
[Finke] Jens Finke's Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya
Essays on Kenya's peoples, cultures, fables and legends, music (has audio clips), role of missionaries in present day Kenya. Includes bibliographies, photographs. Features Luo artist, Hezbon Owiti. The section on the Kikyuyu covers the Mau Mau, circumcision. http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya
France. Embassy. Kenya
In English and French. Ambassador's profile, visa information. Includes information on French - Kenya relations, the French Institute of Research in Africa (FIRA), French associations in Kenya. http://www.ambafrance-ke.org/
Freedom in Speech
Issues affecting the gay community in Kenya, the Kenyan diaspora. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.freedominspeech.org/
Friends of Kenya
"Friends of Kenya / Marafiki Wa Kenya (FOK) is a non-profit organization begun at the initiative of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and Staff who served in Kenya." ".....support for human welfare and nature conservation projects has been among FOK's guiding objectives." Has selected articles from past issues of its newsletter, motomoto, online. Based in Ottawa, Ohio. http://www.friendsofkenya.org/
Geider, Thomas - A Bibliography of Swahili Literature, Linguistics, Culture and History
Full text online. In Adobe pdf, 101 pages. No. 10, 2003 of the online journal Swahili Forum, published at the Department of Anthropology and African Studies, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany. http://www.uni-mainz.de/~ifeas/SwaFo/
Greater Horn of Africa Initiative
"...a U.S. foreign policy initiative launched in 1994 in order to address the recurring cycle of crisis, instability and famine in the Greater Horn of Africa region..." Old site; some pages gone. Covers Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda. http://www.usaid.gov/regions/afr/ghai/
Green Belt Movement (Nairobi, Kenya)
An NGO founded in 1977 by Wangari Maathai (Ph.D). Focuses on environmental conservation and community development. Runs Green Belt Safaris Ltd. providing eco tourism. See also: Wangari Maathai. http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/
Harambee Schools Kenya
"UK registered charity working with rural Kenyan communities to improve educational standards and opportunities through the funding of construction projects and the provision of educational materials." Includes photographs, information on the Kenya education system, descriptions of individual schools. Based in the U.K. http://www.hsk.org.uk
HealthKenya.com
Pages take a while to load. Kenya health news, will add other features. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.healthkenya.com
Heinrich Boll Foumdation. Regional Office for the East & Horn of Africa - [Kenya]
Its main programs are on Gender, the Environment and Conflict and Dialogue. Its partners are in the Horn of Africa, Kenya, Uganda. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.hbfha.com/
Full text reports include -
Somalia’ s Transition: The Role of Senior Professionals and Scholars (16 p. in PDF)
NEPAD A New Path? 2002. (359 pages in PDF) - covers historical background, democratic governance, economic governance, environment consequences, role of women, regional integration. Authors include Adebayo Adedeji, Archie Mafeje, Thandika Mkandawire, Yash Tandon, Horace Campbell, Peter Anyang' Nyong'o and others.
The Study of African Politics. A Critical Appreciation of a Heritage. By Peter Anyang' Nyong'o. 2002. (114 pages in PDF)
Law, the Social Sciences and the Crisis of Relevance: A Personal Account. By Dani Nabudere. 2001. (African Social Scientists Reflections, Part 2.) (137 pages in PDF) - includes law in African colonies, the post-colonial state, the Dar es Salaam School, legal education, African Studies (afrocentricity), Nabudere's law student days in the early 1960s and activist law career in Uganda.
Anthropology in Post-Independence Africa: End of an Era and the Problem of Self-Redefination. By Archie Mafeje. 2001. (African Social Scientists Reflections, Part 1.) (79 pages in PDF)
WTO - Agreement on Agriculture: Impact of Liberalisation and Globalisation of Agricultural World Trade upon Sustainable Agriculture and Development in Kenya
(15 p. in PDF) - dumping of maize, sugar in Kenya
Gender and Constitution-Making in Kenya. 2002 (71 p. in PDF)
Gender Gaps in Our Constitutions: Women's concerns in selected African Countries. 2002 (119 p. in PDF) - women in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somaliland, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe.
Hip Hop Colony
Documentary film by Michael Wanguhu on the Hip Hop movement in Kenya. Movie trailer. http://www.hiphopcolony.com
"...an international newsgroup, photo album and discussion of how people live through flowers." Use the Search box to find references to flowers and Africa, such as the Kenya flower industry. Maintained by Julie Ardery, a writer in Austin, Texas. http://www.humanflowerproject.com
Human Rights Watch - Ballots to Bullets: Organized Political Violence and Kenya's Crisis of Governance
Full text report. Map. Pub. March 2008. "The scale and speed of the violence that engulfed Kenya following the controversial presidential election of December 27, 2007 shocked both Kenyans and the world at large...The ethnic divisions laid bare in the aftermath of the elections have roots that run much deeper than the presidential poll." http://hrw.org/reports/2008/kenya0308/
Human Rights Watch - Double Standards: Women’s Property Rights Violations in Kenya
54-page report, published March 2003, "...examines the devastating impact of women’s property rights
violations in Kenya, where the constitution condones discrimination in property matters." Topics include Marriage Laws and Practices, Women's Status in Kenya, HIV/AIDS and Women in Kenya, Customary Laws Today, Wife Inheritance and Ritual Cleansing. Has links to Resources on Women’s Property Rights. http://hrw.org/reports/2003/kenya0303/
Human Rights Watch - Kenya Spare the Child: Corporal Punishment in Schools
Full text of a Sept. 1999 Human Rights Watch report. http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kenya/index.htm
Also use the HRW Search to locate the Kenya sections of their annual world reports and abstracts of reports for sale.
Human Rights Watch - Playing with Fire. Weapons Proliferation, Political Violence, and Human Rights in Kenya
May 2002. Full text report, in Adobe pdf and in html. "Speaking for the first time, perpetrators of armed attacks in the run-up to the last general election in Kenya have said that they were backed by ruling party officials." http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/kenya/
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission
"...responsible for conducting or supervising referenda and elections to any elective body or office established by the Constitution, and any other elections as prescribed by an Act of Parliament...” Voter rights, political parties list, election results, election laws, election reports. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.iebc.or.ke/
Institut de recherche pour le développement. Laboratoire de cartographie appliquée (Bondy, France)
In French. Publishes printed maps, atlases, cdroms. On-line maps can be downloaded. Maps include African immigrants in the European Union, African immigration to the European Union, population and economic disparities between North / South, refugees. Has SPHAERA, a database of citations to African maps from sources world-wide; the same citations can be accessed through a clickable map. There is a catalog of maps produced by the IRD. Provides a GIS software program, Savane. Savane has been used by workers in refugee camps in Kenya, Bamako, Mali, and Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. The IRD, l’Institut de recherche pour le développement, was (formerly ORSTOM), based in Paris, France. http://www.bondy.ird.fr/carto/labo.html
Full text publications on-line include - Reports on refugee camps in Kenya and on refugees and the environment in Kenya and Uganda.
Has full text reports (such as East African Bribery Index 2013), Kenya Government Acts, etc. Partners with the UN, European Union, USAID etc. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://iedafrica.org/
Institute of Advanced Technology
Private computer training. Is registered with the Directorate of Industrial Training (Kenya). Microsoft, Cisco training. Bachelor's degree in computing and internet systems. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.iat.co.ke/
Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (Nairobi)
"...established in 1994 as an independent, indigenous and non-partisan private organisation. It is a non-profit body whose primary goal is to pursue quality research-based public policy analysis and to generate non-partisan discussion focused on Kenya and the region." Full text Policy Briefs, abstracts or full text (in .zip form) for Discussion Papers and Occasional Papers. Topics include health care, interest rates, poverty reduction, education, marketing maize, etc. http://www.ipar.or.ke/
Inter-Church Coalition on Africa, ICCAF (Toronto)
"...a coordinated response by Canadian Churches to promote social and economic justice in Sub-Saharan Africa.....Three over-arching themes permeate ICCAF's work: Human Rights, Economic Justice, and the Media Image of Africans." Has reports on Angola, Congo-Kinshasa, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Women's Rights. Offers free e-mail reports Based in Toronto, Canada. http://www.web.net/~iccaf/
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
Formerly the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) which was created in 1986 by Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda to co-ordinate development in the Horn of Africa. The State of Eritrea became the seventh member of IGADD in September 1993 after its independence. Has press releases. Based in Djibouti. http://igad.int/
International Commission of Jurists - Kenyan Section
Press statements regarding human rights issues, their Newsletter, the full text of some reports such as "Judicial Reform And Administration Of Justice In Kenya: The Way Forward" (72 p. in Adobe pdf), the full text of Bills such as "The Access To Information Bill 2000," "The Analysis Of The Privatization Bill, 2004" and a directory of important Kenya NGOs. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.icj-kenya.org/
International Documentation Network on the Great African Lakes Region
International inter-university program (based in Geneva, Switzerland) to collect "grey literature" on the economic, social, and political aspects of Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Congo-Kinshasa. The documents, on cd-rom, are sold thru subscription. http://www.unige.ch/iued/grandslacs/welcome.html
International Labor Rights Fund (Washington, D.C.)
A labor rights group working to ban cocoa imports from Cote d'Ivoire because of child labor / child slavery used in Cote d'Ivoire cocoa production. Has a May 2002 report on "Violence against women in the workplace in Kenya" concerning sexual harassment in the manufacturing sector. http://www.laborrights.org/
Official site. Has information on the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF). Locate full text reports on Kenya. Use their Search to find actions by the IMF affecting Kenya. http://www.imf.org/
International Resource Group on Disarmament and Security in the Horn of Africa (IRG)
"...an effort to engage civil society groups and individuals in exploring alternative approaches to security policy." Has full text reports on the Horn of Africa, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Uganda. From Project Ploughshares, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, Waterloo, Canada. http://www.ploughshares.ca/content/BUILD%20PEACE/IRG.html
International School of Kenya
Formerly the Nairobi International School. Provides K-12 education. The site has a brief history, information on their Rafiki Club Newsletter, a directory of students and faculty, present and past. The directory is very long;don't print this unless you have lots of paper in your printer. http://www.africaonline.co.ke/AfricaOnline/isk/iskhomepage.html
"...an effort to engage civil society groups and individuals in exploring alternative approaches to security policy." Has full text reports on the Horn of Africa military profiles, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Uganda, "Civil-Military Relations in Kenya." From Project Ploughshares, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, Waterloo, Canada. http://www.ploughshares.ca/content/BUILD%20PEACE/IRG.html
International Writing Program, University of Iowa
Has biographies of African writers participating in the famous Univ. of Iowa program along with samples of their writing. The 1996 African writers are - from Togo, Adovi John-Bosco Adotevi, from Kenya Serah Wanjiru Mwangi and Monica Nalyaka Wanambisi.
Mwangi: http://www.uiowa.edu/~iwp/mwangi.htm
Wanambisi: http://www.uiowa.edu/~iwp/wanambis.htm
Main Page: http://www.uiowa.edu/~iwp/
Inter-University Council for East Africa
"...a regional inter-govermental organisation whose mission is to encourage and develop mutually beneficial collaboration between universities in East Africa, and between them and governments and other organisations, both public and private." Full text reports on education. Has a scholarship program. Applicants must be resident citizens and other residents of Kenya, Tanzania, or Uganda. Sponsors the East African Network of University Libraries. http://www.iucea.org/
Jaluo.com
In Luo. http://www.jaluo.com/
K-Select
Atlanta, Georgia company which supplies Kenya magazines (Eve, True Love) to U.S. subscribers. http://www.k-select.com/
[Kaplan] Marion Kaplan - Photographs
Kaplan writes - "Born in London, I lived as photojournalist and writer in Africa for twenty years." Includes photos of arab dhows, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, political figures (Bokassa, Haile Selassie, Jomo Kenyatta, Idi Amin), wild animals, George Adamson. http://www.marionkaplan.com/
Kasarani.com
"Kasarani.com brings Kenyans together, young and old, at home and in the diaspora." "a social network for Kenyans by Kenyans." http://www.kasarani.com/
Kci-net
A discussion group on the transfer of technology (esp. computer technology) to Kenya. To subscribe, send e-mail to: listmgr@africaonline.com
In the message area, put: subscribe kci-net
Kemps International Film and TV Production Services Directory
"...search for over 35,000 production services companies from 65 countries worldwide....find everything from Aerial Photography to Video Equipment, Location Services, Crew and much more." Extensive directory of South African companies and some Nigeria, Kenya companies. Produced by the publishers of the annual, Kemps international film & television year book (London). http://www.kftv.com/
Kenya African National Union (KANU)
Political party of former Presidents Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel Arap Moi. The party's history, structure, constitution, manifesto, KANU branch directory, KANU members of parliament, election statistics, etc. http://www.kanuonline.com/
Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
Full text reports, the Highlighter newsletter, etc. http://www.kari.org/
Kenya AIDS NGO Consortium, KANCO
A "...national membership network of NGOs, CBOs and Faith Based Organizations involved or [with an] interest in HIV & AIDS activities in Kenya." Based in Nairobi. http://www.kanco.org/
"Since privatisation in 1996, Kenya Airways has emerged as a highly competetive international airline. The Kenyan government retains a significant interest in its national carrier while KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is the largest individual shareholder with a 26 per cent stake in the company." http://www.kenya-airways.com
Kenya Association of Manufacturers
Established 1959. The KAM Directory is a database of Kenyan companies by sector and geographic location. Based in Nairobi. http://www.kam.co.ke/
Kenya. Attorney General
Based in Nairobi. http://www.attorney-general.go.ke/
KenyaBazaar
Online Social & Commercial Notice Board. Classified ads for goods and services. Personals (Friends & Partners). http://www.kenyabazaar.com
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation
News, the Nairobi Stock Exchange, weather. Listen to news in Swahili. Information about Kenya TV and radio. "Kenya Broadcasting Corporation is a state corporation established by an Act of Parliamen...to undertake public services." http://www.kbc.co.ke/
Kenya. National Bureau of Statistics
Has some full text documents - Highlights of the Preliminary Results of KDHS 2003 (Kenya Demographic and Health Survey), final report of the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2003, Key Findings of the Kenya DHS 2003, Press Releases, statistics on Tourism, Health, Agriculture, Energy (lighting, cooking fuel), Inflation Rate, the Economic Survey 2004 (in Powerpoint), etc. http://www.knbs.or.ke/
Kenya. Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal / Irregular Allocation of Public Land.
Report. Chairman: Paul Ndungu.. Nairobi: June 2004. 3 vols. Vol. 1 - 244 p. Vols. 2 (976 p.) and 3 (797 p.) are Annexes. Concerns the illegal giving of public land by previous Kenya government officials - an estimated over 200,000 illegal allocations since independence in 1963.
See Oxfam (U.K.)'s site on East African land issues - http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/livelihoods/landrights/africa_east.htm
Includes the following report and many others. The Ndungu Report: Land & Graft in Kenya. Source: Review of African Political Economy, Vol.32, No.103, March 2005, pp.142-51. (Roger Southall)
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/livelihoods/landrights/downloads/ndungu_report_land_graft.rtf
Kenya. Constitution, 2010
From the KenyaLaw.org site. 194 pages in PDF. BBC article August 27, 2010 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11106558
Kenya. Department of Film Services
Licenses local and international film makers. Providing liaison services. Produces newsreels, documentaries, features, TV ads in English and Kenyan languages such as Dunia ni mbaya (on HIV/AIDS education). Maintains a national film archive of over 600 documentaries. . Has a directory of accredited local agents who will facilitate location scouting, transport, hotel reservations, film licenses, shipping, etc. Under the Ministry of Information and Communications. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.filmservices.go.ke/
Kenya. Department of Immigration
http://www.immigration.go.ke/
Kenya. Department of Refugee Affairs
http://www.refugees.go.ke/
Kenya Diaspora Network
"...a non-political organization whose primary objective is to support the Kenyan Government development efforts by aligning the resources and inherent knowledge of Kenyan Organizations in the Diaspora with the Government's Economic Recovery Plan (GERP) and with the Donors' Country Assistance Plans. The Network was recently formed at the behest of the Kenyan government in conjunction with the World Bank Institute and Western Hemisphere African Diaspora Network (WHADN-an initiative of the AU)." Based in Mclean, Virginia. http://www.kenyadiaspora.org/
Kenya Elections
http://www.kenyaelections.com/
Kenya Elections - December 1997
See the BBC's coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/for_christmas/_new_year/kenyan_elections/newsid_41000/41786.stm
Kenya. Embassy. Washington, D. C.
Official Page. Has information on the Kenya embassies, economy, education, basic facts, visa/travel information. http://www.kenyaembassy.com/
Kenya Guide
Has an automated Kenya e-mail directory. Facts about Kenya, audio file of the national anthem with words in English and Swahili, tourism information, etc. Maintained by Urvi Shah. http://www.kenyaguide.co.uk
Kenya High Commission in Canada
Based in Ottawa. http://www.kenyahighcommission.ca/
Kenya High Commission - United Kingdom
http://kenyahighcommission.net/
Kenya Human Rights Commission
"...a non-partisan, non-profit making, membership non-governmental organization based in Nairobi, Kenya." Describes their programmes, publications. Has some full text reports such as Challenging Conditions: Strategies Toward Reform Of The Sugar Sector. Offers internships. http://www.khrc.or.ke/
Has full text of Promotion & Protection of all Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, Including the Rights to Development. Report of the Special Rapporteur....Philip Alston. A report submitted to the United Nations, May 2009. 45 pages in PDF
"The Special Rapporteur visited Kenya from 16 to 25 February 2009 in order to ascertain the types and causes of unlawful killings; to investigate whether those responsible for such killings are held to account; and to propose constructive measures to reduce the incidence of killings and impunity. The main focus was on killings by the police, violence in the Mt. Elgon District, and killings in the post-election period."
Kenya Indy Media
"The kenya indymedia center is a non-commercial, democratic collective of bay area independent media makers and media outlets, and serves as the local organizing unit of the global Indymedia network." Current news, commentary. Also receive by email weekly summaries of headlines. http://212.100.241.38/news/
Kenya Institute of Management
Founded in 1954, "...aims to enhance management knowledge and practice in both the public and private sector." sponsors Company of the Year Awards (2001 winners) and an annual Tom Mboya Lecture, publishes the Management Journal. http://www.kim.ac.ke/
Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis
"...an autonomous public institute...to provide quality public policy advice to the government of Kenya and to the private sector by conducting objective research and analysis, and through capacity building, in order to contribute to the achievement of national development goals." Full text documents on-line but free registration is required. http://www.kippra.org/
Kenya. Judicial Commission Appointed to Inquire into Tribal Clashes in Kenya
Report. Chairman. Justice A. M. Akiwumi."A report has recommended that prominent current and former Kenyan ministers be investigated for their alleged roles in tribal clashes. The clashes took place in the run-up to elections in 1992 and 1997 and left thousands dead. The report was submitted to the government in 1999, but only released on Friday after a court ordered the government to make its findings public." - BBC article, October 18, 2002.
Database of case law, election petitions, full text of Kenya laws, bills. "official website of the National Council for Law Reporting (Kenya), a public body established under the National Council for Law Reporting Act (Act No. 11 of 1994). The mandate of the Council is to publish the Kenya Law Reports which contain the judicial opinions of the superior courts of record." http://www.kenyalaw.org/
Includes text of the Kenya Gazette from 1906 which is actually from books.google.com
Kenya Meteorological Department
Forecasts. Home of the Institute for Meteorological Training and Research. Shows Telecommunication Network Circuits. Sea wind forecasts. etc. http://www.meteo.go.ke/
Kenya. Ministry of Agriculture
Has full text documents (Strategic Plan 2008-2012. 84 pages in PDF, Economic Review of Agriculture 2009 etc.). http://www.kilimo.go.ke/
Kenya. Ministry of Education, Science and Technology
Extensive education statistics, full text documents. Based in Nairobi. http://www.education.go.ke/
Kenya. Ministry of Finance
http://www.treasury.go.ke/
Kenya Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Official site. Kenya's foreign policy, history (past foreign ministers and permanent secretaries), public holidays, facts about Kenya with a clickable map, brief political history, presidential profiles, words and an audio file of the national anthem, diplomatic missions in Kenya, Kenya's missions abroad, list of treaties, full text of Presidential speeches, the Foreign Affairs Bulletin. The FAQ has information on visa requirements. http://www.mfa.go.ke/
Kenya. Ministry of Health
http://www.health.go.ke/
Kenya. Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology
http://www.scienceandtechnology.go.ke/
Kenya. Ministry of Home Affairs, Office of the Vice President
http://www.homeaffairs.go.ke/
Kenya. Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons
http://www.mirp.go.ke/
Kenya. Ministry of Information and Communications
http://www.information.go.ke/
Kenya. Ministry of Planning and National Development
Speeches, press releases, full text policy documents. Sponsors investment conferences. http://www.planning.go.ke/
Kenya National Academy of Sciences
The mission of Kenya National Academy of Science (KNAS) is "to promote acquisition, dissemination and application of scientific knowledge and technology for National development." Site registered by Ken J. Wagner of Orem, Utah. http://www.knas.g3z.com
Kenya National Archives. Mashujaa Wetu: Heroes of the Kenyan Nation
Slide show of Kenyan history. Use your computer's arrow keys to navigate. Text and photographs from the Kenya National Archives. Hosted by Google's Cultural Institute.
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights
"...an autonomous National Human Rights Institution established by an Act of Parliament in 2002." http://www.knchr.org/
Has full text reports such as -
The Malindi Inquiry Report 2006 - 200 pages in PDF
An Evening with Tom Mboya - 46 pages in PDF
Nguzo za Haki - the Commission's magazine. Some issues are online.
Kenya National Library Service
Has a directory of libraries, produces the Kenya National Bibliography which can be purchased. Is the distributor of ISBN numbers. Its camel mobile library service operates in North Eastern Province. http://www.knls.or.ke/
Kenya-net
Discussion group which is only open to East Africans; this is a high volume list and may get 100 messages a day. The annual fee is $20. To subscribe, send a request to: owner-kenya-net@africaonline.com
Kenya Network Information Centre, KENIC
Non-profit in charge of registration for the .ke domain. Use the whois to locate domain owners. The .ke top level domain was originally administered by Dr. Shem Ochuodho of ARCC and by Randy Bush (technical contact). Based in Nairobi. http://www.kenic.or.ke/
Kenya. Office of the Presient. e-Government
Directs you to Kenya information on starting a business in Kenya. Information on citizenship, taxes, the civil service. education. http://www.e-government.go.ke/
Kenya Page of Richard Bowen
Has the flag, national anthem (audio file), biographical information on President Daniel A. Moi and Jomo Kenyatta, recipes, an active discussion group, an email database, facts about the government, economy, people, cities, photos, a guestbook. Lists internet service providers in Kenya. Maintained by R. Bowen. http://www.rcbowen.com/kenya/
Kenya. Prime Minister's Office
http://www.primeminister.go.ke/
Kenya Revenue Authority
Official site. "...established on 1st July 1995 by an act of Parliament. The authority is charged with the responsibility of collecting revenue on behalf of the government." Its divisions are Income Tax, Value Added Tax (VAT), Customs and Excise, Road Transport Division. Information on importing goods, the export promotion program, a Guide to Investment Deductions, tenders, etc. http://www.revenue.go.ke/
Kenya Scholars and Studies Association, KESSA
"...independent nonprofit professional Association established in...Ohio...purpose of advancing scholarly, scientific, and research work on the Republic of Kenya. Its membership is drawn from all disciplines..." http://kessa.org/
Kenya School Of Law
"...a Semi Autonomous Government Agency" Established in 1963. Organizes and conducts courses for the development of legal professionals; conducts courses for Government personnel on the general understanding of the law and organizes Para-legal courses and programmes. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.ksl.ac.ke
Kenya Socialist Democratic Alliance, KSDA
In English and Swahili. Opposition alliance. "represents an Alliance of democratic forces whose main objective is the democratic overthrow of capitalism in Kenya and it's democratic replacement with a democratic socialist political system of Government." Alliance programme, history, articles, news, speeches, interviews (audio interviews with Raila Odinga and others), and a list of "State Enterprises Listed for Privatisation in Kenya". Web site based in Stockholm, Sweden. [CA] http://www.kenyasocialist.org
Kenya. Statehouse
Official site. Kenya profile, press releases, directory of Kenyan diplomatic missions, government directory, speeches, President's profile, photo essays, words and history of the national anthem in English and Kiswahili, commentary by the Director Presidential Press Service. http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/
Kenya. Teachers Service Commission
Established by the Kenya Parliament in 1967. Its mandate is to "recruit, employ, assign, pay, promote, transfer and exercise powers conferred on the Commission by the Code of Regulations for teachers on all public school." Based in Nairobi. http://www.tsc.go.ke/
Kenya: the Top 100 People (April 1998)
Site by Indigo Publications (Paris) to promote their reference book ($330); the complete biographies are only available thru payment. Partial biographies are available on the site. http://www.africaintelligence.com/dossiers/aia/dos_aia_gp_ken.asp
Indigo Publications provides some free information:
Presidential & Parliamentary Election Results (Dec. 1997)
Final Report of the Donors' Democratic Development Group (on the 1997 elections)
Government Offices and Officials (directory)
National Assembly (MPs by province and party)
Kenyan Diplomatic Missions
Kenya Association of Manufacturers (Exec.Committee)
Kenya. Vice President
http://www.vice-president.go.ke/
Kenyaweb
Internet service provider / directory of information on Kenya (business, trade, tourism, education. Has directories of government officials with addresses for each ministry, directories of NGOs, U.N. agencies and diplomatic missions in Kenya, yellow pages, a business directory, trade unions, Kenya's history from early man to the present, tourism, hotels. Has the words (in English / Swahili) of the national anthem. Launched Nov. 1996 in Nairobi. http://www.kenyaweb.com/
Describes the national parks includes historical background, biodiversity / conservation programs. http://www.kenya-wildlife-service.org
Kenya Youth Movement in Sweden (Farsta, Sweden)
Publishes Harakati, a newsletter, has press releases, statements. Is opposed to the present government of Kenya. http://www.angelfire.com/ky/kyms/harakati4.html
Kenyan American Professional's Association
"...focuses on guest speaker events, career and professional development programs..." Covers the area of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Photographs of events. Based in Bedminster, New Jersey. http://www.kapa-us.org/
Kenyan Community Abroad
"KCA is a socio-political non-partisan organization, registered in the states of Pennsylvania and Minnesota..., and composed primarily of Kenyans living outside Kenya. KCA was founded in March 1997 with a view to giving Kenyans abroad a platform in which they can exchange views and help bring change back home." Has their Press Statements, etc. http://www.kenyansabroad.org
Kenyan Community Abroad Bomb Victim Fund
"Kenyan Community Abroad (KCA) Announces the immediate commencement of “Bomb Victim Fund” with the following objective: to help pay for medical supplies and equipment needed for the case and rehabilitation of those injured in the bombings; to help pay for specialized expertise and medical needs for the treatment and rehabilitation of those injured in this horrendous inhuman act..."
The Kenya Community Abroad, P. O. Box 996
Rochester, MN 55903-0996, USA
E-mail: kca@mayo.edu Phone: (301) 301 622-0423 Fax: (301) 622-0423
http://welcome.to/kca
Kenyan Internet Exchange
"KIXP allows Kenyan Internet Service Providers to easily exchange traffic within Kenya, while improving connectivity and services for their customers. KIXP is run and operated by the Telecommunication Service Providers of Kenya (TESPOK)." Has the full text of the Kenya Communications Act, 1998.
Kenyan Lyrics
Most popular songs section. Musician biographies. Blog about Kenyan music. Section on hymns. http://www.kenyanlyrics.com/kenyan-music-blog/
Kenyan Netwatch (Nairobi)
Online edition of the print magazine. Published by Raytom Information Services, Nairobi. News on the internet in Kenya, feature articles such as "How the web has changed Kenya," directory of Kenyan internet service providers, articles on useful Kenyan web sites, links to Kenyan sites. http://www.netwatch.co.ke/
Kenyan Pundit
Blog about Kenya issues, events and elsewhere. http://www.kenyanpundit.com/
Kenyan Resources Database
"A project aimed at making available bibliographic information of theses and dissertations that have significant research carried out on or in Kenya." Locate theses by author, title, institution, year, and blocks of years. Those with theses or dissertations not in the database are welcome to include it. The Project Manager is S. Katuu of Vancouver, Canada. E-mail: kenyadb@yahoo.com
http://kenyadb.freeservers.com/
Faculty, history of the university, etc. http://www.ku.ac.ke/
Kiano, Julius - "Kenyan Independence, the Early Years"
1989 interview with Kiano, Chairman of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. He was at U.C. Berkeley to receive the Haas International Award, which is given to a distinguished foreign alumnus. Kiano discusses the 1960s airlifts of Kenya students to the U.S., the independence struggle, Thurgood Marshall, gaining economic power, formation of the African-Caribbean-Pacific (APC) of the European Community. Part of the Conversations with History series from the Institute of International Studies, Univ. of California, Berkeley. http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/conversations/Kiano/
KickStart (formerly ApproTEC)
An NGO founded in Kenya in 1991, works in Kenya, Tanzania, Mali. "Each summer, ApproTEC has a very limited number of internships at its offices in Nairobi, Kenya. These non-paying positions are for experienced business, economics, and engineering design graduate students or professionals. ApproTEC assists small business people "to identify viable business opportunities, to access the technologies required to launch the new enterprises and to widely market new products." Example: Designed a water pump which has helped Kenyans grow food more efficiently and profitably. ApproTEC received one of five Tech Museum of Innovation award for technology benefiting humanity - Source: San Jose Mercury News, 1C. Nov. 8, 2002, p. Based in Nairobi and San Francisco. http://www.approtec.org/
KIMbia Athletics
"KIMbia is the Swahili word meaning "to run". The selection of this name is both an acknowledgement of the impact Kenyan runners have had on international athletics, as well as serving to continue the legacy of the late Kim McDonald, who was one of the world’s finest athlete managers until his untimely death in 2001." Includes Athlete profiles. http://www.kimbia.net/
Kneen-McDaid, Jan - "HIV in Africa"
Article on the author's visit with the Maasai. Explains why a small donation to support a school in Kenya will help in the local fight against AIDS. http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/5227/maasai-HIV.htm
Kusoma International [formerly the Laurenti Mohochi Educational Foundation]
"...a nonprofit organization created to enable access to quality education for children of impoverished and marginalized communities (particularly in the Kuria District of Kenya)." Scholarships for high school students and community service opportunities for Kenyan students. Works with the Stanford student group, REACH. Has a survey of education in Kuria West District. http://lmefoundation.com/
Kwani? (Nakuru, Kenya)
Online literary magazine from Kenya. New writers, literary criticism, news on Kenya cultural events. The first issue appeared Sept. 2002; a print edition will be published Sept. 2003. Has the full text of, The Weight of Whispers, by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, winner of the 2003 Caine Prize. Founded by Kenyan writers including Binyavanga Wainaina (2002 winner of the Caine Prize). Based in Nakuru, Kenya. http://www.kwani.org/
Kwetu.net
Kwetu is an online library of documents and photographs from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia. Access is by fee; a free demo is available. Topics include health, AIDS, religion, conservation, appropriate technology, economy, children, women, family planning, legal issues, population, conflict resolution, governance, etc. Founded in 2000 by Karani Nyamu and Sarge Odhiambo, based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.kwetu.net/
Kyoto University. Center for African Area Studies (CAAS). AFlora on the Web
"...database of traditional plant utilization in Africa. Created by AFlora Committee, since 1998." Information on use of the plants for food and medicine, for ritual and other spiritual purposes and use in the oral tradition of songs and proverbs. Data comes from Kenya, Congo, Botswana...more than 10,000 records of useful plants in Africa are stored in terms of usage, vernacular name, ritual meanings, etc. There is also a collection of African insects and plant specimens available to researchers." http://130.54.103.36/aflora.nsf
LawAfrica.com (Nairobi)
Access to some areas requires a paid subscription. Legal publishing company in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania). "...collates primary and secondary resource materials, case law, statutory material, legal commentary." Has Lawafrica Law Reports (LLR), Company Searches, a Legal Directory, selected text of the Kenya Gazette. Free content includes Government and Ministry Directory, Profiles of Kenyan judges, Profiles of Ugandan judges, information on the Electoral Commission. Has the full text of bills such as "The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Bill, 2001" and commentary on the bills by the Law Society of Kenya. Based in Nairobi. http://www.lawafrica.com/
Law Society of Kenya
"Kenya’s premier Bar association, with membership of all practising advocates, currently numbering in excess of the three thousand." Formed in 1948. Information about the Kenya School of Law and other East African legal education bodies, the Attorney General, the judiciary, discussion forums, etc.. http://www.lsk.or.ke/
Lea Toto (Nairobi, Kenya)
"...a community based outreach program providing services to families and children who are HIV positive in Kangemi, a slum area located in West Nairobi, Kenya." "The program is part of Nyumbani, the first hospice for HIV+ orphans in Kenya." http://www.leatoto.com/
The Maasai Association
"The information and perspectives you'll find on this web site are, unlike most web sites on the Maasai, presented by a Maasai person rather than outsiders." The Assoc. works to promote a sustainable future for Maasai people through social, health and economic development.
Includes an account by Kakuta Ole Maimai Hamisi of his thoughts on a collection acquired by the Seattle Art Museum, on colors, beading, creation of a Seattle Art Museum exhibit by the Maasai, a documentary film, Maasai and Agents of Change - a documentary," on cultural, social and political challenges facing the Maasai communities. Includes culture, land issues, issues of lion hunting and Western conservationists, Western paparazzi. Offers a tour to Kenya. Has full text of the article, "Bones for Sale: ë'Developmentí, Environment, and Food Security in East Africa" by Mathew Forstater, University of Missouri, Kansas. Links to related sites such as the Maasai Language Project. Site by Kakuta ole Maimai Hamisi. http://www.maasai-infoline.org/
"Our photographs are unlike other photographer's work simply because the people photographed are our relatives and friends, who agree to be photographed on their own initiative. We represent them in a respectful manner which outside scholars sometimes fail to do."
Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition
An NGO "...founded in 1987 to address the illegal appropriation and destruction of the natural environment in Maasai peoples' traditional lands in Kenya and Tanzania." Includes a Maasai People's History. Based in Nairobi and Washington, D. C. http://www.maasaierc.org/
Maathai, Wangari
On October 8, 2004 it was announced that Dr. Maathai had won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for the Kenyan activist's contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She is the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Annoucement: includes a profile, text of the Nobel Committee announcement, commentary on the Peace Prize, etc. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3726024.stm
Reuters Video Report
Green Belt Movement: Dr. Maathai's organization.
Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organization, MYWO
"(MYWO) started at the height of struggle for Kenya's independence in 1952, an idea conceived by a clique of white settler women in 1952. Today the Organization, older than independent Kenya, has grown to cover the entire country as the largest women NGO in the region." " a non-profit voluntary women's organization with a mission to improve the quality of life of the rural communities especially women and youth..." Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://mywokenya.org/
Mama Mikes
"Mama Mikes online store welcomes you to Kenya's first virtual online store that allows the Kenyan Diaspora to buy gifts and services for their family, friends and loved ones in Kenya." Also supplies to Uganda. Products include flowers, grocery store vouchers. Based in Alexandria, Virginia. http://www.mamamikes.com/
Market Intelligence, the Business and Finance Journal (Nairobi)
Online presence of the monthly print business magazine. Has some full text articles. Published by Economic Intelligence Limited, Nairobi. http://www.mi.co.ke/
Maseno University
"Maseno University currently comprises three campuses: Siriba and College, both in Maseno Township 25km from Kisumu on the Busia road." The third campus is Kisumu City Campus. http://www.maseno.ac.ke/
Mashilingi (Swahili for many shillings)
"A blog about investment, finance and capital in Kenya, with a specific emphasis on small and medium enterprise, technology and trends." Maintained by Brian Longwe. http://mashilingi.blogspot.com/
Matatu Mix
"The place for Kenyans to share life experiences, talk about Matatus, express daily thoughts, poetry, spiritual theories,intimate details,boarding school experiences, life abroad, experiment your writing skills, talk about hip hop or african music and create some madness for public consumption." http://www.matatumix.com/
[Mboya] An Evening with Tom Mboya: Speeches, Lectures, and Remarks From Prominent Personalities
46 pages in PDF. Published by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, 2006. ISBN: 9666-7084-1-3. http://www.knchr.org/dmdocuments/evnin_with_tom_mboya.pdf
MEASURE DHS + - Demographic and Health Surveys
"...assists developing countries worldwide in the collection and use of data to monitor and evaluate population, health, and nutrition programs." Has a list of datasets for African countries. Types of information includes Characteristics of Households, Fertility, Fertility Regulation, Fertility Preferences, Early Childhood Mortality, Maternal and Child Health, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Aids and Other STD's. Has, in Adobe PDF format, Africa Nutrition Chartbooks (nutrition of children in Kenya). Allows registered users to build custom tables from hundreds of surveys and indicators. DHS + is owned by Macro International (Calverton, Maryland). http://www.measuredhs.com/
Media Africa (Nairobi)
"...a locally owned Kenyan company dealing with media monitoring and subsidiary services." Its subscription service, E-Clips Website, enables subscribers to view print stories, TV clips & Radio clips about an individual, company or industry "from anywhere on the globe!" Their MediaMAP service supplies stories from mainstream media houses (TV, Radio & Print) on a monthly CD-ROM. Offers courses (for sound engineers, video editors, producers, etc.). P.O. Box 40472, Nairobi. Tel. 570621, 577486 http://www.mediaafrica.tv/
Michigan State Univ., Program on the Lakes of East Africa
"(PLEA) is a research, training, and service program of the African Studies Center of Michigan State University in collaboration with the fisheries research institutes of Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda. PLEA does research on Lakes Victoria and Malawi on the Anthropology and Sociology of fisheries management and development, women and gender, environmental policy, the socioeconomic impacts of species introductions, and relations of production . PLEA trains African and international scholars in fisheries socioeconomics and provides bibliographic databases, conferences, and consultancies.". Maintained by Doug Wilson. http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfricanStudies/Plea/pleatop.htm
Minority Rights Group International (London)
Has a Horn of Africa Programme (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda), publications, a newsletter, Outsider and a report on Pastoralists in the Horn of Africa. http://www.minorityrights.org
[Mohochi] Laurenti Mohochi Educational Foundation - Kusoma International
Moi University (Eldoret, Kenya)
Includes information on the library, the various faculties (Faculty of Information Sciences, etc.), the Information Resource Management Centre and its Internet Cafe. http://www.mu.ac.ke/
Moja.Com
Sells Swahili domain names. Links to web sites about Swahili, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Maintained by Robert Jordan. http://www.moja.com/
Mountain Voices
A rich resource. "...interviews with over 300 people who live in mountain and highland regions round the world. Their testimonies offer a personal perspective on change and development." To access the interviews, one needs to register and fill out a questionnaire. Interviews from Lesotho, Kenya, Ethiopia, gathered by the Oral Testimony Programme of the Panos Institute. Topics discussed include agriculture, community, conflict, culture, development, economics, education, employment, environment, family life, festivals, food security, forestry, gender, health, history, identity, industry, crime, land, migration, politics, spiritual beliefs, tourism, etc. http://www.mountainvoices.org/
Mshale Communications
News of interest to Africans in the U.S., immigration news, news regarding Kenya, conventions of the Diaspora in the U.S., cultural events, etc. The Publisher is Tom Gitaa. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Nairobi. http://www.mshale.com/
Museums and the Web 99, New Orleans, March 11-14, 1999
Information about one of the conference papers, "Connectivity, Collaboration and Culture: Challenges of African Museums on the Web" by Lorna Abungu, Lawrence Monda, and George Ombachi, National Museums of Kenya. Includes biographical information on the presenters. http://www.archimuse.com/mw99/abstracts/prg_1023.html
[Mutu] Wangechi Mutu at The Saatchi Gallery
The art and works of Kenyan born Wangechi Mutu. "...Her work explores the contradictions of female and cultural identity." "Wangechi Mutu uses collage as a means of both physically and conceptually bringing layered depth to her work. "The Saatchi Gallery is an innovative forum for contemporary art in London." http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/wangechi_mutu.htm
Mwambao.com
In English and Swahili. Site on Swahili culture. Historical postcards. History of Tarabu/Taarab Music. Taraab and Swahili videos from Youtube. Cuisine including recipes. Swahili song lyrics. Superstitions, and more. http://www.mwambao.com/
Mwambu
"When you listen to his music it takes you through Africa, the Caribbeans, Latin America, the U.S." "Mwambu's recurring theme, shines through the music whether in Swahili, English, African dialects, or instrumental. The music explores everything from corruption and racial injustice to love and life" - quotes from the web site of the Kenyan musician. http://www.mwambu.com/
Discussion group on Kenya politics. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mwananchi
Myers, Norman - Jouney of an Environmental Scientist
1998 interview with Myers, an environmental scientist and Fellow at Green College, Oxford University. He was a colonial administrator in Kenya in 1958 and has played a leading role in alerting the world to the loss of biodiversity. Includes Myers' photographs of Kenya's wildlife. http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people/Myers/myers-con0.html
mzalendo : Eye on Kenyan Parliament
MP profiles, bills, Hansards, election information and web sites, etc. Created by volunteers (Harvard Law School graduate and a Nairobi technology worker). http://www.mzalendo.com/
Nairobi Business Directory
Seach form to locate Nairobi-area businesses. Part of Kenya Web. http://kenyaweb.com/cgi-bin/nbd.cgi
Nairobi City Syndicate
Hosts Mtaa FM online radio - East African Hip Hop and R&B. Discussion forums, sells Kenyan CDs. Web site based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. http://www.nairobicity.net
Nairobi Law Monthly
Independent Kenyan journal on legal and rights issues. Has a Facebook page and Twitter page. 1989 New York Times article on the journal. http://www.nairobilawmonthly.com/index.php/
NairobiNet Online
Nairobi-based internet service provider. Offers web hosting, computer courses. Owned by Kenyans. http://www.nbnet.co.ke
Listed companies, market information, full text of their Bulletins, "In Kenya, dealing in shares and stocks started in the 1920s when the country was still a British colony." http://www.nse.co.ke/
Nairobits
"...a project to empower youth from slum areas with computer- related job skills." "NairoBits is a mixed group of artists, designers, whizz kids, media workers and youth teams set up in 1999 to create a direct media channel for youth from the slums of Nairobi. These groups work together via internet and are based in Nairobi and Amsterdam. Together we work to develop web sites, online projects and training courses." Examples of their work: the Mathare slum and Images in Transit, Mombasa Billboard Project. A documentary film was also created about their work. http://www.nairobits.com/
National Museums of Kenya
Contents include: Joy Adamson portraits of "Peoples of Kenya", the various Galleries (mammal, space, bird, geology, fish/reptile, Lamu, ethnography, contemporary art, prehistory, botanical, family life education/family planning), information on the Kenya Museum Society, Regional Museums such as the Karen Blixen Museum, the East African Natural History Society, the Research Departments (archaeology, Centre for Biodiversity, Institute for Primate Research, the Research Programme on...Dryland Biodiversity, etc.). Has brief descriptions of related organizations such as the Lamu Society and the Kuona Trust (Museum Studio & Arts Centre). There is a proposal for an African Peace Museum designed to present indigenous peace traditions among ethnic groups. http://www.museums.or.ke
National Rainbow Coalition
Site has closed. Coalition of opposition parties headed by Mwai Kibaki who won the 2002 Presidential election. Comprised of the National Alliance Party Of Kenya (NAK) and the Liberal Democratic Party - LDP (Rainbow). Profiles of party leaders, etc. http://www.narc-kenya.org/
National Super Alliance, NASA - Facebook Page
Coalition of political parties - ODM, FORD- Kenya, WIPER PARTY, NARC and others to contest the 2017 Kenya Presidential Election. See also the NASA Wikipedia site. https://www.facebook.com/pg/nationalsuperalliance/
National Taxpayers Association
"a national, independent, non-partisan organization focused on supporting good governance in Kenya through strengthening citizen to government accountability..." Full text citizen report cards covering all provinces. Monitors building, road projects. Ranks MPs. http://www.nta.or.ke/
Has Full text documents such as -
Citizen’s Constituency Development Fund Report Card for Othaya Constituency, Nyeri South District.
99 p. in PDF. Pub. 2008.
Nature's Wonderland Safaris
"Birding safaris [in Kenya], Wildlife safaris, Adventure tours and Camping safaris. Biographies of their ornithological guides. Travel tips for Kenya. Site owner is Joseph Mwangi. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.natureswonderlandsafaris.com/
Net Duka
Kenya business directory and online advertising magazine. From Kisnet Online, Nairobi. http://www.netduka.com/
Network for the Defence of Independent Media in Africa (NDIMA)
A Pan-African NGO, based in Nairobi, which promotes freedom of expression. Established 1993. Their Alerts report on attacks on the African press. Operation fREADom makes banned works by African writers available. Has reports on the Kenya black theatre, vernacular languages in Kenya, ethnic cleansing in Kenya, Ethiopian journalists, etc. http://www.oneworld.org/ndima/
Network for Water and Sanitation International (NETWAS)
An independent non-profit "actively involved in the water and sanitation sector development activities in Africa." Its "countries of focus are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia." Based in Nairobi. http://www.netwasgroup.com/
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
Find abstracts and full text theses and dissertations by subject, author, title, institution. See Member Institutions with links to their full text theses. "(NDLTD) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination and preservation of electronic analogues to the traditional paper-based theses and dissertations." Based at Blacksburg, Virginia. http://www.ndltd.org/
Example of full text Ph.D. dissertation:
Spatio-Temporal Effects of Land Use Changes in A Savanna Wildlife Area of Kenya, by Enos E.Esikuri (Ph.D. Virginia Tech, Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, 1998.)
NewBizAge
Links to business news for Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda. Has full text documents, job listings, tenders, will have a real estate section. Their site notes "Specialised information searches and investment suggestions can be undertaken on request." To subscribe to free daily e-mail summaries of business news in the three countries, write: info@newbizage.com Based in Tanzania. http://www.newbizage.com/
New People (Nairobi)
Published by New People Media Centre, Comboni Missionaries, Nairobi. "a bi-monthly international Catholic magazine of missionary awareness..." Includes selected articles on the 2002 Kenya election, cartoons, etc. http://www.newpeoplemedia.org/
Ngugi wa Thiongo
Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noire (Indiana Univ. Press) magazine has the full-text of "The Allegory of the Cave: Language, Democracy and a New World Order!" by Kenyan writer, Ngugi wa Thiong'o (Lecture III of the Clarendon Lectures in English, Oxford, May 15, 1996). http://iupjournals.org/blackren/
Ngugi wa Thiongo is featured in the Global Education Project, Culture as Resistance project. The project is funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Title VI grant program to Ramapo College of New Jersey, as lead institution for a consortium of two-year, four-year, private and public colleges and universities in New Jersey. http://ultrix.ramapo.edu/global/thiongo.htm
Njuguna-Githinji, Wanja
CNN African Journalist of the Year 1999 Award: "The competition received a record 1158 entries from 21 African nations." http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/africanawards/winners99.html
Stanford University 2002 Knight Fellow: http://knightfellows.stanford.edu/fellows/
The Communication Initiative: contains biographical information.
Communication Initiative Consultant: http://www.comminit.com/consultants/c41.html
Articles on water issues in Africa (in Adobe pdf) and Kenya (in Adobe pdf) part of ITT Industries Guidebook to Global Water Issues. http://itt.com/waterbook/page59.pdf
Northwestern University. Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies. Winterton Collection
The Humphrey Winterton Collection of East African (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zanzibar) photographs comprises c. 7,600 photographs taken primarily in East Africa between about 1860 and 1960. A sample of 101 images are on-line and album views. Has an inventory. http://www.library.northwestern.edu/africana/winterton/index.html
Nuru International
Founded by "Jake Harriman (CEO) and John Hancox (Board Chairman), and shaped by the innovation engine of the Stanford Graduate School of Business..." Works in Kuria, Kenya. Projects include farm loans, water & sanitation. Based in Mountain View, California. http://www.nuruinternational.org/
Nyachae, Simeon
Presidential candidate in the December 2002 election. http://www.nyachae.org/
[Nyong'o] Lupita Nyong'o - Facebook Page
Kenyan actress, winner of the 2014 Academy Award [Oscar] for Best Supporting Actress in the film, "12 Years a Slave". https://www.facebook.com/LupitaNyongo
Nyumbani Orphanage
Orphanage, near Nairobi, founded by an American Jesuit doctor, for children who are HIV positive. Read their newsletter online. Has an office in Alexandria, VA. http://www.nyumbani.com/
Obama, Barack - White House
Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. President Obama, whose late father, was from Kenya, was elected on November 4, 2008. http://www.whitehouse.gov/
Obama, Barack - Speech at the Democratic National Convention, Boston, MA - July 27, 2004
Audio of Barack Obama's speech. (requires soundcard, speakers or headset). From the web site, Say it Plain: A Century of Great African American Speeches produced by American Radioworks (public radio). http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/sayitplain/bobama.html
Ogiek Welfare Council (Nairobi, Kenya)
"The Ogiek, an indigenous people living in Kenya's Mau Forest, are fighting to remain in their ancestral home. The government is forcing them out, allegedly to protect the environment. But the Ogiek pose no environmental threat." Has the full text of "The Ogiek: The Ongoing Destruction of a Minority Tribe in Kenya, An in-depth report" by John Kamau. http://www.ogiek.org
Old Africa: Stories from East Africa's Past (Kijabe, Kenya)
Kijabe, Kenya : Kifaru Educational and Editorial Consultants. On-line edition of the print magazine. "publishes stories, personal memories, and vintage photographs to recapture East Africa's recent history" up to the mid1960's. Selected stories on-line. Historic photo contest for each issue. http://oldafricamagazine.com/
[Olewe] Dickens Olewe
Kenyan journalist, founder of AfricanSkyCAM (Africa's first drone journalism team). He was a Stanford Knight Fellow 2014/2015, was web site coordinator for the Star (Nairobi) newspaper. He works with a collaborative online Kenyan newspaper, Hivisasa.
[Opalo] Ken Opalo - An African Perspective
Commentary on Kenyan affairs and other events in Africa. Ken Opalo has a Ph.d. in Political Science from Stanford University. http://kenopalo.com/
Open Kenya (Transparent Africa)
"...public government data .... High quality national census data, government expenditure, parliamentary proceedings and public service locations...maps...interactive charts and tables .... raw data for technical users to build their own apps and analyses." Health, poverty rate, education, electricity, development projects, urbanization, employment, land ownership, sanitation, population, age groups, parcels under irrigation, credit borrowing, child nutrition, crop farming, housing, disability, county statistics. Download datasets. Tech tools, apps for your own data. https://opendata.go.ke/
Our Problems, Our Solutions. An Economic and Public Policy Agenda for Kenya - Edited by Wamuyu Gatheru and Robert Shaw
Full text of the book. Covers political constraints, professional government, economic growth, human development, productivity. Published by the Institute of Economic Affairs, Nairobi, Kenya, 1998. The print edition has 435 pages. http://www.iea.or.ke/
The Paideia Project On-line
Proceedings of the 20th World Congress of Philosophy, Boston, Massachusetts, 1998. Includes full text papers on Philosophy in Africa (Polygyny in Africa: A Male's Post-Original Sin or Rejection of the Primeval Monogyny and Affirmation of Sexual Inequality, by Zekeh S. Gbotokuma, Who Counts as a Sage? Problems in the Further Implementation of Sage Philosophy [H. Odera Oruka], by Gail Presbey.) http://www.bu.edu/wcp/
"Party of National Unity"
Not an official site. Site critical of the Mwai Kibaki Government. Videos. Lists of defections from the various political parties. http://www.pnu-kenya.com/
Pathfinder International (Watertown, Massachusetts)
A non-profit founded in the 1920s. "supports family planning and reproductive health initiatives in 37 countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Near East." Full text articles on Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, with photographs, statistics. http://www.pathfind.org
PC World East Africa
Sept. 1996, Vol. 1, No. 1 was the first issue for the East Africa edition of PC World. Info tech news and short summaries of a few articles. http://www.africaonline.co.ke/AfricaOnline/pcworld.html
Peponi - Lamu
Peponi is the web design company of John Van Dyke. He has a tour of Lamu island off the coast of Kenya. You'll need the Shockwave plug-in. Has small photos of Kenya, Mt. Kilimanjaro, a Swahili stone house, a Lamu dhow, etc. http://www.peponi.com/lamu/main.html
The Platform : for law, justice and society (Nairobi)
Monthly magazine. Commentary, opinion pieces, essays on governance, human rights in Kenya. The Publisher is human rights lawyer Gitobu Imanyara. [KF] Facebook Page. http://theplatformke.com/
Popular Music - Kenya
Page by Dr. Douglas Paterson (an anthropologist) with articles on Kenya, Tanzania popular music, annotated discographies by Paterson on Kenya and Tanzania music prepared for The Rough Guide to World Music, includes some audio clips. Information on Samba Mapangala and Orchestra Virunga (Zaire) and other Zaire and Congo-B music and on CDs and LPs produced by Paterson. http://members.aol.com/dpaterson/eamusic.htm
Private Sector Corporate Governance Trust (PSCGT) (Nairobi, Kenya)
An independent, non-profit, established in March 1999 to promote good corporate governance in Kenya, to ensure responsive and accountable corporations, etc. Has a Sample Code for Best Practice for Corporate Governance in Kenya. The Chairperson is Hannington H. Awori. http://corporategovernance.co.ke/
Profile Magazine (Nairobi)
Selected articles online. Profiles of individuals, etc. http://www.eastandard.net/profile/
Project Baobab
"Project Baobab provides free education and entrepreneurial grants to youth, especially women, through a specialized [secondary school] curriculum in Kenya,..." and a Nairobi women's prison. Funds microfinance business ventures. Their newsletter, Baobab Bulletin is online. Based in Palo Alto, California. http://www.projectbaobab.org/
Project Elgon
Project (1996-1997) by students and staff from Makerere University, Aberdeen University, and Dundee University to study the impact of humans on the biodiversity and ecology of Mount Elgon National Park. Mount Elgon is a solitary extinct volcano on the border between Uganda and Kenya. Includes a history of the area, a report "Effects of Grazing and Cultivation on Forest Plant Communities in Mount Elgon National Park, Uganda," studies on land use, population pressure, small mammals, bird species, effects of tourism, agro-forestry practices, etc. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/elgon/
Quitebright Films Ltd.
Kenyan film and video production company. Documentaries, corporate videos. Produced The Longest River (about the Nile) for National Geographic, in 2004. "an international team of rafters from South Africa, New Zealand and England crossed into the Mediterranean Sea and became the first people to have descended the full length of the White Nile..." Also a film on Paul Imbaya otieno, a.k.a 'The Mighty King Kong' who was a polio-affected child living on the streets of a small Kenyan town and became a reggae star. http://www.quitebrightfilms.com
Redykyulass [Kenyan Comedy Trio]
Redykyulass is a Kenyan comedy trio composed of Walter Mongare, Tony Njuguna and John Kiarie. This page is about their 2001 U.S. tour organized by Kilimanjaro Entertainment.Their weekly program appears on Nation Television in Kenya. One can order their videos. http://www.kilimanjaroeg.com/Comedy%20Tour%20Report.htm
Refugee Consortium of Kenya
NGO "to improve the welfare of refugee situation..." Statistics. Their Refugee Insights newsletter is online. Has the text of Kenya's Refugee Law. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.rckkenya.org/
Remote Access: Distant Libraries of the World
Site about a DVD on rural mobile libraries in Kenya (from the Kenya National Library Service) and elsewhere. See video clips. "In Kenya animals are used to bring literature and education to the hinterlands. Camels are used in the eastern provinces while donkeys are the preferred animal in the western part of the country." Produced by Paul Francescutti. http://www.remoteaccess.ca/
ResearchKenya.org - Union List of Theses and Dissertations held by Universities and Research Institutions in Kenya
"...database contains 12,343 records of theses and dissertations undertaken in Kenya, collected together by the Kenya Information Preservation Society (KIPS)" Includes theses completed for institutions located outside of Kenya and theses written by non-Kenyan scholars. "KIPS does not hold the documents listed." Has a directory of contributing institutions. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.researchkenya.org/
Rift Valley Institute
An independent association based in Kenya and the United Kingdom, founded in 2001 to support research, publishing and educational initiatives in the African Rift Valley region: North-East Africa, the Horn, the Great Lakes, East Africa and South Central Africa. "Fellows of the Institute include academic specialists from Africa, Europe and the Americas and local and international practitioners in the fields of aid, development, environmental conservation and human rights." Has extensive page of Sudan Internet Resources (links by category). Has a Sudan Abductee Database which can be consulted in Kenya or London. http://www.riftvalley.net/
SALIGAD
"...project dealing with small arms issues in the Horn of Africa"; "promotes dialogue and non-violent conflict resolution. Projects are implemented by the Bonn International Center for Conversion - BICC and the International Resource Group on Disarmament and Security in the Horn of Africa (IRG). Does field work in Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan. Has report of a 2000 Workshop on Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Garissa District (Kenya), a report of a workshop on the Control and Managment of Arms on Inter-communal, Domestic and Business Violence (Kenya). Has text of intergovernment declarations on small arms (Nairobi, Bamako), a link to a 42 p. report, Curbing the Demand for Small Arms - Lessons in East Africa and the Horn of Africa and a directory of peace related organizations in the Horn. http://www.saligad.org
Scholars at Risk Network
"...a network of universities, colleges, and research centers to serve as hosts for scholars identified by the program as needing sanctuary outside of their home region." Arranges "temporary positions as visiting professors, researchers, lecturers and fellows for scholars who [are] threatened and unable to work in their home country or region." Has the full text of "International Human Rights Norms and Democracy in Africa: Kenya and Uganda in the 1990s" by Hans Peter Schmitz (1999, 25 pages). Based at New York University, New York, N.Y. http://scholarsatrisk.nyu.edu/
The Shikwekwes
"A Kenyan cartoon strip that takes a humorous look at an African family as they come to grips with the 21st century. It is updated daily." "There is Stanlaus , the doting father and head of the Shikwekwe clan, Bernice the heart of the family, Zakayo the dot-com teenager, Phyllis the family comedian, Liengu, the youngest member of the family and finally, Simba their pet." Maintained by Brian Mukulu, based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.theshikwekwes.com
Blog, mainly about Kenya and Africa, by a college engineering student. http://sleeplesskenya.wordpress.com/
Smithsonian Institution - Expedition to Olorgesailie, Kenya
"Since 1985, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museums of Kenya have been conducting joint excavations at the prehistoric site of Olorgesailie. The Olorgesailie Project is the first long term project devoted to uncovering the ecological and environmental dimension of early human origins." http://www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/aop/olorg2004/
soc.culture.kenya
Usenet discussion group on Kenya formed December 1995. Access it through a newsreader program. news:soc.culture.kenya
Society for International Development
Full text of Inequality in Kenya: Sectoral Dynamics and Perspectives (2006) - covers public spending, tax system, health sector, education, xenophobia, ethnic chauvinism, gender, agriculture, land ownership, governance. Full text of the State of East Africa: Searching for the Soul of East Africa 2007 (67 p. in PDF) SID began in 1957 as an association of development professionals from many countries meeting in Washington DC. Based in Rome, Italy. http://www.sidint.org/
Sokomob
Classified ads, events. Find rentals "...jobs, houses, land and items for sale...business opportunities including tenders." Business directory for Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia & Diaspora Communities. Events (conferences, cultural festivals, film festivals, etc.) in East Africa and elsewhere. http://www.sokomob.com
SOMA-Net, the Social Science and Medicine Africa Network (Nairobi, Kenya)
"...a network of Scientists, Institutions and Agencies working in Health and Social Sciences in Africa." Reports on health sciences in higher education, the HIV / AIDS youth project, list of contacts. http://www.somanet.org/
Strathmore University
Non profit private university. "Kenya’s first multiracial school." "Strathmore College was started in 1961 as an Advanced-level Sixth Form College offering Science and Arts subjects by a group of professionals..." Has over 4,000 students studying Accountancy, Administration, Commerce, Finance, Management and Information Technology. Has a Business School. http://www.strathmore.edu/
Swahili Forum (Mainz)
Published at the Department of Anthropology and African Studies, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany. Annual journal. Issues from 2003 are only online. Table of contents for older issues. No. 10, 2003 is "A Bibliography of Swahili Literature, Linguistics, Culture and History" by Thomas Geider (in Adobe pdf, 101 pages). http://www.uni-mainz.de/~ifeas/SwaFo/
TechMtaa
ICT news from Kenya and East Africa. Social media, mobile, computer hardware/software news, related Kenya videos. http://www.techmtaa.com/
Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development.
Conducts agricultural policy research and analysis in Kenya. Full text papers (search the database of publications) and conference proceedings. Reports on the dairy industry in Kenya, rural growth in Kenya, market liberalization, the Effects of Prime-age Adult Mortality in Kenya, solar electricity, Kenya & Uganda maize production, etc. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.tegemeo.org/
Telecommunication Service Providers of Kenya (TESPOK)
An association of Kenya's internet service providers. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.tespok.co.ke/
Transformative Human Rights Unit, THRU
An "...all female NGO, THRU supports the human rights theory developed by Professor Costas Douzinas called an Ethical Approach to Human Rights." Uses comic strips to promote human rights, produces bill of rights training manuals, advocates on issues. Examples of court cases. Fights discrimination against those living with AIDS. Projects for South Africa, Kenya, Malawi. Has internships. Based in Cape Town, South Africa. http://www.thru.org.za
Transparency International - Kenya
TI is a "non governmental organization dedicated to increasing government accountability and curbing both international and national corruption." The Kenya branch site has many full text publications such as - Will Corruption Ever Stop Developing in Kenya? by Aitan Szlapak (dissertation for the Univ. of Bristol, 2002, 86 p.) and issues of its newsletter, Adili. Read the Discussion Forum on issues of the day, see political cartoons, read the Frequently Asked Questions on corruption in Kenya. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.tikenya.org
Travel Health Centers for Disease Control (Atlanta)
Health Information for Travelers to East Africa. http://www.cdc.gov/travel/eafrica.htm
Travel News Online (Nairobi)
Web edition of the print travel magazine from Nairobi. http://www.travelnewskenya.com/
Turner, Terisa E. with Craig Benjamin, Leigh Brownhill and Wahu Kaara - Counterplanning From the Commons: African Women, Democracy and the Defence of the Life Ground
Contains nine full text articles including:
Social Reconstruction in Rural Africa: A Gendered Class Analysis of Women's Resistance to Cash Crop Production in Kenya
Rastafari and the New Society: Caribbean and East African Feminist Roots of a Popular Movement to Reclaim the Earthly Commons - on women in the Mau Mau movement
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~terisatu/
Tyler, Michael, Janice Hughes, and Helena Renfrew - "Telecommunications in Kenya: Facing the Challenges of an Open Economy"
26 pages paper located on the Virtual Institute of Information, a non-profit research facility on telecommunications, computing and the mass media. Based at Columbia University, New York City. http://www.vii.org/papers/tyler.htm
Ugunja Community Resource Centre
The main programs of the Center, in Siaya District, Nyanza Province, Kenya, are - Sustainable agriculture and food security, Information and Communication, Peace, Democracy and Development. Has articles on organic farming etc. http://users.bigpond.com/michael_martin/Index.html see also http://www6.50megs.com/africancraft
Uhuru Open Golf Tour - Educating One Child at a Time
"The Uhuru Open Golf Tour is an effort by Kenyans resident in the United States to help address the needs of underprivileged Children." "The organization's goal is to provide over 100 educational scholarships annually to children in the slums of Africa and to expose hundreds of underprivileged children in urban America to golf." Schedule, photographs, has a mailing list. The Executive Director is Kaburi Kariuki. http://uhuruopen.org
UNESCO. Africa Revisited
In English and French. About the "richness, the diversity, and the fragility" of Africa's cultural heritage. Includes Swahili culture (Lamu, Gede, Pate, Mombasa). Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. http://www.unesco.org/whc/exhibits/afr_rev/toc.htm
UNILE-LIST
For discussion of topics related to cultural, academic and technical matters and exchange of any information related to the peoples of Uganda, in particular and the East African Nile Basin countries: namely Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi in general. To subscribe, send email to: listserv@listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu
In the message area put: SUB unile-list yourfirstname yourlastname
The owner is Itiakorit John Osele: osele@ACSU.Buffalo.EDU
[United Nations Development Programme] Unveiling Women as Pillars of Peace. Peace Building in Communities Fractured by Conflict in Kenya.
Full text in Adobe PDF, 89 p. "An interim report May 2000." Prepared for the Beijing + 5 conference. On the site of the United Nations Development Programme. Management & Governance Network. http://magnet.undp.org/new/pdf/gender/km/kanya_public.pdf
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Chiefs of State & Cabinet Members - Kenya
Provides a list of the President, Cabinet members, and the U.N. Representative. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-k/kenya.html
United States. Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook
Information on geography, people, government, economy, transportation, communication, defense. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html
United States. Dept. of State. Country Reports on Human Rights - Kenya
2013 Report, 2012 Report, 2011 Report, 2010 Report, 2009 Report, 2008 Report, 2007 Report, 2006 Report, 2005 Report, 2004 Report, 2003 Report, 2002 Report, 2001 Report, 2000 Report, 1999 Report, 1998 Report, 1997 Report, 1996 Report, 1993-1995 Reports. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr/
United States. Embassy. Nairobi
Visa information, the Library of Congress Nairobi Office, USAID projects, press releases, etc. http://usembassy.state.gov/nairobi/
United States Information Agency - Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania
"Responding to the Bombings of U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, August 7, 1998, Official Texts and Commentary." Includes more recent information. http://www.state.gov/www/regions/africa/kenya_tanzania.html
University College, London. Human Ecology Research Group
Has abstracts and a few full text reports on land use policy, in East Africa, Southern Africa. Click on the PDF icon to see full text. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/herg/
Examples of titles:
Coast, E. E. (2001). Colonial preconceptions and contemporary demographic reality: Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/herg/east_africa_serengeti_mara1_paper1.htm
University of Edinburgh, Centre of African Studies
Learning to Compete Project. Has the full text of Papers in Education, Training and Enterprise (Ghana, Kenya, South Africa). http://www.ed.ac.uk/~simba/PETE.html
University of Manchester. Institute for Development Policy and Management. Community Conservation in Africa: Working Papers
Full text of papers (in Adobe PDF or MS Word), covers Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe. http://idpm.man.ac.uk/idpm/idpm_dp.htm#commcons
University of Minnesota. Minnesota Population Center. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, IPUMS
Collects and distributes international census data. Has a report on the 1999 Kenya census procedures (115 p. in PDF), samples of census microdata from Kenya for the 1989 and 1999 Kenya censuses, census questionnaire forms online for many African countries. Based in Minneapolis. http://www.ipums.org/international/
Faculty and department contact addresses, describes programs, admission fees, university history, university company websites. http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/
University of Nairobi Libraries
Has the staff directory, other campus libraries. It is a legal deposit library. "The East African Collection contains materials on Kenya in particular and East African in general...As well as books, the collection contains periodicals on East African Studies, government publications, manuscripts, all thesis from the University of East Africa and the University of Nairobi." http://library.uonbi.ac.ke/website/index.html
University of Nairobi Press (Nairobi)
Has new titles list, its best sellers list, the complete booklist. Publishes academic titles and school text books. Their European and North American distributor is African Books Collective. Based in Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/press/
University of North Carolina. School of Medicine. INTRAH
Established in 1979 to assist developing countries to improve the delivery of reproductive health services. Has projects in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania). http://www.intrah.org
University of Pennsylvania Kenya Page and Search Engine
Maps, an embassy directory, travel, language information, etc., created by Julie Sisskind, now maintained by Ali Dinar. Has a search facility for their very large web site. http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Country_Specific/Kenya.html
University of Sussex. Institute of Development Studies. (Brighton, U.K.)
Its Civil Society and Governance Programme has country reports for South Africa. and case studies on Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/civsoc/
Ushahidi
An open source platform that "allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, email or web and visualize it on a map or timeline." Using user-generated reports and Google Maps, Ushahidi created a map showing citizen generated crisis information after the post-election violence in Kenya." Now used in many countries including for Haiti earthquake relief. Created by Kenyans. http://www.ushahidi.com/
See the original 2008 project. http://legacy.ushahidi.com/ and the New York Times article March 14, 2010, "Africa’s Gift to Silicon Valley: How to Track a Crisis"
Virtual Africana (Nairobi, Kenya)
Extensive business and investments news on Kenya. Statistics on the economy. "an Internet-based Information Resource Center designed to tap into the business to business e-commerce market." "The information is structured according to vertical market segments as follows: Capital Markets; Banking; Insurance; Industry; Agribiz; Trade; Services; Travel; and Culture." http://www.virtualafricana.com/
Wahomes Kenya
Personal web site for a Kenyan living in Twin Cities Minnesota. http://www.wahomeskenya.com/
Wainaina, Binyavanga - How to Write About Africa
"Always use the word 'Africa' or 'Darkness' or 'Safari' in your title. Subtitles may include the words 'Zanzibar', 'Masai', 'Zulu', 'Zambezi', 'Congo', 'Nile', 'Big', 'Sky', 'Shadow', 'Drum', 'Sun' or 'Bygone'. Also useful are words such as 'Guerrillas', 'Timeless', 'Primordial' and 'Tribal'. Note that 'People' means Africans who are not black, while 'The People' means black Africans." Article in Granta 92: The View from Africa. "Granta magazine publishes new writing—fiction, personal history, reportage and inquiring journalism..." http://www.granta.com/Magazine/92/How-to-Write-about-Africa/Page-1
See also the New York Times Book review, "A Writer's Beginnings in Kenya" by By ALEXANDRA FULLER, (August 14, 2011, p. 12) of his book, One Day I Will Write About This Place, (Minneapolis, MN: Graywolf Press, 2011).
Wajibu, Journal of Social and Religious Concern
Nairobi quarterly journal. Has the full text of some articles. Topics include AIDS, crime, the handicapped, older people, refugees, Paulo Freire's pedagogy, Christian and Muslim dialogue, "Hekima College-An Experience in Intercultural Living," etc. Earlier issues at http://www.peacelink.it/wajibu/index.html
http://www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/indices/index_788.html
Wakilisha
Listen to Kenyan popular music on Radio Wakilisha. Requires username and password (free) to see multi media features. Lists events in the U.S. Based in Florida. http://www.wakilisha.com
Wananchi Online
Internet service provider (also web hosting, design). Commenced business in March 2000. Based in Nairobi. http://www.wananchi.com/
Washington Post - African Lives
This series, on everyday life by Stephen Buckley, includes articles on Young Urban Kenyans and on AIDS in Kenya. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/africanlives/front.htm
Washington Post Page on Kenya
The Washington Post newspaper has links to articles on Kenya though at times there may be no news, links to US State Dept. background notes, the CIA World Factbook, the weather (current and forecast) for Nairobi, the current exchange rate, and internet links. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/worldref/country/kenya.htm
Washington University, St. Louis. African and Afro-American Studies Program
Courses, faculty, etc. Has a summer in Kenya program (with journal) and one year post doctoral fellowships. http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~afas
Woodrow Wilson Center Africa Program
Promotes "...dialogue between scholars and policymakers in Washington, DC and around the world. Has an Occasional Papers series which includes, From Moi to Kibaki: An Assessment of the Kenyan Transition, by Ambassador Johnnie Carson. 8 pages. Based in Washington, D.C. http://www.wilsoncenter.org/africa
World Health Organization. Traditional Medicine Strategy - Senegal
"...up to 80% of people in the south use it as part of primary health care. The situation has given rise to concerns among health practitioners and consumers on the issue of safety, above all, but also on questions of policy, regulation, evidence, biodiversity and preservation and protection of traditional knowledge." WHo released 'a global plan..... The strategy provides a framework for policy to assist countries to regulate traditional or complementary/alternative medicine (TM/CAM) to make its use safer, more accessible to their populations and sustainable."
Report of the Consultation on AIDS and Traditional Medicine: Prospects for Involving Traditional Health Practitioners (Francistown, Botswana, 23-27 July 1990), WHO/TRM/GPA/90.1, WHO Geneva, 1990 (full text in Adobe PDF with profiles on Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Zimbabwe). http://www.who.int/medicines/organization/trm/orgtrmmain.shtml
Zawadi Africa
"Provides "...scholarships and cover startup costs for needy young women from Africa to pursue a higher education in the US." "In 2002, Susan Mboya, daughter of Tom Mboya, created the Zawadi Africa Education Program, a pilot program loosely based on the 1960’s student African Student Airlifts to help young African women to obtain a college education. As with the original airlifts, the program paired US Universities with talented but needy young women from East Africa." Student profiles. Schools involved include Duke, Yale, Smith. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio. http://www.zawadiafrica.org/
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Arabic is spoken across the Middle East and parts of North and East Africa, and is the language of the Quran and Islam. For anyone wishing to do business or otherwise operate in these regions, accurate and reliable Arabic translation services are an essential tool. That’s where Lingua-World can help.
English < > Arabic translation
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At Lingua-World we use only native Arabic speakers to carry out our Arabic to English and English to Arabic translations. They not only have the best grasp of the language and all its intricacies, they also understand the cultural differences that might otherwise create a barrier to fluid communication.
Arabic is the official language of 22 countries.
Arabic speaking nations are generally found in North-East Africa and South-West Asia. This means, not only, that there are a great number of Arabic speakers, but also that the language comes in different varieties from country to country. At Lingua-World, we are able to provide a native translator from your target country who will also be an expert in the required field of translation.
Arabic document translation services
As well as being native speakers, many of our Arabic translators have specialist knowledge and training within specific sectors. This means that they can understand the underlying meanings and technical details of your texts, rather than just the words on the surface. We can provide translators with in-depth knowledge of:
1Business
2Chemistry
4Gaming translations
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We can translate all kinds of documents, including business documents and financial reports, marketing materials, medical files and legal documents. We also provide a broad range of Arabic interpreting services.
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Batman: Gotham by Gaslight
In an age of mystery and superstition, how would the people of Gotham react to a weird creature of the night, a bat-garbed vigilante feared by the guilty and the innocent alike? The very first Elseworlds tale re-imagines the Dark Knight detective in Victorian times and pits him against the infamous murderer Jack the Ripper.
Brian Augustyn
Pencils:
P. Craig Russell
Colored by:
David Hornung
Cover by:
Full Series
DC Elseworlds
Familiar heroes in an unfamiliar world! From a baby Kal-L landing in Soviet Russia to the Dark Knight becoming the world's first Green Lantern to the Amazonian Princess Wonder Woman arriving during the Victorian Era, anything is possible in ELSEWORLDS!
Batman: Ego and Other Tails
Eisner-award winning artist and accomplished writer Darwyn Cooke’s (DC: THE NEW FRONTIER) iconic imagery culminates in this collection of pulse-pounding stories featuring unique visions of Batman and Catwoman. This volume includes his acclaimed EGO one-shot, the original graphic novel SELINA’S BIG SCORE, and stories from the BLACK AND WHITE series and SOLO.
Batman: Year 100 (2006)
In the year 2039, Gotham City is very nearly a police state, its citizens subject to unwarranted search and seizure. The Gotham Police clash almost daily with federal agents, who are pursuing the legendary "Batman." Captain Gordon, the grandson of the original Commissioner Gordon, is also trying to find Batman, and find out what he knows about the murder of a federal agent.
Batman and the Outsiders (1983-1987)
The Dark Knight quits the Justice League—and forms a superhero organization of his own. However, this isn’t your typical superhero team. Get ready for a covert team of heroes and anti-heroes led by the Dark Knight himself. Welcome to the Outsiders.
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The Brave (1997)
Director and star Johnny Depp was deeply upset at negative reviews by American critics attending an otherwise successful screening at the Cannes Film Festival. As a result, he refused to release the film in the United States.
The first line of dialogue is not spoken until ten minutes into the film.
In this film, Johnny Depp plays a Native American. A character mocks him by calling him "Tonto." Johnny Depp also played the character Tonto in The Lone Ranger (2013).
This was the first theatrical film directed by Johnny Depp.
Aziz Ghazal, manager of USC film school's equipment room, optioned the novel in 1992 and got the producers to convince Touchstone to let him make his directorial debut with the film. However, before production began, Ghazal bludgeoned his wife and 13-year-old daughter to death, and went missing in late 1993. Touchstone backed out. A month later, Ghazal's body was discovered by hikers in a secluded area south of Mt. San Jacinto in Riverside County. It was determined he had committed suicide, shooting himself with a .380 caliber pistol. A note was found inside his abandoned car that read "You can never know the pain you caused me" as well as a copy of The Brave. The producers later went to Depp, who liked the concept but not the script, which he rewrote with his brother and made his own directorial debut with it.
Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando both previously starred together in Don Juan de Marco (1995).
Marlon Brando and Frederic Forrest both also starred in Apocalypse Now (1979).
Spoilers (1)
in the novel, the character of Rafael is illiterate, and unknowingly signs a meaningless contract which in no way guarantees that his family will be paid, thus making his sacrifice meaningless. In the film, he seemingly is not, however he is not shown to be signing any contract, and it is left ambiguous whether his family is compensated after his death.
Add a new trivia item
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by Cam Holmstrom.In Uncategorized.1 Comment on No Comment
Many days on Parliament Hill, issues or stories will pop up that look bad on a government. When it happens, some of the most hardcore partisans jump up and down, snapping “Ah ha!!!! We got them!!!”, thinking that this will be the time that the government has finally slipped and will pay a big price for their mistakes. That scene plays out a lot, and nine times out of ten, those stories go away and cause nary a sleepless night for the party in power.
It’s an old adage in politics that governments usually defeat themselves, and many times it’s a result of a thousand small cuts, not a big massive blow. But sometimes a blow comes along that leaves a big mark, not enough of one to slay the giant, but enough to knock it off it’s balance, stagger it and have the effect of dozens of those cuts at one time. It doesn’t happen often, and really the last time I would argue that you saw one in Canada was the whole Mike Duffy affair. That left a mark in the Harper Conservatives, but wasn’t alone what brought that government to it’s end.
So when the SNC-Lavalin/Wilson-Raybould story broke yesterday in the Globe and Mail, it had heads in Ottawa spinning. The story had all the hallmarks of one of those stories that have left marks on Canadian governments in the past, which has made it all the easier to latch onto. And the story has so many tentacles, side stories coming out of it and potential effects on other issues that were mostly unrelated that it’s amazing to see the breadth of it.
So far the response of the government has evolved slightly, from a carefully worded denial from the Prime Minister and ministers, to comments from the Prime Ministers office that say Wilson-Raybould initiated any conversations, and even to some MPs trying to attack the reporting and their use of anonymous sources. As you can imagine, none of those have helped clear the air or put this story to bed.
As many other pundits more experienced and better-written than I have pointed out, there is only one person who can clear the air here, and so far, she’s giving the perfunctory “No Comment”. And there in lies the kernel of this story that has the potential to take it from a tiny cut to a concussion inducing uppercut that a heavyweight boxer would admire. At the end of the day, any potential illegal or corrupt behaviour revolves around if the story written by the Globe and Mail is true; did the PMO try to pressure the Minister of Justice and Attorney General to give SNC-Lavalin a break?
Only Minister Wilson-Raybould can answer that question, and as some legal minds have correctly pointed out, the Prime Minister can simply wave and privilege here to clear the air if nothing wrong has been done. It’s that fact that makes the “Jody called Gerry” quotes coming from the PMO seem even odder to me; if that’s the case and they are telling the truth, why not just free Wilson-Raybould to say that herself? Having a source in the PMO say that doesn’t give any more credibility to the words and still leaves them in the same spot, needing her to word to clear the air. If the Minister herself could say it, that would go much further here.
And with that, all of this rests on her shoulders, for better or worse for the government. For as long as the Prime Minister doesn’t free the minister to speak, the questions will continue to linger in the air and of course, there are rumblings and rumours that there is more to come from this story yet. If there was no fire to go with this smoke, now would be the time to clear the air and let her speak.
For the opposition parties going forward though, they need to keep the pressure up and not let this go until we hear from the minister one way or another. The Conservatives have used most of two entire Question Periods to go at the government on this, but in doing a decent job, Andrew Scheer has not been the knockout performer in the chamber to date. This role of interrogator in chief might be better put in the hands of another member of his team, like Lisa Raitt or Erin O’Toole. The NDP have gone after the issue too and it could breathe some new life into not only the caucus, but in their poll numbers over time. But for that to happen, they need to put other issues aside for now and focus on this. Every question they use on another topic right now might be a good question, but it’s one that’s not breaking through in the media cycle with this story. The NDP needs to follow the playbook they used during the Duffy affair when Tom Mulcair made his impact in the chamber but in the minds of all Canadians. Members of their caucus, like Guy Caron and Nathan Cullen are more than capable of putting in such a performance and I hope they decide to follow that example.
This story has all the makings to really shift the narrative in Ottawa and the run up to the Fall election, especially if the government stumbles or the opposition can prosecute this case. For the Prime Minister, this story will be the ultimate litmus test of his trademarked “Sunny Ways” approach, in that “Sunlight is the best disinfectant”. This story needs some sunlight and it’s the new Minister of Veterans Affairs alone who can really provide it. Right now, a simple “No Comment” won’t do and Canadians deserve to know the truth.
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The Queen Arms
Winsford was once given the nickname ‘The Dark Town’, because of its 100 chimneys.
Dene Drive, Winsford, Cheshire, CW7 1AT
This was an existing pub of the same name, built in 1958 in its own grounds and taken over by Wetherspoon. Until 1895, Winsford was two separate townships, ‘Over’ and ‘Wharton’. The name Winsford was used only for the river valley. Much of the present town was built in the 1960s and 1970s, when it trebled in size and had one of the youngest populations in Britain.
Photographs and text about John Henry Cooke, Sir John Brunner and William Henry Verdin.
The text reads: John Cooke is best known for his position as a town clerk, between 1894 and 1924 for the Winsford Urban District Council. He was a leading citizen who played an active part in developing what was then a new town. He transformed Winsford during his term in office and was particularly proud of the fact that he was responsible for 90% of the houses being fitted with a sewerage system and running water.
Sir John Brunner
A local wealthy industrial, established the famous Cheshire chemical works at Winnington and Lostock. He was also the local Liberal MP and funded the rebuilding of Over School.
To mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee he had the Guildhall built as a gift to the town. The building opened in 1899, to be used as a teetotal meeting place for various societies and workers unions.
William Henry Verdin
The Verdin family moved to Winsford in 1863, they owned salt works and barges on the River Weaver and were major shareholders in the Salt Union.
They provided many public buildings for the town of Winsford including the Technical Schools, swimming baths and when the family moved out of Highfield house it was given to the town to become a hospital.
A photograph and text about Winsford, c1900s.
The text reads: At the beginning of the 19th century Salt Works lined the River Weaver in the Meadow Bank area. The early photos of Winsford show the skyline dominated by Industrial chimneys, which were needed to take away the steam and fumes from the Salt Works. They caused endless smoke giving Winsford the nickname ‘The Dark Town’ and at its busiest there were almost 1000 chimneys within a mile.
Some Victorians found the Salt Works a place for concern as the men worked stripped to the waist because of the heat. Whilst, others were eager to visit and see the well-built men in an age where bodies were always well covered!
Women were kept away from the men and were not allowed to work by the salt pans so many became packers either boxing the salt or sewing up the bags.
Photographs and text about Winsford’s public buildings, c1900s.
The text reads: Many of Winsford’s public buildings were built in the Victorian era. The town hall (pictured top left and right) was an all-purpose meeting and function room.
It was built next to the bridge on the Wharton side. The swimming baths (pictured bottom left) were donated to the town by the Verdin family who had owned the salt works. Guildhall Square was developed during the 1890s, these civic buildings housed the school.
A photograph and text about Meadow Bank Salt Mountain.
The text reads: These huge stock piles of salt are no longer seen, due to modern loading methods, the salt is now put straight into waiting lorries.
Photographs and text about the salt making process.
The text reads: 1. The water was heated in the pans, the salt formed into crystals and sank to the bottom. The men racked the crystals to the side where it was shovelled out and dried.
2. A worker tipped the salt into wooden tubs where the warm crystals joined together to form a solid block.
3. The blocks were then taken to the hot house for baking.
4. The common salt was then wheeled in barrows to awaiting barges.
Old photographs of public service vehicles.
Top: Winsford District Ambulance Brigade
Bottom: Winsford Salt Union Fire Brigade 1923.
An old map of Winsford.
A photograph of worker’s lunch hour at Winsford Dockyard, 1938.
Photographs of the old shops, Winsford, c1900s.
External photograph of the building – main entrance.
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Home Feature Post It’s Okay To Be Gay – Talking Curriculum With MPP Terence Kernaghan
It’s Okay To Be Gay – Talking Curriculum With MPP Terence Kernaghan
London North Centre MPP Terence Kernaghan has a double perspective on the PC governments health and physical education rollbacks - as both London's first openly gay MPP and as a former educator himself.
Gerard Creces
For Ontario students heading back to school in September, there will be a noted difference in this year’s health and physical education lesson plan. The new Ontario government, led by Progressive Conservative Premiere Doug Ford, is making a big change in the curriculum.
Rather, the change is more of a leap back in time.
The sex education curriculum – a small section of the overall health curriculum – is reverting back to its former version, which was changed in 2015 to reflect the changing times. Much has been made of the fact that the former version was last updated in 1998, before the integration of the internet in modern society, and light years before the huge gains made by the LGBTQ+ community.
Issues like consent, gender identity, same-sex families, sexting and online safety do not exist in the 1998 curriculum.
While Minister of Education, Lisa Thompson, has said these issues will be addressed in the revised version there is one gaping hole being overlooked:
Consultations will only begin in the fall, meaning students will already be in school well before any progress is made on revisions.
Local perspective
In London North Centre, MPP Terence Kernaghan has a unique perspective on the curriculum change.
Kernaghan is London’s first openly gay MPP, as well as a former educator here in London. He said this change is not for the better.
“I wish I could say I was surprised but I’m not,” he said of the curriculum change. “The way the PCs had their leadership race showed a drastic shift toward the right.
“We moved backwards 20 years.”
This shift toward the right, toward what he calls radical right conservatism, was made apparent from the throne speech. What was so upsetting, he said, was while the new government said everyone has a place in Ontario, it used outdated language that implies homosexuality is a choice.
“A chill went up my spine when they said the word ‘lifestyle’,” Kernaghan said. “I don’t presume they are talking about a healthy lifestyle or an unhealthy lifestyle.
“That was immediately followed by sexual orientation, so obviously someone with a conscience got their hands on that speech and had it included. But obviously, that was a dog whistle to their radical, social conservative base.”
A couple notable presences for that speech were Tanya Granic-Allen – a PC candidate who was removed from the running after incendiary comments regarding gay marriage were brought to light – and hard-right Christian conservative booster Charles McVety. Both helped reinvigorate the PC’s hard right base.
Change was due
As for going back to the 2014 curriculum, the one thing to understand, Kernaghan said, is that this is still the 1998 curriculum. It comes from a time before gay marriage, before the social integration of the internet, and before consent and before LGBTQ+ issues were talked about. His own experience as a student, he said, was sorely lacking.
“I had zero support as a young, gay boy. There were no role models. There were hardly any resources,” he said. “It was scary. It was isolating and obviously, you’re very quiet about it.”
While he said he was fortunate to have had a couple openly gay teachers in high school, he said that same exposure – the same positive gay role models – is not the case for most students.
“I think about youth today and we have an obligation to make sure they understand that being gay is okay,” he said. “When you take a look at the rates of youth suicide in Canada… It’s unknown how many of those are LGBTQ+, because unfortunately they could also be dying in silence as a result of not feeling as though they will be accepted.”
Which goes back to the Premiere’s attitude on the curriculum rollback. When Doug Ford said he was going back to a curriculum to a time before gay marriage was legal, he said “Well, it’s not like the world’s going to come to an end.”
Kernaghan respectfully disagrees.
“Quite frankly, I have to say yes – some peoples’ worlds will come to an end,” he said. “One person that commits suicide. One family that is devastated. One mother and father who lose their son or daughter. Those lives will never be the same again. That is a world that’s come to an end.”
So where to from here?
As a former teacher-librarian, Kernaghan said he can’t see educators going backward. There are ways to introduce topics now excluded from the health and physical education curriculum without overt civil disobedience. Exploring literature that tackles those themes, for instance, can lead to meaningful class discussions outside of the now cancelled portions of the health curriculum.
Consent, for instance, absolutely needs to be talked about in school, he said. By omitting it from the broader sexual education discussion, it only exacerbates the problem.
“I don’t think that anyone can think removing the topic of consent is okay,” he said. “We know that one in three female students will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, and one in six males. How can we possibly allow that to happen?”
During his time as a teacher-librarian, Kernaghan had a program called the Human Library. Students got first-hand knowledge and perspectives from many marginalized people, hearing stories from sexual assault crisis workers, homeless and transgendered individuals, as well as others from the community.
He said through the Human Library program, he saw the positive change that took place in students. It was easier for educators to have open discussions. Students had safe spaces to ask questions.
Much needed talk
Sure, some of the subject matter can be awkward, he said. But that awkwardness is necessary. This is doubly true now that so much information is available at a mouse click.
“Kids are put in front of so much information and media through the internet, we have to be able to give them the tools to survive in this world,” he said. “We need to give them the tools and terminologies and they can advocate for themselves.”
However, that focus specifically on sex-ed undermines the value of the curriculum as a whole. That constant referral to the curriculum as sex ed, he said, is incredibly frustrating.
“Healthy relationships is only one-tenth of that entire curriculum,” Kernighan explained. “It’s that right wing, social conservative push to make this into something worse than it is.”
Still, there is a need to revise the now-cancelled curriculum changes. While it has been called one of the most widely-consulted pieces of legislation – a claim that opponents say is not true – the implementation of the 2015 curriculum was done without proper explanation to the public as a whole, as was the ability of parents to opt out of those portions that they found inappropriate.
Teachers, he noted, want what’s best for students and parents while respecting cultural differences.
Internet activity
In 1998, there was no consideration of online security. Twenty years later, having that as part of the curriculum is vital to student survival.
“I’ve heard horror stories from some of my former students,” Kernaghan said. “It’s that faceless sort of thing. You might think they are doing something completely innocuous by playing a game but you are exposed to… goodness knows.”
To that end, he said he believes the introduction to online safety in the 2015 curriculum was age-appropriate, building incrementally year over year. Same goes for discussing same-sex relationships in Grade 3, for instance. It normalizes the subject – especially for those children with two moms or two dads, he said.
One of the most frustrating parts of the backlash to this updated curriculum is its lack of specification.
“What parts specifically are objectionable?” Kernaghan asked, adding social conservatives, and the new government, have flip-flopped on this repeatedly. “I would like to know from the conservatives themselves.”
An interesting note: When an opposition MPP, current Minister of Education, Lisa Thompson, was supportive of the 2015 curriculum.
Ford’s Progressive Conservatives have said they will go into 124 ridings to re-consult for the curriculum, but that will take time and with consultations beginning in the fall, it will lead to a year of confusion. The repeal part has been achieved, but not the replacement. All of it, he said, because of fear-mongering and catering to a small but vocal social conservative base.
“I think this entire campaign (from Ford) has really tried hard to waken that negative base,” he said. “I’m scared to think of what will happen in Ontario.”
Sadly, he said it’s part of a negative trend in education on a whole. The government also decided against including more Indigenous content in the classroom – something that goes against the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
“We have responsibilities under the commission,” he said. “To ignore or deliberately omit them is just going to send Ontario backward.”
Fighting on
Meanwhile, Kernaghan said, the Official Opposition – including London’s three NDP members, will continue to fight for a modern, updated curriculum that addresses the complexities of the times.
London-Fanshawe’s Peggy Sattler, in particular, has been very vocal on the subject. She too has a background in education, serving as a trustee for the Thames Valley board for more than a decade.
Still, it will be an uphill struggle against a majority government who is more hung up on the word sex than the word education.
For more on the subject, check out Gerard Creces’ opinion piece on the curriculum change and how sex-ed was for him in the ’90s.
london north centre
London Ontario
London Ontario Culture
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Gerard Creces is a former journalist turned Program Director at LondonFuse. A strong advocate for local music, Gerard's wardrobe is 90 per cent black band t-shirts.
A Timeline Of Victoria Park’s History
LondonFuse Weekend Guide: November 3-5
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Mother of Pat Gradel Herzig ’66 & Sister Judith Gradel ’63 passed away
AnnaBell E. (Mather) GRADEL
| Visit Guest Book
GRADEL AnnaBell E. (Nee Mather) AnnaBell E. (nee Mather) Gradel, Wife of the late Frank J. Gradel. Dear mother of Sr. Judy Gradel, R.S.M., Patricia Herzig and James (Marcia) Gradel. Sister of Bart Mather and the late Gordon, Harry and James Gradel. Also survived by four grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Passed away in Cincinnati, OH, on Sunday February 13, 2011. Age 88 years. Memorial mass to be held at the convenience of the family. If desired, memorials may be directed to thedocument.write(“”);
// ]]>Alzheimer’s Association , NW Chapter, 2500 North Reynolds Rd., Toledo, OH 43615. Miller-Busse & Borgmann Funeral Home in Cincinnati serving the family. Sympathy may be expressed to the family by signing the online guest book at www.busseborgmann.com
Published in Toledo Blade on February 17, 2011
Spouse of Kathy Kowalski Doty ’78 passed away
Richard L. DOTY
DOTY Richard L. Richard L. Doty, age 53, of Holland, died suddenly at home from an apparent heart attack on Tuesday, February 15, 2011. Rick attended Harvard Elementary School and was a 1976 graduate of Bowsher High School. He was an assembly associate at Jeep Chrysler Fiat for 33 years. Rick volunteered at Sylvania Veterinarian Clinic as a cat cuddler and enjoyed sharing good wine with friends, traveling, golfing and “cottage life”. Rick is survived by his loving wife of 30 years, Kathy; special cat, Alley; brother, David (Charlene) Doty; sisters, Sandy (Tom) Mulford, and Amy Eyman; mother-in-law, Virginia Kowalski; brother-in-law, Larry (Sandy) Kowalski; sisters-in-law, Linda (Dave) Schoviak and Karen (Thom) Kudelka; uncle, Ed (Tracy) Poling; and a plethora of extraordinary nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Calvin and Orva Jeanne Doty; father-in-law, Mitchell Kowalski and favorite cat, Jasmine. Friends may visit the family at the Walker Funeral Home, 5155 Sylvania Ave. (west of Corey) on Friday from 2-8 p.m. Funeral services and burial will be private. The family suggests memorial contributions in Rick’s memory be to Memories Live On Animal Foundation, 4801 Holland Sylvania Rd., Sylvania, Ohio 43560 or The United Way of Greater Toledo, 424 Jackson St. Toledo, Ohio 43604, or a charity of the donor’s choice. If love could have saved you you never would have died.
Published in Toledo Blade from February 17 to February 18, 2011
Mother of Mary Beth Kantner Hughes ’74 passed away
Elizabeth Ann “Betty” KANTNER
KANTNER Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Kantner, age 97, of Sylvania, passed away Sunday, February 13, 2011, at Sunset Village. She was born on September 4th, the eighth of eleven children, in the aftermath of the 1913 devastating flood, in Tiffin, Ohio. Betty attended St. Anne’s grade school, now St. Martin de Porres, and graduated from Central High School in 1932, with aspirations of becoming a nurse. Marriage and family intervened. However, when her youngest child, Mary Beth was in 8th grade, Betty returned to school and fulfilled her dream of becoming a nurse. She then worked at St. Luke’s Hospital until retirement. A fond photo memory is that of Betty and Mary Beth studying at the kitchen table. A member of St. Charles Parish for over 60 years, she served on numerous parish posts, including president of the Altar and Rosary Society. She has also been a parishioner at St. John in Point Place and St. Joseph Catholic Church in Sylvania. There she took great pride in being the “senior” member of a Christ Renews His Parish community. Though a busy young mother, Betty was an avid card player and met at regular intervals with her sisters and neighborhood friends for Bridge Club. She enjoyed teaching her grandchildren how to play cards during their visits or while babysitting them. Betty also loved to read; it was a difficult loss for her to accept when she no longer could read books-even when highly magnified. Despite her macular degeneration, she played a mean game of Scrabble and Upwards into her nineties. She took pleasure in a family tradition of meals and margaritas as Ventura’s, and was open to new experiences whether culinary delights or visiting her son, Howard in Alaska, and later, Hawaii. Betty greatly enjoyed visits from her children and grandchildren as well as traveling to see them. Her niece, Janet Thoele, was a favorite travelling companion. One of her final trips was at age 94 when she flew with a friend (a bit younger) to Annapolis, Maryland, where she visited one of her daughter’s and family. Her request to have “When the Saints Go Marching In” sung at her funeral mass, was certainly indicative of her optimism and zest for life; her joy in people-relationships. Our family matriarch will be dearly missed. She is survived by her children and their spouses: Howard (Erna), Patricia (John), Jim (Judith), Bob (Beth) and Mary Beth (Todd); grandchildren: Teresa (Steve) Christopher, Anne Marie (Brent), Thomas, Matthew, Jim (Jeanie), Kole (Van), Seth (Stacey), Darcy, Carmen, Sara (Mike), Melissa (Courtland), Allyson, Chelsea, Sarah Sutton, and Katie Carter; great-grandchildren: Jessica, Suzanne, Kim, Joseph, Andrew, Nathan, Rachel, Daniel, Avery, Arion, Michael, Kasey, Corey, Libby, Tyler, Kai, Claire, China, Jordan, Autum, Annakate, Colin, Madeline Grace, Claire, Kaiden, and Cate; great-great-grandchildren: Abbigail, Alyssa, Samantha Renee, Trevor, and Karmyn. Betty was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Earl Kantner; son: Edward; grandson: Daniel; and siblings: Francois, Camillus, Louis, Rozelle, Alma Mary, Angela, Charlotte, Jim, Kate, and Charles. Visitation will be at the Reeb Funeral Home, 5712 N. Main St., Sylvania, on Wednesday, February 16, 2011, from 5-8 PM. The Funeral Mass will be at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Sylvania, on Thursday at 10 AM. Interment will be private at Calvary Cemetery. The family wishes to thank the attentive and kind staff of the Findlay Neighborhood, at Sunset Village. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be given to the Central City Ministry of the Diocese of Toledo.
Mother of Colleen Quinn Strayer ’74 passed away
Beatrice L. QUINN
QUINN Beatrice L. Beatrice L. Quinn, age 92, of Toledo, devoted mother and grandmother, passed away peacefully at the Lutheran Village at Wolf Creek on Friday morning January 14, 2011. She had been a resident there since April 2010. She was born in Toledo, Ohio to Philip and Louise Thibert and was a graduate of Central Catholic High School, class of 1937. She married Clifford Quinn on April 19, 1941. They were founding members of St. Patrick of Heatherdowns Church. During WWII she worked for the former Ohio Bell Telephone Co. and the Champion Spark Plug Co. Briefly in the early 1970s she volunteered at the former McAuley High School and in more recent years she volunteered in the development office at Central Catholic High School. She and several of her classmates still got together for monthly luncheons. Beatrice was preceded in death by her husband, Clifford, and infant daughter; brother, Remy Thibert, and sister, Agnes Jackson. She is survived by her children, Thomas (Janet) Quinn, Waterville, Michael (Patty) Quinn, Bloomfield Hills, MI, J. Patrick (Marie) Quinn of Toledo and Colleen (John) Strayer of Grand Rapids, Ohio. The grandchildren are Ivan (Kim), Claire, Jessica, and Alison Quinn; Elizabeth (John) Pavlik, Stephen, and Patrick Quinn; Jacob (Geraldine) Quinn, and Shelby and Remy Strayer. She is also survived by her sisters, Evelyn Menard and Mary Alice Brown. Friends may visit at the Coyle Funeral Home, 1770 S. Reynolds Rd., on Sunday January 16, 2011 from 2-8 p.m. where a Vigil Service will be held at 7:00 p.m. Funeral services will begin in the mortuary on Monday, January 17th at 9:30 a.m. followed by the funeral Mass at 10:00 a.m. at St. Patrick of Heatherdowns Church. Interment will follow in Calvary Cemetery. Memorials may take the form of a contribution to the Little Sisters of the Poor. Please view and sign the on-line guest registry at: CoyleFuneralHome.com
Published in Toledo Blade from January 15 to January 16, 2011
1973 Lori Musch Wolfe – passed away
Lori K. WOLFE
WOLFE Lori K. Lori K. Wolfe, age 56, of Toledo, Ohio passed away February 9, 2011 in St. Luke’s Hospital. Surviving is her husband, Mark Wolfe; sons, Alex and Michael Wolfe; sister, Vicki (John) Hagerman; niece, Kelly Hagerman. The family will receive friends at the Bersticker-Scott Funeral Home, 3453 Heatherdowns Blvd. at Byrne Rd., Wednesday, February 16, 2011 from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon. Interment will be in Forest Cemetery. The family suggests memorials to Whitehouse Country Manor. Please view and sign Lori’s condolence book at: Berstickerscottfuneralhome.com
To All McAuley Alum, Re: Mrs. Bette Johnson (McAuley Librarian)
Mrs. Johnson is currently at Kingston Residence and Shelia Otto will read any cards sent to her.
Kingston Residence
333 East Boundary
Trip to the Holyland – Message from Cynthia Stengle Olsen ’70
Our son lives in Jerusalem, and has a tour company shalomisraeltours.com. I’m leading an amazing tour to the Holyland April 5th through the 14th. We will explore Jerusalem, Nazerath, Jaffa, float on the Dead Sea, see Masada, and many more very special places. The trip is all inclusive, at a really great price. Any chance you would post our tour to the allumni? All our trip details are at shalomisraeltours.com/holyland , and we would give Mcauley grads a $100.00 discount. Thanks so much Mary Jo!
Cynthia Stengle Olsen
1970 – Brigid Nally passed away
Brigid NALLY
Brigid M. “SILVER GIRL” 1952-2011 One of eleven children born to Francis and Catherine Nally, Brigid grew up in Maumee, Ohio but loved her adopted hometown of Cincinnati. She received degrees from Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati. She was a special needs teacher in Butler County, Ohio and then worked part-time in her later years at CCHMC. She was a tireless advocate for the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities and mental illness and their families. She also promoted the cause of multiple sclerosis research. She had a deep abiding devotion to her Catholic faith and her Irish heritage as well as her large loving family and many dear friends and co-workers.Brigid was our “Silver Girl” with sterling qualities of beauty, serenity and generosity of spirit. “Sail on Silver Girl, Sail on by, Your time has come to shine.”A private family service is planned at this time. Donations can be made in her name to the Multiple Sclerosis Society SW 4440 Lake Forest Drive Cincinnati, Ohio 45242.
Published in The Cincinnati Enquirer on February 2, 2011
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Lynne Senn ’71 passed away (Sister to Carol ’66 and Mary Dee ’68)
Posted by mcauleyhighschool on July 24, 2016
Edna Lynne Senn Dundon
DUNDON
Edna Lynne Senn
Edna Lynne Senn Dundon, 63, formerly of Westerville Ohio passed away peacefully on July 20, 2016. Born and raised in Toledo, Lynne relocated to Columbus where she met her husband and raised her three beloved children. Lynne was preceded in death by her parents, Lawrence and Lee Senn; and her brother, Michael Senn. She is survived by her husband of 27 years, Michael Dundon of Carolina Shores, NC; her children, Chris and Joanna of Columbus, and Sean of Los Angeles, CA; her siblings, Charley (Ginny) Senn of San Luis Obispo, CA, Carol (Patrick) Landversicht of Chesapeake, VA, and Mary Dee (Randy) Wiseman of Johnstown, Ohio; and numerous nieces and nephews. Lynne fought valiantly against cancer for five years and received great comfort from the love and support of her friends. She will be greatly missed by her canine companions, Rufus and Riley. A private family memorial service will be held at a later date. As published in The Blade
Published in Toledo Blade on July 24, 2016
Sister of Theresa ’80 and Julie Oswald ’82 passed away
Jennifer Lynn
Jennifer Lynn Oswald, 45 years old, died in her home on Monday, July 18, 2016. Jennifer was born to Joan Wittenmyer Oswald and Charles Oswald. She was diagnosed with diabetes at age 7 and began her lifelong battle with health issues leading to a pancreas and kidney transplant. She was happiest in a rocking chair with a baby in her arms. Her tenacity and will to survive is a testament to her unconditional love for her son, Tyler. She fought for each day because she knew her job as a mom depended on it.
Jennifer was greeted into the arms of her mother, Joan and her daughter, Precious.
She is survived by her son, Tyler Wittel and his father, Bob; siblings, Theresa (Don) Ahrens, Julie (John) Abbey, Chuck (Deborah) Oswald, Bonnie Oswald, John (Nadia) Oswald; grandmother, Thelma Cyigon; nieces and nephews, Sarah, Kaitlan, Bailey, Jessica, Jack and Sophia.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to JDRF, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Friends may visit at the Coyle Funeral Home on Thursday, July 21, from 4-6 p.m. Interment will be private. Please view Jennifer’s memorial video tribute and leave a condolence message at
As published in The Blade
Father of Heidi ’83, Synda ’86 and Stephanie ’88 Sitzenstock passed away
SITZENSTOCK
Robert P.
Robert P. Sitzenstock, 86, passed away July 8, 2016. He was born August 6, 1929 in Toledo to the late Irene (Kiebler) and Herbert Sitzenstock.
Bob and his family farmed most of the area covering Byrne to River Road to S. Detroit and the Trail finding most of his extensive arrowhead collection. Bob and his brother worked landscaping for most of south Toledo including The Toledo Country Club and Lucas County Children’s Home on River Road.
He attended University of Toledo, graduated from The Ohio State University, with a varsity letter in lacrosse, mastered in Architecture at MIT and obtained several professional associate degrees from Harvard University. Bob was a Captain in the Air Force for 8 years and was stationed mainly in Europe.
Bob worked for SOM, of Chicago, to start an architectural career before moving back to Toledo. He worked for a few firms before settling in at Rossi, Nickerson McQuerry and Sitzenstock before opening his own firm Sitzenstock Associates in 1984. He semi-retired 2 years ago. Some of his accomplishments included Masonic Auditorium complex and Stranahan Theater, St. Joan of Arc Church, St. John’s The Baptist, much of MCO, the Air Force academy chapel in Colorado Springs, much of Ownes Technical College as well as Master Planning and many building for University of Toledo. Bob’s favorite pasttimes were spending time with his family, building and running his model trains, his Ohio State Buckeyes, and wooden boats, which he restored one for each of his children!
In addition to his parents, Bob was preceded in death by his eldest son, Robert E., and his brother, George H. Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 54 years, Sara “Sally”; his brother, David J. (Paulette), Washington; daughters, Gigi, Heidi, Synda (Gary Heikkinen), Kentucky, Stephanie (Mike Sindel), Defiance, OH; son, George W. “Dude”; nephew, Christopher (Anne), Washington; niece, Melissa, Washington; grandson, Christopher; granddaughter, Pauliann “Peanut”; and great-nephews, Noah and Ari.
There will be a private family service held at his residence along the Maumee riverbank to celebrate his life. He had requested any memorial donations be made in his name to OSU athletics association or to the First Presbyterian Church of Maumee.
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Archive for the ‘Sympathies’ Category
Stepfather of Debbie Schreiber-Houck ’70 passed away
Posted by mcauleyhighschool on June 27, 2019
Richard “Dick” F. Wagner, age 79, of Toledo, passed away after a short illness on June 24, 2019 at Hospice of Northwest Ohio surrounded by his loving family and friends. He was born to Richard and Ruth (Starkloff) Wagner on May 17, 1940. He married Vera Hoffman Schreiber on August 29, 1969 and would have celebrated 50 years of marriage this August. Richard graduated from Libbey High School in 1958. He worked for the railroad and Springer Clothing. Dick then went on to work for Hostess Wonder Bread and retired in 2000 as a supervisor. He was known as the “Twinkie Man”. Dick was an active member of St. Charles Borromeo Church where he also ushered and counted offerings. He was also a Sons of the American Legion member at Przybylski Post 642.
Richard was an avid sports fan. He played softball with several teams at the Lucas County Rec Center. He was a pitcher and earned the nickname “Daddy Wags”. Dick loved golfing. He was very proud of his double eagle at Spuyten Duyval on hole 4 that was 490 yards, only using a driver and 3 iron.
Dick was a dedicated Toledo Rockets fan. Dick and Vera were football, men’s and women’s basket season ticket holders for 47 years. They were active in the ‘Igniters Club’ for the women’s teams, traveling extensively which included a trip to Hawaii.
Dick truly loved to travel to many destinations with Vera for leisure, sporting events and casinos.
Richard was a loving husband, father, stepfather and grandfather. He is survived by his loving wife, Vera; son, Derreck (Lynn) Wagner; daughters, Debbie Schreiber-Houck (Tom Walsh) and Cher (Frank) Nahajzer; grandchildren, Kellyn (Craig) Besse, Keely Wagner, Nichole Houck, Jonathan Houck and Matthew (Kayla Oberlin) Houck; brothers, Dennis (Sue) Wagner, Dean (Janice) Wagner, David (Beth) Wagner and Scott (Doreen) Suzor; sister’s-in-law, Mickey, Judy and Marlene Hoffman; furry four-legged great granddaughter, Zoey; many nieces and nephews and very close friends. He was preceded in death by his father and stepmother, Richard and Dorothy Wagner; mother and stepfather, Ruth and Bob Suzor; son, Dale; brother’s-in-law, Paul, Ed and Raymond Hoffman.
Family and friends may visit on Friday from 2-8 p.m., with CWVA Logsdon-Walla Post 642 services at 6:00 p.m. followed immediately by A.L. Przybylski Post 642 services at the W.K. Sujkowski & Son Funeral Home, 3838 Airport Hwy. Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, June 29, 2019 with prayers in the mortuary at 9:30 a.m. followed by the Funeral Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Church at 10:00 a.m. Interment will follow at Resurrection Cemetery.
The family would like to express a special thank you to the staff at UTMC ICU and Hospice of Northwest Ohio for their loving care.
Memorial contributions may be directed to St. Charles Borromeo Church, Hospice of Northwest Ohio or a charity of the donor’s choice .
Please send condolences at www.sujkowskiairport.com.
Published in The Blade on June 27, 2019
Mother of Sandy Schwind ’66 passed away
Posted by mcauleyhighschool on May 30, 2019
Donna Marie Schwind, age 92, of Perrysburg, Ohio passed away on Monday, May 27, 2019 at Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg, Ohio. She was born on October 3, 1926 in Perrysburg to John and Edna (Schneider) Spoerl. On September 27, 1947, she married Eugene Schwind in St. Rose Catholic Church. Donna was a member of St. Rose Catholic Church and it’s rosary and altar society. In her earlier days, she enjoyed bowling. She was lifetime Detroit Tigers fan and card player.
Donna is survived by her children, daughter, Sandra Stricker; sons, Stephen (Janet), Mark (Denise), Scott (Karen), Matthew (Brenda) and Patrick (Elizabeth); 21 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren; 1 great great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by her husband, Eugene; parents and great grandchildren, Carson and Pierson Stricker; brother John Spoerl and sister, Maxine Gilley.
The Family would like to thank the staff’s at Waterford at Levis Commons and Hospice of Northwest Ohio for all their care and compassion for Donna.
Visitation will be held from 2-8 pm on Friday, May 31, 2019 at the Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home, 501 Conant Street, Maumee, Ohio with a scripture service to be held at 7:00pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 am Saturday, June 1, 2019 at St. Rose Catholic Church, Perrysburg, Ohio with prayers beginning in the funeral home at 9:45 am. Interment will be in St. Rose Catholic Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be directed to Hospice of Northwest Ohio, 30000 East River Road, Perrysburg, Ohio or St. Rose Catholic Church, 215 East Front Street, Perrysburg, Ohio. Online condolences may be given at www.walkerfuneralhomes.com
Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home
501 Conant St Maumee, OH 43537
Published in The Blade from May 29 to May 30, 2019
Husband of Julia Szabo Ball ’70 passed away
Richard J. Ball
November 21, 1942 – May 7, 2019
Richard J. Ball, 76, of Toledo, passed away peacefully on Monday, May 7, 2019. Richard was the son of Edward and Lillian Ball. He attended St. Thomas grade school and was a graduate of Waite High School, class of 1960.
He proudly served in the US Navy during the Vietnam War as a Medical Corpsman. After his military service, he worked at Canteen Vending Service for 33 years and then worked for the Washington Local School system as a bus driver and retired as an Assistant Supervisor of Transportation.
He served as a leader in the Boy Scouts of America for close to 40 years; serving in many leadership roles. He was recently the mentor for National Youth Leadership Training. Richard was also a 4th degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus.
Richard was preceded in death his parents; sister, Shirley Geeting; brother, Robert Ball; nephew, Tim Morris; and great nephew, Jason Morris. He is survived by his loving wife, Julie; children, Richard Ball, Christopher (Kathy) Ball, Monica (Anthony) Zitzman, and Christopher Boudreaux. He held a special place in his heart for his grandchildren; Allison, Olivia, Jessica, Grace, Miranda and CJ.
Friends will be received on Sunday, May 12, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Walker Funeral Home, 5155 Sylvania Ave. (West of Corey Road) (419-841-2422), where a Scripture Service will take place at 7:00 p.m. Visitation will continue on Monday, May 13, 2019 at St. Jerome Catholic Church, 300 Warner, Walbridge, OH 43465, beginning at 10:00 a.m., until the time of Mass at 11am. Burial will take place at a later time in Restlawn Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, friends are strongly encouraged to donate to Erie Shores Council, BSA, 5600 W. Sylvania Ave, Toledo, OH, 43623 or go to ErieshoresCouncil.org and look for the link for donations.
Brother of Susan DeLisle Martinez ’75 passed away
Deacon Steven Joseph DeLisle
“O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me”.
Steven Joseph DeLisle died on May 8, 2019. He was born in Maumee, Ohio, son to wonderful parents, brother to three caring sisters, father to six adoring children, and husband to a humble, loving wife. He worked as an engineer, was a skilled craftsman, an intense board game player, and loved to build and work with his hands. Steven felt most fulfilled in his work as a Permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church – he worked passionately with the parishioners at Maumee St. Joseph’s, the residents of Sunshine Community, and all others who sought peace and wisdom from his counsel. Steven lived piously and encountered all he met with a humble kindness. He spoke thoughtfully, truthfully, and directly, and had the most perfect sense of humor. According to his family, Steven was the funniest man they’d ever met with an unparalleled affinity for movie quotes. Steven took great joy in his family and was the happiest when his wife and all of his children were together. He was especially looking forward to the birth of his first grandchild. Heaven has gained a saint – St. Steven, pray for us.
Steven’s love lives on in his wife Beth DeLisle; children Stepan (Katie), Hattie Pumphrey (Christopher), Clare, Ellyn (Micah Benza), Abram, and Mary Helen; his mother Maxine Schulte and sisters Susan Martinez, Debra Fahnestock (Dan), and Peggy Rauscher (Mike)
Reception of the Body will be held at 1:00 pm on Monday, May 13, 2019 at Saint Joseph Church, 104 W. Broadway, Maumee, Ohio; with Visitation continuing until a Vigil at 7:30 pm. Additional visitation will be held in the church at 10:00 am on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 with The Funeral Mass to follow at 11:00 am with Reverend Keith A. Stripe, Principal Celebrant and Deacon Joseph N. Malenfant, Homilist. Interment will follow in Saint Joseph Cemetery, Maumee, Ohio. Memorial Contributions may be made to the Sunshine Community or St. Joseph Building Fund. The Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. Online Condolences may be made at www.walkerfuneralhomes.com
Father of Mary ’70, Diane ’72 and Marsha ’73 Heydinger passed away.
Posted by mcauleyhighschool on May 7, 2019
Norman F. Heydinger died May 4, 2019 at The University of Toledo Medical Center.
He was born to Edward and Gertrude Heydinger on January 7, 1921 in Toledo. He
graduated from Waite High School and Miami University and in 1954 earned his MBA
from The University of Toledo. While at Miami, he earned a Private Pilot’s License in
the Civilian Pilot Training Program and was a member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity.
In 1942 he entered the Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut and was
commissioned with the rank of Ensign. After special training at The Ohio State University,
he served for a year-and-a-half in the South Pacific on a Navy AKA assault ship participating
in seven invasions, and on a Coast Guard Patrol Frigate. He was honorably discharged in
1946 with the rank of Lieutenant.
After the war, he was employed in marketing research at Libbey Owens Ford, Toledo;
Seiberling Rubber Company, Akron; LOF Glass Fibers, Toledo; PPG Fiber Glass, Pittsburgh;
and Rogers National Research, Toledo.
In 1964 he envisioned, researched, promoted, built and served as President and General
Manager of Laurel Hill Swim and Tennis Club, Toledo, for 20 years with the support and
dedication of his wife, Dorothy. He sold the Club in 1985 and retired. In 1985, Laurel Hill
was awarded National Tennis Club of the Year by the United States Tennis Association.
In his business career he served as a founder and Northwest Ohio President of the American Marketing Association and National President of the Swim Facility Operators Association of
America. He was a long-time member of Rockwell Springs Trout Club, Castalia, and Our Lady
of Perpetual Help Church, Toledo.
He was predeceased by his parents, his sister, Rose (Clair) Gladieux, and his brother, Edward (Jane). He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Dorothy. Survivors also include children Mary (David) Sims, Millbury; Diane (Eric) Landers, Columbus; Marsha (Mark) Strominger, Cincinnati; and Peter (Virginia Keil), Holland.
Also surviving are grandchildren Monica (Kyle) Leppelmeier, David Sims (Jennifer),
Christopher Landers, Andrew Landers, Kristen (Colin) Harper, Julie Strominger, Derek Strominger, Sarah (John) Novak and Alison (Dan) Goble; and great grandchildren Addyson, Connor, and Annalee Leppelmeier.
Friends may visit at Coyle Funeral Home, 1770 S. Reynolds Rd., from 2:00 – 7:00 PM on Wednesday, May 8. The funeral will begin in the mortuary at 9:30, with the Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at 10:00 AM on Thursday, May 9 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. Interment and military honors will be at Resurrection Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church or Hospice of Northwest Ohio. Please leave a condolence message at CoyleFuneralHome.com.
To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Norman Heydinger please visit our Sympathy Store.
© Stadia Maps, © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap
MAY 8. 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM
1770 S. Reynolds Road
Order Flowers for the VisitationGuaranteed delivery before Norman’s
Visitation begins.
MAY 9. 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
2255 Central Grove
Order Flowers for the FuneralGuaranteed delivery before Norman’s
Funeral begins.
Husband of Betsy (Elizabeth) Kranz Villareal ’77 passed away (Sister of Carol ’70)
Posted by mcauleyhighschool on April 30, 2019
Jesus (Jesse) Villarreal Jr. was born on March 9th, 1949, in Robstown, Texas, to Jesus and Umbelina Villarreal Sr. Jesse passed away at home April 26th, 2019 surrounded by his loving family.
Jesse is predeceased by his parents and younger brother Jimmy, Mother in law Mary (Betty) Kranz, Father in law Thomas Kranz and Brothers in law Tom Jr. and Ted Kranz.
He is survived by his loving Wife Betsy, Son Jesse (Misty) Villarreal, Daughters Christine Villarreal and Sandra (Ed) House, Granddaughters Olivia and Jessica Villarreal, Maciela House and Grandson Edward House and his faithful fishing companion and guard dog Chico. Jesse is also survived by his sister Maria Schick and brother Joe Villarreal and the mother of his children, Rosalind Villarreal, along with in-laws Jan Villarreal, Betty Kranz, Cathy (Rich) Dzienny, Bonnie Yamano, Carol (Jim) Potter, Tim Kranz, Terry (Anne) Kranz and many nieces and nephews.
Jesse retired from The Toledo Blade after 17 years as a Circulation Manager and joined the Toledo Police Department in September 1983. He proudly served the City of Toledo for 26 years and retired as a Detective in April, 2009.
In his retirement Jesse enjoyed spending time at the family cottage, boating, fishing and occasional golf outings. He enjoyed spending time with family and friends. He will be deeply missed by those that knew and loved him.
Friends may visit at the Coyle Funeral Home, 1770 S. Reynolds Rd., Toledo on Tuesday, April 30th from 2-8 p.m. where a Scripture Service will be held at 7:00 p.m. Funeral Services will begin on Wednesday, May 1st at 11:00 a.m. in the funeral home. Interment will be private.
In lieu of flowers please consider making an appointment to donate blood/ platelets at your local American Red Cross or monetarily to the American Cancer Society for Pancreatic Cancer research.
Please view Jesse’s memorial video tribute and leave a condolence message for the family atwww.coylefuneralhome.com.
To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Jesus “Jesse” Villarreal please visit ourSympathy Store.
Service for Shannen Wesley, adored son of Kim Edgeworth Wesley, class of ’80, is this Thursday.
Shannen Scott Wesley
Shannen Scott Wesley, age 25, of Toledo, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, April 6, 2019 at the Toledo Hospital with his loving family by his side. He was born April 8, 1994 to Bradley and Kimberly (Edgeworth) Wesley in Toledo. Shannen was a 2012 graduate of St. Francis de Sales High School. He then went on to attend the University of Detroit Mercy to continue his studies and play lacrosse on a double scholarship for academics and athletics. Shannen mentored the youth in lacrosse and football through different camps. He was also involved in different organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club of Ohio. Shannen was an avid sports fan; always participating in a variety of sporting events. He loved music of all kinds, even playing the guitar.
Shannen had a sense of humor and his smile could light up any room. His laugh was infectious, and is something everyone will miss. He was a kind, loving, generous, genuine person who never met a stranger. He enjoyed spending time with his friends and family, especially his nephews. Shannen was a fierce protector of his family and will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.
Shannen is survived by his mom, Kim Wesley; dad, Brad (Julie Susor) Wesley; siblings, Aubree and Jacob; nephews, Dawson, Adrian and Noah; grandmothers, Kendra Wesley and Carol Edgeworth; uncles, Ramero (Ronnette) Wesley and James (Lori) Edgeworth, Jr.; aunt, Kris (Matt) Hunter; cousins, Ramero Jr. and Reese Wesley, Alex (Ben) Schoen, Conner Edgeworth, and Timothy and Cameron Hunter; special uncle, Daimian (Donna) Hatch and his daughter, Dannielle (Dominec) Gonzalez; canine companion, Jax; and many other loving extended family members and dear friends, too many to name.
He was preceded in death by his grandfathers, Truly Johnson and James Edgeworth, Sr.; great-grandparents, Joseph and Francis “Ninny” Lubinski; and great-grandparents, Charles and Dorothy Wesley.
The family will receive guests on Thursday, April 11, 2019 from 3 – 7:00 p.m. at Newcomer – Southwest Chapel, 4752 Heatherdowns Blvd., Toledo, (419-381-1900) with Memorial Services beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the funeral home.
Those wishing to make memorial contributions are asked to consider any mental health organization or for suicide prevention awareness.
To share a memory of Shannen or to leave a special message for his family, please click the “Share Memories” tab above.
Visitation:Thursday, April 11, 2019 from 3:00pm to 7:00pm
Newcomer – SW Toledo Chapel
4752 Heatherdowns Boulevard
419-381-1900Directions & MapService:Thursday, April 11, 2019 at 7:00pm
419-381-1900Directions & Map
Husband of Susan Bottles Kolinski ’65 (sister of Sally Bottles Kwapich ’72) passed away
Posted by mcauleyhighschool on March 18, 2019
Kenneth W. Kolinski(1942 – 2019)
Kenneth W. Kolinski
On Friday, March 15, 2019, Kenneth W. Kolinski, age 76, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family. Born on September 1, 1942, Ken was a humble man who loved and treasured his family deeply and valued his many lifelong friendships.
He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Catherine and his grandson, Tyler Salyers. Ken is survived by his wife, Sue; sons, Robert (Liz), Matthew (Tiffany); daughter, Erin; grandchildren, Madelyn & William Kolinski and Sophia Connell. He is also survived by his brother, Phil (Jo); sister, Chris (Tony), and many loving aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews.
Mass of the Resurrection will be held at 11 A.M. Tuesday, March 19th, at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, conducted by Ken’s godson Fr. Patrick Rohen. The family will be receiving guests for 30 minutes prior to the mass.
Published in The Blade from Mar. 17 to Mar. 18, 2019
Husband of Mary Braker Martin ’71 passed away
Posted by mcauleyhighschool on March 1, 2019
OTTAWA — Timothy A. Martin, 69, of Ottawa died 12:20 a.m., Friday, February 15, 2019 at The Meadows of Ottawa. He was born September 13, 1949 in McComb to the late Harold “Hap” and Esther (Jones) Martin. On September 22, 1972, he married Mary Braker and she survives in Ottawa.
Other survivors include two children: Jeff (Amy) Martin of Galena and Kristen (Robb) Pickens of Ottawa; four grandchildren: Kayley Martin, Zack Martin, Kelsea Pickens and Ethan Pickens; and a brother, Harold “Joe” Martin of Leipsic.
He was also preceded in death by a brother, David Martin.
Tim was a manager for the former IGA in Leipsic, and a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Ottawa. He was a graduate of Leipsic High School and had attended The Ohio State University. Tim enjoyed watching the cooking channel, writing down many recipes; although we never got him to make us anything. He also spent many hours on the computer searching for anything interesting and compiling his findings in one of his many binders. Tim’s greatest love was his wife, children and grandchildren. He always wanted to be a part of their lives in whatever way he could. He will be greatly missed.
A Funeral Mass will begin 10:30 a.m. Monday, February 18, 2019 at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Ottawa with Fr. Matt Jozefiak officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m., Sunday at LOVE FUNERAL HOME, Ottawa.
Memorial donations may be made to Putnam County Council on Aging or Putnam County Home Heath and Hospice.
Condolences may be expressed at www.lovefuneralhome.com
Love Funeral Home
Ottawa, OH 45875
Funeral Home Details
Published in The Lima News from Feb. 15 to Feb. 16, 2019
Brother of Deanna Bartholomy Malohn ’67 passed away:
Mark “Bart” Bartholomy
Mark “Bart” Bartholomy passed away in his home on February 15, 2019. He was born in Lapeer, Michigan on November 13, 1954 to James and Verena (Kirsch) Bartholomy.
He graduated from Bowsher High School, and worked for Airborne, DHL and Town Air Freight before his retirement. Mark had a talent for music; both singing and playing his saxophones. He attended many concerts and would argue with conviction that there was no good music written after 1980. He loved to cook and barbeque for his many friends and family.
He is survived by his mother and 7 siblings, Deanna Malohn, Joe (Monica), Gregory (Phyllis), Ann Kear, Eileen (John) Juvinall, Rita (Donald) Shepler and Peter; sisters-in-laws Daun (Dan) Dietrich), Gail (Floyd) Trawick and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his loving wife Karla of 38 years on February 18, 2017; his father, James; and nephew Jeremiah Valiant.
Coyle Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. Please leave a condolence message at CoyleFuneralHome.com.
A celebration of Mark’s life will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 5, 2019 at the Walbridge Park Shelter House.
Published in The Blade from Feb. 24 to Feb. 25, 2019
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van der Zande wins CAREER Award to explore mechanics of 2D material heterostructures
Dec 21, 2018 Stefanie Anderson
MechSE Assistant Professor Arend van der Zande recently won the prestigious Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation for his research on two-dimensional material heterostructures. NSF CAREER grants are given to young faculty who demonstrate great potential early in their careers.
His project, “Deformation and interfacial slip in two-dimensional material heterostructures,” focuses on examining and understanding the mechanics at the interfaces between nanomaterials and how to take advantage of the emergent properties to engineer highly deformable electromechanical devices.
In the last 50 years, solid state nanotechnology has brought devices—such as transistors, solar cells, and microelectromechanical systems—which allow integrated computation, energy harvesting, sensing, and communication, and have become ubiquitous in our daily lives. Yet nature offers another nanotechnology, based on soft materials, with capabilities far exceeding human-engineered systems. For example, cells are capable of self-assembly into complex molecular systems that are three-dimensional, dynamic, reconfigurable, responsive to their environment, and self-sustaining. A grand challenge for the next century is to unite these disparate nanotechnologies to fundamentally transform the way we interact with electronics.
The driving vision in van der Zande’s work is to push mechanics to its ultimate limits in size to bring the unique capabilities of soft materials to electronic systems. This work has applications in many technologies, from stretchable and wearable electronics, to low-power, highly-sensitive biosensors, to origami nano machines capable of interacting with cells.
The CAREER grant will allow van der Zande to explore the mechanics and applications of 2D materials like graphene and molybdenum disulfide, which are stable crystals that are only one molecule thick—like a very thin sheet of paper. These materials, then, are a perfect material foundation for many new technologies. When layered on top of each other, they form heterostructures. (Imagine a stack of papers with different colors.) Because the 2D materials are stable on their own but each layer has a different structure, the heterostructures are held together by weak van der Waals forces that allow them to slip at the interface between them without breaking bonds. This gives these heterostructures a new and useful property known as superlubricity.
Superlubricity refers to extremely low coefficients of friction that are on the scale of one percent of the lowest frictions that can be engineered otherwise. While superlubricity has been studied for years in tribology, van der Zande’s research will explore a new regime by investigating the mechanics of slip at the interfaces in the atomically thin heterostructures. He also plans to examine how slip affects the mechanics and stiffness of the heterostructures by looking at the shape of crumpled membranes, and the resonant frequencies of suspended membranes.
“We can stretch these heterostructures out like drum heads, resonate them and observe the resonant frequencies—just like a drum but now it’s an atomically thin drum. With that we can precisely probe the mechanics of the interface by looking at how the frequency changes as the layers slip past each other.”
The success of this study will lead to the design of electronic materials that actively utilize slip and deformation to become ten to 100 times more pliable than conventional stretchable materials.
Undergraduate and graduate students in van der Zande’s lab will work on the project, as well as help van der Zande with an outreach program in which students in schools and summer camps from underrepresented groups can build laser light shows.
“The CAREER award is great for the early stages of my research program to start exploring new ideas that I have been thinking about for a while but not had the opportunity to pursue.”
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Startup Focuses on Developing Catalysts for Industry
Cellular Therapy Startup Focuses on Developing Catalysts for Industry
By: The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Category: Cellular Therapy, Current News | June 26, 2019
Two Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) faculty members are changing the way that proteins are made for industry through their startup BioHybrid Solutions. McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, PhD, is the J.C. Warner University Professor of Natural Sciences in the Department of Chemistry, and Alan Russell, PhD, is the Highmark Distinguished Career Professor of Chemical Engineering and former Director of the McGowan Institute.
Both faculty members have been recognized recently for their work and research. Dr. Matyjaszewski recently was elected into the National Academy of Sciences, and as CEO of BioHybrid Solutions, Dr. Russell received the 2018 Innovator Award from the Pittsburgh Business Times. A third co-founder, Antonina Simakova, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Matyjaszewski Polymer Group. Prior to receiving her doctorate at Carnegie Mellon, she was named a 2016 Innovation Fellow by the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship.
BioHybrid was created in 2016 to produce protein-based products for a range of industrial applications. Their process uses atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), which was first discovered by Dr. Matyjaszewski in 1995.
Proteins can be used to create injectable therapeutic treatments such as insulin and for catalyzing reactions in pharmaceutical and biofuel manufacturing. However, these proteins are required to function in environments that may hinder or prevent them from working in the desired way – insulin, for example, must be injected because it otherwise cannot survive the acidity of the stomach.
To protect protein in these hazardous environments, BioHybrid “nano-armors” proteins with polymer chains, attached via the ATRP process. Though the ability to create protein-polymer conjugates like this has existed for a long time, prior to now the process has been expensive, time-consuming and difficult to control. With Drs. Matyjaszewski and Russell’s methods, the same products can be produced faster and with a much higher degree of control – at just one-tenth the cost.
“We are using techniques and catalysts that are billions of times more active than those originally used 20 years ago, allowing us to use much smaller concentrations,” Dr. Matyjaszewski said. “Especially in an aqueous system, you need to tweak the polymerization conditions a little bit-like cooking, but cooking by design. It’s more like molecular cuisine.”
BioHybrid has secured funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), with plans to continue to grow and expand its business. It was among the 2016 NSF I-Corps teams at CMU. I-Corps, which was created by the National Science Foundation in 2011, provides funding for scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory in order to broaden the impact of select NSF-funded basic-research projects.
Illustration: Carnegie Mellon University.
Carnegie Mellon University News Release
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October 5, 2016 by Mitchell 1
Shane Portnoff Named Winner of the Mitchell 1 “Fabulous Las Vegas Sweepstakes”
Shane Portnoff of Aliso Viejo Auto Service in Aliso Viejo, California is the winner of the Mitchell 1 “Fabulous Las Vegas Sweepstakes.” He will receive an all-expense paid trip for two to attend this year’s Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week (AAIW) events, including the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) and Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show, running the first week of November in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“We would like to thank everyone who visited the Mitchell 1 Facebook page and entered for a chance to join us in Las Vegas,” said Nick DiVerde, senior marketing director for Mitchell 1. “We congratulate Shane Portnoff as the lucky winner and look forward to showing him the Mitchell 1 repair information solutions in action at our AAPEX booth.”
Portnoff has won round-trip airfare for two people to Las Vegas, double occupancy hotel accommodations, two attendee badges for AAPEX and the SEMA Show, and one $500 Visa prepaid card.
While in Las Vegas, Portnoff will have the opportunity to see firsthand how Mitchell 1 is the one source for every step of the repair process with its complete line of integrated automotive repair software and services. Mitchell 1’s industry-leading family of products for the automotive and trucking industries includes ProDemand® — the most complete source for OEM and real-world diagnostic and repair information; Manager™ SE — the industry standard for mechanical estimating and shop management; SocialCRM — shop marketing services that help shop owners engage customers and improve their bottom line profits; and TruckSeries — the only comprehensive repair information software suite of its kind available for Class 4-8 trucks.
Mitchell 1 will be demonstrating its full line of products in Booth 2271 at the AAPEX show, running Nov. 1 – 3 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center.
For more information about Mitchell 1, visit mitchell1.com, call (888) 724-6742, or locate an independent sales consultant at mitchellrep.com.
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Hamas: Resistance, Terrorism, & Anti-Semitic Charters
Mohamed Ghlian / August 14, 2014
Ever since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, a number of myths in the Zionist propaganda have been exposed one after another. At first analysts were tackling one or two myths at a time. Then came articles refuting five Israeli talking points on Gaza, including the claim that Hamas provoked Israel by firing their rockets, that they use human shields, or that Gaza is not under occupation. As the assault on Gaza continued, more of the Israeli talking points were getting further scrutinized. There seems to be a critical amount of graphic images of dead civilians, including hundreds of children, after which people cannot be manipulated as easily into shrugging their shoulders off anymore.
One of the latest Israeli myth busting articles was that of Mehdi Hassan’s, who debunked 11 talking points used by Israeli spokespersons. One really has to wonder why anyone after all these lies would listen to what Israeli spokespersons have to say at all. In fact, it has already been revealed that Israel specifically trains spokespersons to mislead, divert, and avoid answering questions in a way that absolves them from accountability.
It has become painfully obvious to those of us who do not rely on CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, a propagandist for Israel who masquerades as a journalist, that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the aggressor in this assault on Gaza, and that Hamas is merely responding to the attacks from the terrorist group that Zionists call the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). All one has to do is ignore the rhetoric and focus on the evidence to come to this conclusion. However, the propaganda machine remains hard at work. I have been travelling this weekend and passed through a number of airports, only to be subjected to the mind-numbing repetitive and biased “Special Reports” on Gaza by talking heads on “News” channels.
But something is different about the Zionist attack on Gaza this time. Israel is no longer immune to criticism, and Zionists are under constant pressure to explain the high-tech massacres the Israeli army of terrorists have committed. We are at a turning point in history where people can finally speak up against Zionists and not worry about belligerent thugs like Netanyahu easily manipulating public opinion merely by bringing up the Holocaust or anti-Semitism. It would seem that the anti-Semitism card has been overused.
Terrorist Shmerrorist
Nevertheless, despite the qualitative difference in the latest assault on Gaza, and the ever increasing number of writers who speak in support of Palestinians, there is still a limit to what one can say if they wish to keep their spot on the mainstream media platform. You are allowed to push the envelope, but only as far as the editors allow you to. Before one speaks in support of Gaza and the Palestinian cause, the first paragraph has to start with some pandering to the readers about how Hamas is a terrorist organization and how being pro-Palestinian does not mean one is pro-Hamas. People have already been well-conditioned and indoctrinated to mindlessly repeat this mantra without considering any facts on the ground. This type of rhetoric is also an embodiment of verses in the Quran describing this approach:
God knows exactly who among you hinder others, who say to their brothers, ‘Come and join us,’ who hardly ever come out to fight, who begrudge you [believers] any help. When fear comes, you see them looking at you with eyes rolling like someone in their death throes; when fear has passed, they attack you with sharp tongues and begrudge you any good. – Quran [33:18-19]
Out of fear for being labelled a “terrorist sympathizer”, any pro-Palestine or anti-Zionist article in mainstream media has to include a sentence or two at the beginning about the need for Hamas to stop firing rockets. This regurgitation of Zionist talking points is present even in articles that attempt to bring about some “nuance” to the discussion.
The bottom line is this: putting the internal politics of the Gaza Strip aside, you cannot be pro-Palestine and anti-Hamas!
Hamas is not a terrorist organization. As Glenn Greenwald put it, “Terrorsim is simultaneously the single most meaningless and most manipulated word in the American political lexicon.” There was a time when Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist, and only in 2008 did we see then-U.S. President George W. Bush sign a bill taking him off the terror watch list. Obviously this debacle was a consequence of early political interests, which were aligned between the South African apartheid regime and the U.S. against the communists. This eventually was cause for embarrassment of having to take him off the terror watch list years down the road.
Aside from the meaninglessness of the term, the use of it signifies a deeper problem from the pro-Palestinian side. It is that we have accepted the terms of engagement set forth by Zionists, which means this struggle is lost before it has begun. Moreover, referring to Hamas as a terrorist organization has another significance that has been missed by just about everyone with the exception of the Israeli novelist A. B. Yehoshua in his article for the New Republic where he implores Israel to stop referring to Hamas as a terror organization and wonders:
Is it that the expression “a regime of terror” is a stronger expression than “enemy”? Or perhaps the word “terror” signifies that deep down we consider Gaza to be a part of Israel. In that case, its inhabitants wouldn’t be considered “enemies,” but Arabs of the Land of Israel in which bands of terrorists operate? Are we responsible for the welfare of Gazans in a way that we weren’t responsible for the Syrians or Egyptians? Is that why we continue to supply electricity and food and oil to them, but won’t even negotiate with the Gaza leadership in the way we once negotiated with the Jordanians, Syrians, or Egyptians?
There is a reason Malcolm X told the oppressed not to accept the definitions set forth by the oppressor. This insight from Yehoshua comes at a time when some members of the Israeli government lay diplomatic language by the wayside and speak candidly about how they really view Gaza. Moshe Feiglin, the deputy speaker for the Kenesset, Israel’s parliament, and member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party announced plainly that the whole land is, “our country – our country exclusively, including Gaza.”
In a recent report, the head of the UN’s Gaza probe, Canadian legal expert William Schabas, was asked whether he considered Hamas a terrorist organization. His answer was evasive, stating that it was “inappropriate for [him] to answer a question like that,” and that the question needs to be studied in “as neutral and objective a manner as possible.” Schabas’ response may upset Zionists and their groupies. But it actually speaks to the deeper problem of using words that describe behaviour to label a group. Paul Pillar writes in The National Interest that “Terrorism is a tactic, one whose use comes and goes, not a fixed category of people or groups.” He further challenges the claim that Hamas is dedicated to the destruction of Israel:
The Israeli prime minister says Hamas is “dedicated to the destruction of Israel.” Actually, Hamas leaders have repeatedly made clear a much different posture, one that involves indefinite peaceful coexistence with Israel even if they officially term it only a hudna or truce. It would be more accurate to say that Israel is dedicated to the destruction of Hamas, an objective that Israel has demonstrated with not just its words but its deeds, including prolonged collective punishment of the population of the Gaza Strip in an effort to strangle the group. Such efforts have included large-scale violence that—although carried out overtly by military forces and thus not termed terrorism—has been every bit as lethal to innocent civilians.
A fact very few people are aware of is that Hamas is not actually the official name of the Palestinian political organization. It is an Arabic acronym that stands for Haraqat Al Muqawama Al Islamiyyah, i.e., The Islamic Resistance Movement. In their Arabic press appearances, the leaders of Hamas do not use their acronym as often as one would expect. Rather, when they refer to themselves they simply say “The Resistance”. It is not for nothing that no Western media would refer to Hamas by its official name. The sheeple would have a different perception of Zionist Israel if the Palestinian side is constantly referred to as The Resistance, which they most certainly are.
On Charters & Alleged Anti-Semitism
Hamas is constantly accused of being anti-Semitic, the proof of which can be obtained from their Charter. These supposed anti-Semitic components of the Charter were neatly collected by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). However, if one were to read the Charter in its entirety, a different image would emerge. For instance, the ADL first selected excerpt begins with the phrase “Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.” What they fail to relay to the reader are the three paragraphs preceding this statement, all of which address the struggle and suffering they have endured in Palestine under Zionist occupation. In fact, the stated primary purpose written in those lines for the formation of Hamas was to collaborate with all the resistance fighters to free Palestine.
The most commonly cited alleged anti-Semitism comes from Article 7 of the Charter, which cites a Hadith in which the Prophet Muhammed ﷺ is reported to have said,
The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharqad tree (salt tree/Nitre bush), would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.
It is important to note here that the statements immediately preceding this Hadith, all of which specifically speak to the Zionist invasion and occupation. The myth that Hamas is anti-Semitic persists on the equivocation between Zionism and Judaism. Throughout their entire Charter, the position of Hamas is in opposition to Zionism, not to Judaism. In fact, if one would read the entire document, they would find that in article 31 explicitly states the desire of Hamas to live peacefully with Jews and Christians. There is nothing about throwing the Jews out to the sea or killing Jews merely because they are Jewish.
In addition, the translation of the cited Hadith gives the impression that Muslims should specifically seek out Jews to kill them. It is therefore surprising that despite knowledge of this Hadith for the past 1400 years, Muslims have not led an organized genocide against Jews, let alone one based on religious injunction, the way Zionists are doing today in Gaza. What is lost in translation is that the form of the verb used (to fight) in Arabic indicates two sides fighting. Contrary to how it has been portrayed, this Hadith is not imploring a genocide of the Jewish people. It is merely stating that a time will come when Muslims and Jews will be engaged in battle. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ could have named any other religious or ethnic group, not as a form of discrimination, but as foretelling for events to come.
Furthermore, there is a tool in Arabic rhetoric in which the general term is used when a specific subgroup is meant. The Quran exemplifies this in more than one occasion. All things considered, this Hadith can be understood as specifically speaking about Zionists attacking Muslims, who would in turn have to fight them back. If this Hadith is indicative of anything, it is of the truth of a prophecy. Muslims have gone for 13 centuries without anti-Jewish sentiments, until Europeans imported this bigotry into the Middle East, especially after dispossessing Palestinians in order to create the Zionist state. This creates another problem: not only do we have to speak about the injustices taking place against Palestinians, but Muslim scholars and religious leaders also have to remind Muslims that our problem is not with Jews in general, but with Zionism in specific. No thanks to colonialism, not only do we have an external land/resources problem, we also have an ideological/religious one.
To make this even clearer, Shaykh Ahmed Yassin, a founder of Hamas, unequivocally clarifies that he does not fight Jews because they are Jewish. He does so because he was expelled from his home and land, and would fight his own brother who is from his own father and mother if he were to do the same to him:
The Hamas leadership has continually made the distinction in their public statements between Jews and Zionists, affirming that their intent is not to expel the Jews, but to return to where the Palestinians were expelled from. The problem with Hamas is their having engaged in suicide bombing operations as part of their resistance against Israelis. However, we need to acknowledge that the organization was formed in 1987, and they did not engage in suicide bombing attacks until 1993, which was a controversial decision among the organization’s leadership. In 2006 Hamas announced that they would no longer make use of suicide bombing campaigns, which they said had been a policy of desperation in response to the extreme provocations by Israel, such as the 1993 killings of 29 Palestinians in Hebron.
Although morally reprehensible, and thankfully an abandoned practice, we have to get beyond the obvious condemnations of suicide attacks and ask the question why this campaign was considered in the first place. These bombings were first carried out in a large scale in 1982 and 1983 during the Israeli occupation of Lebanon by Shia militia groups that would later become Hezbollah. After a series of targeted attacks against military bases resulting in high casualties for Israeli, U.S., and French security personnel. The success of these operations led to large-scale withdrawals of Israelis from population areas, and of multinational forces from Lebanon, which significantly popularized the tactic for the Palestinians, who would eventually employ it in their resistance. Aside from condemnation, we have to understand the context in which one would make a decision to turn their body into an intelligent bomb delivery system – it is because Palestinians do not possess U.S.-made high-tech missile guiding systems and fighter jets as the Israelis do, so they turn to their own bodies.
Evidence vs. Propaganda
Zionists are not defending Israel – they are trying to get Palestinians on their knees. Their target is not Hamas, but the Palestinians’ right for sovereignty. There is also something more sinister at work, because it is not just about land, but also about resources. Hamas serves as a convenient cover for Zionist to carry out their assaults in order to maintain control over Gaza’s shores. The blockade that Israel maintains over Gaza includes Palestinian territorial waters where 1.4 trillion cubic metres of natural gas were discovered in 2009. This effectively means that Hamas’ demand for Israel to lift the blockade will never be fulfilled, because Gaza is too precious for Israel to let go of. Indeed, when Zionists announced the discovery of the gas fields (conveniently after their 2008 assault on Gaza), they said they were “off the coast of Israel.” If we can be cynical, if Zionists cannot expel Palestinians from Gaza and officially include the Strip as part of Greater Israel, they will continue to subject the Palestinians to conditions that ensure continued Zionist control over the area as they do today.
If we all ignore the propaganda for a moment and focus on the evidence, it will become clear who the terrorists are. In all of their press releases and updates we find Hamas affirming they do not deliberately target civilians and only go after armed personnel. Based on what has been officially released, 64 IDF terrorists and 3 civilians were killed, and 500 IDF terrorists and 80 civilians were injured. Zionists on the other hand claim they are making “surgical” and “precise” attacks. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry 1,959 were killed and 10,196 were injured, 80% of which were civilians including women and children. With this, Netanyahu has the audacity to demand disarmament of Hamas. If anyone has shown an inability to engage in honourable combat, it is the IDF terrorists. Hence, they must be the ones who disarm first.
Israel is a terrorist state. Their army is nothing more than an organized group of thugs, exposed in their own news media for their vandalism in Gaza, deliberate targeting of civilians, and even defecating in Palestinians homes they occupy during their ground offensive. Hamas has a legally guaranteed right to defend Gaza and resist occupation, using armed resistance if needed. Their military operations are precise and surgical, targeting soldiers and adhering to a high moral code alien to IDF terrorists. We are constantly told that Hamas rockets are crude and useless, thus putting civilians in danger by the same media that made everyone believe the Iron Dome is a military marvel, when it actually does not work. Meanwhile, whenever Hamas announces they had fired a rocket, they include the target they are after, which is always an IDF terrorist encampment. One really has to wonder if these rockets are that crude and useless as propagandists claim they are.
Hamas is not just a political organization that one can vote for or against it during elections. Even if not in political office, it represents the spirit of resistance against the occupying Zionist terrorists. The attacks on Gaza, which revive Hamas’ political muster every time it is going through hard times, are attacks on Palestinian resilience. Netanyahu does not want to destroy Hamas, he wants to break the Palestinians and their spirit so he can take their land and steal their resources. In the words of Asmaa al-Ghoul, “If Hamas, in your eyes, is ordinary civilians and families, then I am Hamas, they are Hamas and we are all Hamas.”
August 14, 2014 in Politics. Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Israel, Palestine, Propaganda, Zionism, Zionist
Israel’s Gaza Politics of Death
The Theory… I Mean Hypothesis of Evolution
Why Are Muslims So Serious About Their Prophet?
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Tag / Old World porcupines
August 31, 2016 January 1, 2018 by mondaymorgue
Himalayan crestless porcupine, human activities, Hystricidae, Hystricognathi, Hystricomorpha, Hystrix brachyura, Johor, Malayan porcupine, Malaysia, mammals, Old World porcupines, Peninsular Malaysia, porcupines, roadkill, Rodentia, rodents, Southeast Asia Vertebrate Records, threats, West Malaysia
Fig. 1: Roadkill specimen, Jemaluang, Johor. © Tan Heok Hui
Inset: Example from Sungai Bantang, Johor (2015). © Nick Baker
Malayan Porcupine Hystrix brachyura at Jemaluang, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia
Location: Jemaluang, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia.
Habitat: Metalled road, next to lowland swamp forest and primary forest.
Date and time: 29 August 2003, 21:45 hrs.
Description of record: An adult (head and body length 60 cm) was found on a metalled road, a victim of traffic road kill (Fig. 1.). The subject appeared to have been crushed in the abdominal region, as indicated by the naked patch extending from its back to its abdomen, and with its innards extruding from the posterior end. The larger quills had become detached from its body.
Remarks: The colour of this specimen appears brownish, in contrast to ‘typical’ examples in which the anterior part of the body is black and sharply in contrast with the white posterior. A typical example from Sungai Bantang, Johor, is shown in the inset to Fig. 1. Similar brownish specimens also appear to exist in Singapore’s central forests, 80 km to the south of Jemaluang (N. Baker, pers. comm.).
Shepherd & Shepherd (2012) summarize the range of this species as “Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia [Kalimantan, Sumatra], Laos, Malaysia [Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak], Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Also found in Bangladesh, China, India and Nepal”. The state of Johor, Peninsular Malaysia thus lies in the southern part of its range.
Shepherd C. R. & Shepherd, L. A. (2012). A Naturalist’s Guide to the Mammals of South-East Asia – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. John Beaufoy Publishing, 176 pp.
Source: Southeast Asia Vertebrate Records 2016: 108-109
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No communications, no chance
Lookout! Issue 24, March 2012
Four men and a 13-year-old boy struggled against cold, choppy seas to reach shore after their boat capsized.
The New Zealand Herald ©2019
Searchers, including personnel from the Navy, Police and Coastguard, look for a man missing after the boat he and four others were in, sank.
As they fought for their lives, no one on shore had any inkling that they were in danger and their attempts to raise the alarm failed.
The group had set out for an afternoon’s fishing, in an aluminium boat. No one wore a lifejacket, although there were six carried on board. The boat was travelling at speed, and up on the plane when the motor suddenly stopped. As the boat dropped off, its wake flooded over the starboard quarter, causing it to roll to starboard and capsize. All five on board were spilled into the sea.
The capsize was totally unexpected. The men tried unsuccessfully to right the hull, and to make a 111 cellphone call, but could not get through due to poor coverage.
They managed to set off a smoke flare, but people on a nearby yacht did not appear to see it, and others on shore who saw it did not raise the alarm. One of the men sent his partner a text message, but she didn’t take it seriously.
One of the men managed to dive under the boat and pull out three lifejackets, which were divvied out to those who needed them most. The group decided to try to make shore, and started swimming towards a group of islands about 2 kilometres away.
By now the wind had picked up and a slight chop had developed. The party was separated into two groups, who were soon unable to see each other in the choppy conditions.
The men carried, but did not wear, lifejackets on their aluminium boat, pictured above.
The two groups continued their struggle towards the islands for about three hours. One man towed his companion as best he could for some way, but eventually the companion was lost. The man managed to reach one of the islands, and spent a freezing wet night alone, thinking he was the only one who had survived.
The next morning he saw that the boy and the other two men had made it to an adjacent island, and at low tide he was able to pick his way over a reef to join them.
About mid-morning, the wife of one of the men started to think something was wrong and raised the alarm. The group were found by a rescue helicopter soon after. They were extremely hypothermic, but eventually recovered in hospital.
An extensive air and sea search failed to find the missing man. His body was recovered some days later.
The men were not wearing lifejackets, and the boat capsized so quickly that they did not have time to put them on before being thrown into the sea. Three lifejackets were recovered, but these were difficult to put on once the men were in the water. The man who drowned had not done up the waist strap on his lifejacket, and it had slipped off.
None of the party had made a clear plan with anyone on shore about what time they should be expected to return. The partners of two of the men had simply assumed the men had decided to stay at each other’s houses overnight, and were not at all concerned until the morning. Letting someone responsible know where you’re going and when you intend to be back will mean that action is taken if you are overdue.
The men had few ways to raise the alarm. There was poor cellphone coverage, and they did not carry a waterproof, hand-held VHF radio. One of the men sent a text message to his partner as soon as he was flung into the water, but it was not taken seriously.
The men fired a flare, which had been seen from shore, but no one took any action. All flare sightings should be responded to as though they indicate a real emergency. It is far better to raise the alarm, even if this turns out to be in error. It is not known whether those on board the nearby yacht also saw the men’s flare.
The boat had a boarding platform that extended aft of the hull from the bottom of the transom. When brought to a sudden stop, most vessels like this will be impacted by their own wake on the transom. In this case, the boarding platform may also have dug the stern into the water, providing an easy path for the water to flow into the vessel. The flooding waters then quickly capsized it.
This tragedy highlights the importance of preparing for a sudden emergency. In many cases, there is no time to put on lifejackets or grab emergency communications equipment. MNZ recommends wearing lifejackets at all times and carrying two effective means of communication that will work when wet. A distress beacon or waterproof handheld VHF carried in a pocket or float-free grab bag would have enabled the men to alert emergency services.
Return to the index for Lookout! Issue 24, March 2012
Previous: Vessel steaming... crew sleeping
Next: Alcohol and water don’t mix
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What is the greenhouse effect? Causes and examples
The greenhouse effect is a process by which a planet’s atmosphere traps some of its parent star’s energy. In our case, the Earth is the planet while the Sun is our parent star. The Earth traps some of the Suns heat and subsequently warms up. Greenhouse gases trap the Sun’s energy to make our planet warm enough to support life.
Without the greenhouse effect there would be no life on Earth. It would be an extremely cold place at night, while during the day it would be incredibly hot. In fact, it would be very much like the Moon.
Just like the glass of a greenhouse keeps the heat inside, greenhouse gases do the same with our planet.
Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, for example, are greenhouse gases. Ozone and CFCs are also greenhouse gases.
According to Environment Clean Generations: “First, sunlight shines onto the Earth’s surface, where it is absorbed and then radiates back into the atmosphere as heat. In the atmosphere, “greenhouse” gases trap some of this heat, and the rest escapes into space. The more greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere, the more heat gets trapped.” (Image: environment-clean-generations.blogspot.co.uk)
Greenhouse effect – greenhouse gases
Our planet receives energy from the Sun in the form of sunlight. The Earth’s surface absorbs some of this energy and gets warmer. That is why the tarmac on a road can still feel hot even after the sun has gone down – because it has absorbed some of the Sun’s energy.
The Earth cools down by giving off infrared thermal radiation – a different form of energy. However, before all this radiation can disappear into outer space, greenhouse gases in our atmosphere absorb some of it, which heats up the atmosphere. As the atmosphere heats up, it makes our planet’s surface warmer too – that is the greenhouse effect.
All life on Earth depends on its natural greenhouse effect. Without it life would never have started in the first place. With no greenhouse gases, our planet’s average surface temperature would be -18°C (0°F), instead of the current 15°C (59°F) – our nights would plunge to -153°C (-243°F), while during the day temperatures would soar to 123°C (253°F), just like the Moon’s surface.
When car ownership per 100 inhabitants in India and China, with a combined population of 2.6 billion, reaches the levels of the USA and European Union, the greenhouse effect will intensify significantly and global warming will accelerate. (Image: ucar.edu)
Human activity causing greenhouse effect?
Human activities, mainly the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and livestock farming, have intensified the natural greenhouse effect, causing climate change in the form of global warming. In other words, because of the things we do, our planet is warming up too much.
Some of the ice in and around the North and South Poles is starting to melt – the water is pouring into the sea. Melting polar ice caps will cause sea levels to rise, which could be catastrophic for coastal towns and cities across the world, and also for low lying areas.
The Netherlands, Bangladesh, Florida in the USA, and some other parts of the world where much of the land is close to sea level, could be in serious trouble if sea levels rise by a couple of metres, which scientists say will probably happen by the end of this century unless we start taking measures now.
Greenhouse effect not a new concept
Scientists have known about the greenhouse effect for a long time. According to historic records, it was first mentioned by the French mathematician and physicist Joseph Fourier (1768-1830) in 1824.
The notion and the evidence pointing to the existence of the greenhouse effect was further strengthened by the French physicist Claude Pouillet (1790-1868) in 1827 and 1838, and reasoned from experimental observations by the prominent 19th-century physicist John Tyndall (1820-1893) in 1859.
Swedish physicist-chemist Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927) quantified the effect more fully in 1896. Swedish meteorologist Nils Gustaf Ekholm (1848-1923) first used the term ‘greenhouse effect’ in 1901.
Scottish-born Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone, said:
” would have a sort of greenhouse effect. The net result is the greenhouse becomes a sort of hot-house.”
In fact, Bell was so concerned about the greenhouse effect that he advocated the use of alternative energy sources, such as solar power. Solar power, or solar energy, refers to capturing the Sun’s energy and converting it into electricity.
Alexander Graham Bell, one of the primary inventors of the telephone, was concerned about what we were doing to the greenhouse effect 100 years ago. He said we should seek out alternative energy sources to fossil fuels. (Image: biography.com)
Some greenhouse gas quotes:
“I do not believe we can effectively move Australia to a lower emission economy, which is what we need to do if we’re going to make a contribution to a global reduction in greenhouse gases, without putting a price on carbon.
(Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister of Australia)
“The basic science is very well established; it is well understood that global warming is due to greenhouse gases. What is uncertain is projections about specifics in the next few decades, by how much will the climate change.
(Mario J. Molina. One of the most prominent precursors to the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole. A co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
“There is universal consensus among experts that the earth’s atmosphere is heating up – and that we are responsible for it by putting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We also know that the consequences of global warming are catastrophic. But how do we make sure that all countries reduce greenhouse gases?
(Eric Maskin. An American economist and 2007 Nobel laureate. He laid the foundations of mechanism design theory.)
Video – The Greenhouse Effect
This video animation, by the US Environmental Protection Agency, explains what the greenhouse effect. It tells us how it relates to climate change. The narrator begins by describing our planet’s energy balance and the natural greenhouse effect. She then explains how human activities are intensifying this effect – and producing global warming.
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Thinking… Thought
May 29, 2015 by nljmonsegue
What FIFA Can Learn From the Biggest Scandal in Baseball History
On Wednesday, the new Attorney General of the United States, Loretta Lynch, announced the arrest and indictment of 14 high officials of FIFA, the soccer world’s governing body, and of various regional soccer associations for massive, systemic corruption. Attorney General Lynch, who previously supervised the investigation as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, took advantage of broad provisions in U.S. laws allowing their application against acts largely, but not entirely, committed overseas. There is no precedent for this situation in international sport, but there is in American sport: the way in which Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first baseball commissioner, cleaned up the game and put it on a sound footing beginning in 1921, after the Black Sox scandal and the fixing of the 1919 World Series had come to light. FIFA and the strongest national associations now have to figure out how to solve somewhat different…
4 Rituals to Keep You Happy All the Time
Tim Kreider got stabbed in the throat.
The knife went in two millimeters from his carotid artery. He describes those two millimeters as the difference between being “flown home in the cargo hold instead of in coach.”
Luckily, he made a full recovery. How does he describe the event?
“It was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”
He was so grateful to be alive that for the next year, it was impossible for him to be unhappy.
Via We Learn Nothing: Essays:
Except for the ten or fifteen minutes during which it looked like I was about to die, which I would prefer not to relive, getting stabbed wasn’t even among the worst experiences of my life. In fact it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. After my unsuccessful murder I wasn’t unhappy for an entire year.
This is the…
Death Toll in India’s Intense Heat Wave Soars to Over 1,100
India’s heat wave has now claimed over 1,100 lives, with spiking temperatures melting roads in the capital, New Delhi, as the country awaits the arrival of the annual monsoon rains.
More than 850 people have succumbed in the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where extreme temperatures claimed more than 200 lives in one district alone. In neighboring Telangana state, at least 266 people have died, officials say. Deaths have also been reported in the eastern states of Odisha and West Bengal, and in Gujarat on the country’s western coast. With temperatures in parts of the country nearing 122°F (50°C), most of the deaths have been reported over the past week.
In New Delhi, where temperatures have been hovering around the 113°F (45°C) mark, the local Hindustan Times newspaper carried a picture on its front page on Tuesday of the disfigured white stripes of a pedestrian crossing as…
6 Simple Ways to Boost Your Metabolism
Throughout my years counseling clients I’ve seen many achieve fantastic weight loss results, including those who had not had success with other approaches, or thought they couldn’t possibly lose weight due to various circumstances, like being injured and unable to exercise, or being post-menopausal.
Based on my experience, I always believe that results are possible, but I’ve also learned that weight loss isn’t predictable or easy—and it certainly isn’t as simple as a “calories in versus calories out” equation. A new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) illustrated this and backs what I’ve seen in my own practice—one person’s metabolic response to eating less may not mimic another’s, due to biological differences.
NIH researchers studied a dozen obese men and women in a metabolic unit. The study measured the subjects’ calorie expenditures, both before and after a day of fasting, followed by a six-week phase during which they…
France Bans Supermarkets From Destroying Surplus Food
Opportunities knock….
So many times in life opportunities present themselves but our minds are somewhat closed affecting our sense of judgment and our discerning abilities.
We see those opportunities but don’t look with intent at them for what they truly are.
We hear them mentioned but don’t listen attentively to the message.
We touch them but don’t feel the vibration or true texture.
We smell them but don’t inhale their very essence.
We taste them but don’t savour their flavour.
When we let them pass us by they’re missed opportunities. Sometimes we’re reminded that we missed them but other times we never even knew they knocked so they just moved along.
Be alert… Opportunities may come your way but they’re not gonna linger around.
You don’t wanna keep saying to yourself “I wish I had the opportunity to……”
Koma2015
Every day we’re given opportunities, some of us see them and some are too busy to notice “~Rachael Bermingham
15 Phrases You Should Say to Yourself Every Day
Everybody wants to get more done, but unfortunately all the time management tips in the world can’t help you overcome one of the biggest issues affecting your productivity—your attitude. Fortunately, it’s easier to change your mindset than you might think. All you have to do is change what you say to yourself.
Be honest–most of us have a constant negative monologue playing in our heads all day. You tell yourself how tired you are, how disorganized you are, and how much you hate what you have to do. But what if you told yourself something different? Whether you say it out loud or in your mind, what you say to yourself matters.
With that in mind, here are 15 phrases you should say to yourself every day to help you meet your goals:
1. “I’m going to succeed at _____.” When you tell yourself you’ll succeed at a specific…
Restore: Devastating beauty
This touched my Heart…
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Post Malone’s ‘Rockstar’ Wins Song of the Year at the 2018 MTV VMAs
There may still be four months left in 2018, but MTV has already crowned its song of the year.
During the 35th annual Video Music Awards on Monday night (August 20), Post Malone's 21 Savage-assisted "Rockstar" nabbed the top honor, beating out a stacked roster of nominees: Bruno Mars' Cardi B collab "Finesse," Camila Cabello's Young Thug-featuring "Havana," Drake's "God's Plan," and Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" were also all up for this year's moon person.
"You go to bed and you dream about maybe winning, and then when you get up here, you don't remember what the hell to say," Malone, whose real name is Austin Post, said in his acceptance speech. "I just wanna say thank you to my family, thank you to my crew, everybody that was a part of the song. Thank you everybody for listening. Honestly in a hundred million years I would never expect to do this ever, so this is sick. Thank you so much, guys."
"Rockstar," released in September, marked Malone's first No. 1 single as a solo artist. See the full list of 2018 VMAs winners here.
2018 MTV Video Music Awards Red Carpet: Photos
Source: Post Malone’s ‘Rockstar’ Wins Song of the Year at the 2018 MTV VMAs
Filed Under: VMA's
Categories: Articles, Music News, News
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Two years later: are we fit to frack?
ntcomms / July 21, 2016
Two years after the publication of the Fit to Frack report, this blog, produced by RSPB on behalf of the Fit to Frack group, takes a look at progress against our original recommendations.
Ullswater, Lake District National Park. ©National Trust Images/John Malley
In response to government claims that the controversial practice of fracking would only take place within a ‘world class’ regulatory framework to deliver maximum protection to the environment we, a partnership of wildlife and landscape conservation organizations, came together in 2014 to reach a better understanding of fracking and its risks on our countryside, wildlife and the climate (the ‘Fit to Frack’ coalition consists of RSPB, National Trust, the Wildlife Trusts, Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, Salmon and Trout Conservation and Angling Trust (the organisations that published the original report) as well as Campaign to Protect Rural England who were later formally welcomed into the coalition). The result of this was the publication of two significant reports to explore these risks.
These reports analyse the experience of fracking in the USA to assess the risks to the UK’s natural environment, and asked the question ‘are we fit to frack?’ We made it clear that while we do not necessarily oppose hydraulic fracturing as a practice, nor the exploitation of shale gas or oil reserves, we do believe commercial shale gas extraction should only go ahead in the UK if it can be objectively demonstrated that the regulatory framework for the industry is fit for purpose, and offers sufficient protection to the natural and historic environment. Therefore, as part of our assessment, we identified ten necessary improvements to the UK’s regulatory regime. We also asked Government or industry to produce a compelling case that fracking is compatible with our carbon budgets and other climate change commitments. These regulatory recommendations and our question around climate change served as what we saw as two key tests for governments and the industry.
Since then, hydraulic fracturing (or ‘fracking’) of unconventional onshore gas and oil reserves has risen to even greater public prominence. Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland all have moratoria in place or strong planning presumptions against the exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbon reserves. This means that it is only England, right now, that is going full steam ahead on fracking.
This was demonstrated when 159 new onshore oil and gas licenses were issued across England in 2015, and confirmed last May when the first fracking operation license since 2011 was approved.
Are We Fit To Frack? March 2014 report
This is the perfect moment to come back to our reports and to review progress on our recommendations. But before doing so we’d like to touch on the other key test we set out – whether fracking can be compatible with the UK’s climate change commitments.
The UK Government recently released the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) report on the compatibility of fracking with the UK’s carbon budgets. The report says that fracking on a commercial scale will be incompatible with our carbon budgets unless three key tests are met, and that meeting these tests will require new regulations. In their response to the report, the UK Government said that it is confident that the tests can be met based on existing regulation. We are sceptical of this, particularly since a large part of meeting the tests relies on meeting the UK’s carbon budgets in other sectors of the economy. At present, the UK is off track for meeting its 4th carbon budget, so this appears to be a shaky assumption at best. The UK Energy Research Centre’s (UKERC) recent report also concludes that the prospects for fracking in the UK are very limited for similar reasons. Therefore, with regards to climate change, we are not convinced that the UK is fit to frack.
So back to assessing progress against our recommendations made two years ago. Overall, some progress has been made by government and industry. But the real test for current regulations and frameworks will come if industry activity increases from a small to a larger number of test sites, and from testing to full scale extraction.
Our regulatory recommendations have been partially, but not wholly fulfilled, and therefore we still do not consider that the UK is fully fit to frack.
Read on for a more detailed analysis of progress against our two key tests on regulation and climate change…
Our ten recommendations: progress made
In summary, while we welcome many of the voluntary measures that have been implemented by the industry since 2014, in our view such measures are insufficient to ensure that the natural environment is appropriately protected. Voluntary measures can complement but not replace mandatory regulation and legislation put in place by Government and relevant regulatory agencies.
Evidence from across a broad range of sectors and issues demonstrates that voluntary approaches are rarely if ever an appropriate substitute for well-designed, implemented, and enforced regulations, particularly where the risks associated with even low levels of non-compliance are high. A report by the RSPB launched in November 2015 assessed more than 150 of such voluntary schemes and found that over 80% performed poorly on at least one key performance indicator, with 75% of UK-based voluntary schemes failing to achieve their stated targets.
1. Avoid sensitive areas for wildlife and water resources by creating shale gas extraction exclusion zones.
Government has announced a ban on fracking at the surface within a full range of protected areas, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), National Parks, Natura 2000 sites, World Heritage Sites (WHS), the Broads, Ramsar International wetlands and groundwater Source Protection Zone (SPZ) 1. This is an important step in the right direction providing much needed protection for some of England’s most sensitive wildlife and nature reserves.
We consider it important that appropriate buffer zones be applied to these sites, but this should be done on a case by case basis depending on the site and its conditions. We also consider it important that, based on appropriate evidence, this exclusion be extended to Local Wildlife Sites, SPZ 2, and SPZ 3 in certain cases.
Because fracking is a new onshore industry in the UK, we consider it important and safest to rule out fracking beneath these sites altogether. Government has not gone this far, but has set a depth threshold, banning fracking at less than 1200m beneath AONBs, WHS, National Parks the Broads and SPZ 1. The measures the Government intends to put in place at the surface will provide some important protection for nature. But, they do not go quite as far as we had hoped, therefore leaving risk of direct impacts on these internationally and nationally important places.
2. Make Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) mandatory for shale gas extraction proposals.
The 2015 Infrastructure Act made it obligatory for the Secretary of State to receive an assessment of environmental impact before granting consent to a hydraulic fracturing well. We welcome these developments, but we do not consider this to be the same as an EIA assessment that complies with the EIA Directive. This may sound like a technicality, but the scope and terms of the assessments mentioned in the Infrastructure Act are left worryingly undefined. We consider that a full Environmental Impact Assessment would be required for each fracking well application in order to fully assess the environmental risks.
We do welcome a commitment from UK Onshore Oil and Gas, the industry body, that all fracking proposals will require an EIA, but again this is a voluntary, rather than a mandatory measure.
3. Require shale gas operators to pay for a world-class regulatory regime.
We have received assurances from Government that regulatory bodies have received increases in their budgets and teams to resource their regulation of the industry, despite cuts elsewhere to their budgets from central government. We have also been assured that this money has come from appropriate costs for permits charged to the industry. It will be important that these teams are protected from cuts as the industry progresses and should benefit from appropriate increases in resources if the industry grows.
4. Prevent tax payers from bearing the costs of accidental pollution
The fracking industry now has access to insurance schemes that ensure that the tax payer is protected from the cost of environmental impacts while the well is operating, even if an operating company goes bust. Only after the Environment Agency approve the decommissioning is industry allowed to hand back their environmental permit.
However, research has shown that 30% of existing decommissioned UK onshore conventional wells have (albeit very minor) leaks. Our concern is that there is no monitoring in place after the lifetime of the well is deemed to have ended, and that leaks of this kind may go unnoticed in future. If one of them were serious, then it is unclear who would bear the cost if an operator had already been allowed to hand back their environmental permit.
Although not explicitly addressed in our initial recommendations, post-decommissioning activities also potentially directly relate to preventing taxpayers from bearing the cost of pollution. Therefore we’d like to emphasise that regulations should not only cover the lifetime of the well and its decommissioning, but also post-decommissioning activities. A regime is needed in order to ensure that a Government agency can undertake long-term monitoring to check for leaks beyond the lifetime of the well. Additionally, a fund should be available to protect the tax payer from paying for the costs of leaks that could pose a threat to the environment or human health.
5. Make water companies statutory consultees in the planning process.
We welcome the importance of this being recognised and introduced. We also welcome the ongoing collaboration between UKOOG (the industry body) and Water UK and British Water. The real test will be if the industry develops and these relationships need to be put into practice across many sites.
6. Require all hydraulic fracturing operations to operate under a Groundwater Permit.
We welcome the introduction of new hydrogeological assessments. We also welcome the clarification provided in the Environment Agency’s advice to the oil and gas sector that fracking constitutes a groundwater activity wherever there is a risk that injecting fracturing fluids might create indirect pathways for pollutants to enter groundwater, even where that is deep below the ground surface. We are still concerned that the risk of pollutants entering groundwater through drilling fluids and borehole acidisation might still fall outside permitting requirements.
7. Make sure Best Available Techniques for mine waste management are rigorously defined and regularly reviewed.
The Environment Agency has put some Best Available Technique programmes out to tender and is awaiting the results. We also await these with interest to provide more detail on how operators will be asked to demonstrate that they are ensuring the best possible protection for the natural environment.
8. Ensure full transparency of the industry and its environmental impacts
The Environment Agency has now assured us that all monitoring data will be supplied to them and made publicly available through the public register.
9. Ensure monitoring and testing of shale gas wells is rigorous and independent
We are concerned that while Health and Safety Executive assesses the independence of the ‘independent well examiner’, this examiner can, if approved, be from the same company as that which is operating the well (as long as they are not within the line management of the well operations). We consider it a minimum requirement that well examiners should not work for the same parent company as the operator and ideally should be required to be employed by the regulator rather than from another company in the same industry.
10. Minimise and monitor methane emissions
Strict control of methane emissions was one of the conditions set out by the Committee on Climate Change in a previous report for ensuring that fracking did not pose a risk to short term carbon budgets. Therefore, careful monitoring of it and action to address any escapes of methane would be necessary to minimise climate impacts.
We welcome the introduction of baseline monitoring of groundwater methane levels through the Infrastructure Act. However, we are disappointed that a similar provision has not been introduced for airborne methane levels.
We welcome voluntary commitments from the industry to undertake baseline monitoring for soil, air and water, notwithstanding our concerns about the effectiveness of voluntary schemes noted above.
We also note that the late David McKay, former Chief Scientific Advisor to DECC recommended that Best Available Technique and ‘green completions’ would be required in order to minimise methane emissions from fracking operations. Given that methane is a far more potent gas than carbon dioxide in terms of climate change, we hope that the Best Available Technique guidance from the Environment Agency will recommend Reduced Emissions or ‘green completions’ and the Environment Agency is expected to produce this BAT at some point this year.
Post written by Matt Williams, Policy Officer at RSPB, on behalf of the Fit to Frack Group.
July 21, 2016 in Energy & Environment, Land & Landscape. Tags: Angling Trust, carbon budget, Climate Change, fit to frack, fracking, Hydraulic Fracturing, national trust, RSPB, Salmon and Trout Conservation, The Wildlife Trusts, Wildfowl and Wetland Trust
National Trust calls for our most special places to be frack free zones
Fracking: A Joint Response to new Planning Guidance
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New HS2 Phase 2B route recommendation brings serious concerns →
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Is It Too Late to Fix DC's Suburbs?
The trouble with urbanizing Beltway sprawl
By Alec MacGillis
It’s been a rough week for the much-touted urbanization of the Washington DC suburbs. As much as any place in the country, they have emerged as a major test of whether municipalities can redeem the planning and development sins of the second half of the 20th century. "Remaking America's sprawling suburbs, with their enormous footprints, shoddy construction, hastily built infrastructure and dying malls, is shaping up to be the biggest urban revitalization challenge of modern times,” declared urbanist guru Richard Florida in 2010.
But then came word on Monday that the extension of the Washington Metro to Tysons Corner, Virginia—the first leg of an extension all the way to Dulles Airport—has not yet transformed the car-dependent, soul-numbing edge city into a walkable, vibrant downtown, as its planners were hoping. The Tysons Corner stations haven’t even officially opened—the first Silver Line train won’t disgorge passengers until late this year—but already plans are being tweaked to include “temporary ‘pop-up’ development to make stations feel less desolate,” according to The Washington Post:
The county has just begun implementing a 40-year plan to remake Tysons Corner from a sprawling, traffic-clogged sea of office buildings, parking lots and shopping malls into an urban downtown where more people live. The Metro stops are a central part of that plan, but until Tysons urbanizes, the areas around them won’t be especially pedestrian friendly. The future Greensboro station, for example, located on Leesburg Pike, is in the middle of a six-lane highway. One side is flanked by a strip mall, and the other by a vacant lot, a mattress store and a shop that advertises “late night DVDs.” The McLean and Tysons Corner stops are in the middle of 10 lanes of traffic, surrounded mostly by corporate offices and parking lots. Pending redevelopment plans will largely remake Tysons, but in the meantime, Fairfax is looking into pop-up businesses and other temporary infrastructure to orient riders, create a sense of place and help set the stage for what the county hopes Tysons will become — a vibrant, walkable destination.
The county will be assisted in this effort by 13 students from nearby George Mason University, who are tasked with recommending for the vacant lots near stations proposals involving food trucks, fairs and "short-term businesses in temporary retail and restaurant space built out of shipping containers." Truly, nothing says bright lights, big city like Potemkin retail in shipping containers designed by a handful of 20-year-olds!
Meanwhile, across the Potomac, the Post reports that things are also not going so well with the ongoing effort to remake another edge city, Silver Spring, into a hip hub:
A series of design and construction failures—including inadequate concrete strength and a lack of reinforcing steel—have left the Silver Spring Transit Center unsafe and unusable without major repairs, Montgomery County officials said Tuesday. The problems go far beyond what was previously known and will keep the opening of the $112 million bus-and-train hub, already two years behind schedule, on hold indefinitely. Officials could not say how much it would cost to fix the issues or who would be liable.
…The findings are an embarrassing setback for the county in its efforts to transform Silver Spring into a genuine urban center, one less dependent on automobiles. The concrete structure at Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue, formally known as the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center, is envisioned as a central hub for buses, Metrorail, MARC trains, cabs and bikes.
I passed through the existing Silver Spring stop on my way to work this week and had a clear view of the new transit hub: a big edgy-looking pile of concrete and glass, all diagonals and sharp angles, sort of a poor man’s Calatrava. It’s a commendable attempt to inject some strangeness into the boxy monotony that dominates greater Washington. Unfortunately, it looks like that’s all it will be doing for the time being—serving as a very expensive public-art installation, rather than actually being used.
One must be careful not to over-generalize between these two examples. Silver Spring has in fact come a long way in the past decade. There’s a respectable music venue, a more than respectable art-house cinema, and some good spots to eat. The problem with the transit hub is one of engineering and execution, whereas the Tysons dilemma, which I covered at length for the Post some years back, is far deeper and more existential given the confounding scale of its big malls, strip highways and overall sprawl.
Still, taken together the Silver Spring and Tysons tribulations are even more evidence of the hole we dug for ourselves with sprawling post-war development patterns that are proving awfully difficult to transform into something that more closely resembles the rejuvenated urban ideal. This is a challenge that is proving much more daunting for places like metro Washington that, unlike New York, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia, experienced their defining growth in the post-war years. There is much less need for retrofits in places where outlying development occurred as streetcar or commuter rail suburbs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the scarcity of automobiles dictated relatively compact development near stations.
That is not to say that such retrofit efforts are futile. The Clarendon corridor in Arlington, Virginia stands as evidence of the kind of transformation that can be accomplished with transit and good planning. It does also suggest, however, that it’s far better to get things right the first time around. Even Florida, the man who minted a small fortune from the notion that places need to attract the “creative class” to thrive, is starting to acknowledge limits to the theory, albeit years after he cashed the checks from the many municipalities that eagerly bought into it. (And yesterday he denied any such acknowledgement.) Everyone can’t be above average, and every place can’t be a dynamic magnet. Some places will remain pop-up even after the pop-ups come down.
Follow me on Twitter @AlecMacGillis
Washington, Tysons Corner, Cities, Arlington, Richard Florida, Urbanism, Sprawl
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What's The North Korean Version Of Kabuki?
Whatever it is, Laura Ling and Euna Lin--the two American journalists recently arrested by the North Koreans on the country's border with China--are now caught up in it:
The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency accused the two of “illegal entry" and said, "their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements, according to the results of intermediary investigation conducted by a competent organ.”
"The organ is carrying on its investigation and, at the same time, making a preparation for indicting them at a trial on the basis of the already confirmed suspicions," it said.
This was the first reported case in which a U.S. citizen will be indicted and tried in North Korea, South Korean officials said. The North’s criminal code calls for between 5 and 10 years of "education through labor" for people convicted of "hostile acts" against the state.
In a "severe" case, the code allows more than 10 years in labor camp.
The weird thing about all this, though, is that because North Korea is actually a state--albeit a rogue one--it's probable that Ling and Lin will be released. The North Koreans will use their capture as a bargaining chip; American diplomats will jump through whatever hoops the North Koreans set up for them; and that will be that. So, in a way, this beats being captured by the FARC or the Taliban or a Mexican drug cartel. Still, it has to be hell for Ling and Lin's families.
--Jason Zengerle
The Plank, Laura Ling, Euna Lin
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The Left’s John Roberts
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Elena Kagan is a mirror-image of the chief justice.
WASHINGTON— Brace yourself for several months of occasionally biting but essentially meaningless political theater over the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.
Underlying the fight will be a fundamental divide between liberals and conservatives over the direction of the court. Thus, many senators who supported Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito will oppose Kagan, while most who were against Roberts and Alito will be for her.
The irony is that the surface similarities between Roberts and Kagan are breathtaking. My conservative colleague Michael Gerson wrote of Kagan: "We know that she is connected to just about everyone in the legal establishment, and most seem to like her." Change "she" to "he," and "her" to "him," and the same sentence could have been written about Roberts.
Considerations that didn't bother conservatives during Roberts' confirmation (his Ivy League background, the fact that he wasn't a military veteran, the content of memos he wrote as an executive branch employee) will now be declared highly significant in Kagan's case.
But none of this will matter. In 2005, Republicans controlled the Senate and Roberts' confirmation was more or less guaranteed. In 2010, Democrats control the Senate and Kagan's confirmation is more or less guaranteed. That means that the issues underlying the left-right differences over the judiciary, the ones senators will actually be voting on, will go largely undiscussed.
Much as I would like this debate to happen, why should Kagan abandon a successful confirmation script, even one she herself cheekily noted 15 years ago "takes on an air of vacuity and farce"? Given the incentives of the system, vacuity in pursuit of confirmation is no vice.
I say that as one of those many people who have known her for a long time and think she very much deserves to be confirmed. And paradoxically, one of the reasons I admire her involves a question Republicans are raising on which I actually disagreed with Kagan.
Back in 2003, a group of law schools went to court asserting their right to deny military recruiters access to their campuses because the "don't ask, don't tell" policy discriminated against gays and lesbians. When she was dean of Harvard Law School, she signed amicus briefs supporting the schools' contention; they eventually lost their case in the Supreme Court.
I agreed with the law schools in opposing "don't ask, don't tell." It's both morally wrong and stupid. But I also argued at the time that the growing separation between the military and other parts of our society, particularly its most liberal and elite precincts, was a major problem for the country. Because closing that divide should be a high priority, perhaps especially for liberals, I felt the schools should welcome the recruiters to their campuses and find other ways to fight "don't ask, don't tell.
A couple of years later, I ran into Kagan. After we exchanged warm greetings—her assets include an open and welcoming personality and a lovely sense of humor—I raised the recruiting controversy, saying I thought the universities were wrong.
Several things about her response show why she will make an excellent justice. First, she understood we were debating in good faith. She doesn't turn disagreements into personal quarrels.
Second, she spoke with genuine feeling about her respect for the military. When she offers this view during her hearings, as she no doubt will, people should know it's a sentiment she expressed in private.
Third, she made a superb argument based on a careful balancing test: Yes, in a free and democratic society, the military should be able to recruit on campuses; but university officials have an obligation to maintain policies that protect groups that are part of their student population from discrimination. At Harvard Law, she struck this balance by allowing recruiters access through a student veterans group, but not through its main career office.
In the end, her argument made clear that we agreed on both of the core imperatives, but weighed them differently. Her approach—simultaneously careful and principled—is what makes for thoughtful judging.
Unfortunately, there is absolutely no reason for Kagan to offer the Senate a full airing of just how thoughtful she can be on a host of other issues. She will give the senators no more and no less than John Roberts did. She'd be a fool to do otherwise. And foolish is something she's definitely not.
E.J. Dionne's e-mail address is ejdionne(at)washpost.com.
E.J. Dionne, Jr. is the author of the recently published Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right. He is a Washington Post columnist, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a professor at Georgetown University.
(c) 2010, Washington Post Writers Group
For more TNR, become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Politics, Washington, John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Michael Gerson, Samuel Alito, Harvard, Senate, Supreme Court, Ivy League
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Home International Musharraf treason case to be heard on March 8
Musharraf treason case to be heard on March 8
Islamabad, February 26: A special tribunal in Pakistan will resume on March 8 the hearing of treason case against former military dictator Pervez Musharraf for imposing emergency rule in the country in 2007.
Musharraf, 74, who left the country for Dubai in March 2016 , was declared a proclaimed absconder by the court in May 2016. The court also asked the government to confiscate his properties, including a farm house in suburbs of capital Islamabad.
The former president was indicted in March, 2014 on treason charges for imposing emergency in the country which led to the confinement of a number of superior court judges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges.
A three-member bench headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Yahyah Afridi will now resume the hearing in the case.
During the last hearing in the case, the court ordered the Interior Ministry to reverify Musharraf s properties and provide details of his current assets and bank transactions.
The court, during the proceedings, had also expressed dissatisfaction over the details of the former dictator’s properties, saying that the details are only up till 2008.
A conviction for high treason carries the death penalty or life imprisonment.
An official said that the decision to resume the hearing was taken after Musharraf s wife and daughter approached the court about the attachment of his properties.
His family members asked the court to release their share in the property which is not entirely owned by Musharraf.
The court while fixing the date for hearing also asked Musharraf to appear before it and ordered authorities to provide fool proof security to him.
Musharraf ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008. He is wanted in Pakistan in several criminal cases including in the killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
It is not sure if he would return to face the case on March 8. In May 2017, he conveyed to the court that he was ready to come back and face the high treason case if he was provided army s protection and allowed to return to Dubai after hearing. (PTI)
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Home » Names Meaning
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Name is considered as the unseen identity of a person's personality. This section has several thousands of meaningful boys and girls names suitable for your child. We are periodically adding new names and fixing errors to make it worth useful!
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National College offers evening classes for Medical Assisting in the academic term starting August 25.
Projected Job Growth 2016-2026 for the Medical Assisting field Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Certified Medical Assistant Named to Knoxville Campus Alumni Hall of Achievement
Andre Simpson has been named to the Knoxville Campus Alumni Hall of Achievement after building a successful career as a certified medical assistant (CMA) with Brown Chiropractic and Optimal Health.
Andre, a 2010 graduate of the campus, first developed an interest in the medical field while working as a nursing assistant in an emergency room trauma center when he was just sixteen years old. He attended the University of Tennessee after graduating from high school, but said that he didn’t complete his program there because there were too many distractions.
A few years later, he found National College while searching for educational programs online. At National, Andre found a more interpersonal experience which he felt was more conducive to learning. With the credits that he transferred from the university, he was able to complete his associate’s degree program in just a year and a half.
Andre began his career in medical assisting working at a pain management clinic, and he also worked for a respiratory therapy practice before finding the job of his dreams at Brown Chiropractic and Optimal Health. “The clinic that I’m at now does a round-about of everything that I’ve done before I was hired on there,” he explained “It’s a great learning experience there, plus a great opportunity.”
His duties as a CMA include assisting with minor surgical procedures, chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy, giving injections, and working with weight loss management patients. He is also responsible for training new employees as he travels to all four of the practice locations. His favorite part of his job is interacting with his patients and meeting new people every day.
Andre plans to continue his education in hopes of becoming a registered nurse. “It opened up doors to many opportunities,” he said of his education at National.
In the bottom photo, Andre Simpson is pictured accepting the Alumni Hall of Achievement Award from Rhonda Epps, the College’s regional director of health care education.
Debbie Burke
Click to view Author's profile
Get started today! Learn more about the
tags: TN-Knoxville Medical: Medical Assisting - Associate Degree (MAA)
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Mark Cuban Says He’ll Consider Drafting Brittney Griner, Saying ‘You Never Know Unless You Give Somebody a Chance’
by associated-press on Wed, Apr 3, 2013 at 8:15AM
LOS ANGELES — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he would consider drafting Baylor All-American Brittney Griner.
Cuban told reporters before Tuesday night’s game between the Mavericks and the Lakers that if Griner is the best player available, “I will take her.”
The 6-foot-8 Griner finished her college career as the NCAA leader in blocked shots and the second-leading scorer in women’s college basketball history.
Cuban says he has already thought about it and “Right now, I’d lean towards yes, just to see if she can do it. You never know unless you give somebody a chance.”
Cuban said Griner would have to make the team, and he isn’t “opposed to giving her the opportunity.”
He adds: “That’d sell out a few games.”
Griner responded with a tweet: “I would hold my own! Lets do it.”
Ann Meyers Drysdale was the first woman to get a tryout with an NBA team. The former UCLA and U.S. women’s Olympic team star signed a contract with the Indiana Pacers in 1979 but didn’t make the team.
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MLB Rumors: Manny Machado Plans To Meet With These Three Teams
by Logan Mullen on Tue, Dec 11, 2018 at 5:24PM
Manny Machado is one of the most prized position players available on the open market, so he’s sure to have no shortage of suitors.
And we now know at least three of them.
FanCred Sports’ Jon Heyman on Tuesday reported Machado will meet with three teams, and that three more “mystery” squads remain.
Yanks, White Sox and Phillies are 3 teams that will meet with Manny Machado. The 3 alleged mystery teams remain so.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 11, 2018
There’s some logic with each of the three options, and Machado has been linked to all of them in varying capacities.
While the New York Yankees reportedly don’t want to meet Machado’s asking price of $300 million, he would add some more offensive firepower to a team that already has a stacked lineup. Machado could play shortstop with Didi Gregorius out all next season due to Tommy John surgery, but after that New York would have to get creative with its lineup.
The Chicago White Sox are an interesting fit, as they are loaded with young, high-upside talent, but are at least a Machado-type player (or two) from being somewhat of a legitimate contender. But with the Cleveland Indians reportedly interested in moving a few players, the already underwhelming American League Central will get all the more wide open. As such, it would make sense for the ChiSox to make a big move.
The Phillies flamed out towards the end of the season but were one of two pleasant surprises in the National League East in 2018. They’ve been rumored to have their eyes on both Machado and Bryce Harper, so it’s not too surprising Machado took a meeting with them.
Thumbnail photo via Richard Mackson/USA TODAY Sports Images
MLB Winter Meetings Day 2 Live: Latest News, Rumors Analysis
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Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partirò) - Andrea Bocelli
Pasión - Live In Stephansdom, Vienna, Austria / 2008 - Fernando Lima
Amigos Para Siempre - José Carreras,
Harem (Cancao Do Mar)
Think Of Me - From 'Phantom Of The Opera' - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Steve Barton,
With a bright soprano that has traversed musical theater, operettas, world music, and adult contemporary pop, Sarah Brightman is a vocalist, songwriter, dancer, and actress who has charted and toured on six continents.
She starred in such stage musicals as Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, both composed by her ex-husband Andrew Lloyd Webber, and originated the role of Phantom's Christine opposite Michael Crawford on both the West End and Broadway. Several of her solo recordings, including 1997's Timeless and 2008's Symphony, have been certified gold or platinum in multiple countries. In 2013, Dreamchaser became her third album to reach the U.S. Top 20. Brightman is also active in various philanthropic causes, including advocating for girls and women in the fields of science and technology.
Born August 14, 1960, in Berkhampstead, England, Brightman began dancing at the age of three, and ten years later made her London theatrical debut in Charles Strouse's I and Albert. By 1976, she was a dancer on the television series Pan's People, and later led the pop group Hot Gossip, which in 1978 scored a U.K. number one hit with the single "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper." In 1981, she was cast in the role of Jemima in Lloyd Webber's Cats. He would later come to see her perform in the children's opera Nightingale, and the two eventually began a relationship. In 1984, they married. Both a romantic and creative partnership, the duo often worked together, with Brightman developing the role of Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera and appearing in such Lloyd Webber productions as his 1985 mass Requiem and 1989 musical Aspects of Love. Although they divorced in 1990, Brightman toured that year in The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber: A Concert Spectacular.
In addition to her stage work, Brightman also embarked on a career as a solo artist, beginning with 1988's The Trees They Grow So High and 1989's The Songs That Got Away. In 1990, As I Came of Age included songs from Aspects of Love and Hair, as well as covers of the Everly Brothers and Aimee Mann. She followed it with Dive in 1993 and Fly in 1995. Timeless reached the Top Five in countries including the U.K. and Canada in 1997 and marked her debut on the Billboard 200 as a solo artist. A year later, she had another international hit with Eden. The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection saw release in 1999, as did a selection of lesser-known show tunes called The Songs That Got Away. Luna followed in the spring of 2000, with Encore arriving the next year. Brightman then adopted a Middle Eastern theme for her 2003 release, Harem. Love Changes Everything: The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, Vol. 2 was issued in 2005, followed by the CD/DVD Diva: The Singles Collection in 2006.
In 2007, Brightman appeared on BBC One's Just the Two of Us and performed at the Concert for Diana, the Shanghai Live Earth show, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The following year saw the release of Symphony and A Winter Symphony, as well as the airing of the PBS special Symphony: Live in Vienna. Symphony became her highest-charting album yet in the U.S., reaching number 13. The calendar year was further highlighted by her appearance at the 2008 Olympic Games in Bejing, which gave her mass exposure to Asian and also Latin American audiences. She spent the next three years touring in both those regions. In the interim, the Live in Vienna concert was released in audio format in 2009. In 2010, Brightman became a permanent resident of the United States. Her next studio album, the spaceflight-inspired Dreamchaser, was released in the early months of 2013, and she returned in 2016 with the Gala: An Evening with Sarah Brightman tour, which saw her performing with orchestras around the world. After beginning work on an album with producer Frank Peterson, she joined the Royal Christmas Gala tour for 22 performances in Europe in 2017. The completed LP, Hymn, arrived in 2018 via Decca Gold and was followed by another tour, this one consisting of over 100 shows across five continents. ~ Jason Ankeny & Marcy Donelson, Rovi
Mexico City, MX41,083 LISTENERS
São Paulo, BR15,291 LISTENERS
London, GB13,087 LISTENERS
Guadalajara, MX12,437 LISTENERS
Dreamchaser
Symphony: Live In Vienna
A Winter Symphony
Love Changes Everything - The Andrew Lloyd Webber collection vol.2
Live From Las Vegas
Fly to Paradise
Miracle (Sarah's Version)
This Is Andrea Bocelli
Phantom of The Opera Broadway
Andrea Bocelli Essential Playlist - featuring 'Fall On Me' with Matteo Bocelli
Sarah Brightman Best Of
Amazing Voices
Emma Shapplin
Filippa Giordano
Listen to Sarah Brightman now.
Listen to Sarah Brightman in full in the Spotify app
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5 mins NYT: Mass Immigration Roundups in U.S. to Start Sunday
U.S. Increases Dominance In Natural Gas, Produces More Than Entire Middle East
In 2018, the U.S. produced…
24/7 Power: The Future Of Solar
Researchers from Curtin University in…
Irina Slav
Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry.
Petrobras Trader Enters Guilty Plea Deal for Money Laundering
By Irina Slav - Feb 28, 2019, 4:00 PM CST
In the latest installment of long-running corruption investigation Operation Car Wash, an ex-oil trader for Brazil’s state energy giant Petrobras has agreed to plead guilty to charges of money laundering at a U.S. district court, Reuters reports, citing court documents.
The scandal was the biggest in Brazil’s history and led to the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff and prison sentences for high-ranking business executives from various industries. The large-scale investigation revealed that Petrobras and other companies—including commodity trading heavyweights Vitol, Trafigura, and Glencore—took part in a scheme that involved syphoning funds from Petrobras, among others, through fake business deals, with a lot of the money ending up in political party coffers.
The trader that struck the guilty pleas bargain, Rodrigo Garcia Berkowitz, is among a dozen former Petrobras employees who were two months ago charged by the Brazilian authorities with taking part in the scheme by offering the commodity trading houses lower prices for crude oil and services, and then distributed what was saved amongst themselves.
Berkowitz and the others are liable for money laundering under U.S. law because the investigation revealed money for bribes to Petrobras executives was transferred to bank accounts in the U.S., Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Uruguay.
Operation Car Wash hit Petrobras especially hard as the first revelations coincided with the oil price crash from 2014. As a consequence, the company ended up saddled with the highest debt load in the global oil industry, at some $120 billion.
Since then, Petrobras has been working to turn things around, helped by higher oil prices but mainly through an ambitious divestment program. This has not been going all too smoothly as some of the planned deals were suspended by the Supreme Court, but the suspensions have been temporary and Petrobras is now forging ahead with the debt-reduction plan.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
Saudi Arabia Oil Exports To U.S. Nosedive
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Cyprus Says Exxon Gas Discovery Is The Country’s Biggest To Date
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Found in Translation
Dave Cook, author and photographer behind the blog "Eating in Translation," is New York's most intrepid food reporter. He's semi-anonymously walked hundreds of miles and taken thousands of photographs of foods, businesses, and neighborhoods across the New York tristate area. His notes are spread across some 4,000 posts, consolidating over 8,000 bites of food over the past ten years.
While the majority of New York food writing covers restaurants and cooks, Cook is drawn most of all to community events -- religious gatherings, community picnics, cultural celebrations, and bazaars. Here, he builds a peculiar relationship with the resident cooks of New York and everything they bring to the table. While the promise of a particular dish can inspire an hours-long trek to taste it, Cook stresses that this is only one hint at the greater world, which one can just barely experience by taking a bite.
© Soundtrack by Jason Kelley (http://cowboymusic.bandcamp.com). All rights reserved.
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Frank de Bruine
Albinoni: Concerto a 5 in D minor, Op.9, No.2 for Oboe, Strings, and Continuo - 2. Adagio
Frank de Bruine, The Academy of Ancient Music & Christopher Hogwood
Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Viola & Cello in F Major, K. 370: I. Allegro
Divertimento No. 11 in D Major, K. 251 "Nannerl Septet": I. Allegro molto
Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Viola & Cello in F Major, K. 370: II. Adagio
Divertimento No. 11 in D Major, K. 251 "Nannerl Septet": II. Menuetto - Trio
Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314: II. Andante ma non troppo
Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314: I. Allegro aperto
Divertimento No. 11 in D Major, K. 251 "Nannerl Septet": VI. Marcia alla francese
Divertimento No. 11 in D Major, K. 251 "Nannerl Septet": V. Rondo. Allegro assai
Albinoni: Concertos Op.9 Nos.1-12 (2 CDs)
Mozart: Oboe Concerto & Other…
Vivaldi: 6 Concerti, Op.11
Vivaldi: Oboe Concertos
Musica classica per leggere
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Home » Musicians » Arnett Cobb
Arnett Cobb
One of the classic Texas Tenors, there was always excitement elicited by Cobb’s uninhibited, blasting style which earned him the label Wild Man of the Tenor Sax.
Arnette Cleophus Cobbs, was born on August 10, 1918, in Houston, Texas. He was taught piano by his grandmother and went on to study violin before taking up tenor saxophone in the Wheatley High School band. When he was fifteen he joined Louisiana band leader Frank Davis’s band and performed in the Houston area and throughout Louisiana during the summer. He worked with trumpeter Chester Boone for two years and left to become a founding member of the Milton Larkin Orchestra in 1936.
Cobb worked with Larkin for six years and, with members Eddie Vinson, Cedric Haywood, Wild Bill Davis, Illinois Jacquet, and others, made the band one of the most successful territorial bands from Texas. The band became a regular at venues including the Apollo Theatre in Harlem and boxer Joe Louis's Rhumboogie Club in Chicago.
Originator of the “open prairie” tone and “southern preacher” style, Cobb continually turned down offers from many national bands including Jimmy Lunceford, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton. However, with his mother’s approval, and Gladys Hampton’s offer to Elizabeth (Cobb’s wife), in 1942 Arnett took the lead saxophone chair in Hampton’s band, replacing Illinois Jacquet, who had gotten the position as Arnett’s substitute (from an original 1941 offer to Cobb). Jacquet had held his position with Hampton on the condition that he switch from alto to tenor and “play like Cobb.” With Cobb as the featured soloist, Hampton re- recorded his theme song, Flying Home [No. 2]. He was a major asset to the Hampton band for five years as co- writer, writer, reed-section arranger, lead saxophone, featured soloist, and talent scout. Gladys Hampton and Elizabeth Cobb helped manage the band, and Cobb’s mother did the tailoring.
Cobb left Hampton in 1947, formed his own combo, and was immediately signed by Ben Bartz of Universal Attractions for management and booking. Under Ben’s direction, Cobb toured extensively through 1949, while recording such hits as “Dutch Kitchen Bounce” ( Princeton University’s theme song), Big Red's Groove, “Go Red Go,” and Big League Blues” for the Apollo label. He had begun some of his most influential years in American music history with his showmanship (bar walking and circular breathing techniques) and style (predecessor of Texas “swing” blues).
Between 1950 and 1956, Cobb produced a string of hits including “Jumpin’ the Blues,” “Lil Sonny,” “The Shy One,” and “Smooth Sailing” (Ella Fitzgerald’s signature scat) on the Columbia label; “Night,” “Light Like That” and “Flying Home Mambo” on the Atlantic label; and other popular tunes for these and other labels. His combos and support became a career-building platform for Red Garland (playing with Miles Davis), George Rhodes (Sammy Davis Jr.’s music director), George Duvivier (bassist), Dinah Washington, comedian Redd Foxx, Jackie Wilson, Arthur Prysock, and many others. Arnett scouted James Brown, positioned him as his opening act, and took him to New York to sign with agent Ben Bartz at Universal.
In 1956 a car accident interrupted his national prominence. Against doctors’ advice, a year later he was back performing and touring coast to coast, although from this time on he could not walk without crutches. Cobb was living in New Jersey at the time, but the long, cold, damp, northeastern winter made working too strenuous, so in 1959 he moved back to Houston permanently. He managed the Club Ebony, organized regional orchestras for touring acts (Sammy Davis, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and others), and devoted a lot of time to nurturing young talent. Major recording R&B, soul, and jazz artists of the day called on him constantly for arrangements, band personnel, and gigs.
Cobb restricted his touring to Texas from 1959 to 1973, but proceeded with a recording schedule that had continued from 1957 for the Prestige label. He recorded extensively with VeeJay, Prestige, Muse, Black and Blue, BeeHive, Progressive, Soul Note, MCA, and the Fantasy labels between 1957 and 1988. Cobb began an international touring schedule in 1973 with his daughter as his personal manager. He toured consistently, in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, with the Lionel Hampton All-stars, as a member of the renowned Texas Tenors, as a featured soloist, and, from 1985 to 1989, with his own ensemble, Texas Jazz and Blues featuring Jewel Brown.
Cobb was a prolific showman, writer, stylist, arranger, and tenor saxophone technician. His saxophone technique and music style directly influenced Illinois Jacquet, Gene Ammons, Johnny Griffin, Red Prysock, Houston Person, Sonny Stitt, Stanley Turrentine, King Curtis, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and a generation of musicians in jazz, swing, R&B, soul, and funk music.
Cobb received a Grammy nomination in 1979 for best jazz instrumental performance “Live at Sandy’s,” (Muse). He shared a Grammy with B. B. King in 1984 for best traditional blues performance “Blues n’ Jazz,” MCA. In 1986 he founded the Jazz Heritage Society of Texas, which established the Texas Jazz Archives at the Houston Public Library.
Arnett Cobb died in Houston on March 24, 1989.
More Party Time, Angel Eyes, For Basie, Heavy!!! by AAJ Staff
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Arnett Cobb: Tough Tenor
Jazz Musician of the Day: Arnett Cobb
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Funky Butt
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Muse Records
Johnny Hodges
Sonny Stitt
Benny Golson
saxophone, tenor
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Coleman Hawkins
Houston Person
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
Born: August 10, 1918
Died: March 24, 1989
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In the Scene
#KaraniwangLGBT
LGBTQIA PHL HISTORY
Love Guides
PEOPLE BEHIND THE OUTRAGE
ADVERTISE WITH OUTRAGEMAG
Outrage Magazine
No special rights, but rights for everyone – Atty. Adel Tamano
Phl votes for LGBTQIA rights at UN Human Rights Council
SOGIE Equality Bill filed anew in 18th Congress
Over 50,000 parade for Pride in Metro Manila
Now illegal to discriminate against LGBTQIA people in Marikina
Sexuality continues to change and develop well into adulthood – study
Teens ‘mocked’ by their parents are at greater risk for bullying, victimization
Loneliness heightened among gay men in certain age group
Virtual worlds can help social movements raise awareness and create safe spaces – study
Bisexual adults less likely than gay men and lesbians to be ‘out’
Bullying more prevalent in birth-assigned females and out individuals – study
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A life in pink
Highlighting his support for equal rights, not special rights, is Atty. Adel Tamano.
Kiki Tan
Highlighting his support for equal rights, not special rights, Atty. Adel Tamano has taken part in the “I dare to care about equality”, a photographic campaign spearheaded by the Bahaghari Center for SOGIE Research, Education and Advocacy, Inc. (Bahaghari Center) as a call for everyone to take a more proactive stance in fighting discrimination.
“I dare to care about equality” campaign forms part of the localized efforts aligned with the annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) celebrations. Celebrated every May 17 since 2004, when it was founded by Louis-Georges Tin, IDAHO is an effort to coordinate international events to call for respect for lesbians and gays worldwide. May 17 was chosen as the date of the event because homosexuality was removed from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 17, 1990.
“I don’t support rights for gay people; I support rights for all people. When it comes to the protection of the law and the Constitution, the general rule is that no distinction is made on the basis of a person’s creed, sex, religion, or sexual orientation. And like Lady Justice, who is blind so she remains unbiased, we shouldn’t treat others better or worse because they are gay or straight,” Atty. Tamano said.
With his show of support for the push for equal rights for all, Atty. Tamano joins the ranks of international IDAHO supporters, including several Nobel Prize winners (Desmond Tutu, Amartya Sen, Elfriede Jelinek, Dario Fo, José Saramago), artists (Merryl Streep, Cindy Lauper, Elton John, David Bowie), intellectuals (Noam Chomsky, Judith Butler, Bernard-Henri Lévy), non-government organizations (ILGA, FIDH), politicians, and many others.
READ: Cheche Lazaro on choosing to be right
Atty. Tamano, one of the anchors of TV station ANC, was the first Filipino Muslim to graduate from Harvard Law School. He is a partner at the law firm of Kapunan Tamano Javier & Associates. He lectures on legal writing at the Ateneo Law School, and on constitutional law at the Far Eastern University Institute of Law and the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.
The photoshoots were helmed by photographer Jed Yumang behind the camera, with make-up and styling provided by artists Kaye Candaza and Nicole Magay. “I dare to care about equality” was co-developed by Outrage Magazine, the only LGBTzine in the Philippines, with the support of IDAHO, Ladlad Partylist, Rainbow Rights, Bed Bar, Deaf Rainbow Philippines, Metropolitan Community Church-Quezon City, Zest Magazine, and Queeriosity Palace.
“I dare to care about equality” was launched on May 20, Sunday, at Bed Bar (Unit 8, Maria Orosa St. corner Julio Nakpil St. Courtyard, Maria Orosa St. corner Julio Nakpil St., Malate, Metro Manila) at 10.00PM.
For more information, call +639287854244 (Michael David), +639274171518 (Patrick King) or +639263167735 (John Ryan); or email bahaghari.center@gmail.com or info@outragemag.com.
Related Topics:Adel TamanoBahaghari Centergay manilagay philippinesI dare to care about equalityLGBT Philippines
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Derisive parenting fosters dysregulated anger in adolescent children. Dysregulated anger is indicative of difficulties regulating emotion, which typically result in negative emotions, verbal and physical aggression, and hostility. Increases in dysregulated anger, in turn, place adolescents at greater risk for bullying and victimization, and for becoming bully-victims .
OutrageMag.com Staff
Photo by Denin Lawley from Unsplash.com
New evidence suggests that adolescent bullying and victimization may have origins in the home. Many bullies have parents who are hostile, punitive and rejecting. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and Uppsala University in Sweden, have identified another type of parenting that contributes to peer difficulties: those who direct derision and contempt at their children.
Derisive parents use demeaning or belittling expressions that humiliate and frustrate the child, without any obvious provocation from the child. These parents respond to child engagement with criticism, sarcasm, put-downs and hostility, and rely on emotional and physical coercion to obtain compliance.
The study, published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, emphasizes the emotional underpinnings of peer difficulties. The researchers followed 1,409 children for three consecutive years from grades 7 to 9 (ages 13-15 years).
Findings show that derisive parenting fosters dysregulated anger in adolescent children. Dysregulated anger is indicative of difficulties regulating emotion, which typically result in negative emotions, verbal and physical aggression, and hostility. Increases in dysregulated anger, in turn, place adolescents at greater risk for bullying and victimization, and for becoming bully-victims (bullies who also are victimized by other bullies).
The latter finding is noteworthy given that past research indicates that bully-victims are at the greatest risk for poor mental health, behavioral difficulties, and suicidal thoughts when compared to “pure” victims, “pure” bullies, or non-victims. Identification of the family-specific origins of bully-victim status may be a key step in limiting or preventing such poor outcomes.
READ: ‘Pride remains a protest’
Importantly, these findings held after controlling for parenting behaviors implicated in child adjustment, such as warmth, control and physical punishment. This study suggests that derisive behavior is a unique form of parenting that increases the risks that adolescent children will adopt inappropriate anger management strategies that increases their risk for peer difficulties.
“Inappropriate interpersonal responses appear to spread from parents to children, where they spawn peer difficulties. Specifically, derisive parenting precipitates a cycle of negative affect and anger between parents and adolescents, which ultimately leads to greater adolescent bullying and victimization,” said Brett Laursen, Ph.D., co-author and a professor of psychology in FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “Our study is important because it provides a more complete understanding of how parents’ belittling and critical interactions with adolescents thwart their ability to maintain positive relationships with peers.”
Daniel J. Dickson, Ph.D., Department of Psychology at Concordia University, is the senior author of the study.
“Implications from our study are far-reaching: practitioners and parents should be informed of the potential long-term costs of sometimes seemingly harmless parenting behaviors such as belittlement and sarcasm,” said Dickson. “Parents must be reminded of their influence on adolescents’ emotions and should take steps to ensure that adolescents do not feel ridiculed at home.”
Co-authors are Olivia Valdes, a Ph.D. student in FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, and Håkan Stattin, Ph.D, Department of Psychology at Uppsala University.
Research shows men in 25-29 age group are eight times more likely to feel criticized and rejected than younger men.
Photo by leo abdelnaby from Unsplash.com
Gay men aged 25-29 are eight times more likely to feel criticized and rejected compared with men aged 20 or younger, new University of Hawaii at Manoa research shows.
The reason may be that 25- to 29-year-olds tend to be out of college and in the workforce, where they may face overwhelming social discrimination, according to a study co-authored by Assistant Professor Thomas Lee in the Office of Public Health Studies at the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work.
The study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, is part of a recent effort among public health researchers to develop a better understanding of the mental health of the LGBTQ community.
Lee and colleagues administered questionnaires to 367 gay men in China. Some of the surveys were conducted face-to-face, but the majority were administered online. More specifically, the link to the survey was shared with live-chat applications specifically designed for gay men in China.
The men answered questions that allowed the researchers to measure feelings of loneliness and whether the study subjects were experiencing depression, anxiety or other psychological problems.
Several of the questions were aimed at measuring the men’s degree of “interpersonal sensitivity,” defined as a person’s propensity to perceive and elicit criticism and rejection from others. People who are high in interpersonal sensitivity may have difficulty in communicating with others and are susceptible to depression and anxiety.
The findings showed that gay men who had no siblings or college degree and who earned less money than average were more likely have a high degree of interpersonal sensitivity and loneliness. Also, those who had experienced more sexual partners during their lifetimes showed lower measures of interpersonal sensitivity and loneliness.
READ: The Years of Living Dangerously
“There is great pressure from society and family that may be imposed on (Chinese) gay men,” said Lee. “We found that these men feel criticized and rejected, and that these feelings are linked with loneliness.”
There was no link between disclosing one’s sexual identity to others and men’s degree of interpersonal sensitivity, however, men who had disclosed their sexual identity to others felt less lonely.
“Traditional… culture puts a strong emphasis on family inheritance and reproduction,” said Lee. “Our results suggest that we need to be more aware of… gay men’s mental health and that everyone, especially family members, should offer more support to… gay men and work to create a social environment that is more open and inclusive.”
Going forward, social movements may make use of other emerging technologies, such as virtual or augmented reality. Insights from this study could provide the analytical tools necessary to understand how different technologies impact LGBT and other movements.
Photo by NordWood Themes from Unsplash.com
Online virtual worlds can help social movements raise awareness and create safe spaces for their members, according to a new study by an academic at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The research examined how an LGBT group used a virtual world for their own cause, which was different to its intended design. These worlds are immersive, three-dimensional environments, where users create an avatar, or character, that enables them to interact with other users.
The study, by Dr Brad McKenna of UEA’s Norwich Business School, focused on the game World of Warcraft (WoW) and analyzed data from an LGBT ‘guild’ within it. It looked at how its members used the technology compared to ordinary game play.
The guild, known as ‘Alpha’ for the purposes of the study, was created to “better service the LGBT community and offer a safe, inclusive place to game for members of any sexual orientation or gender identity”. The group was the largest special interest guild in WoW, with up to 7800 members during the course of the study. There were approximately 15,000 characters in the guild, as it was possible for one player to have multiple characters.
The group held regular activities inside the game, including an annual Pride parade, model competitions and dance parties. The movement also had a website with discussion forums.
The findings, published in Information Systems Journal, show how members used the game’s features and virtual environment for their specific needs and objectives. For example, in ordinary game play, players have spells they can use in battle against others. However, the members used these as lighting effects to create an atmosphere during the parade and dance party.
They also show how the group navigated changes made to the game by the developers. On one occasion, the parade route had to move when the virtual landscape it previously went through changed after an update.
Another change involved introducing a cap on the size of guilds because the developers found that large ones did not function well in the system. This saw the group having to come up with creative ways to continue their existence without losing members.
To conduct his research Dr McKenna joined the LGBT guild, with permission from its leaders, and participated in their movement over a period of 18 months. He created an avatar, which became his identity when in WoW.
“This study provides some practical examples of how virtual worlds can act as a safe haven for social movements or to create awareness, for example about for LGBT issues, within a broader gaming community,” said Dr McKenna, a lecturer in information systems. “Many group members came from countries that do not support LGBT rights, so this was a safe space for them.
“By understanding the affordances, or possible actions, available to them groups can shape how the world works for them and think of more creative uses of the technology and features, using them in a much different way, without involvement from the game’s developers.
“This paper also raises some important issues for virtual world social movements. If a movement wants to use these worlds to advance their cause, their leaders and members need to be aware of what the virtual world can offer them and how they could use that to their advantage, or be aware of actions which could potentially be a hindrance to their cause.
READ: Using film to highlight how humanity’s commonalities trump differences
“Social movements also need to be aware of the type of virtual world they might use, for example a social virtual world, or a gaming virtual world, as depending on the type, different limitations or affordances might impact the movement.”
Other social movements have previously used WoW, for example to raise awareness for breast cancer, for political rallies and environmental protests. Dr McKenna said the findings may have implications for other users of virtual worlds and businesses.
“Different online communities could use these ideas, look at how the technology can be shaped for their causes. For organisations which operate within virtual worlds, these findings begin to shed light on the issues faced, and suggests that they need to be willing to evolve if they want to continue operating in these environments, which may constantly be changing.
The main sources of data in the study were participant observations, discussion forum data (128,773 posts downloaded), and chat logs. Additional sources included documents from the LGBT movement’s website, other WoW websites, patch notes about changes to the game’s implementation, and informal conversations with other WoW players.
‘Creating Convivial Affordances: a Study of Virtual World Social Movements’, Brad Mckenna, is published in Information Systems Journal.
Only 19% of those who identify as bisexual say all or most of the important people in their lives are aware of their sexual orientation.
Photo by Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum from Unsplash.com
Bisexual people, believed to account for about four-in-10 LGBT adults, are much less likely than gays and lesbians to be “out” to the important people in their lives. This is according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of survey data from Stanford University.
In “How Couples Meet and Stay Together 2017”, coming out of Stanford University Libraries in Stanford, CA and written by Rosenfeld, Michael J., Reuben J. Thomas, and Sonia Hausen, it was noted that only 19% of those who identify as bisexual say all or most of the important people in their lives are aware of their sexual orientation.
In contrast, 75% of gay and lesbian adults say the same. About one-quarter of bisexual adults (26%) are not “out” to any of the important people in their lives, compared with 4% of gay and lesbian adults. Roughly half of those who are bisexual (54%) are out to some or only a few people.
Coming out is – obviously – a complex experience.
But as early as 2013, in Pew Research Center’s survey of LGBT adults, many bisexuals already stated that they haven’t come out to their parents because they didn’t feel it was important to tell them or the subject never came up. And among those who did come out, bisexual adults reported somewhat different experiences from gays and lesbians.
Around four-in-10 adults who describe themselves as bisexual (43%) say they are sexually attracted to men and women equally. Around the same number (40%) say they are attracted mostly to the opposite gender, and 4% report feeling attracted only to the opposite gender. Twelve percent and 1%, respectively, say they are attracted mostly or only to their own gender.
READ: Continuing fall of Pacquiao as Wonderful Pistachios distances itself from former endorser
Among those with partners, many more bisexual adults are married or in a relationship with someone of the opposite sex than with someone of the same sex (88%).
The earlier, 2013 survey also found that LGBT adults said that bisexual men faced less social acceptance than bisexual women, gay men and lesbians. Only 8% of LGBT adults felt that there was “a lot of social acceptance of bisexual men”, while 46% said there was only “a little or no social acceptance” for the same group. Among bisexuals, 40% reported in 2013 that they had ever been subjected to slurs or jokes, while 31% said they had been rejected by a friend or family member because of their bisexuality.
A study found that bullying is more prevalent in birth-assigned females and in out individuals, commonly consisting of homophobic/transphobic (particularly in socially transitioned individuals) or appearance-related (particularly in out individuals) name calling.
Non-conformity and bullying.
In “Experiences and Psychological Wellbeing Outcomes Associated with Bullying in Treatment-Seeking Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth” – written by Gemma L. Witcomb, Laurence Claes, Walter Pierre Bouman, Elena Nixon, Joz Motmans and Jon Arcelus; and published in LGBT Health – it was also noted that with the bullying, “individuals who reported having experienced bullying showed greater anxiety symptomology and also self-reported anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem as effects of bullying. Birth-assigned females also reported greater effects on family relationships and social life.”
The study noted that bullying in the adult transgender population is actually already well-documented, and yet “less is known about bullying in transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) youth.”
Fortunately, studies have begun to explore experiences of bullying and the associated psychological distress in TGD youth, even if they “often fail to distinguish among the separate groups within LGBT samples.”
It is this that the study sought to explore: the prevalence, nature and outcomes of bullying in TGD youth attending a transgender health service particularly in the UK, taking into account birth-assigned sex and out and social transition status.
A total of 274 TGD people aged 16–25 years participated in the study. The majority of participants (86.5%) reported having experienced bullying, predominantly in school.
These findings “indicate very high levels of bullying within the young TGD population”. and even those attending a transgender health service, “which affects wellbeing significantly.”
As such, the researchers are calling for “more intervention work and education… to be introduced in schools to reduce bullying.”
LGBTQIA summit held in Quezon City
Even while having an anti-discrimination ordinance (ADO) that protects the rights of LGBTQIA people in Quezon City, the city’s LGBTQIA constituents obviously still continue to battle issues that are particular to them and their SOGIE. This is why “responses like this are important” to ensure “continued empowerment”.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF Faustino L. Sabarez III
QUEZON CITY – To have a closer look at the issues faced by LGBTQIA people particularly of Quezon City, an LGBTQIA summit was held here, helmed by Mayor-elect Joy Belmonte who supposedly wanted to “get to the root causes of the issues of the rainbow sector.”
According to Faustino L. Sabarez III, who helms LGBT Pilipinas, which helped organize the summit, even while having an anti-discrimination ordinance (ADO) that protects the rights of LGBTQIA people in Quezon City, the city’s LGBTQIA constituents obviously still continue to battle issues that are particular to them and their SOGIE. This is why “responses like this are important” to ensure “continued empowerment”.
Dubbed “Gender-fair City”, Quezon City’s ADO was passed in 2014. The ordinance was authored by first district Councilor Lena Marie “Mayen” Juico; and it expanded the 2003 Quezon City Ordinance No. 1309, which prohibited discrimination against homosexuals in the workplace. It also took off from former QC Mayor Herbert Bautista’s office’s order (in 2013) to create the Quezon City Pride Council (QCPC) to integrate the LGBTQIA community in government programs.
Already, according to Sabarez, the office of Belmonte is looking at creating another ordinance that will further cement the important role of LGBTQIA people in the city’s development.
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BASICS: ITC investigates and precludes certain “unlawful” trade practices. These include: “(1)(B) The importation into the United States, the sale for importation, or the sale within the United States after importation by the owner, importer, or consignee, of articles that—(i) infringe a valid and enforceable United States patent or a valid and enforceable United States copyright registered under title 17; or (ii) are made, produced, processed, or mined under, or by means of, a process covered by the claims of a valid and enforceable United States patent.” But, this provision applies only if there is a domestic industry, both as a technical matter, i.e., “(2) … only if an industry in the United States, relating to the articles protected by the patent, … exists or is in the process of being established;” and as an economic matter: “(3) For purposes of paragraph (2), an industry in the United States shall be considered to exist if there is in the United States, with respect to the articles protected by the patent, copyright, trademark, mask work, or design concerned—(A) significant investment in plant and equipment; (B) significant employment of labor or capital; or (C) substantial investment in its exploitation, including engineering, research and development, or licensing.” 19 U.S.C. § 1337(a). “Section 337 is an enforcement statute enacted by Congress to stop at the border the entry of goods, e., articles, that are involved in unfair trade practices.” Suprema II (Fed. Cir. 08/10/15) (en banc, 6-4). “Proof of quantifiable harm is not an element of liability, and monetary damages are not available as relief.” Id.
“Articles” Do Not Include Electronic Transmission of Digital Data: The term “‘articles’ means ‘material things,’” a “tangible thing,” “not intangibles,” and although electrons have mass, commonsense shows that “there is a fundamental difference between electronic transmissions and ‘material things.’” Clearcorrect (Fed. Cir. 11/10/15) (2-1) (ITC jurisdiction is limited to unfair acts involving the importation of “articles” so it has no jurisdiction to issue cease and desist order based on electronic transmissions [not using thumb drives or similar physical media] of “‘digital models, digital data and treatment plans, expressed as digital data sets, which are virtual three-dimensional models of the desired positions of the patients’ teeth at various stages of orthodontic treatment’ (‘digital models’), from Pakistan to the United States.”), rehearing en banc denied (Fed. Cir. 03/31/16) (Newman, J. dissenting).
ITC May Exclude Products Not Infringing At Time Of Importation, But Some Of Which Had Induced Direct Infringement When Used: Statute bars import of “articles that infringe,” 19 U.S.C. § 1337(a)(1)(C). This does not require articles to be infringing at time of importation, but rather “covers goods that were used by an importer to directly infringe post-importation as a result of the seller’s inducement” (also phrased as “importation of goods that, after importation, are used by the importer to directly infringe at the inducement of the goods’ seller.”) Suprema II (Fed. Cir. 08/10/15) (en banc, 6-4) (based on Chevron deference to ITC interpretation of ambiguous statute; limited exclusion order barred all of respondent’s fingerprint scanners (subject to importer’s certification of non-infringing use) even though scanners had substantial non-infringing uses and were not accompanied by instructions causing an infringing use; method claim had been directly infringed by customer combining imported scanner with computer running software customer had domestically developed using SDK provided by importer with scanner), rev’g, Suprema I (Fed. Cir. 12/13/13) (2-1) (alleged direct infringement (allegedly induced by the importer) takes place only when the imported scanners, which have substantial non-infringing uses, are combined by software developer with domestically developed software after the scanners are imported). See Suprema III (Fed. Cir. 09/14/15) (aff’g finding of violation and exclusion order based on inducing direct infringement of claimed method for capturing and processing a fingerprint image).
Non-Practicing-Entity Complainant Can Satisfy Domestic Industry Requirement: ITC complainant must establish the existence of a domestic industry. Lelo (Fed. Cir. 05/11/15) (element not proven; qualitative factors (e.g., that domestic components “crucial”) insufficient; need quantitative proofs); Microsoft (Fed. Cir. 10/03/13) (element not proven); Motorola (Fed. Cir. 12/16/13) (element proven). This may be satisfied by “substantial investment in [the patent’s] exploitation, including … licensing” (§ 1337(a)(3)(C)) but those licensing activities must relate specifically to “articles protected by the patent” and “must pertain to products that are covered by the patent that is being asserted.” InterDigital (Fed. Cir. 01/10/13) (does not require manufacture of a patented product); accord LSI Corp. (Fed. Cir. 03/20/15) (non-precedential). Also, the licensing program must “encourage adoption and development of articles that incorporate [the] patented technology” and not mere financial gain through litigation, Motiva (Fed. Cir. 05/13/13). Domestic industry must exist at time of filing. Motiva.
Remedy – Exclusion/Cease & Desist Order: ITC does not award monetary damages or restitution. ITC typically grants a limited exclusion order pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1337(d) excluding entry into U.S. goods infringing specified claims of the patent, when imported by the respondent or its related companies or agents. If have commercially significant inventories of the accused goods, then ITC typically grants a cease and desist order pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1337(f) prohibiting the respondent or its related companies or agents from engaging in the importation, sale for importation, marketing, and/or advertising, distribution, offering for sale, sale, sale after importation, or other transfer within the United States of the infringing goods in the U.S. (but allows their export). Delorme Publishing (Fed. Cir. 11/12/15) (aff’g ITC civil penalty of ~ $6.2MM (determined based on six EPROM factors) for contempt of cease and desist order based on respondent’s importation of non-infringing components, assembly in U.S. into finished devices, and sale with instructions to use in infringing manner, despite claims later being declared invalid). “The Commission has ‘broad discretion in selecting the form, scope, and extent of [a] remedy, and judicial review of its choice of remedy necessarily is limited.’” Arista Networks (Cisco) (Fed. Cir. 10/18/17) (aff’g exclusion order: “‘[n]etwork devices, related software and components thereof that infringe’ certain claims of the [patents] ‘are excluded from entry for consumption into the United States.’”). Less common, but ITC may grant a “general exclusion” order applicable to everyone, if it finds that such is “necessary to prevent circumvention of an exclusion order limited to products of named persons; or there is a pattern of violation of this section and it is difficult to identify the source of infringing products.” ITC has no authority to grant a limited exclusion order against downstream products manufactured by non-respondents just because they include infringing components of respondents. Kyocera Wireless (Fed. Cir. 10/14/08). eBay does not apply to ITC remedy determinations. Spansion (Fed. Cir. 12/21/10).
ITC Determinations Have Had No Preclusive Effect, But That Will Be Revisited: “Decisions of the ITC involving patent issues have no preclusive effect in other forums.” LSI Corp. (Fed. Cir. 03/20/15) (non-precedential) (citing Texas Instruments (Fed. Cir. 07/19/96) (denying ITC decisions issue preclusion effect, relying on 1974 Senate Report (“Commission’s findings neither purport to be, nor can they be, regarded as binding interpretations of the U.S. patent laws in particular factual contexts. Therefore, it seems clear that any disposition of a Commission action by a Federal Court should not have res judicata or collateral estoppel effect in cases before such courts.”))). But, surely this will be revisited in view of B&B Hardware (U.S. 03/24/2015) (issue preclusion “will apply except when a statutory purpose to the contrary is evident.”)
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Meta style:
Indie Electronic, Indie Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Space Rock
Avant-pop, Electronic, Indie Rock, Metal, Progressive, Progressive Metal
1/ Aspera is a new progressive metal band from Norway recently signed by InsideOut Music. These five aspiring musicians from Skien, Norway, are truly what can be described as ?youngsters' and ?newcomers', being just 20 years of age (all born in the last quarter of the year 1989!) and even only 18-19 years old whilst producing ?Ripples?. The name ASPERA is taken from Latin and stands for ?thorns' or ?rugged ground', which describes the band's complex and colourful sound in an appropriate way. Due to a legal dispute, Aspera changed its name and is now known as Above Symmetry.
Atle Pettersen, Vocals
Robin Ognedal, Guitar, Backing Vocals
Nickolas Main Henriksen, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Joachim Str?m Ekelund, Drums
Rein Blomquist, Bass, Backing Vocals
2/ Aspera (initially Aspera Ad Astra) is an American indie rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Aspera formed in 1996 under the name Aspera ad Astra in Philadelphia, and released a 7" split with Haelah before issuing their debut full-length in 1998. Following this the group underwent lineup changes before the release of their 1999 EP; several drummers would join and leave the group until late 2000, when A.J. Edmiston joined. Around this time the group shortened its name. They began releasing material on Jagjaguwar Records in 2002, including a re-release of their 2001 album Sugar & Feathered. 2007 saw their most recent full-length issued on Philadelphia label Burnt Toast Vinyl.
Initial lineup
* Mike Robinson - vocals, keyboards
* Justin Tripp - guitar, keyboards
* Drew Worth - guitar
* Matt Werth - bass
* Drew Mills - drums, vocals, guitar
Later members
* Chris Powell - drums
* A.J. Edmiston - drums
Lilys 5
Super Furry Animals 18
American Analog Set 8
The Beta Band 20
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Return to the blog of pidoco
137 tagged articles Interface Design Software
Search all tagged articles Interface Design Software
Interface Prototyping and simplicity
Interface prototyping is a technique used to create drafts of user interfaces.
http://www.businessanalystsoftware.com/interface-prototyping-and-simplicity
User Interface Design, Interface Design, Interface Design Software, Interface Design Tool, Wireframe Software, Wireframe Tool, Online Wireframe Tool, Wireframing Software, Wireframing Tool, Wireframe, Wireframes, Clickable Wireframe, Clickable Wireframes, Prototyping Software, Prototyping Tool, Gui Prototyping, Interface Prototyping, Paper Prototyping, UI Prototyping, UI Design, UI Design Software, Online Wireframe, iphone Mockup, Mockup Tool
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# Posted on Tuesday, 26 February 2013 at 1:34 AM
Prototyping software in the cloud
There are many types of prototyping software available on the market. This is an emerging industry and online tools are becoming more popular.
http://www.softwarewireframe.com/prototyping-software-in-the-cloud
One way of creating a UI design: Using prototyping software
I really love my iPhone and there are a couple of applications on it which make my life easier.
http://www.rapidsoftwareprototyping.com/one-way-of-creating-a-ui-design-using-prototyping-software
# Posted on Wednesday, 20 February 2013 at 1:32 AM
Wireframing tool a tool that can t be found in your tool box
In the last couple of months, I often heard people talking about some wireframing tools.
http://www.wireframe-tools.com/wireframing-tool-a-tool-that-can-t-be-found-in-your-tool-box
UI Prototyping and User Errors
User errors happen inevitably even when users are operating simple interfaces.
http://www.createprototype.com/ui-prototyping-and-user-errors
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A Far Cry from Failure: Far Cry 5 Review
Antony Ahmed · March 28, 2018
Well, it’s finally here. Far Cry 5 released, and the response was and still is overwhelmingly positive. I’ve already put twenty plus hours into the game and have probably only made a small dent into everything Hope county has to offer (yay for working from home). From gallivanting around the Montana wilderness to blowing up a bunch of turkeys with a rocket launcher, the fun don’t stop. We’ll be doing a quick overview of what to expect and why it’s worth the buy. So strap in as I take you on a tour of Hope county in my totally not stolen bi-plane. (Warning: Spoilers!!!)
The story is immediately engaging, compelling, and drags you in right off the bat…pun intended. Well done to Drew Holmes and the writing team. I love that the game establishes the plot from the beginning and from there, you have free reign once you make it past the introduction to do what you will. In a previous article of mine I touched on what the story was about, so I won’t diverge too much into that. Our baddie, The Father Joseph Seed, is masterfully brought to life by Greg Bryk and had me questioning my morals. He has a way — or several ways — of getting into your head.
The open world map is reminiscent of the Assassins Creed Origins map, although not quite as big, in terms of regions and maneuverability of the cursor. Like with any open world game I play, for the most part, I like to ignore the main quests and go do random stuff as hilarious things tend to occur. See below…
Antonythereal playing Far Cry 5
Latest video footage from Xbox Live of Antonythereal playing Far Cry 5. Sign up on TrueAchievements to share your game…www.trueachievements.com
Even when I do decide to advance the story, I find myself being pleasantly and hilariously distracted. For instance, instead of destroying truck convoys, I went to a literal bull pen and began boxing with a bull. You show me something more patriotic, I dare you. The world is wonderfully populated and getting lost provides more of an organic experience to learning about the story and its inhabitants, both human and animal. Even the NPC’s have a sense of identity and don’t feel like canon fodder. Of course all of this is accompanied with the stunning visuals of mountainsides, rivers, and vast landscapes that is Montana. I should know, I’ve been there and yet somehow the game looks better…sorry Montana.
There is no shortage of awesome toys to play with and customize as you traverse and liberate outposts for new gear. The range of customization for not only your weapons but your character and vehicles seems just right. Seeing as the locale for the game is in rural Montana, it wouldn’t make sense to have a huge rolodex of costumes to wear as it probably wouldn’t fit to be walking around in a three piece suit, this isn’t Hitman. You also have the choice from the start to play as a female or male character which was pretty awesome. Huzzah for progressivism!
Some of these vehicle paint jobs and attachments just scream “America!”. There is a mission to retrieve the “Widomaker” for a resident of Falls End. The “Widomaker” is a big rig truck with machine guns mounted on its side and an eagle with the American flag painted on it. It’s essentially a glorified battering ram. Remember when I said show me something more patriotic? Yea once you see it, you’ll know. After you’ve had your fill of destruction and mayhem, you can crack open a cold one with the boys and go fishing or hunting like the good American you are.
There never seems to be a dull moment in Hope county. With such an immersive world, the repetitiveness of liberating outposts still feels different each time as you gain new information from the inhabitants. The combat is effective and keeps you on your toes by always having to keep an eye on your health bar. Even though the mechanics still play the same as previous games, what’s changed is the ability to have multiple allies assist you. Along with the guns-for-hire soldiers you find by liberating outposts, you also have specialists. These are individuals who have a unique skill-set and change the dynamic of gun fights. This mechanic allows you to adapt to whatever situation you may be in by choosing the right specialist for the job. Taking on a bunch of cultists from the ground while having Nick Rye in the sky doing bombing runs is probably one of my favorite ways to engage in battle.
Far Cry 5 really does have so much to offer in the way of a unique experience. Everything from the locale, to the enemies both big and small, and the amount of freedom given to the player makes this game worth the buy. I’d even go so far as to say in five years it’ll be a cult classic…insert laughter here. This is all my opinion of course, you can try for yourself and see if I’m right but the general consensus is that you won’t be disappointed. With that being said I’m gonna go fishing with a stick of dynamite. I’m not actually sure if that’s gonna work but it’s worth a try. Until next time!
Tags: Games, Far Cry 5, Xbox One, PS4, PC
Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That
Loot Boxes and How We Got Here
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The Rise of Margot Robbie
Debora Canadè · March 29, 2018
Margot Robbie is an australian actress who, over time, managed to become a Hollywood star and one of the most loved celebrities in recent years.
Recently a trailer of “Terminal”, her upcoming movie, came out and she has many other projects coming.
She started her career appearing in independent Australian movies to then get a role in the soap opera Neighbours (2008-2011).
But it was in 2013 that she was discovered by Martin Scorsese, who assigned her the role of Naomi Lapaglia in “The Wolf Of Wall Street”.
Within every movie and every different role she improved and she is now a foremost actress that every director would like to work with.
After TWOWS her most popular roles are in “Focus”, “Suicide Squad” (in which she portrayed the villain Harley Quinn), “The Legend of Tarzan” and “Goodbye Christopher Robin”.
This biography about Jordan Belfort has had a lot of success: good cinematography, good script, perfect actors. Among all of them, Margot Robbie is one of the most sensational ones. Her role is the one of Jordan’s wife, Naomi, who is a quite particular character.
The portrayal is perfect: confident, elegant and charming. Margot fits perfectly, but she's even better to portray as a mother tired of her husband's behaviors. Indeed, towards the end, when Jordan and Naomi fight, her tears and words manage to make people get emotional.
She isn't just portraying a hot young woman who seduces Jordan, but at some point we get to see that she's a person who's ready to protect who she loves -- in this case her children -- and who won't let anybody disrespect her.
One of this year’s best movies is a biography about Tonya Harding, an ice skater who led a riveting life.
The character is complicated, strange and determined. The movie does not only focus on her path to success, it also explores her complicated life from her relationship with her mother to her relationship with her husband.
Margot seems to completely understand the character and that's probably why she's so accurately in character in every scene, with every line. She's portraying a woman who deals with her insecurities, that drove her to commit an awful act, meaning to pay a man to make sure her rival, Nancy, would be unable to compete with her at the finals.
But Tonya isn't overall a bad person and Robbie doesn't fail to represent just how complicated she is.
Although the movie wasn't really loved by critics, Margot's performance in this movie was one of her bests.
In the role of Jane, Tarzan's love interest, Robbie portrays a good hearted woman who does what she can to help a man, who is used to living as an animal, to live in better conditions.
The chemistry between the two of them is one of the best aspects of this movie and Robbie does an incredible job in portraying a strong woman with spirit who puts up a fight instead of a mere damsel in distress because of a man she fell for.
Margot is still young and has still many incredible projects to come. She is on a very promising path and the expectations are high.
Her next movie to come is “Terminal”, make sure not to miss it!
Indie Spotlight: Once Upon a Coma
Comics that shouldn’t be forgotten: The Joker: Devil’s Advocate
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Tag: Showtime at the Apollo
What To Watch – Thursday, May 24, 2018
Today is Red Nose Day and NBC, in particular, is going all out with its programming. From NBC’s website, “Red Nose Day was created by Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer-director Richard Curtis, (“Love Actually,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill”) and leverages the power of entertainment to bring the nation together to have fun and make a difference for children in need — here in America and around the world. It has raised over $1 billion globally since its launch in the UK in 1988.”
Elsewhere, Siren and Showtime at the Apollo have season finales while ID premieres a new series, Extreme Measures.
RED NOSE DAY SPECIAL — “American Ninja Warrior” — Pictured: Nikki Bella — (Photo by: Tyler Golden/NBC)
Continue reading “What To Watch – Thursday, May 24, 2018”
Author Pop Culture MikePosted on May 24, 2018 Categories TV News & RecommendationsTags American Ninja Warrior, Extreme Measures, Hollywood Game Night, Murder Calls, Red Nose Day, Showtime at the Apollo, Siren, The Last Days of Michael Jackson, What Would You Do?Leave a comment on What To Watch – Thursday, May 24, 2018
Almost all of our Top Picks for Thursday Watching hit their finales tonight: Gotham, Supernatural, Arrow and S.W.A.T. while Siren is new and NBC launches a summer session of American Ninja Warrior! What will you be watching tonight?
Cr: Giovanni Rufino / FOX Continue reading “What To Watch – Thursday, May 17, 2018”
Author Pop Culture MikePosted on May 17, 2018 Categories TV News & RecommendationsTags American Ninja Warrior, Arrow, Diabolical, Gotham, S.W.A.T., Showtime at the Apollo, Siren, SupernaturalLeave a comment on What To Watch – Thursday, May 17, 2018
Its that time of the year when all of our favorites shows are racing towards their season finales and Thursday night’s multiple quality dramas are no different. We’re recommending Gotham, Siren, Arrow and Quantico as our Top Shows to Watch Tonight!!
GOTHAM: Donal Logue in the ÒA Dark Knight: One Bad DayÓ episode of GOTHAM airing Thursday, May 10 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2018 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: FOX
Author Pop Culture MikePosted on May 10, 2018 Categories TV News & RecommendationsTags Arrow, Gotham, Impractical Jokers, Murder Calls, Quantico, S.W.A.T., Showtime at the Apollo, Siren, SupernaturalLeave a comment on What To Watch – Thursday, May 10, 2018
What To Watch – Thursday, May 3, 2018
Arrow! Tonight! Be there! Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn returns in tonight’s episode (Tommy’s dead?!? Yep so let’s see how they do that one). Also on, Gotham is back after a brief break and Quantico, Supernatural, Siren and S.W.A.T. are all new tonight. So much great TV these days as we race to the end of the season.
Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW
Continue reading “What To Watch – Thursday, May 3, 2018”
Author Pop Culture MikePosted on May 3, 2018 Categories TV News & RecommendationsTags Arrow, Gotham, Impractical Jokers, Murder Calls, Quantico, S.W.A.T., Showtime at the Apollo, Siren, SupernaturalLeave a comment on What To Watch – Thursday, May 3, 2018
What To Watch – Thursday, April 12, 2018
Thursday night has some really solid offerings to watch led by new Arrow, and all of the 8p shows: Siren, Supernatural, and Gotham. The end of the night isn’t great but you can watch something you taped earlier …
SIREN – “On The Road” – When the military facility goes on high alert, Chris manages to escape, but heÕs not the only one who gets out. This episode of “On The Road” airs Thursday, April 12 (8:00 – 9:01 p.m. EDT) on Freeform. (Freeform/Jeff Weddell)
ELINE POWELL
Continue reading “What To Watch – Thursday, April 12, 2018”
Author Pop Culture MikePosted on April 12, 2018 Categories TV News & RecommendationsTags Arrow, Diabolical, Gotham, Impractical Jokers, Mysteries at the Museum, S.W.A.T., Showtime at the Apollo, Siren, SupernaturalLeave a comment on What To Watch – Thursday, April 12, 2018
What To Watch – Thursday, March 29, 2018
Major League Baseball begins its season today but we’re not here to talk about that (Go Mets!).
No, today we’re looking at the series premiere of Freeform’s newest show, Siren. Mermaids? I’m in! Siren has a 2 hour premiere tonight but if that’s not your thing (mermaids should definitely be your thing), there is long awaited Scooby Doo crossover episode on tonight’s Supernatural, all new Gotham, Arrow and S.W.A.T. Also, Impractical Jokers and those guys are hysterical. Lots of choices to fill your TV viewing night!
(Freeform)
Continue reading “What To Watch – Thursday, March 29, 2018”
Author Pop Culture MikePosted on March 29, 2018 Categories TV News & RecommendationsTags Arrow, Gotham, Impractical Jokers, My Fighting Season, S.W.A.T., Showtime at the Apollo, Siren, SupernaturalLeave a comment on What To Watch – Thursday, March 29, 2018
Other than brand new Gotham, tonight is kind of a weird, bland night for TV. The CW shows are on repeat and on ABC, Shonda’s empire expands with a 2 hour premiere of her firefighter spin-off to Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19. Also, BASKETBALL! Everywhere.
STATION 19 – “Stuck”/”Invisible To Me” – When the team responds to an apartment fire, Captain Pruitt takes a hit, the future of the station’s leadership is in jeopardy and firefighter Andy Herrera is forced to step up. Meanwhile, new recruit Ben Warren is trading in the scalpel for a fresh start as a firefighter, but it hasn’t been easy and he has a hard time realizing that emergencies in the field are vastly different than those at Grey Sloan Memorial. With the absence of Captain Pruitt, Andy and Jack try to navigate how to work together, and a car accident on a rural road puts both the victims and the crew’s lives at risk, on the series premiere of “Station 19,” THURSDAY, MARCH 22 (9:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Mitch Haaseth)
GREY DAMON, JAINA LEE ORTIZ, DANIELLE SAVRE
Author Pop Culture MikePosted on March 22, 2018 Categories TV News & RecommendationsTags Beyond, Gotham, Impractical Jokers, March Madness, NCAA Basketball Tournament, Showtime at the Apollo, Station 19Leave a comment on What To Watch – Thursday, March 22, 2018
What To Watch – March 15, 2018
March Madness kicks off tonight with games happening on CBS and TBS. Arrow is a repeat tonight but still a preferred choice over the competition.
Our Top Pick to Watch Tonight is Gotham which continues to really entertain us every week!
Continue reading “What To Watch – March 15, 2018”
Author Pop Culture MikePosted on March 15, 2018 Categories TV News & RecommendationsTags Arrow, Gotham, Impractical Jokers, March Madness, NCAA Basketball Tournament, Showtime at the Apollo, Tough Mudder: Tougher Together, Truck Night in AmericaLeave a comment on What To Watch – March 15, 2018
What To Watch – Thursday, March 8, 2018
Brand new Gotham and Arrow lead the night along with new Supernatural and the series premiere of a new trucking show on History, Truck Night in America.
Cr: David Giesbrecht/FOX
Continue reading “What To Watch – Thursday, March 8, 2018”
Author Pop Culture MikePosted on March 8, 2018 March 7, 2018 Categories TV News & RecommendationsTags Arrow, Gotham, Impractical Jokers, S.W.A.T., Showtime at the Apollo, Supernatural, Truck Night in AmericaLeave a comment on What To Watch – Thursday, March 8, 2018
For being Marvel fans, we sure watch a LOT of DC properties here at PCR and tonight is no different with all new Gotham (mid-season premiere) and Arrow. Different channels but same great brooding DC superheroes (without any actual super powers).
Also on, the premiere of Showtime at the Apollo, Impractical Jokers and the 1986 comedy classic, Back to School, starring Rodney Dangerfield.
Author Pop Culture MikePosted on March 1, 2018 Categories TV News & RecommendationsTags Arrow, Back to School, Gotham, Impractical Jokers, S.W.A.T., Showtime at the Apollo, SupernaturalLeave a comment on What To Watch – Thursday, March 1, 2018
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June 14: Francisco Ramirez on Sexual and Public Health; Airial Clark on Sex-Positive Parenting
This week’s episode of Sex Out Loud features our final interview from the CatalystCon series with Francisco Ramirez, known for giving Free Sex Advice on the streets in NYC every week, answering questions about relationships, sex, and dating. He’ll discuss the inspiration for his project, how he’s turning people’s stories into a podcast, and the phone app he’s developing. Then, Airial Clark, known for her site TheSexPositiveParent.com, will be interviewed live in the second half of the show. Clark has created sex education curriculum and led workshops where she provides parents and caregivers the tools they need to become the resident sexuality expert for their families.
This second half of this week’s show is live, so find out all the ways to listen here and you can call in with questions at 1-866-472-5788, join the discussion on Facebook or Twitter, or even e-mail me via tristan(at)puckerup.com and I’ll read them live on the air!
Francisco Ramirez holds a Master of Public Health (concentration in sexuality) from Columbia University. For 15 years, Francisco has addressed the sexual health needs of diverse communities worldwide. He is a long-term consultant at the United Nations and has led multi-lingual education initiatives for: the UN, MTV Networks, Planned Parenthood, New York Academy of Medicine, and the NAACP. Since 2008 Francisco has offered Free Advice on sex to passersby in NYC parks. He is a prominent voice in the media on sex. At MTV Voices and MTV Staying Alive, he is an on-camera host and producer of sex-related content. In 2010 he guest-hosted the Savage LoveCast with Dan Savage. Currently, he is developing an original TV series and co-hosting a forthcoming web series on sex. Francisco lectures at universities and is creating a mobile app focused on sex ed. Francisco has worked in over 10 countries and is based in NYC.
Airial Clark, M.A is the founder of The Sex-Positive Parent. She has a Master’s degree in Sexuality Studies from San Francisco State and also a rambunctious single-parent of two teenage sons. Airial graduated from UC Berkeley in 2007 with a BA in English Literature and Anthropology. She is a contributing writer for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Oakland Local, Good Vibrations Magazine, the Sex Positive Photo Project of the SF Bay Area and Shades Magazine. Airial presented her graduate level research on the intersections of race, non-monogamy and parenting at the Open SF conference and will be presenting two sessions at this year’s CatalysCon West. Airial sees the mission of her work to provide strategies and support for sex-positive parenting; specializing in community building for parents with alternative sexualities. She leads parent-education workshops, provides one-on-one parent coaching and consults other sex educators on how to include parents in their work.
Sex Out Loud Tagged with: airial clark, blog, francisco ramirez, free sex advice, Sex Out Loud, sex positive parent, sex positive parenting, sexual health
June 7: Sex-Positive Astrology with Eric Francis June 21: Erika Lust on Creating New Waves in Adult Cinema
anal ailments discomfort and pain polyamory anal health kink sex toys lube STIs butt plugs fantasy Sex Out Loud vibrators anal penetration dildos sex education dominance/submission communication porn BDSM books sex writing relationships safer sex fetish blog anal orgasms queer women's pleasure feminist porn
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Justin Amash & Henry A. Waxman
Compare the voting records of Justin Amash and Henry A. Waxman in 2013-14.
Dan Benishek (R-Mich.)
Ron Barber (D-Ariz.)
Kerry Bentivolio (R-Mich.)
John Carney (D-Del.)
Curt Clawson (R-Fla.)
Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.)
Bill Enyart (D-Ill.)
Michael G. Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.)
Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.)
Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.)
Tim Griffin (R-Ark.)
Mike Grimm (R-N.Y.)
Pete Gallego (D-Texas)
Joe Garcia (D-Fla.)
Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.)
Joe Heck (R-Nev.)
Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.)
Robert Hurt (R-Va.)
Janice Hahn (D-Calif.)
David W. Jolly (R-Fla.)
Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.)
Vance McAllister (R-La.)
Richard Nugent (R-Fla.)
Alan Nunnelee (R-Miss.)
Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Calif.)
Reid Ribble (R-Wis.)
Scott Rigell (R-Va.)
Jon Runyan (R-N.J.)
Trey Radel (R-Fla.)
Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.)
Steve Stockman (R-Texas)
Steve Southerland (R-Fla.)
Represented Michigan's 3rd Congressional District. This was his 2nd term in the House. He is a current member of Congress.
Henry A. Waxman
Represented California's 33rd Congressional District. This was his 20th term in the House. He left the House in 2015.
Justin Amash and Henry A. Waxman are from different parties and disagreed on 76 percent of votes in the 113th Congress (2013-14).
Dec. 11, 2014 — An Act to require the Secretary of the Interior to assemble a team of experts to address the energy needs of the insular areas of the United States and Freely Associated States through the development of energy action plans aimed at promoting access to energy
July 24, 2014 — Student and Family Tax Simplification Act
July 23, 2014 — To establish a demonstration program for competency-based education.
July 10, 2014 — Making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes
June 10, 2014 — Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes
May 22, 2014 — USA FREEDOM Act
April 30, 2014 — Making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes
April 29, 2014 — Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014
Feb. 6, 2014 — To authorize Escambia County, Florida, to convey certain property that was formerly part of Santa Rosa Island National Monument and that was conveyed to Escambia County subject to restrictions on use and reconveyance
Feb. 5, 2014 — Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act
Jan. 29, 2014 — To provide for the reform and continuation of agricultural and other programs of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2018, and for other purposes
Oct. 23, 2013 — Water Resources Reform and Development Act
Oct. 8, 2013 — Making appropriations for the salaries and related expenses of certain Federal employees during a lapse in funding authority for fiscal year 2014, and for other purposes
Oct. 5, 2013 — To provide for the compensation of furloughed Federal employees
Sept. 29, 2013 — Making continuing appropriations for military pay in the event of a Government shutdown.
July 31, 2013 — Smarter Solutions for Students Act
July 24, 2013 — Making appropriations for the Department of Defense for fiscal year ending September 30, 2014, and for other purposes
July 24, 2013 — Amash of Michigan Amendment No. 100
July 19, 2013 — To support State and local accountability for public education, protect State and local authority, inform parents of the performance of their children
July 11, 2013 — Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act
June 20, 2013 — Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act
June 14, 2013 — National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014
June 6, 2013 — Making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014, and for other purposes
June 4, 2013 — Making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014, and for other purposes
May 9, 2013 — To require that the Government prioritize all obligations on the debt held by the public in the event that the debt limit is reached
April 18, 2013 — Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act
April 10, 2013 — To authorize all Bureau of Reclamation conduit facilities for hydropower development under Federal Reclamation law, and for other purposes
On Agreeing to the Concurrent Resolution
March 21, 2013 — Establishing the budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2014 and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2015 through 2023
March 15, 2013 — Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills Act
March 13, 2013 — To prohibit waivers relating to compliance with the work requirements for the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families, and for other purposes
March 6, 2013 — Department of Defense, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013
Dec. 11, 2014 — Providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 83, to require the Secretary of the Interior to assemble a team of experts to address the energy needs of the insular areas of the United States and Freely Associated States through the development of energy action plans aimed at promoting access to energy
Dec. 10, 2014 — To require the Transportation Security Administration to implement best practices and improve transparency with regard to technology acquisition programs, and for other purposes
Dec. 10, 2014 — Chesapeake Bay Accountability and Recovery Act of 2014
Dec. 4, 2014 — Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act of 2014
Dec. 3, 2014 — To authorize appropriations for the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2015, and for other purposes
Dec. 2, 2014 — To instruct the Comptroller General of the United States to study the impact of Regulation D, and for other purposes
Dec. 2, 2014 — No Social Security for Nazis Act
Dec. 2, 2014 — To revise the boundaries of certain John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System units in North Carolina
Dec. 2, 2014 — To repeal the Act of May 31, 1918, and for other purposes
Dec. 2, 2014 — To exchange trust and fee land to resolve land disputes created by the realignment of the Blackfoot River along the boundary of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, and for other purposes
Nov. 12, 2014 — Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014
Sept. 17, 2014 — To amend the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Development Act to extend to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission.
Sept. 17, 2014 — To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for limitations on the fees charged to passengers of air carriers.
Sept. 16, 2014 — Providing for consideration of the joint resolution (H.J.Res. 124) making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2015, and for other purposes
Sept. 11, 2014 — E-LABEL Act
Sept. 8, 2014 — To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1335 Jefferson Road in Rochester, New York, as the
Sept. 8, 2014 — To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2000 Mulford Road in Mulberry, Florida, as the
On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree to the Conference Report
July 30, 2014 — Veterans
July 28, 2014 — Essential Transportation Worker Identification Credential Assessment Act
July 25, 2014 — Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2014
On Agreeing to the Resolution, As Amended
July 25, 2014 — Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces, other than Armed Forces required to protect United States diplomatic facilities and personnel, from Iraq
July 24, 2014 — To improve the response to victims of child sex trafficking
July 24, 2014 — Kilmer of Washington Part B Amendment No. 2
July 23, 2014 — Gowdy of South Carolina Part A Amendment No. 8
July 22, 2014 — To prevent Hezbollah and associated entities from gaining access to international financial and other institutions, and for other purposes.
July 16, 2014 — Heck of Washington Amendment
July 16, 2014 — Fleming of Louisiana Amendment No. 1
July 14, 2014 — To amend chapter 15 of title 44, United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Register Act), to modernize the Federal Register, and for other purposes.
July 10, 2014 — Quigley of Illinois Amendment
July 10, 2014 — Speier of California Amendment
July 9, 2014 — Hahn of California Amendment
July 8, 2014 — Department of Homeland Security Interoperable Communications Act
June 26, 2014 — Deutch of Florida Amendment No. 6
June 25, 2014 — DeFazio of Oregon Part A Amendment No. 3
June 20, 2014 — Franks of Arizona Amendment
June 20, 2014 — Lee of California Amendment No. 32
June 19, 2014 — Massie of Kentucky Amendment
June 19, 2014 — Moran of Virginia Amendment
June 19, 2014 — Cotton of Arkansas Amendment No. 2
June 19, 2014 — Walorski of Indiana Amendment
June 19, 2014 — Nadler of New York Amendment
June 19, 2014 — Gohmert of Texas Amendment
June 12, 2014 — Condemning the abduction of female students by armed militants from the terrorist group known as Boko Haram in northeastern provinces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
June 10, 2014 — To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts for the provision of hospital care and medical services at non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities for Department of Veterans Affairs patients with extended waiting times for appointments at Department facilities and for other purposes
June 10, 2014 — Gosar of Arizona First Amendment
June 9, 2014 — To authorize the programs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and for other purposes
May 29, 2014 — Cicilline of Rhode Island Amendment
May 28, 2014 — Urging the Government of the People
May 22, 2014 — Blumenauer of Oregon Part A Amendment No. 24
May 22, 2014 — Schiff of California Part A Amendment No. 21
May 22, 2014 — Smith of Washington Part A Amendment No. 11
May 21, 2014 — Daines of Montana Amendment No. 6
May 21, 2014 — Loretta Sanchez of California Amendment No. 3
May 20, 2014 — Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act
May 19, 2014 — To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the American Fighter Aces, collectively, in recognition of their heroic military service and defense of our country
May 1, 2014 — Nugent of Florida Amendment No. 1
April 30, 2014 — Blumenauer of Oregon Amendment
April 30, 2014 — Moran of Virginia Amendment No. 5
April 28, 2014 — To amend the National Law Enforcement Museum Act to extend the termination date
April 9, 2014 — Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014
April 9, 2014 — Mulvaney of South Carolina Substitute Amendment No. 1
March 26, 2014 — Corporal Justin D. Ross Post Office Building in Green Bay, Wisconsin
March 24, 2014 — Lance Corporal Daniel Nathan Deyarmin Post Office Building in Tallmadge, Ohio
March 24, 2014 — Sergeant William Moody Post Office Building in Burleson, Texas
March 11, 2014 — Condemning the violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity by military forces of the Russian Federation
March 11, 2014 — Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act of 2014
March 11, 2014 — Hire More Heroes Act of 2013
March 5, 2014 — To strengthen the strategic alliance between the United States and Israel, and for other purposes
March 4, 2014 — Supporting the people of Venezuela as they protest peacefully for democratic change and calling to end the violence
March 4, 2014 — Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014
Feb. 25, 2014 — FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act of 2014
Feb. 11, 2014 — To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide for an optional pilot program allowing certain emerging growth companies to increase the tick sizes of their stocks
Feb. 10, 2014 — Supporting the democratic and European aspirations of the people of the Ukraine, and their right to choose their own future free of intimidation and fear.
Feb. 3, 2014 — GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013
Jan. 27, 2014 — Good Samaritan Search and Recovery Act
Jan. 14, 2014 — Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments
Jan. 14, 2014 — OPM IG Act
Jan. 14, 2014 — To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to make the shareholder threshold for registration of savings and loan holding companies the same as for bank holding companies
Jan. 14, 2014 — To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide for a notice-filing registration procedure for brokers performing services in connection with the transfer of ownership of smaller privately held companies and to provide for regulation appropriate to the limited scope of the activities of such brokers
Jan. 13, 2014 — To revise the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station and certain land along Plum Run in Cumberland Township, to limit the means by which property within such revised boundaries may be acquired, and for other purposes
Jan. 8, 2014 — Transportation Reports Elimination Act of 2013
Jan. 8, 2014 — To amend the Clean Air Act to remove the requirement for dealer certification of new light-duty motor vehicles
Dec. 11, 2013 — To amend the requirements relating to assessment of Israel
Dec. 11, 2013 — To ensure compliance with the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction by countries with which the United States enjoys reciprocal obligations, to establish procedures for the prompt return of children abducted to other countries, and for other purposes
Dec. 11, 2013 — To clarify certain provisions of the Native American Veterans
Dec. 5, 2013 — Jackson Lee of Texas Part A Amendment No. 5
Dec. 5, 2013 — Watt of North Carolina Part A Amendment No. 2
Dec. 5, 2013 — Goodlatte of Virginia Part A Amendment No. 1
Dec. 3, 2013 — To require the Transportation Security Administration to implement best practices and improve transparency with regard to technology acquisition programs, and for other purposes
Dec. 3, 2013 — To amend certain definitions contained in the Provo River Project Transfer Act for purposes of clarifying certain property descriptions, and for other purposes
Dec. 2, 2013 — Community Fire Safety Act of 2013
Nov. 20, 2013 — Jackson Lee of Texas Part A Amendment No. 4
Nov. 18, 2013 — To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense joint outpatient clinic to be constructed in Marina, California, as the
Nov. 18, 2013 — Digital Accountability and Transparency Act
Nov. 12, 2013 — To extend the authority of the Supreme Court Police to protect court officials away from the Supreme Court grounds
Nov. 12, 2013 — To amend title 28, United States Code, to modify the composition of the southern judicial district of Mississippi to improve judicial efficiency, and for other purposes
Oct. 28, 2013 — Veterans
Oct. 28, 2013 — To establish a commission or task force to evaluate the backlog of disability claims of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Oct. 22, 2013 — Promoting Adoption and Legal Guardianship for Children in Foster Care Act
Oct. 22, 2013 — Paul Brown United States Courthouse
Oct. 12, 2013 — Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding certain provisions of the Senate amendment to H.R. 2642 relating to the Secretary of Agriculture
Oct. 9, 2013 — Making continuing appropriations for death gratuities and related survivor benefits for survivors of deceased military service members of the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2014, and for other purposes
Oct. 5, 2013 — Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the need for the continued availability of religious services to members of the Armed Forces and their families during a lapse in appropriations
Sept. 28, 2013 — To designate the United States courthouse located at 118 South Mill Street, in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, as the
Sept. 28, 2013 — Waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII with respect to consideration of certain resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules, and relating to consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 2642, to provide for the reform of agricultural programs of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2018
Sept. 27, 2013 — To designate the building occupied by the Federal Bureau of Investigation located at 801 Follin Lane, Vienna, Virginia, as the
Sept. 27, 2013 — Improving Job Opportunities for Veterans Act
Sept. 20, 2013 — McClintock of California Part C Amendment No. 3
Sept. 20, 2013 — Daines of Montana Part C Amendment No. 1
Sept. 17, 2013 — To authorize the President to extend the term of the Agreement for Cooperation between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Korea Concerning Civil Uses of Nuclear Energy for a period not to exceed March 19, 2016
Sept. 10, 2013 — To amend Public Law 93-435 with respect to the Northern Mariana Islands, providing parity with Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa
Sept. 10, 2013 — Powell Shooting Range Land Conveyance Act
Sept. 10, 2013 — Streamlining Claims Processing for Federal Contractor Employees Act
Sept. 9, 2013 — Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2013
July 30, 2013 — Third Hastings of Florida Amendment
July 30, 2013 — Second Hastings of Florida Amendment
July 30, 2013 — First Hastings of Florida Amendment
July 30, 2013 — Grayson of Florida Amendment
July 30, 2013 — Young of Alaska Amendment
July 24, 2013 — Pompeo of Kansas Amendment No. 99
July 24, 2013 — Schiff of California Amendment No. 73
July 24, 2013 — Nadler of New York Amendment No. 70
July 24, 2013 — Walorski of Indiana Amendment No. 62
July 24, 2013 — Stockman of Texas Amendment No. 60
July 24, 2013 — Mulvaney of South Carolina Amendment No. 55
July 24, 2013 — LaMalfa of California Amendment No. 51
July 24, 2013 — Jones of North Carolina Amendment No. 48
July 23, 2013 — Denham of California Amendment No. 47
July 23, 2013 — DeLauro of Connecticut Amendment No. 44
July 23, 2013 — Rigell of Virginia Amendment No. 36
July 23, 2013 — Fleming of Louisiana Amendment No. 35
July 23, 2013 — Garamendi of California Amendment No. 33
July 23, 2013 — Coffman of Colorado Amendment No. 30
July 23, 2013 — Cohen of Tennessee Amendment No. 29
July 23, 2013 — Cicilline of Rhode Island Amendment No. 28
July 23, 2013 — Walberg of Michigan Amendment No. 27
July 23, 2013 — Moran of Virginia Amendment No. 23
July 23, 2013 — Nugent of Florida Amendment No. 17
July 22, 2013 — Authorizing the use of the Capitol Grounds for the District of Columbia Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run
July 22, 2013 — WMD Intelligence and Information Sharing Act
July 16, 2013 — To designate the headquarters building of the Coast Guard on the campus located at 2701 Martin Luther King, Jr., Avenue Southeast in the District of Columbia as the
July 16, 2013 — To ensure that the Federal Aviation Administration advances the safety of small airplanes, and the continued development of the general aviation industry, and for other purposes
July 16, 2013 — To amend title 49, United States Code, to modify requirements relating to the availability of pipeline safety regulatory documents, and for other purposes
July 10, 2013 — Whitfield of Kentucky Amendment
July 10, 2013 — Lynch of Massachusetts Amendment
July 10, 2013 — Second Burgess of Texas Amendment
July 10, 2013 — First Burgess of Texas Amendment
July 10, 2013 — Polis of Colorado Amendment
July 10, 2013 — Heck of Nevada Amendment
July 8, 2013 — To amend title 40, United States Code, to improve veterans service organizations access to Federal surplus personal property
July 8, 2013 — To require the Financial Stability Oversight Council to conduct a study of the likely effects of the differences between the United States and other jurisdictions in implementing the derivatives credit valuation adjustment capital requirement
June 28, 2013 — Broun of Georgia Part B Amendment No. 9
June 27, 2013 — To amend title 10, United States Code, to require an Inspector General investigation of allegations of retaliatory personnel actions taken in response to making protected communications regarding sexual assault
June 25, 2013 — To designate the air traffic control center located in Nashua, New Hampshire, as the
June 20, 2013 — Fortenberry of Nebraska Part B Amendment No. 100
June 20, 2013 — Pitts of Pennsylvania Part B Amendment No. 98
June 20, 2013 — Goodlatte of Virginia Part B Amendment No. 99
June 20, 2013 — Carney of Delaware Part B Amendment No. 48
June 20, 2013 — Kind of Wisconsin Part B Amendment No. 47
June 20, 2013 — Polis of Colorado Part B Amendment No. 37
June 20, 2013 — Marino of Pennsylvania Part B Amendment No. 26
June 19, 2013 — Royce of California Part B Amendment No. 15
June 19, 2013 — Foxx of North Carolina Part B Amendment No. 3
June 18, 2013 — To direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan at the triennial International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly, and for other purposes
June 17, 2013 — Idaho Wilderness Water Resources Protection Act
June 14, 2013 — DeLauro of Connecticut Part B Amendment No. 137
June 14, 2013 — Blumenauer of Oregon Part B Amendment No. 123
June 14, 2013 — Van Hollen of Maryland Part B Amendment No. 39
June 14, 2013 — Smith of Washington Part B Amendment No. 20
June 14, 2013 — Walorski of Indiana Part B Amendment No. 19
June 14, 2013 — Coffman of Colorado Part B Amendment No. 37
June 14, 2013 — Larsen of Washington Part B Amendment No. 33
June 14, 2013 — Holt of New Jersey Part B Amendment No. 22
June 13, 2013 — McGovern of Massachusetts Part B Amendment No. 10
June 13, 2013 — Lummis of Wyoming Part B Amendment No. 3
June 13, 2013 — Blumenauer of Oregon Part B Amendment No. 2
June 12, 2013 — To provide equal treatment for utility special entities using utility operations-related swaps, and for other purposes
June 12, 2013 — To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Commodity Exchange Act to repeal the indemnification requirements for regulatory authorities to obtain access to swap data required to be provided by swaps entities under such Acts
June 12, 2013 — To provide end user exemptions from certain provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and for other purposes
June 11, 2013 — Rattlesnake Mountain Public Access Act
June 11, 2013 — South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act
June 5, 2013 — Ryan of Ohio Amendment
June 5, 2013 — Moran of Virginia Amendment
June 5, 2013 — Deutch of Florida Amendment
June 5, 2013 — Heck of Nevada Amendment
June 3, 2013 — Animal Drug and Animal Generic Drug User Fee Reauthorization Act of 2013
June 3, 2013 — Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2013
May 21, 2013 — Helping Heroes Fly Act
May 21, 2013 — To grant the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the First Special Service Force, in recognition of its superior service during World War II
May 21, 2013 — Improving Job Opportunities for Veterans Act
May 15, 2013 — To amend a provision of the Securities Act of 1933 directing the Securities and Exchange Commission to add a particular class of securities to those exempted under such Act to provide a deadline for such action
May 14, 2013 — Authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for an event to celebrate the birthday of King Kamehameha
May 14, 2013 — To affirm the policy of the United States regarding Internet governance
May 9, 2013 — Camp of Michigan Amendment
May 8, 2013 — Gibson of New York Amendment
April 24, 2013 — To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley to commemorate the lives they lost 50 years ago in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, where these 4 Black girls
April 23, 2013 — To enact title 54, United States Code,
April 23, 2013 — To make revisions in title 36, United States Code, as necessary to keep the title current and make technical corrections and improvements
April 18, 2013 — McCaul of Texas Amendment
April 18, 2013 — LaMalfa of California Amendment No. 9
April 18, 2013 — Sinema of Arizona Amendment No. 7
April 17, 2013 — Connolly of Virginia Amendment No. 2
April 17, 2013 — Rogers of Michigan Amendment No. 1
April 16, 2013 — Federal Information Security Amendments Act of 2013
April 15, 2013 — To prohibit the awarding of a contract or grant in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold unless the prospective contractor or grantee certifies in writing to the agency awarding the contract or grant that the contractor or grantee has no seriously delinquent tax debts, and for other purposes
April 15, 2013 — To amend title 31, United States Code, to make improvements in the Government Accountability Office
March 18, 2013 — Authorizing the use of the Capitol Grounds for the Greater Washington Soap Box Derby
March 18, 2013 — Authorizing the use of the Capitol Grounds for the National Peace Officers
March 6, 2013 — Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 933) making appropriations for the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other departments and agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, and for other purposes
March 5, 2013 — To amend section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, to require that annual budget submissions of the President to Congress provide an estimate of the cost per taxpayer of the deficit, and for other purposes
Feb. 27, 2013 — Providing for consideration of S. 47, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013
Feb. 25, 2013 — To redesignate the Dryden Flight Research Center as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center and the Western Aeronautical Test Range as the Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range
Feb. 13, 2013 — Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013
Feb. 6, 2013 — Schrader of Oregon Amendment No. 2
Jan. 14, 2013 — To improve and streamline disaster assistance for Hurricane Sandy, and for other purposes
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Benjamin L. Cardin & Marco Rubio
Compare the voting records of Benjamin L. Cardin and Marco Rubio in 2017-18.
Benjamin L. Cardin
Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.)
John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)
Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)
Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.)
Thad Cochran (R-Miss.)
Michael D. Crapo (R-Idaho)
Susan Collins (R-Maine)
John Cornyn (R-Texas)
Bob Casey (D-Pa.)
Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)
Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.)
Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)
Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.)
Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.)
Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
Al Franken (D-Minn.)
Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa)
Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah)
John Hoeven (R-N.D.)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.)
Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
Margaret Hassan (D-N.H.)
Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.)
James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.)
Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.)
Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
Doug Jones (D-Ala.)
Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.)
Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
Angus King (ID-Maine)
Tim Kaine (D-Va.)
John Kennedy (R-La.)
Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.)
Mike Lee (R-Utah)
John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)
Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.)
Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)
Rob Portman (R-Ohio)
Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
David Perdue (R-Ga.)
Jack Reed (D-R.I.)
Pat Roberts (R-Kan.)
Jim Risch (R-Idaho)
Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
Bernard Sanders (ID-Vt.)
Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.)
Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)
Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
Ben Sasse (R-Neb.)
Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
Luther Strange (R-Ala.)
Tina Smith (D-Minn.)
John Thune (R-S.D.)
Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.)
Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
Tom Udall (D-N.M.)
Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
Mark Warner (D-Va.)
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Represented Maryland. This is his 11th year in the Senate.
Represented Florida. This is his 7th year in the Senate.
Benjamin L. Cardin and Marco Rubio are from different parties and disagreed on 62 percent of votes in the 115th Congress (2017-18).
But they didn't always disagree. Out of 558 votes in the 115th Congress, they agreed on 210 votes, including 7 major votes.
Senate Vote 221
On the Motion
Oct. 3, 2018 — A bill to provide for opioid use disorder prevention, recovery, and treatment, and for other purposes.
Motion Agreed to by a margin of 97 votes.
Senate Vote 63
March 23, 2018 — A bill to amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to include severe forms of trafficking in persons within the definition of transnational organized crime for purposes of the rewards program of the Department of State, and for other purposes.
Feb. 9, 2018 — A bill to amend title 4, United States Code, to provide for the flying of the flag at half-staff in the event of the death of a first responder in the line of duty.
On the Cloture Motion
Jan. 22, 2018 — A bill to amend title 44, United States Code, to restrict the distribution of free printed copies of the Federal Register to Members of Congress and other officers and employees of the United States, and for other purposes.
Cloture Motion Agreed to by a margin of 63 votes.
Oct. 24, 2017 — A bill to amend title 28 of the United States Code to authorize the appointment of additional bankruptcy judges; and for other purposes.
On Passage of the Bill
June 15, 2017 — An Act to Provide Congressional Review and to Counter Iranian and Russian Governments' Aggression.
Bill Passed by a margin of 96 votes.
On the Amendment
June 14, 2017 — To impose sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation and to combat terrorism and illicit financing.
Amendment Agreed to by a margin of 95 votes.
Dec. 19, 2018 — Joseph Maguire, of Florida, to be Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Dec. 17, 2018 — A bill to reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Act to promote international action to reduce marine debris, and for other purposes.
Dec. 13, 2018 — To provide that nothing in the joint resolution shall be construed to influence or disrupt any military operations and cooperation with Israel.
On the Point of Order
Dec. 12, 2018 — A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress.
Point of Order Well Taken by a margin of 93 votes.
On the Motion to Table
Nov. 15, 2018 — A joint resolution relating to the disapproval of the proposed export to the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain of certain defense articles and services.
Motion to Table Agreed to by a margin of 56 votes.
Oct. 10, 2018 — An Act to provide for improvements to the rivers and harbors of the United States, to provide for the conservation and development of water and related resources, to provide for water pollution control activities, and for other purposes.
Oct. 9, 2018 — To provide for improvements to the rivers and harbors of the United States, to provide for the conservation and development of water and related resources, to provide for water pollution control activities, and for other purposes.
Oct. 3, 2018 — A bill to provide protections for certain sports medicine professionals who provide certain medical services in a secondary State.
On the Nomination
Sept. 27, 2018 — Lisa Porter, of Virginia, to be a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
Nomination Confirmed by a margin of 97 votes.
Sept. 25, 2018 — Peter A. Feldman, of the District of Columbia, to be a Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission for the remainder of the term expiring October 26, 2019
On the Conference Report
Sept. 18, 2018 — A bill making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes.
Conference Report Agreed to by a margin of 86 votes.
Sept. 17, 2018 — A bill to provide for opioid use disorder prevention, recovery, and treatment, and for other purposes.
Sept. 17, 2018 — A bill to ensure that health insurance issuers and group health plans do not prohibit pharmacy providers from providing certain information to enrollees.
Sept. 17, 2018 — To limit application of the gag clause to self-insured group health plans.
Amendment Rejected by a margin of 78 votes.
Sept. 12, 2018 — A bill making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes.
Sept. 12, 2018 — Charles P. Rettig, of California, to be Commissioner of Internal Revenue for the term expiring November 12, 2022
Sept. 6, 2018 — Charles J. Williams, of Iowa, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa
Sept. 5, 2018 — Elad L. Roisman, of Maine, to be a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission for a term expiring June 5, 2023
Aug. 28, 2018 — Joseph H. Hunt, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Attorney General
Aug. 28, 2018 — Richard Clarida, of Connecticut, to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of four years
Aug. 23, 2018 — A bill making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes.
Aug. 23, 2018 — In the nature of a substitute.
Aug. 21, 2018 — To increase funding for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Aug. 21, 2018 — To require a Comptroller General of the United States report on the implementation of the Military Health System Genesis electronic health record.
Aug. 20, 2018 — To appropriate an additional $10,000,000 for Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide for POW/MIA identification within the Defense Personnel Accounting Agency, and to provide an offset.
Aug. 20, 2018 — To provide funding for the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2018.
Aug. 1, 2018 — A bill making appropriations for the Department of the Interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes.
July 31, 2018 — In the nature of a substitute.
July 31, 2018 — An act to extend the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other purposes.
July 25, 2018 — To reduce the amounts appropriated to comply with the spending limits under the Budget Control Act of 2011.
July 25, 2018 — To make an amount available for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence of the Department of the Treasury to investigate the illicit trade of synthetic opioids originating from the People's Republic of China.
July 25, 2018 — To express the sense of Congress relating to the importance of long-distance passenger rail routes.
July 25, 2018 — To prohibit the use of funds to revoke certain exceptions.
July 24, 2018 — To provide amounts for inspection of foreign seafood manufacturers and field examinations of imported seafood.
July 24, 2018 — To provide for a report on facilities of the Department of the Interior damaged by certain volcanic eruptions.
July 24, 2018 — To require the Inspector General to update an audit report concerning on-time performance of Amtrak.
July 24, 2018 — To increase the amount available for a Community Volunteer Income Tax Assistance matching grants program for tax return preparation assistance.
July 23, 2018 — Robert L. Wilkie, of North Carolina, to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs
On the Resolution
July 19, 2018 — A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate against the making available of current and former diplomats, officials, and members of the Armed Forces of the United States for questioning by the government of Vladimir Putin.
Resolution Agreed to by a margin of 98 votes.
July 17, 2018 — Randal Quarles, of Colorado, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of fourteen years from February 1, 2018
July 16, 2018 — Scott Stump, of Colorado, to be Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education, Department of Education
July 12, 2018 — Paul C. Ney, Jr., of Tennessee, to be General Counsel of the Department of Defense
July 11, 2018 — A bill making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes.
July 10, 2018 — To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.
July 10, 2018 — Mark Jeremy Bennett, of Hawaii, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit
July 9, 2018 — Mark Jeremy Bennett, of Hawaii, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit
June 28, 2018 — A bill to provide for the reform and continuation of agricultural and other programs of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2023, and for other purposes.
June 28, 2018 — To prohibit certain practices relating to certain commodity promotion programs and require greater transparency by those programs.
On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed
Cloture on the Motion to Proceed Agreed to by a margin of 86 votes.
June 25, 2018 — A bill making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes.
June 21, 2018 — To increase employment for members of the Armed Forces in emerging industries.
June 20, 2018 — To prevent the denial of access to records and documents by various inspectors general.
June 20, 2018 — To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on the effectiveness of the Veterans Crisis Line.
June 20, 2018 — To set aside funds for cooperative agreements and laboratory support to accelerate the domestic production of Molybdenum-99.
June 19, 2018 — To direct the Secretary of the Army to submit a report on the status of returning to non-Federal project sponsors excess non-Federal funds.
June 19, 2018 — To express the sense of the Senate regarding the need for funding for innovative scientific research.
June 18, 2018 — To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.
June 18, 2018 — In the nature of a substitute.
June 14, 2018 — To improve the amendment.
June 14, 2018 — To require congressional review of certain regulations issued by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Cloture Motion Rejected by a margin of 27 votes.
June 7, 2018 — To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes
June 6, 2018 — Annemarie Carney Axon, of Alabama, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama
June 5, 2018 — Fernando Rodriguez, Jr., of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas
June 5, 2018 — Robert Earl Wier, of Kentucky, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky
May 23, 2018 — Jelena McWilliams, of Ohio, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for a term of six years
May 23, 2018 — Jelena McWilliams, of Ohio, to be Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for a term of five years
May 23, 2018 — A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide outer burial receptacles for remains buried in National Parks, and for other purposes.
May 23, 2018 — Brian D. Montgomery, of Texas, to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
May 15, 2018 — Joel M. Carson III, of New Mexico, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit
May 14, 2018 — Amy J. St. Eve, of Illinois, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit
May 14, 2018 — Michael Y. Scudder, of Illinois, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit
April 12, 2018 — Rebecca Grady Jennings, of Kentucky, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Kentucky
April 12, 2018 — John W. Broomes, of Kansas, to be United States District Judge for the District of Kansas
April 10, 2018 — Claria Horn Boom, of Kentucky, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky
April 9, 2018 — Claria Horn Boom, of Kentucky, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky
March 21, 2018 — A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that section 230 of such Act does not prohibit the enforcement against providers and users of interactive computer services of Federal and State criminal and civil law relating to sexual exploitation of children or sex trafficking, and for other purposes.
March 21, 2018 — To provide additional funding to the Department of Justice to combat the online facilitation of sex trafficking.
Motion Rejected by a margin of 57 votes.
March 6, 2018 — Terry A. Doughty, of Louisiana, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana
March 5, 2018 — Tilman Eugene Self III, of Georgia, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia
March 5, 2018 — Karen Gren Scholer, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas
Feb. 27, 2018 — Elizabeth L. Branch, of Georgia, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit
Feb. 12, 2018 — A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the premium tax credit with respect to unsubsidized COBRA continuation coverage.
Feb. 5, 2018 — Andrei Iancu, of California, to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
Jan. 25, 2018 — R. D. James, of Missouri, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Army
Jan. 23, 2018 — Jerome H. Powell, of Maryland, to be Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of four years
On the Motion to Proceed
Motion to Proceed Agreed to by a margin of 95 votes.
Jan. 11, 2018 — A bill to implement the use of Rapid DNA instruments to inform decisions about pretrial release or detention and their conditions, to solve and prevent violent crimes and other crimes, to exonerate the innocent, to prevent DNA analysis backlogs, and for other purposes.
Senate Vote 9
Jan. 11, 2018 — Walter David Counts III, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas
Jan. 11, 2018 — Michael Lawrence Brown, of Georgia, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia
Jan. 10, 2018 — Thomas Lee Robinson Parker, of Tennessee, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee
Jan. 9, 2018 — Thomas Lee Robinson Parker, of Tennessee, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee
Jan. 9, 2018 — William L. Campbell, Jr., of Tennessee, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee
Dec. 21, 2017 — A bill to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue Department of Homeland Security-wide guidance and develop training programs as part of the Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign, and for other purposes.
Dec. 19, 2017 — Jennifer Gillian Newstead, of New York, to be Legal Adviser of the Department of State
Dec. 18, 2017 — Owen West, of Connecticut, to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense
On the Joint Resolution
Dec. 7, 2017 — A joint resolution making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2018, and for other purposes.
Joint Resolution Passed by a margin of 67 votes.
Nov. 27, 2017 — Dabney Langhorne Friedrich, of California, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia
Nov. 16, 2017 — Donald C. Coggins, Jr., of South Carolina, to be United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina
Nov. 15, 2017 — Mark T. Esper, of Virginia, to be Secretary of the Army
Nov. 13, 2017 — Derek Kan, of California, to be Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy
Nov. 9, 2017 — Derek Kan, of California, to be Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy
Nov. 7, 2017 — John H. Gibson II, of Texas, to be Deputy Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense
Oct. 30, 2017 — Trevor N. McFadden, of Virginia, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia
Oct. 26, 2017 — Scott L. Palk, of Oklahoma, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma
Oct. 19, 2017 — To reduce discretionary spending by $43,000,000,000.
Oct. 19, 2017 — To modify reconciliation instructions to reduce the deficit.
Oct. 19, 2017 — To ensure that all Americans receive a tax cut, keeping more of their hard earned money, and enjoy the benefit of tax reform.
Oct. 19, 2017 — To make the American tax system simpler and fairer.
Oct. 18, 2017 — To establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to protecting Medicare and Medicaid.
Oct. 18, 2017 — To provide tax relief to American families with children to provide them with more money in their paychecks to make ends meet.
Oct. 17, 2017 — David Joel Trachtenberg, of Virginia, to be a Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
Oct. 16, 2017 — Callista L. Gingrich, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Holy See
Oct. 5, 2017 — Callista L. Gingrich, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Holy See
Oct. 5, 2017 — Randal Quarles, of Colorado, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the unexpired term of fourteen years from February 1, 2004
Sept. 28, 2017 — Ralph R. Erickson, of North Dakota, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit
Sept. 27, 2017 — Makan Delrahim, of California, to be an Assistant Attorney General
Sept. 27, 2017 — Heath P. Tarbert, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
Sept. 5, 2017 — Timothy J. Kelly, of the District of Columbia, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia
Aug. 3, 2017 — A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs, medical devices, generic drugs, and biosimilar biological products, and for other purposes.
Aug. 3, 2017 — Dan R. Brouillette, of Texas, to be Deputy Secretary of Energy
Aug. 1, 2017 — Christopher A. Wray, of Georgia, to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a term of ten years
July 31, 2017 — Kevin Christopher Newsom, of Alabama, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit
July 27, 2017 — A bill to provide congressional review and to counter aggression by the Governments of Iran, the Russian Federation, and North Korea, and for other purposes.
July 26, 2017 — To express the sense of the Senate that Medicaid expansion is a priority and that Obamacare must be improved.
July 18, 2017 — Patrick M. Shanahan, of Washington, to be Deputy Secretary of Defense
July 13, 2017 — William Francis Hagerty IV, of Tennessee, to be Ambassador to Japan
July 12, 2017 — David C. Nye, of Idaho, to be United States District Judge for the District of Idaho
Nomination Confirmed by a margin of 100 votes.
June 26, 2017 — Kristine L. Svinicki, of Virginia, to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the term of five years expiring June 30, 2022
June 21, 2017 — Marshall Billingslea, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Department of the Treasury
June 21, 2017 — Sigal Mandelker, of New York, to be Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes
June 20, 2017 — Brock Long, of North Carolina, to be Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security
June 15, 2017 — To reaffirm the strategic importance of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty to the member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its contribution to maintaining stability throughout the world.
Amendment Agreed to by a margin of 100 votes.
June 15, 2017 — To provide an exception for activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
June 12, 2017 — Kenneth P. Rapuano, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense
June 8, 2017 — Scott P. Brown, of New Hampshire, to be Ambassador to New Zealand, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the Independent State of Samoa
June 7, 2017 — A bill to impose sanctions with respect to Iran in relation to Iran's ballistic missile program, support for acts of international terrorism, and violations of human rights, and for other purposes.
June 5, 2017 — A resolution commemorating the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.
May 24, 2017 — John J. Sullivan, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary of State
May 22, 2017 — Terry Branstad, of Iowa, to be Ambassador to the People's Republic of China
May 11, 2017 — Robert Lighthizer, of Florida, to be United States Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador
May 4, 2017 — To encourage effective, voluntary investments to recruit, employ, and retain men and women who have served in the United States military with annual Federal awards to employers recognizing such efforts, and for other purposes.
April 25, 2017 — Rod J. Rosenstein, of Maryland, to be Deputy Attorney General
April 24, 2017 — Sonny Perdue, of Georgia, to be Secretary of Agriculture
April 4, 2017 — Elaine C. Duke, of Virginia, to be Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
On the Resolution of Ratification
March 28, 2017 — Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on the Accession of Montenegro
Resolution of Ratification Agreed to by a margin of 95 votes.
March 21, 2017 — Danny C. Reeves, of Kentucky, to be a Member of the United States Sentencing Commission for a term expiring October 31, 2019; and Charles R. Breyer, of California, to be a Member of the United States Sentencing Commission for a term expiring October 31, 2021
March 15, 2017 — Lt. Gen. Herbert R. McMaster, Jr., in the Army, to be Lieutenant General
March 15, 2017 — Daniel Coats, of Indiana, to be Director of National Intelligence
March 2, 2017 — James Richard Perry, of Texas, to be Secretary of Energy
March 1, 2017 — Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., of Florida, to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Feb. 14, 2017 — Linda E. McMahon, of Connecticut, to be Administrator of the Small Business Administration
Feb. 13, 2017 — David J. Shulkin, of Pennsylvania, to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Jan. 31, 2017 — Elaine L. Chao, of Kentucky, to be Secretary of Transportation
Jan. 24, 2017 — Nikki R. Haley, of South Carolina, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations during her tenure of service as Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations; and Nikki R. Haley, of South Carolina, to be the Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador, and the Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations
Jan. 20, 2017 — Mike Pompeo, of Kansas, to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Jan. 20, 2017 — John F. Kelly, of Virginia, to be Secretary of Homeland Security
Jan. 20, 2017 — James Mattis, of Washington, to be Secretary of Defense
Jan. 17, 2017 — A bill to ensure the Government Accountability Office has adequate access to information.
Jan. 12, 2017 — A bill to provide for an exception to a limitation against appointment of persons as Secretary of Defense within seven years of relief from active duty as a regular commissioned officer of the Armed Forces.
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Gregory W. Meeks & Kenny Marchant
Compare the voting records of Gregory W. Meeks and Kenny Marchant in 2017-18.
Gregory W. Meeks
Represented New York's 5th Congressional District. This is his 11th term in the House.
Kenny Marchant
Represented Texas's 24th Congressional District. This is his 7th term in the House.
Gregory W. Meeks and Kenny Marchant are from different parties and disagreed on 69 percent of votes in the 115th Congress (2017-18).
July 25, 2018 — Restoring Access to Medication Act
June 20, 2018 — Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety Act
March 15, 2018 — Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act
Feb. 27, 2018 — To place requirements on operational risk capital requirements for banking organizations established by an appropriate Federal banking agency
Feb. 14, 2018 — Protecting Consumers’ Access to Credit Act of 2017
Feb. 14, 2018 — TRID Improvement Act
Feb. 8, 2018 — Small Bank Holding Company Relief Act of 2018
Feb. 8, 2018 — Mortgage Choice Act of 2017
Jan. 10, 2018 — To amend the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 to clarify the use of amounts in the WMAT Settlement Fund
Dec. 20, 2017 — Corporate Governance Reform and Transparency Act
Dec. 19, 2017 — Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2017
June 7, 2017 — Anti-Border Corruption Reauthorization Act
April 26, 2017 — Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act
Nov. 30, 2018 — Federal CIO Authorization Act of 2018
June 28, 2018 — Gallagher of Wisconsin Amendment No. 8
May 23, 2018 — McGovern of Massachusetts Amendment No. 10
Nov. 28, 2017 — Superior National Forest Land Exchange Act
Nov. 8, 2017 — Veterans Fair Debt Notice Act of 2017
Nov. 8, 2017 — Veterans Crisis Line Study Act of 2017
Oct. 10, 2017 — To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4514 Williamson Trail in Liberty, Pennsylvania, as the “Staff Sergeant Ryan Scott Ostrom Post Office”
Sept. 7, 2017 — Ellison of Minnesota Amendment No. 38
Sept. 7, 2017 — Hunter of California Part B Amendment No. 77
July 26, 2017 — Takano of California Amendment No. 7
May 19, 2017 — Jackson Lee of Texas Amendment
Jan. 11, 2017 — Castor of Florida Part A Amendment No. 8
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World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events, Events with Hell in a Cell matches, No Way Out, 2000 pay-per-view events
No Way Out 2000
Tagline(s)
Let the Game Begin.
The Road to WrestleMania Continues...
PhoneFree.com
Theme song(s)
On the Tracks by Derek Todd Sorensen
Hartford Civic Center
No Way Out 2000 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which took place on February 27, 2000 at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut. It was the first event produced under the No Way Out name, although it was preceded in 1998 by an event named No Way Out of Texas.
The main event was a Hell in a Cell match, a match where the ring and ringside area was surrounded by a 20-foot-high roofed steel cell between WWF Champion Triple H and Cactus Jack; Triple H won the match to retain his championship. The featured bout on the undercard was a standard wrestling match, also known as a singles match, for a championship match at WrestleMania 2000 in which The Big Show defeated The Rock.
See also: Professional wrestling
The event featured eleven professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWF script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned story lines that took place before, during and after the event.
The Main Feud going into No Way Out was between Triple H and Cactus Jack fighting over the WWF Championship inside a Hell in a Cell. The feud started after Triple H defeated his father-in-law Mr. McMahon at Armageddon in No Holds Barred and also winning the WWF Title from The Big Show on Raw only a few weeks later. These events would start the McMahon-Helmsley Era with his wife Stephanie McMahon. Mankind would rebel against this new era and would receive attacks from D-X and Triple H. Mick Foley would drop the Mankind character to Cactus Jack. At the Royal Rumble Triple H and Cactus Jack would fight in a Street Fight Match for the WWF Championship, which was won by Triple H. The next night on Raw Triple H would grant Cactus another chance at the title at the PPV No Way Out and that the match can be any kind he wants. Cactus would later decide that the match will be a Hell in a Cell. Triple H said that it was deal only if he would put his career on the line, which he would agree to. Over the next few weeks Triple H would start predicting that he would end the fifteen-year career of Mick Foley.
Another feud heading into No Way Out was between The Rock and The Big Show over who should get the chance to face for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania. The feud began at the Royal Rumble in the Royal Rumble Match, The Rock and The Big Show were the last two competitors in the match both trying to throw each other over the rope. Both wrestlers fell out of the ring hitting the floor, The Rock hit the floor first but the officials thought The Big Show hit the ground first making The Rock the winner of the Royal Rumble. The next night on Raw The Big Show complained that it was no fair that nobody saw what happened so he got evidence and sent it to Triple H. Triple H would later make a match between The Rock and The Big Show at No Way Out where the winner will get the WWF Championship Chance at WrestleMania.
A third feud heading into No Way Out was between Kane and X-Pac in a no holds barred match. The feud all started last year in October when X-Pac turned on Kane during a tag team match against the Dudley Boyz. X-Pac tagged Kane into the match only to low blow and X-Factor him allowing the Dudleys to take the win. After the match, Kane was attacked by X-Pac allies D-Generation X and X-Pac dumped Kane as a partner. At Survivor Series, Kane defeated X-Pac by disqualification when Triple H interfered. After the match, X-Pac attacked Kane's storyline girlfriend Tori by kicking her in the face. On the January 27th edition of SmackDown!, Kane faced Big Show in a match in order to get a match against X-Pac but lost by disqualification after DX interfered. X-Pac then grabbed Tori and told Kane that Tori seduced him in a hotel room during the holidays. Tori then turned on Kane by kissing X-Pac and aligned herself with him and DX. This caused Kane to be institutionalized after Tori dumped him for X-Pac. Two weeks later, Kane returned along with Paul Bearer and attacked DX and their new allies the Radicalz at the end of an 8-man tag team match. On SmackDown!, Kane defeated Triple H and X-Pac in a handicap match again by disqualification when Triple H hit him with a chair. After the match, Kane got revenge on Tori for dumping him by Tombstone Piledriving her. The following week, Triple H announced a no holds barred match between Kane and X-Pac at No Way Out on the condition that Kane could defeat him and Big Show in a handicap match which Kane won with help from The Rock . The following weeks, would see the two attacking each other before their match at the event such as X-Pac and DX putting Kane and Bearer in the DX Express bus and later X-Pac burning Kane with a flame-thrower.
Before the event began and aired live on pay-per-view, an episode of Sunday Night Heat, one of WWE's secondary television programs, was taped live. In a singles match, Mosh defeated WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Essa Rios by disqualification. Following that match, in a mixed tag team match, the team of Ivory and Mideon defeated Jacqueline and Funaki
Preliminary matches
After Sunday Night Heat, the pay-per-view began with a singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship with Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. Both Angle and Jericho wrestled inconclusively in the beginning, including an attempt by Jericho to force Angle to submit by applying the Walls of Jericho, but Angle grabbed the ropes surrounding the ring, which forced Jericho to break the hold. While the referee Earl Hebner was (kayfabe) unconscious, Jericho attempted to hit Angle with a Lionsault, but was hit in the face with the Intercontinental Championship belt. Angle then covered Jericho for the pinfall, winning the Intercontinental Championship. Following the match, referees White and Hebner argued over the conclusion.
The following bout was a tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, where the champions, the New Age Outlaws (the Road Dogg and (Billy Gunn), defended their titles against the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von). Throughout the match, both teams performed many offensive maneuvers, though The Dudley Boyz were able to gain the upper hand when Bubba Ray struck Billy Gunn with a lead pipe on the outside of the ring did the 3D on Road Dogg inside the ring. Bubba Ray then covered Road Dogg to win the WWF Tag Team Championship for his team.
The third contest was Viscera versus Mark Henry in a standard match. Late in the match, Viscera hit Henry with a spinning heel kick and got the advantage. Then Viscera crushed Henry with the ladders on the outside and performed a belly to belly suplex until Mae Young interfered on behalf of Mark Henry. After she distracted Viscera, Mark Henry Spear and then Scoop powerslam him. He then pinned Viscera for the win.
The next match was a tag team match where Edge and Christian faced the Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff), who were escorted by Terri Runnels. Prior to the match, Terri had (kayfabe) hired the Acolytes Protection Agency (Bradshaw and Faarooq) as protection, and they were at ringside throughout the match. Both teams attempted to gain the advantage throughout the contest, and Edge and Christian ultimately gained it when Terri turned on the Hardy Boyz, pushing Jeff off the top rope as he attempted a move. As Matt questioned her, Terri slapped him and Christian struck Matt from behind and pinned him for the win. Following his loss, the Hardy Boyz attempted to pull Terri into the ring, but the APA attacked them.
The fifth contest was a standard match between Tazz and The Big Boss Man. Soon after the match began, Tazz applied the Tazzmission to Boss Man in an attempt to make him submit, but Prince Albert interfered and attacked Tazz, causing a disqualification. As Tazz was the one attacked, the victory was given to him. Following the match, Prince Albert and Boss Man assaulted Tazz in the ring.
Main event matches
The next match was X-Pac, escorted by Tori, versus Kane, escorted by Paul Bearer, in a No Holds Barred match. X-Pac and Kane wrestled extensively on the entrance ramp, and Paul Bearer interfered often, attacking X-Pac. X-Pac gave Kane an X-Factor but he recovered. The match ended when X-Pac dropkicked the steel ring steps into Kane's face and covered him for a pin.
The seventh match on the card was a six man tag team match where Too Cool (Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Grand Master Sexay) faced The Radicalz (Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn). Both teams performed many offensive maneuvers throughout the match, but Too Cool gained the upper hand when Rikishi delivered a Banzai Drop to Malenko. This was followed by a cover for the pin.
The featured bout on the undercard was The Big Show versus The Rock for a championship match at WrestleMania 2000. During the match, referee Tim White was knocked out, and upon recovering he was involved in a fight with fellow referee Earl Hebner, causing referee White to not count the pin when the Big Show covered the Rock. Shane McMahon came to officiate the match. The Rock then delivered the Rock Bottom, one of his finishing manoeuvres, and was attempting to perform the People's Elbow on his fallen opponent, when McMahon hit the Rock with a steel chair. The Big Show then covered the Rock and got a pin.
The main event was a Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship, in which WWF Champion Triple H defended his championship against Cactus Jack, with the added stipulation that if Jack lost he would have to retire from professional wrestling. The match began inside a structure of metal surrounding the ring and ringside area. Throughout the match, many weapons were employed, such as steel chairs and a 2x4 with barbed wire wrapped around it (the 2x4 was also set on fire later in the match). When the ring steps were repeatedly thrown against the wall of the cell, it tore open and Cactus Jack jumped through it to the outside of the cage. The men fought first on the announcers' table, and later both men wrestled on the top of the cage. While on top of the cell, Cactus Jack attempted a Piledriver, but the move was reversed and Triple H backdropped him onto the cell roof. The move broke the cell roof and Cactus Jack fell through to the mat below, buckling the surface of the ring. After Jack stood up again, Triple H performed the Pedigree on him. He then covered Cactus Jack for a successful pin to win the match.
After The Rock lost against The Big Show, they continued their feud the next night on Raw in a match where if The Rock lost he must leave the company. Shane McMahon was made special guest referee, and during the match Shane hit The Rock with a steel chair and tried to get The Big Show to cover him. Vince McMahon ran into the ring, hit his son, and allowed The Rock to perform a Rock Bottom on the Big Show and cover him for the pin. Vince sided with The Rock and promised him a match at WrestleMania for the WWF Championship. Shane McMahon came out the next night on Raw and announced that the match would be a Triple Threat match (a standard match with three participants) also including the Big Show. Following this match taking place on a Monday Night Raw preceding WrestleMania 16, Linda McMahon appeared and announced that the match occurring at WrestleMania would instead be a Fatal Four Way Elimination (a match with four participants where three must sequentially be eliminated via pinfall or submission) with Mick Foley whom Triple H had retired, filling the last spot. At WrestleMania Triple H defeated the three other men and thus retained his WWF Title. Both Vince and Shane McMahon betrayed the wrestlers they were backing and joined Triple H and Stephanie McMahon's faction, while Linda remained with Foley. The Rock received a rematch at Backlash 2000 and defeated Triple H, thanks to the help of Linda McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The two would also have an Iron Man Match (a match lasting sixty minutes where the victor is the performer with the most decisions at the end of the time limit) with Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee, which saw Triple H regain the title after Michaels disqualified The Rock due to interference from The Undertaker giving Triple H the deciding decision. They would finally end their feud at King of the Ring 2000 in a Six-Man Tag Team Match in which the participant on the Rock's team who gained the victory would be named champion The Rock would have both Kane and The Undertaker on his team, while Triple H had Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon. The Rock would win his fifth world championship after beating Vince.
Sunday Night Heat Headbanger Mosh defeated Essa Rios (c) by disqualification in a WWF Light Heavyweight Championship match
Sunday Night Heat Ivory and Mideon defeated Jacqueline and Funaki Mixed tag team match (N/A)
Kurt Angle defeated Chris Jericho (c) (w/ Chyna) to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship (10:13)
The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) defeated The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) (c) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship (05:19)
Mark Henry defeated Viscera (03:47)
Edge and Christian defeated The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) (with Terri Runnels) (15:16)
Tazz defeated The Big Boss Man by disqualification (00:48)
X-Pac (with Tori) defeated Kane (with Paul Bearer) No Holds Barred Match (07:49)
Too Cool (Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Grand Master Sexay) defeated The Radicalz (Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn) (12:41)
The Big Show defeated The Rock (09:27)
Triple H (champion) defeated Cactus Jack. Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship (23:58)
(Since Cactus Jack lost, he was forced to retire from wrestling.)
Other on-screen talent
Lilian Garcia
Howard Finkel
Earl Hebner
Jimmy Korderas
Jack Doan
Chad Patton
List of WWE pay-per-view events
WWE Event History
No Way Out 2000 on DVD
No Way Out 2000 Official Website
No Way Out 2000 at CAGEMATCH.net
No Way Out 2000 at Online World of Wrestling
No Way Out 2000 on WWE Network
1998 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2012
2000 World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-views
Royal Rumble • No Way Out • WrestleMania • Backlash • Insurrextion • Judgment Day • King of the Ring • Fully Loaded • SummerSlam • Unforgiven • No Mercy • Survivor Series • Rebellion • Armageddon
Retrieved from "https://prowrestling.fandom.com/wiki/No_Way_Out_2000?oldid=1536915"
World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Events with Hell in a Cell matches
2000 pay-per-view events
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Home Inspirational Pakistan Has Planted A Billion Trees In The Last 2 Years
Pakistan has taken a green step forward by planting 1 billion trees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province over the last two years. This “Billion Tree Tsunami” campaign has restored an overwhelming 350 hectares of forests and degraded lands while making Earth a little less polluted and more habitable.
Imran Khan, the leader of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaaf, led this “Billion Tree Tsunami” campaign to challenge deforestation in the face. Pakistanis have a reason to rejoice and revel over making the effort to reduce the rates of deforestation and increasing rates of sustainability of the planet.
This campaign was a part of the Bon Challenge that is spearheaded by The International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The Bon’s Challenge aim was to restore a minimum of 150 hectares of degraded land by the year 2020. Pakistan formed a part of the 20 countries who had agreed to take up this challenge and have completed much more than that the target well ahead of the stipulated time.
With the threat of climate adversely affecting the planet, tree planters in Pakistan actively participated in this challenge. Pakistan has been a prey to numerous violent floods in the past that has wiped away communities and destabilized eco-systems in the vicinity. With more trees being planted, river-beds remain well-protected and the potential of violent floods is quintessentially reduced with afforestation. “The Billion Tree Tsunami” is a step that has been taken towards the right direction. Our first and foremost duty, as humans, as countries, as citizens should be to protect mother Earth and reduce the levels of pollution, deforestation and climate change.
The world has sustained much damage already and we can strive harder to make it a habitable planet for our future generations. Pakistan, as a third-world country, has shown all the countries a probable way to deal with climate change and its ill-effects. It’s our responsibility as well-informed individuals to follow suit and make the future earth a better place to live in, for our successors.
Pakistan had fallen prey to torrential rains in April 2016 that claimed the lives of more than 140 people and resulted in destructions. Scientists believed that the damage caused by the spell of rain was only increased by deforestation and mountain slides. The “Green Growth Initiative” headed by Malik Amin realized how deforestation abetted mass scale damage and destruction and began a number of activities that might help in reversing the damage caused by 60 years of deforestation. Timber mafias were cracked down and “Billion Tree Tsunami” was commenced to reverse the negative trend and better the lives of the future generations.
This project was started in June 2015. At the Paris Conference, the KP government had promised to restore 384 hectares of degraded land by reforestation under “Billion Tree Tsunami.” It was in the same campaign that Bon Challenge lent its support to the project and aimed to restore 150 million degraded lands in the entire world to make this world a better place.
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HomePress ReleasesCannabis Science Research Group FSO NAC / HRM Farms Receives Approvals From the Nevada Department of Agriculture for its Newest 40-Acre Industrial Hemp Research Project in Nevada
Cannabis Science Research Group FSO NAC / HRM Farms Receives Approvals From the Nevada Department of Agriculture for its Newest 40-Acre Industrial Hemp Research Project in Nevada
This Post Was Syndicated Under License Via QuoteMedia
IRVINE, CA, July 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cannabis Science, Inc. (OTC: CBIS), a U.S. company specializing in the development of cannabinoid-based medicines, is pleased to announce the immediate launch of a new 40-acre industrial hemp research and development project in Nevada. Cannabis Science, American States University (ASU), FSO NAC / HRM Farms celebrate as the Lincoln County, Nevada industrial hemp property has just been approved by the Nevada Department of Agriculture Industrial Hemp Program. The Group will immediately commence its industrial hemp research operations on the 40-acre Lincoln County, Nevada property.
The Group believes it can bring in one and quite possibly two harvests this year. The primary purpose of the research initiative is to provide hands-on University professional training in agricultural industrial hemp research and development focused on creating pharmaceutical drugs targeting critical ailments while furthering the Group’s other industrial targets such as Alternate Biofuels, Construction, Clothing and Automobile Materials, and other industries. The University programs aim to provide affordable quality education to its students so as to achieve their career goals and excel in their chosen professions.
The main research and development will focus on Cancer, PTSD, Chronic Pain, Arthritis, Parkinson’s Disease, Epilepsy, Autism, and HIV/AIDS. The research data collected will primarily be used for FDA and other clinical studies by creating a pharmaceutical drug development plan for key critical ailments. Other objectives for research and development include wholesale distribution to physicians and licensed wholesale manufacturers coupled with extraction research and development for green energy/fuel, construction materials, clothing fabric, paper manufacturing, food products, and vehicle production parts.
A key area of this Lincoln County Industrial Hemp Research & Economic Development Plan is job creation, and CBIS has provided many jobs across the country and through its University partners is anticipating creating a whole lot more through its unique and robust Industrial hemp Research Program. The vertical integration that allows for jobs to be provided through the development of local industrial hemp industry, healthcare infrastructure, water management, waste management, technology, communications, and housing is profound anywhere.
The CBIS Industrial Hemp Research & Economic Development Programs are growing stronger due to the many collaborations created within the recently launched Cannabis Science Global Consortium. The CBIS Global Consortium works as a framework and platform to cooperate and collaborate with stakeholders worldwide. Linking universities, foundations, corporations, and individuals to share research, ideas, and other relevant information, the CBIS Global Consortium implements a cutting-edge research program to develop medicines and delivery mechanisms from bench-to-bedside. The Global Consortium also enables the Company to more strategically coordinate its initiatives, including those focused on education, job creation, and skills training.
Last year in the San Joaquin County, Cannabis Science initiated their first Industrial Hemp Research Project with the Group, its pilot research commenced on approximately 26 acres as part of the larger Economic Development Plan inclusive of education, job creation, and drug development. Equivalent to the San Joaquin County Project, the Lincoln County Project will provide industrial hemp research opportunities, education opportunities, and skills training for community residents that will help create jobs and improve the overall economic conditions.
“Cannabis Science will leverage and build on our experiences in San Joaquin County,” stated Mr. Dabney. “We have a roadmap for what we want to do, in California, in Nevada, as well as every other State right across the Country.”
While the San Joaquin County Industrial Hemp Research & Economic Development project remains in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento the Company is looking forward settling the case outside of court.
CBIS Group vs San Joaquin County et al.
On October 27, 2017, Cannabis Science, Inc. (the “Company”), along with its partners Winnemucca Shosoni MBS, American States University, Free Spirit Organics NAC and HRM Farms filed a Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against ten San Joaquin County defendants including the Board of Supervisors, County Counsel; District Attorney and the Sheriff and against the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
Shortly after the initial filing the Plaintiffs learned the DEA was not involved and dismissed it. Accordingly, Plaintiffs were pleased to learn that the DEA was not involved with the subject seizure and was apparently unconcerned with the industrial hemp research project.
The Complaint stems from a search warrant and subsequent seizure executed by the Defendants on the Plaintiff’s 26.19-acre plot of land where it was growing industrial hemp. On November 17, 2017, CSI and the rest of the plaintiffs filed seven documents including 45 pages of pleadings, seven declarations, and 150 pages of exhibits asking the Court to issue a temporary restraining order.
First Amended Complaint that contains more detail and alleges that every part of the disputed San Joaquin County Ordinance 4497 is defective or inaccurate in some fashion, attaching an unanswered letter from the Administrative Dean of America States University requesting a hearing days before the unannounced raid and seizure. The action was filed in the United States District Court in and for the Eastern District of California against San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors; San Joaquin County Counsel; Erin Hiroko Sakata; Miguel Villapudua; Katherine Miller; Tom Patti; Bob Elliott; Chuck Winn; San Joaquin County District Attorney; San Joaquin County Sheriff; Drug Enforcement Administration and Does 1-50 (collectively the “Defendants”).
The original Complaint was filed in response to the Defendants entering onto the Plaintiffs’ property and seizing their industrial hemp harvest and alleges: (1) Violation of Supremacy Clause/Preemption [U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2]; (2) Unconstitutional Vagueness [U.S. Const. am. 5, 14]; (3) Unlawful Bill of Attainder/Ex Post Facto [U.S. Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 3]; (4) Violation of Fifth Amendment – Procedural Due Process; and, (5) Violation of Fourth Amendment – Unlawful Seizure [42 U.S.C. §1983]. The Complaint requests for the following:
· Temporary Restraining Order/Immediate Stay of Enforcement;
· Return of Property Seized;
· Preliminary Injunction;
· Permanent Injunction;
· Declaration re: Ordinance Is Void;
· Declaration re: Search Warrant Is Void;
· Declaration re: Seizure Was Unlawful;
· Compensatory Damages; and
· Punitive Damages.
The Complaint alleges that the Defendants: (a) drafted San Joaquin County Ordinance 4497 (the “Ordinance”) specifically to criminalize the Plaintiffs’ existing industrial hemp harvest; (b) determined the Plaintiffs violated the Ordinance; and, (c) enforced it by seizing the Plaintiffs’ grow, with an estimated value of US $77 Million, without affording them an opportunity to meaningfully present their arguments to a judge or other neutral fact finder. The Plaintiffs further contend that the Defendants committed this violation of the separation of powers in the form of an emergency ordinance so the Plaintiffs would not have enough notice or opportunity to become compliant and based on a multitude of inaccurate facts. The Plaintiffs contend that they have all of the required permits, exemptions, approvals and authorizations necessary, but, regardless, these actions are unconstitutional.
Those interested in following the case may sign up for a PACER account here: https://www.pacer.gov/cmecf/ and once an account is created, may log in here: https://ecf.caed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl and do a query for case 2:17-CV-02271.
The Company will provide further updates on the federal court action once available.
The Company is gaining confidence in a positive outcome for everyone as more Cities, Counties, States, and Countries seem to be realizing the legal and monetary advantages of the CBIS Industrial Hemp Research & Economic Development Program. CBIS is proud to be able to positively impact virtually any city with more than 50 educational programs within multiple Universities specializing in the Department of Agriculture, Medical & Health Care, Business, Law, Certified Professionals, Arts, Media, and Technology in a unique hybrid structure of online, in class, and in field education.
Staying in line with its other Industrial Hemp Research & Economic Development programs CBIS has also recently entered a partnership to implement a phytomedicines initiative on 1,000 acres in South Africa. In the same manner of the other initiatives, Cannabis Science and Elpasso Farms will establish the Pan-African Agriculture and Commerce University (PAACU), in collaboration with American States University. PAACU will specialize in agriculture, medicine, law, and business programs, and will offer a variety of certificate courses and conduct formal research programs using a variety of cannabinoids from associated indigenous plants. The Elpasso Economic Development Plan will utilize the University platform to provide PAACU scholarships for educating local and regional residents in several different industries applicable to their area with a heavy focus on agriculture, drug development, food security, and job creation.
Cannabis Science strongly advocates for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and believes that companies should have an obligation to positively impact the communities in which they operate. As part of its commitment to CSR, the Company has implemented its Economic Development Initiative (EDI) to provide general structure for how the Company operates in the communities where it has established business activities. Through its EDI, Cannabis Science develops and implements specific initiatives to meet the needs of each community, as identified through consultation with members of the community.
About Cannabis Science, Inc.
Cannabis Science, Inc. takes advantage of its unique understanding of metabolic processes to provide novel treatment approaches to a number of illnesses for which current treatments and understanding remain unsatisfactory. Cannabinoids have an extensive history dating back thousands of years, and currently, there are a growing number of peer-reviewed scientific publications that document the underlying biochemical pathways that cannabinoids modulate. The Company works with leading experts in drug development, medicinal characterization, and clinical research to develop, produce, and commercialize novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment for illnesses caused by infections as well as for age-related illness. Our initial focus is on cancers, HIV/AIDS, and neurological conditions. The Company is proceeding with the research and development of its proprietary drugs as a part of this initial focus: CS-S/BCC-1, CS-TATI-1, and CS-NEURO-1, respectively.
This Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. A statement containing words such as “anticipate,” “seek,” intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “plan,” or similar phrases may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Some or all of the events or results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not occur. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company’s reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based drugs. Cannabis Science, Inc., does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward-looking statements. Safe Harbor Statement. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a ‘safe harbor’ for forward looking statements. Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not historical facts are forward looking statements with respect to events, the occurrence of which involved risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may be impacted, either positively or negatively, by various factors. Information concerning potential factors that could affect the company is detailed from time to time in the company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cannabis Science, Inc.
Mr. Raymond C. Dabney
President & CEO, Co-Founder
Dr. Allen Herman
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Prachatai English / Opinion / There is no heaven for LGBTI here: torture of LGBTI in Thai society and in the world context / Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong
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There is no heaven for LGBTI here: torture of LGBTI in Thai society and in the world context
Submitted on Thu, 2019-06-27 15:46
Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong
“There was once a male student accused of physically assaulting a gay guy he had never known … well, he’s a man you know. Strolling around and spotting something irritating, something unusual, he couldn’t stand it. He had to throw a punch and kick for a round or two, to teach them that it’s not right to live like that in front of us men. … I was one of the committee, I tried to bend the rules looking for loopholes for that boy to get deducted the least number of points, because if it was me, I would probably deal with these gays many times harder than he did.”
“Gays shouldn’t be allowed to study, they should go and fix themselves first.”
“As for butches, if they got forced by men a few times I bet they would get addicted, change their ways, and go back to being women.”
A teacher at the Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University
Since 16 January 2019, many people have come out to protest against the vindictive ideas towards LGBTI [1] of a lecturer in Educational Psychology and Psychology for Teachers at the Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University. The above quotes were taken from a voice clip that was published online, spoken by the said lecturer. The content was mainly about supporting and agreeing to violence, torture, cruel treatment and discrimination towards LGBTI [2]. Students who had previously taken his class came out to confirm on social media that the quotes are true. In addition, a female transgender student revealed that she was once blocked by this teacher from entering the classroom and reprimanded for not wearing the male student uniform, as well as being told right to her face that, “The one who has mental problems isn’t me […] How lucky you are that the psychiatrist didn’t send you to get treatment or get electroshock therapy like in the past. How good is it of the Faculty of Education to still allow you to come study and not send you to the mental hospital.” [3]
If we evaluate this event superficially, many people may think this is a problem of personal opinion, and so solving the problem is limited just to dealing with an individual, such as setting up a committee to investigate the teacher [4]. However, since around 1980, many gender studies academics have used a second wave feminist concept of “The personal is political” to explain that homophobia and transphobia are not just “personal opinions”, but the product of a heteronormative society which is full of inequality between heterosexuals and LGBTI [5]. If we use this concept to evaluate what happened, we can consider what this teacher said not as just a “personal opinion” but like a ‘pass’ that justifies violence towards LGBTI. Not only that, it turns that violence into something normal or amusing.
As a researcher working on torture, I observed that what the teacher supported, whether physical assaults on LGBTI, rape for the sake of changing someone’s gender, or forcing LGBTI to be treated for ‘sexual deviation’, are serious violations of human rights that fit the definition of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment (called ‘cruel treatment’ for short) according to international law. Importantly, these things don’t just exist in the imagination of this teacher, but are the reality that is happening everywhere in Thai society, which is why his words are a mirror that reflects the structural issue of violence that LGBTI in Thailand have to face. Even though setting up mechanisms to investigate the behaviour of this teacher is very important in checking the facts and bringing him to justice if he is guilty, focusing only on individuals may be solving only the symptoms of the problem and makes us overlook the structural problems. Also the opportunity is lost to protest against the various forms of violence towards LGBTI through the frame of torture and cruel treatment, starting from an analysis of international human rights principles related to torturing LGBTI. I will now talk about the context of torture and cruel treatment towards LGBTI in Thailand and the importance of campaigning against torture of LGBTI at the end.
What is torture and how is it related to LGBTI?
“Torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
Article 1, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)
International law on torture was written to deal with the problem of the violation of human rights happening mainly to men. Juan Méndez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment from 2010 to 2016, pointed out this problem in his 2017 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The evolution of torture law didn’t take into consideration power relations in a society of patriarchy and heteronormativity, leading to violence towards women and LGBTI. In the past, there were no mechanisms in place to protect people from torture on the basis of their sexuality and gender [6]. Nevertheless, the definition of torture is dynamic and changes all the time. Before, torture was limited to only cruel treatment for obtaining information or confession or punishment. As time passed, the meaning became broader and also included cruel treatment for intimidation or discrimination [7]. This led to the definition provided in the CAT, the main law on this topic at present (a summary of the definition is provided in the graphic below). Even then, the addition of the concept of discrimination was the starting point for experts from the United Nations, academics and activists from all over the world to start paying attention to the violation of human rights of LGBTI in terms of torture and cruel treatment [8].
In 2001, Sir Nigel S. Rodley, then Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, started to observe that the ‘sexual minority’ or LGBTI are often the victims of torture and cruel treatment, especially sexual harassment [9]. Not long after that, in 2008, the UN Committee Against Torture started to see the importance of the torture of LGBTI. They emphasised in General Comment No. 2 the importance of the non-discrimination principles in CAT and confirmed that using violence towards minorities and marginalised persons based on discrimination is considered torture under international human rights law [10]. The Committee also indicated that LGBTI and transgender people are considered marginalised and at risk of torture [11]. In addition, the Committee said that the torturer doesn’t need to be a public official or an individual in an official position; if the state fails to investigate an act of violence based on gender and allows the offender to go free, that would be equal to the state supporting and conniving at torture, and is considered a violation of the obligations of the CAT [12].
After that, the United Nations’ international human rights mechanisms gave increasing importance to torture of LGBTI. For example, the UN Committee Against Torture stated in General Comment No. 4 in 2017 that CAT state parties are prohibited from forcibly returning refugees to their countries of origin, if those persons are in danger and at risk of torture on the basis of discrimination in gender [13]. In addition, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has started to accept complaints through special procedures on torture of LGBTI in various countries and issued letters to those governments, requesting them to explain the violations of human rights that have occurred. For example:
On 3 April 2019, Brunei announced the enforcement of the Syariah Penal Code Order which allows authorities to whip, imprison or even execute Muslim homosexuals by stoning [14]. The Special Rapporteur on Torture then sent a joint letter with UN experts in other fields of human rights to the Brunei government to warn them that this law is in conflict with Brunei’s obligations under many international laws such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
On 11 February 2019, the Special Rapporteur sent a similar letter to the Russian government to express his concerns on the illegal detention of 40 lesbians and gays in the Chechen Republic and the cruel torture inflicted on them; beatings, electroshocks, starvation, and forcing men to wear women’s clothes to humiliate them, etc. At least 2 people died in detention. Since 2018, Chechen officials have openly supported the killing of LGBTI family members to protect family honour (honour killings). Detention and torture are only part of ongoing practices long used to deal with LGBTI in the republic. The Special Rapporteur then demanded that the Russian government come out to explain the truth and state what measures they have taken to protect LGBTI that have fallen victim to torture and to punish the offenders [15].
Even though these letters are not legally binding, they are excellent tools that activists in various countries can use to campaign and build diplomatic pressure on governments. An example of a successful case is on 6 May 2019, when the Brunei government, after being pressured from various countries, declared that they will not execute homosexuals [16]. Even though this decision did not happen directly because of the UN letter to the Brunei government, it can be considered as an important part in creating the pressure and encouraging people worldwide to protest against this law until they succeeded. This is an important step in the evolution of international human rights law that started by using the frame of torture and cruel treatment to explain the violations of the human rights of LGBTI.
LGBTI as victims of torture in Thai society
Thailand isn’t “the heaven of LGBTI” as many understand. Human rights activists, academics and the general LGBTI population have come out to challenge the myth that Thailand’s prosperous tourism and entertainment businesses for LGBTI can be an indicator that Thai society is open to sexual diversity [17]. In reality, even though Thailand doesn’t have any law that criminalizes homosexuality like some countries, LGBTI still face structural inequalities that force them into lower economic and social status compared to heterosexuals. In addition, many people have negative stereotypes of LGBTI, especially transgender people, leading to widespread discrimination in Thai society, as can be seen from the case of the Chulalongkorn University teacher mentioned earlier. This kind of discrimination leads to various forms of violence that will eventually fall under torture and cruel treatment towards LGBTI [18].
From these references to the types of violence towards LGBTI which have been certified by the UN as torture (details above) [19], I found that many occur in Thailand. Examples with sufficient supporting information are compiled below.
1. “Lady boy = criminal”: use of violence against transgender women detainees
Transgender women in Thai society are often stereotyped in a negative way as troublemakers, criminals, or people with higher sexual needs than normal, and they are often the target of illegal threats, arrest and detention. For example, in April 2017, volunteer police in Pattaya were reported to have arrested and physically harmed a transgender woman, accusing her of being a ‘prostitute’ [20]. During the arrest, the transgender woman was also at high risk of sexual harassment since transgender women are seen as people with high sexual needs, and so sexual harassment is justified, something normal or even amusing. In addition, after they are imprisoned, transgender women are often at risk of sexual harassment, torture and cruel treatment [21]. For example, iLaw has presented data on violence toward transgender prisoners, whether sexual harassment by male prisoners or prison guards, forced strip searches, etc. [22]
From its monitoring and observation of torture worldwide since 1977, the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) revealed that more LGBTI are detained or arrested in proportion to their numbers than heterosexuals [23]. Expressed as a mathematical function for easier understanding, it would be:
“No. of LGBTI imprisoned : All LGBTI > No. of heterosexuals imprisoned : All heterosexuals”
Even though Thailand has no law criminalizing LGBTI, they are still at risk of discrimination, such as getting expelled from home by their family or neglected, being bullied in educational institutions, being refused jobs, etc. These social conditions prevent LGBTI from realising their full potential due to lack of opportunity and material, mental and financial support from their families. They do not have the same educational opportunities as others, are not able to work according to their capabilities and are pushed into illegal occupations such as prostitution for survival. Because of this, the ratio of LGBTI that are arrested and detained is higher than heterosexuals. In addition, news of LGBTI being arrested is often reported with prejudice towards their gender, linking the criminal’s gender to crime, which reinforces hate and discrimination against LGBTI. This will lead to the start of the cycle, putting LGBTI at greater risk of getting detained than usual (see picture above). During detention or imprisonment is when LGBTI, especially transgender women, often fall victim to torture and cruel treatment.
2. “Mending butches, fixing femmes” “changing butches back to girls”: a discourse of violence that isn’t just words
“Mending butches, fixing femmes” (Lit: kae thom som di) and “changing butches back to girls” (Lit: plian thom hai pen thoe) are concepts where many people in Thai society, especially heterosexual men, believe that if butches, femmes and lesbians had sexual intercourse with men they would be able to change or “cure” their gender into becoming heterosexuals. These phrases aren’t just for fun but are a discourse with influence in producing and justifying sexual violence towards women with sexual diversity. Even though there are no formal statistics collected or available to the public, the general public can see from news reports that rape and rape-murders often occur in Thai society [24]. This kind of rape as an attempt to change sexual orientation is considered a form of violation of human rights directed specifically at LGBTI, especially at lesbians, butches and femmes and falls under torture [25].
3. Killing with hate: murders of transgender people in Thailand
The hate-motivated murder of transgender people occurs in no small number in Thailand. The Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide project monitors and collects statistics on transgender murders worldwide and shows that between 2008 and June 2016 no less than 14 transgender people were killed [26]. In addition, there was the forced disappearance and horrifying murder of a butch that occurred on 13 December 2016 [27]. I believe that the statistics are only preliminary data. From speaking with LGBTI activists, I found that records of LGBTI murders (not only transgenders) are difficult, since Thailand does not have laws prohibiting hate crimes. This is why investigating officers often don’t include data on gender in the case file, and many cases that have occurred are not recorded. However, if a hate crime can be proven, the UN will consider it torture [28].
4. Ordination, dhamma camps, psychiatric hospitals: forced therapy and treatment to fix gender
Many Buddhist Thais believe that being born LGBTI is the result of bad deeds done in a previous life, causing a number of parents to send their gay or transgender sons into the monkhood or dhamma camps to fix their gender. Statistics from the Foundation for SOGI Rights and Justice in 2012 revealed that more than 2.5% LGBTI teenagers have faced such an experience. In addition, at the end of 2018 there were reports of dhamma camps being used to mentally torture participants to change their gender [29]. From the same data in 2012, the Foundation for SOGI Rights and Justice found that 1.3% of LGBTI teenagers were forced to receive psychiatric treatment. The belief that LGBTI is a mental illness is due to the compulsory education curriculum which still teaches Thai students that LGBTI or ‘sexual deviation problems’ are a disgusting mental problem. Even though the curriculum has been amended, many textbooks still adhere to such beliefs [30].
Forcing LGBTI to get ‘treatment’ in this manner is a kind of violence, since the treatment often involves cruel and brutal physical and mental methods against those receiving treatment, such as electroshocks, physical assaults, forced sexual intercourse with the opposite sex and mental torture. It therefore falls under torture according to international law [31].
Joining a campaign against LGBTI torture
This article is intended to show that the words of the Chulalongkorn University teacher quoted above are only a mirror reflecting the torture and cruel treatment towards LGBTI in Thai society which is widespread but not often mentioned. Even though there are activists and human rights organisations consistently monitoring, keeping watch and collecting data on violations of LGBTI rights, it is unfortunate that the data is not often analysed through the frame of torture and cruel treatment. This means that research data is considerably dispersed and out of date. Analysing the data through a frame of torture and cruel treatment will help increase opportunities for those working to protect LGBTI rights to campaign and oppose violence towards LGBTI. The reasons are:
Although no international convention related directly to LGBTI rights exists, there is a convention on torture. Importantly, Thailand is a party to this convention and has the obligation to (1) investigate allegations of torture when they receive a complaint; (2) enforce measures to provide redress and compensation for victims of torture; (3) start legal procedures against those who commit torture. This is therefore thought to be a good opportunity to use existing mechanisms for benefit.
Many human rights organisations are trying to push forward a law on the prevention and suppression of torture and enforced disappearances. This law can be used as a tool to protect LGBTI from violence and bring offenders to justice.
There are numerous international mechanisms on torture with an interest in gender. Collecting and reporting data to these mechanisms will help increase the efficiency of LGBTI rights campaigns and increase pressure on the government to halt violence against LGBTI.
Organisations working on LGBTI and those working on torture can cooperate in the shared goal of stopping all forms of violence. Cooperation will strengthen campaigns.
For this reason, I hope that this article will be of help in encouraging LGBTI activists to come out, work and campaign against torture, no matter how big or small.
[1] The abbreviation LGBTI stands for ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex’. I understand that this abbreviation is limited and does not cover all genders, which are fluid and diverse. Therefore this article uses LGBTI only to refer to those with diverse sexuality, which has a broader meaning.
[2] View the full clip at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgDaU7hpV1I&fbclid=IwAR2KmjPEyntyuS2NgBM...
[3] Voice TV, “Overview – Students reveal being gender discrimination by Chula teacher and being chased out of the classroom for ‘being a lady boy’. For further details, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HWc3lfWldw
[4] See for example Chulalongkorn University students’ campaign on change.org “Demanding the Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University to examine gender discrimination behaviour in Niran Sangsawat’s class” at http://bit.ly/2WmHqnK
[5] See further examples of academic works that question homophobia or transphobia as a “personal opinion” at Kitzinger, Celia (1987) The Social Construction of Lesbianism. London: SAGE; Plummer, Ken (1981) ‘Homosexual Categories: Some Research Problems in the Labelling Perspective of Homosexuality’, in the books Ken Plummer (ed.) The Making of the Modern Homosexual, pp. 53–75. Totowa, NJ: Barnes & Noble Books; Vidal-Ortiz, Salvador (2008) ‘Introduction to Retheorizing Homophobias’; and Einarsdóttir, Anna, et al. (2015) “‘It’s Nothing Personal’: Anti-Homosexuality in the British Workplace.”
[6] “Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” (A/HRC/31/57), 5 January 2016, paragraph 5, accessible at https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/31/57. Many international law academics also proposed similar concepts and have started to apply queer theory and feminism to the research question of how heteronormativity affects the evolution of international law and what can they do to change international law to protect the rights of LGBTI. Examples are Hagen, Jamie J., “Queering women, peace and security,” International Affairs 92: 2 (2016) pages 313–332. or “Queering International Law” which collects conversations on this topic, accessible at http://ypinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Wilde__Ralph__Queering_...
[7] For the evolution of the interpretation of torture and cruel treatment, see Perez-Sales, Paul, Psychological Torture: Definition, Evaluation, and Measurement, 2560, pages 4-7.
[8] There are no clear criteria used to distinguish categories of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, but most academics and experts often use factors such as intentions and goals to indicate whether violence is torture or only cruel treatment. This article mainly uses the term torture since occurrences of LGBTI torture often have a clear goal to discriminate, and so becomes aligned with the definition of torture.
[9] “Question of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (A/56/156), Fifty-sixth session, Item 132 (a) of the preliminary list, 3 July 2001, paragraph 17, accessible at: https://undocs.org/en/A/56/156
[10] Committee Against Torture, “General Comment No. 2,” 24 January 2551, paragraph 20, accessible at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/47ac78ce2.html
[11] Reference in paragraph 21
[12] Committee Against Torture, “General Comment No. 2,” 24 January 2008, paragraph 18
[13] Committee against Torture “General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the implementation of article 3 of the Convention in the context of article 22”, accessible at https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a903dc84.html
[14] The verdict has many details. Further information can be read from the letter to the Brunei government from experts in the UN’s special mechanisms, Reference no. OL BRN 1/2019, accessible at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicatio...
[15] See more from the letter written by experts from the UN’s special mechanisms to the Russian government, Reference no. UA RUS 1/2019, accessible at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicatio...
[16] Al Jazeera, “Brunei halts plan to punish gay sex with death by stoning” 6 May 2019, accessible at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/brunei-halts-plan-punish-gay-sex-...
[17] Read more on the myth that Thailand is a “gay paradise” in the article: Jackson, Peter A. “Tolerant But Unaccepting: The Myth of a Thai ‘Gay Paradise’”. In the book; Peter A. Jackson and Nerida M. Cook (ed.), Gender and Sexualities in Modern Thailand (1999). Page 226-242. Article; “Land of lady boys? Thailand is not the LGBTI paradise it appears” published in South China Morning Post accessible at: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/2163544/land-la...
[18] This analytical approach originated from the report of Victor Madrigal-Borloz, an independent UN expert on violence and discrimination based on gender and gender identity, which explained that this form of discrimination is an important condition leading to the later torture and cruel treatment of LGBTI . “Report of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity” (A/HRC/38/43) 11 May 2018, paragraph 49, accessible at https://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/HRC/38/43
[19] I summarised the details on the forms of violence towards LGBTI which falls under torture from many reports issued by the UN which were referenced earlier: A/HRC/38/43, A/56/156, and A/HRC/31/57, including “Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and International Human Rights Law: Practitioner Guide No.4 (2009), manual of the International Commission of Jurists on the application of international law on gender, accessible at: https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/sexual-orientation-intern...
[20] Prachatai, “‘Lady boy rights organisation’ calls on officials-media to stop labelling-discriminating against lady boys and transgenders in Pattaya” [in Thai] at https://prachatai.com/journal/2017/04/71207
[21] See page 54, “Legal gender certification in Thailand: law and policy review” https://www.undp.org/content/dam/rbap/docs/Research%20&%20Publications/h...(Thai).pdf
[22] Read further at iLaw, “Stories of LGBTI in prison (male)” [in Thai], accessible at: https://ilaw.or.th/node/3088?fbclid=IwAR2LBAO2m6MzFNk2W3dLTO4a1LM7cFZt-1...
[23] Association for the Prevention of Torture, “Towards the Effective Protection of LGBTI Persons Deprived of Liberty: A Monitoring Guide” (2018), page 21-22, accessible at: https://www.apt.ch/content/files_res/apt_20181204_towards-the-effective-...
[24] Examples of news reports in 2018 can be found at Sanook, “Butch raped by uncle, 6 months pregnant, rapist says he wanted her to like men again” [in Thai] 11 January 2018, accessible at https://www.sanook.com/news/4940046/; Komchadluk, “"Butch" sues perverted teacher for rape !!!” [in Thai] 19 July 2018, accessible at: http://www.komchadluek.net/news/crime/335437; and Inn News, “Police arrest male for raping butch before murder and hiding the body in Pathum” [in Thai] 19 June 2018, accessible at https://www.innnews.co.th/crime/news_115186/.
[25] “Report of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity” (A/HRC/31/57), 5 January 2016, paragraph 57, accessible at: https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/31/57
[26] Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide, “Trans Murder Monitoring Absolute numbers (2008 - June 2016)” accessible at: https://transrespect.org/en/map/trans-murder-monitoring/
[27] Read further at iLaw “‘Butch kidnapped and killed’ a reflection of sexual prejudice to mysterious violence” [in Thai] at https://ilaw.or.th/node/4398
[28] “Discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity” (A/HRC/19/41), 17 November 2011, paragraph 57, accessible at https://undocs.org/A/HRC/19/41
[29] Khaosod, “Man reveals dhamma camp forces participation, terrible psychological health, causes younger brother to see psychiatrist and take medicine his whole life!” [in Thai] at https://www.khaosod.co.th/monitor-news/news_1872421
[30] Posttoday, “Health education textbook content says “Do not make friends with gay-third gender’ ”, [in Thai] accessible at: https://www.posttoday.com/social/general/566501
[31] Previous reference. A/HRC/19/41, paragraph 48
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Artwork By Rantt Media Production Designer Madison Anderson
Hidden Figures: Black Women Have Always Been On The Frontline Of American Activism
From the Civil Rights Movement to the resistance, black women have shown us civil disobedience can be a powerful tool.
by: Kaz Weida on July 21, 2018
When Maxine Waters stepped forward last month to encourage holding this administration accountable for the unconscionable policy of separating refugee children from their parents, she ignited a firestorm. The right quickly weaponized Maxine’s words as a call for violence and civil war. Even Democrats were edged away from the discussion with misplaced admonishments for civility that echoed throughout social media.
Juxtaposing these calls for civility next to the actual footage of Maxine’s speech is puzzling because her words contain no reference to anything other than nonviolent means of protest. And it certainly pales in comparison to some of the violent rhetoric Donald Trump has used in campaign rallies to motivate his base.
When Auntie Maxine, as her followers have dubbed her, stepped forward to advocate for accountability in the face of atrocity and human rights abuses, she was standing on the shoulders of a proud tradition of black women who have been at the forefront of civil disobedience. Many in the black community have pushed back on the idea of civility, insisting it’s just another way to tone police people of color and reinforce the status quo.
As many allies and fledging activists are learning, “good trouble” has its place in America’s history of turning the tide against racism and sexism. And at the forefront of these acts of civil disobedience, both past and present, we find black women. They’re running for office, they’re registering voters, they’re organizing protests. And they’re following a tradition in the black community of putting their bodies on the line to oppose this administration.
A History of “Good Trouble”
While black women lead the charge for civil rights in many respects, they’ve often been conveniently written out of the history of the movement, lost in the long shadow of figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Many know Rosa Parks as an elderly woman who kicked off the Montgomery bus boycott with her act of civil disobedience, but Rosa had been an activist long before that fateful day when she refused to give up her seat. She followed in the footsteps of other black women like Claudette Colvin, a black teenager, who was one of the first to refuse to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus nearly nine months before Rosa Parks.
Black women like Daisy Bates, who was pivotal in the fight to end segregation in Arkansas schools, and Ella Baker, who was a leader in the civil rights movement and a driving force of the NAACP, are not household names. But their work to encourage nonviolent protest and to advocate for their community was instrumental in ending segregation and passing the Civil Rights Act. Septima Clark, Jo Ann Robinson, Fannie Lou Hamer, Amelia Boynton, Dr. Pauli Murray and Dorothy Height deserve more than a footnote in the history books.
From sit-ins to boycotts, from marches to arrests, the entire point of the work of black activists, many of them women, was to disturb the peace of the system of white supremacy that continues to humiliate, persecute, and oppress people of color today. As Martin Luther King noted in “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” our communities cannot be patient and wait for “the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice.”
Nonviolence is not passive; nor does it cower in the face of evil and injustice. However, it is strategic, active and tactical, with an ultimate goal in mind. Now the question is: What’s the ultimate goal?
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) June 26, 2018
This young man is not being passive. He is demonstrating attention to an ultimate goal by making it clear who’s the oppressed and who’s the oppressor. He is harnessing his energy to win a critical policy change in the freedom struggle. pic.twitter.com/jqzahqKaVr
As many refuse to heed misplaced calls for civility in the face of the systematically racist policies of the Trump administration, it is black women who have been lighting the way, with acts of civil disobedience that have inspired a nation.
“Black women are on the frontline of revolution”— Bree Newsome
Most of America remembers Bree Newsome “shimmying up that flagpole” in front of the South Carolina state house in 2015, removing the Confederate flag that hung there, and igniting a fierce debate about the future of the symbol of white supremacy. Bree was arrested, but her actions were a watershed moment and, within a week of her act of civil disobedience, the Confederate flag was taken down permanently.
BW are on frontline of revolution in America & have been for generations b/c the system of white capitalist patriarchy was literally organized around our enslavement. This is also why we represent base of progressive mvmt. Y’all erase this reality thinking we exist to save others
— Bree Newsome (@BreeNewsome) July 5, 2018
Bree’s activism points towards a vital fact about civil disobedience. These nonviolent means of protest, when done properly, have the potential to galvanize support and propel a movement forward. Activists make these risky statements, despite condemnation for “breaking the law,” for precisely that reason. The power of a fierce act in the face of authority, a photo of a single person stepping out as a beacon of bravery, can inspire more action than a thousand tweets.
“People of color, particularly black folks…we don’t get our due justice”—Anita Cameron
As a queer black woman who has been protesting on behalf of the disabled and disadvantaged for decades, Anita Cameron knows a thing or two about civil disobedience. She’s been arrested 131 times in the past 30 years, including at the now infamous die-in at Mitch McConnell’s office in 2017 to protest cuts to healthcare. Her activism began long before this administration, and it’ll carry on long after it.
Protesters chanting “no cuts to Medicaid” outside McConnell’s office. Capitol Police blocked the hallway & protesters are being removed pic.twitter.com/RhVwJPwYtK
— Andrew Desiderio (@desiderioDC) June 22, 2017
Anita talks often about the powerful impact not just of acts of nonviolent protest, but also the empowerment of putting her disabled body on the line.
“People look at the disability and they think we are helpless or fragile…and that’s so far from the truth.”
“When they go low, we go high. And I went as high as I could.” —Therese Patricia Okoumou
When 44-year-old Therese Patricia Okoumou scaled the platform of the Statue of Liberty on Independence Day, she wanted her act of civil disobedience to bring attention to the immigration crisis. She certainly accomplished that mission.
“Michelle Obama—our beloved First Lady that I care so much about—said, when they go low, we go high. And I went as high as I could.”
Therese Patricia Okoumou pic.twitter.com/PL6t9INGEw
— wikipedia brown (@eveewing) July 6, 2018
Therese, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is hardly a stranger to activism. She’s been fighting racial discrimination in Staten Island for the last decade and is an outspoken member of Rise and Resist, the group that engaged in the Abolish Ice protest on the 4th of July.
#ThereseOkoumou. “I went as high as I could.” ✊🏾. pic.twitter.com/AfD7mGGoKC
— deray (@deray) July 6, 2018
“We are the next generation of voters, and of leaders. We have more power than we give ourselves credit for.” —Kenidra Woods
If black women like Therese and Bree represent the present of the movement, activists like Kenidra Woods are the future. She’s been fighting to make a difference in the lives of young people since the age of 13, and more recently, has entered the ranks as a pivotal figure in the #NeverAgain movement.
THIS IS A POWERFUL PHOTO:
Ferguson, Parkland, & Chicago all together united to execute change. We are stronger together !!
I’m certain the young people will definitely win.
PSA: @davidhogg111 has been deemed the “dj khaled” of gun violence prevention. 🤟🏽💚 #RoadToChange pic.twitter.com/VFMWk6o1QE
— therealkenidrawoods (@KenidraRWoods_) June 18, 2018
In addition to launching the Hope for Humanity Project in her hometown of St.Louis, 17-year-old Kenidra has vowed to continue school walkouts and student-led activism until sensible gun control is a priority.
“We are keeping on with this fight until there is common sense gun legislation in every state.”
“If I’m silent, hate wins.” —Saida Dahir
Black teenage activists like Kenidra have sprung up across the United States and some of them have become icons of political movements. Eleven-year-old Naomi Wadler won the hearts of America with her impassioned speech at the March for Our Lives rally in DC while young activists like Mari Copeny have been leading the charge for clean water in Flint for years.
17-year-old Saida Dahir, a Somalian refugee who spent the first three years of her life in a Kenyan refugee camp, also knows what it means to raise her voice. A poet who often advocates for refugees, Saida’s poem about school shootings, read out loud during a March for Our Lives rally in Utah, gained a lot of attention both locally and nationally.
Since then, Saida has dived headfirst into activism, organizing and participating in protests against immigration and vigils for Black Lives Matter. From her perspective, nonviolent protest is a matter of survival.
“I’m black, I’m Muslim, I am all these stereotypes. I’m a woman. My whole identity has been under attack.”
As black women lead the way in opposing this administration with acts of civil disobedience, others are beginning to follow. Last month, nearly 600 protesters were arrested on Capitol Hill, including Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. Also in attendance were Senator Duckworth and her newborn baby, wrapped in the foil thermal blankets that have become a hallmark of children in government detention centers, and chanting “We care, do you?”
I was just arrested with 500+ women and @WomensMarch to say @RealDonaldTrump’s cruel zero-tolerance policy will not continue. Not in our country. Not in our name.
June 30 we’re putting ourselves in the street again.
Join us. https://t.co/DdRHeFtTTr pic.twitter.com/P9uK0Z1Zay
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) June 28, 2018
Sen. Duckworth and her baby heading to the TV cameras after revving up the protesters pic.twitter.com/jcagr02sOt
It’s important to recognize that, while white allies are beginning to wake up to the idea that calls for civility are misplaced, it’s still people of color and often, specifically black women, who are on the front lines. Placing their bodies and their future in harm’s way to fight for justice. And it’s a reminder that those sitting at home, comfortable in their privilege and tweeting about civility, have a long way to go before they understand the necessity of “good trouble” and what it means to be on the right side of history.
Opinion // Activism / America / Black Women / Democracy
by: Kaz Weida
Kaz Weida is a freelance journalist, editor, and photographer. Her areas of expertise include education, gender equality, and all things foodie. You'll find her on Twitter @kazweida, getting into "good" trouble.
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Capital and Colonialism
Capital and Colonialism pp 311-337 | Cite as
Imperial Profit
Klas Rönnbäck
Oskar Broberg
Part of the Palgrave Studies in Economic History book series (PEHS)
In this chapter, we analyse what role a number of imperialist policies and colonial institutions played for the estimated return on investment in Africa. We study whether two particular imperialist events—the occupation of Egypt in 1882 and the South African War of 1899–1902—had any impact upon the return on investment in these respective parts of Africa. We furthermore study the impact of different colonial institutions. One such institution studied here is the use of chartered companies for the colonization of African countries. We furthermore exploit the distinction between settler and non-settler colonies to analyse the impact of a bundle of colonial institutions associated with settler colonies, in particular, upon the return on investment in these types of colonies. We finally turn to studying the return on investment in connection with decolonization during the 1950s and 1960s and whether decolonization led to the realization of country risk for the investors. We conclude that while specific imperial policies and colonial institutions influenced the return on investment temporarily, this did not translate into a higher average return on investment throughout the period under study.
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© The Author(s) 2019
1.Department of Economy and SocietyUniversity of GothenburgGothenburgSweden
Rönnbäck K., Broberg O. (2019) Imperial Profit. In: Capital and Colonialism. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Publisher Name Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
eBook Packages Economics and Finance
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Department of Public Health /
Sexually Transmitted Infections: an international peer-reviewed journal for health professionals and researchers in all areas of sexual health /
Omori, R. (Ryosuke), N.J.D. Nagelkerke (Nico) and L.J. Abu-Raddad (Laith J)
HIV and herpes simplex virus type 2 epidemiological synergy: Misguided observational evidence? A modelling study
Sexually Transmitted Infections: an international peer-reviewed journal for health professionals and researchers in all areas of sexual health , Volume 94 - Issue 5 p. 372- 376
Objectives To investigate whether observational studies of HIV and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infections have the capacity to assess the HIV/HSV-2 epidemiological synergy. Methods An individual-based Monte Carlo model was used to simulate HIV/HSV-2 epidemics in two scenarios: no HIV/HSV-2 biological interaction and HSV-2 seropositivity enhancing HIV acquisition. Cross-sectional observational studies were simulated by sampling individuals from the population to assess resulting crude and adjusted ORs of the HIV/HSV-2 association. Meta-analyses were conducted to estimate the pooled mean ORs. Impact of under-reporting of sexual behaviour and miscapture of high-risk individuals was assessed through sensitivity analyses. Results Assuming no HIV/HSV-2 biological interaction, the crude HIV/HSV-2 OR ranged between 1.38 and 9.93, with a pooled mean of 6.45 (95% CI 5.81 to 7.17). Adjustment for the number of sexual partners over last year, over lifetime and for both partner numbers simultaneously reduced the mean OR to 5.45 (95% CI 4.90 to 6.06), 3.70 (95% CI 3.32 to 4.12) and 3.54 (95% CI 3.17 to 3.94), respectively. Assuming HIV/HSV-2 biological interaction, the crude OR ranged between 3.44 and 9.95, with a pooled mean of 8.05 (95% CI 7.14 to 9.07). The adjustments reduced the mean OR to 7.00 (95% CI 6.21 to 7.90), 3.76 (95% CI 3.32 to 4.25) and 3.68 (95% CI 3.25 to 4.17), respectively. Under-reporting of partners reduced the confounder-adjustment effects. Miscapture of high-risk individuals considerably lowered the estimated ORs. Conclusions It is difficult to control for sexual-behaviour confounding in observational studies. The observed HIV/HSV-2 association appears more consistent with two infections sharing the same mode of transmission, rather than with HSV-2 enhancing HIV acquisition.
Keywords epidemiologic study, mathematical model, odds ratio, sexual behaviour, sexual networks
Persistent URL dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2017-053336, hdl.handle.net/1765/114255
Journal Sexually Transmitted Infections: an international peer-reviewed journal for health professionals and researchers in all areas of sexual health
Omori, R. (Ryosuke), Nagelkerke, N.J.D, & Abu-Raddad, L.J. (2018). HIV and herpes simplex virus type 2 epidemiological synergy: Misguided observational evidence? A modelling study. Sexually Transmitted Infections: an international peer-reviewed journal for health professionals and researchers in all areas of sexual health, 94(5), 372–376. doi:10.1136/sextrans-2017-053336
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Barrick Gold Makes Hostile $17.8 Billion Bid for Newmont Mining – by Danielle Bochove and Ed Hammond (Bloomberg News – February 25, 2019)
February 25, 2019 in Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Newmont, United States Mining
https://www.bloomberg.com/
Barrick Gold Corp. is going hostile in its bid to acquire Newmont Mining Corp. and create the world’s largest gold producer, offering $17.8 billion for the company in an all-share deal. Shares of both companies tumbled.
The proposed purchase, which is a discount to Newmont’s closing price on Friday, raises the potential for a three-way fight between some of the world’s largest gold miners. Newmont said its board would review the deal but made clear its previously announced plan to take over Goldcorp Inc. offers better benefits.
“Newmont has previously determined that Barrick’s risk and return profile is inferior on many fronts, including factoring Barrick’s comparatively ineffective operating model, poor track record on delivering shareholder returns and unfavorable jurisdictional risk,” the Colorado-based company said in a statement Monday.
Gold miners have been merging as the price of the metal has gained in the past year. The Barrick bid, if completed, would likely derail Newmont’s own $10 billion takeover of rival Goldcorp, announced last month, putting a big question mark over the future of three large gold miners.
It would also put an end to years of on-again, off-again talks to merge Barrick and Newmont, the latest of which collapsed in 2014.
For the rest of this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-25/barrick-gold-makes-hostile-bid-for-newmont-mining
OPINION: The flawed Bill C-69 will worsen, rather than solve, the crisis in Canada’s resources sector – by Grant Bishop (Globe and Mail – February 25, 2019)
Barrick goes hostile with $18-billion all-stock bid for U.S. rival Newmont – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 25, 2019)
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Home > smh > ihmri > 1356
Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute
Better cardiac care: health professional's perspectives of the barriers and enablers of health communication and education with patients of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent
Jordan Stanford, University of WollongongFollow
Karen E. Charlton, University of WollongongFollow
Anne T. McMahon, University of WollongongFollow
Scott F. Winch, University of WollongongFollow
Stanford, J., Charlton, K., McMahon, A. & Winch, S. (2019). Better cardiac care: health professional's perspectives of the barriers and enablers of health communication and education with patients of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. BMC Health Services Research, 19 106-1-106-10.
Background: A body of knowledge continues to grow regarding Aboriginal perspectives on current challenges and barriers to health literacy and access to health services. However, less is known from the perspectives of health professionals who work in cardiac care. Given their role in delivering patient education, health practitioners could provide useful insights into potential solutions to improve patient-practitioner communication. The primary aim was to explore perspectives of health professionals who work in coronary care units regarding the enablers, barriers and potential solutions for patient-practitioner communication with patients of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders descent. The secondary aim was to evaluate the acceptability and value of two videos developed with key stakeholders to provide culturally appropriate education.
Methods: Participants were recruited from two major regional hospitals. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 health professionals (11 Nurses, five Cardiologists and one Aboriginal Health Worker). Interviews were recorded, de-identified and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analysed using constant comparison, interpreted through inductive thematic analysis and final themes were agreed through consensus with secondary researcher.
Results: Health professionals acknowledged that existing barriers resulted from organisational structures entrenched in the healthcare system, impacted on the practitioners' ability to provide culturally appropriate, patient-centred care. Lack of time, availability of culturally appropriate resources and the disconnection between Western medical and Aboriginal views of health were the most common challenges reported. The two videos evaluated as part of this study were found to be a useful addition to practice. Strengths in the videos design were the use of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander actors and positive messaging to convey health related topics. Further improvements included additional information related to common tests and procedures to allow for realistic expectations of patient care.
Conclusion: Re-modelling of organisational structures is required in order to promote a more culturally-friendly and welcoming environment to encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to engage with mainstream cardiac care services. The videos that were developed using principles that are sensitive to Aboriginal health views, may offer an additional way in which to overcome existing barriers to effective patient-practitioner communication with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Medicine and Health Sciences Commons
IHMRI home
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(516) 705-0039careers@sasexecutivesearch.com
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New Law in New York City Restricts Asking About Previous Pay History
New Law in New York…
Beginning Tuesday, October 31, 2017, employers in New York City – and the executive search firms that represent them – are prohibited from asking job candidates about their salary history. The New York City Human Rights Law, as it is known, is an effort to help bring women’s pay in line with that of their male counterparts.
A growing number of municipalities and states across the nation have enacted, or are considering, similar legislation. The New York City law, which met resistance from Wall Street and the search industry, will in many cases change how salary and other compensation is discussed during the recruitment process. Beyond the ban on directly inquiring about previous salary, employers are also restricted from asking a candidate’s previous employers about an individual’s pay or searching public records for that information. If employers inadvertently come upon a prospect’s salary history, they are restricted from using it to decide how much to offer. Under the law, employers can consider salary history if the candidate offers the information “voluntarily and without prompting.” Violators could be fined as much as $125,000 for an unintentional transgression and as high as $250,000 for willfully breaking the new law. Dealing with Change When asked about the effect of the law on recruitment firms, Melissa Osipoff, a labor and employment attorney with the Fisher Phillips law firm, said it will no doubt change certain aspects of how recruiters do business. “This is something that’s going to be challenging for them to do their jobs the way that they have in the past,” she said.
The New York City law and others like it pose a series of challenges for employers and recruiters that go beyond merely being forbidden to ask a specific question during a one-on-one interview. “Employers need to review all of their application materials and ensure that they don’t include any requests to disclose salary history,” said Ms. Osipoff, who is based in New York and who has been busy in recent months helping her management clients plan for complying with the law. “They need to remove any salary history questions from their background checks or any other verification inquiries that they make. Importantly, they need to train their personnel, their human resources personnel and anyone else who’s involved in interviewing candidates, to make sure that they’re not asking these types of questions.” Ms. Osipoff said employers are going to have a challenge “on how they want to deal with when an applicant voluntarily discloses their salary, and what they want to do to document that,” to ensure that it was voluntary and that they are complying with the law. “They also have to consider how they’re going to inquire about the candidate’s salary expectations without getting into salary history.” Seeking Parity Despite the restrictions, employers are permitted to ask about competing offers and counteroffers. They can further ask about “objective indicators of performance, such as the volume, value, or frequency of sales,” according to the New York City Commission on Human Rights. The prospect’s book of business and profits generated, for example, fall under this category. But an employer is forbidden from asking about a candidate’s current or former profit percentage.
Employers are also allowed to inquire about certain forms of compensation, the commission said on its website: “Employers may ask whether an applicant will have to forfeit deferred compensation or unvested equity from their current employer and the value and structure of the deferred compensation or unvested equity, request documentation to verify the applicant’s representations, and consider such information in making the applicant an offer.” In 98 percent of occupations, women earn less than men, according to the National Women’s Law Center. Women are typically paid 80 cents for every dollar that their male colleagues receive. By using past pay as a starting point in pay negotiations, proponents of the salary laws say, employers prevent women from earning enough to reach parity with men. New York City is far from alone in its attempt to boost women’s salaries through salary history legislation. This year, almost half the states are said to have considered such laws.
Oregon’s salary history law went into effect earlier this month, with a series of others scheduled to start in the months ahead: Delaware (December), California (January), Puerto Rico (March) and Massachusetts (July). New Orleans and Pittsburgh have similar laws on the books. San Francisco’s will take effect in July. And Philadelphia’s version is under legal challenge. Many other municipalities and states have been considering such legislation. In some cases, such as Illinois and New Jersey, salary history laws have been vetoed. Impairing Salary Negotiations “A lot of the resistance has to do with implementation and how to handle it,” said Ms. Osipoff. “And I think its also going to get to be a little problematic as each jurisdiction passes their own unique twist to it and you get into situations where employers that operate in multiple states and multiple cities will have to comply with similar laws but laws that are slightly different in each different jurisdiction that they operate in.” Critics have charged that such laws will impair salary negotiations and could make it more difficult to attract top candidates.
The laws also stand to impede research about competitive wages, say opponents. Many in the search industry, however, are showing little concern, at least publicly. Steven B. Potter, CEO of Odgers Berndtson U.S., who is based in New York, expects the law to have but minor effect on how recruiters at his firm go about their work. “It is not likely to change much at all,” he said. “Most candidates will volunteer their salary information, if only to make sure the new opportunity is going to pay more. Even if they don’t, we will slightly vary the questions we ask. ‘What are your compensation expectations,’ for example. Nobody is going to say less than they are currently making.” Nor does he expect the law to result in new hires receiving bigger salary packages than previously. “Most companies have a pretty good idea of what the market is,” he said, “and they have pretty firm comp parameters that are well thought out.” Questions Remain Mr. Potter said whether the law ultimately helps women reach parity with men remains an open question. “It’s possible that this will help women who lag the market,” he said. “It’s hard to say until we see it in place and working. It could have a counter-intuitive negative effect. If candidates, women or otherwise, don’t volunteer compensation information, potential employers may assume it’s lower than the job they’re talking about and therefore start with a lowball offer. I’m not saying this will happen, but it might.” Other recruiters also seem to have few to no major concerns with the law or its intent. They generally understand why it has been put in place and actually like the idea. Over time, they admit, it should drive everyone to be paid what a particular job might be worth, rather than based upon what someone’s salary is already to date.
One recruiter, wishing to remain anonymous on a subject that many seemed unwilling to speak publicly about, said that his search consultants already have a good grasp of pay in the market. “We’re going to ask people for their expectations, and then I would say that we can probably estimate ourselves around where the candidates currently are today,” he said. “If people want to share their financial package, then they can openly and freely do that.” Most recruiters seem to agree on one essential matter – and fall in line with Mr. Potter’s belief – that the law will unlikely bring salary levels up. The thinking is that if candidates try to stretch their salary levels too high at the beginning of a contract negotiation, they might exclude themselves from the ultimate short list. So an unintended consequence could be salaries leveling out.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Will Schatz, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
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« Abortion patients leave poor reviews of late-term abortion facility in Dallas
Former Planned Parenthood board member: Defund this ‘racist’ organization »
Film documents Planned Parenthood’s history of Black genocide, eugenics
By Carole Novielli | Reprinted from Live Action News
As the nation celebrates Black History Month, it is worthwhile to share a documentary revealing how the eugenics and population control agenda — aided and abetted by Planned Parenthood and other organizations — has systematically been used to reduce Black births. Produced by Life Dynamics, a pro-life organization in Denton, Texas, Maafa 21: Black Genocide in 21st Century America, is eye-opening. Maafa is a Swahili word meaning “a terrible tragedy,” and referring to the time of the middle passage during the slave trade. The “21” in the title refers to the 21st century, because, in reality, the “Maafa” has not ended. It is still being carried out today.
The back cover of the film sets the stage:
They were stolen from their homes, locked in chains and taken across an ocean. And for more than 200 years, their blood and sweat would help to build the richest and most powerful nation the world has ever known…. The wealthy elite had decided it was time for them to disappear and they were not going to be particular about how it might be done. What you are about to see is that the secret plan these people set in motion 150 years ago is still being carried out today.
In this documentary, this hidden racial agenda is dragged out of the shadows and into the light. Before the next two hours is up, you will know things that America’s politicians and power brokers never intended for you to know and you will see things that the media was never going to show you.
According to Life Dynamics, Maafa 21 unmasks the ties between the Nazis, the American eugenics movement, and today’s “family planning” cartel, and is “about elitism, secret agendas, treachery and corruption at the highest levels of political and corporate America.”
The film begins with the horrors of slavery and reveals how eugenics was introduced as a solution for what some had deemed the “Negro problem” in America. Eugenics opened the flood gates of forced sterilizations, led by crusaders like American Eugenics Society member, Margaret Sanger, who later founded Planned Parenthood.
Mark Crutcher, President of Life Dynamics, points out in the film:
These ties between eugenics and Planned Parenthood’s founder were so well established that Sanger, who was a long standing member of the American Eugenics Society, once pursued a plan to merge the American Birth Control League, or Planned Parenthood as it was later called, with the American Eugenics Society.
Live Action News has documented that, despite the claims of Planned Parenthood’s supporters, not only did founder Margaret Sanger have a strong belief in eugenics, she made certain that eugenics movers and shakers were deeply embedded in her organization — and even spoke to the Ku Klux Klan. Below is a sample list of American Eugenics Society founders, leaders, or members who were a part of Margaret Sanger’s board or organizations (chart from Maafa21):
And listed among American Eugenics Society members in the film is Sanger herself:
According to Crutcher, “The relationship between Sanger and these eugenics elitists was basically a marriage of convenience. In order to advance their common agenda, they needed a front man and she needed money. And the whole thing would be held together with this bizarre obsession with race and class. The result was that the American Birth Control League became the driving force behind the American eugenics movement. Eugenics would no longer be just a philosophy. Sanger, and others like her, were going the put it into practice.”
Maafa 21 not only documents the eugenics movement dating all the way back to the days of slavery, but also contains interviews with notable Black leaders such as Reverends Johnny Hunter and Cleaned Childress, along with Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Black Leaders in Maafa21 film speak about eugenics and Planned Parenthood
Elaine Riddick, who was forcefully sterilized by the State of North Carolina, was also interviewed for the documentary. Tragically, Riddick’s story was not isolated. It is estimated that 60,000 men and women were eugenically sterilized against their will in the United States, many of whom were minorities. Today, Riddick is outspoken against population control, abortion, and Planned Parenthood, which she believes has a eugenics agenda.
Elaine Riddick speaks about eugenic sterilization in Maafa21
Maafa 21 unveils for viewers who was behind the evil eugenics ideology, who funded it, and who was targeted. It then points out that as the courts began to rule that forced eugenic sterilization was unconstitutional, a new approach was being devised by the purveyors of eugenics. That strategy was the legalization of abortion, led by the largest chain of abortion facilities in America — Planned Parenthood.
Crutcher states in the film:
… [F]rom the beginning, this idea that man could reinvent the world through eugenics was an elitist philosophy espoused by those who considered themselves not only financially superior, but intellectually superior to everyone else. And Planned Parenthood became the golden child of these people because they are the ones who figured out how to make eugenics work. That is what birth control, and especially abortion, are all about. And the reason Planned Parenthood has been so successful is because, unlike other eugenics organizations, they have always been able to keep their agenda hidden from the public.
Mark Crutcher producer Maafa21 film about eugenics and abortion
In the days leading up to the legalization of abortion, there were many prominent Black civil rights leaders, including Jesse Jackson, Samuel Yette, Fannie Lou Hamer, Whitney Young, and more who were suspicious of programs that pushed “family planning,” especially those that were placed within Black communities. In reality, Alan Guttmacher, Planned Parenthood’s own former president and also vice president of the American Eugenics Society, admitted that there might be some members of Planned Parenthood’s board who “had the political objective attributed to the organization by [Black] civil rights leaders.”
Believe it or not, Jesse Jackson believed that the Black community was being targeted with birth control, writing in 1971:
Birth Control as a National policy will simply marshal sophisticated methods to remove (and control when not remove) the weak, the poor – quite likely the black and other minorities whose relative increase in population threatens the white caste in this nation. Contraceptives will become a form of drug warfare against the helpless in this nation. Those who we could not get rid of in the rice paddies of Viet-Nam we now propose to exterminate, if necessary, eliminate if possible, in the OB wards and gynecology clinics of our urban hospitals. The direct extension of the old “man-in-the-house” rule against public aid recipients can be detected in the drive for birth control….
Rev. Jesse Jackson opposed abortion and birth control as Black Genocide
In 1974, Roy Innis, National Director of The Congress of Racial Equality, told Ebony Magazine that he was alarmed by the high concentration of birth control centers and abortion facilities in black neighborhoods, “It was not until the mid ’60s that Blacks began to realize that what was called urban renewal was, in fact, what one city planner labeled, ‘Negro removal.’ … We are alarmed by the high concentration of birth control centers and abortion clinics in Black neighborhoods as well as more exotic proposals such as adding anti-fertility drugs to drinking water, as suggested by a famous Chicago economist.”
Blacks opposed abortion as Black Genocide Maafa21
As Live Action News has previously documented, in 1971, comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory penned a controversial op-ed entitled, “My Answer to Genocide,” published in Ebony Magazine. Gregory stated in part:
There is ample evidence that government programs designed for poor black folks emphasize birth control and abortion availability, both measures obviously designed to limit Black population.
Ironically, within days after the release of Maafa 21’s first edition, U.S Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was being interviewed by a reporter for The New York Times and made this astounding admission when asked about Roe v. Wade – the decision that legalized abortion: “Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of.”
Shockingly, Maafa 21 viewers also hear undercover phone calls from a Live Action investigation in which Planned Parenthood expresses willingness to accept donations to fund abortions for Black women.
Today, Planned Parenthood receives half a billion in government dollars every year to promote their agenda. And, as Live Action News has documented already, not only is the Planned Parenthood’s market share of abortions increasing, but nationally, Black abortions are at frighteningly high levels as well.
According to Crutcher, Maafa 21 is changing hearts and minds about abortion. Since release of the film in 2009, Crutcher says a number of Black activists have joined the pro-life movement. One reviewer of the film wrote:
Maafa21 shows, without exception, how African-Americans are the targets of the social elite. In the film, you will learn that civil rights leaders in the 1960’s gave a clear warning that abortion and population control was a tool of Black Genocide. You will see the links between racism, eugenics, and Planned Parenthood’s effort to market abortion to the African American Community.
Maafa21 is loaded with historical references from slavery, the Nazi take over of Germany and the Civil Rights movement within the United States, and will educate young and old alike on the causes of Black Genocide in the modern age.
Maafa21 has been viewed online hundreds of thousands of times and for years, the film has been shown during Black History Month on college campuses, at community centers, theaters, churches, libraries, and more.
Maafa21 Life Fest Award
Shortly after its release by Life Dynamics in 2009, Maafa21 was shown in the Capitol Visitor Center Theater in Washington on two occasions. In addition, it was selected as the featured film in the March 2010 Jubilee Film Festival in Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the right to vote and remember the historic “Bloody Sunday” anniversary of the Bridge Crossing Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery. Maafa21 was also featured in the 2010 Real Life Film Festival in Sudbury, Ontario, and the 2011 Life Fest Film Festival in Los Angeles, California.
To watch the film in full or order a copy of the DVD, go to www.maafa21.com.
This is reprinted with permission from Live Action News – the original article can be viewed here.
This entry was posted on February 21, 2018 at 5:30 am and is filed under Maafa21 with tags American Eugenics Society, Black Genocide, Charles Darwin, Dick Gregory, Ebony Magazine, Elaine Riddick, Eugenics, Francis Galton, Jesse Jackson, Live Action, Maafa 21, Maafa 21 Black Genocide in 21st Century America, Maafa21, Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood, Samuel Yette, Slavery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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Essential Role of BDNF in the Mesolimbic Dopamine Pathway in Social Defeat Stress
Olivier Berton1,
Colleen A. McClung1,
Ralph J. DiLeone*,
Vaishnav Krishnan1,
William Renthal1,
Scott J. Russo1,
Danielle Graham1,
Nadia M. Tsankova1,
Carlos A. Bolanos†,
Maribel Rios2,
Lisa M. Monteggia1,
David W. Self1,
Eric J. Nestler‡
1 Department of Psychiatry and Center for Basic Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390–9070, USA.
2 Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
↵‡ To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: eric.nestler{at}utsouthwestern.edu
↵* Present address: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06508, USA.
↵† Present address: Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306–1270, USA.
Vol. 311, Issue 5762, pp. 864-868
Olivier Berton
Department of Psychiatry and Center for Basic Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390–9070, USA.
Colleen A. McClung
Ralph J. DiLeone
Vaishnav Krishnan
William Renthal
Scott J. Russo
Danielle Graham
Nadia M. Tsankova
Carlos A. Bolanos
Maribel Rios
Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
Lisa M. Monteggia
David W. Self
Eric J. Nestler
For correspondence: eric.nestler@utsouthwestern.edu
Mice experiencing repeated aggression develop a long-lasting aversion to social contact, which can be normalized by chronic, but not acute, administration of antidepressant. Using viral-mediated, mesolimbic dopamine pathway–specific knockdown of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), we showed that BDNF is required for the development of this experience-dependent social aversion. Gene profiling in the nucleus accumbens indicates that local knockdown of BDNF obliterates most of the effects of repeated aggression on gene expression within this circuit, with similar effects being produced by chronic treatment with antidepressant. These results establish an essential role for BDNF in mediating long-term neural and behavioral plasticity in response to aversive social experiences.
The mesolimbic dopamine pathway, composed of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) and their projections to the nucleus accumbens (NAc), allows an organism to identify emotionally salient stimuli in the environment, to learn about outcomes associated with those stimuli, and to express appropriate approach or avoidance responses (1, 2). Activation of this neural circuit has been characterized extensively in relation to drugs of abuse but has been less characterized in ethologically relevant contexts (3–5). The circuit is stimulated in humans and animals by psychosocial experiences such as affiliation and cooperation (6, 7), and it drives associative learning processes such as imprinting, pair bonding, and maternal attachment (8, 9). Aversive stimuli such as aggression and social subordination (10) also acutely activate the mesolimbic dopamine pathway (11–13) and have been linked to chronic alterations in dopaminergic function (14). These observations have led to the hypothesis that dopaminergic signaling to the NAc may be involved in the perception of social status and the appraisal of threats from the social environment (8). Imaging studies have linked the NAc to cognitive processes that lead to the attribution of salience to social stimuli (15). Alteration of this cognitive function could contribute to a social withdrawal trait that is common to several human affective disorders, including depression, social phobia, and post–traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in which dopaminergic abnormalities have been described (16–19). However, very little is known about the mechanisms through which the motivational value of socially relevant stimuli might be encoded by this pathway.
To characterize the neurobiological mechanisms through which psychosocial experience alters the activity of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, we adopted a social defeat paradigm that profoundly alters the motivation for social interactions in rodents (20–22). Mice were subjected to daily bouts of social defeat, followed by continuous protected sensory contact with their aggressor [Fig. 1A; see fig. S1 in the supporting online material (SOM) for experimental details]. Mice were exposed to a different aggressor each day for 10 days and were then screened for social behavior. We measured social approach toward an unfamiliar mouse enclosed in a wire mesh cage by use of a video-tracking system (Fig. 1B). Undefeated control mice spent most of their time interacting socially when presented with an unfamiliar target mouse. Defeated mice displayed intense aversive responses and spent less time in close proximity to the target mouse (Fig. 1, B and C). This difference was observed exclusively in the presence of a social target and was not apparent in response to an inanimate novel object [the empty wire cage (Fig. 1B)]. No difference in total movement in the arena was observed (Fig. 1C). When tested again 4 weeks after the 10 days of repeated psychosocial stress, mice with a history of social defeat still displayed dramatic social avoidance (Fig. 1D). This aversive response was more robust when a former aggressor was used as a social target in the wire cage, but it also generalized to unfamiliar mice that were physically distinct from the aggressors (fig. S2). To test whether this long-lasting change in social behavior is relevant to stress-linked human conditions characterized by social withdrawal, we studied the effect of antidepressants in our model. Chronic, but not acute, administration of fluoxetine or imipramine, two chemically distinct antidepressants used widely in humans, improved social interaction in defeated animals (Fig. 2A), an effect that could not be explained by changes in general locomotion (fig. S3). This effect was not produced by acute or chronic (fig. S4) treatment with chlordiazepoxide, a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety but not depression in humans.
Persistent social aversion after repeated aggression in mice. (A) Social defeat paradigm. (B) Videotracking data from control and defeated mice in the absence and presence of a social target. (C) (Top) A social target increased the time spent in the interaction zone by control mice (n = 18 mice), an effect suppressed after social defeat (n = 36 mice), which had no effect on total locomotion (bottom). [Analysis of variance (ANOVA): Target defeat interaction F (2,150) = 7.26, P < 0.001. Least-square difference (LSD) post-hoc test: +++P < 0.001 versus control “no target,” ***P < 0.001 versus “target.”] (D) Stable social avoidance in defeated mice tested 24 hours and 4 weeks after 10 days of defeat stress (n = 13 or 14 mice). [Effect of social defeat F (1,60) = 115.5, P < 0.0001; no significant effect of test days, F (1,60) = 0.94, P = 0.33; significant correlation at 24 hours and 4 weeks, Pearson R = 0.696, P < 0.001]. (E) Sensitized c-Fos induction in the NAc of mice 4 weeks after repeated social defeat upon exposure to a social target. [ANOVA: Target × defeat interaction F (1,21) = 4.62, P < 0.05. LSD post-hoc test: +++P < 0.001 versus control “target” ***P <0.001 versus “no target,” n = 6 or 7 mice.] (F) Increased BDNF protein levels in the NAc 24 hours and 4 weeks after 10 days of defeat stress [t(8) = –3.22, *P < 0.05, n = 5 mice]. Cont., control; def., defeat.
Chronic treatments with antidepressant or VTA-specific deletion of BDNF oppose the development of social aversion after defeat stress. (Int. zone, interaction zone; veh., vehicle.) (A) Administration of imipramine [20 mg per kg of body weight (mg/kg)] or fluoxetine (20 mg/kg) daily for 28 days (chronic), but not a single injection (acute), reduced social avoidance caused by defeat stress. [ANOVA, significant effect of social defeat F (1,196) = 7.51, P < 0.01. Significant effect of antidepressants F (4,196) = 5.01, P < 0.001. LSD post-hoc test: *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01 versus control, n = 9 to 18 mice.] (B) Social avoidance caused by defeat stress in floxed-BDNF mice injected with AAV-GFP in the VTA was reduced in mice injected with AAV-CreGFP [ANOVA: significant effect of virus, F (1,86) = 5.17, P < 0.05; significant target × defeat interaction, F (1,86) = 12.27, P < 0.001. LSD post-hoc test: +P < 0.05 versus AAV-GFP “no target,” *P < 0.05 versus AAV-Cre “target,” n = 10 to 13 mice.]
We next measured c-Fos expression in the VTA and NAc as a marker of neuronal activation after sensory exposure to social cues. We found robust c-Fos induction in VTA dopamine neurons and in their target neurons in the NAc when mice were exposed to a social partner through a perforated Plexiglas partition (fig. S5). As compared to naïve mice, defeated mice exhibited sensitized c-Fos responses when exposed to a social target 4 weeks after defeat (Fig. 1E).
The neurotrophic factor BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) is a key regulator of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. BDNF potentiates dopamine release in the NAc through activation of TrkB receptors on dopaminergic nerve terminals (23), and it potently regulates NAc function directly via activation of TrkB receptors on NAc neurons (24–26). We hypothesized that BDNF function within the mesolimbic dopamine pathway may be a critical mediator of changes in social motivation. We found that 10 days of social defeat increased BDNF protein levels in the NAc, an effect that was apparent both 24 hours and 4 weeks after the stress (Fig. 1F).
A major source of BDNF protein in the NAc is thought to be the VTA (26), because BDNF mRNA is expressed at high levels by dopaminergic neurons (27, 28) but is barely detectable in NAc neurons (29). We thus induced a local deletion of the gene encoding BDNF that was restricted to VTA neurons in adult mice. We used a line of mice in which 1 kb of the single coding exon of the BDNF gene is flanked by loxP sites (floxed BDNF mice) (Fig. 3A). We injected adult mice with an adenoassociated virus (AAV) vector expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP)–tagged Cre recombinase (CreGFP) or with GFP as a control directly into the VTA (30). Animals were subjected to the social defeat paradigm 20 days after the infusion, when AAV-CreGFP–induced recombination is maximal (see methods in the SOM). Local deletion of the BDNF gene exerted an antidepressant-like effect by opposing the development of social avoidance behavior in defeated mice (Fig. 2B). Defeated mice injected with AAV-GFP showed the expected social avoidance behavior. Control mice injected with AAV-CreGFP were indistinguishable from AAV-GFP–injected or uninjected controls (Fig. 2B). This indicates that the effect of BDNF deletion on social behavior is experience-dependent and requires repeated exposure to an aggressor. Therefore, in defeated mice, BDNF from VTA neurons is required for a social target to progressively acquire salience as a threatening stimulus. This associative process implicates a form of activity-dependent neuronal plasticity in the VTA-NAc pathway, which is mediated by BDNF. Indeed, c-Fos co-immunolabeling with tyrosine hydroxylase and GFP indicated that a significant proportion of the neurons infected by the AAV-CreGFP vector in the VTA were activated as a consequence of exposure to social cues (Fig. 3E).
AAV-CreGFP–mediated deletion of BDNF from VTA dopaminergic neurons. (A) (Left) Floxed-BDNF construct. (Right) PCR amplification of genomic DNA using primers encompassing the floxed exon (black triangles) demonstrated AAV-CreGFP–induced recombination in the VTA: A new 300–base pair (bp) fragment, the identity of which was confirmed by sequencing. (B) Double-labeling in situ hybridization of Cre recombinase and BDNF mRNAs in the VTA. Twenty days after unilateral infusion of AAV-CreGFP, BDNF mRNA was absent from the infected area where Cre expression was detected but was still present in the contralateral side. (C) Real-time PCR quantification of Cre, BDNF, and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNAs from laser-microdissected samples (F). AAV-CreGFP in the VTA caused an almost complete suppression of BDNF expression [t(3) = –3.94, P < 0.05, n = 2 or 3 mice], with no change in TH [t(3) = 0347, NS]. (D) AAV-CreGFP infected ∼75% of TH+ cells in the VTA (right) but did not alter their total number (left). (E) Induction of c-Fos in AAV-infected dopaminergic neurons demonstrated by triple immunolabeling for TH, GFP, and c-Fos in the VTA of mice exposed to a social cue. The viral infection is contained within the VTA, which is medial to the medial lemiscus (ml). (F) Example of brain section before (top) and after (bottom) laser microdissection of AAV-infected cells from the VTA.
Several lines of evidence confirm the efficiency of Cre-induced recombination in VTA dopaminergic neurons in our assay. Adult Rosa26 mice, in which recombination induces the lacZ gene, were injected with AAV-CreGFP or AAV-GFP in the VTA. Both vectors induced robust GFP expression in the VTA, but β-galactosidase (β-Gal) expression (evidence of recombination) was seen only in the AAV-CreGFP–injected mice (fig. S6). This β-Gal expression was seen solely within Cre-expressing cells, which were largely dopaminergic (a conclusion based on colabeling with tyrosine hydroxylase). Roughly 75% of all dopaminergic neurons were infected under our conditions (Fig. 3D). Floxed BDNF mice injected with AAV-CreGFP showed a selective loss of BDNF expression within the VTA as determined by double-labeling in situ hybridization (Fig. 3B). Analysis of VTA tissue by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) showed that AAV-CreGFP induces recombination of the BDNF gene (Fig. 3A) and that this causes an almost complete loss of BDNF mRNA expression (Fig. 3C). In contrast, the loss of BDNF had no effect on the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase. This finding, together with the observation that CreGFP had no effect on the total number of dopaminergic neurons (Fig. 3D), indicates no loss of these neurons in the VTA after BDNF suppression. This is in contrast to previous reports, which found loss of substantia nigra dopamine neurons upon suppression of BDNF using early postnatal Cre expression (28) or the infusion of antisense oligonucleotides (31). The lack of dopaminergic neuronal loss seen in our study could reflect the different methodologies used or the lower sensitivity of VTA dopamine neurons to neurotoxic insults (32).
To gain further insight into the molecular events underlying the similar regulation of social defeat by BDNF gene deletion and antidepressant treatment, we carried out DNA microarray studies of gene expression in the NAc. In one experiment, mice received intra-VTA injections of AAV-CreGFP or AAV-GFP; half were then subjected to 10 days of social defeat stress; and 24 hours later, all mice were analyzed for NAc gene expression. In a parallel experiment, control or defeated mice received fluoxetine or vehicle for 4 weeks after chronic defeat stress. In mice injected with AAV-GFP and analyzed 24 hours after the end of the stress procedure, social defeat up-regulated 309 genes in the NAc, as compared to nondefeated mice, whereas 17 genes were down-regulated (Fig. 4A and tables S1 and S2). A similar pattern of gene expression, with 127 genes up-regulated and 9 genes down-regulated, was still observed 4 weeks after the cessation of social defeat in mice receiving vehicle injections (Fig. 4A and tables S1 and S2). After a discrete period of psychosocial stress, NAc neurons thus showed an activated pattern of gene expression, which persisted, like the change in social behavior, for up to 4 weeks. This heightened transcriptional activity may participate in encoding the motivational changes induced by aggression.
VTA-specific deletion of BDNF and chronic administration of fluoxetine reverse the effects of social defeat stress on gene expression in the NAc. Gene expression in the NAc was evaluated using gene profiling (see SOM for a detailed experimental protocol and complete gene lists). (A) Hierarchical clusters of genes significantly up-regulated in the NAc of AAV-GFP–injected mice after 10 days of social defeat stress and how they are regulated by defeat across other experimental conditions. The results show that virtually all of these genes that were up-regulated 24 hours after defeat stress show the opposite regulation upon local deletion of BDNF from the VTA. Similarly, a large subset of the stress-regulated genes remain up-regulated after 4 weeks of treatment with vehicle, and most of these persistent changes are reversed by chronic treatment with fluoxetine. The intensity and direction of gene regulation are represented with a heat map (red, up-regulated; green, down-regulated). (B) Examples of genes significantly up-regulated (+P < 0.05) after intra-VTA BDNF knockdown or fluoxetine treatment in control mice. See tables S1 and S2 for detailed gene lists.
After local deletion of BDNF in the VTA, the effect of social defeat on most of these genes in the NAc was lost or reversed (Fig. 4A and tables S1 and S2). Chronic fluoxetine treatment also reversed most of the gene expression changes that persisted in the NAc after 4 weeks (Fig. 4A). Figure S7 provides examples of genes showing this pattern of expression in the NAc. Analysis of the regulated genes revealed specific molecular pathways induced prominently by defeat stress and reversed by BDNF deletion or fluoxetine treatment (fig. S8 and table S3). The largest subset of these regulated genes function in BDNF signaling cascades [such as phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (table S3 and figs. S8 and S9)] (33). The identification of PI3K in the NAc as an interface between the effects of social defeat and fluoxetine is particularly interesting because of its reported influence on dopamine release (23) and motivational processes (34, 35). These microarray data thereby suggest that chronic treatment with antidepressant restores social approach behaviors partly by interfering with the activity of neurotrophic cascades that mediate experience-induced neuroadaptations in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. Although this is in contrast to the reported effects of stress and antidepressants on BDNF signaling in the hippocampus (10), several manipulations that sensitize the dopaminergic system (36), such as social defeat, have been shown to increase dendritic branching in the NAc (37).
The demonstration that social stimuli become persistently aversive after repeated experiences of aggression in mice is one major finding of the present study. This behavioral phenomenon shares some similarities with persistent conditioned submissive responses that have been described previously in other rodent species (22). Here, we took advantage of this observation to develop a murine model relevant to human psychiatric conditions such as depression, social phobia, and PTSD, in which social withdrawal is a common symptom. The observation that chronic but not acute treatments with antidepressant partly restore social approach behavior in defeated mice further validates this model. Social cues stimulate the VTA-NAc pathway in mice, and this neural response becomes sensitized indefeated mice with social aversion. The second major finding of this study is the demonstration that intact BDNF function in the VTA is required for the development of this persistent social aversion. Our gene profiling study suggests that this process is mediated in large part by BDNF-regulated molecular pathways in the NAc and is counteracted by antidepressant drugs. The present results confirm our previous report that blockade of BDNF activity in the VTA-NAc pathway exerts an antidepressant-like activity in rodent models of stress (38). This profile is opposite to the antidepressant-like activity of BDNF reported in hippocampal studies (39) and suggests new directions for antidepressant drug discovery.
Supporting Online Material
www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/311/5762/864/DC1
Figs. S1 to S9
Tables S1 to S3
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This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, and la Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale.
You are going to email the following Essential Role of BDNF in the Mesolimbic Dopamine Pathway in Social Defeat Stress
By Olivier Berton, Colleen A. McClung, Ralph J. DiLeone, Vaishnav Krishnan, William Renthal, Scott J. Russo, Danielle Graham, Nadia M. Tsankova, Carlos A. Bolanos, Maribel Rios, Lisa M. Monteggia, David W. Self, Eric J. Nestler
Science 10 Feb 2006 : 864-868
Learning to avoid unpleasant encounters requires the action of a growth factor within the reward pathways of the rat brain, an effect that can be blocked with antidepressant drugs.
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Nelson Mandela’s HIV, TB stances were lasting strides in struggle for freedom, rights, equality
“Nelson Mandela embodied the 20th Century in South Africa and the world in many more ways than people think,” Zackie Achmat, founder and chairman of the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa said in the wake of Nelson Mandela’s death Thursday. Winstone Zulu, credited with being the first Zambian to publicly discuss his HIV infection discussed in the last year of his life how meeting Mandela gave him hope. “Madiba!” he said, smiling a decade later at the memory, “that was something.” As Achmat notes in his tribute, all of Mandela’s life, work, sacrifices and struggles were based on the concept that all people are born with equal rights, from political freedom to health. “Nelson Mandela took remarkable stances in his life,” Achmat says. “He wasn’t afraid to speak the truth.” What follows is a collection of some of those stances, in memory and gratitude for Mandela’s leadership and impact in global responses to AIDS, tuberculosis, and health as a human right.
Click here to read a joint statement from IDSA and HIVMA on the passing of Nelson Mandela and his lasting legacy to global health.
“Poverty goes hand in hand with malnutrition and disease. The incidence of malnutrition and deficiency diseases is very high amongst Africans. Tuberculosis, pellagra, kwashiorkor, gastro-enteritis, and scurvy bring death and destruction of health. The incidence of infant mortality is one of the highest in the world. According to the Medical Officer of Health for Pretoria, tuberculosis kills forty people a day (almost all Africans), and in 1961 there were 58,491 new cases reported. These diseases not only destroy the vital organs of the body, but they result in retarded mental conditions and lack of initiative, and reduce powers of concentration. The secondary results of such conditions affect the whole community and the standard of work performed by African laborers.” Nelson Mandela`s statement from the dock at the opening of the defense case in the Rivonia Trial, Pretoria Supreme Court, 20 April 1964
“The reality of the AIDS epidemic worldwide is that it is not merely a medical condition, it is a disease with socio-medical implication. In South Africa, this problem challenges the entire socio-economic fabric of our society and poses a threat to future generations. Statistics indicate that those forced to live in poor socio-economic conditions are the highest at risk in our population. As of the 30th June this year, 1316 cases of AIDS were recorded, and the majority of these were recorded in Natal, with the highest incidences of AIDS countrywide being recorded in the urban areas. Apartheid`s legacy has played a great role in this factor, particularly in the black communities where overcrowding in homes does not provide for privacy within the family; where lack of housing and the creation of informal settlements as well as the lack of recreation facilities makes the black community even more susceptible to the sex related virus.” Nelson Mandela to the National Conference on AIDS in South Africa, Oct. 23, 1992
“Now, however, the ordinary people of the continent and the world – and particularly the poor who are on our continent, will again carry a disproportionate burden of this scourge – would, if anybody cared to ask their opinions, wish that the dispute about the primacy of politics or science be put on the backburner and that we proceed to address the needs and concerns of those suffering and dying. And this can only be done in partnership. . . . I come from a long tradition of collective leadership, consultative decision-making and joint action towards the common good. We have overcome much that many thought insurmountable through an adherence to those practices. In the face of the grave threat posed by HIV/AIDS, we have to rise above our differences and combine our efforts to save our people. History will judge us harshly if we fail to do so now, and right now.” Nelson Mandela Closing address at the 13th International AIDS Conference, July 2000
“He is a role model and his action is based on fundamental principles, which we all admire. It would have been futile for me to come to him and say I want you now to change, and take drugs because his position is that as long as drugs are not available to everybody, especially to the poor, he will not take them. Now that’s a principled stance which has attracted admiration inside and outside our country. What I’ve come here to do is to find out under what conditions he will take treatment. That’s all.” Nelson Mandela, June 2002, visiting Zackie Achmat at his home, to discuss the activist’s refusal to take antiretroviral medicine when it was not available in the public sector
“AIDS today in Africa is claiming more lives than the sum total of all wars, famines and floods and the ravages of such deadly diseases as malaria … We must act now for the sake of the world.” Nelson Mandela, 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, July, 2002.
“By all accounts, we are dealing with the greatest health crisis in human history. By all measures, we have failed in our quest to contain and treat this scourge.” Nelson Mandela, Second International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment, Paris, July 2003.
“AIDS is no longer just a disease, it is a human rights issue.” Nelson Mandela, at the first 46664 concert held at Greenpoint Stadium, Cape Town, November 2003.
“The more we lack the courage and the will to act, the more we condemn to death our brothers and sisters, our children and our grandchildren. When the history of our times is written, will we be remembered as the generation that turned our backs in a moment of a global crisis or will it be recorded that we did the right thing?” Nelson Mandela, at 46664 Arctic, Tromso, Norway, June 2004.
“My son has died of AIDS.” Nelson Mandela, January, 2005.
“We are all here because of our commitment to fighting AIDS. But we cannot win the battle against AIDS if we do not also fight TB.” Nelson Mandela, Bangkok 15th International AIDS Conference, 2004.
“Even as we celebrate, let us remind ourselves that our work is far from complete. Where there is poverty and sickness including AIDS, where human beings are being oppressed, there is more work to be done. “ Nelson Mandela, at the 2008 concert celebrating his 90th birthday.
This entry was posted in U.S. Policy and Funding on December 6, 2013 .
← Study: HIV treatment access, care linkage could save 28 million years of life by 2030 AVAC: HIV vaccine, microbicides, PrEP trial results say reality must guide research →
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Criminalized sex work, contraception as the weakest link, reducing harm reduction, a homophobic faith-based organization doesn’t get it . . . We’re reading about policies, proposals and programs that don’t mind the gap
“An end to AIDS is only possible if we overcome the barriers of criminalization, stigma and discrimination that remain key drivers of the epidemic.” AIDS 2014, Nobody left behind, The Melbourne Declaration
US bill to pressure countries that do not criminalize the purchase of sex must be dropped, say rights groups – The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women released this objection to a bill introduced in May by U.S. Representatives Randy Hultgren (R-Il) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) to amend the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The point of the bill? To pressure governments that do not already criminalize sex work into doing so, and thus “reduce demand for commercial sex acts . . .” In that spirit, the bill says, ” . . . if the government of the country has the authority to prohibit the purchase of commercial sex acts and fails to so, such failure to prohibit the purchase of commercial sex acts shall be deemed to be a failure on the part of the government to make serious and sustained efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts . . .” According to the evidence, however, GAATW points out, criminalizing sex work doesn’t lead to a reduction in demand, but to exploitation of sex workers. And according to the Lancet series on HIV and sex work, it also leads to higher chances of HIV transmission, with research showing one third of sex workers don’t carry condoms because they are used as evidence of illegal sex work. That’s just one of the reasons that the series’s 7th paper, An action agenda for HIV and Sex Workers calls on countries to do exactly the opposite of what H.R. 4703 calls for — to decriminalize sex work in the interests of public health.
The Weakest Link of HIV Prevention in Africa – Contraception – This first article in a three-part series on HIV and contraception in Africa examines why, although contraception is supposed to be the second prong in a four-pronged approach to preventing parent to child HIV transmission (in addition to preventing infection in women and in babies, and providing treatment for those infected), it remains a neglected element in HIV responses. The series also examines an effort to help Uganda’s HIV positive women to avoid unplanned pregnancies, including, “one stop shops” that combine HIV and family planning services, and, from Nairobi, one woman’s struggle to find the right contraceptive — from condoms to “safe days,” finally to an unreliable supply of long-term injectables.
People who use drugs left behind by global funding gap – Withdrawals of donor funding and country budget cuts have reduced already under-funded efforts to reach people who inject drugs and to help them protect themselves with opioid substitution therapy and sterile needles, this story says, recounting an AIDS 2014 session in which leaders and activists called for “‘a globalization of the global funds’ to include all those most at risk from HIV infection.”
Anti-gay group fires all staff – Possibly the most ironic line in this story about how the Ugandan “faith-based” organization that urged President Yoweri Museveni to sign this year’s Anti-Homosexuality Act finally lost its U.S. funding is this: “The local organization says it is a victim of its anti-gay stance, which the donor finds unacceptable, although some sources claim IRCU failed to meet some of USAID’s rigorous accountability procedures.” What there appeared to be, between U.S. funders and this organization that essentially took the role of a hate-group, was a massive failure to communicate goals and measures needed to accomplish those goals, during the decade during which they did business together.
This entry was posted in What we're reading and tagged President Yoweri Museveni, harm reduction, Rep. Chris Smith, Uganda Anti Homosexuality Law, Rep. Randy Hultgren, H.R. 4703, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, IPS, IRCU on August 21, 2014 .
← Uganda’s HIV criminalization, mandatory testing bill signed into law against local and international cautions of harms to health, human rights Study sets out to capture pediatric antiretroviral treatment costs, improve planning →
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Astronomers Track Icy Tendrils Reaching into Saturn’s E Ring
TOPICS:AstronomyCassini-Huygens MissionEnceladusPlanetary ScienceSaturn
By Preston Dyches, Jet Propulsion Laboratory April 15, 2015
This collage of Cassini spacecraft images and computer simulations shows how long, sinuous features from Enceladus can be modeled by tracing the trajectories of tiny, icy grains ejected from the moon’s south polar geysers.
Using Cassini data and computer simulations, astronomers detail the source responsible for icy tendrils that reach into Saturn’s E ring.
Long, sinuous, tendril-like structures seen in the vicinity of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus originate directly from geysers erupting from its surface, according to scientists studying images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
This result is published online today in a study in the Astronomical Journal, along with additional insights into the nature of the structures.
“We’ve been able to show that each unique tendril structure can be reproduced by particular sets of geysers on the moon’s surface,” said Colin Mitchell, a Cassini imaging team associate at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and lead author of the paper. Mitchell and colleagues used computer simulations to follow the trajectories of ice grains ejected from individual geysers. The geysers, which were discovered by Cassini in 2005, are jets of tiny water ice particles, water vapor and simple organic compounds.
Under certain lighting conditions, Cassini’s wide-view images showing icy material erupting from Enceladus reveal faint, finger-like features, dubbed “tendrils” by the imaging team. The tendrils reach into Saturn’s E ring — the ring in which Enceladus orbits — extending tens of thousands of miles (or kilometers) away from the moon. Since the tendrils were discovered, scientists have thought they were the result of the moon’s geysering activity and the means by which Enceladus supplies material to the E ring. But the ghostly features had never before been traced directly to geysers on the surface.
This graphic plots the source locations of geysers scientists have located on Enceladus’ south polar terrain, with the 36 most active geyser sources marked and color coded by the behavior of the grains erupting from the geysers.
Because the team was able to show that tendril structures of different shapes correspond to different sizes of geyser particles, the team was able to zero in on the sizes of the particles forming them. They found the tendrils are composed of particles with diameters no smaller than about a hundred thousandth of an inch, a size consistent with the measurements of E-ring particles made by other Cassini instruments.
As the researchers examined images from different times and positions around Saturn, they also found that the detailed appearance of the tendrils changes over time. “It became clear to us that some features disappeared from one image to the next,” said John Weiss, an imaging team associate at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington, and an author on the paper.
The authors suspect that changes in the tendrils’ appearance likely result from the cycle of tidal stresses — squeezing and stretching of the moon as it orbits Saturn — and its control of the widths of fractures from which the geysers erupt. The stronger the tidal stresses raised by Saturn at any point on the fractures, the wider the fracture opening and the greater the eruption of material. The authors will investigate in future work whether this theory explains the tendrils’ changing appearance.
There is even more that can be extracted from the images, the scientists say. “As the supply lanes for Saturn’s E ring, the tendrils give us a way to ascertain how much mass is leaving Enceladus and making its way into Saturn orbit,” said Carolyn Porco, team leader for the imaging experiment and a coauthor on the paper. “So, another important step is to determine how much mass is involved, and thus estimate how much longer the moon’s sub-surface ocean may last.” An estimate of the lifetime of the ocean is important in understanding the evolution of Enceladus over long timescales.
Because of its significance to the investigation of possible extraterrestrial habitable zones, Enceladus is a major target of investigation for the final years of the Cassini mission. Many observations, including imaging of the plume and tendril features, and thermal observations of the surface of its south polar geyser basin, are planned during the next couple of years.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The Cassini imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
Publication: C. J. Mitchell, et al., “Tracking the Geysers of Enceladus into Saturn’s E Ring,” 2015, The Astronomical Journal, 149, 156; doi:10.1088/0004-6256/149/5/156
Images: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
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Cassini Spacecraft to Begin Flyby of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
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