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Tag Archives: annualrecap
Most notable Transmedia projects in Hong Kong of 2012
Posted on January 7, 2013 by Marco Sparmberg
We will soon release our second installment of the Asian Screen and provide new updates on trends and markets in Greater China and South-East Asia. Since the report will rather focus on industry insights and interconnected relationships we want to highlight specific projects mentioned within here in greater detail with direct links and videos. Hence, this post will be a small recap on what kind of transmedia projects came out during 2012 in HK.
However, this is HK in 2012 and transmedia still has not actually gotten off the ground yet. So we will use the definition of what is a transmedia project a bit broader than usual, otherwise there would not much to report at all. Also, this is by no means a complete list. A lot of local projects do not even appear on our radar as they fail to reach a significant audience to be regarded as relevant. However, should you think we missed something/someone please do let us know in the comments below.
Galaman
This animation series is quite the exception in HK. It is one of the most notable, creative and well-maintained transmedia projects in town. Run by Minimind Studio, a young start-up that is currently part of the HK Design Centre incubation program, Galaman is a mix of superhero and game-style comic animations with a number of episodes online. Besides building a vast story universe with a number of characters, latest episodes divert from the main hero to entertaining side characters. Every episode holds underlying social and political criticism towards the HK society and sometimes reacts to recent trends as well.
Despite the webseries primarily running on YouTube, Minimind Studio managed to find syndication effects with Yahoo HK as well as a whole catalog of merchandizing articles for all its characters. Since the team is small, a new episode will be released every 2-3 months. While the story universe keeps evolving, Galaman built a solid audience base on Facebook.
We will discuss Galaman in further detail in our upcoming report as well as within an interview with the creator.
Page: http://minimindstudio.com/galaman/
blog: http://jacso.hk/johnee
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/galamanhk
Current 7 episodes of Galaman:
Cross-over projects:
Mr French Taste
A HK-France co-production of a comedy series that ran very successful on Koldcast.tv. With an international creators team Mr French Taste is an entertaining series with a broad audience appeal on a global scale. Even though the transmedia aspects of the production fell short on season 1, the series will hopefully embrace social media integrations and story expansions with interactive nature during their next season.
Koldcast: http://www.koldcast.tv/video/the_job_interview_ep_1
Page: http://www.misterfrenchtaste.com
Microfilm series
There are very few webseries produced in HK that fall under the traditional definition of a webseries. Microfilms are running very strong recently, short films with a branded entertainment character, sponsored by corporations or brands. Such microfilm campaigns often come in a bundle of 3-6 short films and hence have a webseries character. On top, such branded entertainment is mostly produced and directed by famous feature filmmakers. One of the more relevant contributors to these microfilm series in HK is Heiward Mak. In 2012 she came out with two series. One for MTR Malls, one for LG. Story structures and character development are mostly loose and the main focus of such series always lies on staged nostalgia and generic forced emotions. Such webseries usually come with a transmedia-like marketing campaign around them. MTR Malls Popcorn campaign for example created game apps, live events at the malls as well as social media channels for fans to engage.
MTR Malls Popcorn:
LG × 麥曦茵微電影::
Triad was the only local feature film to adopt a transmedia campaign for its theatre release. And yes, we are talking about using transmedia for marketing purposes only. The concept of generating a story on a sole transmedia level has yet to be understood and implemented by local producers and filmmakers.
We talked about the campaign of Triads before here (https://haexagon.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/haexagon-concepts-monthly-recap-october-2012/). Sadly, since this post there have been no significant developments. In fact the entire campaign stopped at the opening weekend and the film basically flopped at HK box offices
But how do Hollywood feature films translate their transmedia marketing campaigns to HK? Usually, local distributors do not bother to localize what the US studios provide. The big campaigns of Girl With A Dragon Tattoo or Prometheus always merge down to simple posters on public transport. In fact local distributors seem to struggle a lot with the use of technology. It took two years for them to put QR codes on film posters. Such codes would lead to a flash web site and rendered quickly inappropriate.
Only a few weeks later no film poster in town would have any QR codes at all. Even the big players like Warner failed to set up a simple movie web page for their tent pole pictures. The Dark Knight Rises would show a blank page until the opening week.
Official trailers sometimes get deleted from YouTube. In general a distributor’s YouTube channels can get quite confusing and messy. Obligatory are localized Facebook pages that just post the usual cross-promotion efforts. Main focus across the board still lies with TV adverts, huge banners on busses and marketing stunts with meet and greet s
essions inside shopping malls.
Disney on the other hand knows how to play the global transmedia game. Almost all their campaigns of 2012 releases are highly engaging event periods, online and offline likewise. Notable is the two months run for Wreck It Ralph. Tying in the film IP and theme to affiliated promotion partners like Samsung made Disney not only translate the game/technology aspect into all-day life but also gave audience something to connect with since Samsung’s mobile devices became highly popular in HK during the past six months.
Admittedly, it is fairly easy for Disney to appeal to a local audience and find connection points as they are used to localize all their IPs, primarily on the audio level, on a regular basis. Naturally, having local celebrities dubbing the animated characters creates a very own eco system of marketing/ads and cross-storytelling. Of course, such an eco system is complex and hard to create. Only a few big players like Disney actually have the needed muscle to pull it off. But then again, this is still gatekeeper thinking rooted in the old film industry middle-men-system and transmedia projects (not including the ones using it for marketing sake only) have a serious potential to cut costs while achieving the same results for/with the audience.
With a bit of hesitant caution one could count Iron Sky to such an underdog example. The film finally landed in HK and closed its one year global theater run here. But how do you make a place connect to a film’s topic that is culturally not even remotely relevant in this region. The answer lies in promotion stunts and turning Nazis into pop-culture icons. Premiere parties with guests dressed in SS uniforms, an Iron Sky helicopter during the biggest music festival in town or students greeting publicly “Sieg Heil” at a screening at the HK Design Institute, it all brought dubious Nazi-Schick in our lives, at least for a couple of weeks.
The social media team rendered excellent work with bilingual content on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/IronSkyHK ) and Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/IronSkyHK ). The traditional press work was conducted on a regular mainstream film level. For some reason (presumably to be found within the film’s financial structure) the www.ironskythemovie.com webpage turned into the HK webpage and offers promotion tie-ins for dining. Not sure how that correlates with moon Nazis though.
Now it has to be mentioned the local distributor for Iron Sky is VII Pillars Entertainment, a company founded by former Hollywood studio executives.
Despite all those efforts Iron Sky did not turn into a box office success. It seemed like the cultural gab between pretending to be a moon Nazi and watching a film about moon Nazis was still too great. Identification and fun alone do not sell tickets.
Documentaries/short films/indies
2012 was still no breakthrough year for indies and documentary filmmakers to adopt transmedia storytelling. While the indies rely on copying the big players by selling out to studios or brankrupting themselves by employing PR agency giants to make them look like a non-indie production, documentaries were caving in to even deeper underground status with primary focus on exiling themselves from the international scene together with their Mainland Chinese network.
Short film projects with huge transmedia potential like the recently launched Zombie Guillotines (https://www.facebook.com/ZombieGuillotines) fail entirely in online-strategy. While the time of the web launch was chooses perfectly with the Chinese mainstream film Guillotines hitting cinemas end of December the project seems to stall before it even began. After an obligatory Yahoo syndication of the short film and a more less decent view count build up on YouTube, the project offers only little to maintain a sustainable audience base. The filmmakers will definitely look for a genre festival run and maybe a follow up video. Despite this being one of the few very creative short film concepts this year that does not go for the oversaturated love/family drama kitsch there is very little room given by the creators for designing something outstanding.
What becomes evident in 2012, the major social media channels for any kind of film related production are still Yahoo, Facebook and YouTube. Significant for community maintenance, but not necessary building, are Sina Weibo and WeChat. Distributors still jeopardize their entire first week box office revenue on traditional ad spent for posters,
banners and TVCs, holding on to a system that is burdened by an army of middle-men which supposedly worked for the past 50 years.
The audience more and more turns away from cinemas. Screens have become too small, prices too high, value too low. The potential of mobile story telling has yet to be discovered. HK in 2012 was still a place where the media world was proclaimed to be flat and those who said that transmedia can make it round were burned for witchcraft. So we move on into 2013 in the hope the inquisition might cut us some slack for a proof of concept.
To learn more about working with Haexagon Concepts, any press inquiries or background information & references to the Asian Screen report series, contact:
concepts<at>haexagon<dot>org
Subscribe to our mailing list to be among the 1st to receive the new Asian Screen report and other news for free: http://eepurl.com/qku9b
Posted in analysis | Tagged 2012, annualrecap, darkknightrises, galaman, hongkong, hongkongfilm, hongkongmtr, ironsky, marketingstrategy, mrfrenchtaste, transmedia, triad, wreckitralph, zombies | 1 Reply
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New England Regional | Tastes and Tables
Time for Tapas
Fine Spanish fare served with exuberance in eclectic surroundings
by Anne Stuart
Our first clue that dining at Dali Restaurant and Tapas Bar would be an out-of-the-ordinary experience came when we called to make reservations for 9 p.m. The cheerful gentleman who answered the phone told us Dali holds tables only for large groups and only until 6:30 p.m. Very well, we replied, if a smaller party arrived at our preferred time, how long might it take to be seated? Our host declined to estimate. Instead without actually telling us to chill out he invited us to arrive earlier and unwind in the bar while waiting for our table. "Enjoy life with us," he said. "Dress to kill, bring your lovey-dovey, and forget about the clock." We took his advice. We were glad we did.
Actually, we quickly discovered that Dali's dress code, like virtually everything else about this 15-year-old hot spot on the Cambridge-Somerville line, is hard to pigeonhole. Dali's website describes it this way: "casual elegance (pearls and jeans)." In other words: use your imagination.
www.dalirestaurant.com
Dinner nightly 5:30 to 11 p.m.
Bar open until 12:30 p.m.
The ambience, too, defies categorization. It's not romantic, at least not in the standard candlelit-table-for-two way; the restaurant is usually too crowded for truly intimate dining. And yet the entire place exudes festive sensuality, thanks to its gregarious wait staff and the gloriously cluttered décor, which includes murals, tiles, tapestries, bead curtains, copper ceilings, and gold-leafed archways that, like surrealist paintings, appear to be melting.
Dali's owners are passionate about their tapas, the tasty appetizers that diners typically sample with icy sangría (small pitcher, three to four glasses, $18; large pitcher, seven to eight glasses, $34.) The menu offers more than 40 different varieties of these treats some cold, some hot, some perennials, some seasonal specialties priced from $3 to $8.50 a plate.
Our choices included filloa de vegetales ($5.50), a hot, crisp, slightly sweet vegetable crêpe stuffed with spinach and onions; patatas ali-oli ($4.50), a cold potato salad dressed with a fresh garlic-caper mayonnaise; and ravioles de mariscos ($7), tender, surprisingly spicy lobster-crabmeat ravioli with langostino sauce. The table's designated carnivore raved about faisán a la Alcántara ($7.50), boneless pheasant with mushrooms and Serrano ham, a smoky combination that he said perfectly complemented the fowl's natural gaminess rather than disguising it. Our overall favorite: the savory pimiento del piquillo ($8.50), wood-roasted pimento with shrimp stuffing.
Those seeking heartier fare can select from several full-sized platos principales. On a second visit, we considered trying Dali's signature dish, pescado a la sal ($24), fish baked in coarse salt, but ultimately opted to split an order of paella del oceano ($24). We found the classic Spanish saffron-rice dish creamy, well stocked with fresh seafood, and served in a portion generous enough to satisfy us both.
Dessert may seem an impossibility at Dali, but tarta de Santiago ($5.50) a dense, flourless almond cake, proved a fine antidote to all the richness on both our visits.
And both times, we adhered to our anonymous adviser's instructions, enjoying life and completely forgetting about the clock.
~ A.S.
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This Devastating Chart Shows Why Even a Powerful El Niño Won’t Fix the Drought
Today we get disastrous flooding to make things ugly. Yet that is not good enough in the long term.
I do believe though that it will be practical to use atmospheric direct irrigation to fully resolve this problem. That maxes out the available humidity while providing ample water for the trees. However i do not think it should be done without also maxing out the bio diversity implied as well.
Unfortunately in order to make my point i would need to purschase such a farm and show folks how to do it while tweaking it properly as well. That is what you have to do with a new protocol.
—By Tom Philpott
| Wed Oct. 14, 2015 6:00 AM EDT
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/10/el-nino-drought-farms-california
In California, news of a historically powerful El Niño oceanic warming event is stoking hopes that winter rains will ease the state's brutal drought. But for farmers in the Central Valley, one of the globe's most productive agricultural regions, water troubles go much deeper—literally—than the current lack of precipitation.
That's the message of an eye-popping report from researchers at the US Geological Survey. This chart tells the story:
To understand it, note that in the arid Central Valley, farmers get water to irrigate their crops in two ways. The first is through massive, government-built projects that deliver melted snow from the Sierra Nevada mountains. The second is by digging wells into the ground and pumping water from the region's ancient aquifers. In theory, the aquifer water serves as a buffer—it keeps farming humming when (as has happened the last three years) the winter snows don't come. When the snows return, the theory goes, irrigation water flows anew through canals, and the aquifers are allowed to refill.
But as the chart shows, the Central Valley's underground water reserves are in a state of decline that predates the current drought by decades. The red line shows the change in underground water storage since the early 1960s; the green bars show how much water entered the Central Valley each year through the irrigation projects. Note how both vary during "wet" and "dry" times.
The region could be "whiplashed from deluge back to drought again" in just one year's time
As you'd expect, underground water storage drops during dry years, as farmers resort to the pump to make up for lost irrigation allotments, and it rises during wet years, when the irrigation projects up their contribution. The problem is, aquifer recharge during wet years never fully replaces all that was taken away during dry times—meaning that the the Central Valley has surrendered a total of 100 cubic kilometers, or 811 million acre-feet, of underground water since 1962. That's an average of about 1.5 million acre-feet of water annually extracted from finite underground reserves and not replaced by the Central Valley's farms. By comparison, all of Los Angeles uses about 600,000 acre-feet of water per year. (An acre-foot is the amount needed to cover an acre of land with a foot of water).
The USGS authors note that the region's farmers have gotten more efficient in their irrigation techniques over the past 20 years—using precisely placed drip tape, for example, instead of old techniques like flooding fields. But that positive step has been more than offset with a factor I've discussed many times: "the planting of permanent crops (vineyards and orchards), replacing non-permanent land uses such as rangeland, field crops, or row crops." This is a reference to the ongoing expansion in acres devoted to almonds and pistachios, highly profitable crops that can't be fallowed during dry times. To keep them churning out product during drought, orchard farmers revert to the pump.
The major takeaway is that the Valley's farms can't maintain business as usual—eventually, the water will run out. No one knows exactly when that point will be, because, as Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology, never tires of pointing out, no one has invested in the research required to measure just how much water is left beneath the Central Valley's farms. Of course, averting this race to the bottom of the well is exactly why the California legislature voted last year to end the state's wild-west water-drilling free-for-all and enact legislation requiring stressed watersheds like the Central Valley's to reach "sustainable yield" by 2040. The downward meandering red line in the above graph, in other words, will have to flatten out pretty soon, and to get there, "dramatic changes will need to be made," the USGS report states.
Meanwhile, one wet El Niño winter won't do much to end the the decades-in-the-making drawdown of the Central Valley's water horde. And people pining for heavy rains should be careful what they wish for—parts of the Central Valley, especially its almond-heavy southern regions, are notoriously vulnerable to disastrous flooding. Then there's the unhappy fact that El Niño periods are often followed by La Niña events—which are associated with dry winters in California. The region could be "whiplashed from deluge back to drought again" in just one year's time, Bill Patzert, a climatologist for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, recently told the Los Angeles Times. "Because remember, La Niña is the diva of drought," he said. The last big El Niño ended in 1998, and as the above chart shows, what followed wasn't pretty.
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“Bouquets to Art” – 5 Days of Flower Power at the de Young Museum, April 20–24, 2010
Ron Morgan, Berkeley, created this hat of leaves, succulents and purple cala lilies to correspond with the repeating turban in Julia Margaret Camoeron's "Portrait of a Woman (Louise Beatrice de Fonblanque)," 1868 in the de Young's permanent collection. FAMSF image.
Having missed last year’s Bouquets to Art, there was no way I was going to miss it again, especially after a great conversation with a friend who attended Monday’s spectacular gala at the De Young Museum and described it as “the best party in town” and “worth every penny.”
“Bouquets to Art” is a 26-year fundraiser initiated by the San Francisco Auxiliary of the Fine Arts Museums that has become one of the country’s leading floral events and the most popular annual event at the De Young. Every year, for five days, floral designers from all over the world, but mainly from the greater Bay Area, organize their loveliest and most exotic blooms into creative arrangements that respond to works in the museum’s permanent collection. The show is complimented by a series of daily lectures by noted Bay Area, national and international floral designers and special luncheons and high teas. This year’s show includes 161 arrangements spread throughout the museum that celebrate the upcoming landmark French Impressionism exhibitions from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris that will be on view at the de Young Museum shortly after the close of Bouquets to Art 2010. (Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay, May 22- September 6, 2010 and Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne, and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay, September 25, 2010- January 18, 2011.)
When I arrived on Wednesday promptly at 9:45 AM, the museum was already bustling. I brought my mother, 85, along–she’s an avid gardener, loves French Impressionism and relishes the De Young. Soon, we were
Twigs and Ivy Floral Studio, Phyllis A. Brady and Joe Brady of San Ramon designed two floral costumes corresponding to David Park's "Two Bathers," 1958 in the de Young's permanent collection. FAMSF image.
literally rubbing elbows with what seemed like hundreds of other early-bird enthusiasts who were gathered around Wilsey court taking in the view of this year’s hallmark piece–an enormous circular creation by Bay Area designer Orna Maymon, of Ornamento, comprised of dangling fuschia-purplish-hued silk ribbons with flowers at the ends, resembling some sort of giant breezy sea flower. I didn’t think too highly of its clothesline effect but frankly, there aren’t any temporary works that I’ve seen installed in this area that have really clicked for me.
Onward to the galleries! The event is well-organized and in addition to a printed map–which became impossible to navigate due to the swarming crowds– each floral arrangement has a placard listing its floral and other components as well as the team that assembled it and their inspiration. As we strolled through the museum galleries, we heard many lively discussions about art, gardening, floral design and identification. Baffling names like “aquilegia” (common name “black barlow”) or “craspedia” (common name “billy balls). In fact, it was downright inspirational to hear so many opinions being batted about. And since this is the one event where cameras are welcome, people were eagerly snapping pics on their iphones and cameras. Many of the floral designers were there watering their tender creations and were available for questions.
detail: Phyllis A. Brady and Joe Brady's wire corset frames are woven with an elaborate combination of red-orange flowers that compliment the hues in David Park's "Two Bathers," 1958. Image Geneva Anderson.
Tuan Tran, a Bay Area multimedia artist who works with recycled materials repeatedly and patiently answered questions about his tribute to sculptor Ruth Asawa whose signture looped and tied open forms were the basis of a spectacular solo show at the de Young in 2006-7. Tran had hand-crocheted old plastic-coated colored twisted-pair telephone wire into two drooping Asawa-like forms and complimented them with a few stark white cala lilies. Prior to fiber optics, all telephone communication was enabled via this wire consisting of two conductors twisted together for the purpose of cancelling out interference, or crosstalk, from external sources. A rich metaphor but relating it back to French Impressionism requires some effort.
How do designers get matched up with paintings? Since some designers have been participating for 20 years, they were happy to share about how important getting matched with the “right” artwork is. I learned that they either submitted (repeatedly) a request for a specific artwork or they were given a list of several works to choose from and they ranked their choices and then waiting on the powers that be to match everyone with an artwork. After the artwork was assigned, most designers labored long and hard to find the appropriate container and then selected their flowers based on color and lasting power for a 5 day stint.
Svenja Brotz of Chestnut and Vine Foral Design, Berkeley, created an elaborate living memory box in response to Eadweard Mybridge's, "Plate 490 (Self-Portrait), 1884-1887 in the deYoung's permanent collection. FAMSF image.
For some participants, like Berkeley designer Svenja Brotz of Chestnut and Vine Floral Design, it was a matter of constructing a black laquer memory box andputting it on a stand and filling each partition with a floral design and then discretly attaching tiny vials of water to the structureto support the stems and vines that encircled this box. This partitioning corresponded very well with Eadweard Muybridge’s, Plate 490 (Self-Portrait)” –a sequence of photos adding up to a human locomotion study of a nude male (Muybridge himself) sitting down, sprinkling water, stooping for the cup and then drinking.
For many, this year’s impressionist theme led them to select painterly hues of very closely-matched color palettes ranging from the softest pinks to bold deep almost black purples. When flowers were tightly arranged next to each other, the result was a very rich and textural flower carpet. Sadly, because most of these flowers are hot-house grown there was not much fragrance in the air. There were also plentiful use of variegated foilage with striking contrasts.
Some standout creations were—
Ron Morgan, Berkeley created a fantastic hat of tea leaves, flax leaves, succulents and deep purple cala lilies based on the repeating turban in Julia Margaret Cameron’s “Portrait of a Woman (Louise Beatrice de Fonblanque),” 1868. (Concourse Level, Gallery 12A)
Pico Soriano, Alexandria Christakos and pia Ramos created a lampshade of yellow billy balls that corresponds to Elmer Bischoff's "Yellow Lampshade," 1969 in the de Young's permanent collection.
Pico Soriano and assistants Alexandria Christakos and Pia Ramos created a cheery bright yellow lampshade of yellow craspedia (billy balls) with dangling crystal beads that corresponds to Elmer Bischoff’s “Yellow Lampshade,” 1969. (Concourse Level, Gallery 14C)
Twigs and Ivy Floral Studio, Phyllis A. Brady and Joe Brady (San Ramon) fabricated two glorious suits of deep purple carnations and bright pink , red, orange and apricot carnations and red ti leaves with pin-cushion orange proteas, woven on wire corset frames with satin ribbon straps eloquently echoing the lovely bathers in David Park’s “Two Bathers,” 1958. (Concourse Level 14D)
J. Miller Flowers and Gifts, Valerie Lee Ow; co-exhibitor Maureen Owens; assistant Robin H. Lee, Oakland “Super Size Me” giant colorful balls of spray roses, blue thistle,
Geneva Anderson and Evelyn Severson marvel at J. Miller Flowers and Gifts, Valerie Lee Ow and co-exhbiitor Maureen Owens of Oakland's floral gum balls that correspond to Wayne Thiebaud's "Three Machines," 1963 from the De Young's permanent collection.
statice, billy buttons, carnations, reindeer moss, mini carnations, brown chrysanthemums that correspond to Wayne Thiebaud’s “Three Machines,” 1963 (Concourse Level, Gallery 14J)
Leila Simms “Word of Mouth” is made from birch, Spanish moss, lichen, reindeer moss, nuts and bolts, small tiles, air plants and cacti and is inspired by Sono Oasto’s “Meena,” 2005. (Concourse Level, Gallery 16H)
Orchard Nursery & Florist, Carolyn Russell and Wanda Nash, Lafayette created an orchid and hummingbird that correspond to Martin Johnson Heade’s “Orchid and Hummingbird,” ca 1885. (Second Floor Gallery 26D)
Laurelle Hartley Thom’s (Lafayette) magnificent landscape arrangement of hawthorne’s, forget-me-nots, tweedia, orchids, monte cassino, hydrangea, gypsophyillia (baby’s breath) and belladonna capturing the pastoral and sublime beauty of Albert Bierstadt’s “California Spring,” 1875. (Second Floor Gallery 26J)
Laurelle Hartley Thom’s (Lafayette) magnificent landscape captures the calm pastoral beauty of Albert Bierstadt’s “California Spring,” 1875 in the de Young's permanent collection.
Monday night’s gala included exquisite French cuisine, live music by Moodswing Orchestra and a parade of models wearing gowns and accessories made entirely of real flowers created by environmental design students at participating Bay Area colleges. Next year, I am going to attend the “real party.”
Over its 26th years, Bouquets to Art has attracted nearly 550,000 visitors and raised over $4.52 million in net proceeds, which have funded an impressive roster of special exhibitions, art acquisitions, educational programs, and projects at the Legion of Honor and the de Young Museum. Recent exhibitions supported by Bouquets to Art include International Arts and Crafts: William Morris to Frank Lloyd Wright, 2005, Marie-Antoinette at the Petit Trianon, 2007, and The State Museums of Berlin and the Legacy of James Simon, 2008. funds have enabled the acquisition of the Crown Point Press Archive, a rare Nimrud ivory from Mesopotamia dating from the 8–9th century, an exceptional early 20th-century French glass vase by Emile
Orchard Nursery & Florist, Carolyn Russell and Wanda Nash, Lafayette created an orchid and hummingbird that correspond to Martin Johnson Heade’s “Orchid and Hummingbird,” ca 1885 in the de Young's permanent collection.
Galle, a Paracas turban and a Naxca Colombian woven band. The Fine Arts Museums’ Education Department has also received support from Bouquets to Art for its Get Smart with Art program, and in 2007 it received a substantial gift of unrestricted funds.
Schedule for the rest of the week–
Friday, April 23: 9:30 am–8:45 pm: Floral exhibits and, at noon, the popular Hat Day, presided over by Jan Wahl, KRON TV and KCBS radio personality. Visitors are encouraged to wear hats adorned with flowers. Prizes will be awarded in categories that include Moulin Rouge or Soiree hats, Boating on the Seine River, Can-Can, and Glamorous Garden Party Hats, with a separate judging category for the professional hat designers that the event attracts.
Saturday, April 24: 9:30 am–5:15 pm: Floral exhibits, benefit drawing.
Visiting the de Young:
Address: Golden Gate Park 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive San Francisco, CA 94118
Hours: Tuesday–Thursday, Saturday and Sunday: 9:30 am–5:15 pm Friday: 9:30 am–8:45 pm; closed on Monday
Admission: $20 adults
April 22, 2010 Posted by genevaanderson | de Young Museum | Albert Bierstadt, Albert Bierstadt California Spring, Alexandria Christakos, Bouquets to Art, Bouquets to Art 2010, Carolyn Russell, Crown Point Press Archive, David Park, David Park Two Bathers, De Young Museum, Elmer Bischoff, Elmer Bischoff Yellow Lampshade, J. Miller Flowers and Gifts, Joe Brady, Laurelle Hartley Thom, Leila Simms, Martin Johnson Heade, Martin Johnson Heade Orchid and Hummingbird, Maureen Owens, Moodswing Orchestra, Musée d’Orsay, Orchard Nursery & Florist, Phyllis A. Brady, Pia Ramos, Pico Soriano, Robin H. Lee, Sono Oasto Meena, Sono Osato, Twigs and Ivy Floral Studio, Valerie Lee Ow, Wanda Nash, Wayne Thiebaud, Wayne Thiebaud Three Machines | Leave a comment
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CancerLocator: non-invasive cancer diagnosis and tissue-of-origin prediction using methylation profiles of cell-free DNA
Shuli Kang1,
Qingjiao Li1,
Quan Chen1,
Yonggang Zhou2,3,
Stacy Park4,
Gina Lee5,
Brandon Grimes4,
Kostyantyn Krysan4,
Min Yu6,
Wei Wang7,
Frank Alber1,
Fengzhu Sun1,
Steven M. Dubinett2,8,9,10,
Wenyuan Li2 &
Xianghong Jasmine Zhou2,3
Genome Biology volume 18, Article number: 53 (2017) Cite this article
320 Altmetric
We propose a probabilistic method, CancerLocator, which exploits the diagnostic potential of cell-free DNA by determining not only the presence but also the location of tumors. CancerLocator simultaneously infers the proportions and the tissue-of-origin of tumor-derived cell-free DNA in a blood sample using genome-wide DNA methylation data. CancerLocator outperforms two established multi-class classification methods on simulations and real data, even with the low proportion of tumor-derived DNA in the cell-free DNA scenarios. CancerLocator also achieves promising results on patient plasma samples with low DNA methylation sequencing coverage.
Cancer cells often display aberrant DNA methylation patterns, such as hypermethylation of the promoter regions of tumor suppressor genes and pervasive hypomethylation of intergenic regions [1–5]. Therefore, DNA methylation is an ideal target for cancer diagnosis in clinical practice [6, 7]. Hyper/hypomethylated tumor DNA fragments can be released into the bloodstream via cell apoptosis or necrosis, where they become part of the circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma [8]. The non-invasive nature of cfDNA methylation profiling makes it a promising strategy for general cancer screening. Current research on cfDNA-based, non-invasive cancer detection approaches falls into two classes: the development of biomarkers for a single specific cancer type; and the characterization of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) for general cancer detection, without trying to predict specific cancer types.
In recent years, several studies have reported plasma methylation biomarkers for different types of cancers [9–15]. Usually, the differentially methylated marker genes are identified by comparing methylation profile data from patients with a certain cancer type to healthy controls. However, these specific biomarkers are of limited use for general cancer screening. Ideally, as a non-invasive early screening tool, a liquid biopsy test should be able to detect many types of cancers and provide tumor location information for further specific clinical investigation.
Several approaches have recently been proposed for non-invasive universal cancer detection. These methods do not rely on detecting biomarkers specific to certain tumor types. Instead, they utilize properties of ctDNA that are common to various cancer types, such as copy number aberration (CNA) [16–19], pervasive hypomethylation [19], and DNA integrity [16, 20]. None of these methods can predict the tissue of origin after the detection of ctDNA. The nature of the liquid biopsy introduces a new challenge, in that the cancer type can remain unknown even when there is strong signal of tumor-derived DNA fragments in the blood. Hence, a positive result from a liquid biopsy would call for comprehensive follow-up investigations using clinical, analytical, and radiological tools to identify the tumor location. Considering that non-invasive screening is usually the first step of cancer diagnosis, and could be associated with a fair ratio of false positives, such follow-up would be likely to increase the burden on the medical care system. A few recent studies have proposed using cfDNA methylation [21, 22] or nucleosome footprinting [23] to partially alleviate this problem. For example, Sun et al. [21] estimated the proportions of cfDNAs contributed by different tissues and showed that an abnormally high proportion of cfDNA from a specific tissue can indicate the possibility of a tumor in that tissue. Their approach, though promising, has not been developed into a systematic method capable of supporting clinical diagnosis applications. Lehmann-Werman et al. [22] tested the same rationale to diagnose pancreatic cancer, but fewer than 50% of the pancreatic cancer patients demonstrated a substantial excess of pancreas-originated cfDNA fragments compared with healthy subjects. Snyder et al. [23] pioneered an approach of using nucleosome footprinting to predict the tissue of origin of the cfDNA, but its power in cancer diagnosis has not been demonstrated because only five plasma samples with high ctDNA burden were selected for testing from 44 late-stage cancer patients, and less than one half had their cancer types correctly predicted.
In summary, no existing cfDNA-based method can simultaneously detect cancer and predict its tissue of origin. We are therefore proposing a novel method, CancerLocator, that simultaneously infers the proportion and tissue of origin of ctDNA in a blood sample using genome-wide DNA methylation data. As shown in Fig. 1, from the vast amount of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) DNA methylation data, we first learn the informative features of different cancer types. We then model the plasma cfDNAs in cancer patients as a mixture of normal cfDNAs and ctDNAs. Finally, given the genome-wide methylation profile derived from the cfDNA sample of an unknown patient, CancerLocator uses the informative features to estimate the fraction of ctDNAs in the plasma and the likelihood that the detected ctDNAs come from each tumor type. Based on those likelihoods, CancerLocator makes the final decision on whether the patient has tumors and, if yes, the locations of the primary tumor.
Flowchart of CancerLocator. Step 1: A set of solid tumor samples and healthy plasma samples collected from public databases and the literature are used to select the informative features (CpG clusters) that can differentiate tumor types or healthy plasma samples. Then the beta distributions of the methylation levels of these selected features for each tumor type or healthy plasma samples are learnt. Step 2: Given a plasma sample, the methylation profile of its cfDNAs is measured by whole-genome bisulfite sequencing, which is then used as input for cancer location prediction by CancerLocator
We first evaluated our method on simulation data with known ctDNA fractions. The results show that CancerLocator can achieve a Pearson’s correlation coefficient (PCC) of 0.975 between the predicted and true proportions of ctDNA, and an error rate of 0.078 for the classification of non-cancer and tumor types. Moreover, our method far outperforms two well-established multi-class classification methods in both simulations and using real data, especially when the proportion of tumor-derived DNAs in the cfDNAs is lower than 50% (which is usually the case in reality). We note that CancerLocator achieved promising results on patient plasma samples, including around two-thirds of cancer samples collected from early-stage cancer patients.
CancerLocator: a probabilistic method for predicting ctDNA burden and source tissue
A flowchart of CancerLocator is illustrated in Fig. 1. The first step is to identify the informative features of normal plasma and multiple tumor types from the massive TCGA database. We chose to focus on seven cancer types from the five organs (breast, colon, kidney, liver, and lung) that are generally regarded as having a high level of blood circulation. Given the plasma cfDNA methylation profile of a patient, the next step is to use those informative features to simultaneously detect cancer and locate its tissue of origin.
In the first step, we select CpG clusters (our procedure for grouping CpG sites into CpG clusters is described in the “Methods” section) as features if their methylation range (MR) is sufficiently large. MR is defined as the range of average methylation levels observed in healthy plasma and different solid tumor tissues. We selected K =14,429 CpG clusters (features), on averageFootnote 1, whose MRs are no less than the cutoff 0.25. For each CpG cluster, we take into account its variation across individuals by modeling the distribution of methylation levels for the same tumor type (or normal plasma) as a beta distribution, Beta(α t , β t ). The index t = 0 represents normal plasma, while t = 1, …, T represents a tumor type.
In the second step, we use the selected features and their beta distributions to deconvolute a patient’s plasma cfDNA into the normal plasma cfDNA distribution and, possibly, a solid tumor DNA distribution. We have designed a probabilistic method that can simultaneously infer the burden and the tissue of origin of the ctDNA. Intuitively, if the likelihood of presence for any tumor type is not substantially higher than the likelihood that the observed distribution is the normal background, the patient is predicted to not have cancer. Otherwise, the patient is predicted to have the tumor type that is associated with the highest likelihood.
Inferring the ctDNA burden θ and tumor type t can be formulated as a maximum-likelihood estimation (MLE) problem, where the likelihood function is expressed as the product of the likelihoods of each CpG cluster, assuming that all of the K selected CpG clusters are independent of each other. This is expressed as:
$$ L\left(\theta, t\Big| X\right)={\displaystyle \prod_{k=1}^K} L\left(\theta, t\Big|{x}_k\right) $$
where x k denotes the methylation level of CpG site k in a cancer patient’s cfDNA. In principle, x k is a linear combination of the DNA methylation levels in normal plasma and solid tumor type t with fraction θ. The normal and tumor components of the methylation are denoted by v k and u k , respectively (Fig. 2). That is, x = (1 − θ)v + θu (for simplicity, we remove the subscript k from these notations). As mentioned earlier, since v and u follow the Beta distributions Beta(α 0, β 0) and Beta(α t , β t ), respectively, x follows the distribution ψ(θ, t), which is calculated as the convolution of two Beta distributions Beta(α 0, β 0) and Beta(α t , β t ).
The mixture model of methylation level (x) in a patient’s plasma cfDNA for different burdens of ctDNAs from the tumor type t. Note that x, u, and v are the methylation levels of a single CpG cluster k in cfDNA, solid tumor, and normal plasma, respectively
Because cfDNA has low abundance in plasma, its methylation is usually measured by sequencing-based methods. Therefore, the methylation level x k of CpG cluster k can be derived from two numbers, n k and m k , denoting the total number of cytosines and the number of methylated cytosines mapped to CpG cluster k. We can model m k and n k together as a binomial distribution m k ~ Binomial(n k , x k ), and rewrite the likelihood function as:
$$ L\left(\theta, t\Big| M, N\right)={\displaystyle \prod_{k=1}^K} L\left(\theta, t\Big|{m}_k,{n}_k\right) $$
Detailed formulas and our optimization method are given in the “Methods” section.
For a comprehensive performance evaluation, we compare our method with two popular multi-class classification methods, i.e., random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM), on two types of data: simulation data with known ctDNA burden and real data with known clinical information but unknown ctDNA burden. The evaluations on simulation data and real data are complementary in assessing the predictive power of the methods.
Prediction performance on the simulation data
The methylation data of a simulated plasma cfDNA sample is generated by computationally mixing the entire methylation profiles of a normal plasma cfDNA sample and a solid tumor sample (breast, colon, kidney, liver, or lung tumors), at a variety of ctDNA burdens (θ values). This strategy can make the simulated methylation data keep the potential correlations of methylation values between CpG clusters in real data. In addition, to make the simulated data more realistic, we add tumor CNA events at pre-defined probabilities (10, 30, and 50% across all CpG clusters). The procedure for these simulations is described in the “Methods” section. The results described below are on the simulation dataset with 30% CNA events—simulation data with other CNA event rates yield similar results (Additional file 1).
We first assessed CancerLocator for ctDNA burden predictions. Overall, the predicted and true proportions of ctDNA are highly consistent, with a Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.975 and a root mean squared error of 0.074, respectively. As shown in Fig. 3a, the majority (87.9%) of the estimated ctDNA burdens for the normal samples are not more than 0.02, and none of them is greater than 0.05. Please note that whether a sample is from a cancer patient or not is determined by the optimal likelihood calculated in the prediction model, not the predicted ctDNA burden. The prediction results for the simulated cancer patient plasma samples are shown in Fig. 3b. We found that the variance of the predicted ctDNA burdens (θ) increases with the true θ, implying that the burden estimation becomes less precise when patients are in mid- or late cancer stages. This result could be partially explained by the fact that tumor heterogeneity may be higher in late stage tumor samples, which introduces the complexity of ctDNA burden prediction. However, this increased variance does not hurt the performance of the cancer detection because the predicted θ is still much higher than the normal background. Indeed, as demonstrated in Fig. 3b and below in the cancer type prediction results, the tissue origin of ctDNA becomes more distinguishable with high ctDNA burden, despite the increased variance in ctDNA prediction.
The predicted ctDNA burden for simulated normal and cancer plasma samples. a Predicted ctDNA burdens for normal samples whose true ctDNA burden should be zero. b Predicted and true ctDNA burdens for cancer samples. Each dot represents a prediction with the true (x-axis) and predicted (y-axis) ctDNA burdens. The correct and incorrect predictions are represented by cyan and red, respectively, in both a and b
We then compared the performance of CancerLocator to that of two popular multi-class classification methods (RF and SVM; refer to Additional file 1 for details) using the same set of simulated samples. For a systematic comparison, we divided the simulation data into ten subsets for different cancer stages, each of which includes 200 normal plasma samples and 200 cancer plasma samples of each tumor type. The different cancer stages (from early, mid-, to late stages) are represented by a set of ctDNA burden ranges (θ, θ + 10%], where θ = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90%. For a six-class classification problem (normal, breast, colon, kidney, liver, and lung), we adopt the error rate measure for assessing the classification performance (see “Methods”). The results are shown in Fig. 4. For early-stage cancer patients with ctDNA burdens in the range θ ∈ (0, 10%], CancerLocator (error rate 0.240) largely outperforms RF and SVM (error rates 0.807 and 0.816, respectively), which are only slightly better than random guesses (0.833). For the second lowest ctDNA burdens θ ∈ (10%, 20%], CancerLocator reaches a very high prediction performance (error rate 0.067), while RF and SVM still have very poor performance (0.735 and 0.712, respectively). The two competing methods do not perform well until the ctDNA burdens are greater than 50%, which is mainly seen in plasma samples of late-stage cancer patients. The superior performance of CancerLocator on low to moderate ctDNA fractions indicates that without considering the mixture nature of cfDNAs in plasma, existing popular classification methods always fail to distinguish normal plasma samples and cancer patients’ plasma samples. This result highlights the advantage of our method for cancer diagnosis.
Classification performances of three methods (CancerLocator, RF and SVM) on the ten subsets of simulation data. Each subset includes plasma cfDNA samples at certain cancer stage (represented as a ctDNA burden range)
Prediction performance on real plasma data
We randomly chose 75% of solid tumor samples and healthy plasma cfDNA samples as a training set to learn features. The remaining healthy plasma samples and all the cfDNA samples collected from cancer patients form the testing set, to which we applied CancerLocator, RF and SVM based on the selected features. After performing this procedure (including random data partition and predictions) ten times, the predictions of each of the three methods in ten runs were summarized into a confusion matrix, as shown in Table 1. Refer to the “Methods” section for detailed description of this procedure. For a new patient’s plasma sample, we assume that we have no prior information about the cancer type. Therefore, we also consider colon and kidney tumor as possible results, even though our real plasma data include no plasma samples from colon or kidney cancer patients.
Table 1 Confusion matrix of prediction results on the real plasma samples
The results in Table 1 show that our method vastly outperforms the two competing methods (RF and SVM). In fact, the competing methods cannot distinguish most cancer samples from non-cancer samples. Specifically, all the breast samples and the majority of liver and lung cancer samples are wrongly predicted as non-cancer by both RF and SVM. The overall error rates of RF and SVM are 0.646 and 0.604, respectively. In contrast, CancerLocator obtains a low error rate of 0.265 for the six-class prediction problem. These results are consistent with the simulation experiments for ctDNA burdens lower than 50%.
To understand the relationship between estimated ctDNA burdens and tumor types in real data, we plotted their relationships in Fig. 5 by summarizing predictions for each plasma sample in all ten runs: the average estimated ctDNA burden (y-axis value) and the most frequently predicted tumor type (dot color) among ten runs for each sample. It can be observed that the higher the estimated ctDNA burden, the more accurate the prediction of tumor type. This is highly consistent with the results from the simulation data. For the breast cancer samples, three out of five samples have ctDNA burdens ≤2.2%, and they are all predicted as non-cancer. The inferred tumor burden of the two correctly predicted samples are 5.0 and 18.0%, respectively, and the latter is a metastatic sample. For the 29 liver cancer samples, at least 25 of them are from early-stage (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage A) patients. Most of them (80%) were classified as liver cancer and all of them were detected as cancer samples. Compared to the breast cancer samples, most of the liver samples, even at an early stage, can have moderate to high tumor burden (average predicted tumor burden of 14.9% and the highest reaching 59.0%), given that liver has generally excellent blood circulation, but we also correctly classified the one with only 2.0% predicted tumor burden as liver cancer. Among the 12 lung cancer samples (two samples did not have cancer stage information), at least five were collected from early-stage patients. These early-stage samples have predicted tumor burdens ranging from 2.0 to 4.0%. Among these five early-stage lung cancer samples, four were correctly predicted as lung cancer, whereas the remaining one was predicted as non-cancer.
The relationship between ctDNA burden and tumor tissue prediction for each plasma sample of the real data. Each point represents a real plasma sample. This plot illustrates the average estimated tumor burden (y-axis) and the most frequently predicted tumor type (dot color) among ten runs for each plasma sample
We also note that CancerLocator correctly predicted seven out of eight chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) samples to be non-cancer samples. In addition, our method successfully predicted the only one sample with benign lung tumor as non-cancer in all ten runs, with the predicted ctDNA burden always being 0.0%. These results demonstrate that CancerLocator can go beyond distinguishing healthy samples from cancer samples and handle more sophisticated scenarios, such as differentiating HBV carriers or benign tumor patients from cancer patients.
Blood-based cancer diagnosis, unlike traditional diagnosis based on tissue biopsy, has the potential to diagnose tumors from many organs. The proposed CancerLocator aims to exploit this potential of cfDNA by not only diagnosing the presence of tumors, but also predicting the tissue of origin. Although three very recent studies have investigated the inference of tissue of origin [21–23], these works lack either a well-developed prediction method [21] or systematic performance evaluations [22, 23]. Unlike these previous studies, we lay out a systematic prediction method for cfDNA-based cancer type inference, comprehensively evaluate its performance on both simulated data and real data, and compare its performance to that of two established multi-class classification methods. We show that having a mixture of plasma cfDNAs can completely defeat standard machine learning methods for cancer type predictions when the proportion of tumor-derived DNA is lower than 50%. In contrast, CancerLocator successfully overcomes this obstacle. The poor performance of the standard methods is largely caused by their treatment of the samples in each tumor class as independent and identically distributed, following some class-specific distribution, while in our model the samples from the same class can still be very different due to different ctDNA percentages in the blood. In addition, our results show that our method is robust to CNA events, possibly because the genome-wide features outweigh the local aberrations.
In this work, we used DNA methylation microarrays of solid tumor tissues to train the model due to the scarcity of whole-genome bisulfite sequencing data (WGBS) in the public domain. Since DNA methylation arrays focus only on promoter regions, they may miss important signature regions of cancer. Therefore, we expect that the growing amount of WGBS data will significantly empower the proposed approach by revealing better and higher resolution signatures. Owing to the limited number of plasma samples, the results of this study are evaluated only on three cancer types (breast, liver and lung). However, our new approach has the potential to perform well on all cancer types with well-circulated originating organs. Also, due to the limited plasma samples, the cutoff of the prediction score λ (defined in the “Methods” section and computed based on the likelihood) used to differentiate cancer or non-cancer samples is specifically determined for this set of plasma samples for the best performance. When data on more plasma samples become available, this cutoff could be determined by the training data to be robust to most testing scenarios. Finally, we note that we identified markers by comparing methylation profiles of normal plasma cfDNAs and tumor DNAs. This procedure may introduce markers that are tissue-specific but not tumor-specific. This effect can be largely reduced by first using paired samples (tumor sample and the matched adjacent non-tumor sample) to identify tumor-specific markers, then further narrowing down to those markers that show differentiating signals from normal plasma cfDNAs. We foresee the increased power by such identified biomarkers when sufficient paired samples become available.
In this section, we describe: 1) how the data are processed (including methylation microarray and sequencing data); 2) the implementation of CancerLocator; 3) how the simulation data are generated while taking into account copy number aberrations; 4) how the training and testing data are split; and 5) what measures we use to evaluate performance.
Methylation data collection and processing
We collect a large set of public methylation data of solid tumors and plasma cfDNA samples taken from both healthy people and cancer patients. The majority of tumor methylation profiles in TCGA were assayed using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 microarray. We collect those data for solid tumors with >100 samples from five different organs: 681 samples of breast (BRCA), 290 samples of colon (COAD), 522 samples of kidney (including 300 KIRC and 156 KIRP samples), 169 samples of liver (LIHC), and 809 samples of lung (including 450 LUAD and 359 LUSC samples) cancer.Footnote 2
The public methylation data of plasma cfDNA samples are from Chan et al. [19] and Sun et al. [21]. The two datasets include the WGBS data of plasma samples taken from 32 normal people, eight patients infected with HBV, 29 liver cancer patients, four lung cancer patients, five breast cancer patients, and a number of patients with tumors in organs without a large blood flow. We also generated WGBS data from plasma samples collected from eight cancer patients (five early-stage lung cancer patients, one late-stage lung cancer patient, two lung cancer patients with unknown stage information) and one patient with a benign lung tumor. We used only the normal, HBV, and breast/liver/lung cancer patients in our study, for a total of 87 plasma samples. Note that these public WGBS data have very low sequencing coverage (~4× on average), while the coverage of our newly generated data for all nine samples is around 10×.
The blood samples of eight lung cancer patients and one benign lung tumor patient were collected. The demographic and clinical features of the patients profiled are presented in Additional file 1: Table S2.
Cell-free DNA isolation and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing
Blood samples were centrifuged at 1600 × g for 10 minutes and then the plasma was transferred into new microtubes and centrifuged at 16,000 × g for another 10 minutes. The plasma was collected and stored at −80 °C. cfDNA was extracted from 5 ml plasma using the Qiagen QIAamp Circulating Nucleic Acids Kit and quantified using a Qubit 3.0 Fluoromter (Thermo Fisher Scientific). Bisulfite conversion of cfDNA was performed using a EZ-DNA-Methylation-GOLD kit (Zymo Research). After that, an Accel-NGS Methy-Seq DNA library kit (Swift Bioscience) was used to prepare the sequencing libraries. The DNA libraries were then sequenced with 150-bp paired-end reads.
Building features (CpG clusters)
The Infinium HumanMethylation450 microarray data from TCGA measure all solid tumor samples at ~450,000 CpGs. Since our testing sample [19] comprises WGBS data with very low sequencing coverage, we grouped the CpG sites into CpG clusters in order to use more mappable reads. For a CpG site covered by a probe on the microarray, we define the region 100 bp up- and downstream as its flanking region and assume that all CpG sites located within this region have the same average methylation level as the CpG sites covered by probes. Two adjacent CpG sites are grouped into a CpG cluster if their flanking regions overlap. Finally, only those CpG clusters containing at least three CpGs covered by microarray probes are used in this study. We choose the size of the flanking region and the number of CpGs in a cluster according to three criteria: (i) at least three CpG sites (in the microarray data) are included to obtain a robust measurement of methylation values in the solid tumor samples; (ii) the cluster is reasonably sized, so that there are sufficient CpG sites to calculate the methylation values, even when low coverage sequencing data are used; (iii) keep as many clusters that span within a type of genomic region (either CpG islands or shores) as possible. This procedure yielded 42,374 CpG clusters, which together include about one-half of all the CpG sites on the Infinium HumanMethylation450 microarray. Most of these clusters are each associated with only one gene. These CpG clusters are used for subsequent feature selection.
Methylation microarray data processing
The microarray data (level 3 in TCGA database) provide the methylation levels of individual CpG sites. We define the methylation level of a CpG cluster as the average methylation level of all CpG sites in the cluster. A cluster’s methylation level is marked as “not available” (NA) if more than half of its CpG sites do not have methylation measurements.
WGBS data processing
Bismark [24] is employed to align the reads to the reference genome HG19 and call the methylated cytosines. After the removal of PCR duplications, the numbers of methylated and unmethylated cytosines are counted for each CpG site. The methylation level of a CpG cluster is calculated as the ratio between the number of methylated cytosines and the total number of cytosines within the cluster. However, if the total number of cytosines in the reads aligned to the CpG cluster is less than 30, the methylation level of this cluster is treated as NA.
Feature filtering
For each CpG cluster, we used the methylation range (MR) to indicate a feature’s differential power between classes. We first obtained the average methylation level of all samples from each class (i.e., healthy plasma or each tumor type), then defined MR as the range of this set of mean values (i.e., the difference between the largest and smallest mean values). The higher the MR of a cluster is, the more differential power it has. Finally, we selected those CpG clusters whose MRs were no lower than a threshold.
Statistical inference of the ctDNA burden and tissue of origin
A mixture model of methylation levels of plasma cfDNAs
The cfDNA in the plasma of cancer patients can be regarded as a mixture of normal background DNA and tumor-released DNA. Formally, for each CpG cluster k ∈ {1, 2, ⋯, K}, the methylation level x k of the plasma cfDNA from a given patient can be approximated as a mixture of v k and u k , which are the methylation levels of the normal plasma sample and the solid tumor tissue, respectively. Let θ ∈ (0, 1) denote the proportion of tumor-derived DNAs in plasma cfDNA. Then x k can be expressed as the weighted sum of v k and u k , i.e., x k = (1 − θ)v k + θu k .
We assume that an individual carries at most one type of tumor among the T possible tumor types. Let t ∈ {0, 1, 2, ⋯, T} be the variable representing either normal plasma (t = 0) or a tumor type (1 ≤ t ≤ T). For each CpG cluster k, we model its methylation level in a sample of type t as a Beta distribution: v k ~ Beta(α k0, β k0) for normal plasma samples (t =0) and u k ~ Beta(α kt , β kt ) for solid tumor samples of type t ∈ {1, ⋯, T}, where α k0 and β k0 (α kt and β kt ) are the parameters of the beta model of methylation levels of CpG cluster k in normal plasma (solid tumor) samples. As illustrated in step 1 of Fig. 1, the parameters of these Beta distributions are estimated by the method of moments, using the large amount of public tumor data and normal plasma data.
By integrating the two Beta distributions (v k and u k ), as shown in Fig. 2, x k can be modeled by a derived distribution with the given ctDNA burden θ and source tumor type t. This model is denoted as the probability density function ψ(x k |θ, t), which is calculated by the convolution of Beta(α k0, β k0) and Beta(α kt , β kt ). It is formally expressed as:
$$ \psi \left({x}_k\Big|\theta, t\right)={\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{1}{\int }}}{f}_{\mathrm{Beta}}\left(\frac{x_k-\theta {u}_k}{1-\theta}\Big|{\alpha}_{k0},{\beta}_{k0}\right){f}_{\mathrm{Beta}}\left({u}_k\Big|{\alpha}_{k t},{\beta}_{k t}\right)\; d{u}_k $$
where f Beta is the probability mass function of the Beta distribution.
Modeling the methylated cytosine count of plasma cfDNA sequencing data
Due to its low abundance in plasma, the methylation profile of cfDNA is usually measured by sequencing-based methods, and the methylation levels (x k ) of a CpG cluster k can be characterized by the numbers of methylated and unmethylated cytosines in the reads. Let M = (m 1, m 2, ⋯, m K ) and N = (n 1, n 2, ⋯, n K ) be the number of methylated cytosines and the total number of cytosines mapped to all CpG sites, respectively, where the index runs over all K CpG clusters. For each CpG cluster k, m k can be modeled by a binomial distribution: m k ~ Binomial(n k , x k ). By integrating the mixture model of x k in Eq. 1, we have the likelihood function for each CpG cluster k which has the inputs from the model parameters (θ, t, α k0 and β k0, α kt , and β kt ) and the sequence measurements of plasma samples (m k , n k ):
$$ f\left({m}_k\Big|\theta, t,{n}_k\right)={\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{1}{\int }}}{f}_{\mathrm{Binomial}}\left({m}_k\Big|{n}_k,{x}_k\right)\psi \left({x}_k\Big|\theta, t\right)\; d{x}_k $$
where f Binomial is the probability density function of the binomial distribution.
Maximum-likelihood estimation of blood tumor burden and type
Given the methylation sequencing profile of a patient’s plasma cfDNA sample, the vectors M and N, we aim to find the maximum-likelihood estimate of two model parameters: a sample’s cfDNA tumor burden θ and its source tumor type t. For integrating the mixture models of multiple markers into the formulation, we adopted a commonly used assumption: all features or markers are independent of each other. This assumption has been widely used in a number of cell-type deconvolution studies [25, 26]. Under this assumption, the log-likelihood can be written as:
$$ \log \kern0.5em L\left(\theta, t\Big| M, N\right)={\displaystyle \sum_{k=1}^K}\kern0.5em \log \kern0.5em f\left({m}_k\Big|\theta, t,{n}_k\right) $$
Since the integrals in Eqs. 1 and 2 cannot be easily solved analytically, we use Simpson's rule to calculate the log-likelihood. That is, a set of J predefined θ values, \( \Theta =\left\{0,\frac{1}{J},\frac{2}{J},\dots, \frac{J-1}{J}\right\} \), is used to conduct a grid search for the best estimation (i.e., a global optimization solution). The higher the resolution (J), the more precise the estimation. After obtaining the solution (i.e., \( \hat{\theta} \) and \( \hat{t} \)) that maximizes Eq. 3, we use the estimated parameters to calculate a simple yet effective prediction score that answers two questions: “Does the patient have cancer?”; and “If the patient has cancer, which tumor type is it?” This prediction score is defined below:
$$ \lambda =\frac{1}{K}\left[ \log \kern0.5em L\left(\hat{\theta},\hat{t}\Big| M, N\right)- \log \kern0.5em L\left(\theta =0\Big| M, N\right)\right] $$
where the denominator K is used to normalize the log-likelihood, so that λ is comparable when using a different number of features. The variable t is not included in L(θ = 0|M, N) because θ = 0 indicates a normal plasma sample. The larger the prediction score λ, the higher the chance that the patient has a cancer tumor of type \( \hat{t} \). Specifically, if λ is greater than a threshold, the patient is predicted as having cancer with the ctDNA burden \( \hat{\theta} \) and the tumor type \( \hat{t} \); otherwise, he/she is classified as not having cancer.
Simulation data generation
We simulate the methylation sequencing data of a patient’s plasma cfDNAs using the previously described probabilistic models: (i) a mixture model that treats the cfDNA as a mixture of normal plasma cfDNA and DNAs released from primary tumor sites; and (ii) a binomial model for the methylated cytosine count of plasma cfDNA sequencing data. In addition, to make the simulation data more realistic, we incorporate CNAs and read depth bias. The procedure for simulating plasma cfDNA methylation sequencing data is detailed in the following sections.
Inputs include: (i) the genomic regions of all K CpG clusters; (ii) the total number of cytosines (Z) on the sequencing reads that are aligned to any CpG cluster; (iii) the range of θ : (θ L , θ U ); (iv) the collections of normal plasma samples (denoted as POOLnormal) and solid tumor samples (denoted as POOLtumor); and (v) b k , the background probability for a CpG dinucleotide to be aligned to CpG cluster k, satisfying ∑ k = 1 K b k = 1. The last input reflects the read-depth bias introduced during the sequencing process and read alignment and the density of CpG sites in the clusters. Refer to Additional file 1 for details of how to obtain b k .
Output comprises a simulated methylation sequencing profile of a plasma sample, represented by the integer vectors M = (m 1, m 2, ⋯, m K ) and N = (n 1, n 2, ⋯, n K ). The elements m k and n k are the number of methylated cytosines and the total number of cytosines in the reads mapped to CpG cluster k, respectively.
Generate a random ctDNA fraction θ from the distribution θ ~ Uniform(θ L , θ U ).
Generate a random integer copy number c k for each CpG cluster k, from the categorical distribution c k ~ Cat(6, p 0, p 1, p 2, p 3, p 4, p 5). Here, p c denotes the probability of observing copy number c ∈ {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} in the sequencing data. The probabilities p c satisfy three criteria: (i) their sum is equal to one, \( \begin{array}{l}{\displaystyle {\sum}_{\mathrm{c}=0}^5{\mathrm{p}}_{\mathrm{c}}=1}\\ {}\end{array} \); (ii) the average copy number is equal to two, ∑ c = 0 5 c ∗ pc = 2; and (iii) extreme CNAs are less likely to occur. In this work, we predefine p 0 = 0.005, p 1 = 0.16, p 2 = 0.7, p 3 = 0.105, p 4 = 0.025, p 5 = 0.005. Note that the sum of all these probabilities except p 2 (30% in this case) is the probability of any given CpG cluster having a CNA event. We have tried other probability configurations for the simulation with more (50%) or fewer (10%) CNA events and obtained similar results (Additional file 1). No CNA event is considered (i.e., c k is fixed to two) when simulating a normal plasma sample.
Randomly select a normal plasma sample from POOLnormal whose methylation profile is denoted by (v 1, v 2, ⋯, v K ), and randomly select a solid tumor from POOLtumor whose methylation level profile is denoted by (u 1, u 2, ⋯, u K ). Note that we also randomly select two normal plasma samples from POOLnormal in order to simulate a new normal plasma sample.
Calculate the methylation level x k of plasma cfDNA at CpG cluster k. This is the adjusted linear combination of v k and u k after incorporating the copy number c k generated in step 2. That is, x k = (1 − θ k ')v k + θ k ' u k , where θ k ' is the adjusted value of θ given by \( {\uptheta}_{\mathrm{k}}^{\hbox{'}}=\frac{{\uptheta \mathrm{c}}_{\mathrm{k}}}{{\uptheta \mathrm{c}}_{\mathrm{k}}+2\left(1-\uptheta \right)} \). θ k ' describes the actual ctDNA fraction after considering the copy number c k of the ctDNA.
Generate a random number n k , representing the total number of cytosines in CpG cluster k, from the Poisson distribution n k ~ Poisson(ZB k ). B k is the adjusted CpG dinucleotide bias b k , given by \( {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{k}}=\frac{{\mathrm{b}}_{\mathrm{k}}\left(1-\uptheta +{\uptheta \mathrm{c}}_{\mathrm{k}}/2\right)}{{\displaystyle {\sum}_{\mathrm{k}=1}^{\mathrm{K}}}{\mathrm{b}}_{\mathrm{k}}\left(1-\uptheta +{\uptheta \mathrm{c}}_{\mathrm{k}}/2\right)} \), after scaling with the copy number c k generated in step 2.
Generate a random number m k from the binomial distribution m k ~ Binomial(n k , x k ).
Due to the limited number of normal plasma samples, we also simulated new normal plasma samples by mixing two normal plasma samples at different mixture ratios. The procedure is the same as above except that step 2 is ignored by fixing all copy numbers as two because there are no CNA events in the normal plasma samples.
Data partitions for learning signature features, simulation, and real data experiments
All TCGA solid tumor tissues and plasma samples are divided into non-overlapping sets for three tasks: (i) learning discriminating features; (ii) simulation experiments; and (iii) testing on the real data. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 6, we split TCGA solid tumors of each tissue type into two partitions: 75% for learning signature features and 25% for generating simulation data. We also split all normal plasma samples into two partitions: 75% for learning signature features and 25% for generating simulation data or for real data experiments. All the plasma samples of the cancer patients are used to form the testing set in the real data experiments. Note that not these plasma samples, but only solid tumor samples collected from public methylation databases, and a subset of normal plasma samples that were not used for testing, were used for learning features. All data are randomly partitioned following the above proportions, and applying a method on one such partition is regarded as “one run”. For making the robust results, we repeat the experiments for ten runs and aggregate all predictions obtained in the ten runs into a single confusion matrix as the final result. Because we had a limited number of real cancer plasma samples (only 5, 12, and 29 cfDNA samples from breast, lung, and liver cancer patients, respectively) for testing, it would not allow the typical cross-validation for the method’s hyperparameter estimation. For fully utilizing the test samples for effective performance evaluation, we report only the best prediction results for each of three methods (CancerLocator, RF and SVM) after examining all possible values of each method’s hyperparameters. The only hyperparameter of CancerLocator is the threshold of the prediction score λ, which is set as 0.023 to generate the predictions on the real plasma samples. For consistency with the real data experiments, we apply the same strategies to simulation data experiments and calculate the error rate averaged over ten runs.
Illustration of the data partition for learning discriminating features, in both simulation and real data experiments. Note that simulation and real data experiments share the same subset (25%) of normal plasma samples
Prediction performance measures
The error rate and accuracy are the most popular and established multi-class classification performance measures [27–29]. They are equivalent to each other. This study uses the error rate, which is defined as the percentage of incorrect predictions out of all predictions.
We randomly select a subset of the normal plasma and TCGA tumor samples for training and use the rest to simulate samples for testing. This procedure is repeated ten times. Different training sets may lead to different numbers of selected CpG clusters. We therefore report the average number of features here. Our data partition strategy is illustrated in Fig. 6 and described in the “Methods” section.
BRCA, Breast invasive carcinoma; COAD, Colon adenocarcinoma; KIRC, Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma; KIRP, Kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma; LIHC, Liver hepatocellular carcinoma; LUAD, Lung adenocarcinoma; LUSC, Lung squamous cell carcinoma.
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This work was supported by the NHLBI MAPGEN U01HL108634 grant to X.J.Z., the NIH/NCI 1U01CA214182-01 and the NIH/NCI 1U01CA196408-01 to S.M.D. Funding for open access charge: National Institutes of Health (NIH) [NHLBI MAPGEN U01HL108634 to X.J.Z.]. The authors greatly acknowledge Dr. Yuk Ming Dennis Lo and his circulating nucleic acids research group in the Chinese University of Hong Kong for his cfDNA data [19, 21]. We also thank Wing Hung Wong for his constructive input for the manuscript.
CancerLocator is implemented in Java and is freely available on GitHub (https://github.com/jasminezhoulab/CancerLocator) under the MIT license. The source code is also available at Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.375649). The sequence data of the nine samples collected in this work have been deposited at the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA), which is hosted by the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and the Centre for Genome Regulation (CRG), under accession number EGAS00001002211.
SK, WL, and XJZ conceived the study. SK, WL, QC, and XJZ designed the methodological framework. SK implemented the methods and performed analysis. QL processed the WGBS data of real samples. SP, GL, BG, KK, and SMD provided and processed lung cancer blood samples. YZ performed cfDNA extraction and library preparation. MY provided experimental infrastructures. WW participated in the initial attempt of blood sample collection. SK, WL, and XJZ wrote the manuscript with input from FS, FA, QC, and QL. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
University of California at Los Angeles and University of Southern California have a patent pending for CancerLocator. The patent, however, does not restrict the research use of CancerLocator.
All blood samples were collected with informed consent for research use and were approved by University of California at Los Angeles Lung Cancer Translational Research Bank Institutional Review Board (#10-001096) in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All patients were de-identified with samples coded.
Molecular and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
Shuli Kang
, Qingjiao Li
, Quan Chen
, Frank Alber
& Fengzhu Sun
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Yonggang Zhou
, Steven M. Dubinett
, Wenyuan Li
& Xianghong Jasmine Zhou
Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care Medicine, Clinical Immunology and Allergy, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Stacy Park
, Brandon Grimes
& Kostyantyn Krysan
VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
Min Yu
Clinical Laboratory, Zhejiang Province Tongde Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China
Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Steven M. Dubinett
Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
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Correspondence to Steven M. Dubinett or Wenyuan Li or Xianghong Jasmine Zhou.
Supplementary information. A PDF file including Figures S1 and S2, Tables S1 and S2, as well as the details of background bias estimation of CpG read counts, the RF and SVM methods, and CancerLocator’s prediction results on simulation data with different levels of CNA events. (PDF 558 kb)
Kang, S., Li, Q., Chen, Q. et al. CancerLocator: non-invasive cancer diagnosis and tissue-of-origin prediction using methylation profiles of cell-free DNA. Genome Biol 18, 53 (2017) doi:10.1186/s13059-017-1191-5
Received: 13 January 2017
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Denial & Guilt: US Liberals Losing Their Minds Over #TreasonSummit
July 18, 2018 Geopolitics101 8 Comments
The unhinged rhetoric of American liberals and neocons over Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki is deeply repugnant and strangely disorienting.
This is especially the case for someone my age, born less than a decade after the United States Air Force vaporized hundreds of thousands of civilians at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a year after the US had killed almost a quarter of North Koreans, who watched as a teenager the US scald and incinerate millions of people in Indochina.
“The darkest hour in the history of the American presidency,” Garry Kasparov crystalizes the madness of US politics at this hour as the liberal classes collectively lose their minds. Darker therefore than Pearl Harbor, darker than 9/11?
Let it be imagined that Kasparov’s moves are but those of an embittered exile, let’s compare his words with those of Anderson Cooper of CNN who tweeted the words of Sen John McCain: “No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant.”
"No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant" – @AndersonCooper reads @SenJohnMcCain's powerful statement in the aftermath of the Trump-Putin summit https://t.co/R1KnUV9ne4 pic.twitter.com/jMFmhnLIe3
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) July 16, 2018
Or faded entertainment star liberal Bette Midler, who tweeted: “He (Trump) should be arrested as soon as Air Force One Disgorges him.” All written in capital letters in proverbial green ink.
HE SHOULD BE ARRESTED AS SOON AS AIR FORCE ONE DISGORGES HIM.
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) July 16, 2018
From the crazed neo-cons embedded in America’s deep state, all the way to the pussy-hat liberals of the left, a hysterical peal of rage has emerged in the wake of Helsinki with the hashtag #TreasonSummit trending all day in the Twitter-sphere.
No historical memory seems to exist amongst the teenage scribblers of the warm meeting between US President General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev in 1959 just three years after the Soviet intervention in Hungary, or Leonid Brezhnev and Richard Nixon four years after the events in Czechoslovakia (let alone Nixon and Chairman Mao Tse Tung).
No-one seems to remember either Ronald Reagan’s “Walk in the Woods” with Mikhail Gorbachev which averted a race towards nuclear conflict between the superpowers.
True, all three of these were Republican presidents but the difference is that liberals and progressives were cheering the counter-intuitive peace-making efforts of their right-wing presidents. Then.
So, what was the proximate cause of this collective shriek over Helsinki which emanated from the US, but had its echo in the halls of liberalism everywhere?
That Trump said that it is better that the US and Russia, the two predominant keepers of the world’s nuclear weapons, “should try to get along”? Or was it that he said that maintenance of such nuclear stockpiles “was a bad thing not a good thing”?
What sane human being could possibly disagree with these two statements, never mind a liberal, a progressive, a leftist?
Was it his evident disbelief in the righteousness of the CIA and the FBI? Again what kind of leftist elevates the deep-state agencies in America to sainthood? In decades gone by (as late as the George W Bush era, with his Patriot Act et al) it was an article of faith on the left side of politics that these very agencies were the enemies of democracy in America.
Indeed Michael Moore in his epic movie ‘Fahrenheit 911’ included a long section on the very same agencies and their domestic spying and internal subversion of peaceful opposition movements in America. Today’s Moore wants Trump to be arrested by the agencies he so recently excoriated. He tweeted – and I’m not making this up – “The Commander-in-Chief is a traitor” and stopped just a fraction short of calling for a military coup.
Trump is asked, Who are you going to believe—the Russians or your own officers? And he refused to choose! Do you support your troops or Putin — and he wouldn’t choose! So my first thought goes out to those who serve this country— I’m so sorry the Commander-in-Chief is a traitor.
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) July 16, 2018
All of this stems from the deep sense of denial on the left side of US politics. Denial and guilt.
Their denial of a truth self-evident – that the Democrats fielded the only candidate in America who could possibly have lost to Donald Trump. Their guilt – that they colluded before or after the fact to rob the electorate of the chance to vote for the candidate most likely to have won them the presidency, Bernie Sanders.
That their sordid maneuvering in the dark was revealed via WikiLeaks is something they have never forgiven. Their rigging of the Democratic Primary process on behalf of Hillary Clinton is now scarcely denied but like Lady Macbeth’s damned spot it will not out. And all the expensively donated perfumes of Arabia will not expunge it.
No-one can tell how this most bizarre of chess games in Washington will play out, least of how it will end. With the monkey of Mueller on his back, Trump can do nothing meaningful on the international stage, neither in pulling back from expensive and dangerous conflicts around the world or bringing the era of ‘nation-building’ and ‘regime-change’ to a close as he said he would during his election campaign.
The big question is “How will it play in Peoria”? In fly-over country, in the rust-belt, across the prairies in two years’ time (if Trump can get there) when he seeks re-election as he confirmed he will during his visit to Britain last weekend.
As the first, and for a time the only, man in public life who predicted Trump’s presidential victory, I am in no doubt at all. They shouldn’t throw away their pussy-hats and their blow-up dolls because they will be marching against President Donald Trump for a long time to come.
George Galloway was a member of the British Parliament for nearly 30 years. He presents TV and radio shows (including on RT). He is a film-maker, writer and a renowned orator.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/433498-helsinki-trump-treason-summit/
You can actually participate in crippling the Deep State organized criminal cabal, while enjoying healthcare freedom at the same time, by boycotting Big Pharma for good.
#treasonsummitputin trump summitrussia us detente
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8 thoughts on “Denial & Guilt: US Liberals Losing Their Minds Over #TreasonSummit”
Caesar Lion Cachet says:
Trump knows that the Americans, NATO and Israel are sitting ducks in a case of war… Trump works for peace. As long he is doing that he is my man ! Forget the rest…
WAKE-UP folks!…BOTH MEN ARE WORKING FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER…UNDER VATICAN JESUIT CONTROL!…CHINA INCLUDED/BRICS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrAEM8N_Duo/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1513106338/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKe32jerYws/
PLEASE NOTE…”WHY”… WERE ALL REMOVED FOLKS???
TRUTH WILL “BURRY” LIES FOREVER….Just do a SEARCH on You Tube for THEM
RON ROW says:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/luwduk0lg3sizk2/37340094.png?dl=0
Rick2012 says:
Check this one http://www.citizensinvestigativereport.com/2018/07/the-russia-hacking-myth-muellers.html
RICK?..The Only reason WHY the whole story a “Myth” is because there NEVER was a “Separation” between the two governments USA & Russia.
The “Enemy Scenario” is a creation by governments to justify WAR when wanted by the CORPS and BANKERS…Understand???
The so-called “Cold-War” NEVER actually existed in the first place!
also http://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/opinion-editorial/opinions-from-the-web/2787-the-left-is-dead-because-it-is-rootless-and-stands-for-nothing
As member of that post-WWII, Cold-war generation, I agree with this. What do these faux-leftists want? “what kind of leftist elevates the deep-state agencies in America to sainthood?”
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GIULIA TORRE
~ reading and writing romance
Category Archives: vintage romance review
Review – The Everywhere Man – Victoria Gordon (1981)
Posted by Giulia Torre in feminism, Giulia Torre, Harlequin Romance, vintage romance review
category romance, Harlequin, harlequin romance, Mills and Boon, romance, romance novel reviews, romance reviews, sexual harassment
In honor of all the women who in 2017 fundamentally changed the conversation around sexual harassment, in honor of all the women who for a hundred years prior tried and failed, and in honor of those of us to come who will still speak truth to power, even in the face of new ASAP legislation (I speculate here) that will make accusing a white man of anything at all a criminal offense…I give you The Everywhere Man.
Because, even if she claims she doesn’t, every woman wants a stalker.
Set in Australia, Alix is an architectural draftswoman with a talent for design and training German Shorthaired Pointers. Alix lost both her parents to a bushfire two years before, a sad fact that serves to motivate our heroine, at the awfully familiar sound of an Australian bushfire, out of the bush onto a busy highway at warp speed. She swerves into a ditch to avoid the hero. In the midst of an angry man rescue, she faints (ffs).
“Obnoxious, arrogant, conceited” Quinn Tennant pulls her out of the ditch. After Alix fails to show proper gratitude, Quinn asks, “Is it part of some Women’s Lib programme to be ungrateful, stroppy, and generally disagreeable?” (p. 17). Expressly claiming payment, he kisses her with “no crude savagery. Only a vast knowing” (p. 18, italics belong to the author). She tries and fails to claw-slap him (“Naughty, naughty” he chides), which is followed by laughter: “Why not relax? You’ve only one more kiss to finish the debt” (p. 19).
The professional rapes described in the story are metaphoric in scope. Victoria Golden, author of Always the Boss (1981) and Age of Consent (1985), among other 80s category romances, is presumably familiar with the issues of sexual predation in and out of the workplace.
Alix’s former fiancee and co-worker, a threadbare stereotype, steals her designs. New hero Quinn Tennant is not only her judge in dog shows, the landlord of her rented cottage, but also her boss. I won’t go into the details of the now-dated professional set-up for the central love scene. It includes a hotel suite, a drink in the boss’ face, a naked roll across the vast bed, an “athletic” dismount from the mattress, followed by a “sprint for the doorway” (p. 114). Alix’s virtue remains intact because heroines can be out-and-out shrews when confronted with deflowering.
Fast forward through more dog shows to the happily-ever-after: The two are engaged to be married, and Quinn reveals he’s rescued Alix’ stolen designs. She promptly rips the short stack of drawings in half and quarters, saying “these are from the past; they don’t matter now” (p. 189).
What woman would rip up her original drawings? Who would expect her to?
It may mean nothing, but author Victoria Golden is a man, and the a.k.a. was born in response to the publisher’s claim that “no man” could write Harlequin category romance: “Gordon is widely believed to be the first man to seriously meet the challenge.”
I ask myself: is it one thing when readers consume toxic romance narratives imagined by other women, but another thing entirely when they’re crafted by a man (pretending to be a woman)?
My students tell me that it seems sometimes that I love these books, and sometimes that I hate them. Rarely in life am I this conflicted. True, someone can offer me one drink or another, and, faced with a hard choice, I’ll end up with both.
So I’ll end up with both here…
I love romance.
I hate this book.
Review – Liberated Lady – Sally Wentworth (1979)
Posted by Giulia Torre in feminism, Giulia Torre, vintage romance review
category romance, feminist romance, romance, romance novel reviews, romance reviews
This is science folks. And a romance novel from 1979 titled Liberated Lady…? It could be the motherlode. The size of the TV studio camera on the cover screams Lacanian gaze, and Sally Wentworth is celebrated for 101 books on Goodreads. It’s the perfect storm. Talk to me, Goose.
Going in, here are my boy-crazy-yet-feminist (mark my epitaph) hopes for this love story:
some consent language, really erotic stuff, that will, you know, teach me to put what I want into words
a behind-the-scenes look at a TV studio in 1979
really good prose
not rape?
I’m not optimistic. First sign of trouble is the inside cover, a total turn on for us rape fetishists who are titillated by forced seduction…
Don’t try to deny what’s between us.
Alex took a purposeful step toward her as Sara raised her hands in a futile attempt to ward him off. But he merely caught her wrists. Briefly she tried to struggle, but he said harshly, ‘It’s too late, the fight’s over.’ And he pulled her into his arms.
His mouth covered hers hungrily, claiming possession, allowing no resistance. Desperately, Sara tried to break free, but she couldn’t escape the passionate torment of his lips, searching, demanding a response.
She made a little sound, deep in her throat an the hand she’d raised to hit him instead sank slowly onto his shoulder and crept around his neck…
That’s right. Just let it go, sisters.
For the entirety of the book he’s mad she won’t admit he turns her on, but then when they can finally agree that she’s totally hot for him, he gives her a job, a part-time PR gig because “she knows something about computers.” Bam. HEA.
I need a hero.
But “sensitive, liberated men” aren’t in the cards for mainstream romantics. Take as another example, Silhouette Intimate Moments (1985) The Male Chauvinist by Alexandra Sellers. First off, I love camp shirts, but is he wearing jorts?
Language is important. Liberation, chauvinism. These things need words, and having them makes talking about the issues easier.
Andreas…seemed to epitomize the attitudes Kate had fought to escape–but his potent sensuality drew her into his arms. No “sensitive, liberated” man had ever had that effect on her.
See how we did that? We found the words to explain that male chauvinists are actually hotter.
Review – Dear Tyrant – Margaret Malcolm (1953)
Posted by Giulia Torre in Harlequin Romance, vintage romance review
category romance, Harlequin, harlequin romance, Mills and Boon, romance novel reviews, romance reviews, romance writing
First published as Beloved Tyrant in 1953.
Thirty-five Ithaca College undergraduates are taking my first-year seminar Reading Popular Romance. In the footsteps of Carol Thurston and Janet Radway, we leaf through hundreds of roughed-up, red-edged books and mine the texts for what they are: artifacts of popular culture. One collective expression of an unarguably female imagination. The very act of reading is everyday citizen science. We ask ourselves, whatever will these women say next?
Don’t think it matters? Ithaca College’s ivy league neighbor, Cornell University, enrolled hundreds (~) of its undergraduates in a seminar to watch pornography. Students called it “the porn course.” My “trash class” is therefore in good company.
So what have we learned from Dear Tyrant? For one thing, something about a woman’s professional life in the 1950s. Goodreads reports that Margaret Malcolm wrote over 100 romance novels at Mills & Boon from 1940 to 1981. By the time Beloved Tyrant was published in 1953, she’d already written ten.
You’d think after reading hundreds of romance novels that by now the pleasure would be, you know, expected. But it was an unexpected pleasure to see in the pages of Margaret Malcolm‘s Dear Tyrant (1975) reference to Jane Eyre. It’s not unusual for authors of these old category romances to follow Brontë’s lead. Thousands of paperback romances were written before women could be issued credit cards in their own names, while marital rape was legal (legal until 1993 in all 50 states, my friends), when access to the Pill was decades away. One of the few jobs available to Harlequin’s heroines – or for women in general for that matter – was as a caretaker for homebound invalids or children. It shouldn’t have moved me overmuch when the character sees her own reflection in governess Jane Eyre. Still, I was tickled.
Because even in her eleventh book, Margaret Malcolm was having fun. Not only does her heroine laugh at the image of herself as Jane Eyre, but she also attends a masquerade ball, has to leave by the stroke of midnight, and loses a shoe in the throes of her speedy departure. A nod to Jane Eyre, and a wink at Cinderella.
Eleven books in, with eighty-nine to go? That’s about time a career romance writer taps her nose and says I got this, too.
Review – Blue Jasmine – Violet Winspear (1969)
Posted by Giulia Torre in Harlequin Romance, Hero Archetypes, Romance Cover Art, Uncategorized, vintage romance review, Violet Winspear
Blue Jasmine, Boon Harlequin, category romance, rape in romance, The Sheik, vintage romance, Violet Winspear
Originally published in hardcover in 1969 by Mills & Boon, Violet Winspear’s category line classic Blue Jasmine, had three Harlequin Romance line reprints by 1976. If there was to be a romance canon, Blue Jasmine might make the list.
But it’s impossible to review Blue Jasmine without the foundation of E. M. Hull’s The Sheik. It’s like trying to discuss Samuel Johnson without mentioning James Boswell. And really, why would you want to?
E(dith) M(aude) Hull’s (1919) The Sheik is, in fact, an even surer ringer for the romance canon (again, if such a thing existed). The Sheik’s Ahmed Ben Hassan was played by Rudolph Valentino in a 1921 film adaptation to audiences who just couldn’t believe it. As a romance subgenre, it’s a long-time market win.
The two novels are similar enough in storyline and character development that I’ve had students argue Blue Jasmine is plagiarized. I say instead that Blue Jasmine is a worthy tribute that imitates to flatter.
Take as a goose-pimpling example the scene when the heroine realizes she’s trapped in a tent with the sheik, surrounded by his loyal entourage in the middle of the desert, and there’s no escape from his animal spirits…
In The Sheik by EM Hull:
Why have you brought me here?” she asked, fighting down the fear that was growing more terrible every moment.
He repeated her words with a slow smile. “Why have I brought you here?” Bon Dieu! Are you not woman enough to know?
And in Blue Jasmine by Violet Winspear:
I have no need of your money, so I fear it cannot buy your freedom. There is only one thing that can, and you are a surpassing innocent if you don’t know what it is.”
She stared at him, her eyes like bruised flowers in her pale, shocked face. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
“Really?” His eyes flicked over her. “With your unusual looks, you tell me you don’t know what a man means when he brings you to his tent. Ma belle femme, I think you do know.
Both The Sheik and Blue Jasmine present typical Winspear heroes. If you remember, Winspear presents heroes who “frighten but fascinate…the sort of men who are capable of rape: men it’s dangerous to be alone in the room with.” Winspear, however, likely wouldn’t have loved Ben Hassan. Sadly, Diana, the heroine of The Sheik, is raped off-scene, repeatedly, and for several months (until she falls in love, as any woman would).
Although Blue Jasmine‘s sheik, Kasim ben Hussayn is a Mr. Angrypants of the first order, heroine Lorna is yet spared rape. A Winspearean hero, a product of his time, would threaten, but never follow through (unless he was a captain of a sailing vessel).
original 1969 cover of Blue Jasmine
As for the heroines, Blue Jasmine‘s Lorna is independent, saucy, up for adventure. Diana in The Shiek is presented as all these things, but, in addition: boyish and unfeeling, an interesting corruption of womanhood that in the first quarter of the twentieth century might demand correction more so than by the late 1960s. But, of course, both heroines fall for their captors, succumbing (in similarly described pivotal scenes) on a far side of the enemies-to-lovers trope continuum.
After all is said and done, Winspear’s heroine, like Hull’s, is revealed (thank the Almighty Christian God) to have fallen for a European. Today’s popular romance market might not balk with singular voice at a bona fide Arab hero (and all of our gods please bless this guy), but in 1919 and 1969, a sheik had to look like a Princeton man.
Review – The Little Nobody – Violet Winspear (1972)
Posted by Giulia Torre in Giulia Torre, Harlequin Presents, Harlequin Romance, Hero Archetypes, Romance Cover Art, Uncategorized, vintage romance review, Violet Winspear
1970s harlequin, Boon Harlequin, category romance, contemporary romance, cover art, harlequin presents, harlequin romance, Mills and Boon, retro romance, romance novel reviews, vintage romance reviews, Violet Winspear
A Romance Canon, one as staid and firm (and stout) as Harold Bloom‘s should include Violet Winspear, whose corpus includes over 90 titles written for Mills & Boon. I love her name almost as much as I love Foyle’s War’s Honeysuckle Weeks.
The Little Nobody was chosen for the alpha hero lurking beyond it’s title.
With a little nobody, a Big Somebody must be in there somewhere.
Violet Winspear is known for (notorious for at one time) her alpha heroes: angry, incomprehensible heroes and our future bodice rippers. In 1970, she explained:
I get my heroes so that they’re lean and hard muscled and mocking and sardonic and tough and tigerish and single, of course. Oh and they’ve got to be rich and then I make it that they’re only cynical and smooth on the surface. But underneath they’re well, you know, sort of lost and lonely. In need of love but, when roused, capable of breathtaking passion and potency. Most of my heroes, well all of them really, are like that. They frighten but fascinate. They must be the sort of men who are capable of rape: men it’s dangerous to be alone in the room with.
The category line Winspear helped to launched has pervasive arm-gripping, angry kissing, and even spanking. Still, she got a little flack for that.
The Little Nobody is only #15 in the original Harlequin Presents line (of thousands). A more recent Harlequin line of the same name has the same mission as the original:
You want alpha males, decadent glamour and jet-set lifestyles. Step into the sensational, sophisticated world of Harlequin Presents, where sinfully tempting heroes ignite a fierce and wickedly irresistible passion!
The little nobody is Ynis Raiford. She is newly arrived on a dark and stormy night to a gothic castle on the Cornish Cliffs (Cornwall, England) called the Sea Witch.
Her name – Raiford – is not even hers. It’s borrowed from her stepfather, a con man serving time as a result of his designs on the hero’s fortune (a part of it at least). The hero – Gard St. Clair – is a former maestro whose arm was injured by a freak storefront accident, and then severed from his body at the shoulder by a surgeon, unaware he was operating on a famous conductor because Gard’s wallet had been stolen from him by a pickpocket while he was still unconscious and bloody beneath the shattered pane of glass. So, when Ynis’ petty thief stepfather was caught trying to steal from Gard a couple years later, our hero was still a little touchy and unforgiving. Ynis ventures to the Sea Witch to persuade maestro Gard to drop the charges, but finds the hero a tad embittered by pickpockets, his missing arm, and, presumably, the bad weather.
The bad weather is important, because after Gard declines Ynis’ request to free from prison the only family she’s ever known, she runs out into the dark, stormy night and is deservedly hit by a car. She awakes back at the Sea Witch with amnesia and a ring on her finger. Gard claims she’s his fiancé.
Readers of this line are given no insight into the thoughts and feelings of heroes beyond their actions and smoldering looks of incomprehensible rage, but we can assume the hero feels guilty, or something.
So there we have it. Add another woman – “his old love, the beautiful actress Stella Marrick” – and the set-up is a typical 1970s Mills & Boon pretzel-plot.
Of significance…Ynis has been living in a convent for the better part of her life. Though the Reverend Mother tried to convince Ynis to take orders, instead Ynis wants to see the world. She’s at her hills-are-alive moment when this book begins.
What the heroine’s convent background provides is a nice dose of virgin envy. Yes, it’s a real thing. And Winspear knows how to work it.
He didn’t care a rap she found him more fearful than fascinating. He seemed to her to enjoy the fear which she felt. ‘There are certain terrors known only to a girl,’ he said. ‘The fact is fascinating to a man, and that’s the bare truth.’
Virgin envy. I’m green with it.
Review – The Queen’s Captain – Margaret Hope (1979)
Posted by Giulia Torre in Giulia Torre, Harlequin Romance, Hero Archetypes, Laura London, masquerade historical, Pirates, Romance Cover Art, ship captains, vintage romance review
1970s harlequin, best historical romance, Boon Harlequin, category romance, Harlequin, harlequin romance, masquerade historical, ship captains, vintage romance
The Queen’s Captain by Margaret Hope arrived in a box from my mother’s attic. A huge box filled with Masquerade Historicals and Harlequin Romances when they were prized at 60 cents.
Consider this a reading case study. I’d call it an auto-ethnography, but, ew.
Phase I. I find the book in a box of books. They’re all vintage, which means all cock-blockers. There will be no sex, and if there’s any kissing to speak of, there will be no tongue.
Shameful.
Phase II. I find this particular book and read the inside flap.
Get to work, lad, or I’ll whip you.
Phase III. I remember a thread on Goodreads. One of those threads where a reader looks to the group for help to remember a title. The title this reader wanted to remember had a delicious scene where the heroine, disguised as a man, gets flogged by the hero. Flogged. Right there on the deck of the ship. The ship’s crew knows she’s a woman, but has been keeping the secret from the captain. They watch her flogged, unable to do anything about it, because there is no mutiny on a ship. The captain reigns supreme in only the way a captain can. (Note to self.) Then, when the captain discovers the man is a maid, the laments that follow are sweeter for the beating.
I think I’ve found that book.
I was so excited, it took me a few weeks to pick it up. When I did, I put it down again. Another week before I picked it up again. The anticipation bordered on dread. I was that titillated.
Phase IV. I forget utterly that this is a Harlequin line from 1979. It wasn’t until the heroine had escaped the ship unflogged that I’d realized my mistake.
What follows is an altogether different reading experience than I’d hoped for, but one I would recommend nonetheless. Margaret Hope may not have allowed her captain to flog the heroine, but she did so much research that I learned a few things about the Defeat of the Spanish Armada and the Battle of Gravelines.
Plus, Hope’s sentence structure is outstanding.
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TIDBITS: THIS WEEK’S HONORABLE MENTIONS
There were a lot of good articles this week that didn't make the "final cut" but they're definitely worth passing along for your perusal. Thanks to K.M., V.T., S.D.H., M.W., K.L. and many others who contributed these:
Are Women Destroying Academia? Probably
Digital immortality: Transhumanism may hold key to eternal life, along with multiple caveats & ethical dilemmas
The mystery of Harappan script: An enigma from the ancient world
Jennifer Jaynes death, Obituary : USA Today Author Found Dead.
There Still Aren’t Any Rules Preventing Rogue Scientists From Making Gene-Edited Babies
And last but not least, Italian cold-fusion scientist Andrea Rossi is reporting a long sustained reaction with more electricity than heat:
Statement of Andrea Rossi: “We Did It, Obtained Permanent Self Sustaining Mode”
Joseph P. Farrell has a doctorate in patristics from the University of Oxford, and pursues research in physics, alternative history and science, and "strange stuff". His book The Giza DeathStar, for which the Giza Community is named, was published in the spring of 2002, and was his first venture into "alternative history and science".
TIDBITS: THIS WEEK’S HONORABLE MENTIONS - January 18, 2020
MEMBERS: AFRICAN-EUROPEAN TIME ZONE VIDCHAT JAN 17, 2020 - January 17, 2020
FUSION PROBLEMS? JUST ADD A PINCH OF BORON… - January 17, 2020
NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE NEFARIUM JAN 16, 2020 - January 16, 2020
VACCINEGATE: AN ITALIAN PERSPECTIVE - January 16, 2020
NORTH KOREA, IRAN, AND GENERAL MATTIS’ ODD STATEMENT - January 15, 2020
ELECTRICAL CURRENT SURGES IN NORWEGIAN GROUND… AND SOME FIREY ... - January 14, 2020
AUSTRALIA BURNING: DISASTER CAPITALISM OR SOMETHING ELSE? - January 13, 2020
TIDBIT: THIS WEEK’S HONORABLE MENTIONS - January 11, 2020
WE’RE HERE TO FORECLOSE, YOUR DIRECT DEPOSIT DIDN’T GO ... - January 10, 2020
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« JUST HOW BIG IS THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING PROBLEM?
FORENSIC PATHOLOGY AND CHIMERAS »
zendogbreath says
I thought Rossi did that ages ago – that he had contracts with DARPA already and some industrial interests in the states along with State Dept protection.
Robert Barricklow says
The Jennifer Jaynes story really typifies and symbolizes what “their” culture enforces.
It is said that our form of capitalism has moved to a “knowing capitalism”, this is do to the pervasive information/big data layer that’s being woven into our culture as we speak.
In this instance, it speaks to the “knowing” arm/tentacles of the pharmaceutical industry/ies. The author, Jennifer Jones, exposed that industry’s, deadly & purposed, corruption in her work.
Then there is the two gun shots and; at the same time, talk of suicide. Like the old joke of mass hangings in the South being investigated and found to be, instead, mass suicides. Today, fast forward to mass suicides of investigative journalist/authors/whistleblowers/bankers/u-name-it information warriors battling this knowing capitalism to the point of its C/C/C. The Citizen; now the Consumer; now the Commodity; now is fighting for truth, a revolutionary act – in these counterintuitive/algorithmic knowing times.
As these knowing AI algorithms interface w/big data surveillance is “in-place”; they’re programmed protocol is to now modify your behavior, either indirectly, and/or to enforce it. One extreme method is w/the ever-present politicized magic suicide bullet[s]. The methods of madness enforcement are beyond measure, as are AI’s so-called thought processes.
All this is the name of those who are designing and employing these “new” technologies to suit their aims and desires; against our own humanity/nature.
For make no mistake their nature is anything but…
DanaThomas says
The Indus Valley civilization. The article by Farmer et al. asserts that the seal symbols are neither an alphabetical nor an ideographical form of writing, but rather symbolic elements used in special set circumstances. And that the presence of advanced urban settlements does not presuppose “literacy” in the strict sense. This runs counter to the arguments by the Indiana-Jones-like explorer and scholar W.A. Waddell (1854-1938) to connect the Harappan and the Sumerian cultures, as well as his efforts, and those of generations of Indian scholars, to connect the Indus Valley people with the Vedic world.
Scottie says
In reference to above article
https://onezero.medium.com/a-year-after-the-crispr-babies-debacle-a-rift-is-growing-among-the-worlds-scientists-48c8ded092bb
https://www.independentsciencenews.org/health/gene-editing-unintentionally-adds-bovine-dna-goat-dna-and-bacterial-dna-mouse-researchers-find/
anakephalaiosis says
Academia is originally Druidic, and its primary Druidic function is to facilitate training for peacekeeping and law enforcement. That means, to oversee death penalty and warfare.
When Druidry no longer functions, and is substituted by bureaucracy and feminism, then academia is unattached from origin, serving papal empire, as Jesuit-Freemason-Communist.
Returning to origin, is redefining academia by original principles, and that is the heretical Runes. Wielding the executioner’s axe – as a matter of principle – is adversary to the female function.
Hysteria is a blunt edge.
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Glamour Fame
home Entertainment Danny Aiello Net Worth - The Complete Breakdown
Danny Aiello Net Worth - The Complete Breakdown
Published Sun Dec 15 2019 By Matthew
Learn about recently passed away 'Do The Right Thing' actor Danny Aiello's net worth.
Born Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. on June 20, 1933, in West 68th Street, Manhattan to Frances Pietrocova, a seamstress, and Daniel Louis Aiello, a laborer, Danny Aiello was an American and singer. After getting enlisted in the army at the age of 16 by lying about his age and serving three years, Danny worked various jobs before breaking into films in the early 1970s.
His most notable appearance throughout his career was on Spike Lee's 'Do the Right Thing' (1989), where he played the pizzeria Sal. Danny Aiello passed away recently on December 12, 2019, at the age of 86.
Source: Rolling Store
The NY Times called Danny 'A memorable character actor on both stage and screen,' but what about Aiello's net worth? How much did the actor make throughout his lifetime? Let's find out.
Danny Aiello's Net Worth
By 2019, right till the time of his death, the 'Do the Right Thing' actor's net worth was estimated to be around $3 million to $4 million.
Danny Aiello as Sal in Spike Lee's 'Do the Right Thing'.
Source: New Yorker
There has been no official reports as to how much estate the success actor left behind when he passed. So his real total assets are still under review.
His $1.7 Million Mansion
According to New Jersey Property Records, the late actor resided in his $1.7 million mansion at 30 Chestnut Ridge Road, Saddle River, which he bought with his wife Sandy in 1998.
Danny's $1.7 million Home At 30 Chestnut Ridge Road, Saddle River.
Source: Google Maps
Aiello purchased the 6000 sq.ft. house built in 1969 for just over a million.
Danny Rides A Green Jaguar XJL
There have been no official claims as to how many or what types of cars Danny owns.
Aiello In His Green Jaguar XJL
Source: Celebrity Cars Blog
Aiello, however, often takes his green Jaguar XJL out and around New York City. This particular model of Jaguar is currently priced at $85,000.
Major Source Of His Assets: His Acting Career
The 'Moonstruck' star made most of his 'band of greens' from his acting career. Danny began his acting career in the 1970s from the baseball drama, 'Bang the Drum Slowly' with Robert De Niro. He then went on to play gangster Tony Rosato in 'The Godfather II'.
Danny Aiello with Robert De Niro
Source: People
Aiello's role in Spike Lee's 'Do the Right Thing' as the pizzeria owner Sal in 1989 earned him nominations for a Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor.
'Moonstruck', in which Danny appeared as Cher's fiance, was nominated for six Oscars at the 60th Academy Awards.
With the passing of Danny Aiello, the Hollywood industry has lost a very precious gem. May his soul rest in peace.
For more details on celebrity net worth, visit the entertainment section over at Glamour Fame.
Nicole Polizzi Is Expecting Her Third Child Together With Husband Jionni LaValle
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Published Tue Nov 27 2018
Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas are Getting Cozy in her Home Country
Actress Olivia Munn Teased a Pilot on Social Media For Being Too Afraid to Ask For a Selfie
Kensington Palace Confirmed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are Moving Out,The Real Reason is Here
RHOBH's Erika Girardi Opens Up About The Dramatic New Season
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Lisa Vanderpump Reportedly Fed Up With Filming “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"
Meghan Markle and her Husband Prince Harry Have been Known to Stray from the British Monarchy
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A Victoria's Secret Model Devon Windsor Apologizes After Comparing Racial Discrimination
Shanina Shaik Shows Off Her Incredible Figure In A Tiny Black Bikini
Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson Have Cutest Moment and Perfect Chemistry
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Featuring: LLMPapa with two reasons why there there will be no immunity hearing
Papa’s back in the house with two excellent videos demonstrating why there will not be an immunity hearing.
Knox Update:
Searching Mind reviewed his copy of Spitz and Spitz, The Medicolegal Investigation of Death, which Knox cited as authority in responding to a comment that Lonnie posted at Knox’s site challenging his claim that GZ could have fired the fatal shot while lying on his back with Trayvon in the superior position straddling him. Knox accused Lonnie of bias and cited the text as authority for his claim that the trajectory of the shot is not inconsistent with the defendant’s position.
Here’s SM’s comment:
Knox claimed that “it is entirely incorrect to assert that Zimmerman could not have made the shot [i.e. the straight line shot, front to back, without angles] at that angle [i.e. Zimmerman lying with his back on the ground while Trayvon was mounted on top of him, leaning over him, straddling him suffocating him, etc.]. “It is quite possible”, Knox claimed further. To support his claim, Knox referenced “Spitz & Spitz, The Medicolegal Investigation of Death”. Nothing in the book cited by Knox (and it’s called “Spitz & Fisher” not “Spitz & Spitz” of which I have a copy) supports Knox’s claim. Knox knows- or should have known that. What he did is the same as inserting non-extent sources in the footnotes of an academic paper.
This entry was posted on Saturday, March 9th, 2013 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Fatal shot trajectory, Featuring, fogen, George Zimmerman, LLM Papa, Michael Knox, Trayvon Martin. 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.
313 Responses to Featuring: LLMPapa with two reasons why there there will be no immunity hearing
Not sure if the prof or papa have honed in on the following comment or if this is the best place to bring this up. I copied this quote from a YT poster who brought up a good point I don’t recall anyone ever addressing. I remember “Fogen” (why do you call him that?) making this comment about asking John to help him restrain Trayvon, but it didn’t click at the time that he was saying he was trying to restrain Trayvon BEFORE he killed him. This flies in the face of everything he said about the events that occurred just prior to the shooting.
LSimon321 “#2 GZ told John he didn’t need him to call 911, he already called, he needed John to come help restrain this guy. John at least insinuated that he was in the process of calling 911 when the shot was fired not after TM was shot. John could be lying to keep his own arse out of prison. He and his woman have stayed well hidden and GZ doesn’t seem to think their testimony is enough to bring doubt to the state’s case so they keep going on about DD hoping her BP will get the best of her.”
Tom Hanks does the Shimmy Shimmy co-co version from BIG,
from day one his whole story has been preposterous, that an unarmed teen that had no record of ever being in one fight in his life suddenly decided i am going to try to MURDER this guy with my bare hands.
that anybody believes him is very scary to me.
If he shimmied down, would not TM’s knees be close to GZ’s armpits. GZ’s arms would have to be forced upward.
Love the photo of Nelson you chose for the series!
ditto! It’s perfect.
Bravo Bravo Bravo Bravooooooooooooooooah! ❗ ❗ ❗
Professor, I have just witnessed a list of Tracy Martin’s kids names and date of birth posted on a Facebook page. Is this illegal and what should we do about this?
I do not believe there is anything we can do about this. Tracy should report this to the prosecution as it might provide a basis for prosecution for witness harassment and intimidation.
Witness intimidation in a murder case is a felony punishable by up to a maximum of life in prison.
If any of the information is false and I suspect it is all false, the misrepresentation could be the basis for a civil suit for defamation.
Of course, even the strongest lawsuit imaginable is worthless, if the defendants do not have assets or income that can be seized to satisfy the judgment.
as i was told in my youth you cant get blood out of a turnip!
Thank you for your response, the information is in the appropriate hands as of 30 minutes ago.. 🙂
No money? Just send them to jail.
My guess is the FB poster got it from the nuthouse since they were talking about it and listing all the children’s names and year of birth.
Is there any other way that Zidiots can make it more apparent that GZ has no defense and will be convicted? If all they have to support GZ are attacks on Trayvon’s parents, it speaks volumes about Zidiots already being sore losers. I don’t care if Tracy had 25 children by 20 women, that still does not prove that accused murderer GZ killed Trayvon in self-defense.
Xena said: “I don’t care if Tracy had 25 children by 20 women, that still does not prove that accused murderer GZ killed Trayvon in self-defense.”
So true, but in their peanut sized brains they seem to think that it does matter. They seem to think that if their theories are proven correct it will prove fogen innocent, yet all they are doing is spinning in place and they don’t realize that nothing they say about the parents will impact the case.
@towerflower
It’s called intimidation. Zidiots think that Tracy will be humiliated and forget that accused murderer GZ killed Trayvon — cry a river to Corey who will then dismiss charges against GZ.
You see, Zidiots use emotional blackmail and extortion in their own lives, so think it works on others too.
Those who published it, whether it is true or not, are just jealous because he’s obviously more “productive” than they are. It makes me laugh. Having a little problem with your self-images re virility and all that, guys? Whassamatta, didn’t have to give out any cigars recently? (Go piss up a pole.)
The best thing to do is screenprint it and find the website profile address of the person who posted it
and then message them to delete it or else if you feel they are a danger, it may be best to report it
Jose Baez should not comment about Zimmerman case
Judging Michael Knox’s reply by it’s fashion and style, which has become familiar to me over half a century of debates. I had already marked him a charlatan, trying to further his threadbare con job currently exposed.
Now comes this post where Professor posts a search of Mr. Knox’s authority, by Searching Mind, that confirms my suspicions once again. Thank you guys and believe me I just love when this happens. So, my guess that Mr. Knox had no authority, turns out to be confirmed as true.
What?!? Did he think that no one would either notice or care that he was attempting to hurt the reach for justice, on behalf of an innocent child who lost his life, because the outrageously criminal George Fogenhats decided he has a right go go around killing black children whenever he so chooses?
The Orlando Sentinel’s staff has taken a decidedly racist slant on the news reporting they’re doing. Their failure to report truthfully and/or fully, and seek qualified opinion and guidance when they report things they don’t understand, is hurtful to the memory of the friends of a child who lays slaughtered at the hands of a deceitful man, who has yet to tell the truth about what he did.
By the way, I love the comment – “When justice fails, karma prevails.”
He [Baez] should STFU since he has a client in the case.
CAUTION, this audio clip is not so polite as STFU 😉
http://www.hark.com/erin-brockovich/were-introduced-so-shut-the-fuck-up
that was supposed to be a reply under bonnie’s post. sorry, 2sides– ditto to your comment about justice and karma.
Yeah, that comment was posted by a reader on the blog that featured the article about Baez.
bonniespapermache says:
Jose Baez is speaking out on this case and saying it is weak.
What does this mean with Baez speaking out like this considering the lead detective in this case has hired him ?
Kinda dicey, in my opinion. Makes you wonder if Serino is perhaps supporting Fogen’s story after all.
Serino’s opinion of the defendant’s guilt or innocence is not admissible at trial.
It means that you can count on Baez to say nothing that will hurt Serino.
Therefore, it’s probably safe to assume that he said the case appeared to be “weak” because Serino told him that’s how he initially saw it.
He should STFU since he has a client in the case.
It’s amazing to me that what Serino thought is not admissable – I see logically that this isn’t part of case evidence that any decisions in the case rests on, but it seems also to be very important to the overall spectrum of how the case proceeded. Serino’s full story might lay to rest many rumors – either how SPD wasn’t doing anything, or might even support charges of corruption in SPD. Of course, all that is an entirely different case, I suppose.
I can only hope Serino will some day spill his entire story honestly in a book.
Ooh, question. Why does Baez sound as if he wants to land on the side of Fogen, then? Why does he want to encourage more of the defense strategy of trying the case in the media? This interview only encourages OM and team to keep spouting inaccuracies.
LOL – guess I can go full circle to my comment above -” Baez speaks as a defense attorney and has a vested interested in attracting customers.”
Isn’t he just protecting Serino by saying the evidence is weak, and that’s why Serino seemed to vacillate back and forth until the petition and public outcry led the governor of Florida to appoint a special state prosecutor.
Malisha’s theory is that there is a cover-up of the SPD cover-up going on, and that Wolfinger and Lee will be protected in order to minimize the appearance of police criminality. I thought that was a bit far-fetched, although Baez’s declarations now make her theory look more likely.
Cercando, thank you. Stay with me now — I’m working with a 36-year knowledge of cover-ups and how they work and how they are “disappeared.”
What Jose Baez speaking out to me means he loves the spotlight and can’t stay out of it. Not sure if it would benefit his client if he said the case against Zimmerman was strong. The point is Jose Baez has an ego that causes him to say just about anything as long as his name stays in the headlines – although his name was just brought up during Casey Anthony’s bankruptcy hearing last week in that Anthony told judge her source of support since release from prison was from the sale of pictures by Baez that she agreed to pose for.. Baez is a sleaze.
Don’t know about a lot of Christian’s, the C of E has had black priests for ages. Even for regions that had no black residents, at least none I was ever aware of.
Searchingmind
I M O
Babylon was not created by makeing peoples of differing nations speak in different voices/languages/
No it was created by makeing people no longer colourblind regards race.
That is what created conflict an hatred amongst humans differing shades .
Not differing words.
We all evolved from a small group of humans whom journeyd out of Africa probably 6oothousand years ago.
Less than three thousand people made it of the continent of Africa an onto the Mediterianian an beyond.
They know thease numbers through the study of mycrodial D N A.
We are related to every one of those souls an everyone of them were Black.
Its only through the spread of the human population over generations.
And differing climates an conditions helped shape faceial features .
Climates also began to alter skin colour as well mallanonin or lack of it can make all the diference in hot dry climates.
Opposed to cold an wet or frozen conditions.
Thats all skin colour is evolution at work to help us to addapt to diffrent climates an conditions.Underneath we are all 100 percent the same.
Thats why a Chinease Woman can have an Africans Baby we are one an only one species .
Well actuall probably have a smattering of Neandrathrall within us as well.
Because we were also compatable with them as a fellow human species.
So all thease white supremists ect have it wrong.
They are not the pure race if anything we are a mongrel race .
If like me a caucasian or celt people hailing from Africa are more like the original humans then me.
Do I care not a jot an I know raceism isnt based solely on colour.
It is solely based on intolarance of others customs cultures an beleifs though.
Now I know a lot of Christians an other religions think evolution is hog wash.
Each to there own i m o though the beleif in a greater intelegence /God/?…
Does not mean evolution is a myth infact we speculate the Universe sprang into existance out of nothing 15 billion odd years ago.
An if thats not miraculous then nothing is.
‘The Most Astounding Fact’
It is actually only 80000 years ago and probably a couple of 100 people that first migrated out of Africa. Before modern humans left Africa, they were on the verge of extinction. There were only about 6000 modern humans left. We all originate from this small group of people. Race has no meaning. Genetic diversity is greatest among Africans. The nearer to the source the greater the diversity.
You sure as hell will never get some people to accept this “FACT” of how we as a society began. we all know what people I’m talking about, now don’t we?
People we share a lot of DNA with?
National Geographic has a DNA project. Basically you pay a fee and they trace your background via your DNA and give you a detailed report on it. It shows what Amsterdam says, how we all originated in Africa and then started the move out. It will give you a breakdown on where your DNA was and how long ago. It traces the splits from Africa, the middle east to Europe and Asia and beyond.
My sister did this and it was real interesting.
Amazing universe, enit?
Now I get the reference to citation misrepresentation by Knoz. Thanks, Prof, I didn’t read SM’s comment.
Knox does it all, doesn’t he! Is he really, to quote his cv, ‘enrolled’ presently in his post grad studies and who is his advisor? And is this by distance education or by mail? To list a PhD is also misrepresentation, even with the little note on the end to say he’s ‘enrolled’. He hopes it will fool some of the people, enough to impress as an ‘expert’.
We are all currently members of the Profs teaching an learning about the law blog..
Therfore I feel confident enough to state that I can rightfully add every honour an letters of the alphabet type degrees to the end of my name.
And also add all his qualifications to my own C.V..
Given the undisputed fact Im enrolled in his teaching blog an Im a quick learner.
Colin Black Phd. Bsa. Mma. Add M B E .Ba,L h e. B S.M o b. B S…
A wee bit of Berwickian humour, no doubt 😉
A genuine academic would know to clearly indicate ‘candidate’ or ‘ABD’ (all but dissertation) in parentheses next to PhD.
@ Colin. LOL. I just love your posts. LMBO.
Lost cell phone of the image? That isn’t surprising. I’m willing to be that phone had dozens of images that could be recovered if the phone wasn’t lost. A lost Iphone? Really? Thought they could be tracked
Lost his phone acidently on purpose.
After downloading that imafe of fogen onto a laptop.
Remember wjat Dorner the ex L E Said in his manifesto.
Hoy cops in his division like to take photos on there ipods or cells .
An swap them back an fourth later to see whom has the most grusome pic .
Wouldnt suprise me if similar ocoured in many LE stations includeing S P D.
He had to ditch that phone no matter how suspious it looked.
Probably nothing what so ever to do with foggen .
I expect he would never receive a pension or have employment if higher ups an decent honest investigaters ever saw the contents of that officers cell an images stored on it.
Wouldnt suprise me if his pc or hard drives have gone for a burton as well.
Or at least been swaped out an burried or micro waved.
Sorry, here is the link to Jose Baez’ statement.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2013/03/jose-baez-evidence-so-weak-in-george-zimmerman-case.html/comment-page-1#comment-367105
Why don’t Jose Baez go sit his ___ down someplace? Just shut up, Jose Baez!
Jose Baez: Evidence ‘so weak’ in George Zimmerman case
Jose Baez turned analyst on the George Zimmerman case and gave viewers of preview of what they might see in coming months.
“I have never seen a high-profile case that is so weak as the Zimmerman case,” Baez told Lauren Rowe on WKMG-Channel 6’s “Flashpoint.” The program aired Sunday morning.
Baez said he based his view on the evidence and not on his representing Chris Serino, the lead Sanford police investigator in the case. “I just think looking at the overall case, it’s extremely weak,” Baez said. “I had that opinion from very early on in the case.”
Baez formed his opinion ‘very early on in the case’, and he’s sticking to it, DESPITE the evidence against Zimmerman that accumulated during the investigation, not because of evidence that supported Z’s claims, because that’s very ‘weak’.
SG said,
Baez has a client in the case and despite what he says, he is not going to say anything that might reflect unfavorably on Serino and the decisions he made.
This statement is consistent with that approach.
caught this, thanks
S girl, I didn’t realize you had brought this up when I posted a comment about it.
Baez speaks as a defense attorney, just like Jeralyn Merritt. They have a vested interest in attracting customers.
You are correct and the same is true regarding MOM and West.
Professor, I’ve always been flabbergasted that an ostensibly intelligent person such as Merritt seems to have ignored the evidence that we know nails GZ. Do you think that she (and perhaps Baez) privately know that the ‘real’ evidence is damning?
He wants to takeover the case
I am simply appalled at what I just finished reading! Yes, I paid the $9.99 to purchase an electronic copy of Knox’s book for my Kindle on my iPad. Everyone on this blog needs to read his book!
It is certainly not written objectively; he includes commentary that leans toward GZ’s innocence throughout; he includes no information about forensics except for the intermediate/close range issue with the body and the garment; and he states that forensics proves at GZ was on his back throughout most of the encounter and that it is a fact that GZ had a broken nose.
The bulk of his book was a recap of all interviews taken in the case, from witnesses to GZ’s. He does not, however, mention anything about inconsistencies in GZ’s statements nor does he raise the issue about the discrepancy between GZ’s falling straight back from the punch at the T and the 40 feet migration of Trayvon’s body.
As he reported the interviews, he also injected his own commentaries in support of GZ.
Someone with a strong knowledge of forensics needs to read this man’s book and write and publish a detailed book on the forensics of this case while pointing out the massive amounts of forensics that Knox leaves out of this self-published book.
In his recap, he even refers to W6’s initial statement and says that the only explanation to the intermediate/close range discrepency is the sag in Trayvon’s clothing, which proves that Trayvon was on top.
Knox makes no mention of his May 2012 statement about the possibility of Trayvon’s clothing being grabbed and pulled by GZ.
In my opinion, many players in this case have committed professional suicide because of unprofessional and unethical conduct. Knox has just placed himself on that list. He had no business publishing a book on his biased spin on this case before the trial has taken place. If he has been used in the past by the state and various other levels of government as an expert witness, this attempt to either make a quick buck on this case, appease someone who pursuaded him to publish such a publication, or both, has caused his credibility as a professional in the field.
How dare he use his respected professional position to push an agenda of further adulterating the potential jury pool. This man needs to be brought before his superiors and repremanded severely!
I hope you zonked Knox in a review of his book on Amazon or wherever you bought it.
Actually, I cleaned up this very post and posted it on Amazon. My review has been approved and is now up for view.
I’m on my way to read it. 🙂
So am I …)
Thanks, TO for taking the time to post here and at Amazon. It’s very important that other views are posted.
Either Knox is paid off by the prosecution or he is promoting his personal opinion without regard to the full spectrum of evidence. Otherwise, as you demonstrate, he’d be examining issues he doesn’t cover.
Trayvon would not have been able to keep zimmurderpunk pinned down for nearly a minute. He was not super kid.
My opinion of Knox is very low. I think he is dishonest, unprofessional and unethical.
http://crimesciencebooks.com/sample.pdf
For those just wanting a taste of his crap without giving him the $9.99, here is the first 2 chapters. That was enough for me. He is a Zimbot in every sense of the term. Take me to your leader. Any sane person can see who has his loyalty. I checked his 2 twitter names @KnoxForensic and @KnoxForensics and looked at his handful of people he follows…Fox, Hannity, NRA, Junior. Reads like the non-biased person he claims he is. Humph! Oh, wait…I’m sooo wrong cause he has Crump and Natalie in there. Keep your enemies closer so the saying goes.
Thanks … and ick.
Mr Knox begins his book with an outrageous lie, At a time when barely anyone outside of RATL knew of any murder, it wasn’t the public forming misconceptions about the case, it was, in fact, the police themselves who were pushing the false narrative that they could not disprove GZ’s stories, even though those stories were in conflict with one another. In fact, under Florida law, had GZ been sworn in and under oath when he gave these stories, he’d already be serving a very stiff sentence for perjury, under their conflicting statement subsection.
@Lynn. I read the sampling of Knox’s book and thought geez — all he does is repeat what we’ve already heard, even to criticizing the President for saying if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon. When I read Knox state the “rush to judgment” accusation, it sounded too much like Junior.
It doesn’t help that Knox’s book is self-published by his own publishing company. Recipe, crafts, etc. books that are self-published is understandable. However, someone promoting himself as an expert in forensics should be able to get a publishing house to finance, publish, distribute, and promote his book.
Xena- not to mention edit, annotate and fact check!
However, someone promoting himself as an expert in forensics should be able to get a publishing house to finance, publish, distribute, and promote his book.
He’s not committing professional suicide. He’s advertising his trade to the Florida lawyers who need to hire a whore. He’s in it for the money and he’s doing himself big favors. Do you think that trials that don’t receive this kind of publicity can’t be purchased for $25,000 a pop? They CAN.
Jose Baez weighs in via Orlando Sentinel —
Jose Baez: Evidence ’so weak’ in George Zimmerman case
posted by halboedeker on March, 10 2013 9:00 AM
Jose Baez talked to the Sentinel in January. Photo credit: Joshua C. Cruey/Orlando Sentinel
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford last year.
Baez, who successfully defended Casey Anthony, is likely to be called by media outlets to offer his views when the trial starts in June. Baez gets people talking, and TV will play up his victory in the Anthony case.
Baez cited several reasons for his take on the Zimmerman evidence: The only eyewitness says that Martin was on top during the fight, and Zimmerman told law enforcement he was screaming for help during the fight, a point backed up by a 911 tape.
But Baez refused to predict an ending. “You can’t call this one without letting it play out,” he said. “You just never know what’s going to happen. You can’t call it. Trials are not scripted events.”
Rowe and Tony Pipitone also asked Baez about Anthony and her bankruptcy hearing. The media crush outside the Federal Courthouse in Tampa brought back unpleasant memories “of some of the madness that surrounds this case,” Baez said. “The madness of seeing her accosted outside of the courthouse and attacked in that way, it wasn’t a pretty sight.”
Baez complained that Anthony faced a double standard because she wouldn’t have faced any creditors in a regular bankruptcy. Baez called Anthony “an indigent person” and “yet there are prominent attorneys trying to squeeze water out of a rock here.”
Baez questioned the assumption that Anthony’s story could be worth a lot of money. But he wouldn’t discuss any money that he collected for photographs she posed for, and he wouldn’t say if the outlet that paid for them was TMZ.
“Any money she received from my office was in the course of legal representation. It wasn’t something that I gave her personally out of my pocket,” Baez said.
The WKMG appearance allowed Baez to promote his book, “Presumed Guilty,” and to discuss positive feedback he has received. “I never wrote the book to be a book about ‘this is Casey Anthony, the innocent person,’ ” he said. “I wanted people to understand the jury’s verdict.”
Baez saw a connection between the Anthony and Zimmerman cases. “There is never ever closure with these tragedies. They’re going to go on,” Baez said.
I am shocked that Baez ‘can’ be out in the media again commenting on this case when he has a major witness for some side, under his wing. He knows things, and that can shape his opinions, statements (or be seen to) he’s using as a media analyst?
Baez is still speaking about his (ex) client’s case, which feeds interest in media hiring or otherwise, using him.
Has Chris Serino made a critical mistake in choice of lawyer to velcro to his hip?
Ay2, yes, to me there appears to be a conflict of interest. Timing may be the issue … on multiple interviews with different media, and the TV columnist’s order of presentation . Am not sure when Baez took Serino on as a client. As for his “very weak case” opinion, I’m wondering compared to what?
Chris Serino did not make a mistake in his choice of lawyer. Serino is the most political smart person associated with the SPD. There are plenty of political cops in there, but they’re not also smart; Serino is both.
He hired Baez to help HIM protect HIMSELF. He also wanted Baez to pop the two first drafts (the “Murder-2 papers”) on O’Mara to show that Serino had it pegged right. NOW, though, Serino is swinging with O’Mara’s and West’s and Corey’s concerted effort to sway public opinion so they will accept a plea deal rather than a trial; Baez is his “go to guy” to help make a plea deal possible. The lame-stream media and experts like Knox who know they will never see a courtroom and big-mouths like Dershowitz who loves the camera and movers/shakers like Baez who is smarter than all of them put together are now selling the story that THE PROSECUTION CANNOT HOPE TO WIN so that a plea deal is not considered a sell-out.
Don’t worry. Baez will be compensated for his cooperation in selling that false story to the public. The only one I trust in this whole thing is Debra Nelson. That’s why neither side wants the whole case to get in front of her.
Malisha- I just don’t see the prosecution giving up a sure win. Once GZ is in jail, the other players will be forgotten. Justice isn’t blind do much as incomplete.
@Mary Davis, this is *ignorance* from white racist in this country and, nothing good will ever come their way and they will always find that, their blessings well always be blocked due to the fact, that they can find it in their heart and souls to hate other people only because of the color of their skin.
The entire world is seeing the worst of the worst in the white race, thanks to the *IGNORANT* WHITE RACIST who are making things look bad for decent white folks in this country. and to think that some of those who hate this kid and his family, are in fact mothers themselves. they have no shame plain and simple and, they are lacking in the morals dept and, that’s for certain. they cannot hurt Trayvon any more and, that’s for sure. he is in the arms of Jesus and, this is something that they will never know. it’s really awful that as people who have a different skin color, African Americans have always been looked down on by racist whites who think that this world belongs to them. how sad this really is.
@ladystclaire
These are the people who claim to be Christians. Talk about being spiritually blind! God is the author of peace not hate.
If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
I really think its unfair to catagorize people as whites racists in such a way. It’s really a distinction of what you’re exposed to and what you’re trained to be leary of. I think people have been duped by a misinformation campaign and then trained to view any corrections as an attack on their soveriegn right to rule, there is really nothing people can do to get around such a defense mechanism. How do you tell people we are your equals when they’ve been convinced they’ve done everything and you’ve done nothing.
Ask yourself, when was the last time you saw a white 9yr old girl like this http://paulagortazar.blogspot.com/p/ethical-limits-in-documentary.html Now what is in your mind that you decide to wait there for 20 minutes till the vulture got close enough instead of helping this child rather than taking her picture. You have to convince yourself that this child isn’t deserving. What if this child was white? Would people put a different value on it? http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6HPUM3Up-9M/Ta3F3z7pqKI/AAAAAAAAAXM/YEw49WvpeW8/s640/kc.jpg
People aren’t racist as much as they’re duped, they’re brainwashed, they’ve lowered the value of other races because of it and subsequently engage in inhumane behavior towards them but intolerant of such behavior towards their kind. They can change.
I think we have to be on guard for hatred of Fogen, his defense, team, his family, and his supporters. Just a thought:
Strength from Love
People are afraid that if they let go of their anger and righteousness and wrath, and look at their own feelings—and even see the good in a bad person—they’re going to lose the energy they need to do something about the problem. But actually you get more strength and energy by operating from a place of love and concern. You can be just as tough, but more effectively tough.
– Robert Thurman, “Rising to the Challenge: Cool Heroism”
Two Sides- it’s energy enough to hate what GZ did to see us through to justice.
I saw plenty of photographs growing up, of starving WWII Caucasians, snapped by Life Magazine photographers who didn’t help their subjects at all. The vulture/child photographer at least shooed the bird away.
The Sudanese policy, of starving millions in the country’s south and west who don’t share the dominant religion or appearance, is horrendous and the photograph came to illustrate what that policy meant.
reply was intended for the following post by Leroy E Hudson
I call it the way I see it and, when people dress up in bed sheets wearing a pointed hood/hat, they are not brain washed or duped into joining such groups. they do it because they are racist against certain other races of people. I am in now way including all white people as being racist because, they are not. I’m speaking of those who support this POS and, think what he did was right because it wasn’t.
How could anyone donate money to him knowing what he did and is now LYING about it in a effort to get away with murdering this kid. these very same people have hacked into Trayvon’s social media accounts and, they have placed things there themselves and, are wanting the public to believe that this kid was a thug, which they themselves see him as and they are encouraging others who are like them, to do the same.
Trayvon wasn’t a thug and, he never tried to kill the one who killed him. I just don’t understand how some people can be so filled with hatred against this kid who was bothering nobody. he was minding his own business and, that is something I bet Fogen wishes he had been doing himself. the POS is crying in court now, I can just imagine what he will do, when a guilty verdict is read. he knows that he is going down. be it by the state of Florida or by the Feds, one way or another he knows that he is going down.
So if they’re not Racist, then they’re dupedist?…but then how would you distinguish a person duped by a financial scammer from one who has been duped to hate minorities?
And if there is a dupee, then who is the grand duper…if you will? Who is the master duper, father to all the dupees?
I think the term “Racist” doesn’t attempt to account for the various reasons why one is racist.
Enjoy reading your take on the case, but I would like to see you and Piranha Mom bury the hatchet and move on. She has been a regular participant here since the beginning and has contributed many excellent ideas. I do not believe there is a good reason for continued hostilities.
Please dial it down.
We are all on the same team here and respectful intelligent dialogue is highly valued.
@ Frederick Leatherman
PirahnaMom and Cielo have told me that I have no right to be here, and have not “earned” something or the other. They have said that I am something called a “newbie”, and that that designation disqualifies me to speak or interact with others.
Of course, I know this is rubbish.
In addition to it being rubbish on it’s face alone; it’s not dissimilar to the attitude by residents toward one 17-year-old boy walking in a so-called gated community.
That attitude was was vile. It was offensive. It led to the slaughter of a child deemed NOT to belong.
How illuminating to find that same attitude OPENLY expressed here by PiranhaMom and Cielo, on your blog, toward someone(myself) designated a “newbie”…whatever that is.
How illuminating to be told that I do not belong; that I have not earned entrance, that I am “green”…whatever that is. I am, in fact, BLACK.
I suppose if one was an evil un-genius, Professor, openly expressing such an attitude and implying, without challenge, that it is condoned by the blog owner, and by other participants, would be the perfect way one could disparage a blog that aims primarily to speak on matters of law, but also aims to seek justice for that same dead boy.
But PiranhaMom doesn’t think it un-genius; she told me that she is “smart” and that I should watch her work.
But you are much too intelligent to fall for that low-brow ruse.
You can have whomever you want on your blog, Professor, you just CAN’T have it both ways.
Here’s to illumination!
Xy11xy- you dissemble so well! I never said you didn’t belong. However,I DID say you have no right to insult a fellow poster, especially one who has been here long term. In fact, nobody on here as the right to demean, belittle, harass, humiliate or denigrate another poster. Maybe you missed the rules when you arrived.
I am warning you to stop. Enough is enough.
You are attacking good people and I will not tolerate it.
Stop now or you are gone.
I have attacked no one; therefore, no warning necessary.
I am gone.
Buh-bye troll.
I do not believe that person was the real xy11xy because the website that the impostor used does not exist and the IP address is a public library in Canada.
@Professor. xy11xy is not a troll. She posted some of her observations, introduced a theory and acknowledged problems with her theory. For that, she was belittled, made to feel that she didn’t belong because of one person using the plural “we,” and when she defended herself, was falsely accused.
She was called a “moron” and other names and apparently, is not the type of person to not respond to that. Personally, I am sorry to hear her say she is leaving.
I’m a big fan of Piranha Mom. I don’t know what has occurred (did not have access to Internet for 3 days) but if there’s an issue, I just wanted to put in my vote of appreciation for all the wonderful blogging Piranha Mom has done, and order more of it! 😀
IIRC, the photographer who took that picture was part of a photojournalist team who were given STRICTEST orders that they were not to touch anyone they saw during their journalistic work. The instructions were internationally-agreed-upon and official and you could get yourself kicked out of the place if you broke it and even lose your press cards. Part of the rationale for that rule was logical and protective (both of the journalists and of the population they were reporting on) but of course, humanity being humanity, and the world being an imperfect one, it could not actually work in real terms. The photojournalist who took that picture won a big international prize for having portrayed the desperation of that situation correctly; then, I believe, he committed suicide, always regretful that he did not just ditch his career, violate the inviolate “code,” and pick the child up to carry him the last kilometer to rescue workers. Indeed, the story of that man’s suicide is a mark on our hearts. I could kick myself that I have forgotten his name (will check it when I have time) but I will never forget what happened to him. I’ll report back with his name, hopefully tomorrow (my Internet access is restricted right now by circumstance).
Life is founded on conflict, i.e. conflict of opposites. Without such conflicts, there will be no life. Even making beautiful babies involves conflict of opposite. This is a philosophical thought postulated by ancient Greek philosophers (I have no names off head). I have seen nothing that contradicts that. Racism can be viewed through that periscope. Racism, IMO, is not inherent in any race. Racism is inherent in man. It is a necessary Evil intrinsic in nature to maintain strife and conflict in order for life to continue to exist and function the way its creator has always wanted it to. Racism is as old as man. If Black people were to vanish today, there still will be racism. If White people were to vanish today, the good old racism will still be there. If only White people were to exist today, there still will be racism. The worst kinds of racisms to date have been perpetrated by members of a race against members of the SAME race (think of the wars of extermination in Asia and Europe, etc.). Racism will not be going anywhere anytime soon. It will always be there. I do not think it is correct to talk of racist White people because a possible interpretation thereof is that the individuals involved are racist because they are White (and that is not true). I think a racist person is one who is limited to- and guided by the worst basic human/animal instincts: fear and other personal inadequacies – regardless of his/her race.
I first saw that pic about 15 years ago, and it slew me. It haunted me for years. I never wanted to see it again. It puts me in such a deep, dark place. Horror.
In a biography of John Adams, 2nd president of the United States, I read that there was a very animated debate during the negotiations that created the U.S. constitution, on whether Scotsmen should be granted the same rights in the new country as Englishmen. I sure rolled my eyes at that.
Lady I’m wondering do you have an opinion as to why in the U.S. people are called hyphenated names like African American, Mexican American etc and does it really matter.This is probably a stupid question anyway just thinking out loud.Not that this matters but we whites spend thousands of dollars to get tans.
Do some “add on” to keep their heritage? An identity to their past? Political correctness run amok? I had a live-in nanny who was originally from the Bahamas but became a US citizen. Her skin color was black but she absolutely hated the hyphenated descriptions. She would say I am an American. She did not like the term African-American saying I never lived in Africa. She wanted to identify herself by her country not the heritage that she never knew. But this is from a woman who spent the majority of her life first in the Bahamas.
Man is tribal by nature. There are Italian-Americans, Irish-Americans, German-Americans. etc. It identifies a culture and original nation, followed by the nation of citizenship.
The problem I find with using African-American is that it is applied to race when the truth is that there are Whites who are born in Africa but who later become American citizens or are born in Africa by American citizens. For instance, I have a White friend who was born in Africa and raised there until she was about the age of 14. Her parents are American missionaries.
Also, I know a family of missionaries who hail from NC, but all of their children were born in Lithuania which is where they are assigned by the church.
@Pat, my opinion of this is the fact of saying for instance, African-American is this, a person being born black in this country should only be listed as an American and not African-American because, this is the country in which they were born and, they know nothing about Africa except for what they read about. they also don’t even know what language their ancestors spoke. this is no where near how Mexicans who were born and raised in Mexico and, when they come here they are labeled as being Mexican-American when they become legal.
IMO, there is a world of difference between the other races who hyphen their country of origin along with the word American. Indians shouldn’t be listed as Native-Americans either. they are plain and simple Americans. JMHO
Xena, Remember when Teresa Heinz Kerry caused an uproar when she said she was African-American? Sadly, though, it has become a symbol of color/DNA and not of heritage. If it was simply heritage then no one should be upset when your friend or Mrs. Kerry marks off the box for African-American.
Sadly, though, it has become a symbol of color/DNA and not of heritage. If it was simply heritage then no one should be upset when your friend or Mrs. Kerry marks off the box for African-American.
So true. Until the 70’s, some states only recognized 3 races on birth certificates; Negro, Caucasian and Oriental. Latinos were Caucasian and I don’t know what Native Americans did to classify their race. Now Orientals are Asian. If a family derives from Egypt, they are not African-American but rather, Asian.
I was in the hospital in 1979 and a nurse came in, said she was embarrassed but had to ask my race. I told her “human.”
The final procedural chink in the armor of any immunity hearing occurrence will likely be Judge Nelson, herself. And the defense knows (or should know) it already, despite its spinning otherwise.
As the professor has already explained, the proper mechanism for raising immunity (as established by the Florida Supreme Court in Dennis v. State) is a PRETRIAL motion to dismiss the charges under Fla. Criminal Procedure Rule 3.190(b).
Additionally, Rule 3.190(c) establishes the time frame for such PRETRIAL motions to dismiss. Generally, a defendant must make these motions at or before arraignment. However, in the court’s discretion (and lots of luck appealing that), the court may permit the defendant to plead and thereafter to file a motion to dismiss at A TIME TO BE SET BY THE COURT. And, except in limited circumstances (such as “fundamental grounds” and other specified exceptions), any grounds NOT raised by a motion to dismiss within this time frame “SHALL BE CONSIDERED WAIVED.”
Therefore, it is important to refer back to the Amended Scheduling Order that Judge Nelson entered back on October 29, 2012. (The “itty-bitty calendar” schedule, which IMO was the fair but powerful tool she developed – with agreement by the parties – in order to maintain control of this case.)
Paragraph 1.a. of the 10/29/2012 Amended Scheduling Order unequivocally states: “Any Self-Defense Immunity I Stand Your Ground motion shall be filed and heard on or before April 26, 2013, which is 45 days before trial.”
In conclusion: IMO, if the defense does not file a motion to dismiss AND hold an immunity hearing on or before 4/26/2013, the defense will have waived its immunity claim (at least for criminal purposes). The reason: The defense did not make a motion to dismiss at or before arraignment, and will not have complied with the court’s discretionary time period.
And I would be surprised if Judge Nelson extends the period much, if at all, beyond that date, because she tried to set up an efficient judicial process and obtained the consent of the parties. No abuse on her part in that.
It can’t, won’t, and shouldn’t be “rolled into” the trial. And the judge has already got that covered.
I understand that chink in the armor is an old phrase but it should be taken out of the English language, due to the negative connotation associated (think Jeremy Lin and ESPN)
Anyways, I can see that rule being in place because defendants could easily try and manipulate and delay their trial by filing it too late
As a kid, I remember reading that King Saul (in the Bible) died in battle when an arrow pierced a chink in his armor. I remember thinking that the arrow found that tiny spot to fulfill a prediction, that David was destined to become king. The word chink has meant “tiny gap” or “break” in the English language since before the speakers of the language knew of China. The insult came into being more recently.
That is like saying you think Acanthosis nigricans should be taken out of dermatology and the medical dictionary.
But I guess it would be okay to get rid of Cheeze Nips and Nips candy and not say nips as a slang for nipple because nips is a derogatory word for a Japanese person – comes from the Japanese word Nippon, meaning Japanese and Japanese people were called nips.
When my (Japanese) communications teacher told me that, I swore I’d never buy another box of Coffee Nips again and wrote a letter to the company.
You should not use it, bottom line
The word has an association with a racial slur
It is the same with how the N word is used in a conversational manner
Why cause controversy when you could say something that can not be construed as offensive?
Why not use
Achille’s heel?
I am not saying he meant it to be racist but the fact is the word “chink” has a negative association with the word
I know, for one who sees a word that is used as an insult for one’s own family origin, it is uncomfortable to see in its original state. However, I think I have only ever heard the word “chink” used as an insulting reference once, about 20 years ago, by a grouchy man over retirement age. I think using it in its original meaning crowds out the insulting usage. Ethnic insults like “dago,” “kike,” “spade,” “spic,” “wop,” even “nip”– I haven’t heard them since the 60’s-70’s. However, it could be that my own little world doesn’t include them. Until Fogen, I would have thought “coon” had gone the same way.
“Nail in the coffin” would have been much better in the context, anyway, but it didn’t come to mind at the time!
I don’t agree with you on this one, Jun, but I’ll avoid using it out of respect and sensitivity.
The phrase, as you recognized, is an old idiom referring to a weakness, sort of akin to an “Achilles heel.” All the words were legitimate, meaningful words long before one of them was hijacked by cruel people. But I’ve only used that word (to the extent I ever use it) in its original, true meaning.
And I never heard of Jeremy Lin or the infamous ESPN headline about him before now. (OK, maybe that mostly means I “need to get out more”….)
But I strongly object to the conclusion that someone’s racist use of a perfectly good idiom or word means that I’m now supposed to wipe it from my native language vocabulary forever.
Language must always be understood and interpreted within its context – or at least that’s very often the case with the English language. Context is everything.
PS – The “N” word is not comparable, in my view. I don’t know of any legitimate, meaningful use that word has ever had. But maybe that’s just me.
I think we know who are responsible for the current immunity debacle: (a) the Professor, (b) LLMPapa and to a degree Whonoze. Their efforts have forewarned O’Mara that there are some unfed lions lying in wait inside the barricaded and heavily fortified SYG-castle. Neither O’Mara nor GZ would dare approach that castle, ever. There will be no motion for immunity hearing in either in April or June and Judge Nelson will have nothing to rule on, IMO. That just makes me very sad because I have been looking forward to that hearing – where GZ will reveal his butcher-nature to the world.
I like your analysis, but there is a problem. In Dennis the Florida Supreme Court held that Rule 3.190(c) does not apply to immunity hearings.
paperview says:
Thank you for your blog Mr. Leatherman. I have been reading it often since I was first directed here last year.
Could you explain further to us laymen about how 3.190(c) does not apply. I have read the Dennis v Florida case, but still perplexed on exactly what that Rule stipulates. Thanks kindly.
Rule 3.190(c) requires the trial court to deny a motion if the material facts are disputed by the opposing parties rather than resolve them and issue a ruling.
The trial court in Dennis denied the defendant’s motion for immunity on the ground that the material facts were disputed by prosecution and defense and therefore the jury should decide the issue.
Supreme Court reversed because the immunity statute creates a statutory right to immunity, if the defendant can prove self-defense by a preponderance of the evidence. Instead of passing the matter to the jury because the parties disputed the material facts, the Supreme Court held that the trial court should have conducted an evidentiary hearing to decide whether the defense met its burden.
I’ve reread groan’s post and it makes more sense (I guess I needed more coffee). Never mind that last post Mr. Leatherman. Thank you again.
Professor, I disagree that the Dennis court held that Rule 3.190(c) does not apply AT ALL to immunity hearings. It’s narrower than that.
With respect to Rule 3.190, the court rejected only the notion that (c)(4) standards apply to SYG immunity motions to dismiss.
That is, a trial court cannot deny a SYG motion just because there are disputed material facts (which ordinarily are for a jury to decide). Rather, for SYG motions to dismiss, the trial court must hold an evidentiary hearing and decide the factual question of the applicability of the statutory immunity..
It looks clear to me that ALL motions to dismiss are Rule 3.190(b) motions.
Rule 3.190(c) then addresses the timeliness of Rule 3.190(b) motions. Generally, the motions must be made by arraignment, unless the judge allows them later, and are WAIVED if not timely. However, there are exceptions to the general timeliness rule for:
> Objections based on “fundamental grounds”
> Motions to dismiss on the grounds stated in (c)(1), (c)(2), (c)(3), and (c)(4),
I believe the Dennis court established that SYG immunity motions are not subject to the (c)(4) grounds – specifically, the absence of disputed material facts. The court had no reason to toss aside the rest of the rule for SYG motions to dismiss, and I don’t read the opinion as doing so.
@ Professor re:
Actually, you’re describing Rule 3.190(c)(4), which is a type of pretrial motion to dismiss that is not subject to the general timeliness provisions of Rule 3.190(c).
Rule 3.190(c) is about the timeliness of pretrial motions to dismuss under Rule 3.190(b).
BTW, when I wrote previously, I should have said that all PRETRIAL motions are Rule 3.190(b) motions.
Also, since the Dennis court held that a SYG immunity motion is a Rule 3.190(b) motion, I think that rules out any possibility that it can be raised during or after trial, as some others have said in other blogs and the media.
Yes, you’re right of course. I responded from memory believing that I was discussing (c)(4), but only typed (c).
Professor, the weakness that I see in my original comment is that the SYG immunity (motion to dismiss) might be considered an “objection based on fundamental grounds.” (I have no idea what “fundamental grounds” means, and I don’t have the resources to research it adequately.)
But in that case, the time constraint imposed by Judge Nelson’s 10/29/2012 Amended Scheduling Order apparently would not apply, and the defense could file its motion at any time before trial.
I wouldn’t bet the house on that strategy if I were the defense, but maybe that’s what they’re thinking about….
I just don’t see how they can live with all that hate inside them. To say they have issues is an understatement.
Unfortunately, it is fairly easy to get normal people to do horrible things to others. It is fairly easy to get normal people to adopt, cling to and express hatred for despised groups. Look at the history of any nation, really: Germany hating Jews, Russians and Gypsies; African Arabs hating African Bantu peoples; British people hating everyone; “European” Americans hating Native Americans; on and on and on and on…with or without some historical conflict providing a backdrop, it is easy to engender hatred and fear and they go together. The most hateful people are the scardiest. That is the story of scaredy-cat Fogen. Read it and weep.
@ SouthernGirl. When you think of it, it’s kind of scary. The people who actually send him money just might be your next door neighbor.
Mary Davis, I live with that fear all the time. Might be my neighbor, the person in line with me at the grocery store, a person I work with, it scares the daylights out of me.
So true. It’s very scary.
I’m not worried. I have dealt with racists, bigots, weirdos, psychopaths, drug dealers, gang members, thieves, liars, etc
Unfortunately not everyone is a moral and godly person
I’d say on most cases, a large majority are fairly normal and moral, there is just a percentage of society that is like that and the internet allows them to be anonymous when doing so
@ Jun. Great post. The way you put it, it really hits home. How can anyone believe otherwise. You make it so plain and clear. It is something seriously wrong when some people actually know GZ to be a liar and how unbelievable his story is, but instead bury their heads in the sand and support him anyway. Unbelievable.
All they see is Trayvon Martin’s blackness and they hate him for it. I read one comment from a woman who claimed to have lost a child yet stated she had no sympathy for Sybrina or Tracy. It’s pure hatred for their blackness b/c she doesn’t know anything about Sybrina or Tracy Martin. Unbelievable.
Let’s hope that such comments are being posted by O’Mara’s interns.
I read the comment on the CTH. My jaw dropped. How could a person not have sympathy for ANYONE who has lost a child? A few years ago a white woman in my community lost her 18 year old daughter in a car wreck. We speak to each other and may do small talk at times but we weren’t close friends. When I heard she lost a child I called her to give my deepest sympathy. I also baked a cake, picked up a sympathy card with money enclosed in it and took it to her house to offer some comfort. The entire community was hurt. It’s mind blowing to read someone saying they have no sympathy for a person who has lost a child who was murdered. That’s a lot of deep hate.
You may be right about this, but I sure hope not. I really hope it’s the Z family and O’Mara’s interns, and not some fine upstanding volunteering religious pillar of the community writing those things. Or an elected representative like Patty Mahaney.
Cercando Luce- alas it could be anybody writing that hate filled shit. I see that crap in the local paper’s comment section. And not just about this case but ANY case that involves a dead black person. I usually call them out for it, but its disheartening to see it in our “modern” times.
Honor Trayvon Martin: Build the Movement
Everyone should try this
Pretend that you are straddling someone and lean forward so that your shirt is hanging away from your body. Now, use your finger and push your shirt to your chest, now pinch the shirt and hold it, then sit up. You will see that the spot you are holding is below where you had it on your chest. Gravity would have made the hole on Trayvon’s shirt below the hole in his chest, not above it.
If your shimming and lying on your back, I understand the gun is tucked into a holster but wouldn’t it cause some kind of injury or at least a bruise on his hip or back.
one would think at least a bruise from the pressure of another sitting on top of you, more so a fear of the gun accidentally going off since it had no safety.
He shoulda had bruises all over the place if things had been as he said.
His medical reports cites an aggravated SI, but he had a history of lower back problems (he had a special chair for his back that he locked to his desk).
Hello everyone:
Wanted to let you guys know that Fred’s computer has a mechanical problem, and we will need to see about getting a new part. He will be back online tomorrow. Thank you for your patience, and very sorry for the inconvenience!
Knox is somewhat correct that you can get straight front to back trajectory, however, the shot would no longer be intermediate range, it would be close or contact range GSW, and there would not have been space to fully extend the arm like the defendant claims
Here is a list of why the story does not check out, and may not even be heard if the defendant refuses to take the stand
1) The bleeding shows that the defendant was upright the whole time the two mini cuts occurred and had already healed and dried up by the time EMT arrived. EMT recommended soap and water and he would be fine. The bleeding shows that it happened undisturbed and going toward his chin.
2) The fact that soap and water with knuckle bandages is supposed to cure skull fractures, that would have resulted from being head bashed into a sidewalk, which are shown to be unavailable. We all know how much West & Omara hack away at “hospital records”. I wonder where Fogenhats’ hospital records from the same night are. Any other medical test he conducted is outside the scope of having a “chain of command” and him seeing his doctor, even though opportunity presented itself for him to cause himself more injury, the doctor never noted anything, and just told him to get it checked out some more, and maybe there’s a broken nose. Since Fogenhats did not get it checked right away, he could have very well given himself more injury afterward. We also note that Fogenhats refused hospital treatment because he did not want to get professional medical experts looking at him.
3) There’s no dna whatsoever on the hands, sleeves, cuffs, of the victim and his shirt and hoodie. It would be impossible to not have dna transfer from “allegedly repeated striking and attacking the head and face of the defendant” as that is hard contact to skin and blood, which equates dna transfer. There is also no blood splatter whatsoever.
4) The trajectory with the misalignment of the bulletholes with the GSW, and the contact shot readings of the shirt and hoodie, and the readings if the intermediate range of the GSW. The state will have done physical tests to know the exact distance and they have the pictures and science tests to prove the distance from the GSW. Obviously for the readings, there was a space between the GSW and the clothing, and the muzzle only made contact with the shirts, but not the GSW. My guess is it is 6 inches intermediate range or potentially more. Knox obviously does not want to do the actual science test to conclude it like the state will because he should know he’s full of it. There’s only one way for the defendant to fully extend his arm and line up the bulletholes with the GSW, and have the contact shot readings of the shirts, and the GSW being intermediate range.
5) Fogenhats’ clothing showed no signs of grass stains or wetness, on the back of his jacket or pants, upon closer inspection in bright light at the police station. Trayvon was found with debris all over him from the ground.
6) The w18 saw him attack and shoot Trayvon, and simply rise to his feet undisturbed. That would not have been possible if he was underneath Trayvon. This is also supported by testimony from Mary Cutcher and Selma, and also witness 3 who believes it was Fogenhats on top of the victim.
7) Fogenhats is a former bouncer, also a gang member, who has a history of criminal and violent behavior and bullying and harassing others. He had a physical and mental advantage over the victim, who was a youth. Fogenhats also had a weapon and equipment advantage because he had a car, flashlights, and knowledge of the area. The likelihood of him being bested by a kid with no combat experience and Fogenhats weighing 40 plus more pounds, leaves a lot to be desired in terms of the defendant’s story. The defendant can’t even use anything character against the victim because the victim had no violent history.
8) Drawing the weapon would have been impossible, while mounted and being beaten senseless, if that actually happened, as the victim would have been straddled on the defendant, and, the legs would block access to the hips, as well as the defendant’s jacket which hangs past the waist. Since the victim would have been straddling the jacket too, and both would be now blocking access to the hips for the firearm, let alone the forensics that dispute the story anyways.
@ JUN
“Knox is somewhat correct that you can get straight front to back trajectory …”
Trajectory:
Determining a bullet’s trajectory only requires identifying ‘A:’ the entrance point and ‘B’: the exit point (or, if the bullet did not exit the body, the resting point of that bullet in the body). Two connected bullet wounds (i.e. points A’ and ‘B’) in a body make a line (‘AB’) known as a trajectory. The same straight line (‘AB’) is then extended backward to point ‘C’: the position of the shooter/the gun barrel. If there is no straight line b/w ‘AB’ and ‘C’, then the shooter has some explaining to do. In Trayvon’s autopsy report, ‘AB’ is straight with NO angles. Connecting ‘AB’ to ‘C’ (i.e. where Zimmerman claimed his arm, elbow and by necessity the barrel of his gun were optioned) in a straight line and without angles – is not possible. Thus, line ‘ABC’ accuses Zimmerman of murder.
Given that all THREE points (‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’) have to be connected in a straight line WITH NO angle, or we have no trajectory, I wonder what you mean by “Knox is somewhat correct that you can get straight front to back trajectory …”.
I explained it
You can do straight trajectory but it would no longer be a intermediate range shot and the gun would have to be held in an awkward manner that is unlikely to occur in the midst of a combat situation
As I said, it can be done, but it would be a contact or close range GSW, not intermediate range
Fogenhats would have to hold the gun right in front of his nose or neck, where the gun butt would be touching the nose or neck, to get the contact or close range, straight trajectory shot off, but more likely a contact shot GSW as that is all the space will give
It can be done but the gun would be held in a weird awkward manner, and the gun would have to be touching Fogenhats’ neck or nose while the shot is fired, and it would be a contact shot likely
However, this does not match the evidence so the scenario is moot in theory because those were not the readings but I am just saying you can, but it does not match the scenario or forensics of the case
Basically I am saying you can have a straight front to back trajectory, but it would not match the evidence in this case
Hat tip Dothprotesttoomuch
Star Jones Interviews Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton
@SG2
Yes, thank you.
? If Trayvon was reaching for the defendants gun, how and why would Trayvon know which side the defendant carried/ holstered his gun on his body..Maybe Trayvon did feel something on the side and believed it to be his cell phone; therefore never reaching for it.. Why must it be assumed that Trayvons first thought was that the defendant had a gun? My reason for this ? is because Trayvon states to DD that the creepy guy watching him was on the phone; and the defendant eludes to Seriono when ? as to why the victim may have become aggressive the witness whispers maybe he was upset that I called the ploice…I may be wrong
Also, fogen claimed that Trayvon said “you’re going to die tonight motherf**ker when he saw the gun. Hmm, somehow I bet that is not going to show up on the enhanced 911 call.
YEP, just like the “you got me” after the shot that NOBODY heard and no tape captured even though people were straining to hear everything.
my typing is goin’ to h-e-double toothpicks in a handcart, Knoz, oh well, add it to the list of misrepresentations 😉
A sort of Wizard of Knox, yes?
Oh, you mean he is just like GZ? No wonder the defense wants him.
Don’t you love that doctored photo. Zmmerpunk had no horizontal cuts on his head. Someone should be charged with tampering with evidence
I believe it was a neighbor who he asked to photograph the back of his head. I’m not sure of when the police or prosecution obtained the photo but I’m not sure if they could prove who tampered with it.
On the other hand, the police took the photo of Fogen in the police cruiser. If anyone tampered with that one, it was most likely the scumbag cop who magically forgot he had the photo on his iPhone for over a week. I’m not even sure if that photo will be admissible. Not just because of possible tampering, but because of the fact that it did not get entered into evidence in a proper timing. This severely damages the credibility of that photo, and if the jury is even allowed to see it they will be very critical of it.
Wasn’t it more like 3 weeks?
3 weeks would be much worse. When a piece of evidence is collected the night of the shooting but does not get entered into evidence for 3 weeks, that piece of evidence will be under intense scrutiny. I believe the judge will have the final authority on whether to allow that picture into the trial as evidence. Allegations of tampering and broken chain of custody will not help getting that admissible into the trial.
The photo image taken by Officer Wagner at 7:31 pm with his personal cell phone was *forgotten about * until 21 March (3+ weeks later). The phone has since been lost
Curiously, the other “bloody head” photo taken by witness #13 was retrieved the same day.
This was only after FDLE had taken over the investigation
Lost cell phone of the image? That isn’t surprising. I’m willing to be that phone had dozens of images that could be recovered if the phone wasn’t lost. A lost Iphone? Really? Thought they could be tracked.
Leroy,
Most curious; Officer Wagner and witness #13 captured the only 2 “bloody head” images using their personal cell phones
Both uploaded the images into their computers
Both cleared the images from their phones
Both forgot they had an image of “bloody head” zimmermann until FDLE had taken over the investigation
Both images were “found/remembered” on 21 March
Officer Wagner, in the meantime, lost his cell phone
Good comment, looneydoone, I didn’t know that Wagner lost his phone. Where would I find that? I thought he said he downloaded it to his officer laptop/PC the same night or the day after. Don’t remember exactly.
Someone posted an early TV report that showed witness #13 hanging around with four officers. I think it was from the Orlando Sentinel, although I may be wrong. Was one of them Wagner? I don’t think there are dispatch and arrival times for officer Wagner in the 7th discovery around page 10/11 following. Hmm, reminds me I wanted to check that more closely again.
Strictly they didn’t surface the same day.
The official narrative on Wagner is that Timothy Smith reminded him of the photo since Serino had none of Fogen’s ” wounds” supposedly on March 18, if I remember correctly Serino writes in his ROI of March 22, about these matters. I think he received it one day before. So there is a time interval between Smith alert and Wagner’s “delivery” to Serino. Strictly this may have been an SPD push-back against Serino’s capias.
Concerning witness #13, he suddenly remembered his three photos during his interview with FDLE, which I think was on March 20.
So yes the same time frame and a parallel action inside the SPD and a seemingly well informed neighborhood bystander. The officers seemingly were not much worried about having listening into their debates. At least the images suggested that to me.
Did you post that link to the above mentioned News report? I do not remember the channel.
Gone for today
“I thought he said he downloaded it to his officer laptop/PC the same night or the day after. Don’t remember exactly.”
I remember that but I seem to recall that he first emailed/SMSed it to himself (the one click solution from an iphone albeit it reduces the original high resolution to a mere 840 x 600 JPG). But, if Wagner did email/SMS it to his email and from there downloaded it onto his office laptop the chain of custody would I think probably be fully demonstrable, even if he deleted it from his email, because presumably his computer would be linked to the main backup system as has been the case in all the major sites I have worked and those backups are kept for many years.
gbrbsb, I just realized there is this too. Now I have to slightly adopt my mistaken assumption that Serino did not know about the photo:
March 2, Serino interview with witness #11:
Serino: How’d his face look when you first saw him?
Witness 11: Well, we only got a picture because the officer that wanted us to identify him wanted us to come over there. And we didn’t want to be a part of that. So, he took a picture and brought it over. And at first we couldn’t even recognize him ’cause it looked like his nose was broken in a few spots, his lip was all bloody, and he just looked completely out of it. But then a lady behind us was like, “Oh, that’s my neighbor.” And I kind of put two and two together. ‘Cause, I mean, we’ve seen him a lot at the HOA meetings. But he just looked so messed up that it was hard to notice.
Were others taken over there in an attempt to identify TM? Although nothing in the reports.
Leander22-and once again the enigma if Serino raises its ugly head. “Beaten so bad” that he was not recognizable? And yet just 2 hours later he’s all back to normal? What game is Serino playing?
Witness 11 also sees blows being thrown at GZ on the bottom, obviously this is an outrageous lie, because there’s none of the required evidence that it ever happened and Trayvon’s manner and demeanor precludes violence. But, as Professor has said, it is again unlikely that her story would coincide with the lies that GZ would be telling, unless they had planned these lies together.
Also note that she attempts to down play her connection with GZ, which reads false as well. Anyone who has been to rather poorly attended HOA meetings, rather quickly gets to know anyone who is there for any important reason, like perhaps to organize neighborhood watch? How could you forget that? Then seeing him on patrol as she admits, so she sees him regularly, enough to know that he’s “passionate” about keeping them safe, eh? But she knows he was on the bottom, getting beaten up by an innocent child, and his nose was broken in several places. My my, what a likely story, I wonder how long it took them to put that together and when?
This story being similar to George’s story and GZ’s story being untrue, meaning it was not something that anyone could witness, is no coincidence.
Hmmm? adapt not adopt. Big difference. Didn’t notice.
cielo62, I still prefer to give Serino the benefit of doubt. I do not expect super-humans. We do not know what made Serino add his diverse ROI’s to the Capias. In any case were there meetings concerning the case after the capias which led to the diverse additions? Was during one on March 18 Smith present but not Wagner, and did Smith suggest there was a photo that proved self-defense?
Fact is that Serino did not think the scratches did fit Fogen’s narrative and he had the official photos done by the crime scene technician at the SPD.
In the MOM/West depositions something interesting surfaced. At least a little something, they gave us. Randy Smith, Serino’s boss, present it seems at the reenactment but not the night before, was the only one that did not completely buy Fogen’s tale. Whom could he rely on in this context but Serino himself. Serino leaves SPD only around 3 am in the morning. He is the last to “CL” clear, leave the scene, or the place in this case the SPD. Did the car change with Smith, or whatever it was to have a look at the car in which Fogen was brought to the police station? What could he find there. Would he have left so late, if he had the feeling this was an easy self-defense case?
There are still far too many questions for me concerning Serino and what I know so far prevents me from jumping to conclusions easily.
Concerning witness #11, I wouldn’t have remembered this, hadn’t I decided to get a much better grasp of Knox’s argument than I have from a cursorily reading a couple of weeks ago on my travels down south. I never paid closer attention to it, maybe Serino didn’t either?
13 year-old Austin said he had seen someone on his side who had fallen.
Not sure if someone here has already posted it but here is the link to a recently released 5 min recording of DD’s interview with Crump courtesy of ABC. It’s as clear as a bell and TL, Diwaiter and CTH are jumping with joy for what they have seen as a double whammy, they believe it proves Crump coached DD and that DD lied! Not my view, but judge for yourselves! http://tinyurl.com/bg3npz7
Their imaginations work overtime.
Yeah, but they are still convinced there are 2 or 3 DeeDees. LOL
Yeah, but they are still convinced there are 2 or 3 DeeDees.
It’s the mindset of Zidiot White Supremacists. They think all Blacks look alike sound alike, and speak slang. Oh — there’s one exception — James Earl Jones when he played Darth Vader because Luke’s father is White.
The latest one is a “testimoney” DeeDee, a hired actress for money. They even had an urban dictionary word inserted and encouraged others to give it thumbs up to give it creditability.
They are always telling others to go to a news site to make it appear that fogen has more support and to hide the comments of Martin supporters.
“Helping good people through difficult times
Its marketing to your clientel.
Every scumag an lowlife are not aware of ther .Charecter flaws or lack of charecter period.
You not going to get many custoomers by calling you firm.
Losers R US……
So you stroke there egos after all there all innocent .
Or else why would they need to hire a defence attorney for trial.
Guilty cons tend to plead out as they no takeing an obvious guilty verdict.
To the expence of a trial tends to annoy not only judges but officialdom in genral.
An once your convicted an just another number an officaldom States Gov ect run the prison system.
An if your going to perhaps spend the rest of your life/
In the belly of that beast.
A good rule of thumb is to not enrage it an it gaurds an inhabitants.
Before you even step in through its jaws.
Declareing at hatres for Mexicans wnom by the way pretty much run the jails in California Arizona Florida an allowing that to get out on the M S M.
Is pretty much the stupidist thing a guy of latino race disses Mexicans an everyone within the penal system will be made aware of what fogen said.
How he branded them cowards.
A guy going to jail for shooting an unarmed child brans threm cowartds.
So not only will he have the Black Prisoners hateing his ass.
Every Latino prisoner in ther willl be in lock step with the Mexican Mafia whom like I say run a lot of the jails.
M O M an most defence lawers at times end up with the dregs of society.
An in order for any justice system to work.
Those accused of crimes are entitled to a defence.
Sometimes decent people do get arrested an convicted for crimes they didnt do.
Re above an that was the cleaned up version for the white folks back in the day.
even if he shimmied caudally….
What if he shimmied doolally
He does realise shimmie shimmie is Blahck slang even older than the term rock an roll.
Both are descriptions of sexuall intercourse.
But seeing as he has so many many Million man March many Clagck freind.
So many infact his white freinds are a tocken.
Kind of gone reverse south park on our asses.
Anyway Im sure one of his or weezee juniors many African American freinds would have told him of the true meaning an origin of shimmie.
Another irony just crept into this case because inadvertantly fogen has told the TRUTH.
When he states he was shimmieing in the precence of his CHILD VICTIM..
He was telling the truth because he was most definetly Fucking with Trayvon Benjamin Martin the night he murdered him in cold blood because he had put such fear into a child.
A Child within sight of his own back door an refuge.
That this CHILD was screaming for mercy where there was none.
See – there’s proof he isn’t a racist. He said shimmy!!!
Sheesh, glad he didn’t tell everyone about the JELLYROLL.
I’m quite disturbed by a quote on Mark O’Mara’s website for his law firm.
I can’t even begin to describe how sickening this statement is. It is shocking that he refers to his clients (murderers, white collar criminals, sex offenders, and drug pushers to name a few) as “good people”.
I guess Fogen is a good person going through difficult times according to this failure of a defense attorney O’Mara. Being punished for a crime you did commit is not “difficult” and you surely aren’t a “good person” if you murder someone.
I understand what you are saying, but people do have a right to an attorney, and having gone through some stuff in my life, you never know when you are going to need a defense lawyer. Yes, sometimes they do represent really bad people, three-strikes people, but they have a right to representation too.
Would it really make sense for a defense attorney to say, “Come to me, I represent the slimiest of the slime?”
Simply a business tactic. No one likes to feel like a criminal, and many people are overcharged and sometimes innocent. But it sure does speak to how casually you can bag someone in casual self-defense since the advent of SYG laws.
“The floor is yours, sir.”
Searching Mind reviewed his copy of Spitz and Spitz, The Medicolegal Investigation of Death, which Knox cited as authority in responding to a comment that Lonnie posted at Knox’s site challenging his claim that GZ could have fired the fatal shot while lying on his back with Trayvon in the superior position straddling him.
Loonie wrote a comment on his blog? Lonnie, dear, be so kind and give me link. This starts to get really funny.
It seems Mr Expert Knox keeps making mistakes in detecting authors and names of his reading material, ancient and modern, as according to SM, the book isn’t called ” Spitz and Spitz” but “Spitz and Fisher”!
Mr Knox keeps making mistakes because he’s in such a big hurry to make a quick buck off the back of a dead teenager. He doesn’t give a damn about getting to the truth of the matter.
thanks gbrsb, type1juve, I understand that.
But I am interested in the special context he mentioned the publication.
I realized by now, how it could have happened:
Spitz, W, & Spitz, D. (Eds). Spitz and Fisher’s medicological investigation : of death: Guidlines for the application of pathology to crime investigations (4th ed.). Springfield Ill: Charles C. Thomas, 2006
The first edition was indeed co-authored by Spitz and Fisher (Russel S. Fisher) in the 70s. The title is obviously kept in the updated editions. It seems to be a standard or the bible in the field. Russel S. Fisher must have been a quite influential pathologist. The first of the new editors in the new edition wrote a tribute to him in the American Journal of Forensic Medical Pathology 9, no 4 (1988), which suggests to me that he died in that year.
This book made it into his book list, Charles E. Silberman does not. Although he is quoted at length. These are the things I hate since you cannot ever take a look at the context of the citation.
texad says:
@LLMPapa,
Love all your vids-but especially these last 3 re: Why No SYG. I have been tweeting an Aretha Franklin song every day this month in honor of her birthday. I know which song I’ll use today. Besides your many other talents-you have excellent taste in music.
Simply put, the judge will never believe Fogen’s lies and O’Mara knows it. I’m sure O’Mara is well aware of the 4th District Court’s decision that if the evidence is disputed, you will not be granted immunity and will go to trial. O’Mara’s only chance is to try and confuse six jurors into believing there is reasonable doubt that Fogen committed 2nd degree murder.
There isn’t much difference between SYG and self-defense. SYG just guarantees you immunity from criminal and civil penalties. O’Mara is already planning for the future. Whether or not Fogen is convicted, this news article basically said O’Mara will be saving the immunity hearing for the future civil lawsuit.
If the jury finds the defendant guilty, immunity is no longer possible. Therefore, saving it for the civil suit makes no sense.
@Frederick
““By entertaining the option of not having an immunity hearing before trial, George preserves the option of having a civil immunity hearing should he need it in the future,” Vincent said.
Here is a link to the entire article:
http://tinyurl.com/b5hkyb6
Blackwell cited a statute where thereby the family of the victim are allowed to attack him civilly in court so they would have to honor that fact first
The state if they wanted to could also go after him for other crimes that are associated with what happened and transpired and so can the feds
I believe it is one of the main reasons, if their donations are real, that Fogenhats is spending like crazy because he knows he can get the money legally taken away from him
What happens if the defense uses SYG, that is, tells the jury about SYG and presenting lawyer statements only, and does this after the prosecution has opened?
Is the point of saying all this in the media, to get the jury pool confused and having the notion that they will be judging/decing SYG in some non-immunity form?
(NB: Sean Vincent is the new team member apparently, the media spokesperson. Another Irish name, Sean.)
Vincent said that releasing the court dates doesn’t waive any rights Zimmerman has to have an immunity hearing, and indeed the defense may raise “Stand Your Ground” claims at trial. In addition, Zimmerman could seek immunity from civil claims at a later date.
If Fogen’s head was repeatedly bumped against rough concrete he’d have some speckled bruising / contusion, not small cuts. He got jabbed with Trayvon’s cell phone or he had an encounter with a sprinkler head, a sign, or a tree.
I dont think he will get immunity from Nelson because she understands crime, forensics, and evidence, and has seen numerous liars in her courtroom who fake and stage injury claims for either lawsuits or criminal sanction. Obviously a murder charge is a tough call and a desperate person would stage injuries and claims to try and avoid prison or potentially a death penalty conviction. Perhaps tampering with a jury, as Junior has already, will be their only hope, but anything other than a full vote is a hung jury and they can keep going at Fogenhats. The jury would be doing the people of Florida a disservice if they did not properly do their jobs because they obviously want to have a safe state, and Fogenhats makes it unsafe. I also do not think him rubbing in faces his donations will make him liked by jurors either.
‘The Great Pretender’
Papa, I just love your videos. Your talent is amazing. Hopefully the State has seen some of these videos and will use your ideas.
So some kid going home to watch the second half of the all-star game viciously attacked you from behind an invisible bush, right after giving away his ambush advantage, with no motive whatsoever
but YOU, you the guy heard on tape cursing him out for no reason whatsoever, you who finds yourself way off the path of your sanctuary shruck, who admitted to following said kid, you had no thing to do with the attack, you are an innocent bystander…
the absurdity of it all
The second one is particularly devastating.
George may suggest he slid his hand down his side, past the tiny gap made by Trayvon’s knee, to the gun grip protruding from the back of George’s hip; however, he can’t explain his miming the action. He may say his own legs were flat, not bent yada yada…and he put his legs together and made room…and on and on.
George will lie to the eleventh hour.
There is NO way that he can say Trayvon saw the gun; not with how dark it was and with the alleged straddling position. He will say that he THOUGHT Trayvon saw the gun.
Whether a jury will believe that… There is other evidence that will nullify George’s claim, perhaps: the soil on the hoodie and his pants.
Here’s a thought. if Trayvon was reaching for “the gun” how did FogenPhoole get to it…..wouldn’t Trayvon’s hand be in the way??? No DNA problems !! It seems to me that a “hand battle” would have occurred, both reaching into the same small crevice for a pistol and all.
According to GZ Trayvon slid his right hand between between his thigh and GZ’s body, behind his own back and under GZ’s hip. While Trayvon was in this not at all preposterous position, GZ decided not to use his free dominant hand to clock Trayvon in the unprotected face. Instead he slid his right arm downwards and extended it to pin Trayvon’s arm to his side, laughably unfavorable leverage be damned.
It can’t have happened any other way.
I know, right? It sounds completely ridiculous that Fogen claims Martin saw the gun and tried to reach for it, yet there is no DNA or fingerprints of Martin on the weapon or even the holster for that matter. Even if this was true and Martin was unsuccessful at getting the gun, I would still expect DNA or fingerprints to be on the holster or the handle of the pistol.
He “felt” Trayvon had seen the gun.
According to Osterman’s book, Trayvon “felt” the gun with his leg. Which might be a bit closer to reality, if he was in a close mounted position. But how GZ would know what someone else felt with their leg is unexplained.
Every additional lie the jury sees through will seal Fogen’s fate.
*Lied about victim looking suspicious
*Lied about stopping pursuit of the victim
*Lied about how altercation started
*Lied about head slamming
*Lied about MMA beatdown
*Lied about victim reaching for his gun
*Lied about victim straddling him
*Lied about reason for shooting victim
the list could go on and on…
Lied about Shellie being with him.Twice he almost let it slip in the beginning of the reenactment.I know it has nothing to do with the fight but why did he lie about that.
@pat deadder
I definitely understand what you are getting at. Many people researching this case do not believe Fogen was alone. Or at the very least, Fogen was on the phone coordinated the search for Martin with another person such as Taffe or Osterman.
I believe the prosecution usually tries to save the nail-in-the-coffin evidence for trial. That could be why nobody has seen or heard of Fogen’s cellphone records from that night. Fogen did not want to stay on the phone with the dispatcher while he hunted Trayvon down. It is quite possible he contacted someone after hanging up with the dispatcher.
Everything Fogen has claimed and said is all hearsay anyways
And it can even explained to the jury why it is hearsay
so if he cant submit it to be weighed, he gets nothing anyways
I don’t understand the concept of “hearsay”…. Explain it to me, please…
Simple, it’s an oral or written statement made outside the courtroom by a person (the declarant) that is offered in court to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the statement.
Example: GW’s statement that he killed TM is self-defense would be hearsay if offered to prove that he killed TM in self-defense.
Pursuant to the admission-by-a-part-opponent rule, the prosecution may offer any statement by GZ that might otherwise be hearsay and inadmissible.
Also, there are many exceptions to the hearsay rule.
Click on “Hearsay” in the right hand column under the heading “Categories” for articles I have written about the hearsay rule, admissions by a party opponent and exceptions to the hearsay rule.
Thanks. Will check out links.
@Professor. If GZ does not take the stand, how can the State get his Hannity interview admitted into evidence at trial?
Introduce it through the custodian of records for the show and have the lead detective comment on it before and after it is played.
Ahhh. I knew there had to be a way that the State can get that interview in court. BDLR is licking his chops about the Hannity interview.
Everything he told other people (family, Taaffe etc) would be hearsay if they came to give evidence about it.
Statements a defendant makes to the police are not hearsay. They are very much real and admissible evidence. They may be introduced by the police he made the statements to.
I believe all his statements will be used by the prosecution, to show how hard he tried to claim self0-deence and how many times he lied — in conjunction with the NEN call and other physical evidence to show none of his stories could be true.
Aussie said,
This statement is not correct.
All of the statements that the defendant made to anyone for any purpose, including the police, are hearsay and inadmissible, if the defendant offers any them at trial to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the statement.
However, the state may offer any or all of those statements pursuant to the admission-by-a-party-opponent rule because that rule defines statements by the opposing party as non-hearsay.
In other words, whether a statement is hearsay also depends on which party is offering the statement.
Therefore, the defendants statements are inadmissible hearsay, if offered by the defendant, but admissible admissions by a party opponent, if offered by the prosecution.
There also are many exceptions to the hearsay rule, including statements describing a present sense impression and excited utterances. Trayvon’s statements to Dee Dee are hearsay, if offered by the prosecution to prove the truth of the matter asserted. However, his hearsay statements that constitute excited utterances or descriptions of his present sense impressions are admissible hearsay pursuant to those two exceptions.
Go here to read articles I have written about the hearsay rule.
AHA!!! I think I see a trap BDLR has laid for MOM. I won’t post it here, so as not to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak.
At one point, GZ did say that he ‘felt like’ Trayvon saw his gun. In other statements, the teenager saw it and reached for it. According to what Osterman says he was told, Trayvon actually grasped the gun, but forensic analysis showed none of TM’s DNA on the gun.
“Feelings, whoa-whoa-whoa, feelings” (apologies to Barry Manilow) can’t be presented as a reasonable man’s justification for shooting a candy-carrying teenager in the heart. I bet Osterman coached ole Z to say that.
Yes indeedy…
I believe that was right after he said TM saw the gun. GZ modified and said either he “felt” or “thought” TM saw the gun. I think you’re right, it was “felt” George said…
Also, if Trayvon was smothering his nose and mouth (with two hands, because in thug school he flunked “smothering white guys” two years in a row) AND telling him to STFU, AND keeping his balance over a shimmying victim, he WASN’T looking at Fogen’s chubby little HIPS! He was focused on his face, to see if he was dead yet.
Yeah…lol…in thug school.
I wonder how Trayvon could have seen the gun in the darkness of the night and whatever shadows provided by the defendant’s body.
Especially as (iirc) it was in a holster that was tucked in his trouser waistband at the back!
Really? I had assumed it was on his right hip. Seems like he tucks his gun in his back waist because he is a wannabe undercover cop. If this is true, that completely seals it for Fogen. If the gun is under his shirt tucked in his backside, there is absolutely no way for Martin to see it if Fogen is on his back.
I think it was right to the back but IMBW so others may correct if the case.
Probably just behind the belt loop at the side of his jeans. That would be the most comfortable position anyway.
But that’s pretty much out of sight isn’t it… and of course it had to be ‘cos he had (or not) a CONCEALED carry!
Love the videos Papa!
When I started hearing Gloria Gaynor singing her song, I said, “What a great lead into the rest of the video”. Excellent choice of music.
What I think was the greatest thing about that brilliant video was the particular shot LLMPapa used of Judge Nelson’s face; she has an expression of absolute incredulity on her face. You can almost HEAR her thinking, “Don’t tell me you’re actually telling me what you’re telling me!”
fogens story is that Martin had such total control over him he was able to punch him over 30 times, to slam his head repeatedly onto concrete and tried to smother him using both hands, BUT like a phoenix rising from the ashes he is able to stop Martin from getting his gun, able to control Martin well enough to grab his gun and maintain control well enough to fire a direct shot to the heart from straight one!
so AFTER being beaten to within an inch of his life being totally unable to defend himself in any way for over a minute he suddenly is able to gain compete control!
that he had blood in his eyes and couldnt even see yet the picture taken a couple of minutes later shows no one speck of blood in his eyes and even near them…….
as i said one day ONE when i read fogens account his story is total fabrication, NOT possible, and an insult to any thinking person!
One of the largest problems for Fogen is he has absolutely no x-rays to back up his claims. The fact alone that he did not go to the hospital shows his story is completely bogus. If I was a juror, I would want to see the medical records from a hospital visit to confirm fractures, concussions, and that sort of thing. Instead, Fogen went to a doctor who told him his nose might be broken. He knew if he went to the hospital, they would say there was barely anything wrong with him. Then all the prosecution would have to do is subpoena his medical records to prove his injuries do not match his story.
I’m not saying Fogen can think that far ahead, but it is obvious that him choosing to go to a doctor over the hospital is absolute evidence that he did not have anything remotely close to life-threatening injuries.
Simple assault or a wrestling match does not qualify as a reasonable threat of great bodily harm or murder. I’m losing faith in Florida’s justice system. A man was recently acquitted for murder when he was getting assaulted in front of his child in a public place and pulled out his gun and shot the man multiple times. Multiple witnesses claim he fired more shots at the man when he was already wounded and on the ground. How is that not murder? It is one thing to shoot someone while being assaulted, but to dump your clip into them after they are no longer a threat is clearly murder.
I seriously don’t think jurors actually deliberate anymore. Instead they sit in the back room huffing paint fumes and thinking about their upcoming vacations.
It was a physician’s assistant, not a doctor, who told him it MIGHT be broken. The medical world is filled with folks willing to admit a nose might be consistent with a breathing instrument. Establishing a break requires a “might.”
I think one reason Team Fogen has made such a big deal over DeeDee’s medical records is to distract from Fogen’s records, or lack thereof. A.) It’s a distraction. B.) They’re trying to create tit-for-tat justification, except Dee-Dee never murdered anybody.
Dennis, I also think the vast majority of jurors work diligently to come up with just verdicts … from civil litigation over money to murder 1 cases.
Establishing a break requires a “might.”
Meant more than a “might.” (Oh, for an edit function on this blog.”
I’ve never had a broken nose, but everything I’ve researched on Google tells me it is pretty painful. This leads me to the conclusion that he did not have a broken nose, thus he did not go to the hospital.
Dennis, I don’t disagree with you at all on that point. I don’t think his nose was broken in the traditional sense at all … at least not by Trayvon on Feb. 26, 2012. Injury by gun recoil? Maybe. Deliberate injury later by one of his pals? Maybe. But he apparently never got any injuries verified by a true medical doctor.
My son had a broken nose, and I had to totally discard his shirt.
Dennis, I’d have to agree. Our defense laws are out of control. I prefer the British standard of not being able to use any sort of weapon unless you’re attacked with a weapon. They don’t take guns or anything else to a fistfight and it saves a lot of lives. Life is far too cheap here for my comfort.
He only went to the doctors so he could work. He never had any intention of seeking medical treatment/care for his “injuries” whatsoever. Can you imagine how much more foolish his supporters were if what little medical papertrail he does have didn’t exist?
Early on I got the opinion of a friend who does judo and mma. He’s also a somewhat moderate repub. Anyways he said if he had been in GZ’s place he would have gone to the hospital that night no matter what. If for nothing else than a speculation free record of the injuries he had.
Remember GZ was very quick to tell the cops, but NOT the EMTs abut Trayvon playing basketball with his head. He tries to play it rather meek and unknowledgeable about if he should go to checked out, but at the same time had no problem complaining about the supposed pain he was in.
GZ never intended for anyone to look closely at this. He thought it would “all blow over.”
We can’t forget fogen’s exchange with Det. Singleton when he was waiting for the VSA guy to come in and how he cried to her about not having “proper” insurance overage. That to me was a set-up and an excuse for not seeking ER medical attention the night before.
This leads me to when reading these Zidiot posts, they also make that excuse for him that fogen didn’t have proper insurance coverage.
You TAKE a LIFE because you are in FEAR of losing your life, yet you don’t fear for your life to seek immediate medical attention because you are in FEAR a medical bill?!!!
SpecialLady, — Would he not have had some sort of coverage via his employer? And if not, how was he getting all these prescription meds he talked about?
This is from the Altamonte Family Practice site where fogen went. They list their practice areas as Internal Medicine, Gynecology, Sports Medicine, Cyro Surgery, Immigration Physicals, Pediatrics, OMT (Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment), Dermatology, and Geriatrics.
He claims he went there for a return to work checkup but he never went back to work. While the PA does question him to see if he has any symptoms of a head injury (which he says no to all questions) they are not a full service type of doctor’s office. It does not appear they have X-ray ability. They fall more into a typical family type doctor and not a walk-in clinic. The PA says he needs to be seen by an ENT and he refuses and this is documented. She repeats fogen’s story and he tells her that the paramedics told him his nose was broken and I feel that she just went with the flow and hence the “likely broken”. She does not suggest he seek immediate medical attention for a head injury because she finds no evidence of a head trauma that would require it. She checks for bleeding in the ears and finds none contrary to Jr’s claim that he was bleeding from the ears. I had to research most of the abbreviations in the report but basically he denies having headaches, vision problems, gait problems, numbness, weakness, nausea (except when thinking about the event), and no bleeding in the ears.
I feel that he didn’t go to the hospital that night because they knew they would draw blood. Blood that might show something he didn’t want to come out. I feel that he didn’t follow up with an ENT, not because of insurance issues, but it was better to have everyone like his nose was broken then to have proof that it wasn’t. Just like he told the cops that he “really needed stitches” when the report states that sutures are not needed due to the well approximated skin edges (meaning the edges touch and the wound is closed). So he hides them behind those huge bandages so no one can see just how small his boo boos are.
Very well put… although it could be he managed to find and eat his can of spinach just in time!
That sounds like something Fogen would think!
you forgot the diapers! he was almost in diapers!
Looking at the two fighters I saw something I’d missed previously *shimmying would have caused GZ’s shirt to go down* NOT “rise up”
even if he shimmied caudally
even if he shimmied caudally?
Second time today you’ve sent me to Google, LOL
from memory, i think the very end of our spinal cord area is called the caudia equina, a bundle of nerves that controls some important bodily functions.
so shimmying caudially would be towards the feet direction
could be wrong on this but rather than google i enjoy challenging my memory.
you cranial=towards the head
caudal or caudad=towards the tail or feet
@lady2soothe
“shimmying would have caused GZ’s shirt to go down* NOT “rise up””
Just had a similar question with Xena but in the re-enactment GZ clearly explains how his body was on the grass with only his head on the footpath and that he shimmied to get his head off the path onto the grass. In my understanding that can only mean he shimmied downwards because shimmying upwards would have ended with both his head and arse on the path! That said, if he shimmied downwards his jacket can only rise up.
sorry forgot the end of the blockquote… 2nd para is my reply
Thank you kind sir… for the fix of course!
Just for chits and giggles, go up to vid #2, around the 15 sec mark, and listen to George say that “straddled on me with his FULL weight” part again.
Guess O’Mara is saying 158 lbs was enough to lock our killer in place, but not the super duper High Country lightweight jacket the FULL weight was straddled on.
Odd that…..
@ gbrbsb…. Good point.
GZ clearly explains how his body was on the grass with only his head on the footpath and that he shimmied to get his head off the path onto the grass. In my understanding that can only mean he shimmied downwards because shimmying upwards would have ended with both his head and arse on the path! That said, if he shimmied downwards his jacket can only rise up.
Okay that makes sense. Shimmying down would have hid the gun even further from Trayvon’s eyesight. Trayvon’s family jewels would have been sitting virtually on GZ’s face at some point meaning; how would GZ be able to see if Trayvon saw his *exposed firearm.*
“So I kind of shifted and squirmed my way out, not out from under him but like to where, cus the concrete was only, it was a sidewalk and it felt like he only had my head on maybe a quarter of the concrete and I could shift my head down onto the grass where he was slamming my head where it would him the grass instead of the concrete. When I shifted my jacket came up and my shirt came up and exposed my firearm. And that’s when he said, he sat up and look and he said “you’re going to die tonight mother fucker” (32:50 min. mark) And I felt him take one hand off my mouth and slide it down my chest and I just pinched his arm and I grabbed my gun and aimed it at him, fired one shot.”
So IMHO in order for GZ to grab the gun from under and behind his back and place it between himself and Trayvon he would have either:
a) bent his elbow, maneuver his hand/arm up, around and between Trayvon’s hip/waist, the inside of Trayvon’s forearm, and angle his wrist (quadruple jointed) with the butt of the gun essentially on his own forehead.
b) slid his hand/arm under the bend of Trayvon’s knee, therefore pushing Trayvon’s knee outward (and tipping Trayvon over) creating an open space to angle his wrist (double jointed) and place the butt of the gun, again essentially on his own forehead.
And I realized, um, my, my shirt came up and I felt him slide his hand toward my right side. blockquote>
c) which would have meant Trayvon would have had to reach behind himself to slide his hand toward GZ’s right side
And then there’s those pesky little things called forensics, trajectory, mathematics’ and ballistics’.
How could GZ have reached underneath himself, behind his back while lying on the ground? How could GZ have grabbed the gun when the pistol grip was facing outward? He would have had to twist his wrist almost all the way around (displacing Trayvon’s knee) GZ used his right hand so the barrel would have had to be whipped around or the gun would have been pointed at himself. Totally impossible based on GZ’s claim that Trayvon was sitting on his upper chest…… Everything GZ’s claims can be dis-proven by forensics.
I imagine the prosecution will most likely use Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) based calculations of wound paths and angles of trajectory which allows the ballistic expert(s) to analyze the trajectory in determining where GZ *REALLY* was and prove the *angle* of GZ’s hand in relation to Trayvon’s chest when he pulled the trigger to cause “the wound track passes directly from front to back” which means GZ shot Trayvon straight on and not at a prone angle as he claims.
Doesn’t work any which way you look at it from GZ’s point of view.
So, Trent Sawyer’s demonstration is right on target.
Don’t know if I posted this previously or not. If so, please forgive me for the duplication.
Exactly, so how could the gun have even been exposed. And with his head level or under the “family jewels” you’d think he would have at least tried a head butt or somepin. And worse, once shimmied down what part of GZ’s body was Trayvon bashing against the concrete or trying to smother? It can never add up however many times he tries to adapt his stories simply because it never happened the way he said.
Agreed, there’s absolutely no way any of his *stories* (lies) work.
OK lookahere, as someone who used to teach belly dance, let me just clue you in here. This is what woulda happened if Fogen had shimmied while Trayvon was beating him to death:
Trayvon: “Shut the fuck up” [as quoted by Fogen to Erwin]
Fogen: (shimmy shimmy)
Trayvon: Huh? WTF? Whatjoo think you’re doin’ homie, you for real? STOP THAT you’re killin’ me I’m about to laugh my ass off and without a ass, I can’t do shit! Man stop that shit HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHA [falls over laughing uncontrollably]…
Fogen: Gotcha! [Stands up and gets his gun out just in time for Tim Smith to arrive and arrest Trayvon Martin for laughing in public in a racist manner]
Whoops, accidently deleted the last blockquote after c)
@ Xena
I was one of Trents original followers before he switched from FB…I remember the day he posted this video. I’d forgotten all about it. I also remember some nasty vile person saying horrible things about him and there was a huge argument…. Anyway I obviously digress.
Guess at my age sometimes I don’t see things as clearly as I should till they’re pointed out to me. I think of shimmying as going up, daaaaa, (old dancing dies hard) makes sense GZ would be moving down. I posted again lower on the page a runningly long, probably boring post.
Anyway, thanks for sharing with me, it really is much appreciated.
love LOVE the second vid. I cannot wait for that to come up at the trial. It may be the only way to Z nation FINALLY acknowledge that his story is bunk. Then again probably not. I am actually surprised that no one has done a vid with two people actually breaking that part of things down, or maybe I just haven’t found it.
Still the defense is going to have one hell of a time showing how not only was it possible for Trayvon to see a gun from that position when GZ had moved his body DOWNWARD, let alone for GZ to effectively get that gun without dislodging Trayvon from that position or Trayvon who supposedly was so effective in keeping GZ from freeing himself and leaving, was unable to stop GZ from getting the gun.
Trent Sawyer has a demonstration video on his stateoftheinternet Youtube channel.
My theory? If you’re able to shimmy, you’re not pinned. Pinned is not being able to physically move your body, maybe only having your arms free to defend yourself. Also, how does anyone continue punching or bashing a head that is moving?
but shimmying can be so fun
The Shimmey
Yep, as GZ was shimmying DOWNWARDS that puts him travelling to underneath Trayvon’s legs and pelvis so what exactly was Trayvon smashing into the concrete and then trying to suffocate… the grass! Further, if GZ couldn’t use his arms to defend himself for some strange reason, surely he could have given a headbutt, (or a bite), in the place we all know it hurts big time and disables pretty swiftly!
@gbrbsb. Funny that at his re-enactment, neither the interviews, no representative of the SPD asked GZ if he shimmied up or down to get his head off the sidewalk.
Right, but if his jacket rode “UP” then there ain’t no other direction that would work!
@gbrbsb
Up is up, that is true. My focus is more on where Trayvon’s body would be after GZ shimmied. GZ’s demonstration conveys that his body was free from the waist up, which would mean that he shimmied upwards. In such case, Trayvon would need to lie flat on GZ to reach to his face to smother him.
Xena, I am not understanding you. GZ could absolutely NOT have shimmied upwards because in that case his jacket could not rise up to expose his gun. In the re-enactment he explains very clearly his head was on the footpath while his body was on the grass and that he shimmied to get his head off the concrete onto the grass. That gives only one direction, he shimmied down under Trayvon to get his head on the grass. I don`t know what demo you are referring to but according to the re-enactment perfectly he shimmied down under and to expose his gun that is the only way I can see it could be as shimmying up would have pulled his jacket down over his waist and not the inverse.
Xena, I am not understanding you.
Maybe it isn’t clear because my focus is that the SPD did not ask GZ which way he shimmied. I mean, we can use the most logical, such as you have, but it’s impossible for Trayvon to have seen GZ’s gun regardless of which way GZ shimmied. The most logical conclusion therefore, is that GZ did not have to, neither moved his head off concrete to grass. That’s another lie he told.
Yes, on that we are fully agreed… it just didn’t happen whichever way! If you ever watch the re-enactment again (iirc) it’s actually quite telling how he explains about his head only being on the concrete… I seem to recall the detailed explanation was prompted by something Serino said that GZ corrected to say that only his head was on the concrete.
Xena, EXTRA EXTRA
I posted downthread the link to ABC’s recent release of a clear recording lasting 5 mins of Crumps interview with DD as I only realised today that it nobody posted it here yet. Nobody seems to have seen my link while Diwaiter’s already got a post analysing it and TalkLeft haven’t stopped either. As you have more connections maybe you can spread the word quicker or we will be lagging behind!
http://tinyurl.com/bg3npz7
As you have more connections maybe you can spread the word quicker or we will be lagging behind!
What word would you like for me to spread?
When it comes to attorney Crump’s interview of DeeDee, I haven’t taken much interest. The reason is because BDLR interviewed DeeDee. Crump’s interview is not admissible at trial because the State conducted its own interview.
The other reason I’ve stayed informed, but not really involved in the perjury conspiracy, is because since DeeDee’s personal life is not on trial, whatever she said or didn’t say does not prove that GZ killed Trayvon in self-defense.
Reason 3 — the Zidiots are ignorant. Even if Crump coached DeeDee in some manner, T-Mobile did not make-up Trayvon’s phone records with DeeDee’s phone number calling him at times that were made-up before Crump knew that DeeDee exists.
Reason 4 — I’m getting a kick seeing West and O’Mara kick against the bricks wasting time, energy, resources and money running after Zidiot conspiracy theories. The more that Zidiots pursue and promote them, the less prepared the Feign Team is going to be at trial to defend GZ.
GZ can sit in prison for 10 years filing appeals on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel, only to result in a new trial to be convicted again.
Whoa Xena… I wasn’t expecting anything of you except to post the link as I just thought our bloggers might like to listen to the good recording and observe the goings on in TL, Diwaiter, etc. both for a laugh and to keep up to date with their ravings. I don’t have the following you have and nobody seemed to notice the link I put because a clear recording is interesting… I thought.
@gbrbsb. So, you think I have a following? LOL!!
No problem. You can write something for my blog as a guess writer and we can embed the video, or give me a few days and I’ll try writing a post about it.
@gbrbsb. I’ve saved the audio so if there is anything you want me to notice or focus on, let me know.
I posted downthread the link to ABC’s recent release of a clear recording lasting 5 mins of Crumps interview with DD
Interesting around the 2:10 mark.
@LLMPapa. That photobucket returned a page that requires an account to log-in. I don’t have a photobucket account. 😦
Well I guess if he shimmyed, he really is a child molester because trayvons “mid section” would have been right at zimmerman’s mouth!
@Erica
He sure would have been where you say, as I said before if he couldn’t use his hands to defend himself he had a couple of other opportunities right there… just shows what a liar he is!
@LLMPapa
Good spotting if as I think you are referring to her reference to the Plaza, or “another apartment”. Are you thinking, as I am now, that GZ might have been watching and following Trayvon from even before he entered RATL? Or more likely GZ followed Trayvon out of RATL to 7/11 and back again? That really would be big! Wonder if ABC have more recording.
Xena….If Trayvon had been straddling fogen, wouldn’t the knees of Trayvon’s pants have been wet and/or muddy from the wet grass?..and even from the knees down to the ankles of his pants? If fogen had been on the cement on his back and shimmied, wouldn’t his leather jacket have been scratched or marked from the rough cement? BTW…if fogen could shimmy his body, why wasn’t he doing anything with his arms to defend himself against the skinny kid?
@grey winter sky.
BTW…if fogen could shimmy his body, why wasn’t he doing anything with his arms to defend himself against the skinny kid?
Short answer to all your question is, because GZ lied. Nothing happened the way he describes. He gave that lie about spreading out Trayvon’s arms after he shot him in effort to mask any of his DNA on Trayvon’s sleeves, and also the debris on the toes of his boots. Still, GZ’s lies won’t help him because of the debris finding on Trayvon’s clothes, socks and shoes.
Xena….One other thing, had Trayvon been punching fogen swinging his arms to hit him, it would have caused his body to twist a bit…..causing his knees to dig into the ground even more. The grass/mud would have been embedded into the material of his pants by his knees. Did Trayvon have muddy knees?
No debris finding for either of their pants has been released to the public. Let’s face it — after the first several document dumps of discovery, anything that is not beneficial to GZ, O’Mara has sealed.
Xena said “after the first several document dumps of discovery, anything that is not beneficial to GZ, O’Mara has sealed.”
Exactly and the State has supported it to ensure the defendant’s right to a fair trial. Phone records, texts, emails, journals, etc. You know that it has to be bad for both sides wanting things sealed.
BINGO! Additionally, O’Mara has spent time forgetting that he is defending GZ in a criminal case filed by the State, by wanting to know what the FBI has on GZ. That gives reason to believe that discovery that has been sealed of GZ’s phone records, texts, etc., has O’Mara very, very nervous that it substantiates federal hate-crime charges against GZ.
The Zidiots are not reasonable people
I could show them a video footage with 100 witnesses verifying the footage and they would still deny it and say it is some huge controversy when the issue is just about average American folks, and the defendant targeting, stalking, chasing, terrorizing, and eventually killing a teenage kid within a span of about 8 minutes
They can not even accept the scientific fact of transfer which is based on old science of the term redhanded because when you commit murder you literally have blood on your hands
They can not accept the fact that Trayvon has no dna from Fogen on his hands, sleeves or cuffs so literally, Trayvon’s hands are clean and it is not possible to make that much contact with so much Fogen DNA without getting any transfer whatsoever
They can’t even accept gravity
Jun, How right you are, they are still convinced that Trayvon was 6’3″ tall even though the autopsy report states otherwise. They refuse to believe any scientific facts because fogen always tells the truth and never lies.
Z Nation will not have to acknowledge that the story is bunk.
They will never acknowledge that the story is bunk.
Their reliance upon, and attachment to, false stories forms the basis of their belief system. It does not require logic or any relationship to physical reality.
Malisha- and the wonderous thing about this faith is that it will carry them throughout the entire trial, remain intact in the face of irrefutable evidence and sustain them even when the guilty verdict is read. It will inform their outrage of an “injustice” done to a “fine, upstanding American.” It will galvanize their fury against “them” ( we know who we are). Like you said, there is no room for reason or reality. ‘Sigh’
may all the gods and goddesses bless you LLMPapa! video of nelson with ‘the floor is yours’ is priceless!
And the Buddhas and bodhisattvas . . .
NICE picture of those two guys showing EXACTLY what did NOT happen!
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Computer Game Development Glyndwr University, Wrexham Degree level: Undergraduate Awarded by: Glyndŵr University (Prifysgol Glyndŵr)
Rated first in Wales for overall satisfaction and teaching*, this course is designed to develop strong technical game development and project management skills to enhance your employability.
The team work closely with organisations such as UK Games Fund, Games Wales and BAFTA Cymru to ensure that our students always have access to cutting-edge industry related training and knowledge. The course is also fully accredited by British Computing Society.
We are home to the innovative Games Talent Wales programme and a UK regional Tranzfuser hub that is sponsored and supported by the UK Games Fund and UK Games Talent. Our business incubation centre is home to several award-winning student owned game studios.
With more than a decade of evolution behind it, students on this course will:
• develop the technical skills that underpin games design, programming and the technical game art pipeline
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This course is available to study this course with an Industrial Placement year BSc (Hons) Computer Game Development (with Industrial Placement) UCAS Code: CGIP
You can also choose to study this course with a foundation year BSc (Hons) Computer Game Development (four years including foundation year) UCAS code I620 or as a four-year Integrated Masters MComp Computer Game Development
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Year 1 introduces both theoretical and practical skills as you will work as part of a small game development team and learn the basics of production management along with building knowledge of 2D & 3D design and development. Maths and programming also play an important role along with an understanding of the hardware used for gaming and media.
You will also explore the broader context of game development and the critical issues facing the industry today.
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Year 3 further expands on the previous skills acquired, with a focus on professional quality and management alongside advanced practical skills.
The innovative final year group project is designed to deepen your understanding of your chosen role and responsibilities as a professional developer, further preparing you for the workplace. You will form a game development team and specialise in a technical role of your own choosing for a full academic year. You and your team will present the finished game at the annual game expo event attended by both members of the public and industry representatives.
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Archaeology and History University of Sheffield Degree level: Undergraduate
University of Sheffield has opted into the TEF and received a Silver award.
The natural combination of Archaeology and History allows you to merge the study of historical texts with the investigation of past material culture. In History modules, you will cover past societies from the late Roman through to the modern period, addressing political, social and cultural themes. In your Archaeology modules, you will deepen your understanding of the past even further through the study of the material record and world archaeology. You will also take part in practical archaeological fieldwork, with opportunities both in the UK and overseas, broadening your insight into significant historical issues.
You will be learning from academics who are experts in their field, in departments that are innovators in terms of their research and public engagement. This civic ethos extends to the work our students do too: help communities make sense of their origins by collaborating with academic staff on research projects, lab work and excavations, or work in local schools to encourage learning about the past.
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7.1 Unsettling Visuality
Imagining la chica moderna: Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico: 1917 – 1940 by Joanne Hershfeld
Francine A’ness | Dartmouth University
Hershfeld, Joanne. Imagining la chica moderna: Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico: 1917 – 1940. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008. 216 pages; 68 illustrations. $79.95 cloth, $22.95 paper.
The 1920s and 1930s in Mexico was a period in which the social, economic, and cultural landscape was shifting rapidly. Nowhere was this more apparent than in changing attitudes towards gender and sexuality. In Imagining la chica moderna: Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico: 1917 – 1940 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2009), Joanne Hershfeld examines the diverse range of images of “the modern woman,”—“la chica moderna”—that began to appear in popular visual culture during this period. Through historically situated, semiotic readings of advertisements for fashion and household products, movies, postcards, tourist brochures, and newspaper photographs, Hershfeld succeeds in making visible the forces that shaped and shifted gender ideologies during Mexico’s postrevolutionary period. She concludes that, during this time, Mexican women became modern “not simply through a rhetoric of post revolutionary nationalism,” which, she admits, did imagine and grant new roles and opportunities for women, but also “through participation in transnational, gendered, commercial discourses of everyday life” (10). It was precisely at the intersection of these two dominant discourses—one domestic, the other transnational—that diverse images of la chica moderna began to appear, each in their own way urging or enticing Mexican women to experiment with modern femininity, either through new forms of patriotic citizenship or through capitalist consumption.
Most studies of post revolutionary Mexico focus on government efforts to unify a divided country through the creation of a shared national identity. This shared sense of identity, founded upon a mythologized indigenous past and a shared sense of ownership in the revolution, was called mexicanidad. What these studies fail to consider, Hershfeld argues, is that the state-generated discourses of mexicanidad did not exist in vacuum; instead, they intersected constantly with the market and with those discourses attached to consumer products coming from Europe and the U.S. The arrival of these products—including Hollywood movies—was accompanied by advertising campaigns targeted to different sectors of the population. One important and growing sector at this time was middle-class women who, with the stability afforded by the postwar period, were enjoying greater independence and increased purchasing power.
Both the iconography and aesthetics of the visual material that accompanied consumer products circulated globally, often exposing Mexican women to forms of self-expression and identity formation quite different to those collective nationalist identities promoted by the state. For example, images of fashionable women in advertisements for new styles from Paris and New York played a key role in the creation of la chica moderna, as did the fashion and lifestyles promoted in Hollywood films. Understanding fashion as both a discourse and a cultural practice, Hershfeld reminds her readers that, regardless of how fashion was advertised, the clothes women wore and, moreover, the way they wore them in everyday contexts granted them a more active role in defining their femininity. In addition, with the invention of synthetic fabrics and the introduction of technologies of mass production, fashion styles once only accessible to the rich became available to increasing numbers of women. Fashion, thus, also had a democratizing effect on identity construction.
At other times, the gender ideologies circulating in the market—such as its promotion of cults to domesticity and hygiene—conveniently coincided with the state’s efforts to shape modern Mexican identities and to gender the post revolutionary experience. In both instances the home was demarcated as the “natural” space for women, and cleanliness and hygiene were equated with moral standing. This can be seen in images of la chica moderna that were used to sell labor-saving devices and household cleansing and beauty products. Despite her bobbed hair and short skirts, the ways in which la chica moderna occupied the gendered space of the home or the marketplace still defined her primary role as homemaker, mother, and wife. Therefore, while she was chic and seemingly new, in many instances la chica moderna was simply a refashioning of more traditional models of nineteenth-century femininity set within the context of a modern and more technologically advanced world. Likewise, images of working women in newspapers or films also tended to replicate old understandings of gender. Nonetheless, the very fact that women were being represented in the work place at all challenged these same understandings. Visual culture made working women visible, which undermined the popularly held idea—central to the cult of domesticity—that the public sphere was male and entirely separate from the female domestic sphere. By picturing women at work, visual culture showed women not only partaking in paid labor and production but also in the process of feminizing the workplace.
To counter the visual material produced primarily at the service of transnational consumer capitalism, Hershfeld examines in her final chapter the creation of the “modern domestic Other,” an alternative chica moderna constructed by both the state and domestic businesses to promote “Mexico” and Mexican products to markets both at home and abroad. These new, exotic feminine types—such as the Tehuana or the China Poblana—were really stylized and updated versions of 19th century representations (many of them imagined by foreign pens) of indigenous women and popular types. They wore traditional dress and were staged in exotic or picturesque settings. Not only was she used to sell a range of products from alcohol to toothpaste, but the domestic exotic also tended to dominate tourist publicity and postcards and even inspired nationalist fashion trends for Mexico’s cosmopolitan elite.
Hershfeld concludes that, when viewed together, the proliferation of images of la chica moderna during the 1920s and 1930s do not show us how real Mexican women lived in post revolutionary Mexico. Instead, they provide a map of how changing attitudes and social anxieties concerning modern femininity became embodied—literally fixed upon the body—in visual culture. Both prescriptive and liberating la chica moderna was an ideological construct. Nonetheless, she still modeled new ways of being in the world. As such, she created a productive space for individual women in their everyday lives to test traditional notions of femininity against modern ideals of independence and self-determination.
Imagining la chica moderna, a book rich with illustrations, carefully contextualized close readings of individual images, and clearly defined, theoretical language, is a wonderful addition to the growing canon of books on Latin American Cultural Studies. It will also be of great interest to scholars interested in gendering modernity, Mexicanists, Latin American and feminist historians, and a whole range of students of popular visual culture.
Francine A’Ness is Assistant Professor of Spanish at Dartmouth College and specializes in contemporary Latin American theatre and performance. She has published essays in Loss of Communication in the Information Age and Lucero: A Journal of Iberian & Latin American Studies. She directs Spanish-language theatre and is currently working on a book about Mexican playwright and director Sabina Berman.
Help secure the future of our fearless artists, scholars, and activists from across the Americas. Support the work of the Hemispheric Institute.
The Hemispheric Institute connects artists, scholars, and activists from across the Americas and creates new avenues for collaboration and action. Focusing on social justice, we research politically engaged performance and amplify it through gatherings, courses, publications, and archives. Our dynamic, multilingual network traverses disciplines and borders and is grounded in the fundamental belief that artistic practice and critical reflection can spark lasting cultural change.
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HeyLibrarianGal.com
Tag: fcc
#NetNeutrality and Libraries and corporate bs
We’re kind of angry about this over at Urban Librarians Unite. Here’s why –
The FCC is set to vote to eliminate net neutrality this December. Urban Librarians Unite joins the dozens of organizations denouncing this action. Open access to information and the unbiased dissemination of information is critical to democracy and education. The “Restoring Internet Freedom” proposed rulemaking of FCC Chairman Pai focuses on how the Internet flourished for two decades of “light-touch regulatory framework.” It didn’t flourish for Americans. During those two decades we saw the exponential increase in the digital divide that left rural Americans disconnected and we saw Internet Service Providers (ISP) interfering with their customers’ access to certain information.
We are just weeks away from an FCC vote tokill net neutrality. Only Congress can stop it.
If you’re a relatively moderate consumer of news and occasionally take a peek at social media, you may see a lot of threads and posts about #NetNeutrality, or #SavetheInternet — and it’s a big fucking deal.
So here’s the deal with Net Neutrality – the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) currently requires internet service providers to treat all online data equally. As in, they can’t charge more for highly trafficked sites, they can’t slow down service to others, provide preferential treatment to certain sites, or prioritize access to others — if it’s an ISP, they have to provide the same level of connectivity that is being paid for across all of the internet. This ensures that there is a level playing field for everyone on the internet.
(Disclaimer: that last statement is very generally speaking and in reference only to Net Neutrality — lots of other advantages do exist to companies and content creators online, but at the very damn least, access to their site and to another site that has less attention would be equal.)
Led by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, the Republican majority FCC now wants to roll back this order; they’re set to vote on it by December 14.
K. Not cool.
Want to know what that may look like?
Business Insider already drafted that up for us, with a bit of an in-depth look into how Portugal allows mobile data providers to handle their business. Basically, Meo, Portugal’s wireless carrier, charges for access to different apps on a tier
Portugal customers of MEO’s tariff pay for the proprietary apps, but for varying big name social apps, they have to cough up additional costs per month.
And all these big name apps? Our Net Neutrality ensures that they can’t pay off a provider to monopolize the market. Our Net Neutrality ensures a fair market for others to rise up and compete against these big names. Our Net Neutrality also ensures that people/consumers can access other avenues aside from these apps that tend to dominate the market.
It happened here. Without net neutrality, our access to applications varied with the network we were connected to. In 2012, AT&T blocked Apple’s FaceTime application for users connected to its network. Users were allowed to access the application once they connected to a different network. FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in re: Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet at 41.
And that’s just one example of how it reversing this order can turn out.
What if ISPs decide that certain sites don’t align with their political/religious/social views?
Without the Net Neutrality order, they could theoretically block access to sites like YouTube, Facebook, or even your own blog where you spew of these radical ideas of how libraries are important as fuck.
Or your digital portfolio, or your online resume…. Or your LinkedIn because there are certain companies there that they don’t agree with or haven’t paid a fee to them…
And on and on and on and on.
Net Neutrality means no blocking, no paid prioritization, no cherry picking which sites or apps get ‘fast lane’ access.
And for those assholes that say that this is all theoretical? Remind them that they’re eliminating the power of choice and they are basically making it legal for companies to silence your free speech and the free speech of others.
Don’t let this corporation-dominated FCC pull one over you.
Save the fucking internet.
via Net Neutrality and some FCC BS — Urban Librarians Unite
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Tag Archives: Accelerated Nursing Programs Near Me in Bremen AL 35033
Find Nursing Schools Near Me in Bremen AL 35033
How to Pick a Nursing Program near Bremen Alabama
Locating the right nursing school near Bremen AL may seem like a complex project, particularly if you have no idea what to search for in a good degree program. As you may presently understand, in order to practice as a registered nurse, you must obtain the appropriate education and training in order to become licensed. So it is vitally important that you study and evaluate the qualifications of each school you are considering before enrolling in your final selection. The fact is, too many prospective students base their decision solely on the price of tuition and the distance of the school. Selecting the least costly college or the one that is nearest to your home is probably not the best way to pick a nursing college. There are many essential additional factors to check into before you decide where to enroll in classes. But before we examine that checklist, let’s first go over what the function of a registered nurse is in our medical care system, together with the nursing degree alternatives that are available.
Registered Nurse Job Responsibilities
Registered nurses are the most extensive occupation in the medical delivery system. RNs practice in a large number of different Bremen AL medical settings, such as hospitals, private practices, outpatient clinics, nursing homes and even schools. Their primary duty is to aid doctors in the care of their patients. Having said that, the particular duties of a registered nurse will depend on their job or area of expertise along with where they work. A few of the functions of an RN may include:
Providing medications
Overseeing patients
Performing physical examinations
Coordinating care
Overseeing LPNs, LVNs and nurse aides
Informing patients and their families
Managing health records and charts
Nurses with a higher degree may have more high level job duties and responsibilities. Nurse practitioners (NP), for example, must hold a Master’s Degree and typically work more independently than their RN counterparts. They can administer primary or specialty care services, prescribe medications, and diagnose and treat common illnesses or injuries.
Nursing Degrees Available
There are several degree options available to become a registered nurse. And in order to become an RN, a student must attend an accredited school and program. A student can obtain a qualifying degree in as little as 2 years, or advance to earn a graduate degree for a total of 6 years. Following are some brief summaries of the nursing degrees that are offered in the Bremen AL area.
Associates. The Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) is usually a two year program made available by Alabama community colleges. It readies graduates for an entry level job in nursing in medical centers such as hospitals, clinics or nursing homes. Many employ the ADN as an entry into nursing and later earn a higher degree.
Bachelor’s. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) provides more comprehensive training than the ADN. It is typically a 4 year program offered at Alabama colleges and universities. Licensed RNs may be eligible to complete an accelerated program based on their previous training or degree and professional experience (RN to BSN). Those applying to the program might want to advance to a clinical or administrative position, or be more competitive in the job market.
Master’s. The Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) is generally a 2 year program after obtaining the BSN. The MSN program offers specialization training, for example to become a nurse practitioner or concentrate on administration, management or teaching.
Once a graduating student has received one of the above degrees, he or she must pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) so as to become licensed. Additional requirements for licensing change from state to state, so don’t forget to contact the Alabama board of nursing for any state mandates.
Online Nursing Schools
Attending nursing programs online is growing into a more popular way to receive training and earn a nursing degree. Many schools will require attending on campus for part of the training, and virtually all programs require a certain number of clinical rotation hours carried out in a local healthcare facility. But since the remainder of the training can be accessed online, this method may be a more accommodating solution to finding the free time to attend classes for some Bremen AL students. Regarding tuition, many online degree programs are less expensive than other on campus choices. Even supplementary expenses such as for commuting and study materials may be lessened, helping to make education more economical. And numerous online programs are accredited by organizations such as the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) for BSN and MSN degrees. Therefore if your work and household commitments have left you with very little time to work toward your academic goals, perhaps an online nursing program will make it more convenient to fit a degree into your busy schedule.
Questions to Ask Nursing Schools
Once you have selected which nursing program to pursue, as well as if to attend your classes on campus or on the web, you can utilize the following pointers to begin narrowing down your choices. As you undoubtedly are aware, there are a large number of nursing schools and colleges in the Bremen AL area and throughout Alabama and the United States. So it is essential to lower the number of schools to select from to ensure that you will have a manageable list. As we previously discussed, the site of the school along with the expense of tuition are undoubtedly going to be the primary two points that you will look at. But as we also stressed, they should not be your only qualifiers. So before making your ultimate decision, use the following questions to see how your pick measures up to the field.
Accreditation. It’s a good idea to make sure that the degree or certificate program along with the school is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting organization. Besides helping confirm that you receive an excellent education, it may assist in acquiring financial aid or student loans in Bremen AL, which are frequently not provided for non-accredited schools.
Licensing Preparation. Licensing prerequisites for registered nurses vary from state to state. In all states, a passing score is needed on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) in addition to graduation from an accredited school. Some states require a certain number of clinical hours be performed, as well as the passing of additional tests. It’s important that the school you are attending not only delivers a top-notch education, but also prepares you to meet the minimum licensing requirements for Alabama or the state where you will be working.
Reputation. Visit internet rating services to see what the evaluations are for each of the schools you are considering. Ask the accrediting organizations for their reviews also. Additionally, check with the Alabama school licensing authority to check out if there are any complaints or compliance issues. Finally, you can speak with some Bremen AL healthcare organizations you’re interested in working for after graduation and ask what their assessments are of the schools as well.
Graduation and Job Placement Rates. Find out from the RN programs you are considering what their graduation rates are as well as how long on average it takes students to finish their programs. A low graduation rate may be an indication that students were displeased with the program and dropped out. It’s also imperative that the schools have high job placement rates. A high rate will not only substantiate that the school has a favorable reputation within the Bremen AL healthcare community, but that it also has the network of contacts to assist students obtain employment.
Internship Programs. The best way to get experience as a registered nurse is to work in a clinical setting. Almost all nursing degree programs require a specified number of clinical hours be completed. A number of states have minimum clinical hour requirements for licensing too. Ask if the schools have a working relationship with Bremen AL hospitals, clinics or labs and assist with the placement of students in internships.
Looking at Nursing Schools near Bremen AL?
Bremen, Alabama
The Bremen community was founded with the name Empire in 1860. In order to prevent confusion with another Empire community in the state, the name was changed in 1879 by the town's first postmaster, James Macentepe. The name was chosen to honor the city of Bremen, Germany.[2]
Bremen is located at 33°59′40″N 86°58′12″W / 33.99444°N 86.97000°W / 33.99444; -86.97000. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the land area of the CCD is about 148.16 square miles (88.9 km2).
According to the 2000 census, the Bremen census county division (which also included Colony, part of Dodge City, and part of Good Hope) had a population of 8,198 with a population density of about 33.2/km2 (55.3/sq mi). There were 3,158 households and 2,488 families in the CCD. The racial makeup of the CCD was 92.6% White, 5.98% Black, <1% from other races, and <1% from two or more races. <1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The median age of the CCD was 37.3. 24.5% of the population were under age 18, 8.5% were age 18 to 24, 28.8% were age 25 to 44, 26.1% were age 45 to 64, and 12% were age 65 or older. There were 101.4 males for every 100 females in the CCD.
Enroll in the Right RN School near Bremen AL
Choosing the ideal registered nursing college is perhaps the most important first step to launching a new career in the health care field. There are a number of variables that you must consider when choosing a nursing school. These variables will be prioritized differently contingent on your current career objectives, lifestyle, and financial status. As we have highlighted within this post, it is important that you select an RN school and a degree program that are both accredited and have excellent reputations within the healthcare community. By using our checklist of qualifying questions, you will be able to develop a shortlist of schools to choose from so that you can make your ultimate selection. And with the right degree and training, combined with your dedication and ambition to succeed, you can become a licensed registered nurse in Bremen AL.
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This entry was posted in Alabama and tagged Accelerated Nursing Programs Near Me in Bremen AL 35033, Accredited Nursing Degrees Near Me in Bremen AL 35033, Associate Degrees in Nursing Near Me in Bremen AL 35033, How to Become a Nurse in Bremen AL 35033, Nursing Colleges Near Me in Bremen AL 35033, Nursing Programs Near Me in Bremen AL 35033, Online Nursing Degrees in Bremen AL 35033, Online Nursing Programs in Bremen AL 35033, Online Nursing Schools in Bremen AL 35033, RN Programs Near Me in Bremen AL 35033 on May 30, 2018 by Slim.
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Adam Hartzell on Curling
Two weeks ago I took a two-day jaunt away from Frisco Bay, down to Hollywood to watch six films at the AFI Fest. I got to see Pedro Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas introduce my favorite of their collaborations, Law Of Desire at the famous Grauman's Chinese (digitally- the only dint on my first trip inside this genuine movie palace), and see five films new enough not to have reached Frisco Bay yet, including the latest films by Chantal Akerman, Alexander Sokurov, Hong Sangsoo, and Béla Tarr. All four of these were excellent (Sokurov's Faust less decidedly so than the other three) and I hope and expect to get chances to re-watch them with local audiences some time next year, assuming local film programmers are wise enough to bring them to town.
I also saw the California premiere of Silver Bullets, one of the half-dozen features the prolific young director Joe Swanberg has completed since his third one Hannah Takes The Stairs played here nearly four years ago. If Silver Bullets (my own first encounter with his directing work) is at all typical, I can understand why he polarizes audiences (and perhaps programmers as well); though there's evidence of conceptual brilliance, it's overshadowed by a half-heartedness of execution that asserts itself as a visual style. Or perhaps in place of one.
I believe I keep track of the Frisco Bay screening scene well enough to assert that Canadian DIY director Denis Côté's exhibition history here is on track to becoming the mirror image of Swanberg's. If the latter's work has been absent from local screens after seeing his first three films brought to town, Côté has had a steady increase in global acclaim for his first five films, none of which have shown locally. Finally, he broke through when his fascinating short Les Lignes Ennemies screened earlier this year at Yerba Buena Center For The Arts (which has a terrific December-January lineup by the way). And this week (for only one and a half more days, "thanks" to the holiday Thursday) his latest feature Curling is playing New People Cinema. I saw it in Toronto last Fall, and can highly recommend it, but my friend Adam Hartzell is much more attuned to particulars of the cinema of Canada, so I'm proud to host his review here on my blog. Adam:
In my continuing project to companion books with films, I found reason to read André Loiselle's Cinema as History: Michel Brault and Modern Quebec before the San Francisco Film Society's week long run of Denis Côté's Curling at their new home in the New People theatre. The retrospective of director and director of photography Michel Brault's work at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley in March of 2006 made me a huge fan of Brault specifically and solidified my interest in French-Canadian cinema generally. Loiselle's book would have been required reading for that retrospective, but since it was published in 2007 by the Toronto International Film Festival Group, adding it to my personal syllabus was impossible without breaking laws of physics. So Loiselle’s excellent book on Quebec’s history and Quebec Cinema’s history as told through the work of Michel Brault became the reading rock I slid towards the house of the wider cinematic sheet that is Cote’s Curling.
Loiselle's argument is that Brault has "never ceased to reflect, and reflect on, Quebec society" (page 182) as consistently, prominently, and for as long as any other Quebec filmmakers. With a couple exceptions (which Loiselle notes being the topics of queer culture and the media panopticon that made themselves present in Quebec cinema of the 80's and 90's), Brault was involved in echoing and projecting every major aspect of Quebec history activating during his time behind the camera - from early commercial cinema (Little Aurore, the Martyr Child, on which Brault was assistant director to Jean-Yves Bigras) to the emerging direct cinema (Les Raquetteurs with Gilles Groulx and the classic Of Whales, the Moon and Men, with Pierre Perrault); onward to auteur cinema (Mon Oncle Antoine, directed by Claude Jutra); to the rise of feminist cinema (Scream from Silence, directed by Anne Claire Poirier); to delayed acknowledgment of non-Quebec, francophone populations in Canada 9Éloge du Chiac) and Quebecois minorities (Les Noces de papier, Paper Wedding); and finally to the shift from film to digital cinema (his 2002 film La Manic). Denis Côté's Curling reflects what appears to be a recent evolution of Quebec Cinema that Brault would possibly have touched on himself were he still making films - the sadness of the suburban, exurban enclaves of Quebec in the age of the post-peak oil slide, something that can resonate throughout similar establishments in North America.
Curling follows the claustrophobic and creepy disturbing life of Jean-François that he imposes on his 12-year-old daughter Julyvonne (played by the real-life father-daughter team of Emmanuel and Philomene Bilodeau). We are first exposed to the prison around both our characters when Julyvonne is told she has astigmatism and that she must have realized something was wrong by not seeing the chalkboard at school. It is here we learn she doesn’t attend school. And it is here that her father is brought into the frame and focus is retained on him while Julyvonne, in the center of the image, becomes slightly blurry, offering a wonderful moment of breaking the fourth wall so we can better identify with Julyvonne’s plight while metaphorically visualizing through an astigmatic image the askew view her father nests Julyvonne within. The rest of the film develops this dysfunctional world Jean-François has created for himself and his daughter while other individuals, such as his bosses and co-workers, try to pull him out of his paranoia and open up the world to him and his daughter. The title of the film relates to the brief moments in a curling club where Jean-François finally gets, as Côté puts it in an interview with Jason Anderson in the Fall 2010 issue of Cinemascope, “a spark in his eye”. Curling the movie extends the arguments in the book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community where Robert D. Putnam describes the decline in ‘social capital’ or the active civil engagement that makes for strong democracies, by having Jean-François working in a bowling alley and later discovering a brighter social world in the heavily lit dome of a curling club. “People ask me,” says Côté in that same interview, “’Why curling?’ Well, first of all, curling is a collective sport, so he could get closer to his community if he would curl.” Côté clutters this cinematic curling house with several stones obstructing Jean-François from making better choices for himself and his daughter, but it’s a different type of curling that finally further feeds the initial spark in Jean-François‘ eyes.
There is a striking similarity in the winter scenes of the abandoned economy of this Quebec town to the one we found in the excellent debut film The Salesman by Sébastien Pilote at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival, where it deservedly won the FIPRESCI Prize. Both these films highlight the ennui and socially-distant communities we have created through our cheap-oil-fueled, car-dependent housing developments beyond our denser, socially-networking urban centers. Marcel Lévesque (played powerfully by Gilbert Sicotte), as a successful car salesman, represents the person who thinks he’s benefited from this community that cheap oil built in The Salesman, whereas Jean-François is, from the very beginning, the self-perpetuating victim of this development of isolated housing. (After the visit to the eye doctor, Jean-François is actually ‘pulled over’ by a cop for not driving, as if being without a car is suspect. Whereas part of the plot of The Salesman is Lévesque pushing greater car dependency and financial ruin on a soon to be laid-off factory worker.) This is one of the developments in Quebec cinema that can resonate with those of us outside of Quebec who are experiencing the social isolation our suburbs and exurbs cause, either for ourselves, or for our elders who have retired within these cul-de-sac-ing mazes that falsely pass for community. And this is one of the developments in Quebec cinema Brault may have touched on were he still behind the camera in some way in the same way he chronicled the history of Quebec in the era of cheap oil.
Posted by Brian Darr at 22.11.11 0 comments
Labels: guest contributors, Quebec Cinema, SFFS Screen, travel
This weekend is the SF Film Society's annual Cinema By The Bay festival, a smörgåsbord of film screenings showing off the quality and diversity of Frisco Bay filmmaking, and culminating in an awards ceremony tomorrow honoring documentarians Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, Allie Light and Irving Saraf, impresario/filmmaker Joshua Grannell, writer/editor Susan Gerhard, publicist Karen Larsen, and the 50-year-old distribution institution Canyon Cinema. All exceedingly worthy honorees, and I wish I were available to attend the event tomorrow evening.
Not long ago I sat down for an interview with one of last year's honorees, the amazing, undervalued chronicler of music, cuisine, and the cultures encircling and encircled by them both, Les Blank. The interview was for an article to be published in the next issue of First Person Magazine, entitled "Radical Foods". When editor Betty Nguyen told me of this theme, Blank came to mind immediately as an ideal person to get involved. One of the most unique aspects of his filmmaking is his integration of food into the presentation of his films, as I experienced several years ago at a screening of his 1980 film Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers. Here's Blank's response to my question about the difference between "Smell-O-Vision" and "Aromaround":
Well, I've never used Smell-O-Vision. I use Smell-Around. Smell-O-Vision was, I believe, a patented system. When they first brought this concept out in the theatres I think they piped in smells. One theatre I think even had them under the seat. They had an exhaust fan to get 'em out, but they had trouble getting one smell out in order to make room for the next one.
John Waters had scratch and sniff cards. I didn't care for that myself. No one I know has the actual food being cooked in the actual theatre. When I'd screen Always For Pleasure and cook red beans and rice, I'd call that Smell-Around. If I was showing Yum Yum Yum or Spend It All, which has gumbo in it, I would call it Smell-Around too. But the garlic film, I'd always call Aromaround.
An elaborate version would be to take the pot of beans that hasn't been completely cooked yet. They're still in the small-making phase. Once you start cooking they let off their aromas and then, the aromas dwindle down, so the cooking beans don't really smell that much towards the end of the cooking period, but if you take a portion of the beans you're gonna be serving the public, and hold them back, then get 'em going to the point where they make the most smell, then you take that into the theatre, and one person carries the pot, one person stirs the pot, and the other person has a fan and they fan the fumes into the audience. You walk all the way around the theatre so everyone sees this whole operation. during the part of the film, where the film is being cooked or served, or in the cajun films, there's the gumbo.
With the garlic film you put toaster ovens in the front or the rear of the theatre, and then you turn on the oven to 350 degrees. If you turn it on in the beginning, the smell will be full strength about halfway through, about 20-25 minutes in. I like it best when it hits its peak when Alice Waters says "can you smell the garlic?" The audience might yell back. It might laugh, or sigh.
To read more from my interview with Blank, you'll have to find a copy of the magazine. I'm not sure of all the locations where it will be sold as yet, but it will certainly be available at the issue launch event this Thursday night at St. John's Church. The ticket price includes a dinner prepared by issue co-editor and artist chef Leif Hedendal, an edible sculpture presented by artist Leah Rosenberg, and Les Blank in attendance with a screening of Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers. Hope to see you there!
Posted by Brian Darr at 5.11.11 0 comments
Labels: Cinema By The Bay, documentary, First Person Magazine, interviewing, Les Blank, SFFS Fall Season
Adam Hartzell on Three Upcoming Documentaries
I'm slowly recovering from the busiest time of my year, Halloween. I haven't blogged in weeks, haven't tweeted in days, and am just about to get back into my cinephile swing. Today's the right timing, as tonight the new November-December Pacific Film Archive calendar launches with The Unstable Object, the first of four Alternative Visions screenings Wednesdays this month. The Castro Theatre screens four masterpieces in a Nick Ray centennial mini-fest today and tomorrow, and the Roxie chimes in with a fifth Ray (Johnny Guitar) Sunday as part of its Not Necessarily Noir 2 series. And the SF Film Society closes French Cinema Now tonight and opens Cinema By The Bay tomorrow; I'm intrigued by the screening of the 1926 silent The Bat and the films by Lawrence Jordan, Carolee Schneeman, etc. playing the Canyon Cinema spotlight. But my friend Adam Hartzell has just added three more upcoming films to my to-see list, each sampled at the Mill Valley Film Festival last month. Here, Adam writes on the discoveries made in his cinemagoing travels:
In order avoid adding to both our financial and carbon footprint debt, my wife and I have been limiting our plane-dependent vacations to one a year. And we never travel by car anymore. But we still long to 'get-away'. So we've been venturing around the Bay Area, to places that can be reached by ferry, train, or bus. And many of these advanced 'stay-cations' have been for film festivals. We've taken Amtrak to Sacramento for the French Film Festival where we got to see Alex Deliporte's Angèle & Tony and the Audrey Tatou vehicle Beautiful Lies before San Francisco French Cinema Now attendees did this past week. It was also in Sacramento that we got to see the wonderful scene where Je t'aime . . . moi non plus is first heard by Serge Gainsbourg's record company in Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life that opened at the Embarcadero this past weekend. We've also made the Tiburon International Film Festival an annual trip since it's such a green convenience to walk off the ferry right smack dab into the festival.
The Mill Valley Film Festival makes it a bit more difficult to travel to on a green stream. They do provide a shuttle from the San Rafael and Mill Valley venues, but we chose films showing in Mill Valley and there wasn't a direct bus from the Larkspur Ferry as far as we could tell, so we grabbed a cab to get to Mill Valley for our overnight stay. (We did take the shuttle to San Rafael in order to take Golden Gate Bus back, however.)
Although we didn't plan it this way, all three of the films we caught at MVFF will be released in San Francisco before the year is out. Coming to the Balboa December 2nd will be Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey's Eames: The Architect and The Painter. I had heard about the Charles and Ray Eames's marriage and professional partnership in a past podcast (the name of which escapes me), so I was ready for the most revealing aspect of Cohn and Jersey's documentary; that is, how important Ray Eames's work was to the success of their designs. They were a couple speeding past the Zeitgeist of the 50's, having to negotiate the respect Ray wanted and Charles wanted for Ray within the patriarchal narratives demanded of the times. The television clip where the hostess can't seem to integrate the female half of this couple is a very valuable moment of archival retrieval. Eames: The Architect and The Painter is an example of the value and necessity of what is often called 'revisionist history', a term sadly intended negatively by too many mindless talking heads. Much history is 'revisionist history' in that it is the applying of recently excavated information to create a new narrative that is hopefully more representative of what actually happened and why. In this way, Eames: The Architect and The Painter brings a lathe to refine the record of the impact of the Eames studio. It's no longer just Charles who gets a seat at the table since he wasn't alone in the creation of those seats and tables.
Our Saturday morning show, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey, was disappointingly lacking in the young folk hoped for as part of the DocFest just past or the Lumiere in SF or Rafael Film Center in San Rafael come December 16th. Or, as my wife suggested, perhaps the kids didn't want the magic of Elmo ruined by seeing the man behind him. The man that brought a voice and aesthetic to Elmo that no other puppeteers were able to bring, Kevin Clash, definitely makes an effort to move his body away whenever he meets kids in real life, as if his contortions are abracadabra gesticulations maintaining the magic. The film is about a dreamer, a geek picked on at school, who works hard at his craft and eventually makes his way to the big leagues as well as the respect of his peers. His parents support is endearing and tantamount to Clash's success, as is the public funding that contributed to Clash's career trajectory. Besides the public television funding that made Sesame Street successful along with the massive research and talent that was part of the Children's Television Workshop that Clash became a part of, military research has a place to play in a particularly puzzling aspect of professional puppetry for young Clash. (I'm going to be vague about it to allow for the pleasure of that reveal.) The public money behind Elmo provided opportunities for artists and researchers to leverage their interests, skills, talents and dreams, resulting in tremendous benefit for individuals, communities and economies. If you're cynical to the joy Elmo has brought to so many children, Elmo did, after all, do more than tickle the economy in all the ancillary products sold.
As much as I enjoyed the Eames and Clash documentaries, the best film I saw at MVFF will possibly be the best film I see all year. Judy Lief's Deaf Jam is a celebration of American Sign Language poetry that doubles as a primer of Deaf Culture, triples as a personal story of Israeli and Palestinian friendship, quadruples as a snapshot of the economic impact of our immigration law, and multiplies as many, many other things. This is truly a beautiful, powerful film, providing a mesmerizing experience that I have not had in a theatre for a long time. Lief's dance background is clearly on display in her framing of the hand, body and facial movements that make up the ASL equivalents of phonemes, words, and sentences. She gives us a precise primer on ASL Poetry and thrusts us into the world of ASL Poetry performance by taking the text of subtitles and swirling them around in the translation with such vibrancy that it truly works, rather than coming off as a gimmick. This effort to struggle with how to demonstrate the vitality of ASL through translation even includes a segment where the piece is left respectfully un-translated.
Deaf Jam's main subject Aneta Brodski is that charismatic individual many documentarians hope to capture. When we hear the immigration issues she runs up against, you can't help but see how the obstacles financially imposed upon Deaf folks will hit her even harder. Hopefully she will be able to negotiate the college education and later employment she deserves in spite of these obstacles, but you do worry that such a vibrant spirit might be hardened, if not squelched, considering what she will be forced to maneuver around in the future.
Screening in a truncated form as part of the Independent Lens series on PBS networks on Thursday November 3rd, Deaf Jam is an example of the tremendous value film festivals can provide through the different lenses they focus onto the world. (And Deaf Jam is another example of the huge benefits provided by public funding - thank you, ITVS!) Even with the chain of transit options we have to step on to get there, MVFF has consistently been a festival worth the journey.
UPDATE 11/3/11: I've just learned from Adam that Eames: The Architect and the Painter will also be opening at the Elmwood in Berkeley and the Rafael in Marin on December 2nd, the same day it comes to the Balboa. I'm glad this documentary is going to be spreading out to various Frisco Bay venues. Is it too much to dream that one or more of them might track down a print of one of Charles & Ray's own wonderful short films (Powers of Ten, Atlas, Blacktop, etc.) to screen prior to the documentary feature?
Labels: Balboa, Canyon Cinema, Castro, documentary, French Cinema Now, guest contributors, Lumiere, MVFF, PFA, Rafael, Roxie, SFFS Fall Season, travel
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Edo blames Wednesday’s flood on shoddy NDDC job
By Michael Egbejule Benin City
[FILE] Godwin Obaseki.<br />Photo: Twitter/GovernorObaseki
Edo State government has sympathised with victims of the flood that wreaked havoc in the state, blaming the devastation on the shoddy job done by contractors of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The Wednesday flood’s impact was felt most at Apostolic Street, Off Sakponba Road, Benin City.
Speaking to journalists after inspecting the affected areas, Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Duties, Yakubu Gowon, said: “NDDC did a bad job while asphalting the road in the area, as the manhole that ought to take water out of the area was blocked.
“I call on them to collaborate with the Ministry of Infrastructure to ensure that a good job is done when constructing roads in the state. This will help us to develop the state and the people will enjoy the dividends of democracy.”
Commissioner for Infrastructure, John Inegbedion, who was part of the state government’s delegation, frowned at the shoddy job done by the NDDC contractor, which he said caused the flooding in parts of the state.
“The NDDC engineer in charge of the road constructed at Apostolic Street did a poor engineering job; it was a poor project. The flooding is man-made, as natural waterways and the moat were blocked. Water, naturally, will find its way; hence the destruction we saw on Wednesday.”
Meanwhile, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have visited the scene of the flooding to take stock of the damage, assuring those adversely affected of relief materials to cushion the impact of the disaster.
Speaking on the destruction of property at Victor Uwaifo Museum along College Road, Gowon expressed concern over the destruction of artefacts and monuments at the museum, which has been listed as one of the sites for the forthcoming National Festival for Arts and Culture (NAFEST).
EdoFloodNAFESTNDDCNemaYakubu Gowon
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Home Gun Articles SAA: Cimarron Thunderstorm Thunderer And New Sheriff
SAA: Cimarron Thunderstorm Thunderer And New Sheriff
Josh Wayner
A blend of modern and classic, the Cimarron Thunderstorm Thunderer and New Sheriff are ideal for new-wave gunslingers.
What Makes These Modern Single-Action Army Revolvers Sweet Shooters:
Both have 3 1/2-inch barrels
They come available in .45 Colts, .44-40 and .38 Special/.357 Magnum
The Thunderer has a stainless-steel finish, the Sheriff is blued
The revolvers prove quick and accurate
There’s something that lies deep in the heart of every true, red-blooded American that can hear the call of the Old West. This is not something that everyone can sense in our modern age, but it draws the listener in—not just in mind, but in body. Reliving the tales and exploits of our heroes is only possible when you hold the same talismans they carried.
Cimarron Firearms has just what you need to feel right at home on a dusty street on your way to some dim, dirty saloon: the Cimarron Thunderstorm Thunderer 3½-inch stainless .45 Colt and the New Sheriff Model 3½-inch .45 Colt.
The two guns featured in this article are a blend of modern and classic. The materials might not be exactly the same as the guns of yesteryear; however, the function and handling are the same or better.
When people think of the Old West, the first thing that comes to mind for most is the duel in the street, where two men—sometimes rivals equal in just cause and other times, good and evil—face each other down.
Left to right: Armscor 255-grain SWC, Sig Sauer 230-grain V-Crown JHP and Black Hills RNFP. These days, .45 Colt ammunition varies a great deal. Modern options, such as the Sig Sauer V-Crown, allow exceptional performance for your classically styled six-gun.
These two Cimarron guns are perfect for the gunslinger: short, fast and deadly accurate.
Fast on the Draw
The classic tale has been repeated so many times that there are countless movies and songs written about it. Holstering one of these Cimarron revolvers makes you think of the Ranger in the Marty Robbins song, Big Iron: A brave Arizona Ranger kills a terrible outlaw named Texas Red. The song narrates a truly American story in which justice is served and evil is vanquished.
But just how did that Ranger get so fast on the draw?
Single-Action Army Revolver
The Old West was loaded with custom guns, but the quintessential firearm that surpassed all of them in fame was the Single-Action (SAA) Army revolver. The original SAAs were designed for military service in the era immediately following the Civil War. They saw combat across the West—most notably when they failed to avail George Custer at the Little Bighorn.
A fixed firing pin is present on both revolvers in this article. Note that it’s best to carry hammer-down on an empty chamber due to the risk of an accidental discharge.
As is true of most innovative and successful designs adopted for military service (such as the 1911, M16/AR-15 and, most recently, the newly selected Sig Sauer M17), civilians grab on and make it their own thing. The arms issued by the military are often designed around some rather arbitrary goalposts that don’t concern civilian end users.
The original SAA in military service had a 7½-inch barrel that was much too long for the discerning quick-draw artist or someone looking to defend themselves on the street. The revolver came in at 13 inches in overall length but was capable of launching a 250-grain bullet at just shy of 1,000 fps with original .45 Colt black-powder loads.
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While the military performance was excellent for the day and the type of fighting that was experienced, the benefits of the military SAA didn’t translate much for the civilian, who had need for a more compact, faster gun for close quarters and ease of carry, just as civilians do today. It could easily be argued that many a former cavalryman carried his 7½-inch gun, but the art and style of close-quarters gunfighting demanded something effective across the poker table, not across a battlefield.
Video: Choosing A Big-Bore Revolver Holster
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The ‘Shopkeeper’
The earliest models that featured such short barrels were nicknamed the “shopkeeper” and lacked an ejector rod. While it is certainly possible that short-barreled revolvers were available with ejector rods at the time, the factory guns from Colt didn’t have one. Today’s shooters would shy away from a revolver with no means of quick ejection, so the Cimarron revolvers discussed in this article have an ejector rod that allows the case to be poked out—but it won’t expel them completely from the chamber as would a longer rod.
Cimarron does a great job with its color case-hardening. While not an exceptionally expensive gun, the New Sheriff is certainly an eye-catcher.
I found that simply tilting the revolvers at a slightly downward angle and then quickly tapping the ejector reliably kicks the fired brass all the way out … at least in most cases.
The Still-Relevant .45 Colt Cartridge
Both revolvers are chambered in .45 Colt. However, there’s a variety of other calibers available, including .44-40 and .38 Special/.357 Magnum. The choice of .45 Colt is both time-honored and practical in that while it was probably not the most common SAA chambering of its day for civilian use, it is historically and culturally relevant and is in ready supply today, where other classic chamberings are not.
The .45 Colt is a powerful cartridge, but it’s quite mild when other modern rounds are considered. While many readers might wonder who would carry or shoot a .45 Colt with a short barrel, it should be noted that a couple of the most popular revolvers from the last decades have been the Taurus Judge and Smith & Wesson Governor, both of which are chambered to fire .45 Colt and .410 shotshells out of 2.75-inch barrels. By comparison, the barrels on the Cimarron revolvers are long.
When considering .45 Colt loads for these two revolvers, many people will look to cast lead, but there are great jacketed options to consider as well.
For this article, I tested three different .45 Colt loads that are similar in some ways but wildly different in others. The three loads came from Black Hills Ammunition, Armscor and Sig Sauer. Each of them represents an era in technological development that’s helped the .45 Colt remain relevant in our modern era.
The Black Hills 250-grain RNFP Cowboy load is a classically modeled cartridge about as close to the original black-powder round you can get from a mainstream manufacturer. The bullet design is a typical round-nose flat-point; and, it has, over the course of the thousands I have fired, proven to be among the very best available for any gun chambered in .45 Colt.
The average velocity for the Black Hills load between the two Cimarron revolvers was 739 fps, with the velocity advantage of 5 fps going to the stainless Thunderstorm Thunderer. This load was the most pleasant to fire and the most accurate in general in both revolvers. It should be noted that while not quite as powerful as the original .45 Colt loads from the late 1800s, it’s extremely comparable and will deliver excellent terminal performance and penetration. Bullet technology has certainly moved on, but the good, old lead solid has never lost its abilities over time.
The next load was the Armscor 255-grain SWC. This ammo performed very well in both revolvers but delivered the slowest overall velocity (at an average of 721 fps), with a small variance again going to the Thunderstorm Thunderer in velocity. For all purposes, the two performed identically with this ammo.
This load features a semi-wadcutter profile. Nevertheless, where the profile of the projectile shoulder is concerned, upon further inspection, it resembles a Keith-style bullet. Keith-style bullets became popular in the mid-20th century as a means to improve the abilities of hunting revolvers. Elmer Keith has long been considered the “father of handgun hunting” in America, and the bullet style bears his name.
Armscor does a good job delivering quality ammo at low cost, but I found that the low speed hindered an otherwise great load that could, if it were a bit faster, be quite suitable for hunting and general outdoor use. Recoil was very low, and I had no issues putting lead on steel at any distance the guns were tested at.
Sig Sauer is new to the ammunition scene and has been making tremendous waves in many arenas. It seems that, to the ire of many legacy companies, Sig just can’t lose a contract these days; and, with its P320/M17 and P365 designs, it’s been showing Glock and others all around the world that there’s a “new sheriff in town.” Recently, Sig released CMP-grade ammunition for the .30-06 Springfield that features a 175-grain Sierra MatchKing bullet and is safe for use in the M1 Garand and 1903 Springfield rifles.
So, why is it that a progressive company such as Sig is taking risks on old news (the .30-06 and .45 Colt)? The answer lies in what’s at the heart of American shooting culture and its traditions.
The .45 Colt is as much a part of American culture as apple pie, and Sig was wise to invest, realizing that future generations will grow up with the company’s products front and center in military service and in the public mind.
Sig’s 230-grain V-Crown JHP is a jacketed hollow-point that takes advantage of Sig’s advanced technology and manufacturing abilities. The bullet is designed to reliably expand in a variety of mediums and will deliver said expansion from short barrels, such as those popular on .45/.410 carry guns.
The modern construction of the Sig load makes it seem somewhat unnatural when loaded in a classic SAA, but the performance is stellar, and it makes for a serious self-defense load if someone decides to carry a gun chambered in .45 Colt. The velocity generated by the 230-grain V-Crown was 775 fps average from both revolvers—with a surprise velocity advantage given to the New Sheriff: 15 fps.
Accuracy with the .45 Colt in an SAA revolver is something that might elude modern shooters. The sights on both these guns are non-adjustable, with the front sights being fixed blades and the rear sights being notches machined into the top of the frames. Point of aim varies for each individual gun and load. The New Sheriff shot to point of aim at 15 yards but shot low at every range inside that. Group sizes for the New Sheriff were consistent, with all three loads producing identical accuracy averaging 4.5 inches at 25 yards for 10 shots off a rest.
The Thunderstorm Thunderer was a bit different and shot low and left at all ranges. Filing the front sight to raise point of impact is something that can be done to alter this, but it’s best done with a load that you want as a primary for competition or the outdoors. You wouldn’t be at an advantage to make permanent adjustments unless you’ve settled on a given load.
About the Revolvers
Despite sharing the same barrel length and chambering, the New Sheriff and Thunderstorm Thunderer are very different guns with very different purposes, but each has its own way of being fast and lethal.
The New Sheriff has a full-sized grip made of walnut. The texture is smooth, and the finish is shiny and pleasing to the eye. I have large hands and found the grip to allow for a better purchase on the revolver under recoil. When hands get sweaty and temperatures rise, the smooth grip can get a bit slippery.
The hammer of the New Sheriff sports a traditional spur, and the lockwork of the revolver is traditional SAA. Trigger pull is light and crisp. There was the slightest amount of drag in the first 100 rounds or so. Nevertheless, this smoothed out with time.
An interesting point about the New Sheriff is that the frame is the Old Model P style. This means that the gun has a screw in the frame holding the base pin in. This style dates back to the first SAA revolvers in the early 1870s. Most modern SAA revolvers have the spring-loaded pin release common to models classified as “pre-war,” which were made from 1896 to 1940. (The Thunderstorm Thunderer has a pre-war frame for reference. The pre-war style is much easier to take apart, and there’s no risk of damaging the frame.)
The New Sheriff has a number of minute features that make it an exceptional gun for hard use. The finish of the gun is color case-hardened on the frame and hammer, while the cylinder and barrel are blued. The finish on my sample gun was even and well-applied. A recoil shield is present in the face of the frame. This feature adds strength to the frame and helps prevent deformation of the firing pin hole by dry-firing.
Overall, the New Sheriff saw about 1,200 rounds for this article—and there wasn’t a single failure to fire. I considered it to be among the fastest and easiest-to-point revolvers I’ve ever tested. The revolver was not cleaned at all during the entire testing; even so, it showed no problems. Care needed to be taken to prevent the screws from backing out, but a little bit of thread locker can take care of that should you desire.
If you’re looking for a fast-handling, classically styled .45 Colt that won’t break the bank, this gun has my recommendation. (MSRP: $566.32)
I would classify the Thunderstorm Thunderer as a modern gun in several respects. The grips are a “Doc Holliday”-style bird’s-head made of checkered walnut. The grip is comfortable and quick to handle, but I found it to be a little bit too small overall for precision shooting. Shooters with smaller hands or those looking for a gun that’s easier to conceal will enjoy this feature.
Mounted shooters will be happy to know that the Thunderstorm Thunderer is Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association (CMSA)-approved. The revolver has a lowered, widened hammer spur and an action job that lightens trigger pull, along with the force and effort needed to pull the hammer to the rear.
Trigger pull was much lighter than on the New Sheriff, but it wasn’t quite as crisp. Instead, it had a much more gradual pull that is preferable to action shooters looking for fast hits and not ultra-tight groups. This means that the Thunderer is exceptional for one-handed shooting. I found it to be faster to deploy from the holster and get lead on target than the New Sheriff … but only marginally so.
I fired 900 rounds through the Thunderstorm and didn’t have any significant issues with it—aside from a minor deformation of the firing pinhole. The revolver benefits from complete stainless steel construction, making it very durable overall. It also benefits from a hardened-steel recoil shield which, while somewhat unnecessary in an all-stainless gun, prevents burring around the firing pinhole.
Accuracy with the Thunderstorm was on par with that of the New Sheriff, but the bird’s-head grip made it difficult for me to print tight groups at 25 yards. Average accuracy was, again, equal for each of the three loads, tested at 5.3 inches for 10 shots at 25 yards. Point of impact varied slightly, with the Black Hills load shooting closer to point of aim than the Sig and Armscor loads. (MSRP: $975)
Shooting fast from a draw is a pleasure with both guns. There’s something so satisfying about spinning the cylinder on your Cimarron SAA and squaring up with some “outlaw.” Drawing from the hip and ringing steel put you right back in the Old West.
There are many types of SAA revolvers out there today, but not all are equal. If you want the best of the Old West, Cimarron has you covered.
The article originally appeared in the August 2019 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Single-Action Army
❰Video: Basics Of Strong-Hand Only Shooting
What To Do When Your Rifle Absolutely Hates All Factory Ammo?❱
Josh Wayner is a contributor to Gun Digest the Magazine.
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Private walking tour to Mijas from Malaga or Marbella
Home / Málaga / Private walking tour to Mijas from Malaga or Marbella
Admire the most emblematic attractions of the picturesque village of Mijas
Visit the Ermita de la Virgen de la Peña, a chapel made of rock that offers both views of the village and the coast below
Take a famous donkey tour through the village
Discover the Bullring, the only square bullring in Spain
Spend a half day in the picturesque village of Mijas. Perched in the mountains above the coast, this charming village is a cluster of whitewashed buildings nesteld into the mountainside. Mijas offers a glimpse of village life with its narrow cobblestoned streets and whitewashed buildings.This is the perfect example of an old Spanish village on the coast that has managed to retain its old world charm.
You will visit the Ermita de la Virgen de la Peña, a chapel made of rock that offers both views of the village and the coast below. Wander through Mijas with its craft shops and take a famous donkey tour through the village.
The Parroquial Church is located in a park with lovely views of the coast, and on a clear day, you can see straight across the Mediterranean to Morocco. The Bullring, located just across from the church, is the only square bullring in Spain.
Those who are fit, can walk up the narrow streets through the neighborhoods to experience true village life. Take time to sit in a cafe and have a drink, or enjoy one of the many restaurants in Mijas.
Private driver/guide (in English or Spanish)
Complementary bottle water
Entrace fee to museums and bull ring
Departure from your hotel, apartment or cruise ship terminal
Minimum of 2 and maximum 6 participants required (prices per group)
Departure Time: recommended 9.00am or at your convenience
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Explore the sites that set this amazing city apart from its neighbors on this 3-hours walking tour a...
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Foundations of Information Privacy and Data Protection
Peter P. Swire, CIPP/US, and
Kenesa Ahmad, CIPP/US
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Interview with Sinclair Nutting
ANuttingS170222.mp3
Sinclair Nutting Grew up in Canada and worked on the family farm before he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He flew operations as a rear gunner with 405 Squadron. After the war he emigrated to Australia.
Jean Macartney
02:16:42 audio recording
ANuttingS170222
England--Yorkshire
Ireland--Dublin
JM: This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Jean MacCartney. The interviewee is Sinclair or Clair Nutting. The interview is taking place at Mr Nutting’s home in Banora Point, New South Wales on the 22nd of February 2017. Now, Clair, you’ve written a book called, “A Piece Of Cake,” which documents a lot of your experiences but even so we’ d like to go through some aspects of those and other aspects that perhaps were not covered with —in as much detail. So, let’s go back to the beginning. You were born in 19 —
SN: ’21.
JM: ’21. And where were you born?
SN: I was born in a place called Radisson. R A D I S S O N.
JM: R A D I S S — Yeah.
SN: Saskatchewan S A S K. period. Canada.
JM: And that is where you spent your, most of your youth.
SN: Yes.
JM: Yes. And that’s where you did you schooling.
JM: Yes. And you, your family had been in the area there for quite some time.
SN: Yes. They were pioneers.
JM: Pioneers. Yes. And what sort of pioneers? Pioneers in what way? They were farming.
SN: They were the first, among the first settlers as farmers in that area.
JM: Going back how many years would that be, do you think?
SN: To 1900.
JM: 1900. Yeah. And so what was your family farming?
SN: It was what we call a mixed farm of grain, wheat, oats, barley, rye. And animals. Cattle, horses, pigs, chickens.
JM: Right. And so all of those animals — were they raised and then sold or some of it used for home consumption as well? Or a mix again? Or what?
SN: It was rather a mix. They had horses of course were what were used to work the farm
JM: Yeah.
SN: And the cattle and pigs we slaughtered as we needed them. And they were sold on the market when they were ready to sell.
JM: So. Right. So, you sold them as cured stock.
SN: As beef and pork. Yes.
JM: Yes. Yeah. And your father did all the butchery or did he bring in somebody to do the butchery?
SN: No. My father did it.
JM: Right. Ok. And what about the grains? They were all sold. You sent stuff off to silos and that sort of thing or what happened there?
SN: It was, it was a large family farm which included my father, his brothers, my grandfather and they ran it as a unit. It must have been, what? About six sections of land or something like that. It — all of the farms in that area at that time were mixed farms meaning that they were — the people who lived on them were [pause] what’s the word I’m seeking? They were dependant on the farm for their livelihood. For gardens, for grain, for the animals. That kind of thing.
JM: Ok. And so, you would assist in some of the farming duties from time to time when you were a young lad a or —?
SN: Yes. All farm kids that were old enough were expected to earn their keep.
JM: Keep. Yeah.
JM: So what sort of things? What sort of tasks were you given?
SN: Oh, there were all sorts of things. In harvest time we would move out with the men. We did all the usual things, I guess. Getting water and wood. Driving horses on wagons and on machines. Binders and ploughs and that kind of thing.
JM: So then again you probably got some sort of basic mechanical, more than basic mechanical training with helping to repair machinery and all of that sort of thing from time to time too, I guess.
SN: All that I wished to have. Yes [laughs]
JM: Right. So, so you were doing this in between your schooling and so what was your schooling? I’m not particularly familiar with the Canadian education system. So would you have gone to school — normal school? The start age in Australia is five. And then through what they call primary school and then transfer to a high school or secondary school. And usually, well, back then, they usually finished about seventeen. Sometimes sixteen. But if they left early they finished at fourteen or fifteen. So how did the Canadian system —
SN: Pretty much the same Jean but this might be interesting. It was during the Depression.
JM: Yes.
SN: And during the Depression they had correspondence courses.
JM: Right.
SN: And I, for instance, went to a country school which had a total of eighteen pupils in all grades from one to ten.
JM: Right. Yeah.
SN: So that was most of my schooling.
SN: And this was caused by the Depression.
JM: Depression.
SN: They wanted to get the kids back to school.
JM: The kids were on the farms basically.
JM: I suppose. Yes.
SN: Yes. And I then went into the town for the last, I guess, year and a half I was there
JM: Right. And how far away was town away?
SN: Six miles.
JM: Six miles. Right.
SN: Yeah.
JM: And did you travel in and out each day or did you stay in town?
SN: I boarded with a family.
SN: For a year and a half during the winters.
SN: Because it was too difficult.
JM: Too difficult.
SN: To get me back and forward.
JM: Back and forward. Yeah. And was this family friends of the family or —?
SN: Yes. They were dear people.
JM: They were?
SN: They were dear people.
JM: Dear people.
SN: Yes. And good friends of mine.
JM: Good friend. Yeah. Yeah. That’s good. Yeah. Ok. So. So that, yes, well that in a way is actually quite similar to what country children in New South Wales in particular would have experienced as well because they had, like, one teacher schools.
JM: And you would have had one teacher school there.
SN: That’s right.
JM: Yes. Yes. So, what —
SN: One size fits all.
JM: Fits all. Who had sort of a multitude of different grades in the classroom in one corner and scattered all around the area and he was, he or she would be moving between all the children and helping them with the grade that they were on. So, the teacher was — had a bit of a challenge in those sort of situations as well didn’t they? So —
SN: Yes. I didn’t finish my high school.
JM: No?
SN: I was expelled.
JM: Oh, I see. Yes. Right. Because? You —
SN: I misbehaved.
JM: You misbehaved. Yes.
SN: Yes. What — it might be interesting — when I came back from overseas and was discharged you had to go to the capital of the Province, which was Regina, to be discharged. And I wanted to go to university so I went to see a man called a Registrar who was a small god in charge of education and I was in uniform and I told him my story. He listened, I came back the following day and his secretary came out and said, ‘I’m sorry. Mr,’ whatever his name was, I’ve forgotten, ‘Is unable to see you. He was called away,’ and my face fell. And she said, ‘but he left you this.’ And she handed me an envelope which was a, to the effect that I had fulfilled all of the qualifications for Grade 12 and marks were given me which brought me up to the level to enter the university.
JM: Very good.
JM: Very good indeed. So that gave you the chance to go to university.
JM: After you returned. Yeah. Ok.
JM: We’ll come back to all of that in due course. But so, you, what age were you when you were expelled? Roughly. Do you remember?
SN: I joined up when I was eighteen. I suppose I would have been seventeen.
JM: Seventeen. Right. Ok. So I presume in that year between being expelled and being called up you probably just worked on the farm? Is that? Or did you go and get a job?
SN: No. it was a, it was the end of the school year.
SN: And I joined up in December of 1940.
SN: And by that time, because of my birthday, I was eighteen.
JM: Right. So --
SN: So —
JM: So it just happened.
JM: Just went through the war in a sequence.
SN: Yes. It did.
JM: Alright. So signed up then for the air force.
JM: Any particular reason for the air force or —?
SN: Well the air force was quite [pause] it was, I suppose the, the glamour service at that time. This was where people who wanted adventure or saw the war as an adventure this was where they went.
JM: And so that’s what attracted you. You saw that as an adventure.
SN: Yes. Yes.
JM: And you said, ‘Right.’
SN: That was very good.
JM: If they’ll have me that’s where I’ll go, sort of thing.
JM: Yes. Yes. Ok. Actually, I just meant to just backtrack once before we get in to — so this was in 1940 that you enlisted but just before that how, how much of an impact did the Depression have on your family? Because you were on the farm you were a little bit able to cope. A little bit better than perhaps people in town because you had lots —
JM: Of resources at hand, so to speak.
SN: That’s right. That’s right.
JM: In terms of food and, you know, meat and chicken and eggs. And you had milking cows too I presume.
SN: Exactly. Yes.
JM: Yes. So, you were relatively comfortable.
SN: I was.
SN: In terms of the Depression I was — our family came through it pretty well.
JM: Well —
SN: You know there was never a time when I had to think about —
SN: Whether I had any food to eat.
JM: Yeah. Whether there was going to be food on the table. Yes.
SN: Work or what have you.
JM: Yes. That’s right. Ok. So, you enlisted then December 1940.
JM: Yes, and where did you do your initial training?
SN: I went to Brandon.
JM: Brandon. Yes.
SN: Which was the manning depot.
JM: Where? Sorry?
SN: It was the manning depot.
JM: Right. And where is Brandon in —?
SN: Brandon —
JM: How far away from Radisson is that? I assume you enlisted in Radisson or did you have to go over to the main —
SN: No. No. I had to go to the main, the largest city.
SN: Which was Saskatoon.
JM: Right. And then so from there to Brandon how far? Where? What sort of distance is that? Just roughly. You know. Sort of a day’s train ride or half a day.
SN: It’s a day’s train ride.
JM: Right. Ok. Yeah.
JM: So you were over there. So your parents were happy about you enlisting were they? Or was your father a bit —?
SN: I think so.
JM: I forgot to check. Did you have any other brothers and sisters? Or —?
SN: I had one sister but she was much younger than I am. She was seven years younger. After I was expelled I, and the fellow who was expelled with me, we got one of the freight trains that went into the city and we went to the army, the navy and the air force and nobody would have us because they said we were seventeen and did we have permission?
JM: So, you weren’t able to get in at that point.
SN: No.
JM: No. So then when you turned eighteen, you said to your parents. How did they feel about that?
SN: I think they were pretty well resolved that it was going to happen. It wasn’t something they — like all parents they were fearful but I think they were resigned that this was what most people, like me, were doing.
JM: Ok. So, you’re off to Brandon. Is that right?
JM: Yeah. And what —how long were you there?
SN: Oh, I would think a couple of months.
JM: A couple of months. Yeah. So, this is early ‘41 basically.
JM: Ok. And from Brandon where did you go next?
SN: We went to what was called guard duty.
JM: Guard duty. Yeah.
SN: Which was another couple of months?
JM: Yeah. And where was that?
SN: And that was in Saskatoon.
JM: Yeah. So back to almost near home. Yeah.
SN: Yes. It was back to a couple of hours away.
JM: Yeah. And that was about a couple of months you think.
SN: Yeah. Roughly.
JM: What sort of things did guard duty — what sort of things were you guarding something? What? I mean guard duty sort of implies you were guarding. What did it actually?
SN: It was really part of the training regime to get people sorted out as to what they were to do. It was compulsory. You had two hours on, four hours off, two hours on, four hours off during which you went — in this instance we were guarding, they were guarding airports. Everybody went through this. And you simply went out with your musket and [laughs] patrolled an area for two hours and they checked that you were there and you were awake. And then they — oh there was continuous inspections and little marches and that kind of thing. It was a training thing.
JM: Thing. Yeah. Ok.
SN: Everybody went through it.
JM: Ok. So this is possibly getting to the — just beyond winter so at least out on guard duty.
JM: You were not out in the depths of winter. Out.
SN: No. no. There was danger.
JM: Pacing the perimeters.
SN: No danger involved.
JM: Yes. But I mean, but you weren’t out in the cold and snow and all the rest of it though at this point.
SN: No. No. No.
JM: Because as I I say it had become more or less the end.
SN: Yes, it was —
JM: You were pretty well early spring at this stage so —
SN: Yes. Yes, it was spring.
JM: Yes. So, ok. So what, anything in particular that stands out from there. Things that you realised you could do or things that you were being asked to do that you didn’t like doing or anything like that?
SN: I don’t think there was anything remarkable about it.
JM: About it.
SN: It was [pause] I think there were something like twenty four of us that went through this. Nothing.
JM: In that group.
SN: Yes. Nothing remarkable.
JM: Yeah. Ok. So where did you go to from there?
SN: I went to Calgary.
SN: And that was to do wireless training.
JM: Ok. Yes.
SN: Wireless air gunners.
SN: And at that time we all got to wear a white flash in our caps.
JM: Caps.
SN: Which separated you from those who didn’t and I was there for — what? Maybe four months or something.
JM: Right. So, would this be, say, around about May? May ’41 to —
SN: I would say.
JM: To October ’41.
JM: Or something like that?
SN: Until, until December.
JM: Until December. Ok so we could work back from there.
JM: So, December, November, October. September to December. So, we’ll say August/September to December of ‘41 there at your wireless.
SN: Yes. I would say it was a five month course.
JM: Course. Yeah.
SN: That would be my recollection.
JM: Recollection. Yeah. Yeah. Ok. And so all facets of being a wireless op and air gunner all mixed in together. You didn’t — or did you do blocks of wireless work and then —
SN: No. It was all wireless.
JM: It was all wireless. Yeah.
SN: It was all wireless. And I did not finish the course.
SN: I went —
JM: For any particular reason? Or —?
SN: Yes. I went on leave for, what was it, it was a long weekend and I caught pneumonia.
JM: That’s right. Yes.
SN: In Saskatoon. And they put me in the hospital and I was in the hospital for nearly six weeks.
SN: You know. And I was in an oxygen tent for —
JM: Yes. Because you were not a well person for —
SN: For four days because I had — I was lucky.
SN: They brought out the first of the Sulfa drugs and that saved me.
JM: That saved you. Yes. Of course. That’s how bad you were.
JM: Yes. Yes.
SN: So when I finished they posted me.
JM: So, this — when, when was, that was when?
SN: That was from the end of November.
SN: Until the end of the year.
JM: Yes. That you were in hospital.
JM: Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
SN: In hospital or convalescent leave.
SN: It was something like that.
JM: That’s right. Yeah. So therefore, you didn’t actually finish that course. So, what happened there?
SN: I don’t know whether I would, to be very frank. I don’t know whether I would ever have. It was probably a good thing in that I wasn’t particularly — I could do the Morse at speed but I was not particularly — I don’t think I would have been a particularly good wireless operator. So, in any event, at the end of this thing they posted me to Trenton.
JM: Right. Where’s —?
SN: As what we used to call a straight air gunner.
JM: Yeah. And whereabouts is Trenton?
SN: Trenton is in Eastern Canada.
JM: Right. And when would this be? January ‘42?
JM: Yeah. And that was for straight air —
JM: Air gunner training.
JM: Yeah. So, what stands out about that training?
SN: It was about [pause] maybe six weeks. Something like that. Well I think I had decided that I really had to make this.
SN: And it was a large course and I came second. I think it was probably the first time I realised that I could do something.
JM: Do something. Yeah.
SN: This was, I think, largely attributable, I covered it in this book.
SN: This man I met who was much older than I was and he — I was a little ashamed of being somewhat bookish and that it was a bit sissy to excel. And he said, ‘You know, this is foolish.’
SN: ‘You do as well as you can.’
JM: You can. Yeah.
SN: [unclear] you can do that. And I did. And the other thing which is also covered in this book was the rather extraordinary thing of this man who was court martialled and, because he thought that he was operating a camera gun when he was not. He was operating a Vickers machine gun.
JM: Machine gun.
SN: And he shot up a parade of airmen.
JM: Airmen. That’s right.
SN: In a row.
SN: And he was court martialled. And as I say in there this was an extraordinary spectacle that I’ve never forgotten. He was a little non-descript fella from Newfoundland whose name was Silver and he, the entire station, it was a big station, was out in hollow square.
JM: On parade.
SN: With the, we were all, yes, we were all on parade and we were all there and the band was there and the group captain was there with a table and the man with the leopard skin drum. The whole bit was the drum rolls, everything.
SN: And this poor little man was marched up and his hat off in front of this table, and the drum rolls cut off by [unclear] this corporal. Cut them off.
JM: Yeah. Yeah.
SN: Cut them off.
SN: And threw them on the ground.
JM: Ground.
SN: Marched him off.
JM: Off.
SN: And he got two years in the penitentiary.
JM: Penitentiary.
SN: So, we all remembered that.
JM: That.
SN: And it was for not turning up.
JM: Up.
SN: For an overseas posting. And so, I think, I think we all got the point.
JM: You all got the point. That’s right. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. So, then, so this is sort of becoming a turning point. So, after the air gunning. This training at Trenton. Where did you go?
SN: Well I got, as everyone else did, our air gunner badge.
JM: Badge.
SN: And sergeant’s stripes.
SN: And we all went on embarkation leave. And that was a couple of weeks or ten days. I’ve forgotten. But Canada is like Australia in that train journeys were very long.
JM: Long. That’s right.
SN: It takes —
JM: And of course, if you’re right over in Eastern Canada that’s a long way from home.
JM: To get back. Yes.
SN: So then, following embarkation leave I came to Halifax and —
JM: So, you didn’t — did you actually get home in that embarkation leave?
SN: Yes, I did.
JM: Or — yes, you did .
SN: Yes. I got home for about ten days I think.
SN: And then we were back to Halifax and just as things worked out we were the last, there were twelve of us marched down to board ship. And we were the last people aboard.
SN: And the convoy left that about an hour or two later.
JM: Gosh. So this would have been the end of March, early April ’42.
SN: This would have been early March. Yes. 1942.
JM: Yeah. Probably be about mid-March. Oh yeah. Early March. Yeah. Yeah. That’s ok. Yeah. Early March ‘42. Yes.
JM: And so so Halifax. So where —?
SN: Halifax is —
JM: So was this a large troop carrier that you were on? Or a small —
SN: A large convoy.
JM: Yes. But there was a convoy but were the boats themselves — was there large troop carriers.
JM: Or —
JM: Did you have any sense of whether there were thousands there? Or perhaps under a thousand or —?
SN: There were, they were crowded.
JM: They were crowded.
SN: It was a ship called the Andes. Which had run on the Latin American English run.
SN: Not a bad ship.
JM: Yes. No.
SN: But we were in cabins. They were, I think, seven or eight of us in a little —
JM: A cabin. Yeah.
SN: And the the toilets were at the end of the —
JM: Yeah. Corridor so to speak.
SN: Corridor. Yeah.
JM: Yeah. Ok. So where —
SN: But it was good enough. It wasn’t bad. We could —
JM: Ok. So —
SN: Everybody had —
JM: So where did you land in —
SN: We landed in Greenock which is Glasgow.
JM: Glasgow. Yeah. And so, on the train down to —
SN: We had no, yes, we had no adventures. We had one emergency in the Irish Sea where they shot at, where they put down a sub and the convoys were in lines of destroyers.
SN: And ships.
JM: Ships. Yeah.
SN: Following one another.
JM: You don’t remember how many were in that convoy? In that total convoy.
SN: I haven’t the vaguest idea whatever.
JM: No. That’s ok.
SN: What it is.
JM: So you got there pretty uneventfully.
SN: Yes. Now they may have, I think they sunk something in the Irish Sea.
JM: Sea.
SN: But that was it.
JM: That was it.
SN: So we had really quite a good —
JM: Quite. Ok. So then you’re off in Glasgow. You’re on the train I presume to —
SN: We went by train to Bournemouth.
JM: Bournemouth. Yeah.
SN: Where everyone went and that was a manning depot there.
SN: And you stayed in Bournemouth.
SN: Until you were posted.
SN: To wherever you were going.
JM: Going. Yeah.
SN: They were, we were a mixture of pilots, observers.
JM: Observers. Yeah. Yeah.
SN: Everything. And that was a very easy thing. The only remarkable thing again, which was in the book, was that we were quartered in formerly resort hotels and we ate in a different building than the one in which we were housed.
SN: And we came out this one day and a siren went and we tumbled out on the street and I remember seeing these two Fokker Wulf 190s come in and they came under the radar. Just straight over the —
SN: We were right on the end — Bournemouth is a —
JM: Seaside bit.
SN: Seaside resort. And they came under the radar and they came right up and they bombed. Dropped their bombs and went.
JM: Went.
SN: And they hit the building we were to eat in and I can remember we were all amazed. Standing there with our mouths open. And some of them, finally they were digging around in the thing said, ‘Come.’
JM: Come.
SN: Don’t stand there like —’
JM: Yeah. ‘Come and help us dig.’
SN: So, it was a rude awakening.
JM: Awakening to the realities of war. What so now you finally knew what you were about to be part of .
SN: Yes. It was real.
JM: It was real. That’s right. So, any idea of how long you were in Bournemouth for? So you would have been there. How long did it — I didn’t — how long did it take to get from Halifax across to — It would only have been a couple of days.
SN: About ten days.
JM: Ten days. Yeah. And so then down. So, we’re probably talking about April. Bournemouth was probably about April ‘42 to — how long do you reckon?
SN: Maybe to June.
JM: To June. Yeah. And so where did we, and so —
SN: May or June. I’ve forgotten.
JM: May or June. What sort of — were they giving you any theory lessons there at this stage?
SN: No. It was — you just had a roll call.
JM: Roll call.
SN: Once a day.
JM: Once a day.
SN: And that was it.
JM: Pre. So did you —
SN: And then you did whatever you pleased.
JM: So, did you go up to London or do anything like that or how did you spend your time?
SN: No. You were not, you were I don’t know whether, they must have told us. No. No one went anywhere. I think you were on call.
JM: Call. Right.
SN: That you would be moving out as soon as it happened.
JM: Moving out soon. Yeah.
SN: And I don’t think anybody was —
SN: You would have had to have leave.
SN: To do that.
JM: To do that. Yes. Ok. So, you were, you were just basically sitting around. What did you —play cards or things like that to pass the time? Or what did you do to pass? So just basically sitting around. Effectively doing nothing. How did you pass, how did you and your mates pass your time? Sit down on the —
SN: We moved around. It was quite a beautiful place with many gardens. We moved around during the day to the beach and so on and the pubs at night.
SN: Nobody had all that much money.
JM: Money.
SN: You know that you [laughs]
JM: No. that’s right. Yeah.
SN: You could —
JM: Basically, sit and watch the world go by.
SN: There was no, there was no, no attempt to discipline or to —
JM: Right. Ok. So, from, so nothing, no particular experiences stand out whilst in Bournemouth.
SN: No, I don’t think there was anything there.
JM: No. Ok.
SN: There was a Palais dance. A Palais de Dance which they had in most places, you know.
JM: Yeah. Ok. So, where, where to next? Was it to Wales next?
SN: I went to Wales.
SN: To a place called Stormy Down.
JM: Down. Yeah.
SN: It was a mining area.
SN: Coal mines.
JM: Yeah. And over there you were doing —
SN: To a gunnery school.
JM: To the gunnery school again. Yes. And roughly how long was that?
SN: It wasn’t all that long. I would say that it might have been a month. Pretty full on.
JM: Yes. And so, this was where you came. So, you hadn’t done any gunnery training back in Canada so, this would be your —
SN: Yes, I had.
JM: You had. You did do some.
SN: Oh yes. Yes.
JM: When you were at Calgary.
SN: No. No.
JM: No.
SN: When I was in Trenton.
JM: Trenton. Trenton. Ok. So — oh my apologies. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, because that’s where you were second. Second. Had the second highest score. Ok so how were the — what were you using? Different guns here now between what you were using in Trenton? Or —
SN: Yes. We were using [pause] what can I remember about it now? In Britain we were using old Lewis guns which were a pan that sits on the thing and it feeds outside and it seems to me that we were [pause] I’m not sure now what? We did quite a bit of target shooting. Drogue shooting where a drogue is dragged.
JM: Dragged. Yes.
SN: And of course in both places you do a lot of — what do you call it? [pause] Where you do — you shoot at the —
JM: Skeet.
SN: Skeet shooting.
SN: A lot of skeet shooting. A lot of target shooting. That kind of thing.
SN: And —
JM: As part of this.
SN: And there was a course.
SN: Which you, of benefit and I did very well. I got — they said, “A very good air gunner.” So —
JM: Were there particular competitions or something or —
SN: Yes. They would mark you for —
SN: Target scores. How you —
JM: And you were coming out on top a lot.
JM: Yeah. So, do you think you would have perhaps back when you were younger, on the farm, I presume you would have been doing some shooting there.
JM: So, do you feel that that perhaps gave you a bit of an advantage having sort of been always shooting moving targets. I would presume a lot of the time they were moving so —
SN: I don’t know.
JM: You don’t know.
JM: Yeah. But nevertheless you obviously had an aptitude for it because you were doing very well there with your skeet.
SN: Yeah. Yeah.
JM: Yeah. And you didn’t retain an interest in skeet shooting at any time. You didn’t do it many years down the track. Just as a little deviation here for a second.
SN: Only once.
SN: We were on a transatlantic ship with the family going somewhere. I’ve forgotten where but going. I was Foreign Affairs and we used to go by ship.
SN: And they had a competition on this ship for skeet shooting.
SN: And I guess there were about thirty or forty people there and I won.
JM: You won.
SN: And they gave me a cup.
SN: And the rather wonderful thing about this was that both the kids were there and watched it. The two boys.
SN: So that brought my [laughs]
JM: Increased your standing in their eyes no end. Did it?
SN: Yes. Yes. Yes.
JM: Ah well that’s very very interesting. So, do you remember how many rounds you had to shoot or was it a decent length competition or did they sort of try to keep it.
SN: It was, it was a pretty, a pretty easy one.
SM: Ordinarily if you do skeet shooting you go through about seven stations.
SN: And that means you’re shooting —
JM: Different heights. Yeah.
SN: At a bird at the height it’s going.
SN: As it’s going away from you.
SN: Up. It’s all the way through.
SN: Whereas this one was there. Had to be done from the back of the ship.
SN: And you didn’t have, they couldn’t.
JM: Have variations.
SN: They couldn’t have done any variations of any sort.
JM: Any sort. Yeah. Yeah.
SN: That amounted to very much.
SN: So, you really did five and somebody, maybe they were five of you shot five each and you won that.
SN: And then those who won competed again.
SN: It wasn’t really [laughs] that big a thing.
JM: It wasn’t such a big challenge for you.
JM: Having had all that other experience. Ok. Well that’s all very interesting. Ok. Well you completed the gunnery at Stormy Down. About a month. So, from there. OTU.
SN: I went to OTU.
SN: At a place called Honeybourne.
SN: A beautiful place in the Midlands.
SN: Near Evesham and Stratford on Avon. Yeah.
JM: And so how long were you at OTU?
SN: I was there for the fall because I remember we went out to steal apples. I got to the squadron in — maybe in October. Now, I had these. The reason I don’t have these dates here is my logbook was stolen.
JM: Stolen. Yes. I know. From when the book was —
SN: So I don’t have this.
JM: Yes. I know.
SN: I’m really just doing memory.
JM: I know. I’m just trying. I fully appreciate that I’m really testing your memory here but yeah.
SN: In the late summer and early fall I was at the OTU. I would have been —
JM: OTU. So that’s probably —
SN: I would have been there for at least three months.
JM: Three months. Right. So, we’re probably talking about August. September.
SN: Yes, I would say August September.
JM: August September of ‘42 we’re talking about here.
JM: Yeah. Ok. Yeah. And what stands out about OTU? Anything in particular. Apart from the fact that there was nice countryside. There were nice orchards where you could scrounge some apples.
SN: Yes. Well they had very nice pubs and you could chase girls.
JM: Yeah. Yes.
SN: And the weather was delightful.
SN: And the only thing that — two things happened I guess. One was that you, a lot of OTU is the gunner — each, each — the gunners have their own courses. The navigators. Pilots. Then you form a crew.
JM: Yes. You’re doing your crewing up. Yeah.
SN: And a lot of this was called circuits and bumps.
JM: Bumps. Yeah.
SN: Around and around and around.
JM: Around and around. Yeah.
SN: And one night a German night fighter got in the thing. Got in the — there’s usually four aircraft.
JM: Aircraft.
SN: And they follow one another.
SN: And he got in the line.
JM: Line. Yes.
SN: And shot it down. We were in Whitleys which was an old two engine.
JM: Engine.
SN: Bomber. And he got in the line and shot the —
JM: The Whitley that was in front.
SN: The Whitley, as it was landing. Yes. So that was a big thing for us.
JM: That was. Yes. And, but that wasn’t you.
JM: Were you in, were you in.
SN: I wasn’t, I wasn’t even in the circuit either.
JM: You weren’t in the circuit either.
JM: Right. And what was the outcome with that Whitley. Was it —did he inflict injury as well as damage to the aircraft or —
JM: He did.
SN: Yes. He did.
JM: So, what? Killed all the crew or —
SN: No. No. I think they [pause] I think one. I think one man was either, either killed or very badly injured
JM: Injured
SN: And the aircraft was of course.
SN: Runway. Smashed itself.
JM: Smashed itself. Yeah. Right. Ok. So at this point your crew. You’ve now, you crew up as well here at OTU.
JM: This is when you form your crew. So, your pilot.
SN: Was — I’ll deal with that I think.
SN: He was a man called Stonehill.
SN: And he was a squadron leader.
SN: And he was from Fighter Command.
SN: And I don’t know what he’d done but he was, he was not happy to be there.
SN: That was not what— he didn’t really want to fly this [laughs] box like aircraft. And he was, we thought he was old. Old would be he was in his thirties.
JM: Late twenties or something. Oh thirties. Yes. Yes.
SN: You know.
SN: But he was older than we were.
SN: And proper RAF type, you know. Had a handlebar moustache.
JM: And all the rest of it. Yes.
SN: Yes. And he’d, and we saw nothing of him because we were, there were five of us including him.
SN: And he of course he was an —
JM: An officer. And he was in the officer’s mess. In the —
SN: The other four of us were NCOs.
JM: Yes. NCOs.
SN: In our own mess. Ordinarily someone would have had, a pilot would have had something to do with us but he was, he didn’t want to be there.
JM: No. That’s right.
SN: And he, I don’t think he really knew our names. He, and so, we really saw, we saw nothing of him except we would, you know, get in the aircraft and we’d get out.
JM: Yeah. That’s right.
SN: Except for one. We went to a place called Long Marston which is up, just out of Stratford.
SN: And this was for a, sort of, pre-operational thing to work out with the crew and we flew every day.
SN: Cross country’s and things and we saw one night he came. We were at the flights. The flights is where the aircrew wait to get on, to get off.
SN: And he came out of the flights where we were and suggested that we come and have a beer.
JM: And everybody —
SN: So, we did this to wherever it was. We went from the flights and he had he must have [pause] I don’t know how we got there. He had a little Austin convertible.
JM: Convertible.
SN: Thing. And he, I think he either had family or him, beside him. And we sat around with him for an hour in the pub and the only thing I remember about it was that he had a dog and the dog was a Spaniel. And the dog would drink beer. The dog drank beer and we sat and we had a beer and he was friendly. But I don’t think he — he didn’t intend to stay and he didn’t stay.
JM: Didn’t stay.
SN: They took him. They took him back to where he came from.
JM: Back to where he came from. Ok. So, he disappeared down the thing. Down the track. But the rest of you stayed together though at this point. So who was your navigator?
SN: Well we had a little, a little crash. A little accident.
SN: Which I deal with there when the aircraft went off the end of the runway.
JM: Runway.
SN: And it broke the leg of the wireless operator, I think. A big tall fellow named Hurst.
SN: And the crew packed up then. I think. Now I’m I don’t know which happened first.
JM: First. Yeah.
SN: Whether we had this, this [pause] this accidental crash. Whether we had that and then he was sent off or whether he was sent off when was just finishing up I don’t know.
SN: We never knew. We never saw him. They never said anything. They just called us in and they said, ‘Now, we’re disbanding this crew.’
JM: Crew.
SN: ‘And we’re posting you to other squadrons.’
JM: Squadrons. Yeah.
SN: To squadrons.
JM: Yeah. Yeah. Ok and so and from there you, that’s when you went to 405.
JM: Yes. Ok. And so you were landing. You joined 405. How long, how long were you at OTU? August September ’42.
SN: I was about three months.
JM: About three.
SN: A good three months.
JM: Ok. So, you were posted to 405. What? About December. November. December or —
SN: No. October.
JM: October. Ok.
JM: October.
SN: I think.
JM: ’42.
JM: Yeah. Ok. And so here and a couple of little experiences in 405.
SN: Well we went, I went. When I went to squadron I was on squadron for a long time. Longer than most people.
SN: I came in with my kit and there was a note for me and it said something like “Welcome Clair.”
SN: And when you come to the, wherever the, what do you call it? Not a dormitory. We were quartered in an old college.
SN: And he said, when you, “When you come to the quarters come and see me. Stuart.”
JM: Stuart.
SN: And it was Stuart Clark who was from my little town.
JM: Town. That’s right. Yes.
SN: Right.
SN: And so, I went up and he and the navigator who was a fella called Elmer [Bulman] from [unclear] Nevada. And they were playing Battleships and so we talked about things and Stuart said, ‘Look,’ he said, ‘We need an air gunner. You come with us.’
SN: In our crew.
SN: And I did.
SN: So, I was lucky.
JM: You were lucky. Yes. So that’s it. You knew the pilot because you had Stuart there as that.
SN: Yes. He was the navigator.
JM: Oh sorry. He was the navigator. Yeah.
SN: And he went to see the —
[phone ringing]
SN: Excuse me a second while I see to that.
[recording paused]
SN: Yes. And so he went to the pilot and said, ‘Look I’ve got —
JM: He went to the pilot. Yeah. Went to the pilot.
SN: And I was in.
JM: The pilot’s name? I should have it.
SN: Weber.
JM: Weber. That’s right.
SN: W E B E R. So I was in.
JM: Yeah. Yeah. And so then you went off and started to do your ops.
SN: We —
JM: Coastal Command.
SN: We were, what we did first is we —
JM: You got linked with —
SN: We were at Topcliffe up in Yorkshire. We had to do, we had to convert. It was called conversion at that time.
JM: Conversion. That’s right. Yes. Yes.
SN: Which was from, we had, they had been on Wellingtons.
JM: Wellingtons.
SN: And the squadron converted to Halifaxes so it was this period of people getting used to this new aircraft.
JM: Halifax.
SN: So that went on for a time. And then maybe a month later. Sometime in November they they were losing a lot of people with this. Losing a lot of shipping with the subs.
JM: Subs yeah.
SN: And they’d lent us to Coastal Command.
SN: To cover during the time the North African invasion force went down.
SN: And so we were sent down to Southampton to do this, this thing and we spent most of the winter there.
SN: Doing these —
JM: Patrols.
SN: Patrols. Yes.
JM: So you weren’t actually bombing. You were doing surveillance.
SN: It was called air sea warfare.
SN: ASW. I think. And you were looking for, you went out on, it was called a square search and you went out. They were great long things that would go from ten to twelve hours. Went down off the Scilly Islands and Bishop’s Rock and somewhere. A point on the Atlantic or the Bay of Biscay. Whatever it was.
JM: Was.
SN: Depending on what they had decided that day.
JM: That day.
SN: At the briefing where everything is. Where you should go.
JM: Go.
SN: And you flew this course square and back. And you flew fairly low. A thousand feet or something and you looked for submarines.
JM: Submarines yeah.
SN: And evidence of them you see.
JM: Yeah. A bit — sort of a wake from the conning tower.
SN: Yes. There was a great deal of that.
SN: It was a separate — Coastal Command it was called. We were lent Coastal Command.
SN: And Coastal Command, all through the war, and Australia. Here as well.
JM: Operated all through the war doing just that.
SN: That was the —
JM: Yeah. So how many [pause] how many missions would you have done in Coastal Command do you think? Roughly.
SN: I can’t remember. You got — what they did is they, they took three of these [pause] ops or whatever you want to call them.
JM: Call them. Yeah.
SN: They took three of these for one op.
SN: Three patrols if you want to call them that.
JM: Yeah. Three patrols were equal to one op in the —
JM: The bureaucrats eyes.
SN: That’s how they did it.
SN: I don’t remember just what. Just how many there were. There wouldn’t have been all that many. The weather was pretty duff.
JM: Yeah. So —
SN: During that period so you would be stood down quite often, you know.
JM: Down quite often.
SN: And it was, there is nothing more boring than [laughs] [that sort of?] exercise
SN: And I guess we had. We thought we saw evidence of a sub and we dropped our depth charges once. We thought we saw oil on the surface. And when they came up to charge their batteries and when they did this [pause] the oil — they would dive and they would send up several gallons of oil.
JM: Oil.
SN: So that —
JM: Created a bit of an oil slick.
SN: And you’ll see the oil slick.
SN: And the object was that the attacking aircraft would say, ‘We got him. We saw the oil,’ and he was — they sunk.
SN: And of course, it hadn’t that at all.
JM: At all. No. Because they were in fact just doing it as part of their diving.
SN: Yeah
JM: Part of their diving process, so to speak. Yeah.
SN: We had one, I guess — two close encounters. One was [pause] one was that, was with, on these patrols they were so long that you had to carry excess tanks for excess fuel.
JM: Excess fuel.
SN: And that meant that you had the — they had of course to change tanks and you had to watch. The engineer had to watch the gauges to make sure that he changed, while one was still operating.
JM: Operating.
SN: To the new one.
JM: The new one. Yeah.
SN: And in this one case he forgot.
JM: Forgot.
SN: Whatever he was doing and the pilot fortunately noticed this and he said, ‘Mac,’ he said, ‘Change tanks.’ And he made a tremendous huge leap and did it and by that time we were down low enough and I wondered why we were this low that I could see the whitecaps on the waves.
JM: Waves.
SN: Yeah. So we were down maybe roof height by that time [laughs] and it sort of laboured its way up.
SN: And the other one I describe in the book when we attacked the German —
SN: E-boats.
JM: E-boats. Yeah.
SN: In the [pause] it’s the harbour near, near Biarritz.
SN: And they threw up a lot of stuff.
SN: And we —
JM: You got some flak out of that didn’t you?
SN: I don’t remember whether we did or not. We might have but it — we probably did because you could see the puffs and things.
SN: But the sailors. I shocked them. They were out sunbathing on the deck [laughs] so we were close enough and I swept the decks of this thing.
SN: And you could see great activities going on there.
SN: But of course they had enough stuff there that they could have blown us out if —
JM: Out of the sky. But you got away before they managed to get to them. Yeah. So —
SN: Yes because I think you you could say our attack —
JM: Was totally unexpected. Yes.
SN: Was aborted.
SN: And depth charges wouldn’t really have done anything.
JM: Done anything.
SN: That much harm.
JM: Much harm.
SN: They told us later.
JM: Yeah. Yeah. So, all up you were doing this for about —
SN: For the winter.
JM: For the winter. Yes.
JM: So, through to early ’43.
SN: Yes. Till maybe it would have been about March.
JM: March yeah. And then you resumed with 405 then.
SN: It would have been March. Yes. It would have been the end of February.
SN: Early March. Yeah.
JM: Yeah. So you resumed with 405.
SN: Yes. So the Squadron. You see we never changed. Coastal Command is — they’re painted white grey.
JM: Yeah you were.
SN: And with us we just —
JM: Stayed black.
SN: Left it and stayed black.
JM: Yeah. And so how long were you back with 405?
SN: This was 405.
JM: Sorry.
SN: The whole squadron.
JM: Yes but with 405 base.
SN: To Bomber Command.
JM: Yes. To Bomber Command because you were down in Southampton.
SN: Yes we were.
JM: With Coastal Command.
SN: We were lent to Coastal Command.
SN: Then we returned to —
JM: Bomber Command.
SN: The end of February we returned to —
JM: To Bomber Command. To —
SN: To Topcliffe which was in Yorkshire.
JM: Yes. So, and so from here you then went on. Started to do some actual bombing raids from here.
SN: We did, we did several bombing raids from Topcliffe at that time. Maybe three or four or something.
SN: And one of them was Stuttgart which was where I shot down a Messerschmitt 109.
JM: Yeah. Yeah. And any comments in terms of, you know, how close he was before you were able to see him and get, get, you got on to him before he got on to you or was he trying to get to you but your pilot managed to get away. Get at an angle where he was ineffective but you got him or what?
SN: He came up behind and I saw him. And I gave, when he got within range I gave the pilot evasive action and the pilot did it in classic fashion.
SN: And when he was close enough. Six hundred yards. Not all that long. I got a good, a good shot at him.
SN: He was coming up like that you see and he, by this time had started to fire at us but he was, he didn’t hit us.
JM: Hit us because the pilot had already started the changing.
SN: He’d already started and he didn’t touch us at all.
JM: Touch us. Yeah. Yeah.
SN: Yeah. And he then went above us and started to turn around and fell.
JM: Yeah. Yeah. And that’s how you know you’d had a — you’d scored.
JM: Yes. So it was confirmed hit for you.
SN: But I couldn’t see where I was until he was —
JM: Coming past you more or less.
SN: Went down. He was off.
JM: Yes. Yes. I see. And so, and so that, was that was Stuttgart raid. And any other things stand out from these raids at this point?
SN: No. They were —
JM: They were.
SN: They were all on —
JM: Sort of routine.
SN: What was called Happy Valley.
JM: Valley. Yeah. Over the Ruhr. Yeah. Yeah. But routine as such and just —
SN: That might have been a period of maybe three weeks or something.
SN: I’ve forgotten.
SN: And then we were transferred to Pathfinder Command.
JM: Pathfinders. Yeah. That’s right. Yes.
SN: Which was down at Gransden Lodge.
JM: Lodge. Gransden Lodge. Yeah. And so, this would have been March.
SN: It was March 13th was when I shot the aircraft down.
JM: Right. Ok. March 13. Ok. So then would that be later March then that you went to Gransden Lodge? That the Pathfinder.
SN: Yes. Or the 1st of April. I don’t know which.
SN: It wasn’t long.
SN: We just, we just did maybe two or three ops.
JM: Yeah. Ops. Yeah. Yeah. And the decision to move to Pathfinders. What, what’s the story there?
SN: Well 405 was the oldest Canadian bomber squadron.
SN: Which had been operating on the [ unclear] maybe a year in Bomber Command in what was called 6 Group which was the Canadian group.
JM: Group. Yeah.
SN: And because it was the, I suppose, and I’m guessing here because it was the oldest squadron and had the most experience it was the one selected to go to the Pathfinder group.
JM: Pathfinders.
SN: And also, I guess because the CO was quite a remarkable guy. A fella named Johnnie Fauquier and he was a force in himself and he —
SN: Because he was brought back.
JM: Back.
SN: As the head of the squadron and we were sent down as a part of 8 Group.
JM: Yes. But was it the commanders that came to you and said to your pilot, Weber and say, ‘Right, your crew’s a good crew – ’
JM: You’re going over to Pathfinders or —
SN: No. Oh no. Nobody was asked anything.
JM: No. No. I’m not asked but just said, ‘Right —
JM: Said to Weber.
SN: There was nothing. They just took the squadron.
JM: They just took it.
SN: As it was with Coastal Command.
SN: Took the squadron.
JM: Right. The whole squadron. Yeah. Ok. Ok. So, and so no one had any choice in the matter. Everyone had to just comply.
JM: Basically. Yeah. Ok. So [pause] so then began your time at Gransden Lodge and — how many — you did a lot of ops in that time.
JM: From Gransden Lodge.
SN: Now I was, it was quite a time from October to January of forty — January of ‘44 I believe.
JM: Yeah. Ok. Well if the squadron moved over in March/April ’43.
SN: In other words I was with the squadron from —
JM: Squadron from —
SN: October of ‘43 to January of ’44.
JM: Yes, but you said that the squadron moved.
SN: Well in that time it was in Bomber Command to Coastal Command to Bomber Command.
SN: To Pathfinder Command.
JM: Yeah. Yeah. But what we had there before was that you [pause] you moved back [pause] to you had your Coastal Command and then —
SN: We went back to Bomber Command.
JM: You went back to there and that’s when you did your, you said the 13th of March.
JM: Was when you did your raid on Stuttgart.
JM: And you shot down the Messerschmitt.
JM: And that was when you were back at Bomber Command.
JM: That’s right. And so that’s why you were initially indicating to me that it was perhaps late March, early April that the squadron moved to —
SN: That’s right. Moved to Pathfinder Command. 8 Group.
JM: To Pathfinder Command. Yeah. In April ‘43. So, in fact you were part of Pathfinder from, roughly, early April ’43 right through to —
SN: To January.
JM: To January ’44.
JM: Yeah. Yeah. So that’s right. That makes sense. So would you have had leave at any stage? You must have had some periods of leave in between all these bits and pieces.
SN: Yes. We had a lot of leave. We had a week every six weeks.
JM: Yeah. And just before we get into Pathfinders you know, any of the, I don’t, I’m not looking for a sort — because you’ve had so many raids with, or ops with Pathfinders we’ll just pick on a couple I guess but just backtracking up until there you’d had periods of leave and what, did you have a regular places you went to when you were on leave or did you try —
SN: London.
JM: Always London.
SN: Usually. Yes.
JM: Yes. And did you have a particular place there that you always went to for accommodation or did you do different places? Or —?
SN: Different places. Yes.
JM: Right and —
SN: And usually with the, with the crew or at least two of us.
JM: With the crew basically went all together.
JM: Yeah. So, so, Weber the pilot went with you and —
SN: No. He was English.
SN: And he, of course, went home.
JM: He went home. Yeah.
SN: And I had a particular, my particular pal was a wireless operator.
SN: Who was a fellow called Rickard.
SN: And the engineer.
SN: Who was called MacLean.
SN: So either usually the two of us but sometimes three —
SN: Would go on leave together.
JM: Together. Right.
SN: And we went to Ireland once. To Dublin. Which was interesting.
JM: Did you have to go in civvies for that? Or —
SN: You changed at the border. At a place called Larne. You left your uniform and got, they gave you a civilian suit and off you went. It was the, the, what I suppose the most attractive feature of it was that there was no food rationing and you could get all steak and eggs and bacon and what have you.
JM: Whatever you wanted. Yes.
JM: Which made a change.
SN: Which was rather pleasant.
SN: For a few days.
JM: Yes. That’s right. Yes. So, it’s what I think a lot of chaps ultimately ended up doing is having a little excursion to Ireland. I think probably just for the sake of getting the food.
SN: Yes. Indeed. Indeed.
JM: Yes. That’s right. So, no other particular events stand out from when you were up onto this point. When you were on leave. Just all, just the usual sort of pubs and shows and —
SN: Pubs and shows and girls.
JM: Girls.
SN: You see [laughs]
JM: Yeah. Yes. Ok. So, looking at Pathfinders. What particular missions or ops do you want to highlight?
SN: I think, I think for Pathfinders, of course, the people who are most affected are the pilots and navigators and bomb aimers. For the gunners and wireless ops it’s really, it’s the same. It’s pretty much the same drill. The only difference is with Pathfinders you are continuously training.
SN: There is very little time off so to speak. There is a training exercise every day you’re not on ops so it’s, it’s a pretty full on thing.
SN: I guess there is another interesting thing about it is, of course, it was a pretty impromptu [pause] I was going to say it was a pretty impromptu move and we were moved and quartered in the village. In amongst the village.
SN: The huts and things were all in this village.
JM: Yeah. So, houses were basically just requisitioned to be your accommodation.
SN: No. The village was there and the village was operating in the same way.
JM: Yes. But individual houses might have been requisitioned.
SN: They built, they built —
JM: So, you were billeted. The people lived there and you were all just billeted in —
SN: Yes. And we all —
JM: With families.
SN: We all lived in, what do you called them, huts. What are they called?
JM: Nissen. The Nissen huts.
SN: Nissen huts. Yes. We all lived in Nissen huts.
JM: Oh ok.
SN: The masses were in Nissen huts.
JM: So, they built Nissen huts within the village itself.
SN: Yes. We all lived in the village and we walked to the flights.
SN: Which was about a quarter of a mile.
JM: A quarter of a mile away. Right. Yeah.
SN: Which was rather interesting. It was an interesting time.
JM: Yeah. For what reason?
SN: Well I think you — these villagers, we went back. We had a reunion there. And they regarded us as their people. You know, they knew us all in the pubs and how many didn’t come back. Who.
JM: Yes. And so, they basically felt a sense of protection.
JM: Enveloped you guys in a cloak of protection in a way to sort of provide you with, I guess, some stability or something like that is what they felt they were doing by providing that [pause]
SN: Yes. It was quite —
JM: Extending that friendship for want of a better word. Yeah.
SN: It was quite touching.
SN: When we went back.
JM: Yes. Yes. And — Ok. So you were doing regular training as well as going out on ops and what? Any, which ops in particular stand out for you?
SN: Well [pause] it’s like anything else I guess. You — it becomes a routine and it’s what you do and you — I think you become a little callous. And I think it takes, it took me a time after I was discharged. I found it [pause] An uncle of mine spoke to me and said, you know, ‘Have a little compassion.’ You became used to death. And people didn’t come back. And the casualty rate was horrendous.
SN: And you were, if you survived it’s what you do and it’s your [pause] you can get, you can accustom people to almost anything.
JM: That’s right.
SN: So, you know, we went out and did it and came back.
SN: We laughed about it.
SN: Drank to the next man to go.
SN: That was life.
JM: That was life. And what, what particular — I think there were a couple of particular ops that you mentioned in the book that you might just touch on briefly?
SN: Well I think we, we were first occupied with the Ruhr Valley. With Happy Valley.
JM: Happy Valley. Yeah.
SN: Then we went on to — we did one on Hamburg and we did some long runs. Pilsen, I think. And finally, Berlin. I went to Berlin seven times.
SN: They [pause] we got shot up pretty badly several times and I guess what you remember is that your crew changes. Or ours did. For instance, the man I was telling you about. Stuart Clark.
SN: He had a great friend in the squadron and instead of flying down to Coastal Command with us — we flew, you see. We just packed our stuff up and went. He decided to fly with his friend. You know, why not. And I remember he went off before we did. Went off. He just got over the horizon. Whack. The time of stress with an aircraft is when it takes its first turn because it’s got, not only the momentum of getting in but it has to make this turn.
JM: Turn.
SN: That’s it. And it didn’t and they were all killed. Blown up. So, we had an American with us and when the Americans came over and started to operate he went back to his, or went to — the American air force were happy to have them and most of them went back. And I guess the [pause] we lost crew members and I guess that’s what you remember. Who was the first one? [pause] We had, oh the first one we lost was unfortunately the navigator who was a very nice fella. We were good friends and we used to go to the pub at night. And we were at a place called Leeming in Yorkshire and instead of going around by the road we would cross the airfield and you had to be careful because of night flying [laughs] to do these things, you see.
SN: But it made it shorter. Anyway, we came back and I guess all had quite a bit to drink and we were at the top of our — they called them married quarters. They were cottages and we were in the two bedrooms upstairs. I, and Ricky, the wireless operator and Gibby. We got, we came back and we got to the top of the stairs and Gibby slipped and he rolled down these stairs and we got at the bottom and his head was bleeding. So, we got the ambulance and he was unconscious. There was nothing — his head was bleeding and the ambulance came and we never saw him again and I don’t know what happened to him. I presume that he perhaps died. And the other two I think I deal with in here. I might have dealt with Gibby as well. We had a thing which was called [pause] what did we call it? It’s [pause] lack of moral fortitude. LMF.
SN: LMF. And that’s really quite a good story actually. We had two of our crew. One was over Essen. A fellow named Gordon Wood. Toronto. And he, how anybody could think of this when we’re over Essen and the bloody kite was —
JM: Bouncing around the —
SN: Bouncing because of the flak.
JM: Flak.
SN: Threw us [unclear ] and he, and we missed, we went over the —
JM: Target.
SN: Target. And we missed.
JM: Missed.
SN: We were off so we had to go around again. Do another thing. Because the bomb aim has to be straight and level to do this thing.
SN: And when we started going around the second time he went to pieces and he, the pilot’s name was Tony. And he said, ‘Don’t go in there Tony. Don’t go in there. They’ll kill us,’ he said, ‘I want to go home and marry Mary,’ he said, ‘Don’t do this.’ He wept and so forth at the pilot, Tony. And Mac, the engineer, went down and take his intercom out and then they had to get him up and put him on — we had a little bench.
JM: Bench. Yeah.
SN: Across from the hatch and tied him up on the bench.
JM: Bench.
SN: And he came and we reported this when we came back that we had this man. The ambulance met him and I never saw him again or heard anything of him. Then the other one was — we were — I don’t know where it was. Nuremberg. Hamburg. I’ve forgotten. Anyway, we’d got an American who was a mid-upper gunner and they did a stupid thing. They thought instead most attacks by fighter aircraft come in from the bottom.
JM: Bottom.
SN: And they don’t see because the rear gunner just sees a hundred and eighty degrees so they said, ‘We’ll put a thing like a tear drop in the bottom of the aircraft.’
SN: And the mid-upper gunner will lie there and he had no guns, will lie there with his intercom, on his belly and report these aircraft that he sees. Stupid thing to have done. And he’d been alright before that but he, they only left the thing on for maybe two or three weeks.
JM: Weeks.
SN: And he went bananas.
JM: He went bananas.
SN: And he saw aircraft all over the sky and he gave evasive action and we’re pitching around [laughs] trying to find these until it finally occurred —
JM: Trying to avoid these imaginary aeroplanes.
SN: That there weren’t any aircraft.
SN: No one else saw it.
SN: So, he had to be disconnected, and put on the thing.
SN: And we never saw him again.
JM: Again.
SN: But after the war I learned what happened. And what had happened was they took these people, gave them whatever help they could.
SN: They sent them back to Canada.
SN: And then they gave them a choice. They said, ‘Now we will not discharge you.’ For dishonourable —
JM: Dishonourable discharge.
SN: Put this on your conduct thing.
SN: You will have a choice. You can either join the army or the navy and carry on with the war.
SN: Or we will give you a medical discharge.
JM: Discharge. Yeah.
SN: You have a choice and it always seemed to me that that was very fair. And nobody ever reported and said these people were cowards. They were medically —
JM: Unstable or anything like that.
SN: Or anything like that. So it was one of the good war stories.
JM: Good things. Yeah.
JM: Yeah. Now around in this period of time though in September ‘43 you discovered by accident shall we say in as much you and your good friend Drew were in London on, I presume on one of your periods of leave.
SN: Yes. I’d forgotten him but he was, yes.
JM: Yeah. And that he was sitting reading the newspaper and reading the latest list of honours and said that, informed you that you had been awarded the —
SN: DFM.
JM: DFM.
SN: Yes. That’s right.
JM: And the, I haven’t got the exact words of the citation in front of me but it was in terms of a, in recognition of a number of —
JM: Ops.
SN: I remember I said something like, he said, ‘Read this,’ and I said something like, ‘Yeah. They’re going to knight me tomorrow,’ or something. And he said, ‘No. You silly bastard,’ he said, ‘It’s you.’
JM: It’s you. That’s right. But did you was it just simply for a sequence of raids or did you actually get told something?
SN: It was a sequence I think.
JM: Yeah. But did you, can you recall.
SN: The citation.
JM: The sequence that they were actually referring to in terms of particular difficulties on those particular raids or —
SN: No. It was a general citation it seems to me. As I remember it.
JM: Right. So were other members of the crew awarded DFMs?
SN: No. Nobody.
JM: So how did they seem?
SN: Only me.
JM: Do you know why they singled you.
SN: I think it was the aircraft that I shot down.
JM: So, going back to —when? So —
SN: Yes. it went back to —
JM: So, it goes back to the March.
SN: Went back to March.
JM: March. When you shot down the Messerschmitt.
JM: In Stuttgart.
SN: That’s right. I think so, yes. I think that was what it was about because I was the only one.
JM: Yeah. Ok. So, so you didn’t get any further clarification in terms of the citation or anything like that. The commanding officers.
SN: There is a citation. Yes. And the citation [pause] I had or I probably have somewhere here but God knows where I would find it.
JM: Right. And then you lined up and received your award from King George.
SN: Yes. I went to Buckingham Palace and lined up with a lot of other people.
JM: And did he have any words to you do you recall? Or did he just walk along and just pin and kept walking.
SN: No. He was on a little dais in the palace and you went up one by one, up just a little, maybe that high or something and the king was slightly higher.
JM: He was slightly elevated by about eighteen inches.
JM: Or something like that.
SN: He was there.
SN: With a sort of a lectern or table that had the awards.
SN: That were being passed to him by someone.
JM: An assistant on the side.
SN: Yes. And you were — before you went up they put a little tin thing or something on your tunic.
JM: Yes. On your tunic, yeah, so they had —
SN: And you went up. He shook hands with you.
SN: And said something like I suppose, ‘Well done,’ or something like that and hung these on the thing.
JM: Thing. Yeah.
SN: And then you went.
SN: It wasn’t, you know, he was there were maybe, I don’t how many. Let’s say there were a hundred or something.
SN: There were a lot of them anyway.
SN: And that was it, you know. He wouldn’t have had enough time to have said —
JM: Too much to each one. No.
SN: To anyone really because it was a line.
JM: A line yeah.
SN: That went through.
SN: It was a job he had to do. Yeah. That was it.
JM: So then did you have an afternoon tea afterwards and did you talk with any of the other recipients?
SN: No. That was it. That was it. No.
JM: You just received it and you were out the door.
SN: You were told to appear at the palace. You had an order written on the thing. At such and such a time. And you came and they said, ‘Yes, that’s you. Here it is. You go in there. You go there. Get in the queue.’
JM: Almost a sausage line.
SN: Yeah [laughs]
JM: Right. Ok. So so, at this stage we’re getting you’ve been doing the various ops etcetera so you’re building up the number of ops you’re doing. We get towards the end.
JM: Did you know you were getting — because by this time, where are we up to? About, January ’44 so this is getting to —
SN: We’re in October I guess.
JM: Yeah. October ’44.
SN: And at that stage we [pause] our pilot and all except two of us in the crew.
SN: Ricky and myself —
SN: Had completed the magic number.
JM: Number.
SN: Which was forty five.
SN: And so, they [pause] they had done their —
JM: Completed their —
SN: Completed their second tour.
JM: Tour.
SN: And there were the two of us who had not.
JM: So that was you and Ricky.
SN: Ricky. And Ricky went. Ricky decided that he had had enough and he didn’t really want to fly with a sprog pilot or somebody else. So, he said, ‘I really don’t care whether I have that Pathfinder badge or not. I’d rather be alive.’
SN: So, I stayed on to finish and I had three to finish.
SN: And it took a while. November until I crashed because you had to find a crew that was short.
JM: Short.
SN: Of a rear gunner.
JM: Rear gunner. Yeah.
SN: To go with.
SN: So, I went with well they wanted to put, yes, they put you on this crew. Their man had [pause] I’ve forgotten — he’d fallen ill, I think. Whatever he had he wasn’t going to be able to fly again. So, I had, this fella, his name was McLennan. Canadian. So, I became their rear gunner.
JM: Gunner.
SN: For these three trips. And because I had been waiting around the weather was duff.
SN: And we went to Berlin three times.
SN: And in the end, you’ve seen there. So, and they were three bad flights because I guess they were I guess a sprog crew to some degree. We got shot up very badly and we got lost. And then the last flight we got shot up. The second last flight we were shot up pretty badly. And we were quite lucky. It burnt up the wireless operator’s notes and the navigator’s maps. The whole thing. [unclear] and it was pretty well peppered. So, then the last flight —
JM: So, did you use the same plane? Or did you — or the ground crew repaired it enough. Or did you use a different plane for that? For then? This last flight?
SN: They repaired it.
JM: They repaired it.
SN: They repaired it. I’m sure about that but I should say I don’t know.
SN: That would be a better answer.
SN: And then the last flight we, the last flight I made which was the forty fifth for me. I was — that would finish me off and it very nearly did.
SN: And we got, we got shot up again as we came off the target.
SN: And it was the night before, we were attacked by a fighter. The last night. I’ve forgotten if we were or not. Certainly, we were the second, it was an ME110 that very nearly got us. And we were lost. And the Met people had made a mistake in that they believed that a front was going to come in. They knew this but they believed that there would be ample time for people to get back from Berlin before this front came in. It was a heavy front. Well, they were wrong. And the front came in earlier and aircraft at that time when you’re doing blind landings come down in concentric circles.
SN: It’s like —
JM: So, you stacked up.
SN: A for apple and B for Bertie.
SN: X for X-ray and they’re in a line you see.
JM: In a line. Yeah.
SN: And they come down and you have a different altitude so they don’t get.
JM: Running into each other. Theoretically. Yes.
SN: Yes. And they bring them down.
SN: The operator.
SN: Brings them down.
SN: And the last circle, and when they do this they find the marker that makes the, what is it called [pause] when you have a blind landing you’re looking at your instruments. I’ve forgotten the name. It’s in there anyway. You have to pick up this bar and come in.
JM: And if you miss that you’ve got to go around ‘til you get it again because you’re coming down.
SN: Down.
JM: They’re bringing you down on that bar. They have given you your altitude that you should be at.
JM: They’re following you down.
SN: The pilot is just blind flying into this. So, we had been up. We were lost. We were late and we’d been up a long time and they were bringing us in and the pilot missed the bar and we had to go around again. And by this time, we were out of fuel and he knows we’re very nearly out of fuel and I know that we’re in trouble because I can see the treetops going by the turret.
SN: And I did the luckiest thing I ever did in my life. There was a belt about that wide.
SN: Webbing.
JM: Webbing belt. Yeah.
SN: With buckles on it.
JM: Strapped you in.
SN: And it was on either side and I put that on.
SN: Locked it there and that saved me.
JM: That saved you. That’s what saved you. Yeah.
JM: Yeah. So, you came and so having seen the treetops. It wasn’t too long after that that before —
SN: It was just minutes after that. Yeah. And the aircraft broke off, you see. The tail broke off.
SN: Broke off.
JM: Yeah. So, you were saved but the rest were not.
SN: That’s right. Well, the pilot came through but in a very bad state. And I found him. And I think I say there, things were blowing up. We had failsafe stuff. And it was burning. And I was not in a very good shape at the time. It had knocked me out. I was bleeding.
SN: And in a stupor I think.
SN: And he, he was lying with this stuff popping off and I thought I should move him back a little and I took him by the legs and his legs started to come off and the bone appeared. I couldn’t do that. And I got — we had a little packet of stuff and I don’t know whether I shot him with a hypo. Certainly, I had, when they found me I had the packet but what I did with it I have no idea. In any event when they came back they found me wandering around with this packet. This kid found me who became a friend of mine. And they brought the ambulance out it was thick heavy fog, and packed I and McLennan in and he, he was not conscious through this, through all this, I don’t think. Maybe he was but he didn’t seem to be.
JM: Seem to be.
SN: To me. And he and I went in together and it seemed to me that I wasn’t sure whether, I think he, I think he recognised me as we went in. And then I was in this hospital in Ely maybe a week or ten days. I’ve forgotten. And I asked, when I came too the following day, for McLennan. He was a nice fellow. And he said he died when he got there. So, I was the only one who survived.
JM: Yes, and so do you regret having made the decision to have, to complete those other three ops? Do you feel you would have was there what was the motivation in the first place to do, to do the three? Was it simply that you wanted to have the completed tour or what?
SN: It’s, I signed on for to do the tours.
JM: To do the tours. Yeah.
SN: And I wanted it done. Yes.
JM: You wanted to do it.
SN: It was something I wanted to do.
JM: Do. Yeah. So —
SN: And Ricky, whom I met again after the war, who my particular chum he always regretted that he didn’t.
JM: Right. Yeah. There you go. So people who, despite the fact that it was very very difficult for you for those last three. One thing just very briefly. Did, in Pathfinder, did Gransden Lodge, did any of the various squadrons intermingle at any time or did you stay very much within your own squadron?
SN: Completely within our own squadron.
JM: Within your own squadron. Because, I mean Australian, you know, there were various other, you know like —
SN: Yes, we had all sort of people. Australians, British.
JM: Yeah, yeah, but there was a 156 Squadron at Gransden Lodge too, I think, from knowledge but there was never any intermingling or anything like that.
SN: No. De were the only ones.
JM: You were the only ones.
SN: During my time.
JM: Your time, yeah. Right. Ok. Yeah.
SN: And we didn’t. Yes. No. We didn’t. I didn’t know anybody from any other squadron.
JM: Right. No. Right.
SN: You know the top squadron chief, they would have gone to group headquarters.
JM: Headquarters.
SN: And they knew —
JM: What was going on.
SN: Other people from the other squadrons.
JM: Yeah. Squadrons yeah.
SN: But not at my level.
SN: We never saw anybody.
JM: No. Right. And did — so you were in hospital and then I presume you went on leave and went perhaps to rehab. Like a rehabilitation.
SN: No. I went. I got out of hospital and went back to the squadron.
SN: That was in January.
JM: January ’45.
SN: Yes. And I got back to the squadron on Christmas Eve. I think it was.
JM: Oh. Ok. So that was Christmas Eve ’44.
SN: ’43. ’43.
JM: ‘44 wouldn’t it be?
SN: No. ‘43.
JM: Ok.
SN: In January of ‘44 I was posted.
SN: From the squadron.
SN: To a RAF gunnery school for gunnery instruction instructor’s course.
JM: Yeah. Ok. That was in January ‘44. Yeah. Ok. And so how long were you there for?
SN: I would think it would be about a month but it might have been six weeks.
SN: The only thing I can remember about it is that it was a RAF school at a place called Manby. And they spent all their Sunday, or most of their Sunday on the parade square where they were inspection after inspection and I was by that time commissioned. I noticed that they had a most extraordinary [pause] before they started this buggering about.
SN: They called out, ‘Fall out the Jews and infidels.’ [laughs]
SN: It’s true.
SN: It’s true. And thereupon the head of the WAAFs who was shaped rather like a large trout and had a moustache bigger than me and was obviously Jewish and she would fall out and the other one who fell out was an Indian. Indian Indian. A little squadron leader of some sort and he, I guess, was a Hindu or — I don’t know what it was. But I thought this is not a bad lark so the next Sunday I fell out with them. And no one —
JM: Queried it.
SN: No one ever queried me. I think they simply assumed well he’s Jewish.
SN: And well that was the end and I had my Sunday.
JM: Well there you go. That was a way to get a Sunday off wasn’t it? And so, what happened after? Did you complete this course? Or —
JM: Yes. And what happened after that?
SN: Then I went back to 6 Group which was the Canadian group.
SN: Up in Yorkshire and I instructed. I guess till the end of the year. Something like that. I’ve forgotten how long it was and then I was posted back to Canada.
SN: To — they had a huge base near Vancouver.
SN: Which was for [pause] for the Far Eastern campaign. Well the Far Eastern campaign was cut short at Hiroshima.
JM: That’s right. Yeah.
SN: So, nobody went anywhere.
JM: Anywhere.
SN: But there were about five thousand of us there and we were all given Joe jobs of one sort or another to keep us occupied. And that was for I guess for six months in ‘44. And then in August I was discharged.
JM: So that was August.
SN: 1945.
JM: ‘45 yeah.
SN: That’s ’45. Yes.
JM: ’45. Discharged. Yeah and —
SN: The only thing that I did during those six months, you know — there were really so many of us was I went over to Victoria to sell Victory Bonds for a month and this was rather fun. The people who were selling the bonds who were business men in the city I guess and were not the always the same people. And they would pick me up and we would go to factories, plants, offices and they would make a little spiel and I would get up and talk for, you know, maybe a minute or two and then we’d go on to another place.
JM: I see. Well that was different.
SN: Yes. That was the only thing I did when I was there.
JM: And this was when you were in.
SN: In this place. At Boundary Bay it was called.
JM: Near Vancouver.
SN: Yes. It was so bad that in the end the last job I had was to teach people who — no —I did do some work out there. I flew in Libs. They had Liberators.
JM: Liberators. Yeah.
SN: On instructing for three months which was alright. We had something to do. But then this last thing I was teaching [pause] what was it called? When an aircraft is is [pause] has to ditch. Ditching procedure.
JM: Ditching procedure. Yeah.
SN: And I had a sergeant and I had three other fellows and I had to give, I thought I was rather badly used and I had to give — I think I had to work two days a week. That was all I did.
JM: Did.
SN: But —
JM: Put a crew through this ditching procedure training. Goodness me.
SN: And there was hundreds of — well I don’t know how many.
SN: Who were doing [laughs]
JM: Same thing.
SN: The same thing but there we were.
JM: And when you are discharged in August ‘45 presumably you then head back to the farm. To the family.
SN: Yes. I went back to the family and I went down and got myself discharged.
SN: And in September, 1st of September I guess, I went to university.
JM: Right. And there you did, what?
SN: I did General Arts. And I was there for five years.
JM: Five years. Right. And?
SN: I got an MA.
JM: An MA right.
SN: In History and English Literature.
JM: Yeah. And where and then what? What —
SN: Well I then found [pause] I met a remarkable man who — I really started out to take law and I should have done that. That made sense. It was a profession. But he was an historian. Brilliant man. World scholar. Wonderfully — looked like Charles Laughton.
JM: Sorry?
SN: He looked like Charles Laughton.
JM: Right. Ok. And what was —
SN: A wonderful voice.
JM: And what was this chap’s name.
SN: He was a history prof. His name was Charles Lightbody.
SN: And I was quite fascinated by him and he became a friend of mine and I thought well I would do that and so I —
JM: You’d become a historian.
SN: I ended up with an MA and I realised that there really wasn’t anything I could do but teach and I wasn’t — I didn’t think there was really be much of a teacher. So, I, in the meantime had written. There were three examinations which you had to pass for Foreign Affairs. One was a four hour written hour written exam. Or was it six. I think it was six. It was a half day anyway and then you had to go for an oral examination with people. And then you had a third thing. I’ve forgotten what it was and then you, if you were lucky this was across the country and if you made it you were, you got the appointment. They took you in to the Foreign Service. Well I had written this, I guess, in the spring. I heard nothing from them. So, I had to think what I could do. So I applied for some scholarships and got a fellowship which was a scholarship down in New Orleans at Tulane University. So, I went down there. By this time, I was married but I went down by myself to see. And I was only there for a month, six weeks, something, when my appointment came through. But I was there long enough to realise that this was really not my —
JM: Cup of tea.
SN: Cup of tea. I was put, this was for a PhD and I was put to my chore — you had to teach part of the time was the Tulane football team. And Jesus. They [laughs] recruited these people from the villages and towns not because of their academic.
JM: Their academic ability.
SN: Oh no. That was not [laughs]
JM: They were recruited for their football ability.
SN: And I’m teaching European history to these fellas and they’re going [yawn] so —
JM: So, you were very pleased to have your posting come through.
SN: I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t hesitate a minute.
JM: You didn’t hesitate. You grabbed it with both hands and —
JM: So then —
SN: Happily, ever after.
JM: And when did you actually start your posting. So, I presume you had to do some sort of orientation period but when did you officially start with the — so what is this called? The Canadian Diplomatic Corps is it. Or what was its proper title?
SN: Canadian Foreign Service.
JM: Canadian Foreign Service. Yeah.
SN: Really from the 1st of January.
JM: 1st of January ‘46 would it have been.
SN: No, it was after that.
JM: What are we up to?
SN: It was after Christmas. It was December. I think it was December 27th. Something like that.
JM: So, December 27th.
SN: It had to be that year.
JM: Yeah. So, when would this be. About ‘51.
SN: In Ottawa.
JM: Would it be ‘51? December ‘51 or ’50.
SN: It would be December 1950.
JM: 1950. right. Yeah. So, December 27 1950 and it was, did you say, Ottawa.
JM: Ottawa. And so that was where you’re —
SN: So, I spent thirty odd years.
JM: So was that a training — your initial training at Ottawa or that was your actual first posting as —what?
SN: It was a training.
JM: Training. Yeah.
SN: It was before the first posting.
JM: Posting. Yeah. And then where was your first posting?
SN: It was really in Latin America and Bogota but before that someone fell ill in Tokyo. And they needed to send someone out to —
JM: To Tokyo.
SN: This guy didn’t come or I’ve forgotten what it was. In any event they needed somebody and the Korean war was on. So, they were able to send somebody out with military you see.
SN: They didn’t have to go through the procedure of sending them by sea.
SN: Across the thing. It was a time factor. So, I flew over and I was there for six months.
JM: To — to —
SN: Tokyo.
JM: Tokyo.
SN: Yes. Things happened and I was kept on.
JM: Yeah. So that became your first —
SN: I suppose that it was my your posting.
JM: Even though, yeah, yeah.
SN: But it was a temporary assignment.
JM: Assignment. Yeah. Yeah. So then did you come back to Latin America after that?
SN: I came back to Ottawa. And then by that time they had posted me.
SN: To Bogota.
JM: Bogota. Right.
SN: And I was, you know, in Ottawa for a couple months.
JM: While they sorted the paperwork out, I guess.
JM: Yeah. So, Bogota and then and then you say thirty years moving around.
JM: Various embassies moving around the world.
SN: Yes. That’s right. Yeah.
JM: Presumably changing roles. Moving up into a higher role most of the time. So, what was your —
JM: So were you a —
SN: I went through the usual steps of third secretary. Second secretary. First secretary.
JM: Secretary.
SN: Counsellor. Minister.
SN: And ambassador.
SN: So, it was, I guess, about thirty three years. Something like this.
JM: Yeah. And where were you ambassador?
SN: I was [pause] I resigned or — I didn’t resign, I finished as ambassador to Ecuador.
JM: Right. And did you have any other ambassadorial post prior to Ecuador?
SN: I had another Head of Mission is what we called it.
SN: I had a Head of Mission post before that. I was Canadian Commissioner in Cambodia.
SN: Which is where I met Shirley.
SN: And of course, that was an unfortunate thing in the sense of career in that divorce at that time was frowned on and I was unemployable because my then wife had to agree if I were to be posted and of course that was the last thing she was likely to do. And it was a long dragged out affair and very difficult for Shirley. However, we had this time in — well I went to National Defence College which was our half civilian and half military. I went as our departmental candidate. It was a year’s course for top executives so that was good. And then I went. I was farmed out from the department. I did a couple of years in the planning department of National Defence.
SN: As their foreign affairs rep or advisor. Whatever you’d call it. And then I did two and a half years I think. A very strange business which was because one of my foreign affairs friends was the deputy and he brought me in and I headed up a research planning division in Indian Affairs.
JM: So what sort of, so this is the —
SN: This is when I had time out for divorce [laughs]
JM: So, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, ok. And that would have been a very interesting exercise as well.
SN: Yes, it was. I learned a great many things.
JM: Yes. I can imagine. Gosh. And then presumably the divorce finally got sorted and you were able to be reappointed as an ambassador then.
SN: The day, the day after, no. I didn’t. The day after our wedding we were posted to Washington.
JM: Washington. Right.
SN: And it was that quick.
JM: That quick. So, when was that. When were you married. What was your —
SN: It was September.
JM: September of —?
SN: Of [pause] We were at Washington for four years. 1978. 1974.
JM: 1974.
SN: We were married.
SN: In September. And the following day —
JM: You were off to Washington.
SN: Off to Washington. And Shirley’s sister was there and my brother in law.
JM: And what was your role in Washington? You were attached to the embassy as what?
SN: As a counsellor.
JM: A counsellor. Right. Yeah. Ok. Yes. Oh well and so —
SN: You there you have —
JM: Yeah. And how do you feel that your air force experiences informed your diplomatic, the way you handled your diplomatic career in any way or or you never really thought about your air force time once you were in as a diplomat. I mean, recognising the fact you had many many roles as a diplomat that you, you know.
SN: Well I think it was useful to me in the sense that the things that I was doing. For instance when I was at national defence. When I was at National Defence College.
SN: For a year and that’s, you know, we lived, at that time there there were only thirty two people and you eat, drink with those people every day for a year and it was useful to me, half of them were military.
SN: To have —
JM: To have had that close quarter that — A — that background and, B — that close quarter living as you had had to have as part of war service.
SN: Yes. And when I was at plans it was useful because I knew people again. I was accepted. So when I was in Washington I did the political military thing for four years you see so I was always in close touch. So yes, it was useful.
JM: It was useful.
JM: Yes. Well you have had, certainly had an incredibly varied life and when you look back to the fact you started off as a farm lad, for want of a better word of describing it.
SN: Farm kid.
JM: Which is not to put down people who run, who own and feed the nation from their farms but it’s just very different life and lifestyle to — and then, and I guess, as part of that you became a bit of a rebellious child and that rebelliousness came out in some of your early years. In your early air force training and ultimately it clicked and you changed tack and you became — you decided to accept.
SN: Go with the stream. Yes.
JM: Go with the stream and accept the discipline which was probably when you started doing well in your gunnery courses.
JM: And that’s when you felt you had a role to play and that was a turning point potentially there. And then as we say you just ultimately going through to then find a totally different course of life and become part of the Canadian Foreign Service for such an extensive thirty three years. That’s an incredibly long time. And were you, have you ever been given any recognition for that length of service from the Canadian Foreign Service.
SN: Oh yes. Yes. Yes.
JM: In what format?
SN: I have no misgivings. I — I’ve been well treated. I have no, it would have been nice to have gotten a little higher up the tree but that was the way it played out.
JM: Was there a system of formal recognition? Awards or anything. Were you given any awards at any time or —?
SN: No. We didn’t have any. We all have a medal or I assume we do. That we get for having served.
SN: And you get a letter from the minister. The PM saying thank you.
JM: Thank you.
SN: And that’s it.
SN: Now, unlike, and this has always been a grievance with, I think some people in the Commonwealth Foreign Services — the Americans, if you become an ambassador you take the title with you.
JM: Yeah. Like a —
SN: You were called that.
SN: And the British usually knight their Heads of Mission and they can carry the title.
SN: And Canadians, Australians or New Zealanders do not.
JM: Not.
SN: Yeah. So that bothered some people and of course it didn’t, it doesn’t bother most people because as long, so long as everyone else suffers with you [laughs]
JM: You’re not on your own in that circumstance.
JM: Well I think that you’ve been exceedingly generous with your time and we’ve covered a huge amount of ground there. Simply amazing set of experiences and I just thank you for it Clair. It’s just been really really wonderful and the fact that we’ve got this record now as part to help contribute to the knowledge base about Bomber Command personnel is so important. So, thank you very much for that.
SN: Alright. Well thank you. It’s taken a fair amount of your time.
Nutting, Sinclair
405 Squadron; aircrew; bombing; crash; Me 109; military discipline; Pathfinders; RAF Topcliffe; training; wireless operator / air gunner
Jean Macartney, “Interview with Sinclair Nutting,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed January 19, 2020, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/3468.
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Aftab Shivdasani to make digital debut with 'Poison 2'
Free Press Journal 14 January 2020
Mumbai: Bollywood actor Aftab Shivdasani is excited to make his digital debut with the upcoming web series "Poison: 2".
"I'm quite excited to be part of Poison Season 2 as I've always wanted to play an edgy character and the script of 'Poison' gave me just that. I'm also excited to work with ZEE5 as well as director Vishal Pandya who has been a friend for a long time. Also, the webspace is something I haven't explored so far so I'm happy to explore that too," said Aftab.
'Poison 2' will also feature Raai Lakshmi, Pooja Chopra, Gautam Gulati and Taher Shabbir.
The show streams on the OTT platform ZEE5 from April.
Also Read: Aftab Shivdasani: Fashion is standing out in a crowd without copying anyone
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Home News K S Bhagwan
37,000 refugees in Pilibhit: Uttar Pradesh govt
Amid the ongoing protests against the controversial CAA and NRC, the Uttar Pradesh government has started primary data collection. As many as 37,000 Bangladeshi and Pakistani refugees have been identified so far in Pilibhit district. They are giving required information for getting Indian citizenship under the newly made citizenship act. There are large numbers of Pakistani and Bangladeshi refugees in Pilibhit's Ramnagar area.
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Even if God asks me, I won't forgive: Nirbhaya's mother
Reacting-to-a-tweet by ace-lawyer Indira Jaising urging her to forgive the four-men on death-row for brutally raping her daughter, Nirbhaya's mother Asha-Devi said: "Even if God asks me, I won't forgive them." Speaking-to-IANS, over the phone, mother who had been fighting for seven-long-years to send her daughter's killers to the gallows, said, "...even if god comes and asks me to forgive them, I will not."
Hank Azaria confirms he won't be lending his voice to Apu on The Simpsons
Hank-Azaria has officially confirmed he will no-longer be voicing the character Apu-Nahasapeemapetilon on "The Simpsons." In a recent interview with /Film, the actor said that he won't be voicing the fictional Indian-American Kwik-E-Mart owner anymore, "unless there's some way to transition it or something." The actor noted that show has considered the possibility of having someone of Indian descent replace him in the role.
The Simpsons Hank Azaria Apu Hank Azaria Hank Azaria Stops Voicing Apu Hank Azaria Apu Confirms Not Lending Voice Apu On Simpsons
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Deutschsprachig
Ludwig-Thoma-Straße. 26, 84085 Langquaid +49-9452-8779956
Alexander Maier, founder and CEO of InterReCo, has 20 years of experience in the fields of human resources management, and the founding and building up of enterprises. He obtained an in-depth understanding of the business world with an apprenticeship in a technical trade and further training as a state-certified engineer.
Afterwards, he started as a personnel agent in a temporary employment agency, for which he established a subsidiary and took on its management. A career move brought him into a medium-sized business in the field of personnel services, for which he founded several subsidiaries in Bavaria – in Ingolstadt, Landshut and Augsburg. After being promoted to regional manager, he continued to establish subsidiaries – in Hamburg, Bremen, Rostock, Braunschweig, Hannover and Düsseldorf. During this period, he also assisted in setting up corporate representation abroad, namely in the Czech Republic and in the UK, as well as establishing and setting up a subsidiary in the USA with three branch offices. In 2011, Alexander Maier founded the InterReCo (International Recruiting Consulting) company in Germany, with a subsidiary in Kiev (Ukraine). A further subsidiary in Atlanta, USA, is scheduled for November 2011. With such commitment at international level, Alexander Maier is a trendsetter in the fields of human resources management and the founding and setting up of enterprises, and the advancement of enterprise coached by him.
Took over a branch office in Regensburg
Directed a project for the assembly of mechanical parts
Took over and directed a branch office in Landshut
Established and directed a branch office in Ingolstadt
Established a branch office in Augsburg
Established and directed a branch office in Hamburg
Established a branch office in Bremen
Established a branch office in Braunschweig and Hannover
Established a branch office in Rostock
Established and built up a company in the Czech Republic
Support in established a company in Great Britain
Established and built up a company in USA
Opened a branch office in South Carolina USA
Opened a branch office in Alabama USA
Opened a branch office in Tennessee USA
Established InterReCo Deutschland
Established InterReCo TOV in Kiev/Ukraine
Established InterReCo LP in USA/ Atlanta
We look forward to your inquiry and are happy to advise you in all questions about our services.
Ludwig Thoma Str. 26, 84085 Langquaid
Phone : +49-9452-8779956
Email : info@interreco.com
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How to write a letter to say sorry
Examples of a business plan proposal for manufacturing
Kodak fujifilm essay
A business plan is a legally binding documents
Simple templates come with headings and blocks or space left for adding the necessary details. The Division shall reinstate a registration or certificate that has been suspended by a district court pursuant to NRS Cooperate with the Division in resolving complaints filed with the Division.
Adoption of mandatory technical and operational measures The Secretary-General congratulated the Chairman and delegations for their hard work and statesmanlike attitude in drafting the compromise text.
Gross billings, excluding advance payments, less the costs of work incurred in an accounting period are used to assess income from contract work and percentage accounting or completed contract accounting methods are usually not acceptable.
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The business' actions and decisions should be primarily ethical before it happens to become an ethical or even legal issue. Natural right vs Social construct[ edit ] Neoliberals hold that private property rights are a non-negotiable natural right. Ambiguity as to whether or not a document is legally binding should be avoided.
While acting under the authority of the Commission, a hearing panel and its members are entitled to all privileges and immunities and are subject to all duties and requirements of the Commission and its members. Functional business areas[ edit ] Finance[ edit ] Fundamentally, finance is a social science discipline.
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Make the financial records of an association available for inspection by the Division in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations. Except as otherwise permitted by the provisions of the court rules governing the legal profession, establish an attorney-client relationship with an attorney or law firm which represents a client that employs the community manager or with whom the community manager has a management agreement.
In specific circumstances these terms are used differently. But before a contractor may embark on his OBV, the business must be official approved.A Purchase of Business Agreement is a contract used to transfer the ownership of a business from a seller to a buyer.
A purchase agreement includes. A business plan is more of an agreement with yourself, and it is not legally binding. A long-term picture of what the business is to become and what it will look like when it gets there is part of the executive summary.
Get a plan built for you. We offer a menu of plans designed to accommodate businesses and budgets of all sizes. If you don’t see what you need, call us at 1 and we’ll design a plan just for you. The other requirement for an agreement or contract to be considered legally binding is consideration - both parties must knowingly understand what they are agreeing to.
If a person is forced, tricked, or coerced into entering into an agreement, it typically is not considered legally binding. For many small business owners considering how to organize their company, becoming a Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a great choice, thanks to the liability protection and pass-through tax status they afford.
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Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Jimmy T.
126 halaman
A collection of fairy tales from Celtic folklore.
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Anda di halaman 1dari 126
Celtic Fairy Tales
Joseph Jacobs
Preface to Celtic Fairy Tales
Connla and the Fairy Maiden
Guleesh
The Field of Boliauns
The Horned Women
Conall Yellowclaw
Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary
The Shepherd of Myddvai
The Sprightly Tailor
The Story of Deidre
Munachar and Manachar
Gold−Tree and Silver−Tree
King O'Toole and His Goose
The Wooing of Olwen
Jack and His Comrades
The Shee an Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire
The Story Teller at Fault
The Sea Maiden
A Legend of Knockmany
Fair, Brown, and Trembling
Jack and His Master
Beth Gellert
The Tale of Ivan
Andrew Coffey
The Battle of the Birds
Brewery of Eggshells
The Lad with the Goat−skin
This page copyright © 2001 Blackmask Online.
http://www.blackmask.com
∑Preface to Celtic Fairy Tales ∑Connla and the Fairy Maiden ∑Guleesh ∑The Field of Boliauns ∑The Horned Women ∑Conall Yellowclaw ∑Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary ∑The Shepherd of Myddvai ∑The Sprightly Tailor ∑The Story of Deidre ∑Munachar and Manachar ∑Gold−Tree and Silver−Tree ∑King O'Toole and His Goose ∑The Wooing of Olwen ∑Jack and His Comrades ∑The Shee an Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire ∑The Story Teller at Fault ∑The Sea Maiden ∑A Legend of Knockmany ∑Fair, Brown, and Trembling ∑Jack and His Master ∑Beth Gellert ∑The Tale of Ivan ∑Andrew Coffey ∑The Battle of the Birds ∑Brewery of Eggshells ∑The Lad with the Goat−skin ∑Notes and References
Last year, in giving the young ones a volume of English Fairy Tales, my difficulty was one of collection. This time, in offering them specimens of the rich folk−fancy of the Celts of these islands, my trouble has rather been one of selection. Ireland began to collect her folk−tales almost as early as any country in Europe, and Croker has found a whole school of successors in Carleton, Griffin, Kennedy, Curtin, and Douglas Hyde. Scotland had the great name of Campbell, and has still efficient followers in MacDougall, Maclnnes, Carmichael, Macleod, and Campbell of Tiree. Gallant little Wales has no name to rank alongside these; in this department the Cymru have shown less vigour than the Gaedhel. Perhaps the Eisteddfod, by offering prizes for the collection of Welsh folk−tales, may remove this inferiority. Meanwhile Wales must be content
to be somewhat scantily represented among the Fairy Tales of the Celts, while the extinct Cornish tongue has only contributed one tale.
In making my selection I have chiefly tried to make the Stories characteristic. It would have been easy, especially from Kennedy, to have made up a volume entirely filled with "Grimm's Goblins" a' la Celtique. But one can have too much even of that very good thing, and I have therefore avoided as far as possible the more familiar "formulae" of folk−tale literature. To do this I had to withdraw from the Engiish−speaking Pale both in Scotland and Ireland, and I laid down the rule to include only tales that have been taken down from Celtic peasants ignorant of English.
Having laid down the rule, I immediately proceeded to break it. The success of a fairy book, I am convinced, depends on the due admixture of the comic and the romantic: Grimm and Asbjornsen knew this secret, and they alone. But the Celtic peasant who speaks Gaelic takes the pleasure of telling tales somewhat sadly: so far as he has been printed and translated, I found him, to my surprise, conspicuously lacking in humour. For the comic relief of this volume I have therefore had to turn mainly to the Irish peasant of the Pale; and what richer source could I draw from?
For the more romantic tales I have depended on the Gaelic, and, as I know about as much of Gaelic as an Irish Nationalist M.P., I have had to depend on translators. But I have felt myself more at liberty than the translators themselves, who have generally been over−literal, in changing, excising, or modifying the original. I have even gone further. In order that the tales should be characteristically Celtic, I have paid more particular attention to tales that are to be found on both sides of the North Channel. In re−telling them I have had no scruple in interpolating now and then a Scotch incident into an Irish variant of the same story, or vice versa. Where the translators appealed to English folk−lorists and scholars, I am trying to attract English children. They translated ; I endeavoured to transfer. In short, I have tried to put myself into the position of an ollamh or sheenachie familiar with both forms of Gaelic, and anxious to put his stories in the best way to attract English children. I trust I shall be forgiven by Celtic scholars for the changes I have had to make to effect this end.
The stories collected in this volume are longer and more detailed than the English ones I brought together last Christmas. The romantic ones are certainly more romantic, and the comic ones perhaps more comic, though there may be room for a difference of opinion on this latter point. This superiority of the Celtic folk−tales is due as much to the conditions under which they have been collected, as to any innate superiority of the folk−imagination. The folk−tale in England is in the last stages of exhaustion. The Celtic folk−tales have been collected while the practice of story−telling is still in full vigour, though there are every signs that its term of life is already numbered. The more the reason why they should be collected and put on record while there is yet time. On the whole, the industry of the collectors of Celtic folk−lore is to be commended, as may be seen from the survey of it I have prefixed to the Notes and References at the end of the volume. Among these, I would call attention to the study of the legend of Beth Gellert, the origin of which, I believe, I have settled.
While I have endeavoured to render the language of the tales simple and free from bookish artifice, I have not felt at liberty to retell the tales in the English way. I have not scrupled to retain a Celtic turn of speech, and here and there a Celtic word, which I have not explained within brackets − a practice to be abhorred of all good men. A few words unknown to the reader only add effectiveness and local colour to a narrative, as Mr. Kipling well knows.
One characteristic of the Celtic folk−lore I have endeavoured to represent in my selection, because it is nearly unique at the present day in Europe. Nowhere else is there so large and consistent a body of oral tradition about the national and mythical heroes as amongst the Gaels. Only the byline, or hero−songs of Russia, equal in extent the amount of knowledge about the heroes of the past that still exists among the Gaelic−speaking
peasantry of Scotland and Ireland. And the Irish tales and ballads have this peculiarity, that some of them have been extant, and can be traced for well nigh a thousand years. I have selected as a specimen of this class the Story of Deirdre, collected among the Scotch peasantry a few years ago, into which I have been able to insert a passage taken from an Irish vellum of the twelfth century. I could have more than filled this volume with similar oral traditions about Finn (the Fingal of Macpherson's "Ossian"). But the story of Finn, as told by the Gaelic peasantry of to−:lay, deserves a volume by itself, while the adventures of the Ultonian hero, Cuchulain, could easily fill another.
I have endeavoured to include in this volume the best and most typical stories told by the chief masters of the Celtic folk−tale, Campbell, Kennedy, Hyde, and Curtin, and to these I have added the best tales scattered elsewhere. By this means I hope I have put together a volume, containing both the best, and the best known folk−tales of the Celts. I have only been enabled to do this by the courtesy of those who owned the copyright of these stories. Lady Wilde has kindly granted me the use of her effective version of "The Horned Women ;" and I have specially to thank Messrs. Macmillan for right to use Kennedy's "Legendary Fictions," and Messrs. Sampson Low & Co., for the use of Mr. Curtin's Tales.
In making my selection, and in all doubtful points of treatment, I have had resource to the wide knowledge of my friend Mr. Alfred Nutt in all branches of Celtic folklore. If this volume does anything to represent to English children the vision and colour, the magic and charm, of the Celtic folk−imagination, this is due in large measure to the care with which Mr. Nutt has watched its inception and progress. With him by my side I could venture into regions where the non−Celt wanders at his own risk.
Lastly, I have again to rejoice in the co−operation of my friend, Mr. J. D. Batten, in giving form to the creations of the folk−fancy. He has endeavoured in his illustrations to retain as much as possible of Celtic ornamentation; for all details of Celtic archaeology he has authority. Yet both he and I have striven to give Celtic things as they appear to, and attract, the English mind, rather than attempt the hopeless task of representing them as they are to Celts. The fate of the Celt in the British Empire bids fair to resemble that of the Greeks among the Romans.
"They went forth to battle, but they always fell," yet the captive Celt has enslaved his captor in the realm of imagination. The present volume attempts to begin the pleasant, captivity from the earliest years. If it could succeed in giving a common fund of imaginative wealth to the Celtic and the Saxon children of these isles, it might do more for a true union of hearts than all your politics.
1892 JOSEPH JACOBS.
Connla of the Fiery Hair was son of Conn of the Hundred Fights. One day as he stood by the side of his father on the height of Usna, he saw a maiden clad in strange attire coming towards him.
"Whence comest thou, maiden?" said Connla.
"I come from the Plains of the Ever Living," she said, "there where there is neither death nor sin. There we keep holiday alway, nor need we help from any in our joy. And in all our pleasure we have no strife. And because we have our homes in the round green hills, men call us the Hill Folk."
The king and ail with him wondered much to hear a voice when they saw no one. For save Connla alone,
none saw the Fairy Maiden.
"To whom art thou talking, my son ? " said Conn the king.
Then the maiden answered, "Connla speaks to a young, fair maid, whom neither death nor old age awaits. I love Connla, and now I call him away to the Plain of Pleasure,
Moy Mell, where Boadag is king for aye, nor has there been complaint or sorrow in that land since he has held the kingship. Oh, come with me, Connla of the Fiery Hair, ruddy as the dawn with thy tawny skin. A fairy crown awaits thee to grace thy comely face and royal form. Come, and never shall thy comeliness fade, nor thy youth, till the last awful day of judgment."
The king in fear at what the maiden said, which he heard though he could not see her, called aloud to his Druid, Coran by name.
"Oh, Coran of the many spells," he said, " and of the cunning magic, I call upon thy aid. A task is upon me too great for all my skill and wit, greater than any laid upon me since I seized the kingship. A maiden unseen has met us, and by her power would take from me my dear, my comely son. If thou help not, he will be taken from thy king by woman's wiles and witchery."
Then Coran the Druid stood forth and chanted his spells towards the spot where the maiden's voice had been heard. And none heard her voice again, nor could Connla see her longer. Only as she vanished before the Druid's mighty spell, she threw an apple to Connla.
For a whole month from that day Connla would take nothing, either to eat or to drink, save only from that apple. But as he ate it grew again and always kept whole. And all the while there grew within him a mighty yearning and longing after the maiden he had seen.
But when the last day of the month of waiting came, Connla stood by the side of the king his father on the Plain of Arcomin, and again he saw the maiden come towards him, and again she spoke to him.
"'Tis a glorious place, forsooth, that Connla holds among shortlived mortals awaiting the day of death. But now the folk of life, the ever−living ones, beg and bid thee come to Moy Mell, the Plain of Pleasure, for they have learnt to know thee, seeing thee in thy home among thy dear ones.
When Conn the king heard the maiden's voice he called to his men aloud and said:
"Summon swift my Druid Coran, for I see she has again this day the power of speech."
Then the maiden said " Oh, mighty Conn, fighter of a hundred fights, the Druid's power is little loved ; it has little honour in the mighty land, peopled with so many of the upright. When the Law will come, it will do away with the Druid's magic spells that come from the lips of the false black demon."
Then Conn the king observed that since the maiden came Connla his son spoke to none that spake to him. So Conn of the hundred fights said to him, "Is it to thy mind what the woman says, my son ?"
"'Tis hard upon me," then said Connla; "I love my own folk above all things ; but yet, but yet a longing seizes me for the maiden."
When the maiden heard this, she answered and said "The ocean is not so strong as the waves of thy longing. Come with me in my curragh, the gleaming, straight−gliding crystal canoe. Soon we can reach Boadag's
realm. I see the bright sun sink, yet far as it is, we can reach it before dark. There is, too, another land worthy of thy journey, a land joyous to all that seek it. Only wives and maidens dwell there. If thou wilt, we can seek it and live there alone together in joy."
When the maiden ceased to speak, Connla of the Fiery Hair rushed away from them and sprang into the curragh, the gleaming, straight−gliding crystal canoe. And then they all, king and court, saw it glide away over the bright sea towards the setting sun. Away and away, till eye could see it no longer, and Connla and the Fairy Maiden went their way on the sea, and were no more seen, nor did any know where they came.
There was once a boy in the County Mayo; Guleesh was his name. There was the finest rath a little way off from the gable of the house, and he was often in the habit of seating himself on the fine grass bank that was running round it. One night he stood, half leaning against the gable of the house, and looking up into the sky, and watching the beautiful white moon over his head. After he had been standing that way for a couple of hours, he said to himself: " My bitter grief that I am not gone away out of this place altogether. I'd sooner be any place in the world than here. Och, it's well for you, white moon," says he, "that's turning round, turning round, as you please yourself, and no man can put you back. I wish I was the same as you."
Hardly was the word out of his mouth when he heard a great noise coming like the sound of many people running together, and talking, and laughing, and making sport, and the sound went by him like a whirl of wind, and he was listening to it going into the rath. "Musha, by my soul," says he, "but ye're merry enough, and I'll follow ye."
What was in it but the fairy host, though he did not know at first that it was they who were in it, but he followed them into the rath. It's there he heard the fulparnee, and the folpornee, the rap−lay−hoota, and the roolya−boolya, that they had there, and every man of them crying out as loud as he could : "My horse, and bridle, and saddle! My horse, and bridle, and saddle!"
"By my hand," said Guleesh, "my boy, that's not bad. I'll imitate ye," and he cried out as well as they: "My horse, and bridle, and saddle! My horse, and bridle, and saddle!" And on the moment there was a fine horse with a bridle of gold, and a saddle of silver, standing before him. He leaped up on it, and the moment he was on its back he saw clearly that the rath was full of horses, and of little people going riding on them.
Said a man of them to him: "Are you coming with us tonight, Guleesh ?"
"I am surely," said Guleesh.
"If you are, come along," said the little man, and out they went all together, riding like the wind, faster than the fastest horse ever you saw a−hunting, and faster than the fox and the bounds at his tail.
The cold winter's wind that was before them, they overtook her, and the cold winter's wind that was behind them, she did not overtake them. And stop nor stay of that full race, did they make none, until they came to the brink of the sea.
Then every one of them said: " Hie over cap ! Hie over cap I" and that moment they were up in the air, and before Guleesh had time to remember where he was, they were down on dry land again, and were going like the wind.
At last they stood still, and a man of them said to Guleesh "Guleesh, do you know where you are now?"
"Not a know," says Guleesh.
"You're in France, Guleesh," said he. "The daughter of the king of France is to be married tonight, the handsomest woman that the sun ever saw, and we must do our best to bring her with us, if we're only able to carry her off; and you must come with us that we may be able to put the young girl up behind you on the horse, when we'll be bringing her away, for it's not lawful for us to put her sitting behind ourselves. But you're flesh and blood, and she can take a good grip of you, so that she won't fall off the horse. Are you satisfied, Guleesh, and will you do what we're telling you?"
"Why shouldn't I be satisfied ?" said Guleesh. " I'm satisfied, surely, and anything that ye will tell me to do I'll do it without doubt."
They got off their horses there, and a man of them said a word that Guleesh did not understand, and on the moment they were lifted up, and Guleesh found himself and his companions in the palace. There was a great feast going on there, and there was not a nobleman or a gentleman in the kingdom but was gathered there, dressed in silk and satin, and gold and silver, and the night was as bright as the day with all the lamps and candles that were lit, and Guleesh had to shut his two eyes at the brightness. When he opened them again and looked from him, he thought he never saw anything as fine as all he saw there. There were a hundred tables spread out, and their full of meat and drink on each table of them, flesh−meat, and cakes and sweetmeats, and wine and ale, and every drink that ever a man saw. The musicians were at the two ends of the hall, and they were playing the sweetest music that ever a man's ear heard, and there were young women and fine youths in the middle of the hall, dancing and turning, and going round so quickly and so lightly, that it put a soorawn in Guleesh's head to be looking at them. There were more there playing tricks, and more making fun and laughing, for such a feast as there was that day had not been in France for twenty years, because the old king had no children alive but only the one daughter, and she was to be married to the son of another king that night. Three days the feast was going on, and the third night she was to be married, and that was the night that Guleesh and the sheehogues came, hoping, if they could, to carry off with them the king's young daughter.
Guleesh and his companions were standing together at the head of the hall, where there was a fine altar dressed up, and two bishops behind it waiting to marry the girl, as soon as the right time should come. Now nobody could see the sheehogues, for they said a word as they came in, that made them all invisible, as if they had not been in it at all.
"Tell me which of them is the king's daughter," said Guleesh, when he was becoming a little used to the noise and the light.
"Don't you see her there away from you?" said the little man that he was talking to.
Guleesh looked where the little man was pointing with his finger, and there he saw the loveliest woman that was, he thought, upon the ridge of the world. The rose and the lily were fighting together in her face, and one could not tell which of them got the victory. Her arms and hands were like the lime, her mouth as red as a strawberry when it is ripe, her foot was as small and as light as another one's hand, her form was smooth and slender, and her hair was falling down from her head in buckles of gold. Her garments and dress were woven with gold and silver, and the bright stone that was in the ring on her hand was as shining as the sun.
Guleesh was nearly blinded with all the loveliness and beauty that was in her; but when he looked again, lie saw that she was crying, and that there was the trace of tears in her eyes. "It can't be," said Guleesh, " that there's grief on her, when everybody round her is so full of sport and merriment."
" Musha, then, she is grieved," said the little man ; " for it's against her own will she's marrying, and she has no love for the husband she is to marry. The king was going to give her to him three years ago, when she was only fifteen, but she said she was too young, and requested him to leave her as she was yet. The king gave her a year's grace, and when that year was up he gave her another year's grace, and then another; but a week or a day he would not give her longer, and she is eighteen years old tonight, and it's time for her to marry ; but, indeed," says he, and he crooked his mouth in an ugly way − " indeed, it's no king's son she'll marry, if I can help it."
Guleesh pitied the handsome young lady greatly when he heard that, and he was heart−broken to think that it
would be necessary for her to marry a man she did not like, or, what was worse, to take a nasty sheehogue for
a husband. However, he did not say a word, though he could not help giving many a curse to the ill−luck that
was laid out for himself, to be helping the people that were to snatch her away from her home and from her father.
He began thinking, then, what it was he ought to do to save her, but he could think of nothing. "Oh ! if I could only give her some help and relief," said he, "I wouldn't care whether I were alive or dead ; but I see nothing that I can do for her."
He was looking on when the king's son came up to her and asked her for a kiss, but she turned her head away from him. Guleesh had double pity for her then, when he saw the lad taking her by the soft white hand, and drawing her out to dance. They went round in the dance near where Guleesh was, and he could plainly see that there were tears in her eyes.
When the dancing was over, the old king, her father, and her mother the queen, came up and said that this was the right time to marry her, that the bishop was ready, and it was time to put the wedding−ring on her and give her to her husband.
The king took the youth by the hand, and the queen took her daughter, and they went up together to the altar, with the lords and great people following them.
When they came near the altar, and were no more than about four yards from it, the little sheehogue stretched out his foot before the girl, and she fell. Before she was able to rise again he threw something that was in his hand upon her, said a couple of words, and upon the moment the maiden was gone from amongst them. Nobody could see her, for that word made her invisible. The little maneen seized her and raised her up behind Guleesh, and the king nor no one else saw them, but out with them through the hall till they came to the door.
Oro ! dear Mary ! it's there the pity was, and the trouble, and the crying, and the wonder, and the searching, and the rookawn, when that lady disappeared from their eyes, and without their seeing what did it. Out of the door of the palace they went, without being stopped or hindered, for nobody saw them, and, "My horse, my bridle, and saddle!" says every man of them. "My horse, my bridle, and saddle!" says Guleesh ; and on the moment the horse was standing ready caparisoned before him. "Now, jump up, Guleesh," said the little man, "and put the lady behind you, and we will be going; the morning is not far off from us now."
Guleesh raised her up on the horse's back, and leaped up himself before her, and, "Rise, horse," said he; and his horse, and the other horses with him, went in a full race until they came to the sea.
"Hie over cap!" said every man of them.
"Hie over cap!" said Guleesh; and on the moment the horse rose under him, and cut a leap in the clouds, and came down in Erin.
They did not stop there, but went of a race to the place where was Guleesh's house and the rath. And when they came as far as that, Guleesh turned and caught the young girl in his two arms, and leaped off the horse.
"I call and cross you to myself, in the name of God!" said he ; and on the spot, before the word was out of his mouth, the horse fell down, and what was in it but the beam of a plough, of which they had made a horse; and every other horse they had, it was that way they made it. Some of them were riding on an old besom, and some on a broken stick, and more on a bohalawn or a hemlock−stalk.
The good people called out together when they heard what Guleesh said:
"Oh! Guleesh, you clown, you thief, that no good may happen you, why did you play that trick on us?"
But they had no power at all to carry off the girl, after Guleesh had consecrated her to himself.
"Oh! Guleesh, isn't that a nice turn you did us, and we so kind to you? What good have we now out of our journey to France. Never mind yet, you clown, but you'll pay us another time for this. Believe us, you'll repent it."
"He'll have no good to get out of the young girl," said the little man that was talking to him in the palace before that, and as he said the word he moved over to her and struck her a slap on the side of the head. " Now," says he, "she'll be without talk any more ; now, Guleesh, what good will she be to you when she'll be dumb? It's time for us to go − but you'll remember us, Guleesh!"
When he said that he stretched out his two hands, and before Guleesh was able to give an answer, he and the rest of them were gone into the rath out of his sight, and he saw them no more.
He turned to the young woman and said to her:
"Thanks be to God, they're gone. Would you not sooner stay with me than with them?" She gave him no answer. "There's trouble and grief on her yet," said Guleesh in his own mind, and he spoke to her again : "I am afraid that you must spend this night in my father's house, lady, and if there is anything that I can do for you, tell me, and I'll be your servant."
The beautiful girl remained silent, but there were tears in her eyes, and her face was white and red after each other.
"Lady," said Guleesh, "tell me what you would like me to do now. I never belonged at all to that lot of sheehogues who carried you away with them. I am the son of an honest farmer, and I went with them without knowing it. If I'll be able to send you back to your father I'll do it, and I pray you make any use of me now that you may wish."
He looked into her face, and he saw the mouth moving as if she was going to speak, but there came no word from it.
"It cannot be," said Guleesh, "that you are dumb. Did I not hear you speaking to the king's son in the palace tonight? Or has that devil made you really dumb, when he struck his nasty hand on your jaw?"
The girl raised her white smooth hand, and laid her finger on her tongue, to show him that she had lost her voice and power of speech, arid the tears ran out of her two eyes like streams, and Guleesh's own eyes were not dry, for as rough as he was on the outside he had a soft heart, and could not stand the sight of the young girl, and she in that unhappy plight.
He began thinking with himself what he ought to do, and he did not like to bring her home with himself to his father's house, for he knew well that they would not believe him, that he had been in France and brought back with him the king of France's daughter, and he was afraid they might make a mock of the young lady or insult her.
As he was doubting what he ought to do, and hesitating, he chanced to remember the priest. "Glory be to God," said he, "I know now what I'll do; I'll bring her to the priest's house, and he won't refuse me to keep the lady and care her." He turned to the lady again and told her that he was loth to take her to his father's house, but that there was an excellent priest very friendly to himself, who would take good care of her, if she wished to remain in his house; but that if there was any other place she would rather go, he said he would bring her to it.
She bent her head, to show him she was obliged, and gave him to understand that she was ready to follow him any place he was going. "We will go to the priest's house, then, " said he; "he is under an obligation to me, and will do anything I ask him."
They went together accordingly to the priest's house, and the sun was just rising when they came to the door. Guleesh beat it hard, and as early as it was the priest was up, and opened the door himself. He wondered when he saw Guleesh and the girl, for he was certain that it was coming wanting to be married they were.
"Guleesh, Guleesh, isn't it the nice boy you are that you can't wait till ten o'clock or till twelve, but that you must be coming to me at this hour, looking for marriage, you and your sweetheart? You ought to know that I can't marry you at such a time, or, at all events, can't marry you lawfully. But ubbubboo !" said he, suddenly, as he looked again at the young girl," in the name of God, who have you here? Who is she, or how did you get her?"
"Father," said Guleesh, "you can marry me, or anybody else, if you wish ; but it's not looking for marriage I came to you now, but to ask you, if you please, to give a lodging in your house to this young lady."
The priest looked at him as though he had ten heads on him ; but without putting any other question to him, he desired him to come in, himself and the maiden, and when they came in, he shut the door, brought them into the parlour, and put them sitting.
"Now, Guleesh," said he, "tell me truly who is this young lady, and whether you're out of your senses really, or are only making a joke of me."
" I'm not telling a word of lie, nor making a joke of you," said Guleesh ; "but it was from the palace of the king of France I carried off this lady, and she is the daughter of the k]ng of France."
He began his story then, and told the whole to priest, and the priest was so much surprised that could not help calling out at times, or clapping his hands together.
When Guleesh said from what he saw he thought the girl was not satisfied with the marriage that was going take place in the palace before her and the sheehog broke it up, there came a red blush into the girl's cheek and he was more certain than ever that she had sooner be as she was − badly as she was − than be the married wife of the man she hated. When Guleesh said that he would be very thankful to the priest if he would keep her in own house, the kind man said he would do that as long as Guleesh pleased, but that he did not know what they ought to do with her, because they had no means of sending back to her father again.
Guleesh answered that he was uneasy about the same thing, and that he saw nothing to do but to keep quiet until they should find some opportunity of doing something better. They made it up then between themselves
the priest should let on that it was his brother's daughter he had, who was come on a visit to him from another county, and that he should tell everybody that she was dumb and do his best to keep every one away from her. They told the young girl what it was they intended to do, she showed by her eyes that she was obliged to them.
Guleesh went home then, and when his people asked him where he had been, he said that he had been asleep at the foot of the ditch, and had passed the night there.
There was great wonderment on the priest's neighbours at the girl who came so suddenly to his house without anyone knowing where she was from, or what business she had there. Some of the people said that everything was not as it ought to be, and others, that Guleesh was not like the same man that was in it before, and that it was a great story, how he was drawing every day to the priest's house, and that the priest had a wish and a respect for him, a thing they could not clear up at all.
That was true for them, indeed, for it was seldom the day went by but Guleesh would go to the priest's house, and have a talk with him, and as often as he would come he used to hope to find the young lady well again, and with leave to speak; but, alas! she remained dumb and silent, without relief or cure. Since she had no other means of talking, she carried on a sort of conversation between herself and himself, by moving her hand and fingers, winking her eyes, opening and shutting her mouth, laughing or smiling, and a thousand other signs, so that it was not long until they understood each other very well. Guleesh was always thinking how he should send her back to her father; but there was no one to go with her, and he himself did not know what road to go, for he had never been out of his own country before the night he brought her away with him. Nor had the priest any better knowledge than he; but when Guleesh asked him, he wrote three or four letters to the king of France, and gave them to buyers and sellers of wares, who used to be going from place to place across the sea; but they all went astray, and never a one came to the king's hand.
This was the way they were for many months, and Guleesh was falling deeper and deeper in love with her every day, and it was plain to himself and the priest that she liked him. The boy feared greatly at last, lest the king should really hear where his daughter was, and take her back from himself, and he besought the priest to write no more, but to leave the matter to God.
So they passed the time for a year, until there came a day when Guleesh was lying by himself on the grass, on the last day of the last month in autumn, and he was thinking over again in his own mind of everything that happened to him from the day that he went with the sheehogues across the sea. He remembered then, suddenly, that it was one November night that he was standing at the gable of the house, when the whirlwind came, and the sheehogues in it, and he said to himself: "We have November night again to−day, and I'll stand in the same place I was last year, until I see if the good people come again. Perhaps I might see or hear something that would be useful to me, and might bring back her talk again to Mary " − that was the name himself and the priest called the king's daughter, for neither of them knew her right name. He told his intention to the priest, and the priest gave him his blessing.
Guleesh accordingly went to the old rath when the night was darkening, and he stood with his bent elbow leaning on a grey old flag, waiting till the middle of the night should come. The moon rose slowly, and it was like a knob of fire behind him; and there was a white fog which was;:! raised up over the fields of grass and all damp places, through the coolness of the night after a great heat in the day. The night was calm as is a lake when there is not a breath of wind to move a wave on it, and there was no sound to be heard but the cronawn of the insects that would go by from time to time, or the hoarse sudden scream of the wild−geese, as they passed from lake to lake, half a mile up in the air over his head ; or the sharp whistle of the golden and green plover, rising and lying, lying and rising, as they do on a calm night. There were a thousand thousand bright stars shining over his head, and there was a little frost out, which left the grass under his foot white and crisp.
He stood there for an hour, for two hours, for three hours, and the frost increased greatly, so that he heard the breaking of the traneens under his foot as often as he moved. He was thinking, in his own mind, at last, that the sheehogues would not come that night, and that it was as good for him to return back again, when he heard a sound far away from him, coming towards him, and he recognised what it was at the first moment. The sound increased, and at first it was like the beating of waves on a stony shore, and then it was like the falling of a great waterfall, and at last it was like a loud storm in the tops of the trees, and then the whirlwind burst into the rath of one rout, and the sheehogues were in it.
It all went by him so suddenly that he lost his breath with it, but he came to himself on the spot, and put an ear on himself, listening to what they would say.
Scarcely had they gathered into the rath till they all began shouting, and screaming, and talking amongst themselves; and then each one of them cried out : " My horse, and bridle, and saddle! My horse, and bridle, and saddle !" and Guleesh took courage, and called out as loudly as any of them : "My horse, and bridle, and saddle ! My horse, and bridle, and saddle!" But before the word was well out of his mouth, another man cried out: "Ora ! Guleesh, my boy, are you here with us again? How are you getting on with your woman? There's no use in your calling for your horse tonight. I'll go bail you won't play such a trick on us again. It was a good trick you played on us last year?"
"It was," said another man ; "he won't do it again."
"Isn't he a prime lad, the same lad ! to take a woman with him that never said as much to him as, 'How do you do ?' since this time last year!" says the third man.
"Perhaps he likes to be looking at her," said another voice.
"And if the omadawn only knew that there's an herb growing up by his own door, and if he were to boil it and give it to her, she'd be well," said another voice.
"That's true for you."
"He is an omadawn."
"Don't bother your head with him; we'll be going."
"We'll leave the bodach as he is."
And with that they rose up into the air, and out with them with one roolya−boolya the way they came; and they left poor Guleesh standing where they found him, and the two eyes going out of his head, looking after them and wondering.
He did not stand long till he returned back, and he thinking in his own mind on all he saw and heard, and wondering whether there was really an herb at his own door that would bring back the talk to the king's daughter. " It can't be," says he to himself, "that they would tell it to me, if there was any virtue in it; but perhaps the sheehogue didn't observe himself when he let the word slip out of his mouth. I'll search well as soon as the sun rises, whether there's any plant growing beside the house except thistles and dockings."
He went home, and as tired as he was he did not sleep a wink until the sun rose on the morrow. He got up then, and it was the first thing he did to go out and search well through the grass round about the house, trying could he get any herb that he did not recognise. And, indeed, he was not long searching till he observed a large strange herb that was growing up just by the gable of the house.
He went over to it, and observed it closely, and saw that there were seven little branches coming out of the stalk, and seven leaves growing on every brancheen of them and that there was a white sap in the leaves. " It's very wonderful," said he to himself, "that I never noticed this herb before. If there's any virtue in an herb at all, it ought to be in such a strange one as this."
He drew out his knife, cut the plant, and carried it into his own house ; stripped the leaves off it and cut up the stalk ; and there came a thick, white juice out of it, as there comes out of the sow−thistle when it is bruised, except that the juice was more like oil.
He put it in a little pot and a little water in it, and laid it on the fire until the water was boiling, and then he took a cup, filled it half up with the juice, and put it to his own mouth. It came into his head then that perhaps it was poison that was in it, and that the good people were only tempting him that he might kill himself with that trick, or put the girl to death without meaning it. He put down the cup again, raised a couple of drops on the top of his finger, and put it to his mouth. It was not bitter, and, indeed, had a sweet, agreeable taste. He grew bolder then, and drank the full of a thimble of it, and then as much again, and he never stopped till he had half the cup drunk. He fell asleep after that, and did not wake till it was night, and there was great hunger and great thirst on him.
He had to wait, then, till the day rose ; but he determined, as soon as he should wake in the morning, that he would go to the king's daughter and give her a drink of the juice of the herb.
As soon as he got up in the morning, he went over to the priest's house with the drink in his hand, and he never felt himself so bold and valiant, and spirited and light, as he was that day, and he was quite certain that it was the drink he drank which made him so hearty.
When he came to the house, he found the priest and the young lady within, and they were wondering greatly why he had not visited them for two days.
He told them all his news, and said that he was certain that there was great power in that herb, and that it would do the lady no hurt, for he tried it himself and got good from it, and then he made her taste it, for he vowed and swore that there was no harm in it.
Guleesh handed her the cup, and she drank half of it, and then fell back on her bed and a heavy sleep came on her, and she never woke out of that sleep till the day on the morrow.
Guleesh and the priest sat up the entire night with her, waiting till she should awake, and they between hope and unhope, between expectation of saving her and fear of hurting her.
She awoke at last when the sun had gone half its way through the heavens. She rubbed her eyes and looked like a person who did not know where she was. She was like one astonished when she saw Guleesh and the priest in the same room with her, and she sat up doing her best to collect her thoughts.
The two men were in great anxiety waiting to see would she speak, or would she not speak, and when they remained silent for a couple of minutes, the priest said to her:
"Did you sleep well, Mary?"
And she answered him: "I slept, thank you."
No sooner did Guleesh hear her talking than he put a shout of joy out of him, and ran over to her and fell on his two knees, and said: "A thousand thanks to God, who has given you back the talk; lady of my heart, speak
again to me."
The lady answered him that she understood it was he who boiled that drink for her, and gave it to her; that she was obliged to him from her heart for all the kindness he showed her since the day she first came to Ireland, and that he might be certain that she never would forget it.
Guleesh was ready to die with satisfaction and delight. Then they brought her food, and she ate with a good appetite, and was merry and joyous, and never left off talking with the priest while she was eating.
After that Guleesh went home to his house, and stretched himself on the bed and fell asleep again, for the force of the herb was not all spent, and he passed another day and a night sleeping. When he woke up he went back to the priest's house, and found that the young lady was in the same state, and that she was asleep almost since the time that he left the house.
He went into her chamber with the priest, and they remained watching beside her till she awoke the second time, and she had her talk as well as ever, and Guleesh was greatly rejoiced. The priest put food on the table again, and they ate together, and Guleesh used after that to come to the house from day to day, and the friendship that was between him and the king's daughter increased, because she had no one to speak to except Guleesh and the priest, and she liked Guleesh best.
So they married one another, and that was the fine wedding they had, and if I were to be there then, I would not be here now; but I heard it from a birdeen that there was neither cark nor care, sickness nor sorrow, mishap nor misfortune on them till the hour of their death, and may the same be with me, and with us all !
One fine day in harvest − it was indeed Lady−day in harvest, that everybody knows to be one of the greatest holidays in the year − Tom Fitzpatrick was taking a ramble through the ground, and went along the sunny side of a hedge ; when all of a sudden he heard a clacking sort of noise a little before him in the hedge. " Dear me," said Tom, " but isn't it surprising to hear the stonechatters singing so late in the season?" So Tom stole on, going on the tops of his toes to try if he could get a sight of what was making the noise, to see if he was right in his guess. The noise stopped ; but as Tom looked sharply through the bushes, what should he see in a nook of the hedge but a brown pitcher, that might hold about a gallon and a half of liquor; and by−and−by a little wee teeny tiny bit of an old man, with a little motty of a cocked hat stuck upon the top of his head, a deeshy daushy leather apron hanging before him, pulled out a little wooden stool, and stood up upon it, and dipped a little piggin into the pitcher, and took out the full of it, and put it beside the stool, and then sat down under the pitcher, and began to work at putting a heel−piece on a bit of a brogue just fit for himself. "Well, by the powers," said Tom to himself, "I often heard tell of the Lepracauns, and, to tell God's truth, I never rightly believed in them − but here's one of them in real earnest. If I go knowingly to work, I'm a made man. They say a body must never take their eyes off them, or they'll escape.
Tom now stole on a little further, with his eye fixed on the little man just as a cat does with a mouse. So when he got up quite close to him, "God bless your work, neighbour," said Tom.
The little man raised up his head, and "Thank you kindly," said he.
"I wonder you'd be working on the holiday!" said Tom.
"That's my own business, not yours," was the reply.
"Well, may be you'd be civil enough to tell us what you've got in the pitcher there ?" said Tom.
"That I will, with pleasure,'' said he ; ''it's good beer."
"Beer!" said Tom. "Thunder and fire! where did you get it?"
"Where did I get it, is it? Why, I made it. And what do you think I made it of?"
"Devil a one of me knows,'' said Tom ; but of malt, I suppose, what else ?"
"There you're out. I made it of heath."
"Of heath !" said Tom, bursting out laughing; "sure you don't think me to be such a fool as to believe that?"
"Do as you please," said he, "but what I tell you is the truth. Did you never hear tell of the Danes."
"Well, what about them?" said Tom.
"Why, all the about them there is, is that when they were here they taught us to make beer out of the heath, and the secret's in my family ever since."
"Will you give a body a taste of your beer?" said Tom.
"I'll tell you what it is, young man, it would be fitter for you to be looking after your father's property than to be bothering decent quiet people with your foolish questions. There now, while you're idling away your time here, there's the cows have broke into the oats, and are knocking the corn all about."
Tom was taken so by surprise with this that he was just on the very point of turning round when he recollected himself; so, afraid that the like might happen again, he made a grab at the Lepracaun, and caught him up in his hand; but in his hurry he overset the pitcher, and spilt all the beer, so that he could not get a taste of it to tell what sort it was. He then swore that he would kill him if he did not show him where his money was. Tom looked so wicked and so bloody−minded that the little man was quite frightened; so says he, "Come along with me a couple of fields off, and I'll show you a crock of gold."
So they went, and Tom held the Lepracaun fast in his hand, and never took his eyes from off him, though they had to cross hedges and ditches, and a crooked bit of bog, till at last they came to a great field all full of boliauns, and the Lepracaun pointed to a big boliaun, and says he, "Dig under that boliaun, and you'll get the great crock all full of guineas."
Tom in his hurry had never thought of bringing a spade with him, so he made up his mind to run home and fetch one; and that he might know the place again he took off one of his red garters, and tied it round the boliaun.
Then he said to the Lepracaun, "Swear ye'll not take that garter away from that boliaun." And the Lepracaun swore right away not to touch it.
"I suppose," said the Lepracaun, very civilly, "you have no further occasion for me?"
"No," says Tom; "you may go away now, if you please, and God speed you, and may good luck attend you wherever you go."
"Well, good−bye to you, Tom Fitzpatrick," said the Lepracaun; "and much good may it do you when you get it."
So Tom ran for dear life, till he came home and got a spade, and then away with him, as hard as he could go, back to the field of boliauns; but when he got there, lo and behold! not a boliaun in the field but had a red garter, the very model of his own, tied about it; and as to digging up the whole field, that was all nonsense, for there were more than forty good Irish acres in it. So Tom came home again with his spade on his shoulder, a little cooler than he went, and many's the hearty curse he gave the Lepracaun every time he thought of the neat turn he had served him.
A rich woman sat up late one night carding and preparing wool, while all the family and servants were asleep
Suddenly a knock was given at the door, and a voice called, "Open! open!"
"Who is there?" said the woman of the house.
"I am the Witch of one Horn," was answered.
The mistress, supposing that one of her neighbours had called and required assistance, opened the door, and a woman entered, having in her hand a pair of wool−carders, and bearing a horn on her forehead, as if growing there. She sat down by the fire in silence, and began to card the wool with violent haste. Suddenly she paused, and said aloud : "Where are the women ? they delay too long."
Then a second knock came to the door, and a voice called as before, " Open ! open !"
The mistress felt herself obliged to rise and open to the call, and immediately a second witch entered, having two horns on her forehead, and in her hand a wheel for spinning wool.
Give me place," she said ; "I am the Witch of the two horns," and she began to spin as quick as lightning.
And so the knocks went on, and the call was heard, and the witches entered, until at last twelve women sat round the fire − the first with one horn, the last with twelve horns.
And they carded the thread, and turned their spinning wheels, and wound and wove, all singing together an ancient rhyme, but no word did they speak to the mistress of the house. Strange to hear, and frightful to look upon, were these twelve women, with their horns and their wheels and the mistress felt near to death, and she tried to rise that she might call for help, but she could not move, nor could she utter a word or a cry, for the spell of the witches was upon her.
Then one of them called to her in Irish, and said, " Rise, woman, and make us a cake."
Then the mistress searched for a vessel to bring water from the well that she might mix the meal and make
the cake, but she could find none.
And they said to her, " Take a sieve and bring water in it."
And she took the sieve and went to the well; but the water poured from it, and she could fetch none for the cake, and she sat down by the well and wept.
Then a voice came by her and said, "Take yellow clay and moss, and bind them together, and plaster the sieve so that it will hold."
This she did, and the sieve held the water for the cake and the voice said again:
"Return, and when thou comest to the north angle of the house, cry aloud three times and say, 'The mountain of the Fenian women and the sky over it is all on fire.' "
And she did so.
When the witches inside heard the call, a great and terrible cry broke from their lips, and they rushed forth with wild lamentations and shrieks, and fled away to Slievenamon, where was their chief abode. But the Spirit of the Well bade the mistress of the house to enter and prepare her home against the enchantments of the witches if they returned again.
And first, to break their spells, she sprinkled the water in which she had washed her child's feet, the feet−water, outside the door on the threshold ; secondly, she took the cake which in her absence the witches had made of meal mixed with the blood drawn from the sleeping family, and she broke the cake in bits, and placed a bit in the mouth of each sleeper, and they were restored ; and she took the cloth they had woven, and placed it half in and half out of the chest with the padlock ; and lastly, she secured the door with a great crossbeam fastened in the jambs, so that the witches could not enter, and having done these things she waited.
Not long were the witches in coming back, and they raged and called for vengeance.
"Open! open!" they screamed ; "open, feet−water!"
"I cannot," said the feet−water ; "I am scattered on the ground, and my path is down to the Lough."
"Open, open, wood and trees and beam!" they cried to the door.
"I cannot," said the door, "for the beam is fixed in the jambs and I have no power to move."
"Open, open, cake that we have made and mingled with blood!" they cried again.
"I cannot," said the cake, "for I am broken and bruised, and my blood is on the lips of the sleeping children."
Then the witches rushed through the air with great cries, and fled back to Slievenamon, uttering strange curses on the Spirit of the Well, who had wished their ruin; but the woman and the house were left in peace, and a mantle dropped by one of the witches in her flight was kept hung up by the mistress in memory of that night ; and this mantle was kept by the same family from generation to generation for five hundred years after.
Conall Yellowclaw was a sturdy tenant in Erin: he had three sons. There was at that time a king over every fifth of Erin. It fell out for the children of the king that was near Conall, that they themselves and the children of Conall came to blows. The children of Conall got the upper hand, and they killed the king's big son. The king sent a message for Conall and he said to him − " Oh, Conall ! what made your sons go to spring on my sons till my big son was killed by your children ? but I see that though I follow you revengefully, I shall not be much better for it, and I will now set a thing before you, and if you will do it, I will not follow you with revenge. If you and your sons will get me the brown horse of the king of Lochlann, you shall get the souls of your sons."
"Why," said Conall, "should not I do the pleasure of the king, though there should be no souls of my sons in dread at all. Hard is the matter you require of me, but I will lose my own life, and the life of my sons, or else I will do the pleasure of the king."
After these words Conall left the king, and he went home: when he got home he was under much trouble and perplexity. When he went to lie down he told his wife the thing the king had set before him. His wife took much sorrow that he was obliged to part from herself, while she knew not if she should see him more.
"Oh, Conall," said she, "why didst not thou let the king do his own pleasure to thy sons, rather than be going now, while I know not if ever I shall see thee more ?"
When he rose on the morrow, he set himself and his three sons in order, and they took their journey towards Lochlann, and they made no stop but tore through ocean till they reached it. When they reached Lochlann they did not know what they should do. Said the old man to his sons, "Stop ye, and we will seek out the house of the king's miller."
When they went into the house of the king's miller, the man asked them to stop there for the night. Conall told the miller that his own children and the children of his king had fallen out, and that his children had killed the king's son, and there was nothing that would please the king but that he should get the brown horse of the king of Lochlann.
"If you will do me a kindness, and will put me in a way to get him, for certain I will pay ye for it."
"The thing is silly that you are come to seek," said the miller; "for the king has laid his mind on him so greatly that you will not get him in any way unless you steal him; but if you can make out a way, I will keep it secret."
"This is what I am thinking," said Conall, "since you are working every day for the king, you and your gillies could put myself and my sons into five sacks of bran."
"The plan that has come into your head is not bad," said the miller.
The miller spoke to his gillies, and he said to them to do this, and they put them in five sacks. The king's gillies came to seek the bran, and they took the five sacks with them, and they emptied them before the horses. The servants locked the door, and they went away.
When they rose to lay hand on the brown horse, said Conall, "You shall not do that. It is hard to get out of this; let us make for ourselves five hiding holes, so that if they hear us we may go and hide." They made the
holes, then they laid hands on the horse. The horse was pretty well unbroken, and he set to making a terrible noise through the stable. The king heard the noise. "It must be my brown horse, said he to his gillies ; " find out what Is wrong with him."
The servants went out, and when Conall and his sons saw them coming they went into the hiding holes. The servants looked amongst the horses, and they did not find anything wrong; and they returned and they told this to the king, and the king said to them that if nothing was wrong they should go to their places of rest. When the gillies had time to be gone, Conall and his sons laid their hands again on the horse. If the noise was great that he made before, the noise he made now was seven times greater. The king sent a message for his gillies again, and said for certain there was something troubling the brown horse. "Go and look well about him." The servants went out, and they went to their hiding holes. The servants rummaged well, and did not find a thing. They returned and they told this.
"That is marvellous for me," said the king: "go you to lie down again, and if I notice it again I will go out my self."
When Conall and his sons perceived that the gillies were gone, they laid hands again on the horse, and one of them caught him, and if the noise that the horse made on the two former times was great, he made more this time.
"Be this from me," said the king ; "it must be that some one is troubling my brown horse." He sounded the bell hastily, and when his waiting−man came to him, he said to him to let the stable gillies know that something was wrong with the horse. The gillies came, and the king went with them. When Conall and his sons perceived the company coming they went to the hiding holes.
The king was a wary man, and he saw where the horses were making a noise.
"Be wary," said the king, " there are men within the stable, let us get at them somehow."
The king followed the tracks of the men, and he found them. Every one knew Conall, for he was a valued tenant of the king of Erin, and when the king brought them up out of the holes he said, "Oh, Conall, is it you that are here ?"
"I am, O king, without question, and necessity made me come. I am under thy pardon, and under thine honour, and under thy grace." He told how it happened to him, and that he had to get the brown horse for the king of Erin, or that his sons were to be put to death. "I knew that I should not get him by asking, and I was going to steal him."
"Yes, Conall, it is well enough, but come in," said the king. He desired his look−out men to set a watch on the sons of Conall, and to give them meat. And a double watch was set that night on the sons of Conall.
"Now, O Conall," said the king, '' were you ever in a harder place than to be seeing your lot of sons hanged tomorrow ? But you set it to my goodness and to my grace, and say that it was necessity brought it on you, so I must not hang you. Tell me any case in which you were as hard as this, and if you tell that, you shall get the soul of your youngest son."
"I will tell a case as hard in which I was," said Conall. "I was once a young lad, and my father had much land, and he had parks of year−old cows, and one of them had just calved, and my father told me to bring her home. I found the cow, and took her with us. There fell a shower of snow. We went into the herd's bothy, and we took the cow and the calf in with us, and we were letting the shower pass from us. Who should come in but one cat and ten, and one great one−eyed fox−coloured cat as head bard over them. When they came in, in
very deed I myself had no liking for their company. ' Strike up with you,' said the head bard, 'why should we be still ? and sing a cronan to Conall Yellowclaw.' I was amazed that my name was known to the cats themselves. When they had sung the cronan, said the head bard, 'Now, O Conall, pay the reward of the cronan that the cats have sung to thee.' 'Well then,' said I myself, ' I have no reward whatsoever for you, unless you should go down and take that calf.' No sooner said I the word than the two cats and ten went down to attack the calf, and in very deed, he did not last them long. ' Play up with you, why should you he silent? Make a cronan to Conall Yellow,' said the head bard. Certainly I had no liking at all for the cronan, but up came the one cat and ten, and if they did not sing me a cronan then and there! ' Pay them now their reward,' said the great fox−coloured cat. 'I am tired myself of yourselves and your rewards,' said I. ' I have no reward for you unless you take that cow down there." They betook themselves to the cow, and indeed she did not last them long.
"'Why will you be silent? Go up and sing a cronan to Conall Yellowdaw,' said the head bard. And surely, oh, king, I had no care for them or for their cronan, for I began to see that they were not good comrades. When they had sung me the cronan they betook themselves down where the head bard was. ' Pay now their reward, said the head bard ; and for sure, oh king, I had no reward for them and I said to them, 'I have no reward for you.' And surely, oh king, there was caterwauling between them. So I leapt out at a turf window that was at the back of the house. I took myself off as hard as I might into the wood. I was swift enough and strong at
that time ; and when I felt the rustling toirm of the cats after me I climbed into as high a tree as I saw in the place, and one that was close in the top ; and I hid myself as well as I might. The cats began to search for me through the wood, and they could not find me ; and when they were tired, each one said to the other that they would turn back. ' But,' said the one−eyed fox−coloured cat that was commander−in−chief over them, 'you saw him not with your two eyes, and though I have but one eye, there's the rascal up in the tree.' When he had said that, one of them went up in the tree, and as he was coming where I was, I drew a weapon that I had and
I killed him.
' Be this from me !' said the one−eyed one − ' I must not be losing my company thus gather round the root of
the tree and dig about it, and let down that villain to earth.' On this they gathered about the tree, and they dug about the root, and the first branching root that they cut, she gave a shiver to fall, and I myself gave a shout, and it was not to be wondered at. There was in the neighbourhood of the wood a priest, and he had ten men with him delving, and he said, 'There is a shout of a man in extremity and I must not be without replying to it.' And the wisest of the men said, ' Let it alone till we hear it again.' The cats began again digging wildly, and they broke the next root; and I myself gave the next shout, and in very deed it was not a weak one. ' Certainly,' said the priest, 'it is a man in extremity − let us move.' They set themselves in order for moving. And the cats arose on the tree, and they broke the third root, and the tree fell on her elbow. Then I gave the third shout. The stalwart men hastened, and when they saw how the cats served the tree, they began at them with the spades; and they themselves and the cats began at each other, till the cats ran away. And surely, oh king, I did not move till I saw the last one of them off. And then I came home. And there's the hardest case in which I ever was; and it seems to me that tearing by the cats were harder than hanging to−morrow by the king of Lochlann."
"Och ! Conall," said the king, "you are full of words. You have freed the soul of your son with your tale ; and if you tell me a harder case than that you will get your second youngest son, and then you will have two sons."
"Well then," said Conall, "on condition that thou dost that, I will tell thee how I was once in a harder case than to be in thy power in prison to−night."
"Let's hear," said the king.
"I was then," said Conall, " quite a young lad, and I went out hunting, and my father's land was beside the sea, and it was rough with rocks, caves, and rifts. When I was going on the top of the shore, I saw as if there
were a smoke coming up between two rocks, and I began to look what might be the meaning of the smoke coming up there. When I was looking, what should I do but fall; and the place was so full of heather, that
neither bone nor skin was broken. I knew not how I should get out of this. I was not looking before me, but I kept looking overhead the way I came − and thinking that the day would never come that I could get up there.
It was terrible for me to be there till I should die. I heard a great clattering coming, and what was there but a
great giant and two dozen of goats with him, and a buck at their head. And when the giant had tied the goats, he came up and he said to me, ' Hao O ! Conall, it's long since my knife has been rusting in my pouch waiting for thy tender flesh.' 'Och !' said I, 'it's not much you will be bettered by me, though you should tear me asunder; I will make but one meal for you. But I see that you are one−eyed. I am a good leech, and I will give you the sight of the other eye.' The giant went and he drew the great caldron on the site of the fire. I myself
was telling him how he should heat the water, so that I should give its sight to the other eye. I got heather and
I made a rubber of it, and I set him upright in the cauldron. I began at the eye that was well, pretending to him
that I would give its sight to the other one, till I left them as bad as each other; and surely it was easier to spoil the one that was well than to give sight to the other.
"When he saw that he could not see a glimpse, and when I myself said to him that I would get out in spite of him, he gave a spring out of the water, and he stood in the mouth of the cave, and he said that he would have revenge for the sight of his eye. I had but to stay there crouched the length of the night, holding in my breath in such a way that he might not find out where I was.
"When he felt the birds calling in the morning, and knew that the day was, he said − ' Art thou sleeping? Awake and let out my lot of goats.' I killed the buck. He cried, 'I do believe that thou art killing my buck.'
"'I am not,' said I, ' but the ropes are so tight that I take long to loose them.' I let out one of the goats, and there he was caressing her, and he said to her, 'There thou art thou shaggy, hairy white goat, and thou seest me, but I see thee not.' I kept letting them out by the way of one and one, as I flayed the buck, and before the last one was out I had him flayed bag−wise. Then I went and I put my legs in place of his legs, and my hands in place of his forelegs, and my head in place of his head, and the horns on top of my head, so that the brute might think that it was the buck. I went out. When I was going out the giant laid his hand on me, and he said, 'There thou art, thou pretty buck; thou seest me, but I see thee not.' When I myself got out, and I saw the world about me, surely, oh, king ! joy was on me. When I was out and had shaken the skin off me, I said to the brute, 'I am out now in spite of you.'
"'Aha!' said he, 'hast thou done this to me. Since thou wert so stalwart that thou hast got out, I will give thee a ring that I have here ; keep the ring, and it will do thee good.'
"'I will not take the ring from you,' said I,' but throw it, and I will take it with me.' He threw the ring on the flat ground, I went myself and I lifted the ring, and I put it on my finger. When he said me then, ' Is the ring fitting thee ?' I said to him, 'It is.' Then he said, 'Where art thou, ring ?' And the ring said, 'I am here.' The brute went and went towards where the ring was speaking, and now I saw that I was in a harder case than ever I was. I drew a dirk. I cut the finger from off me, and I threw it from me as far as I could out on the loch, and there was a great depth in the place. He shouted, 'Where art thou, ring?' And the ring said, 'I am here,' though it was on the bed of ocean. He gave a spring after the ring, and out he went in the sea. And I was as pleased then when I saw him drowning, as though you should grant my own life and the life of my two sons with me, and not lay any more trouble on me.
"When the giant was drowned I went in, and I took with me all he had of gold and silver, and I went home, and surely great joy was on my people when I arrived. And as a sign now look, the finger is off me."
"Yes, indeed, Conall, you are wordy and wise," said the king. "I see the finger is off you. You have freed your two sons, but tell me a case in which you ever were that is harder than to be looking on your son being
hanged to−morrow, and you shall get the soul of your eldest son."
"Then went my father," said Conall "and he got me a wife, and I was married. I went to hunt. I was going beside the sea, and I saw an island over in the midst of the loch, and I came there where a boat was with a rope before her, and a rope behind her, and many precious things within her. I looked myself on the boat to see how I might get part of them. I put in the one foot, and the other foot was on the ground, and when I raised my head what was it but the boat over in the middle of the loch, and she never stopped till she reached the island. When I went out of the boat the boat returned where she was before. I did not know now what I should do. The place was without meat or clothing, without the appearance of a house on it. I came out on the top of a hill. Then I came to a glen ; I saw in it, at the bottom of a hollow, a woman with a child, and the child was naked on her knee, and she had a knife in her hand. She tried to put the knife to the throat of the babe, and the babe began to laugh in her face, and she began to cry, and she threw the knife behind her. I thought to myself that I was near my foe and far from my friends, and I called to the woman, 'What are you doing here?' And she said to me, 'What brought you here?' I told her myself word upon word how I came. 'Well then,' said she, 'it was so I came also.' She showed me to the place where I should come in where she was. I went in, and I said to her, 'What was the matter that you were putting the knife on the neck of the child?' 'it is that he must be cooked for the giant who is here, or else no more of my world will be before me.' Just then we could be hearing the footsteps of the giant, 'What shall I do? what shall I do?' cried the woman. I went to the cauldron, and by luck it was not hot, so in it I got just as the brute came in. 'Hast thou boiled that youngster for me ?' he cried. ' He's not done yet,' said she, and I cried out from the cauldron, 'Mammy, mammy, it's boiling I am.' Then the giant laughed out HAl, HAW, HOGARAICH, and heaped on wood under the caldron.
"And now I was sure I would scald before I could get out of that. As fortune favoured me, the brute slept beside the cauldron. There I was scalded by the bottom of the cauldron. When she perceived that he was asleep, she set her mouth quietly to the hole that was in the lid, and she said to me 'was I alive?' I said I was. I put up my head, and the hole in the lid was so large, that my head went through easily. Everything was coming easily with me till I began to bring up my hips. I left the skin of my hips behind me, but I came out. When I got out of the caldron I knew not what to do; and she said to me that there was no weapon that would kill him but his own weapon. I began to draw his spear and every breath that he drew I thought I would be down his throat, and when his breath came out I was back again just as far. But with every ill that befell me I got the spear loosed from him. Then I was as one under a bundle of straw in a great wind for I could not manage the spear. And it was fearful to look on the brute, who had but one eye in the midst of his face; and it was not agreeable for the like of me to attack him. I drew the dart as best I could, and I set it in his eye. When he felt this he gave his head a lift, and he struck the other end of the dart on the top of the cave, and it went through to the back of his head. And he fell cold dead where he was; and you may be sure, oh king, that joy was on me. I myself and the woman went out on clear ground, and we passed the night there. I went and got the boat with which I came, and she was no way lightened, and took the woman and the child over on dry land ; and I returned home."
The king of Lochlann's mother was putting on a fire at this time, and listening to Conall telling the tale about the child.
"Is it you," said she, " that were there ?"
"Well then," said he, " 'twas I."
"Och! och ! " said she, " 'twas I that was there, and the king is the child whose life you saved ; and it is to you that life thanks should be given." Then they took great joy.
The king said, "Oh, Conall, you came through great hardships. And now the brown horse is yours, and his sack full of the most precious things that are in my treasury."
They lay down that night, and if it was early that Conall rose, it was earlier than that that the queen was on foot making ready. He got the brown horse and his sack full of gold and silver and stones of great price, and then Conall and his three sons went away, and they returned home to the Erin realm of gladness. He left the gold and silver in his house, and he went with the horse to the king. They were good friends evermore. He returned home to his wife, and they set in order a feast ; and that was a feast if ever there was one, oh son and brother.
There was once upon a time two farmers, and their names were Hudden and Dudden. They had poultry in their yards, sheep on the uplands, and scores of cattle in the meadow−land alongside the river. But for all that they weren't happy. For just between their two farms there lived a poor man by the name of Donald O'Neary. He had a hovel over his head and a strip of grass that was barely enough to keep his one cow, Daisy, from starving, and, though she did her best, it was but seldom that Donald got a drink of milk or a roll of butter from Daisy. You would think there was little here to make Hudden and Dudden jealous, but so it is, the more one has the more one wants, and Donald's neighbours lay awake of nights scheming how they might get hold of his little strip of grass−land. Daisy, poor thing, they never thought of; she was just a bag of bones.
One day Hudden met Dudden, and they were soon grumbling as usual, and all to the tune of "If only we could get that vagabond Donald O'Neary out of the country."
"Let's kill Daisy," said Hudden at last; "if that doesn't make him clear out, nothing will."
No sooner said than agreed, and it wasn't dark before Hudden and Dudden crept up to the little shed where lay poor Daisy trying her best to chew the cud, though she hadn't had as much grass in the day as would cover your hand. And when Donald came to see if Daisy was all snug for the night, the poor beast had only time to lick his hand once before she died.
Well, Donald was a shrewd fellow, and downhearted though he was, began to think if he could get any good out of Daisy's death. He thought and he thought, and the next day you could have seen him trudging off early to the fair, Daisy's hide over his shoulder, every penny he had jingling in his pockets. Just before he got to the fair, he made several slits in the hide, put a penny in each slit, walked into the best inn of the town as bold as if it belonged to him, and, hanging the hide up to a nail in the wall, sat down.
"Some of your best whisky," says he to the landlord. But the landlord didn't like his looks. "Is it fearing I won't pay you, you are?" says Donald; "why I have a hide here that gives me all the money I want." And with that he hit it a whack with his stick and out hopped a penny. The landlord opened his eyes, as you may fancy.
"What'll you take for that hide ?"
"It's not for sale, my good man."
"Will you take a gold piece?"
"It's not for sale, I tell you. Hasn't it kept me and mine for years ?" and with that Donald hit the hide another whack and out jumped a second penny.
"Well, the long and the short of it was that Donald let the hide go, and, that very evening, who but he should walk up to Hudden's door?
"Good−evening, Hudden. Will you lend me your best pair of scales ?"
Hudden stared and Hudden scratched his head, but he lent the scales.
When Donald was safe at home, he pulled out his pocketful of bright gold and began to weigh each piece in the scales. But Hudden had put a lump of butter at the bottom, and so the last piece of gold stuck fast to the scales when he took them back to Hudden.
If Hudden had stared before, he stared ten times more now, and no sooner was Donald's back turned, than he was off as hard as he could pelt to Dudden's.
"Good−evening, Dudden. That vagabond, bad luck to him − "
"You mean Donald O'Neary ?"
"And who else should I mean ? He's back here weighing out sackfuls of gold."
"How do you know that ?"
"Here are my scales that he borrowed, and here's a gold piece still sticking to them."
Off they went together, and they came to Donald's door. Donald had finished making the last pile of ten gold pieces. And he couldn't finish because a piece had stuck to the scales.
In they walked without an ''If you please " or '' By your leave."
"Well, I never!" that was all they could say.
"Good−evening, Hudden ; good−evening, Dudden. Ah! you thought you had played me a fine trick, but you never did me a better turn in all your lives. When I found poor Daisy dead, I thought to myself, 'Well, her hide may fetch something;' and it did. Hides are worth their weight in gold in the market just now."
Hudden nudged Dudden, and Dudden winked at Hudden.
"Good−evening, Donald O'Neary."
"Good−evening, kind friends."
The next day there wasn't a cow or a calf that belonged to Hudden or Dudden but her hide was going to the fair in Hudden's biggest cart drawn by Dudden's strongest pair of horses.
When they came to the fair, each one took a hide over his arm, and there they were walking through the fair, bawling out at the top of their voices : ' Hides to sell! hides to sell ! "
Out came the tanner:
"How much for your hides, my good men?"
"Their weight in gold."
''It's early in the day to come out of the tavern." That was all the tanner said, and back he went to his yard.
"Hides to sell ! Fine fresh hides to sell !" Out came the cobbler.
"How much for your hides, my men ? "Their weight in gold."
"Is it making game of me you are! Take that for your pains," and the cobbler dealt Hudden a blow that made him stagger.
Up the people came running from one end of the fair to the other. "What's the matter? What's the matter?" cried they.
"Here are a couple of vagabonds selling hides at their weight in gold," said the cobbler.
"Hold 'em fast ; hold 'em fast !" bawled the innkeeper, who was the last to come up, he was so fat. "I'll wager it's one of the rogues who tricked me out of thirty gold pieces yesterday for a wretched hide."
It was more kicks than halfpence that Hudden and Dudden got before they were well on their way home again, and they didn't run the slower because all the dogs of the town were at their heels.
Well, as you may fancy, if they loved Donald little before, they loved him less now.
"What's the matter, friends?" said he, as he saw them tearing along, their hats knocked in, and their coats torn off, and their faces black and blue. "Is it fighting you've been ? or mayhap you met the police, ill luck to them?"
"We'll police you, you vagabond. It's mighty smart you thought yourself, deluding us with your lying tales."
"Who deluded you? Didn't you see the gold with your own two eyes?"
But it was no use talking. Pay for it he must, and should. There was a meal−sack handy, and into it Hudden and Dudden popped Donald O'Neary, tied him up tight, ran a pole through the knot, and off they started for the Brown Lake of the Bog, each with a pole−end on his shoulder, and Donald O'Neary between.
But the Brown Lake was far, the road was dusty, Hudden and Dudden were sore and weary, and parched with thirst. There was an inn by the roadside.
"Let's go in," said Hudden ; "I'm dead beat. It's heavy he is for the little he had to eat."
If Hudden was willing, so was Dudden. As for Donald, you may be sure his leave wasn't asked, but he was lumped down at the inn door for all the world as if he had been a sack of potatoes.
"Sit still, you vagabond," said Dudden ; "if we don't mind waiting, you needn't."
Donald held his peace, but after a while he heard the glasses clink, and Hudden singing away at the top of his voice.
"I won't have her, I tell you ; I won't have her !" said Donald. But nobody heeded what he said.
"I won't have her, I tell you ; I won't have her !" said Donald, and this time he said it louder ; but nobody heeded what he said.
"I won't have her, I tell you; I won't have her !" said Donald; and this time he said it as loud as he could.
"And who won't you have, may I be so bold as to ask?" said a farmer, who had just come up with a drove of cattle, and was turning in for a glass.
"It's the king's daughter. They are bothering the life out of me to marry her."
"You're the lucky fellow. I'd give something to be in your shoes."
"Do you see that now ! Wouldn't it be a fine thing for a farmer to be marrying a princess, all dressed in gold and jewels ?"
"Jewels, do you say? Ah, now, couldn't you take me with you?"
"Well, you're an honest fellow, and as I don't care for the king's daughter, though she's as beautiful as the day, and is covered with jewels from top to toe, you shall have her. Just undo the cord, and let me out ; they tied me up tight, as they knew I'd run away from her."
Out crawled Donald ; in crept the farmer.
"Now lie still, and don't mind the shaking; it's only rumbling over the palace steps you'll be. And maybe they'll abuse you for a vagabond, who won't have the king's daughter; but you needn't mind that. Ah ! it's a deal I'm giving up for you, sure as it is that I don't care for the princess."
"Take my cattle in exchange," said the farmer; and you may guess it wasn't long before Donald was at their tails driving them homewards.
Out came Hudden and Dudden, and the one took one end of the pole, and the other the other.
"I'm thinking he's heavier," said Hudden.
"Ah, never mind," said Dudden; "it's only a step now to the Brown Lake."
"I'll have her now ! I'll have her now !" bawled the farmer, from inside the sack.
"By my faith, and you shall though," said Hudden, and he laid his stick across the sack.
"I'll have her! I'll have her!" bawled the farmer, louder than ever.
"Well, here you are," said Dudden, for they were now come to the Brown Lake, and, un−slinging the sack, they pitched it plump into the lake.
"You'll not be playing your tricks on us any longer," said Hudden.
"True for you," said Dudden. "Ah, Donald, my boy, it was an ill day when you borrowed my scales."
Off they went, with a light step and an easy heart, but when they were near home, who should they see but Donald O'Neary, and all around him the cows were grazing, and the calves were kicking up their heels and
butting their heads together.
"Is it you, Donald?" said Dudden. "Faith, you've been quicker than we have."
"True for you, Dudden, and let me thank you kindly the turn was good, if the will was ill. You'll have heard, like me, that the Brown Lake leads to the Land of Promise. I always put it down as lies, but it is just as true as my word. Look at the cattle."
Hudden stared, and Dudden gaped ; but they couldn't get over the cattle ; fine fat cattle they were too.
"It's only the worst I could bring up with me," said Donald O'Neary ; " the others were so fat, there was no driving them. Faith, too, it's little wonder they didn't care to leave, with grass as far as you could see, and as sweet and juicy as fresh butter."
"Ah, now, Donald, we haven't always been friends," said Dudden, " but, as I was just saying, you were ever a decent lad, and you'll show us the way, won't you?"
I don't see that I'm called upon to do that ; there is a power more cattle down there. Why shouldn't I have them all to myself ?"
"Faith, they may well say, the richer you get, the harder the heart. You always were a neighbourly lad, Donald. You wouldn't wish to keep the luck all to yourself?"
"True for you, Hudden, though 'tis a bad example you set me. But I'll not be thinking of old times. There is plenty for all there, so come along with me."
Off they trudged, with a light heart and an eager step. When they came to the Brown Lake, the sky was full of little white clouds, and, if the sky was full, the lake was as full.
"Ah ! now, look, there they are," cried Donald, as he pointed to the clouds in the lake.
"Where ? where ?" cried Hudden, and "Don't be greedy!" cried Dudden, as he jumped his hardest to be up first with the fat cattle. But if he jumped first, Hudden wasn't long behind.
They never came back. Maybe they got too fat, like the cattle. As for Donald O'Neary, he had cattle and sheep all his days to his heart's content.
Up in the Black Mountains in Caermarthenshire lies the lake known as Lyn y Van Vach. To the margin of this lake the shepherd of Myddvai once led his lambs, and lay there whilst they sought pasture. Suddenly, from the dark waters of the lake, he saw three maidens rise. Shaking the bright drops from their hair and gliding to the shore, they wandered about amongst his flock. They had more than mortal beauty, and he was filled with Jove for her that came nearest to him. He offered her the bread he had with him, and she took it and tried it, but then sang to him:
Hard−baked is thy bread,
'Tis not easy to catch me,
and then ran off laughing to the lake.
Next day he took with him bread not so well done, and watched for the maidens. When they came ashore he offered his bread as before, and the maiden tasted it and sang:
Unbaked is thy bread, I will not have thee,
and again disappeared in the waves.
A third time did the shepherd of Myddvai try to attract the maiden, and this time he offered her bread that he
had found floating about near the shore. This pleased her, and she promised to become his wife if he were able to pick her out from among her sisters on the following day. When the time came the shepherd knew his love by the strap of her sandal. Then she told him she would be as good a wife to him as any earthly maiden could be unless he should strike her three times without cause. Of course he deemed that this could never be ; and she, summoning from the lake three cows, two oxen, and a bull, as her marriage portion, was led homeward by him as his bride.
The years passed happily, and three children were born to the shepherd and the lake−maiden. But one day here were going to a christening, and she said to her husband it was far to walk, so he told her to go for the horses.
"I will," said she, "if you bring me my gloves which I've left in the house."
But when he came back with the gloves, he found she had not gone for the horses; so he tapped her lightly on the shoulder with the gloves, and said, "Go, go."
"That's one," said she.
Another time they were at a wedding, when suddenly the lake−maiden fell a−sobbing and a−weeping, amid the joy and mirth of all around her.
Her husband tapped her on the shoulder, and asked her, "Why do you weep ?"
"Because they are entering into trouble ; and trouble is upon you; for that is the second causeless blow you have given me. Be careful ; the third is the last."
The husband was careful never to strike her again. But one day at a funeral she suddenly burst out into fits of laughter. Her husband forgot, and touched her rather roughly on the shoulder, saying, "Is this a time for laughter ?"
"I laugh," she said, "because those that die go out of trouble, but your trouble has come. The last blow has
been struck; our marriage is at an end, and so farewell."
And with that she rose up and left the house and went to their home.
Then she, looking round upon her home, called to the cattle she had brought with her:
Brindle cow, white speckled, Spotted cow, bold freckled, Old white face, and gray Geringer, And the white bull from the king's coast, Grey ox, and black calf, All, all, follow me home,
Now the black calf had just been slaughtered, and was hanging on the hook ; but it got off the hook alive and well and followed her; and the oxen, though they were ploughing, trailed the plough with them and did her bidding. So she fled to the lake again, they following her, and with them plunged into the dark waters. And to this day is the furrow seen which the plough left as it was dragged across the mountains to the tarn.
Only once did she come again, when her sons were grown to manhood, and then she gave them gifts of healing by which they won the name of Meddygon Myddvai, the physicians of Myddvai.
A sprightly tailor was employed by the great Macdonald, in his castle at Saddell, in order to make the laird a
pair of trews, used in olden time. And trews being the vest and breeches united in one piece, and ornamented with fringes, were very comfortable, and suitable to be worn in walking or dancing. And Macdonald had said
to the tailor, that if he would make the trews by night in the church, he would get a handsome reward. For it
was thought that the old ruined church was haunted, and that fearsome things were to be seen there at night.
The tailor was well aware of this ; but he was a sprightly man, and when the laird dared him to make the trews by night in the church, the tailor was not to be daunted, but took it in hand to gain the prize. So, when night came, away he went up the glen, about half a mile distance from the castle, till he came to the old church. Then he chose him a nice gravestone for a seat and he lighted his candle, and put on his thimble, and set to work at the trews plying his needle nimbly, and thinking about the hire that the laird would have to give him.
For some time he got on pretty well, until he felt the floor all of a tremble under his feet; and looking about him, but keeping his fingers at work, he saw the appearance of a great human head rising up through the stone pavement of the church. And when the head had risen above the surface, there came from it a great, great voice. And the voice said: " Do you see this great head of mine ?"
"I see that, but I'll sew this ! " replied the sprightly tailor ; and he stitched away at the trews.
Then the head rose higher up through the pavement, until its neck appeared. And when its neck was shown, the thundering voice came again and said : " Do you see this great neck of mine?"
"I see that, but I'll sew this ! " said the sprightly tailor and he stitched away at his trews.
Then the head and neck rose higher still, until the great shoulders and chest were shown above the ground. And again the mighty voice thundered: "Do you see this great chest of mine ?"
And again the sprightly tailor replied : "I see that, but I'll sew this !" and stitched away at his trews.
And still it kept rising through the pavement, until it shook a great pair of arms in the tailor's face, and said Do you see these great arms of mine ?"
"I see those, but I'll sew this ! " answered the tailor; and he stitched hard at his trews, for he knew that he had no time to lose.
The sprightly tailor was taking the long stitches, when he saw it gradually rising and rising through the floor, until it lifted out a great leg, and stamping with it upon the pavement, said in a roaring voice " Do you see this great leg of mine?"
"Aye, aye : I see that, but I'll sew this !" cried the tailor ; and his fingers flew with the needle, and he took such long stitches, that he was just come to the end of the trews, when it was taking up its other leg. But before it could pull it out of the pavement, the sprightly tailor had finished his task ; and, blowing out his candle, and springing from off his gravestone, he buckled up, and ran out of the church with the trews under his arm. Then the fearsome thing gave a loud roar, and stamped with both his feet upon the pavement, and out of the church he went after the sprightly tailor.
Down the glen they ran, faster than the stream when the flood rides it ; but the tailor had got the start and a nimble pair of legs, and he did not choose to lose the laird's reward. And though the thing roared to him to stop, yet the sprightly tailor was not the man to be beholden to a monster. So he held his trews tight, and let no darkness grow under his feet, until he had reached Saddell Castle. He had no sooner got inside the gate, and shut it, than the apparition came up to it; and, enraged at losing his prize, struck the wall above the gate, and left there the mark of his five great fingers. Ye may see them plainly to this day, if ye'll only peer close enough.
But the sprightly tailor gained his reward: for Macdonald paid him handsomely for the trews, and never discovered that a few of the stitches were somewhat long.
There was a man in Ireland once who was called Malcolm Harper. The man was a right good man, and he had a goodly share of this world's goods. He had a wife, but no family. What did Malcolm hear but that a soothsayer had come home to the place, and as the man was a right good man, he wished that the soothsayer might come near them. Whether it was that he was invited or that he came of himself, the soothsayer came to the house of Malcolm.
"Are you doing any soothsaying?" says Malcolm.
"Yes, I am doing a little. Are you in need of soothsaying?"
"Well, I do not mind taking soothsaying from you, if you had soothsaying for me, and you would be willing to do it."
"Well, I will do soothsaying for you. What kind of soothsaying do you want?"
"Well, the soothsaying I wanted was that you would tell me my lot or what will happen to me, if you can give
me knowledge of it."
"Well, I am going out, and when I return, I will tell you."
And the soothsayer went forth out of the house and he was not long outside when he returned.
"Well," said the soothsayer, "I saw in my second sight that it is on account of a daughter of yours that the greatest amount of blood shall be shed that has ever been shed in Erin since time and race began. And the three most famous heroes that ever were found will lose their heads on her account."
After a time a daughter was born to Malcolm, he did not allow a living being to come to his house, only himself and the nurse. He asked this woman, "Will you yourself bring up the child to keep her in hiding far away where eye will not see a sight of her nor ear hear a word about her?"
The woman said she would, so Malcolm got three men, and he took them away to a large mountain, distant and far from reach, without the knowledge or notice of any one. He caused there a hillock, round and green, to be dug out of the middle, and the hole thus made to be covered carefully over so that a little company could dwell there together. This was done.
Deirdre and her foster−mother dwelt in the bothy mid the hills without the knowledge or the suspicion of any living person about them and without anything occurring, until Deirdre was sixteen years of age. Deirdre grew like the white sapling, straight and trim as the rash on the moss. She was the creature of fairest form, of loveliest aspect, and of gentlest nature that existed between earth and heaven in all Ireland−whatever colour of hue she had before, there was nobody that looked into her face but she would blush fiery red over it.
The woman that had charge of her, gave Deirdre every information and skill of which she herself had knowledge and skill. There was not a blade of grass growing from root, nor a bird singing in the wood, nor a star shining from heaven but Deirdre had a name for it. But one thing, she did not wish her to have either part or parley with any single living man of the rest of the world. But on a gloomy winter night, with black, scowling clouds, a hunter of game was wearily travelling the hills, and what happened but that he missed the trail of the hunt, and lost his course and companions. A drowsiness came upon the man as he wearily wandered over the hills, and he lay down by the side of the beautiful green knoll in which Deirdre lived, and he slept. The man was faint from hunger and wandering, and benumbed with cold, and a deep sleep fell upon him. When he lay down beside the green hill where Deirdre was, a troubled dream came to the man, and he thought that he enjoyed the warmth of a fairy broch, the fairies being inside playing music. The hunter shouted out in his dream, if there was any one in the broch, to let him in for the Holy One's sake. Deirdre heard the voice and said to her foster−mother: "O foster−mother, what cry is that?" "It is nothing at all, Deirdre − merely the birds of the air astray and seeking each other. But let them go past to the bosky glade. There is no shelter or house for them here." "Oh, foster−mother, the bird asked to get inside for the sake of the God of the Elements, and you yourself tell me that anything that is asked in His name we ought to do. If you will not allow the bird that is being benumbed with cold, and done to death with hunger, to be let in, I do not think much of your language or your faith. But since I give credence to your language and to your faith, which you taught me, I will myself let in the bird." And Deirdre arose and drew the bolt from the leaf of the door, and she let in the hunter. She placed a seat in the place for sitting, food in the place for eating, and drink in the place for drinking for the man who came to the house. " Oh, for this life and raiment, you man that came in, keep restraint on your tongue!" said the old woman. "It is not a great thing for you to keep your mouth shut and your tongue quiet when you get a home and shelter of a hearth on a gloomy winter's night." "Well," said the hunter, "I may do that − keep my mouth shut and my tongue quiet, since I came to the house and received hospitality from you; but by the hand of thy father and grandfather, and by your own two hands, if some other of the people of the world saw this beauteous creature you have here hid away, they would not long leave her with you, I swear."
"What men are these you refer to?" said Deirdre.
"Well, I will tell you, young woman, said the hunter.
"They are Naois, son of Uisnech, and Allen and Arden his two brothers."
"What like are these men when seen, if we were to see them?" said Deirdre.
"Why, the aspect and form of the men when seen are these," said the hunter: "they have the colour of the raven on their hair, their skin like swan on the wave in whiteness, and their cheeks as the blood of the brindled red calf, and their speed and their leap are those of the salmon of the torrent and the deer of the grey mountain side. And Naois is head and shoulders over the rest of the people of Erin."
"However they are," said the nurse, "be you off from here and take another road. And, King of Light and Sun ! in good sooth and certainty, little are my thanks for yourself or for her that let you in ! "
The hunter went away, and went straight to' the palace of King Connachar. He sent word in to the king that he wished to speak to him if he pleased. The king answered the message and came out to speak to the man. "What is the reason of your journey? " said the king to the hunter.
"I have only to tell you, O king," said the hunter, "that I saw the fairest creature that ever was born in Erin, and I came to tell you of it."
"Who is this beauty and where is she to be seen, when she was not seen before till you saw her, if you did see her?"
"Well, I did see her," said the hunter. " But, if I did, no man else can see her unless he get directions from me as to where she is dwelling."
"And will you direct me to where she dwells? and the reward of your directing me will be as good as the reward of your message," said the king.
"Well, I will direct you, O king, although it is likely that this will not be what they want," said the hunter.
Connachar, King of Ulster, sent for his nearest kinsmen, and he told them of his intent. Though early rose the song of the birds mid the rocky caves and the music of the birds in the grove, earlier than that did Connachar, King of Ulster, arise, with his little troop of dear friends, in the delightful twilight of the fresh and gentle May; the dew was heavy on each bush and flower and stem, as they went to bring Deirdre forth from the green knoll where she stayed. Many a youth was there who had a lithe leaping and lissom step when they started whose step was faint, failing, and faltering when they reached the bothy on account of the length of the way and roughness of the road. "Yonder, now, down in the bottom of the glen is the bothy where the woman dwells, but I will not go nearer than this to the old woman," said the hunter.
Connachar with his band of kinsfolk went down to the green knoll where Deirdre dwelt and he knocked at the door of the bothy. The nurse replied, "No less than a king's command and a king's army could put me out of my bothy tonight. And I should be obliged to you, were you to tell who it is that wants me to open my bothy door." "It is I, Connachar, King of Ulster." When the poor woman heard who was at the door, she rose with haste and let in the king and all that could get in of his retinue.
When the king saw the woman that was before him that he had been in quest of, he thought he never saw in the course of the day nor in the dream of night a creature so as Deirdre and he gave his full heart's weight of
love to her. Deirdre was raised on the topmost of the heroes' shoulders and she and her foster−mother were brought to the Court of King Connachar of Ulster.
With the love that Connachar had for her, he wanted to marry Deirdre right off there and then, will she nill she marry him. But she said to him, "I would be obliged to you if you will give me the respite of a year and a day." He said "I will grant you that, hard though it is, if you will give me your unfailing promise that you will marry me at the year's end." And she gave the promise. Connachar got for her a woman−teacher and merry modest maidens fair that would lie down and rise with her, that would play and speak with her. Deirdre was clever in maidenly duties and wifely understanding, and Connachar thought he never saw with bodily eye a creature that pleased him more.
Deirdre and her women companions were one day out on the hillock behind the house enjoying the scene, and drinking in the sun's heat. What did they see coming but three men a−journeying. Deirdre was looking at the men that were coming, and wondering at them. When the men neared them, Deirdre remembered the language of the huntsman, and she said to herself that these were the three sons of Uisnech, and that this was Naois, he having what was above the bend of the two shoulders above the men of Erin all. The three brothers went past without taking any notice of them, without even glancing at the young girls on the hillock. What happened but that love for Naois struck the heart of Deirdre, so that she could not but follow after him. She girded up her raiment and went after the men that went past the base of the knoll, leaving her women attendants there. Allen and Arden had heard of the woman that Connachar, King of Ulster, had with him, and they thought that, if Naois, their brother, saw her, he would have her himself, more especially as she was not married to the King. They perceived the woman coming, and called on one another to hasten their step as they had a long distance to travel, and the dusk of night was coming on. They did so. She cried "Naois, son of Uisnech, will you leave me ?" " What piercing, shrill cry is that−the most melodious my ear ever heard, and the shrillest that ever struck my heart of all the cries I ever heard?" "It is anything else but the wail of the wave−swans of Connachar," said his brothers. "No! yonder is a woman's cry of distress," said Naois, and he swore he would not go further until he saw from whom the cry came, and Naois turned back. Naois and Deirdre met, and Deirdre kissed Naois three times, and a kiss each to his brothers. With the confusion that she was in, Deirdre went into a crimson blaze of fire, and her colour came and went as rapidly as the movement of the aspen by the stream side. Naois thought he never saw a fairer creature, and Naois gave Deirdre the love that he never gave to thing, to vision, or to creature but to herself.
Then Naois placed Deirdre on the topmost height of his shoulder, and told his brothers to keep up their pace, and they kept up their pace. Naois thought that it would not be well for him to remain in Erin on account of the way in which Connachar, King of Ulster, his uncle's son, had gone against him because of the woman, though he had not married her; and he turned back to Alba, that is, Scotland. He reached the side of Loch−Ness and made his habitation there. He could kill the salmon of the torrent from out his own door, and the deer of the grey gorge from out his window. Naois and Deirdre and Allen and Arden dwelt in a tower, and they were happy so long a time as they were there.
By this time the end of the period came at which Deirdre had to marry Connachar, King of Ulster. Connachar made up his mind to take Deirdre away by the sword whether she was married to Naois or not. So he prepared a great and gleeful feast. He sent word far and wide through Erin all to his kinspeople to come to the feast. Connachar thought to himself that Naois would not come though he should bid him; and the scheme that arose in his mind was to send for his father's brother, Ferchar Mac Ro, and to send him on an embassy to Naois. He did so; and Connachar said to Ferchar, " Tell Naois, son of Uisnech, that I am setting forth a great and gleeful feast to my friends and kinspeople throughout the wide extent of Erin all, and that I shall not have rest by day nor sleep by night if he and Allen and Arden be not partakers of the feast."
Ferchar Mac Ro and his three sons went on their journey, and reached the tower where Naois was dwelling by the side of Loch Etive. The sons of Uisnech gave a cordial kindly welcome to Ferchar Mac Ro and his
three sons, and asked of him the news of Erin. "The best news that I have for you," said the hardy hero, "is that Connachar, King of Ulster, is setting forth a great sumptuous feast to his friends and kinspeople throughout the wide extent of Erin all, and he has vowed by the earth beneath him, by the high heaven above him, and by the sun that wends to the west, that he will have no rest by day nor sleep by night if the sons of Uisnech, the sons of his own father's brother, will not come back to the land of their home and the Soil of their nativity, and to the feast likewise, and he has sent us on embassy to invite you."
"We will go with you," said Naois.
"We will," said his brothers.
But Deirdre did not wish to go with Ferchar Mac Ro, and she tried every prayer to turn Naois from going with him−she said:
saw a vision, Naois, and do you interpret it to me," said Deirdre − then she sang:
Naois, son of Uisnech, hear
What was shown in a dream to me.
There came three white doves out of the South Flying over the sea, And drops of honey were in their mouth From the hive of the honey−bee.
O Naois, son of Uisnech, hear,
I saw three grey hawks out of the south Come flying over the sea, And the red red drops they bare in their mouth They were dearer than life to me.
Said Naois −
It is nought but the fear of woman's heart,
And a dream of the night, Deirdre.
"The day that Connachar sent the invitation to his feast will be unlucky for us if we don't go, O Deirdre."
"You will go there," said Ferchar Mac Ro ; "and if Connachar show kindness to you, show ye kindness to him ; and if he will display wrath towards you display ye wrath towards him, and I and my three sons will be with you."
"We will," said Daring Drop. "We will," said Hardy Holly. " We will," said Fiallan the Fair.
"I have three sons, and they are three heroes, and in any harm or danger that may befall you, they will be with
you, and I myself will be along with them." And Ferchar Mac Ro gave his vow and his word in presence of his arms that, in any harm or danger that came in the way of the sons of Uisnech, he and his three sons would not leave head on live body in Erin, despite sword or helmet, spear or shield, blade or mail, be they ever so
Deirdre was unwilling to leave Alba, but she went with Naois. Deirdre wept tears in showers and she sang:
Dear is the Iand, the land over there, Alba full of woods and lakes; Bitter to my heart is leaving thee, But I go away with Naois.
Ferchar Mac Ro did not stop till he got the sons of Uisnech away with him, despite the suspicion of Deirdre.
The coracle was put to sea, The sail was hoisted to it; And the second morrow they arrived On the white shores of Erin.
As soon as the sons of Uisnech landed in Erin, Ferchar Mac Ro sent word to Connachar, king of Ulster, that the men whom he wanted were come, and let him now show kindness to them. "Well," said Connachar, "I did not expect that the sons of Uisnech would come, though I sent for them, and I am not quite ready to receive them. But there is a house down yonder where I keep strangers, and let them go down to it to−day, and my house will be ready before them to−morrow."
But he that was up in the palace felt it long that he was not getting word as to how matters were going on for those down in the house of the strangers. "Go you, Gelban Grednach, son of Lochlin's King, go you down and bring me information as to whether her former hue and complexion are on Deirdre. If they be, I will take her out with edge of blade and point of sword, and if not, let Naois, son of Uisnech, have her for himself," said Connachar.
Gelban, the cheering and charming son of Lochlin's King, went down to the place of the strangers, where the sons of Uisnech and Deirdre were staying. He looked in through the bicker−hole on the door−leaf. Now she that he gazed upon used to go into a crimson blaze of blushes when any one looked at her. Naois looked at Deirdre and knew that some one was looking at her from the back of the door−leaf. He seized one of the dice on the table before him and fired it through the bicker−hole, and knocked the eye out of Gelban Grednach the Cheerful and Charming, right through the back of his head. Gelban returned back to the palace of King Connachar.
"You were cheerful, charming, going away, but you are cheerless, charmless, returning. What has happened to you, Gelban? But have you seen her, and are Deirdre's hue and complexion as before?" said Connachar.
"Well, I have seen Deirdre, and I saw her also truly, and while I was looking at her through the bicker−hole on the door, Naois, son of Uisnech, knocked out my eye with one of the dice in his hand. But of a truth and verity, although he put out even my eye, it were my desire still to remain looking at her with the other eye, were it not for the hurry you told me to be in," said Gelban.
"That is true," said Connachar ; "let three hundred brave heroes go down to the abode of the strangers, and let them bring hither to me Deirdre, and kill the rest."
Connachar ordered three hundred active heroes to go down to the abode of the strangers and to take Deirdre up with them and kill the rest. "The pursuit is coming," said Deirdre.
Yes, but I will myself go out and stop the pursuit," said Naois.
"It is not you, but we that will go," said Daring Drop, and Hardy Holly, and Fiallan the Fair ; "it is to us that our father entrusted your defence from harm and danger when he himself left for home." And the gallant youths, full noble, full manly, full handsome, with beauteous brown locks, went forth girt with battle arms fit for fierce fight and clothed with combat dress for fierce contest fit, which was burnished, bright, brilliant, bladed, blazing, on which were many pictures of beasts and birds and creeping things, lions and lithe−limbed tigers, brown eagle and harrying hawk and adder fierce; and the young heroes laid low three−thirds of the company.
Connachar came out in haste and cried with wrath: "Who is there on the floor of fight, slaughtering my men?"
"We, the three sons of Ferchar Mac Ro."
"Well," said the king, "I will give a free bridge to your grandfather, a free bridge to your father, and a free bridge each to you three brothers, if you come over to my side tonight."
"Well, Connachar, we will not accept that offer from you nor thank you for it. Greater by far do we prefer to go home to our father and tell the deeds of heroism we have done, than accept anything on these terms from you. Naois, son of Uisnech, and Allen and Arden are as nearly related to yourself as they are to us, though you are so keen to shed their blood, and you would shed our blood also, Connachar." And the noble, manly, handsome youths with beauteous, brown locks returned inside. "We are now," said they, "going home to tell our father that you are now safe from the hands of the king." And the youths all fresh and tall and lithe and beautiful, went home to their father to tell that the sons of Uisnech were safe. This happened at the parting of the day and night in the morning twilight time, and Naois said they must go away, leave that house, and return to Alba.
Naois and Deirdre, Allan and Arden started to return to Alba. Word came to the king that the company he was in pursuit of were gone. The king then sent for Duanan Gacha Druid, the best magician he had, and he spoke to him as follows :− " Much wealth have I expended on you, Duanan Gacha Druid, to give schooling and learning and magic mystery to you, if these people get away from me to−day without care, without consideration or regard for me, without chance of overtaking them, and without power to stop them."
"Well, I will stop them," said the magician, "until the company you send in pursuit return." And the magician placed a wood before them through which no man could go, but the sons of Uisnech marched through the wood without halt or hesitation, and Deirdre held on to Naois's hand.
What is the good of that ? that will not do yet," said Connachar. "They are off without bending of their feet or stopping of their step, without heed or respect to me, and I am without power to keep up to them or opportunity to turn them back this night."
"I will try another plan on them," said the druid ; and he placed before them a grey sea instead of a green plain. The three heroes stripped and tied their clothes behind their heads, and Naois placed Deirdre on the top of his shoulder.
They stretched their sides to the stream, And sea and land were to them the same, The rough grey ocean was the same As meadow−land green and plain.
"Though that be good, O Duanan, it will not make the heroes return," said Connachar ; "they are gone without regard for me, and without honour to me, and without power on my part to pursue them or to force them to return this night."
"We shall try another method on them, since yon one did not stop them," said the druid. And the druid froze the grey ridged sea into hard rocky knobs, the sharpness of sword being on the one edge and the poison power of adders on the other. Then Arden cried that he was getting tired, and nearly giving over. " Come you, Arden, and sit on my right shoulder," said Naois. Arden came and sat on Naois's shoulder. Arden was long in this posture when he died; but though he was dead Naois would not let him go. Allen then cried out that he was getting faint and nigh−well giving up. When Naois heard his prayer, he gave forth the piercing sigh of death, and asked Allen to lay hold of him and he would bring him to land. Allen was not long when the weakness of death came on him and his hold failed. Naois looked round, and when he saw his two well−beloved brothers dead, he cared not whether he lived or died, and he gave forth the bitter sigh of death and his heart burst.
"They are gone," said Duanan Gacha Druid to the king " and I have done what you desired me. The sons of Uisnech are dead and they will trouble you no more ; and you have your wife hale and whole to yourself."
Blessings for that upon you and may the good results accrue to me, Duanan. I count it no loss what I spent in the schooling and teaching of you. Now dry up the flood, and let me see if I can behold Deirdre," said Connachar. And Duanan Gacha Druid dried up the flood from the plain and the three sons of Uisnech were lying together dead, without breath of life, side by side on the green meadow plain and Deirdre bending above showering down her tears.
Then Deirdre said this lament : " Fair one, loved one, flower of beauty; beloved upright and strong; beloved noble and modest warrior. Fair one, blue−eyed, beloved of thy wife ; lovely to me at the trysting−place came thy clear voice through the woods of Ireland. I cannot eat or smile henceforth. Break not today, my heart:
soon enough shall I lie within my grave. Strong are the waves of sorrow, but stronger is sorrow s self, Connachar."
The people then gathered round the heroes' bodies and asked Connachar what was to be done with the bodies.The order that he gave was that they should dig a pit and put the three brothers in it side by side.
Deirdre kept sitting on the brink of the grave, constantly asking the gravediggers to dig the pit wide and free. When the bodies of the brothers were put in the grave, Deirdre said:
Come over hither, Naois, my love, Let Arden close to Allen lie; If the dead had any sense to feel. Ye would have made a place for Deirdre.
The men did as she told them. She jumped into the grave and lay down by Naois, and she was dead by his side.
The king ordered the body to be raised from out the grave and to be buried on the other side of the loch. It was done as the king bade, and the pit closed. Thereupon a fir shoot grew out of the grave of Deirdre and a fir shoot from the grave of Naois. and the two shoots united in a knot above the loch. The king ordered the shoots to be cut down, and this was done twice, until, at the third time, the wife whom the king had married caused him to stop this work of evil and his vengeance on the remains of the dead.
There once lived a Munachar and a Manachar, a long time ago, and it is a long time since it was, and if they were alive now they would not be alive then. They went out together to pick raspberries, and as many as Munachar used to pick Manachar used to eat. Munachar said he must go look for a rod to make a gad to hang Manachar, who ate his raspberries every one ; and he came to the rod. "What news the day?" said the rod. "It is my own news that I'm seeking. Going looking for a rod, a rod to make a gad, a gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one."
"You will not get me," said the rod, "until you get an axe to cut me." He came to the axe. "What news today?" said the axe. "It's my own news I'm seeking. Going looking for an axe, an axe to cut a rod, a rod to make a gad, a gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one."
"You will not get me, said the axe, " until you get a flag to edge me." He came to the flag. "What news today?" says the flag. " It's my own news I'm seeking. Going looking for a flag, flag to edge axe, axe to cut a rod, a rod to make a gad, a gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one."
"You will not get me," says the flag, "till you get water to wet me." He came to the water. " What news today?" says the water. "It's my own news that I'm seeking. Going looking for water, water to wet flag to edge axe, axe to cut a rod, a rod to make a gad, a gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one.
'' You will not get me said the water, " until you get a deer who will swim me.' He came to the deer. "What news to−day?" says the deer. "It's my own news I'm seeking. Going looking for a deer, deer to swim water, water to wet flag, flag to edge axe, axe to cut a rod, a rod to make a gad, a gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one.
"You will not get me said the deer, '' until you get a hound who will hunt me." He came to the hound. "What news to−day?" says the hound. "It's my own news I'm seeking. Going looking for a hound, hound to hunt deer, deer to swim water, water to wet flag, flag to edge axe, axe to cut a rod, a rod to make a gad, a gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one.
"You will not get me," said the hound, '' until you get a bit of butter to put in my claw." He came to the butter. "What news to−day?" says the butter. "It's my own news I'm seeking. Going looking for butter, butter to go in claw of hound, hound to hunt deer, deer to swim water, water to wet flag, flag to edge axe, axe to cut a rod, a rod to make a gad, a gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one.
"You will not get me," said the butter, " until you get a cat who shall scrape me." He came to the cat. "What news to−day? ' said the cat. "It's my own news I'm seeking. Going looking for a cat, cat to scrape butter, butter to go in claw of hound, hound to hunt deer, deer to swim water, water to wet flag, flag to edge axe, axe to cut a rod, a rod to make a gad, gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one.
"You will not get me," said the cat, "until you will get milk which you will give me." He came to the cow. "What news to−day?" said the cow. "It's my own news I'm seeking. Going looking for a cow, cow to give me milk, milk I will give to the cat, cat to scrape butter, butter to go in claw of hound, hound to hunt deer, deer to swim water, water to wet flag, flag to edge axe, axe to cut a rod, a rod to make a gad, a gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one.
"You will not get any milk from me," said the cow, "until you bring me a whisp of straw from those threshers yonder." He came to the threshers. "What news to−day?" said the threshers. "It's my own news I'm seeking. Going looking for a whisp of straw from ye to give to the cow, the cow to give me milk, milk I will give to
the cat, cat to scrape butter, butter to go in claw of hound, hound to hunt deer, deer to swim water, water to wet flag, flag to edge axe, axe to cut a rod, a rod to make a gad, a gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one."
"You will not get any whisp of straw from us," said the threshers, "until you bring us the makings of a cake from the miller over yonder." He came to the miller. "What news to−day?" said the miller. "It's my own news I'm seeking. Going looking for the makings of a cake which I will give to the threshers, the threshers to give me a whisp of straw, the whisp of straw I will give to the cow, the cow to give me milk, milk I will give to the cat, cat to scrape butter, butter to go in claw of hound, hound to hunt deer, deer to swim water, water to wet flag, flag to edge axe, axe to cut a rod, a rod to make a gad, a gad to hang Manachar, who ate my raspberries every one."
"You will not get any makings of a cake from me," said the miller, "till you bring me the full of that sieve of water from the river over there."
He took the sieve in his hand and went over to the river, but as often as ever he would stoop and fill it with water, the moment he raised it the water would run out of it again, and sure, if he had been there from that day till this, he never could have filled it. A crow went flying by him, over his head. "Daub! daub!" said the crow. "My blessings on ye, then," said Munachar, "but it's the good advice you have," and he took the red clay and the daub that was by the brink, and he rubbed it to the bottom of the sieve, until all the holes were filled, and then the sieve held the water, and he brought the water to the miller, and the miller gave him the makings of a cake, and he gave the makings of the cake to the threshers, and the threshers gave him a whisp of straw, and he gave the whisp of Straw to the cow, and the cow gave him milk, the milk he gave to the cat, the cat scraped the butter, the butter went into the claw of the hound, the hound hunted the deer, the deer swam the water, the water wet the flag, the flag sharpened the axe, the axe cut the rod, and the rod made a gad, and when he had it ready to hang Manachar he found that Manachar had BURST.
Once upon a time there was a king who had a wife, whose name was Silver−tree, and a daughter, whose name was Gold−tree. On a certain day of the days, Gold−tree and Silver−tree went to a glen, where there was a well, and in it there was a trout.
Said Silver−tree, " Troutie, bonny little fellow, am not I the most beautiful queen in the world ?"
"Oh indeed you are not."
"Who then?"
"Why, Gold−tree, your daughter."
Silver−tree went home, blind with rage. She lay down on the bed, and vowed she would never be well until she could get the heart and the liver of Gold−tree, her daughter, to eat.
At nightfall the king came home, and it was told him that Silver−tree, his wife, was very ill. He went where she was, and asked her what was wrong with her.
"Oh! only a thing which you may heal if you like."
"Oh! indeed there is nothing at all which I could do for you that I would not do."
"If I get the heart and the liver of Gold−tree, my daughter, to eat, I shall be well.''
Now it happened about this time that the son of a great king had come from abroad to ask Gold−tree for marrying. The King now agreed to this, and they went abroad.
The king then went and sent his lads to the hunting−hill for a he−goat, and he gave its heart and its liver to his wife to eat ; and she rose well and healthy.
A year after this Silver−tree went to the glen, where there was the well in which there was the trout.
"Troutie, bonny little fellow," said she, " am not I the most beautiful queen in the world?"
"Oh ! indeed you are not."
"Oh! well, it is long since she was living. It is a year since I ate her heart and liver."
"Oh! indeed she is not dead. She is married to a great prince abroad."
Silver−tree went home, and begged the king to put the long−ship in order, and said, "I am going to see my dear Gold−tree, for it is so long since I saw her." The long−ship was put in order, and they went away.
It was Silver−tree herself that was at the helm, and she steered the ship so well that they were not long at all
hefore they arrived.
The prince was out hunting on the hills. Gold−tree knew the long−ship of her father coming.
"Oh!" said she to the servants, "my mother is coming, and she will kill me."
" She shall not kill you at all ; we will lock you in a room where she cannot get near you."
This is how it was done; and when Silver−tree came ashore, she began to cry out: "Come to meet your own mother, when she comes to see you," Gold−tree said that she could not, that she was locked in the room, and that she could not get out of it.
"Will you not put out," said Silver−tree, "your little finger through the keyhole, so that your own mother may give a kiss to it?"
She put out her little finger, and Silver−tree went and put a poisoned stab in it, and Gold−tree fell dead.
When the prince came home, and found Gold−tree dead, he was in great sorrow, and when he saw how beautiful she was, he did not bury her at all, but he locked her in a room where nobody would get near her.
In the course of time he married again, and the whole house was under the hand of this wife but one room,
and he himself always kept the key of that room. On a certain day of the days he forgot to take the key with him, and the second wife got into the room. What did she see there but the most beautiful woman that she
ever saw.
She began to turn and try to wake her, and she noticed the poisoned stab in her finger. She took the stab out, and Gold−tree rose alive, as beautiful as she was ever.
At the fall of night the prince came home from the hunting−hill, looking very downcast.
"What gift," said his wife, "would you give me that I could make you laugh?"
"Oh! indeed, nothing could make me laugh, except Gold−tree were to come alive again."
"Well, you'll find her alive down there in the room."
When the prince saw Gold−tree alive he made great rejoicings, and he began to kiss her, and kiss her, and kiss her. Said the second wife, "Since she is the first one you had it is better for you to stick to her, and I will go away."
"Oh! indeed you shall not go away, but I shall have both of you."
At the end of the year, Silver−tree went to the glen, where there was the well, in which there was the trout.
"Troutie, bonny little fellow," said she, "am not I the most beautiful queen in the world?"
"Oh! well, she is not alive. It is a year since I put the poisoned stab into her finger."
"Oh! indeed she is not dead at all, at all."
Silver−tree went home, and begged the king to put the long−ship in order, for that she was going to see her dear Gold−tree, as it was so long since she saw her. The long−ship was put in order, and they went away. It was Silver−tree herself that was at the helm, and she steered the ship so well that they were not long at all before they arrived.
The prince was out hunting on the hills. Gold−tree knew her father's ship coming.
"Oh!" said she, "my mother is coming, and she will kill me."
"Not at all," said the second wife; "we will go down to meet her."
Silver−tree came ashore. "Come down, Gold−tree, love," said she, "for your own mother has come to you with a precious drink."
"It is a custom in this country," said the second wife, "that the person who offers a drink takes a draught out of it first."
Silver−tree put her mouth to it, and the second wife went and struck it so that some of it went down her throat, and she fell dead. They had only to carry her home a dead corpse and bury her.
The prince and his two wives were long alive after this, pleased and peaceful.
I left them there.
Och, I thought all the world, far and near, had heerd o' King O'Toole − well, well, but the darkness of mankind is untellable ! Well, sir, you must know, as you didn't bear it afore, that there was a king, called King O'Toole who was a fine old king in the old ancient times, long ago; and it was he that owned the churches in the early days. The king, you see, was the right sort; he was the real boy, and loved sport as he loved his life, and hunting in particular; and from the rising 0' the sun, up he got, and away he went over the mountains after the deer; and fine times they were.
Well, it was all mighty good, as long as the king had his health; but, you see, in course of time the king grew old, by raison he was stiff in his limbs, and when he got stricken in years, his heart failed him, and he was lost entirely for want o' diversion, because he couldn't go a−hunting no longer; and, by dad, the poor king was obliged at last to get a goose to divert him. Oh, you may laugh, if you like, but it's truth I'm telling you; and the way the goose diverted him was this−a−way: You see, the goose used to swim across the lake, and go diving for trout, and catch fish on a Friday for the king, and flew every other day round about the lake, diverting the poor king. All went on mighty well until, by dad, the goose got stricken in years like her master, and couldn't divert him no longer, and then it was that the poor king was lost entirely. The king was walkin' one mornin' by the edge of the lake, lamentin' his cruel fate, and thinking of drowning himself; that could get no diversion in life, when all of a sudden, turning round the corner, who should he meet but a mighty decent young man coming up to him.
"God save you," says the king to the young man.
"God save you kindly, King O'Toole," says the young man,
"True for you," says the king. "I am King O'TooIe," says he, "prince and plennypennytinchery of these parts," says he; "but how came ye to know that?" says he.
"Oh, never mind," says St. Kavin.
You see it was Saint Kavin, sure enough − the saint himself in disguise, and nobody else. "Oh, never mind," says he, "I know more than that. May I make bold to ask how is your goose, King O'Toole?" says he.
"Blur−an−agers, how came ye to know about my goose ?" says the king.
"Oh, no matter; I was given to understand it," says Saint Kavin.
After some more talk the king says, "What are you ?"
"I'm an honest man," says Saint Kavin.
"Well, honest man," says the king, "and how is it you make your money so aisy ?"
"By makin' old things as good as new," says Saint Kavin.
"Is it a tinker you are?" says the king.
"No," says the saint; "I'm no tinker by trade, King O'Toole; I've a better trade than a tinker," says he − "what would you say," says he, "if I made your old goose as good as new?"
My dear, at the word of making his goose as good as new, you'd think the poor old king's eyes were ready to jump out of his head. With that the king whistled, and down came the poor goose, just like a hound, waddling up to the poor cripple, her master, and as like him as two peas. The minute the saint clapt his eyes on the goose, "I'll do the job for you," says he, "King O'Toole."
"By Jaminee !" says King O'Toole, "if you do, I'll say you're the cleverest fellow in the seven parishes."
"Oh, by dad," says St. Kavin, "you must say more nor that − my horn's not so soft all out," says he, "as to repair your old goose for nothing; what'll you gi' me if I do the job for you ? − that's the chat," says St. Kavin.
"I'll give you whatever you ask," says the king ; " isn't that fair?"
"Divil a fairer," says the saint; "that's the way to do business. Now," says he, "this is the bargain I'll make with you, King O'Toole: will you gi' me all the ground the goose flies over, the first offer, after I make her as good as new?"
"I will," says the king.
"You won't go back O' your word?" says St. Kavin.
"Honour bright ! "says King O'Toole, holding out his fist.
"Honour bright!" says St. Kavin, back agin, "it's a bargain. Come here !" says he to the poor old goose−come here, you unfortunate ould cripple, and it's I that'll make you the sporting bird." With that, my dear, he took up the goose by the two wings − " Criss o' my cross an you, says he, markin' her to grace with the blessed sign at the same minute−and throwing her up in the air, "whew," says he, jist givin' her a blast to help her; and with that, my jewel, she took to her heels, flyin' like one o' the eagles themselves, and cutting as many capers as a swallow before a shower of rain.
Well, my dear, it was a beautiful sight to see the king standing with his mouth open, looking at his poor old goose flying as light as a lark, and better than ever she was: and when she lit at his feet, patted her on the head, and "Ma vourneen," says he, "but you are the darlint o' the world."
"And what do you say to me," says Saint Kavin, "for making ber the like ?"
"By Jabers," says the king, "I say nothing beats the art o' man, barring the bees."
"And do you say no more nor that?" says Saint Kavin.
"And that I'm beholden to you," says the king.
"But will you gi'e me all the ground the goose flew over?" says Saint Kavin.
"I will," says King O'Toole, "and you're welcome to it," says he, " though it's the last acre I have to give."
But you'll keep your word true?" says the saint. "As true as the sun," says the king.
"It's well for you, King O'Toole, that you said that word," says he; "for if you didn't say that word, the devil the bit o' your goose would ever fly agin."
When the king was as good as his word, Saint Kavin was pleased with him, and then it was that he made himself known to the king. "And," says he, "King O'Toole, you're a decent man, for I only came here to try you. You don't know me," says he, "because I'm disguised."
"Musha ! then," says the king, "who are you?"
"I'm Saint Kavin," said the saint, blessing himself.
"Oh, queen of heaven!" says the king, making the sign of the cross between his eyes, and falling down on his knees before the saint ; "is it the great Saint Kavin," says he, "that I've been discoursing all this time without knowing it," says he, "all as one as if he was a lump of a gossoon ? − and so you're a saint?" says the king.
"I am," says Saint Kavin.
"By Jabers, I thought I was only talking to a dacent boy," says the king.
"Well, you know the difference now," says the saint. "I'm Saint Kavin," says he, "the greatest of all the saints."
And so the king had his goose as good as new, to divert him as long as he lived: and the saint supported him after he came into his property, as I told you, until the day of his death − and that was soon after; for the poor goose thought he was catching a trout one Friday; but, my jewel, it was a mistake he made − and instead of a trout, it was a thieving horse−eel; and instead of the goose killing a trout for the king's supper − by dad, the eel killed the king's goose − and small blame to him; but he didn't ate her, because he darn't ate what Saint Kavin had laid his blessed hands on.
Shortly after the birth of Kuhuch, the son of King Kilyth, his mother died. Before her death she charged the king that he should not take a wife again until he saw a briar with two blossoms upon her grave and the king sent every morning to see if anything were growing thereon. After many years the briar appeared, and he took to wife the widow of King Doged. She foretold to her stepson, Kuhuch, that it was his destiny to marry a maiden named Olwen, or none other, and he, at his father's bidding, went to the court of his cousin, King Arthur, to ask as a boon the hand of the maiden. He rode upon a grey steed with shell−formed hoofs, having a bridle of linked gold, and a saddle also of gold. In his hand were two spears of silver, well−tempered, headed with steel, of an edge to wound the wind and cause blood to flow, and swifter than the fall of the dew−drop from the blade of reed grass upon the earth when the dew of June is at its heaviest. A gold−hilted sword was
on his thigh, and the blade was of gold, having inlaid upon it a cross of the hue of the lightning of heaven. Two brindled, white−breasted greyhounds, with strong collars of rubies, sported round him, and his courser cast up four sods with its four hoofs like four swallows about his head. Upon the steed was a four. cornered cloth of purple, and an apple of gold was at each corner. Precious gold was upon the stirrups and shoes, and the blade of grass bent not beneath them, so light was the courser's tread as he went towards the gate of King Arthur's palace.
Arthur received him with great ceremony, and asked him to remain at the palace ; but the youth replied that he came not to consume meat and drink, but to ask a boon of the king.
Then said Arthur, "Since thou wilt not remain her; chieftain, thou shalt receive the boon, whatsoever thy tongue may name, as far as the wind dries and the rain moistens, and the sun revolves, and the sea encircles, and the earth extends, save only my ships and my mantle, my sword, my lance, my shield, my dagger, and Guinevere my wife."
So Kilhuch craved of him the hand of Olwen, the daughter of Yspathaden Penkawr, and also asked the favour and aid of all Arthur's court.
Then said Arthur, "O chieftain, I have never heard of the maiden of whom thou speakest, nor of her kindred, but I will gladly send messengers in search of her."
And the youth said, "I will willingly grant from this night to that at the end of the year to do so."
Then Arthur sent messengers to every land within his dominions to seek for the maiden; and at the end of the year Arthur's messengers returned without having gained any knowledge or information concerning Olwen more than on the first day.
Then said Kilhueh, " Every one has received his boon, and I yet lack mine. I will depart and bear away thy honour with me."
Then said Kay, " Rash chieftain ! dost thou reproach Arthur? Go with us, and we will not part until thou dost either confess that the maiden exists not in the world, or until we obtain her."
Thereupon Kay rose up.
Kay had this peculiarity, that his breath lasted nine nights and nine days under water, and he could exist nine nights and nine days without sleep. A wound from Kay's sword no physician could heal. Very subtle was Kay. When it pleased him he could render himself as tall as the highest tree in the forest. And he had another peculiarity−so great was the heat of his nature, that, when it rained hardest, whatever he carried remained dry for a handbreadth above and a handbreath below his hand ; and when his companions were coldest, it was to them as fuel with which to light their fire.
And Arthur called Bedwyr, who never shrank from any enterprise upon which Kay was bound. None was equal to him in swiftness throughout this island except Arthur and Drych Ail Kibthar. And although he was one−handed, three warriors could not shed blood faster than he on the field of battle. Another property he had; his lance would produce a wound equal to those of nine opposing lances.
And Arthur called to Kynthelig the guide. "Go thou upon this expedition with the Chieftain." For as good a guide was he in a land which he had never seen as he was in his own.
He called Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieithoedd, because he knew all tongues.
He called Gwalchmai, the son of Gwyar, because he never returned home without achieving the adventure of which he went in quest. He was the best of footmen and the best of knights. He was nephew to Arthur, the son of his sister, and his cousin.
And Arthur called Menw, the son of Teirgwaeth, in order that if they went into a savage country, he might cast a charm and an illusion over them, so that none might see them whilst they could see every one.
They journeyed on till they came to a vast open plain, wherein they saw a great castle, which was the fairest in the world. But so far away was it that at night it seemed no nearer, and they scarcely reached it on the third day. When they came before the castle they beheld a vast flock of. sheep, boundless and without end. They told their errand to the herdsman, who endeavoured to dissuade them, since none who had come thither on that quest had returned alive. They gave to him a gold ring, which he conveyed to his wife, telling her who the visitors were.
On the approach of the latter, she ran out with joy to greet them, and sought to throw her arms about their necks. But Kay, snatching a billet out of the pile, placed the log between her two hands, and she squeezed it so that it became a twisted coil.
"O woman," said Kay, "if thou hadst squeezed me thus, none could ever again have set their affections on me. Evil love were this."
They entered the house, and after meat she told them that the maiden Olwen came there every Saturday to wash.
They pledged their faith that they would not harm her, and a message was sent to her. So Olwen came, clothed in a robe of flame−coloured silk, and with a collar of ruddy gold, in which were emeralds and rubies, about her neck. More golden was her hair than the flower of the broom, and her skin was whiter than the foam of the wave, and fairer were her hands and her fingers than the blossoms of the wood anemone amidst the spray of the meadow fountain. Brighter were her glances than those of a falcon; her bosom was more snowy than the breast of the white swan, her cheek redder than the reddest roses. Whoso beheld was filled with her love. Four white trefoils sprang up wherever she trod, and therefore was she called Olwen.
Then Kilhuch, sitting beside her on a bench, told her his love, and she said that he would win her as his bride if he granted whatever her father asked.
Accordingly they went up to the castle and laid their request before him.
"Raise up the forks beneath my two eyebrows which have fallen over my eyes," said Yspathaden Penkawr, "that I may see the fashion of my son−in−law."
They did so, and he promised them an answer on the morrow. But as they were going forth, Yspathaden seized one of the three poisoned darts that lay beside him and threw it back after them.
And Bedwyr caught it and flung it back, wounding Yspathaden in the knee.
Then said he, " A cursed ungentle son−in−law, truly. I shall ever walk the worse for his rudeness. This poisoned iron pains me like the bite of a gad−fly. Cursed be the smith who forged it, and the anvil whereon it was wrought."
The knights rested in the house of Custennin the herds−man, but the next day at dawn they returned to the castle and renewed their request.
Yspathaden said it was necessary that he should consult Olwen's four great−grandmothers and her four great−grand−sires.
The knights again withdrew, and as they were going he took the second dart and cast it after them.
But Menw caught it and flung it back, piercing Yspathaden's breast with it, so that it came out at the small of his back.
"A cursed ungentle son−in−law, truly," says he, "the hard iron pains me like the bite of a horse−leech. Cursed be the hearth whereon it was heated ! Henceforth whenever I go up a hill, I shall have a scant in my breath and a pain in my chest."
On the third day the knights returned once more to the palace, and Yspathaden took the third dart and cast it at them.
But Kilbuch caught it and threw it vigorously, and wounded him through the eyeball, so that the dart came out at the back of his head.
"A cursed ungentle son−in−law, truly. As long as I remain alive my eyesight will be the worse. Whenever I go against the wind my eyes will water, and peradventure my head will burn, and I shall have a giddiness every new moon. Cursed be the fire in which it was forged. Like the bite of a mad dog is the stroke of this poisoned iron."
And they went to meat.
Said Yspathaden Penkawr, "Is it thou that seekest my daughter ?"
"It is I," answered Kilhuch.
"I must have thy pledge that thou wilt not do towards me otherwise than is just, and when I have gotten that which I shall name, my daughter thou shalt have."
"I promise thee that willingly," said Kilhuch, "name what thou wilt."
"I will do so," said he.
"Throughout the world there is not a comb or scissors with which I can arrange my hair, on account of its rankness, except the comb and scissors that are between the two ears of Turch Truith, the son of Prince Tared. He will not give them of his own free will, and thou wilt not be able to compel him."
"It will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think that it will not be easy."
"Though thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get. It will not be possible to hunt Turch Truith without Drudwyn the whelp of Greid, the son of Eri, and know that throughout the world there is not a huntsman who can hunt with this dog, except Mabon the son of Modron. He was taken from his mother when three nights old, and it is not known where he now is, nor whether he is living or dead."
"Though thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get. Thou wilt not get Mabon, for it is not known where he is, unless thou find Eidoel, his kinsman in blood, the son of Aer. For it would be useless to seek for
him. He is his cousin."
"It will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think that it will not be easy. Horses shall I have, and chivalry ; and my lord and kinsman Arthur will obtain for me all these things. And I shall gain thy daughter, and thou shalt lose thy life."
"Go forward. And thou shalt not be chargeable for food or raiment for my daughter while thou art seeking these things ; and when thou hast compassed all these marvels, thou shalt have my daughter for wife."
Now, when they told Arthur how they had sped, Arthur said, " Which of these marvels will it be best for us to seek first?"
It will be best," said they, " to seek Mabon the son of Modron; and he will not be found unless we first find Eidoel, the son of Aer, his kinsman."
Then Arthur rose up, and the warriors of the Islands of Britain with him, to seek for Eidoel ; and they proceeded until they came before the castle of Glivi, where Eldoel was imprisoned.
Glivi stood on the summit of his castle, and said, "Arthur, what requirest thou of me, since nothing remains to me in this fortress, and I have neither joy nor pleasure in it ; neither wheat nor oats ?"
Said Arthur, "Not to injure thee came I hither, but to seek for the prisoner that is with thee."
"I will give thee my prisoner, though I had not thought to give him up to any one; and therewith shalt thou have my suport and my aid."
His followers then said unto Arthur, "Lord, go thou home, thou canst not proceed with thy host in quest of such small adventures as these."
Then said Arthur, " It were well for thee, Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieithoedd, to go upon this quest, for thou knowest all languages, and art familiar with those of the birds and the beasts. Go, Eidoel, likewise with my men in search of thy cousin. And as for you, Kay and Bedwyr, I have hope of whatever adventure ye are in quest of' that ye will achieve it. Achieve ye this adventure for me."
These went forward until they came to the Ousel of Cilgwri, and Gwrhyr adjured her for the sake of Heaven, saying, "Tell me if thou knowest aught of Mabon, the son of Modron, who was taken when three nights old from between his mother and the wall.
And the Ousel answered, "When I first came here there was a smith's anvil in this place, and I was then a young bird, and from that time no work has been done upon it, save the pecking of my beak every evening, and now there is not so much as the size of a nut remaining thereof; yet the vengeance of Heaven be upon me if during all that time I have ever heard of the man for whom you inquire. Nevertheless, there is a race of animals who were formed before me, and 1 will be your guide to them."
So they proceeded to the place where was the Stag of Redynvre.
Stag of Redynvre, behold we are come to thee, an embassy from Arthur, for we have not heard of any animal older than thou. Say, knowest thou aught of Mabon?"
The stag said, " When first I came hither, there was a plain all around me, without any trees save one oak sapling, which grew up to be an oak with an hundred branches. And that oak has since perished, so that now
nothing remains of it but the withered stump ; and from that day to this I have been here, yet have I never heard of the man for whom you inquire. Nevertheless, I will be your guide to the place where there is an animal which was formed before I was."
So they proceeded to the place where was the Owl of Cwm Cawlwyd, to inquire of him concerning Mabon.
And the owl said, "If I knew I would tell you. When first I came hither, the wide valley you see was a wooded glen. And a race of men came and rooted it up. And there grew there a second wood, and this wood is the third. My wings, are they not withered stumps ? Yet all this time, even until to−day, I have never heard of the man for whom you inquire. Nevertheless, I will be the guide of Arthur's embassy until you come to the place where is the oldest animal in this world, and the one who has travelled most, the eagle of Gwern Abwy."
When they came to the eagle, Gwrhyr asked it the same question ; but it replied, "I have been here for a great space of time, and when I first came hither there was a rock here, from the top of which I pecked at the stars every evening, and now it is not so much as a span high. From that day to this I have been here, and I have never heard of the man for whom you inquire, except once when I went in search of food as far as Llyn Llyw. And when I came there, I struck my talons into a salmon, thinking he would serve me as food for a long time. But he drew me into the deep, and I was scarcely able to escape from him. Mter that I went with my whole kindred to attack him and to try to destroy him, but he sent messengers and made peace with me, and came and besought me to take fifty fish−spears out of his back. Unless he know something of him whom you seek, I cannot tell you who may. However, I will guide you to the place where he is.
So they went thither, and the eagle said, "Salmon of Uyn .Llyw, I have come to thee with an embassy from Arthur to ask thee if thou knowest aught concerning Mabon, the son of Modron, who was taken away at three nights old from between his mother and the wall."
And the salmon answered, "As much as I know I will tell thee. With every tide I go along the river upwards, until I come near to the walls of Gloucester, and there have I found such wrong as I never found elsewhere ; and to the end that ye may give credence thereto, let one of you go thither upon each of my two shoulders."
So Kay and Gwrhyr went upon his shoulders, and they proceeded till they came to the wall of the prison, and they heard a great wailing and lamenting from the dungeon.
Said Gwrhyr, "Who is it that laments in this house of stone?"
And the voice replied, "Alas, it is Mabon, the son of Modron, who is here imprisoned !"
Then they returned and told Arthur, who, summoning his warriors, attacked the castle.
And whilst the fight was going on, Kay and Bedwyr, mounting on the shoulders of the fish, broke into the dungeon, and brought away with them Mabon, the son of Modron.
Then Arthur summoned unto him all the warriors that were in the three islands of Britain and in the three islands adjacent ; and he went as far as Esgeir Oervel in Ireland where the Boar Truith was with his seven young pigs. And the dogs were let loose upon him from all sides. But he wasted the fifth part of Ireland, and then set forth through the sea to Wales. Arthur and his hosts, and his horses, and his dogs followed hard after him. But ever and awhile the boar made a stand, and many a champion of Arthur's did he slay. Throughout all Wales did Arthur follow him, and one by one the young pigs were killed. At length, when he would fain have crossed the Severn and escaped into Cornwall, Mabon the son of Modron came up with him, and Arthur fell upon him together with the champions of Britain. On the one side Mabon the son of Modron spurred his steed and snatched his razor from him, whilst Kay came up with him on the other side and took from him the
scissors. But before they could obtain the comb he had regained the ground with his feet, and from the moment that he reached the shore, neither dog nor man nor horse could overtake him until he came to Cornwall. There Arthur and his hosts followed in his track until they over−took him in Cornwall. Hard had been their trouble before, but it was child's play to what they met in seeking the comb. Win it they did, and the Boar Truith they hunted into the deep sea, and it was never known whither he went.
Then Kilhuch set forward, and as many as wished ill to Yspathaden Penkawr. And they took the marvels with them to his court. And Kaw of North Britain came and shaved his beard, skin and flesh clean off to the very bone from ear to ear.
"Art thou shaved, man?" said Kilhuch.
"I am shaved," answered he.
"Is thy daughter mine now?"
"She is thine, but therefore needst thou not thank me, but Arthur who hath accomplished this for thee. By my free will thou shouldst never have had her, for with her I lose my life."
Then Goreu the son of Custennin seized him by the hair of his head and dragged him after him to the keep, and cut off his head and placed it on a stake on the citadel.
Thereafter the hosts of Arthur dispersed themselves each man to his own country.
Thus did Kilhuch son of Kelython win to wife Olwen, the daughter of Yspathaden Penkawr.
Once there was a poor widow, as often there; has been, and she had one son. A very scarce summer came, and they didn't know bow they'd live till the new potatoes would be fit for eating. So Jack said to his mother one evening, "Mother, bake my cake, and kill my hen, till I go seek my fortune ; and if I meet it, never fear but I'll soon be back to share it with you."
So she did as he asked her, and he set out at break of day on his journey. His mother came along with him to the yard gate, and says she, "Jack, which would you rather have, half the cake and half the hen with my blessing, or the whole of 'em with my curse?"
"O musha, mother," says Jack, "why do you ax me that question? sure you know I wouldn't have your curse and Damer's estate along with it."
"Well, then, Jack," says she, " here's the whole lot of 'em, with my thousand blessings along with them." So she stood on the yard fence and blessed him as far as her eyes could see him.
Well, he went along and along till he was tired, and ne'er a farmer's house he went into wanted a boy. At last his road led by the side of a bog, and there was a poor ass up to his shoulders near a big bunch of grass he was striving to come at.
"Ah, then, Jack asthore," says he, " help me out or I'll be drowned."
"Never say't twice," says Jack, and he pitched in big stones and sods into the slob, till the ass got good ground under him.
"Thank you, Jack," says he, when he was out on the hard road; " I'll do as much for you another time. Where are you going?"
"Faith, I'm going to seek my fortune till harvest comes in, God bless it."
"And if you like," says the ass, "I'll go along with you; who knows what luck we may have!"
"With all my heart, it's getting late, let us be jogging." Well, they were going through a village, and a whole army of gossoons were hunting a poor dog with a kettle tied to his tall. He ran up to Jack for protection, and the ass let such a roar out of him, that the little thieves took to their heels as if the ould boy was after them.
"More power to you, Jack," says the dog.
"I'm much obleeged to you where is the baste and yourself going?"
"We're going to seek our fortune till harvest comes in."
"And wouldn't I be proud to go with you!" says the dog, "and get rid of them ill conducted boys; purshuin' to 'em."
"Well, well, throw your tail over your arm, and come along."
They got outside the town, and sat down under an old wall, and Jack pulled out his bread and meat, and shared with the dog; and the ass made his dinner on a bunch of thistles. While they were eating and chatting, what should come by but a poor half−starved cat, and the moll−row he gave out of him would make your heart ache.
"You look as if you saw the tops of nine houses since breakfast,' says Jack ; "here's a bone and something on it."
"May your child never know a hungry belly!" says Tom ; "it's myself that's in need of your kindness. May I be so bold as to ask where yez are all going?"
"We're going to seek our fortune till the harvest comes in, and you may join us if you like."
"And that I'll do with a heart and a half," says the cat, and thank'ee for asking me."'
Off they set again, and just as the shadows of the trees were three times as long as themselves, they heard a great cackling in a field inside the road, and out over the ditch jumped a fox with a fine black cock in his mouth.
"Oh, you anointed villain ! " says the ass, roaring like thunder.
"At him, good dog! " says Jack, and the word wasn't out of his mouth when Coley was in full sweep after the Red Dog. Reynard dropped his prize like a hot potato, and was off like shot, and the poor cock came back fluttering and trembling to Jack and his comrades.
"O musha, naybours !" says he, "wasn't it the heigth o' luck that threw you in my way! Maybe I won't remember your kindness if ever I find you in hardship; and where in the world are you all going?"
"We're going to seek our fortune till the harvest comes in; you may join our party if you like, and sit on Neddy's crupper when your legs and wings are tired."
Well, the march began again, and just as the sun was gone down they looked around, and there was neither cabin nor farm house in sight.
"Well, well," says Jack, " the worse luck now the better another time, and it's only a summer night after all. We'll go into the wood, and make our bed on the long grass."
No sooner said than done. Jack stretched himself on a bunch of dry grass, the ass lay near him, the dog and cat lay in the ass's warm lap, and the cock went to roost in the next tree.
Well, the soundness of deep sleep was over them all, when the cock took a notion of crowing.
"Bother you, Black Cock !" says the ass "you disturbed me from as nice a wisp of hay as ever I tasted. What's the matter ?"
"It's daybreak that's the matter: don't you see light yonder ?"
"I see a light indeed," says Jack, "but it's from a candle it's coming, and not from the sun. As you've roused us we may as well go over, and ask for lodging."
So they all shook themselves, and went on through grass, and rocks, and briars, till they got down into a hollow, and there was the light coming through the shadow, and along with it came singing, and laughing, and cursing.
"Easy, boys!" says Jack: "walk on your tippy toes till we see what sort of people we have to deal with."
So they crept near the window, and there they saw six robbers inside, with pistols, and blunderbushes, and cutlashes, sitting at a table, eating roast beef and pork, and drinking mulled beer, and wine, and whisky punch.
"Wasn't that a fine haul we made at the Lord of Dunlavin's !" says one ugly−looking thief with his mouth full, "and it's little we'd get only for the honest porter! here's his purty health !"
"The porter's purty health !" cried out every one of them, and Jack bent his finger at his comrades.
"Close your ranks, my men, says he in a whisper, "and let every one mind the word of command."
So the ass put his fore−hoofs on the sill of the window, the dog got on the ass's head, the cat on the dog's head, and the cock on the cat's head. Then Jack made a sign, and they all sung out like mad.
"Hee−haw, hee−haw!" roared the ass; "bow−wow!" barked the dog; "meaw−meaw!" cried the cat; "cock−a−doodle−doo !' crowed the cock.
"Level your pistols !" cried Jack, "and make smithereens of 'em. Don't leave a mother's son of 'em alive ; present, fire!"
With that they gave another halloo, and smashed every pane in the window. The robbers were frightened out of their lives. They blew out the candles, threw down the table, and skelped out at the back door as if they were in earnest, and never drew rein till they were in the very heart of the wood.
Jack and his party got into the room, closed the shutters, lighted the candles, and ate and drank till hunger and thirst were gone. Then they lay down to rest ; − Jack in the bed, the ass in the stable, the dog on the door−mat, the cat by the fire, and the cock on the perch.
At first the robbers were very glad to find themselves safe in the thick wood, but they soon began to get vexed.
"This damp grass is very different from our warm room," says one.
"I was obliged to drop a fine pig's foot," says another.
"I didn't get a tayspoonful of my last tumbler," says another.
"And all the Lord of Dunlavin's gold and silver that we left behind ! " says the last.
"I think I'll venture back," says the captain, " and see if we can recover anything."
"That's a good boy !" said they all, and away he went.
The lights were all out, and so he groped his way to the fire, and there the cat flew in his face, and tore him with teeth and claws. He let a roar out of him, and made for the room door, to look for a candle inside. He trod on the dog's tail, and if he did, he got the marks of his teeth in his arms, and legs, and thighs.
"Thousand murders ! " cried he ; "I wish I was out of this unlucky house."
When he got to the street door, the cock dropped down upon him with his claws and bill, and what the cat and dog done to him was only a flay−bite to what he got from the cock.
"Oh, tattheration to you all, you unfeeling vagabones!" says he, when he recovered his breath; and he
staggered and spun round and round till he reeled into the stable, back foremost, but the ass received him with
a kick on the broadest part of his small clothes, and laid him comfortably on the dunghill.
When he came to himself, he scratched his head, and began to think what happened him; and as soon as he found that his legs were able to carry him, he crawled away, dragging one foot after another, till he reached the wood.
"Well, well," cried them all, when he came within hearing, "any chance of our property?"
" You may say chance," says he, "and it's itself is the poor chance all out. Ah, will any of you pull a bed of
dry grass for me? All the sticking−plaster in Enniscorthy will be too little for the cuts and bruises I have on me. Ah, if you only knew what I have gone through for you! When I got to the kitchen fire, looking for a sod of lighted turf, what should be there but an old woman carding flax, and you may see the marks she left on my face with the cards. I made to the room door as fast as I could, and who should I stumble over but a cobbler and his seat, and if he did not work at me with his awls and his pinchers you may call me a rogue. Well, I got away from him somehow, but when I was passing through the door, it must be the divel himself
that pounced down on me with his claws, and his teeth, that were equal to sixpenny nails, and his wings−ill luck be in his road! Well, at last I reached the stable, and there, by way of salute, I got a pelt from a
sledge−hammer that sent me half a mile off. If you don't believe me, I'll give you leave to go and judge for yourselves."
"Oh, my poor captain," says they, "we believe you to the nines. Catch us, indeed, going within a hen's race of that unlucky cabin !"
Well, before the sun shook his doublet next morning, Jack and his comrades were up and about. They made a hearty breakfast on what was left the night before, and then they all agreed to set off to the castle of the Lord of Dunlavin, and give him back all his gold and silver. Jack put it all in the two ends of a sack and laid it across Neddy's back, and all took the road in their hands. Away they went, through bogs, up hills, down dales, and sometimes along the yellow high road, till they came to the hall−door of the Lord of Dunlavin, and who should be there, airing his powdered head, his white stockings, and his red breeches, but the thief of a porter.
He gave a cross look to the visitors, and says he to Jack, "What do you want here, my fine fellow? there isn't room for you all."
"We want," says Jack, "what I'm sure you haven't to give us − and that is, common civility."
"Come, be off, you lazy strollers!" says he, "while a cat 'ud be licking her ear, or I'll let the dogs at you."
"Would you tell a body," says the cock that was perched on the ass's head, "who was it that opened the door for the robbers the other night?"
Ah ! maybe the porter's red face didn't turn the colour of his frill, and the Lord of Dunlavin and his pretty daughter, that were standing at the parlour window unknownst to the porter, put out their heads.
"I'd be glad, Barney," says the master, "to hear your answer to the gentleman with the red comb on him."
"Ah, my lord, don't believe the rascal; sure I didn't open the door to the six robbers."
"And how did you know there were six, you poor innocent?" said the lord.
"Never mind, sir," says Jack, "all your gold and silver is there in that sack, and I don't think you will begrudge us our supper and bed after our long march from the wood of Athsalach."
"Begrudge, indeed ! Not one of you will ever see a poor day if I can help it."
So all were welcomed to their heart's content, and the ass and the dog and the cock got the best posts in the farmyard, and the cat took possession of the kitchen. The lord took Jack in hands, dressed him from top to toe in broadcloth, and frills as white as snow, and turnpumps, and put a watch in his fob. When they sat down to dinner, the lady of the house said Jack had the air of a born gentleman about him, and the lord said he'd make him his steward. Jack brought his mother, and settled her comfortably near the castle, and all were as happy as you please.
The Shee an Gannon was born in the morning, named at noon, and went in the evening to ask his daughter of the king of Erin.
"I will give you my daughter in marriage," said the king of Erin; "you won't get her, though, unless you go and bring me back the tidings that I want, and tell me what it is that put a stop to the laughing of the Gruagach Gaire, who before this laughed always, and laughed so loud that the whole world heard him. There are twelve iron spikes out here in the garden behind my castle. On eleven of the spikes are the heads of kings' sons who came seeking my daughter in marriage, and all of them went away to get the knowledge I wanted. Not one was able to get it and tell me what stopped the Gruagach Gaire from laughing. I took the heads off them all when they came back without the tidings for which they went, and I'm greatly in dread that your head'll be on the twelfth spike, for I'll do the same to you that I did to the eleven kings' sons unless you tell what put a stop to the laughing of the Gruagach."
The Shee an Gannon made no answer, but left the king and pushed away to know could he find why the Gruagach was silent.
He took a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and travelled all day till evening. Then he came to a house. The master of the house asked him what sort was he, and he said: "A young man looking for hire."
"Well," said the master of the house, "I was going to−morrow to look for a man to mind my cows. If you'll work for me, you'll have a good place, the best food a man could have to eat in this world, and a soft bed to lie on."
The Shee an Gannon took service, and ate his supper. Then the master of the house said "I am the Gruagach Gaire; now that you are my man and have eaten your supper, you'll have a bed of silk to sleep on."
Next morning after breakfast the Gruagach said to the Shee an Gannon: "Go out now and loosen my five golden cows and my bull without horns, and drive them to pasture; but when you have them out on the grass, be careful you don't let them go near the land of the giant."
The new cowboy drove the cattle to pasture, and when near the land of the giant, he saw it was covered with woods and surrounded by a high wall. He went up, put his back against the wall, and threw in a great stretch of it; then he went inside and threw out another great stretch of the wall, and put the five golden cows and the bull without horns on the land of the giant.
Then he climbed a tree, ate the sweet apples himself, and threw the sour ones down to the cattle of the Gruagach Gaire.
Soon a great crashing was heard in the woods, − the noise of young trees bending, and old trees breaking. The cowboy looked around, and saw a five−headed giant pushing through the trees; and soon he was before him.
Poor miserable creature !" said the giant ; "but weren't you impudent to come to my land and trouble me in this way? You're too big for one bite, and too small for two. I don't know what to do but tear you to pieces."
"You nasty brute," said the cowboy, coming down to him from the tree, " 'tis little I care for you ;" and then they went at each other. So great was the noise between them that there was nothing in the world but what was looking on and listening to the combat.
They fought till late in the afternoon, when the giant was getting the upper hand; and then the cowboy thought that if the giant should kill him, his father and mother would never find him or set eyes on him again, and he would never get the daughter of the king of Erin. The heart in his body grew strong at this thought. He sprang on the giant, and with the first squeeze and thrust he put him to his knees in the hard ground, with the second thrust to his waist, and with the third to his shoulders.
"I have you at last; you're done for now !" said the cowboy. Then he took out his knife, cut the five heads off the giant, and when he had them off he cut out the tongues and threw the heads over the wall.
Then he put the tongues in his pocket and drove home the cattle. That evening the Gruagach couldn't find vessels enough in all his place to hold the milk of the five golden cows.
But when the cowboy was on the way home with the cattle, the son of the king of Tisean came and took the giant's heads and claimed the princess in marriage when the Gruagach Gaire should laugh.
After supper the cowboy would give no talk to his master, but kept his mind to himself, and went to the bed of silk to sleep.
On the morning the cowboy rose before his master, and the first words he said to the Gruagach were:
"What keeps you from laughing, you who used to laugh so loud that the whole world heard you?"
"I'm sorry," said the Gruagach, "that the daughter of the king of Erin sent you here."
"If you don't tell me of your own will, I'll make you tell me," said the cowboy; and he put a face on himself that was terrible to look at, and running through the house like a madman, could find nothing that would give pain enough to the Gruagach but some ropes made of untanned sheepskin hanging on the wall.
He took these down, caught the Gruagach, fastened him by the three smalls, and tied him so that his little toes were whispering to his ears. When he was in this state the Gruagach said: "I'll tell you what stopped my laughing if you set me free."
So the cowboy unbound him, the two sat down together, and the Gruagach said: −
"I lived in this castle here with my twelve sons. We ate, drank, played cards, and enjoyed ourselves, till one day when my sons and I were playing, a slender brown hare came rushing in, jumped on to the hearth, tossed up the ashes to the rafters and ran away.
"On another day he came again ; but if he did, we were ready for him, my twelve sons and myself. As soon as he tossed up the ashes and ran off; we made after him, and followed him till nightfall, when he went into a glen. We saw a light before us. I ran on, and came to a house with a great apartment, where there was a man named Yellow Face with twelve daughters, and the hare was tied to the side of the room near the women.
"There was a large pot over the fire in the room, and a great stork boiling in the pot. The man of the house said to me: 'There are bundles of rushes at the end of the roon'., go there and sit down with your men !'
"He went into the next room and brought out two pikes, one of wood, the other of iron, and asked me which of the pikes would I take. I said, ' I'll take the iron one ; ' for I thought in my heart that if an attack should come on me, I could defend myself better with the iron than the wooden pike.
"Yellow Face gave me the iron pike, and the first chance of taking what I could out of the pot on the point of the pike. I got but a small piece of the stork, and the man of the house took all the rest on his wooden pike. We had to fast that night; and when the man and his twelve daughters ate the flesh of the stork, they hurled the bare bones in the faces of my sons and myself.
"We had to stop all night that way, beaten on the faces by the bones of the stork.
"Next morning, when we were going away, the man of the house asked me to stay a while ; and going into the next room, he brought out twelve loops of iron and one of wood, and said to me: 'Put the heads of your twelve sons into the iron loops, or your own head into the wooden one;' and I said : 'I'll put the twelve heads of my sons in the iron loops, and keep my own out of the wooden one.'
"He put the iron loops on the necks of my twelve sons, and put the wooden one on his own neck. Then he snapped the loops one after another, till he took the heads off my twelve sons and threw the heads and bodies out of the house; but he did nothing to hurt his own neck.
"When he had killed my sons he took hold of me and stripped the skin and flesh from the small of my back down, and when he had done that he took the skin of a black sheep that had been hanging on the wall for seven years and clapped it on my body in place of my own flesh and skin; and the sheepskin grew on me, and every year since then I shear myself, and every bit of wool I use for the stockings that I wear I clip off my own back."
When he had said this, the Gruagach showed the cowboy his back covered with thick black wool.
After what he had seen and heard, the cowboy said:
"I know now why you don't laugh, and small blame to you. But does that hare come here still?"
"He does indeed," said the Gruagach.
Both went to the table to play, and they were not long playing cards when the hare ran in; and before they could stop him he was out again.
But the cowboy made after the hare, and the Gruagach after the cowboy, and they ran as fast as ever their legs could carry them till nightfall; and when the hare was entering the castle where the twelve sons of the Gruagach were killed, the cowboy caught him by the two hind legs and dashed out his brains against the wall; and the skull of the hare was knocked into the chief room of the castle, and fell at the feet of the master of the place.
"Who has dared to interfere with my fighting pet?" screamed Yellow Face.
"I," said the cowboy; "and if your pet had had manners, he might be alive now.
The cowboy and the Gruagach stood by the fire. A stork was boiling in the pot, as when the Gruagach came the first time. The master of the house went into the next room and brought out an iron and a wooden pike, and asked the cowboy which would he choose.
"I'll take the wooden one," said the cowboy; "and you may keep the iron one for yourself."
So he took the wooden one; and going to the pot, brought out on the pike all the stork except a small bite, and he and the Gruagach fell to eating, and they were eating the flesh of the stork all night. The cowboy and the
Gruagach were at home in the place that time.
In the morning the master of the house went into the next room, took down the twelve iron loops with a wooden one, brought them out, and asked the cowboy which would he take, the twelve iron or the one wooden loop.
"What could I do with the twelve iron ones for myself or my master? I'll take the wooden one."
He put it on, and taking the twelve iron loops, put them on the necks of the twelve daughters of the house, then snapped the twelve heads off them, and turning to their father, said "I'll do the same thing to you unless you bring the twelve sons of my master to life, and make them as well and strong as when you took their heads."
The master of the house went out and brought the twelve to life again; and when the Gruagach saw all his sons alive and as well as ever, he let a laugh out of himself, and all the Eastern world heard the laugh.
Then the cowboy said to the Gruagach: "It's a bad thing you have done to me, for the daughter of the king of Erin will be married the day after your laugh is heard."
"Oh ! then we must he there in time," said the Gruagach; and they all made away from the place as fast as ever they could, the cowboy, the Gruagach, and his twelve sons.
They hurried on; and when within three miles of the king's castle there was such a throng of people that no one could go a step ahead. "We must clear a road through this," said the cowboy.
"We must indeed," said the Gruagach ; and at it they went, threw the people some on one side and some on the other, and soon they had an opening for themselves to the king's castle.
As they went in, the daughter of the king of Erin and the son of the king of Tisean were on their knees just going to be married. The cowboy drew his hand on the bridegroom, and gave a blow that sent him spinning till he stopped under a table at the other side of the room.
"What scoundrel struck that blow?" asked the king of Erin.
It was I," said the cowboy.
"What reason had you to strike the man who won my daughter?"
"It was I who won your daughter, not he; and if you don't believe me, the Gruagach Gaire is here himself. He'll tell you the whole story from beginning to end, and show you the tongues of the giant."
So the Gruagach came up and told the king the whole story, how the Shee an Gannon had become his cowboy, had guarded the five golden cows and the bull without horns, cut off the heads of the five−headed giant, killed the wizard hare, and brought his own twelve sons to life. "And then," said the Gruagach, "he is the only man in the whole world I have ever told why I stopped laughing, and the only one who has ever seen my fleece of wool."
When the king of Erin heard what the Gruagach said, and saw the tongues of the giant fitted in the head, he made the Shee an Gannon kneel down by his daughter, and they were married on the spot.
Then the son of the king of Tisean was thrown into prison, and the next day they put down a great fire, and the deceiver was burned to ashes.
The wedding lasted nine days, and the last day was better than the first.
At the time when the Tuatha De Dannan held the sovereignty of Ireland, there reigned in Leinster a king, who was remarkably fond of hearing stories. Like the other princes and chieftains of the island, he had a favourite story−teller, who held a large estate from his Majesty, on condition of telling him a new story every night of his life, before he went to sleep. Many indeed were the stories he knew, so that he had already reached a good old age without failing even for a single night in his task; and such was the skill he displayed that whatever cares of state or other annoyances might prey upon the monarch's mind, his story−teller was sure to send him to sleep.
One morning the story−teller arose early, and as his custom was, strolled out into his garden turning over in his mind incidents which he might weave into a story for the king at night. But this morning he found himself quite at fault; after pacing his whole demesne, he returned to his house without being able to think of anything new or strange. He found no difficulty in "there was once a king who had three sons " or " one day the king of all Ireland," but further than that he could not get. At length he went in to breakfast, and found his wife much perplexed at his delay.
"Why don't you come to breakfast, my dear?" said she.
"I have no mind to eat anything," replied the story teller; "long as I have been in the service of the king of Leinster, I never sat down to breakfast without having a new story ready for the evening, but this morning my mind is quite shut up, and I don't know what to do. I might as well lie down and die at once. I'll be disgraced for ever this evening, when the king calls for his story−teller."
Just at this moment the lady looked out of the window.
"Do you see that black thing at the end of the field?" said she.
"I do," replied her husband.
They drew nigh, and saw a miserable looking old man lying on the ground with a wooden leg placed beside him.
"Who are you, my good man?" asked the story−teller. Oh, then, 'tis little matter who I am. I'm a poor, old, lame, decrepit, miserable creature, sitting down here to rest awhile."
"An' what are you doing with that box and dice I see in your hand ?"
"I am waiting here to see if any one will play a game with me," replied the beggar man.
"Play with you! Why what has a poor old man like you to play for?"
"I have one hundred pieces of gold in this leathern purse," replied the old man.
"You may as well play with him," said the story−teller's wife; "and perhaps you'll have something to tell the king in the evening."
smooth stone was placed between them, and upon it they cast their throws.
was but a little while and the story−teller lost every penny of his money.
"Much good may it do you, friend," said he. "What better hap could I look for, fool that I am !"
"Will you play again?" asked the old man.
"Don't be talking, man : you have all my money."
"Haven't you chariot and horses and hounds?"
Well, what of them !"
"I'll stake all the money I have against thine."
"Nonsense, man! Do you think for all the money in Ireland, I'd run the risk of seeing my lady tramp home on foot ?"
"Maybe you'd win," said the bocough.
" Maybe I wouldn't," said the story−teller.
"Play with him, husband," said his wife. " I don't mind walking, if you do, love."
"I never refused you before," said the story−teller, "and I won't do so now.
Down he sat again, and in one throw lost houses, hounds, and chariot.
"Will you play again?" asked the beggar.
"Are you making game of me, man ; what else have I to stake ?"
"I'll stake all my winnings against your wife,' said the old man.
The story−teller turned away in silence, but his wife stopped him.
"Accept his offer," said she. " This is the third time, and who knows what luck you may have? You'll surely win now."
They played again, and the story−teller lost. No sooner had he done so, than to his sorrow and surprise, his wife went and sat down near the ugly old beggar.
Is that the way you're leaving me?" said the story−teller.
"Sure I was won," said she. " You would not cheat the poor man, would you ?"
"Have you any more to stake?" asked the old man.
"You know very well I have not," replied the storyteller.
"I'll stake the whole now, wife and all, against your own self," said the old man.
Again they played, and again the story−teller lost.
"Well ! here I am, and what do you want with me?"
"I'll soon let you know," said the old man, and he took from his pocket a long cord and a wand.
"Now," said he to the story−teller, "what kind of animal would you rather be, a deer, a fox, or a hare? You have your choice now, but you may not have it later."
To make a long story short, the story−teller made his choice of a hare; the old man threw the cord round him, struck him with the wand, and lo! a long−eared, frisking hare was skipping and jumping on the green.
But it wasn't for long ; who but his wife called the hounds, and set them on him. The hare fled, the dogs followed. Round the field ran a high wall, so that run as he might, he couldn't get out, and mightily diverted were beggar and lady to see him twist and double.
In vain did he take refuge with his wife, she kicked him back again to the hounds, until at length the beggar stopped the hounds, and with a stroke of the wand, panting and breathless, the story−teller stood before them again.
"And how did you like the sport ?" said the beggar.
"It might be sport to others," replied the story−teller looking at his wife, "for my part I could well put up with the loss of it."
"Would it be asking too much," he went on to the beggar, "to know who you are at all, or where you come from, or why you take a pleasure in plaguing a poor old man like me ?"
"Oh !" replied the stranger, " I'm an odd kind of good−for−little fellow, one day poor, another day rich, but if you wish to know more about me or my habits, come with me and perhaps I may show you more than you would make out if you went alone."
"I'm not my own master to go or stay," said the story−teller, with a sigh.
The stranger put one hand into his wallet and drew out of it before their eyes a well looking middle−aged man, to whom he spoke as follows:
"By all you heard and saw since I put you into my wallet, take charge of this lady and of the carriage and horses, and have them ready for me whenever I want them."
Scarcely had he said these words when all vanished, and the story−teller found himself at the Foxes' Ford, near the castle of Red Hugh O'Donnell. He could see all but none could see him.
O'Donnell was in his hall, and heaviness of flesh and weariness of spirit were upon him.
"Go out," said he to his doorkeeper, " and see who or what may be coming."
The doorkeeper went, and what he saw was a lank, grey beggarman ; half his sword bared behind his haunch, his two shoes full of cold road−a−wayish water sousing about him, the tips of his two ears out through his old hat, his two shoulders out through his scant tattered cloak, and in his hand a green wand of holly.
"Save you, O Donnell," said the lank grey beggarman.
"And you likewise," said O'Donnell. "Whence come you, and what is your craft?"
"I come from the outmost stream of earth,
From the glens where the white swans glide,
A night in Islay, a night in Man,
A night on the cold hillside."
"It's the great traveller you are," said O'Donnell. "Maybe you've learnt something on the road."
"I am a juggler," said the lank grey beggarman, "and for five pieces of silver you shall see a trick of mine."
"You shall have them," said O'Donnell; and the lank grey beggarman took three small straws and placed them
in his hand.
"The middle one," said he, "I'll blow away; the other two I'll leave."
"Thou canst not do it," said one and all.
But the lank grey beggarman put a finger on either outside straw and, whiff, away he blew the middle one.
"'Tis a good trick," said O'Donnell; and he paid him his five pieces of silver.
"For half the money," said one of the chief's lads, "I'll do the same trick.
"Take him at his word, O'Donnell."
The lad put the three straws on his hand, and a finger on either outside straw and he blew; and what happened but that the fist was blown away with the straw.
"Thou art sore, and thou wilt be sorer," said O'Donnell.
"Six more pieces, O'Donnell, and I'll do another trick for thee," said the lank grey beggarman.
"Six shalt thou have."
"Seest thou my two ears! One I'll move but not t'other."
" 'Tis easy to see them, they're big enough, but thou canst never move one ear and not the two together."
The lank grey beggarman put his hand to his ear, and he gave it a pull.
O'Donnell laughed and paid him the six pieces.
"Call that a trick," said the fistless lad, " any one can do that," and so saying, he put up his hand, pulled his ear, and what happened was that he pulled away ear and head.
" Sore thou art, and sorer thou'lt be," said O'Donnell. "Well, O'Donnell," said the lank grey beggarman, strange are the tricks I've shown thee, but I'll show thee a stranger one yet for the same money."
"Thou hast my word for it," said O'Donnell.
With that the lank grey beggarman took a bag from under his armpit, and from out the bag a ball of silk, and he unwound the ball and he flung it slantwise up into the clear blue heavens, and it became a ladder; then he took a hare and placed it upon the thread, and up it ran; again he took out a red−eared hound, and it swiftly ran up after the hare.
"Now," said the lank grey beggarman ; "has any one a mind to run after the dog and on the course?"
"I will," said a lad of O'Donnell's.
"Up with you then," said the juggler; "but I warn you if you let my hare be killed I'll cut off your head when you come down."
The lad ran up the thread and all three soon disappeared. After looking up for a long time, the lank grey beggarman said : "I'm afraid the hound is eating the hare, and that our friend has fallen asleep."
Saying this he began to wind the thread, and down came the lad fast asleep; and down came the red−eared hound and in his mouth the last morsel of the hare.
He struck the lad a stroke with the edge of his sword, and so cast his head off. As for the hound, if he used it no worse, he used it no better.
"It's little I'm pleased, and sore I'm angered," said O'Donnell, "that a hound and a lad should be killed at my court."
"Five pieces of silver twice over for each of them," said the juggler, "and their heads shall be on them as before."
Thou shalt get that," said O'Donnell.
Five pieces, and again five were paid him, and lo! the lad had his head and the hound his. And though they lived to the uttermost end of time, the hound would never touch a hare again, and the lad took good care to keep his eyes open.
Scarcely had the lank grey beggarman done this when he vanished from out their sight, and no one present could say if he had flown through the air or if the earth had swallowed him up.
He moved as wave tumbling o'er wave As whirlwind following whirlwind, As a furious wintry blast, So swiftly, sprucely, cheerily, Right proudly, And no stop made Until he came
To the court of Leinster's King, He gave a cheery light leap O'er top of turret, Of court and city Of Leinster's King.
Heavy was the flesh and weary the spirit of Leinster's king. 'Twas the hour he was wont to hear a story, but send he might right and left, not a jot of tidings about the story−teller could he get.
"Go to the door," said he to his doorkeeper, "and see if a soul is in sight who may tell me something about my story−teller."
The doorkeeper went, and what he saw was a lank grey beggarman, half his sword bared behind his haunch, his two old shoes full of cold road−a−wayish water sousing about him, the tips of his two ears out through his old hat, his two shoulders out through his scant tattered cloak, and in his hand a three−stringed harp.
"What canst thou do?" said the doorkeeper.
"I can play," said the lank grey beggarman.
"Never fear," added he to the story−teller, "thou shalt see all, and not a man shall see thee." When the king heard a harper was outside, he bade him in.
"It is I that have the best harpers in the five−fifths of Ireland," said he, and he signed them to play. They did so, and if they played, the lank grey beggarman listened.
Heardst thou ever the like?" said the king.
"Did you ever, O king, hear a cat purring over a bowl of broth, or the buzzing of beetles in the twilight, or a shrill tongued old woman scolding your head off?"
"That I have often," said the king.
"More melodious to me," said the lank grey beggarman, "were the worst of these sounds than the sweetest harping of thy harpers."
When the harpers heard this, they drew their swords and rushed at him, but instead of striking him, their blows fell on each other, and soon not a man but was cracking his neighbour's skull and getting his own cracked in turn.
When the king saw this, he thought it hard the harpers weren't content with murdering their music, but must needs murder each other.
"Hang the fellow who began it all," said he; "and if I can't have a story, let me have peace."
Up came the guards, seized the lank grey beggarman, marched him to the gallows and hanged him high and dry. Back they marched to the hall, and who should they see but the lank grey beggarman seated on a bench with his mouth to a flagon of ale.
Never welcome you in," cried the captain of the guard, "didn't we hang you this minute, and what brings you here?"
"Is it me myself, you mean?
"Who else ?" said the captain.
"May your hand turn into a pig's foot with you when you think of tying the rope; why should you speak of hanging me ?"
Back they scurried to the gallows, and there hung the king's favourite brother.
Back they hurried to the king who had fallen fast asleep.
"Please your Majesty," said the captain, "we hanged that strolling vagabond, but here he is back again as well as ever."
"Hang him again," said the king, and off he went to sleep once more.
They did as they were told, but what happened was that they found the king's chief Harper hanging where the lank grey beggarman should have been.
The captain of the guard was sorely puzzled.
"Are you wishful to hang me a third time?" said the lank grey beggarman.
"Go where you will;" said the captain, "and as fast as you please if you'll only go far enough. It's trouble enough you've given us already."
"Now you're reasonable," said the beggarman ; "and since you've given up trying to hang a stranger because he finds fault with your music, I don't mind telling you that if you go back to the gallows you'll find your friends sitting on the sward none the worse for what has happened."
As he said these words he vanished ; and the story−teller found himself on the spot where they first met, and where his wife still was with the carriage and horses.
"Now," said the lank grey beggarman, "I'll torment you no longer. There's your carriage and your horses, and your money and your wife; do what you please with them."
"For my carriage and my horses and my hounds," said the story−teller, "I thank you; but my wife and my money you may keep."
"No," said the other. "I want neither, and as for your wife, don't think ill of her for what she did, she couldn't help it."
Not help it ! Not help kicking me into the mouth of my own hounds! Not help casting me off for the sake of a beggarly old −−−−−"
"I'm not as beggarly or as old as ye think. I am Angus of the Bruff; many a good turn you've done me with the King of Leinster. This morning my magic told me the difficulty you were in, and I made up my mind to get you out of it. As for your wife there, the power that changed your body changed her mind. Forget and forgive as man and wife should do, and now you have a story for the King of Leinster when he calls for one;" and with that he disappeared.
It's true enough he now had a story fit for a king. From first to last he told all that had befallen him ; so long and loud laughed the king that he couldn't go to sleep at all. And he told the story−teller never to trouble for fresh stories, but every night as long as he lived he listened again and he laughed afresh at the tale of the lank grey beggarman.
There was once a poor old fisherman, and one year he was not getting much fish. On a day of days, while he was fishing, there rose a sea−maiden at the side of his boat, and she asked him, "Are you getting much fish?" The old man answered and said, "Not I." "What reward would you give me for sending plenty of fish to you ? "Ach !" said the old man, "I have not much to spare." "Will you give me the first son you have?" said she. "I would give ye that, were I to have a son," said he. "Then go home, and remember me when your son is twenty years of age, and you yourself will get plenty of fish after this." Everything happened as the sea−maiden said, and he himself got plenty of fish; but when the end of the twenty years was nearing, the old man was growing more and more sorrowful and heavy hearted, while he counted each day as it came.
He had rest neither day nor night. The son asked his father one day, "Is any one troubling you?" The old man said, "Some one is, but that's nought to do with you nor any one else." The lad said, " I must know what it is." His father told him at last how the matter was with him and the sea−maiden.
"Let not that put you in any trouble," said the son; "I will not oppose you." "You shall not; you shall not go, my son, though I never get fish any more." "If you will not let me go with you, go to the smithy, and let the smith make me a great strong sword, and I will go seek my fortune."
His father went to the smithy, and the smith made a doughty sword for him. His father came home with the sword. The lad grasped it and gave it a shake or two, and it flew into a hundred splinters. He asked his father to go to the smithy and get him another sword in which there should be twice as much weight ; and so his father did, and so likewise it happened to the next sword − it broke in two halves. Back went the old man to the smithy; and the smith made a great sword, its like he never made before. "There's thy sword for thee," said the smith, "and the fist must be good that plays this blade." The old man gave the sword to his son; he gave it a shake or two. "This will do," said he; "it's high time now to travel on my way."
On the next morning he put a saddle on a black horse that his father had, and he took the world for his pillow. When he went on a bit, he fell in with the carcass of a sheep beside the road. And there were a great black dog, a falcon, and an otter, and they were quarrelling over the spoil. So they asked him to divide it for them. He came down off the horse, and he divided the carcass amongst the three. Three shares to the dog, two shares to the otter, and a share to the falcon. "For this," said the dog, "if swiftness of foot or sharpness of tooth will give thee aid, mind me, and I will be at thy side." Said the otter, "If the swimming of foot on the ground of a pool will loose thee, mind me, and I will be at thy side." Said the falcon, "If hardship comes on thee, where swiftness of wing or crook of a claw will do good, mind me, and I will be at thy side."
On this he went onward till he reached a king's house, and he took service to be a herd, and his wages were to be according to the milk of the cattle. He went away with the cattle, and the grazing was but bare. In the evening when he took them home they had not much milk, the place was so bare, and his meat and drink was
but spare that night.
On the next day he went on further with them; and at Last he came to a place exceedingly grassy, in a green glen, of which he never saw the like.
But about the time when he should drive the cattle homewards, who should he see coming but a great giant with his sword in his hand? "HI ! HO !! HOGARACH ! " says the giant. "Those cattle are mine; they are on my land, and a dead man art thou." "I say not that," says the herd; "there is no knowing, but that may be easier to say than to do."
He drew the great clean−sweeping sword, and he neared the giant. The herd drew back his sword, and the head was off the giant in a twinkling. He leaped on the black horse, and he went to look for the giant's house. In went the herd, and that's the place where there was money in plenty, and dresses of each kind in the wardrobe with gold and silver, and each thing finer than the other. At the mouth of night he took himself to the king's house, but he took not a thing from the giant's house. And when the cattle were milked this night there was milk. He got good feeding this night, meat and drink without stint, and the king was hugely pleased that he had caught such a herd. He went on for a time in this way, but at last the glen grew bare of grass, and the grazing was not so good.
So he thought he would go a little further forward in on the giant's land; and he sees a great park of grass. He returned for the cattle, and he put them into the park.
They were but a short time grazing in the park when a great wild giant came full of rage and madness. "HI ! HAW !! HOGARAICH !!!" said the giant. "It is a drink of thy blood that will quench my thirst this night." "There is no knowing," said the herd, "but that's easier to say than to do." And at each other went the men. There was shaking of blades ! At length and at last it seemed as if the giant would get the victory over the herd. Then he called on the dog, and with one spring the black dog caught the giant by the neck, and swiftly the herd struck off his head.
He went home very tired this night, but it's a wonder if the king's cattle had not milk. The whole family was delighted that they had got such a herd.
Next day he betakes himself to the castle. When he reached the door, a little flattering carlin met him standing in the door. "All hail and good luck to thee, fisher's son; 'tis I myself am pleased to see thee; great is the honour for this kingdom, for thy like to be come into it − thy coming in is fame for this little bothy; go in first; honour to the gentles; go on, and take breath."
"In before me, thou crone; I like not flattery out of doors; go in and let's hear thy speech." In went the crone, and when her back was to him he drew his sword and whips her head off; but the sword flew out of his hand. And swift the crone gripped her head with both hands, and puts it on her neck as it was before. The dog sprung on the crone, and she struck the generous dog with the club of magic; and there he lay. But the herd struggled for a hold of the club of magic, and with one blow on the top of the head she was on earth in the twinkling of an eye. He went forward, up a little, and there was spoil ! Gold and silver, and each thing more precious than another, in the crone's castle. He went back to the king's house, and then there was rejoicing.
He followed herding in this way for a time; but one night after he came home, instead of getting "All hail" and "Good luck" from the dairymaid, all were at crying and woe.
He asked what cause of woe there was that night. The dairymaid said "There is a great beast with three heads in the loch, and it must get some one every year, and the lot had come this year on the king's daughter, and at midday tomorrow she is to meet the Laidly Beast at the upper end of the loch, but there is a great suitor
yonder who is going to rescue her."
"What suitor is that?" said the herd. "Oh, he is a great General of arms," said the daiyymaid, "and when he kills the beast, he will marry the king's daughter, for the king has said that he who could save his daughter should get her to marry."
But on the morrow, when the time grew near, the king's daughter and this hero of arms went to give a meeting to the beast, and they reached the black rock, at the upper end of the loch. They were but a short time there when the beast stirred in the midst of the loch; but when the General saw this terror of a beast with three heads, he took fright, and he slunk away, and he hid himself. And the king's daughter was under fear and under trembling, with no one at all to save her. Suddenly she sees a doughty handsome youth, riding a black horse, and coming where she was. He was marvellously arrayed and full armed, and his black dog moved after him. "There is gloom on your face, girl," said the youth; "what do you here?"
"Oh! that's no matter," said the king's daughter. "It's not long I'll be here, at all events." "I say not that," said he. "A champion fled as likely as you, and not long since," said she. "He is a champion who stands the war," said the youth. And to meet the beast he went with his sword and his dog. But there was a spluttering and a splashing between himself and the beast ! The dog kept doing all he might, and the king's daughter was palsied by fear of the noise of the beast ! One of them would now be under, and now above. But at last he cut one of the heads off it. It gave one roar, and the son of earth, echo of the rocks, called to its screech, and it drove the loch in spindrift from end to end, and in a twinkling it went out of sight.
"Good luck and victory follow you, lad !" said the king's daughter. "I am safe for one night, but the beast will come again and again, until the other two heads come off it." He caught the beast's head, and he drew a knot through it, and he told her to bring it with her there tomorrow. She gave him a gold ring, and went home with the head on her shoulder, and the herd betook himself to the cows. But she had not gone far when this great General saw her, and he said to her, "I will kill you if you do not say that 'twas I took the head off the beast." "Oh!" says she, " 'tis I will say it ; who else took the head off the beast but you! " They reached the king's house, and the head was on the General's shoulder. But here was rejoicing, that she should come home alive and whole, and this great captain with the beast's head full of blood in his hand. On the morrow they went away, and there was no question at all but that this hero would save the king's daughter.
They reached the same place, and they were not long there when the fearful Laidly Beast stirred in the midst of the loch, and the hero slunk away as he did on yesterday, but it was not long after this when the man of the black horse came, with another dress on. No matter; she knew that it was the very same lad. "It is I am pleased to see you," said she. "I am in hopes you will handle your great sword to−day as you did yesterday. Come up and take breath." But they were not long there when they saw the beast steaming in the midst of the loch.
At once he went to meet the beast, but there was Cloopersteich and Claperstich, spluttering, splashing, raving, and roaring on the beast ! They kept at it thus for a long time, and about the mouth of night he cut another head off the beast. He put it on the knot and gave it to her. She gave him one of her earrings, and he leaped on the black horse, and he betook himself to the herding. The king's daughter went home with the heads. The General met her, and took the heads from her, and he said to her, that she must tell that it was he who took the head off the beast this time also. "Who else took the head off the beast but you?" said she. They reached the king's house with the heads. Then there was joy and. gladness.
About the same time on the morrow, the two went away. The officer hid himself as he usually did. The king's daughter betook herself to the bank of the loch. The hero of the black horse came, and if roaring and raving were on the beast on the days that were passed, this day it was horrible. But no matter, he took the third head off the beast, and drew it through the knot, and gave it to her. She gave him her other earring, and then she went home with the heads. When they reached the king's house, all were full of smiles, and the General was to marry the king's daughter the next day. The wedding was going on, and every one about the castle longing till the priest should come. But when the priest came, she would marry only the one who could take the heads off the knot without cutting it. "Who should take the heads off the knot but the man that put the heads on?" said the king.
The General tried them, but he could not loose them and at last there was no one about the house but had tried to take the heads off the knot, but they could not. The king asked if there were any one else about the house that would try to take the beads off the knot. They said that the herd had not tried them yet. Word went for the herd; and he was not long throwing them hither and thither. "But stop a bit, my lad," said the king's daughter ; "the man that took the heads off the beast, he has my ring and my two earrings." The herd put his hand in his pocket, and he threw them on the board. "Thou art my man," said the king's daughter. The king was not so pleased when he saw that it was a herd who was to marry his daughter, but he ordered that he should be put in a better dress; but his daughter spoke, and she said that he had a dress as fine as any that ever was in his castle; and thus it happened. The herd put on the giant's golden dress, and they married that same day.
They were now married, and everything went on well. But one day, and it was the namesake of the day when his father had promised him to the sea−maiden, they were sauntering by the side of the loch, and lo and behold ! she came and took him away to the loch without leave or asking. The king's daughter was now mournful, tearful, blind−sorrowful for her married man; she was always with her eye on the loch. An old soothsayer met her, and she told how it had befallen her married mate. Then he told her the thing to do to save her mate, and that she did.
She took her harp to the sea−shore, and sat and played; and the sea−maiden came up to listen, for sea−maidens are fonder of music than all other creatures. But when the wife saw the sea−maiden she stopped. The sea−maiden said, "Play on !" but the princess said, "No, not till I see my man again." So the sea−maiden put up his head out of the loch. Then the princess played again, and stopped till the sea−maiden put him up to the waist. Then the princess played and stopped again, and this time the sea−maiden put him all out of the loch, and he called on the falcon and became one and flew on shore. But the sea−maiden took the princess, his wife.
Sorrowful was each one that was in the town on this night. Her man was mournful, tearful, wandering down and up about the banks of the loch, by day and night. The old soothsayer met him. The soothsayer told him that there was no way of killing the sea−maiden but the one way, and this is it − " In the island that is in the midst of the loch is the white−footed hind of the slenderest legs and the swiftest step, and though she he caught, there will spring a hoodie out of her, and though the hoodie should be caught, there will spring a trout out of her, but there is an egg in the mouth of the trout, and the soul of the sea−maiden is in the egg, and if the egg breaks, she is dead."
Now, there was no way of getting to this island, for the sea−maiden would sink each boat and raft that would go on the loch. He thought he would try to leap the strait with the black horse, and even so he did. The black horse leaped the strait. He saw the hind, and he let the black dog after her, but when he was on one side of the island, the hind would he on the other side. "Oh! would the black dog of the carcass of flesh were here!" No sooner spoke he the word than the grateful dog was at his side; and after the hind he went, and they were not long in bringing her to earth. But he no sooner caught her than a hoodie sprang out of her. "Would that the falcon grey, of sharpest eye and swiftest wing, were here!" No sooner said he this than the falcon was after the hoodie, and she was not long putting her to earth; and as the hoodie fell on the bank of the loch, out of her
jumps the trout. "Oh ! that thou wert by me now, oh otter !" No sooner said than the otter was at his side, and out on the loch she leaped, and brings the trout from the midst of the loch; but no sooner was the otter on shore with the trout than the egg came from his mouth. He sprang and he put his foot on it. 'Twas then the sea−maiden appeared, and she said, "Break not the egg, and you shall get all you ask." "Deliver to me my wife !" In the wink of an eye she was by his side. When he got hold of her hand in both his bands, he let his foot down on the egg, and the sea−maiden died.
What Irish man, woman, or child has not heard of our renowned Hibernian Hercules, the great and glorious Fin M'Coul? Not one, from Cape Clear to the Giant's Causeway, nor from that back again to Cape Clear. And, by−the−way, speaking of the Giant's Causeway brings me at once to the beginning of my story. Well, it so happened that Fin and his men were all working at the Causeway, in order to make a bridge across to Scotland; when Fin, who was very fond of his wife Oonagh, took it into his head that he would go home and see how the poor woman got on in his absence. So, accordingly, he pulled up a fir−tree, and, after lopping off the roots and branches, made a walking−stick of it, and set out on his way to Oonagh.
Oonagh, or rather Fin, lived at this time on the very tip−top of Knockmany Hill, which faces a cousin of its own called Cullamore, that rises up, half−hill, half−mountain, on the opposite side.
There was at that time another giant, named Cucullin −some say he was Irish, and some say he was Scotch − but whether Scotch or Irish, sorrow doubt of it but he was a targer. No other giant of the day could stand before him; and such was his strength, that, when well vexed, he could give a stamp that shook the country about him. The fame and name of him went far and near; and nothing in the shape of a man, it was said, had any chance with him in a fight. By one blow of his fists he flattened a thunderbolt and kept it in his pocket, in the shape of a pancake, to show to all his enemies, when they were about to fight him. Undoubtedly he had given every giant in Ireland a considerable beating, barring Fin M'Coul himself; and he swore that he would never rest, night or day, winter or summer, till he would serve Fin with the same sauce, if he could catch him. However, the short and long of it was, with reverence be it spoken, that Fin heard Cucullin was coming to the Causeway to have a trial of strength with him; and he was seized with a very warm and sudden fit of affection for his wife, poor woman, leading a very lonely, uncomfortable life of it in his absence. He accordingly pulled up the fir−tree, as I said before, and having snedded it into a walking−stick, set out on his travels to see his darling Oonagh on the top of Knockmany, by the way.
In truth, the people wondered very much why it was that Fin selected such a windy spot for his dwelling−house, and they even went so far as to tell him as much.
"What can you mane, Mr. M'Coul," said they, "by pitching your tent upon the top of Knockmany, where you never are without a breeze, day or night, winter or summer, and where you're often forced to take your nightcap without either going to bed or turning up your little finger; ay, an' where, besides this, there's the sorrow's own want of water?"
"Why," said Fin, "ever since I was the height of a round tower, I was known to be fond of having a good prospect of my own; and where the dickens, neighbours, could I find a better spot for a good prospect than the top of Knockmany? As for water, I am sinking a pump, and, plase goodness, as soon as the Causeway's made, I intend to finish it."
Now, this was more of Fin's philosophy; for the real state of the case was, that he pitched upon the top of Knockmany in order that he might be able to see Cucullin coming towards the house. All we have to say is, that if he wanted a spot from which to keep a sharp look−out − and, between ourselves, he did want it grievously − barring Slieve Croob, or Slieve Donard, or its own cousin, Cullamore, he could not find a neater or more convenient situation for it in the sweet and sagacious province of Ulster.
"God save all here !" said Fin, good−humouredly, on putting his honest face into his own door.
"Musha, Fin, avick, an' you're welcome home to your own Oonagh, you darlin' bully." Here followed a smack that is said to have made the waters of the lake at the bottom of the hill curl, as it were, with kindness and sympathy.
Fin spent two or three happy days with Oonagh, and felt himself very comfortable, considering the dread he had of Cucullin. This, however, grew upon him so much that his wife could not but perceive something lay on his mind which he kept altogether to himself. Let a woman alone, in the meantime, for ferreting or wheedling a secret out of her good man, when she wishes. Fin was a proof of this.
"It's this Cucullin," said he, "that's troubling me. When the fellow gets angry, and begins to stamp, he'll shake you a whole townland; and it's well known that he can stop a thunderbolt, for he always carries one about him in the shape of a pancake, to show to any one that might misdoubt it."
As he spoke, he clapped his thumb in his mouth, which he always did when he wanted to prophesy, or to know anything that happened in his absence; and the wife asked him what he did it for.
"He's coming," said Fin; "I see him below Dungannon."
"Thank goodness, dear ! an' who is it, avick? Glory be to God!"
"That baste, Cucullin," replied Fin; "and how to manage I don't know. If I run away, I am disgraced; and I know that sooner or later I must meet him, for my thumb tells me so."
"When will he be here?" said she.
"Tomorrow, about two o'clock," replied Fin, with a groan.
"Well, my bully, don't be cast down," said Oonagh; "depend on me, and maybe I'll bring you better out of this scrape than ever you could bring yourself, by your rule o' thumb."
She then made a high smoke on the top of the hill, after which she put her finger in her mouth, and gave three whistles and by that Cucullin knew he was invited to Cullamore − for this was the way that the Irish long ago gave a sign to all strangers and travellers, to let them know they were welcome to come and take share of whatever was going.
In the meantime, Fin was very melancholy, and did not know what to do, or how to act at all. Cucullin was an ugly customer to meet with ; and, the idea of the "cake" aforesaid flattened the very heart within him. What chance could he have, strong and brave though he was, with a man who could, when put in a passion, walk the country into earthquakes and knock thunderbolts into pancakes? Fin knew not on what hand to turn him. Right or left−backward or forward − where to go he could form no guess whatsoever.
"Oonagh," said he, "can you do nothing for me? Where's all your invention? Am I to be skivered like a rabbit before your eyes, and to have my name disgraced for ever in the sight of all my tribe, and me the best man
among them? How am I to fight this man−mountain−this huge cross between an earthquake and a thunderbolt? − with a pancake in his pocket that was once − "
"Be easy, Fin," replied Oonagh; "troth, I'm ashamed of you. Keep your toe in your pump, will you? Talking of pancakes, maybe, we'll give him as good as any he brings with him − thunderbolt or otherwise. If I don't treat him to as smart feeding as he's got this many a day, never trust Oonagh again. Leave him to me, and do just as I bid you."
This relieved Fin very much; for, after all, he had great confidence in his wife, knowing, as he did, that she had got him out of many a quandary before. Oonagh then drew the nine woollen threads of different colours, which she always did to find out the best way of succeeding in anything of importance she went about. She then platted them into three plats with three colours in each, putting one on her right arm, one round her heart, and the third round her right ankle, for then she knew that nothing could fail with her that she undertook.
Having everything now prepared, she sent round to the neighbours and borrowed one−and−twenty iron griddles, which she took and kneaded into the hearts of one−and−twenty cakes of bread, and these she baked on the fire in the usual way, setting them aside in the cupboard according as they were done. She then put down a large pot of new milk, which she made into curds and whey. Having done all this, she sat down quite contented, waiting for his arrival on the next day about two o'clock, that being the hour at which he was expected − for Fin knew as much by the sucking of his thumb. Now this was a curious property that Fin's thumb had. In this very thing, moreover, he was very much resembled by his great foe, Cucullin; for as well known that the huge strength he possessed all lay in the middle finger of his right hand, and that, if he happened by any mischance to lose it, he was no more, for all his bulk, than a common man.
At length, the next day, Cucullin was seen coming across the valley, and Oonagh knew that it was time to commence operations. She immediately brought the cradle, and made Fin to lie down in it, and cover himself up with the clothes.
"You must pass for your own child," said she; "so just lie there snug, and say nothing, but be guided by me."
About two o'clock, as he had been expected, Cucullin came in. "God save all here!" said he ; "is this where the great Fin M'Coul lives?"
"Indeed it is, honest man," replied Oonagh; "God save you kindly − won't you be sitting?"
"Thank you, ma'am," says he, sitting down; "you're Mrs. M'Coul, I suppose?"
"I am," said she; "and I have no reason, I hope, to be ashamed of my husband."
"No," said the other, "he has the name of being the strongest and bravest man in Ireland ; but for all that, there's a man not far from you that's very desirous of taking a shake with him. Is he at home?"
"Why, then, no," she replied; "and if ever a man left his house in a fury, he did. It appears that some one told him of a big basthoon of a giant called Cucullin being down at the Causeway to look for him, and so he set out there to try if he could catch him. Troth, I hope, for the poor giant's sake, he won't meet with him, for if he does, Fin will make paste of him at once."
"Well," said the other, "I am Cucullin, and I have been seeking him these twelve months, but he always kept clear of me; and I will never rest night or day till I lay my hands on him."
At this Oonagh set up a loud laugh, of great contempt, by−the−way, and looked at him as if he was only a mere handful of a man.
"Did you ever see Fin?" said she, changing her manner all at once.
"How could I?" said he; "he always took care to keep his distance."
"I thought so," she replied ; "I judged as much; and if you take my advice, you poor−looking creature, you'll pray night and day that you may never see him, for I tell you it will be a black day for you when you do. But, in the meantime, you perceive that the wind's on the door, and as Fin himself is from home, maybe you'd be civil enough to turn the house, for it's always what Fin does when he's here."
This was a startler even to Cucullin ; but he got up, however, and after pulling the middle finger of his right hand until it cracked three times, he went outside, and getting his arms about the house, turned it as she had wished. When Fin saw this, he felt the sweat of fear oozing out through every pore of his skin; but Oonagh, depending upon her woman's wit, felt not a whit daunted.
"Arrah, then," said she, "as you are so civil, maybe you'd do another obliging turn for us, as Fin's not here to do it himself. You see, after this long stretch of dry weather we've had, we feel very badly off for want of water. Now, Fin says there's a fine spring−well somewhere under the rocks behind the hill here below, and it was his intention to pull them asunder; but having heard of you, he left the place in such a fury, that he never thought of it. Now, if you try to find it, troth I'd feel it a kindness."
She then brought Cucullin down to see the place, which was then all one solid rock; and, after looking at it for some time, he cracked his right middle finger nine times, and, stooping down, tore a cleft about four hundred feet deep, and a quarter of a mile in length, which has since been christened by the name of Lumford's Glen.
"You'll now come in, said she, " and eat a bit of such humble fare as we can give you. Fin, even although he and you are enemies, would scorn not to treat you kindly in his own house; and, indeed, if I didn't do it even in his absence, he would not be pleased with me."
She accordingly brought him in, and placing half−a−dozen of the cakes we spoke of before him, together with a can or two of butter, a side of boiled bacon, and a stack of cabbage, she desired him to help himself−for this, be it known, was long before the invention of potatoes. Cucullin put one of the cakes in his mouth to take a huge whack out of it, when he made a thundering noise, something between a growl and a yell. "Blood and fury !" he shouted; "how is this? Here are two of my teeth out! What kind of bread this is you gave me."
"What's the matter?" said Qonagh coolly.
"Matter I" shouted the other again ; "why, here are the two best teeth in my head gone."
"Why," said she, "that's Fin's bread − the only bread he ever eats when at home; but, indeed, I forgot to tell you that nobody can eat it but himself, and that child in the cradle there. I thought, however, that, as you were reported to be rather a stout little fellow of your size, you might be able to manage it, and I did not wish to affront a man that thinks himself able to fight Fin. Here's another cake−maybe it's not so hard as that."
Cucullin at the moment was not only hungry, but ravenous, so he accordingly made a fresh set at the second cake, and immediately another yell was heard twice as loud as the first. "Thunder and gibbets ,' he roared, "take your bread out of this, or I will not have a tooth in my head; there's another pair of them gone!"
Well, honest man," replied Oonagh, " if you're not able to eat the bread, say so quietly, and don't be wakening the child in the cradle there. There, now, he's awake upon me."
Fin now gave a skirl that startled the giant, as coming from such a youngster as he was supposed to be.
"Mother" said be, "I'm hungry − get me something to eat." Oonagh went over, and putting into his hand a cake that had no griddle in it, Fin, whose appetite in the meantime had been sharpened by seeing eating going forward, soon swallowed it. Cucullin was thunderstruck, and secretly thanked his stars that he had the good fortune to miss meeting Fin, for, as he said to himself, "I'd have no chance with a man who could eat such bread as that, which even his son that's but in his cradle can munch before my eyes."
"I'd like to take a glimpse at the lad in the cradle," said he to Oonagh; "for I can tell you that the infant who can manage that nutriment is no joke to look at or to feed of a scarce summer."
"With all the veins of my heart," replied Oonagh; "get up, acushla, and show this decent little man something that won't be unworthy of your father, Fin M'Coul."
Fin, who was dressed for the occasion as much like a boy as possible, got up, and bringing Cucullin out, "Are you strong?" said he.
"Thunder an' ounds!" exclaimed the other, "what a voice in so small a chap !"
"Are you strong?" said Fin again; "are you able to squeeze water out of that white stone ?" he asked, putting one into Cucullin's hand. The latter squeezed and squeezed the stone, but in vain.
"Ah, you're a poor creature!" said Fin. "You a giant! Give me the stone here, and when I'll show what Fin's little son can do, you may then judge of what my daddy himself is."
Fin then took the stone, and exchanging it for the curds, he squeezed the latter until the whey, as clear as water, oozed out in a little shower from his hand.
" I'll now go in," said he, "to my cradle; for I scorn to lose my time with any one that's not able to eat my daddy's bread, or squeeze water out of a stone. Bedad, you had better be off out of this before he comes back; for if he catches you, it's in flummery he'd have you in two minutes."
Cucullin, seeing what he had seen, was of the same opinion himself; his knees knocked together with the terror of Fin's return, and he accordingly hastened to bid Oonagh farewell, and to assure her, that from that day out, he never wished to hear of, much less to see, her husband.
"I admit fairly that I'm not a match for him," said he, strong as I am; tell him I will avoid him as I would the plague, and that I will make myself scarce in this part of the country while I live."
Fin, in the meantime, had gone into the cradle, where he lay very quietly, his heart at his mouth with delight that Cucullin was about to take his departure, without discovering the tricks that had been played off on him.
"It's well for you," said Oonagh, "that he doesn't happen to be here, for it's nothing but hawk's meat he'd make of you."
"I know that," says Cucullin ; "divil a thing else he'd make of me; but before I go, will you let me feel what kind of teeth Fin's lad has got that can eat griddle−bread like that?"
"With all pleasure in life," said she ; " only, as they're far back in his head, you must put your finger a good way in."
Cucullin was surprised to find such a powerful set of grinders in one so young; but he was still much more so on finding, when he took his hand from Fin's mouth, that he had left the very finger upon which his whole strength depended, behind him. He gave one loud groan, and fell down at once with terror and weakness. This was all Fin wanted, who now knew that his most powerful and bitterest enemy was at his mercy. He started out of the cradle, and in a few minutes the great Cucullin, that was for such a length of time the terror of him and all his followers, lay a corpse before him. Thus did Fin, through the wit and invention of Oonagh, his wife, succeed in overcoming his enemy by cunning, which he never could have done by force.
King Hugh Cu Rucha lived in TirConal, and he had three daughters, whose names were Fair, Brown, and Trembling.
Fair and Brown had new dresses, and went to church every Sundav. Trembling was kept at home to do the cooking and work. They would not let her go out of the house at all ; for she was more beautiful than the other two, and they were in dread she might marry before themselves.
They carried on in this way for seven years. At the end of seven years the son of the king of Emania fell in love with the eldest sister.
One Sunday morning, after the other two had gone to church, the old henwife came into the kitchen to Trembling, and said "It's at church you ought to be this day, instead of working here at home."
"How could I go?" said Trembling. "I have no clothes good enough to wear at church; and if my sisters were to see me there, they'd kill me for going out of the house."
"I'll give you," said the henwife, " a finer dress than either of them has ever seen. And now tell me what dress will you have?"
"I'll have," said Trembling, "a dress as white as snow, and green shoes for my feet."
Then the henwife put on the cloak of darkness, clipped a piece from the old clothes the young woman had on, and asked for the whitest robes in the world and the most beautiful that could be found, and a pair of green shoes.
That moment she had the robe and the shoes, and she brought them to Trembling, who put them on. When Trembling was dressed and ready, the henwife said: "I have a honey−bird here to sit on your right shoulder, and a honey−finger to put on your left. At the door stands a milk−white mare, with a golden saddle for you to sit on, and a golden bridle to bold in your hand."
Trembling sat on the golden saddle; and when she was ready to start, the henwife said : "You must not go inside the door of the church, and the minute the people rise up at the end of Mass, do you make off, and ride home as fast as the mare will carry you."
When Trembling came to the door of the church there was no one inside who could get a glimpse of her but
was striving to know who she was; and when they saw her hurrying away at the end of Mass, they ran out to overtake her. But no use in their running; she was away before any man could come near her. From the minute she left the church till she got home, she overtook the wind before her, and outstripped the wind behind.
She came down at the door, went in, and found the henwife had dinner ready. She put off the white robes, and had on her old dress in a twinkling.
When the two sisters came home the henwife asked "Have you any news today from the church ?"
"We have great news, said they. " We saw a wonderful grand lady at the church−door. The like of the robes she had we have never seen on woman before. It's little that was thought of our dresses beside what she had on; and there wasn't a man at the church, from the king to the beggar, but was trying to look at her and know who she was."
The sisters would give no peace till they had two dresses like the robes of the strange lady; but honey−birds and honey−fingers were not to be found.
Next Sunday the two sisters went to church again, and left the youngest at home to cook the dinner.
After they had gone, the henwife came in and asked "Will you go to church to−day?"
"I would go," said Trembling, "if I could get the going."
"What robe will you wear?" asked the henwife.
"The finest black satin that can be found, and red shoes for my feet."
"What colour do you want the mare to be?"
"I want her to be so black and so glossy that I can see myself in her body."
The henwife put on the cloak of darkness, and asked for the robes and the mare. That moment she had them. When Trembling was dressed, the henwife put the honeybird on her right shoulder and the honey−finger on her left. The saddle on the mare was silver, and so was the bridle.
When Trembling sat in the saddle and was going away, the henwife ordered her strictly not to go inside the door of the church, but to rush away as soon as the people rose at the end of Mass, and hurry home on the mare before any man could stop her.
That Sunday the people were more astonished than ever, and gazed at her more than the first time; and all they were thinking of was to know who she was. But they had no chance; for the moment the people rose at the end of Mass she slipped from the church, was in the silver saddle, and home before a man could stop her or talk to her.
The henwife had the dinner ready. Trembling took off her satin robe, and had on her old clothes before her sisters got home.
"What news have you to−day?" asked the henwife of the two sisters when they came from the church.
"Oh, we saw the grand strange lady again ! And it's little that any man could think of our dresses after looking : at the robes of satin that she had on ! And all at church, from high to low, had their mouths open, gazing at her, and no man was looking at us."
The two sisters gave neither rest nor peace till they got dresses as nearly like the strange lady's robes as they could find. Of course they were not so good ; for the like of those robes could not be found in Erin.
When the third Sunday came, Fair and Brown went to church dressed in black satin. They left Trembling at home to work in the kitchen, and told her to be sure and have dinner ready when they came back.
After they had gone and were out of sight, the henwife came to the kitchen and said: "Well, my dear, are you for church today ?"
"I would go if I had a new dress to wear."
"I'll get you any dress you ask for. What dress would you like?" asked the henwife.
"A dress red as a rose from the waist down, and white as snow from the waist up ; a cape of green on my shoulders; and a hat on my head with a red, a white, and a green feather in it ; and shoes for my feet with the toes red, the middle white, and the backs and heels green.
The henwife put on the cloak of darkness, wished for all these things, and had them. When Trembling was dressed, the henwife put the honey−bird on her right shoulder and the honey−finger on her left, and, placing the hat on her head, clipped a few hairs from one lock and a few from another with her scissors, and that moment the most beautiful golden hair was flowing down over the girl's shoulders. Then the henwife asked what kind of a mare she would ride. She said white, with blue and gold−coloured diamond−shaped spots all over her body, on her back a saddle of gold, and on her head a golden bridle.
The mare stood there before the door, and a bird sitting between her ears, which began to sing as soon as Trembling was in the saddle, and never stopped till she came home from the church.
The fame of the beautiful strange lady had gone out through the world, and all the princes and great men that were in it came to church that Sunday, each one hoping that it was himself would have her home with him after Mass.
The son of the king of Emania forgot all about the eldest sister, and remained outside the church, so as to catch the strange lady before she could hurry away.
The church was more crowded than ever before, and there were three times as many outside. There was such a throng before the church that Trembling could only come inside the gate.
As soon as the people were rising at the end of Mass, the lady slipped out through the gate, was in the golden saddle in an instant, and sweeping away ahead of the wind. But if she was, the prince of Emania was at her side, and, seizing her by the foot, he ran with the mare for thirty perches, and never let go of the beautiful lady till the shoe was pulled from her foot, and he was left behind with it in his hand. She came home as fast as the mare could carry her, and was thinking all the time that the henwife would kill her for losing the shoe.
Seeing her so vexed and so changed in the face, the old woman asked: "What's the trouble that's on you now?"
"Oh! I've lost one of the shoes off my feet," said Trembling.
"Don't mind that; don't he vexed," said the henwife; "maybe it's the best thing that ever happened to you."
Then Trembling gave up all the things she had to the henwife, put on her old clothes, and went to work in the kitchen. When the sisters came home, the henwife asked: "Have you any news from the church?"
"We have indeed," said they, "for we saw the grandest sight today. The strange lady came again, in grander array than before. On herself and the horse she rode were the finest colours of the world, and between the ears of the horse was a bird which never stopped singing from the time she came till she went away. The lady herself is the most beautiful woman ever seen by man in Erin."
After Trembling had disappeared from the church, the son of the king of Emania said to the other kings' sons I will have that lady for my own."
They all said: "You didn't win her just by taking the shoe off her foot ; you'll have to win her by the point of the sword ; you'll have to fight for her with us before you can call her your own."
"Well," said the son of the king of Emania, "when I find the lady that shoe will fit, I'll fight for her, never fear, before I leave her to any of you."
Then all the kings' sons were uneasy, and anxious to know who was she that lost the shoe; and they began to travel all over Erin to know could they find her. The prince of Emania and all the others went in a great company together, and made the round of Erin; they went everywhere, − north, south, east, and west. They visited every place where a woman was to be found, and left not a house in the kingdom they did not search, to know could they find the woman the shoe would fit, not caring whether she was rich or poor, of high or low degree.
The prince of Emania always kept the shoe ; and when the young women saw it, they had great hopes, for it was of proper size, neither large nor small, and it would beat any man to know of what material it was made. One thought it would fit her if she cut a little from her great toe; and another, with too short a foot, put something in the tip of her stocking. But no use; they only spoiled their feet, and were curing them for months afterwards.
The two sisters, Fair and Brown, heard that the princes of the world were looking all over Erin for the woman that could wear the shoe, and every day they were talking of trying it on; and one day Trembling spoke up and said: "Maybe it's my foot that the shoe will fit."
"Oh, the breaking of the dog's foot on you Why say so when you were at home every Sunday?"
They were that way waiting, and scolding the younger sister, till the princes were near the place. The day they were to come, the sisters put Trembling in a closet, and locked the door on her. When the company came to the house, the prince of Emania gave the shoe to the sisters. But though they tried and tried, it would fit neither of them.
"Is there any other young woman in the house?" asked the prince.
"There is," said Trembling, speaking up in the closet "I'm here."
"Oh! we have her for nothing but to put out the ashes," said the sisters.
But the prince and the others wouldn't leave the house till they had seen her; so the two sisters had to open the door. When Trembling came out, the shoe was given to her, and it fitted exactly.
The prince of Emania looked at her and said: "You are the woman the shoe fits, and you are the woman I took the shoe from."
Then Trembling spoke up, and said: "Do you stay here till I return"
Then she went to the henwife's house. The old woman put on the cloak of darkness, got everything for her she had the first Sunday at church, and put her on the white−mare in the same fashion. Then Trembling rode along the highway to the front of the house. All who saw her the first time said : "This is the lady we saw at church."
Then she went away a second time, and a second time came back on the black mare in the second dress which the henwife gave her. All who saw her the second Sunday said : "That is the lady we saw at church."
A third time she asked for a short absence and soon came back on the third mare and in the third dress. All
who saw her the third time said: "That is the lady we saw at church." Every man was satisfied, and knew that she was the woman.
Then all the princes and great men spoke up, and said to the son of the king of Emania : "You'll have to fight now for her before we let her go with you."
"I'm here before you, ready for combat," answered the prince.
Then the son of the king of Lochim stepped forth. The struggle began, and a terrible struggle it was. They fought for nine hours; and then the son of the king of Lochim stopped, gave up his claim, and left the field. Next day the son of the king of Spain fought six hours, and yielded his claim. On the third day the son of the king of Nyerfi fought eight hours, and stopped. The fourth day the son of the king of Greece fought six hours, and stopped. On the fifth day no more strange princes wanted to fight; and all the sons of kings in Erin said they would not fight with a man of their own land, that the strangers had had their chance, and, as no others came to claim the woman, she belonged of right to the son of the king of Emania.
The marriage−day was fixed, and the invitations were sent out. The wedding lasted for a year and a day. When the wedding was over, the king's son brought home the bride, and when the time came a son was born. The young woman sent for her eldest sister, Fair, to be with her and care for her. One day, when Trembling was well, and when her husband was away hunting, the two sisters went out to walk; and when they came to the seaside, the eldest pushed the youngest sister in. A great whale came and swallowed her.
The eldest sister came home alone, and the husband asked, " Where is your sister?"
She has gone home to her father in Ballyshannon; now that I am well, I don't need her."
Well," said the husband, looking at her, " I'm in dread it's my wife that has gone."
"Oh ! no," said she; "it's my sister Fair that's gone."
Since the sisters were very much alike, the prince was in doubt. That night he put his sword between them, and said : "If you are my wife, this sword will get warm; if not, it will stay cold."
the morning when he rose up, the sword was as cold as when he put it there.
happened, when the two sisters were walking by the seashore, that a little cowboy was down by the water
minding cattle, and saw Fair push Trembling into the sea; and next day, when the tide came in, he saw the
whale swim up and throw her out on the sand. When she was on the sand she said to the cowboy: "When you go home in the evening with the cows, tell the master that my sister Fair pushed me into the sea yesterday; that a whale swallowed me, and then threw me out, but will come again and swallow me with the coming of the next tide; then he'll go out with the tide, and come again with tomorrow's tide, and throw me again on the strand. The whale will cast me out three times. I'm under the enchantment of this whale, and cannot leave the beach or escape myself. Unless my husband saves me before I'm swallowed the fourth time, I shall be lost. He must come and shoot the whale with a silver bullet when he turns on the broad of his back. Under the breast−fin of the whale is a reddish−brown spot. My husband must hit him in that spot, for it is the only place in which he can be killed."
When the cowboy got home, the eldest sister gave him a draught of oblivion, and he did not tell.
Next day he went again to the sea. The whale came and cast Trembling on shore again. She asked the boy:
"Did you tell the master what I told you to tell him?"
"I did not," said he ; "I forgot."
"How did you forget?" asked she.
"The woman of the house gave me a drink that made me forget."
"Well, don't forget telling him this night ; and if she gives you a drink, don't take it from her."
As soon as the cowboy came home, the eldest sister offered him a drink. He refused to take it till he had delivered his message and told all to the master. The third day the prince went down with his gun and a silver bullet in it. He was not long down when the whale came and threw Trembling upon the beach as the two days before. She had no power to speak to her husband till he had killed the whale. Then the whale went out, turned over once on the broad of his back, and showed the spot for a moment only. That moment the prince fired. He had but the one chance, and a short one at that; but he took it, and hit the spot, and the whale, mad with pain, made the sea all around red with blood, and died.
That minute Trembling was able to speak, and went home with her husband, who sent word to her father what the eldest sister had done. The father came, and told him any death he chose to give her to give it. The prince told the father he would leave her life and death with himself. The father had her put out then on the sea in a barrel, with provisions in it for seven years.
In time Trembling had a second child, a daughter. The prince and she sent the cowboy to school, and trained him up as one of their own children, and said "If the little girl that is born to us now lives, no other man in the world will get her but him."
The cowboy and the prince's daughter lived on till they were married. The mother said to her husband "You could not have saved me from the whale but for the little cowboy; on that account I don't grudge him my daughter."
The son of the king of Emania and Trembling had fourteen children, and they lived happily till the two died of old age.
A poor woman had three sons. The eldest and second eldest were cunning clever fellows, but they called the
youngest Jack the Fool, because they thought he was no better than a simpleton. The eldest got tired of staying at home, and said he'd go look for service. He stayed away a whole year, and then came back one day, dragging one foot after the other, and a poor wizened face on him, and he as cross as two sticks. When
he was rested and got something to eat, he told them how he got service with the Gray Churl of the Townland
of Mischance, and that the agreement was, whoever would first say he was sorry for his bargain, should get
an inch wide of the skin of his back, from shoulder to hips, taken off. If it was the master, he should also pay
double wages; if it was the servant, he should get no wages at all. "But the thief," says he, "gave me so little
to eat, and kept me so hard at work, that flesh and blood couldn't stand it; and when he asked me once, when I
was in a passion, if I was sorry for my bargain, I was mad enough to say I was, and here I am disabled for life."
Vexed enough were the poor mother and brothers; and the second eldest said on the spot he'd go and take service with the Gray Churl, and punish him by all the annoyance he'd give him till he'd make him say he was sorry for his agreement. "Oh, won't I be glad to see the skin coming off the old villain's back !" said he. All they could say had no effect : he started off for the Townland of Mischance, and in a twelvemonth he was back just as miserable and helpless as his brother.
All the poor mother could say didn't prevent Jack the Fool from starting to see if he was able to regulate the Gray Churl. He agreed with him for a year for twenty pounds, and the terms were the same.
"Now, Jack," said the Gray Churl, "if you refuse to do anything you are able to do, you must lose a month's wages."
"I'm satisfied," said Jack ; "and if you stop me from doing a thing after telling me to do it, you are to give me an additional month's wages."
"I am satisfied," says the master.
"Or if you blame me for obeying your orders, you must give the same."
"I am satisfied," said the master again.
The first day that Jack served he was fed very poorly, and was worked to the saddleskirts. Next day he came
in just before the dinner was sent up to the parlour. They were taking the goose off the spit, but well becomes
Jack he whips a knife off the dresser, and cuts off one side of the breast, one leg and thigh, and one wing, and fell to. In came the master, and began to abuse him for his assurance. "Oh, you know, master, you're to feed me, and wherever the goose goes won't have to be filled again till supper. Are you sorry for our agreement ?"
The master was going to cry out he was, but he bethought himself in time. "Oh no, not at all," said he.
"That's well," said Jack.
Next day Jack was to go clamp turf on the bog. They weren't sorry to have him away from the kitchen at dinner time. He didn't find his breakfast very heavy on his stomach ; so he said to the mistress, "I think, ma'am, it will be better for me to get my dinner now, and not lose time coming home from the bog."
"That's true, Jack," said she. So she brought out a good cake, and a print of butter, and a bottle of milk,
thinking he'd take them away to the bog. But Jack kept his seat, and never drew rein till bread, butter, and milk went down the red lane.
"Now, mistress," said he, " I'll be earlier at my work to−morrow if I sleep comfortably on the sheltery side of a pile of dry peat on dry grass, and not be coming here and going back. So you may as well give me my supper, and be done with the day's trouble." She gave him that, thinking he'd take it to the bog; but he fell to on the spot, and did not leave a scrap to tell tales on him; and the mistress was a little astonished.
He called to speak to the master in the haggard, and said he, "What are servants asked to do in this country after aten their supper?"
"Nothing at all, but to go to bed."
"Oh, very well, sir." He went up on the stable−loft, stripped, and lay down, and some one that saw him told the master. He came up.
"Jack, you anointed scoundrel, what do you mean?"
"To go to sleep, master. The mistress, God bless her, is after giving me my breakfast, dinner, and supper, and yourself told me that bed was the next thing. Do you blame me, sir?"
"Yes, you rascal, I do."
"Hand me out one pound thirteen and fourpence, if you please, sir."
"One divel and thirteen imps, you tinker! what for?"
"Oh, I see, you've forgot your bargain. Are you sorry for it ?"
"Oh, ya − NO, I mean. I'll give you the money after your nap."
Next morning early, Jack asked how he'd be employed that day. "You are to be holding the plough in that fallow, outside the paddock." The master went over about nine o'clock to see what kind of a ploughman was Jack, and what did he see but the little boy driving the bastes, and the sock and coulter of the plough skimming along the sod, and Jack pulling ding~dong again' the horses.
"What are you doing, you contrary thief?" said the master.
"An' ain't I strivin' to hold this divel of a plough, as you told me; but that ounkrawn of a boy keeps whipping on the bastes in spite of all I say; will you speak to him?"
"No, but I'll speak to you. Didn't you know, you bosthoon, that when I said 'holding the plough,' I meant reddening the ground."
"Faith, an' if you did, I wish you had said so. Do you blame me for what I have done?"
The master caught himself in time, but he was so stomached, he said nothing.
"Go on and redden the ground now, you knave, as other ploughmen do."
"An' are you sorry for our agreement?"
"Oh, not at all, not at all !"
Jack ploughed away like a good workman all the rest of the day.
In a day or two the master bade him go and mind the cows in a field that had half of it under young corn. "Be sure, particularly," said he, "to keep Browney from the wheat ; while she's out of mischief there's no fear of the rest."
About noon, he went to see how Jack was doing his duty, and what did he find but Jack asleep with his face to the sod, Browney grazing near a thorn−tree, one end of a long rope round her horns, and the other end round the tree, and the rest of the beasts all trampling and eating the green wheat. Down came the switch on Jack.
"Jack, you vagabone, do you see what the cows are at?"
"And do you blame, master?"
"To be sure, you lazy sluggard, I do ?"
"Hand me out one pound thirteen and fourpence, master. You said if I only kept Browney out of mischief, the rest would do no harm. There she is as harmless as a lamb. Are you sorry for hiring me, master?"
"To be − that is, not at all. I'll give you your money when you go to dinner. Now, understand me; don't let a cow go out of the field nor into the wheat the rest of the day."
"Never fear, master!" and neither did he. But the churl would rather than a great deal he had not hired him.
The next day three heifers were missing, and the master bade Jack go in search of them.
"Where will I look for them?" said Jack.
"Oh, every place likely and unlikely for them all to be in."
The churl was getting very exact in his words. When he was coming into the bawn at dinner−time, what work did he find Jack at but pulling armfuls of the thatch off the roof, and peeping into the holes he was making?
"What are you doing there, you rascal?"
"Sure, I'm looking for the heifers, poor things!"
"What would bring them there?"
"I don't think anything could bring them in it ; but I looked first into the likely places, that is, the cow−houses, and the pastures, and the fields next 'em, and now I'm looking in the unlikeliest place I can think of. Maybe it's not pleasing to you it is."
"And to be sure it isn't pleasing to me, you aggravating goose−cap!"
"Please, sir, hand me one pound thirteen and four pence before you sit down to your dinner. I'm afraid it's sorrow that's on you for hiring me at all."
"May the div − oh no; I'm not sorry. Will you begin, if you please, and put in the thatch again, just as if you were doing it for your mother's cabin?"
"Oh, faith I will, sir, with a heart and a half;" and by the time the farmer came out from his dinner, Jack had the roof better than it was before, for he made the boy give him new straw.
Says the master when he came out, "Go, Jack, and look for the heifers, and bring them home."
"And where will I look for 'em?"
"Go and search for them as if they were your own. The heifers were all in the paddock before sunset.
Next morning, says the master, "Jack, the path across the bog to the pasture is very bad; the sheep does be sinking in it every step ; go and make the sheep's feet a good path." About an hour after he came to the edge of the bog, and what did he find Jack at but sharpening a carving knife, and the sheep standing or grazing round.
"Is this the way you are mending the path, Jack ?" said he.
"Everything must have a beginning, master," said Jack, "and a thing well begun is half done. I am sharpening the knife, and I'll have the feet off every sheep in the flock while you'd be blessing yourself."
"Feet off my sheep, you anointed rogue! and what would you be taking their feet off for?"
"An' sure to mend the path as you told me. Says you, 'Jack, make a path with the foot of the sheep.' "
"Oh, you fool, I meant make good the path for the sheep's feet."
"It's a pity you didn't say so, master. Hand me out one pound thirteen and fourpence if you don't like me to finish my job."
"Divel do you good with your one pound thirteen and fourpence !"
"It's better pray than curse, master. Maybe you re sorry for your bargain?"
"And to be sure I am − not yet, any way."
The next night the master was going to a wedding; and says he to Jack, before he set out : "I'll leave at midnight; and I wish you to come and be with me home, for fear I might be overtaken with the drink. If you're there before, you may throw a sheep's eye at me, and I'll be sure to see that they'll give you something for yourself."
About eleven o'clock, while the master was in great spirits, he felt something clammy hit him on the cheek. It fell beside his tumbler, and when he looked at it what was it but the eye of a sheep. Well, he couldn't imagine who threw it at him, or why it was thrown at him. After a little he got a blow on the other cheek, and still it was by another sheep's eye. Well, he was very vexed, but he thought better to say nothing. In two minutes more, when he was opening his mouth to take a sup, another sheep's eye was slapped into it. He sputtered it out, and cried, "Man o' the house, isn't it a great shame for you to have any one in the room that would do
such a nasty thing ?"
"Master," says Jack, "don't blame the honest man. Sure it's only myself that was throwin' them sheep's eyes at you, to remind you I was here, and that I wanted to drink the bride and bridegroom's health. You know yourself bade me."
"I know that you are a great rascal; and where did you get the eyes ?"
"An' where would I get em' but in the heads of your own sheep? Would you have me meddle with the bastes of any neighbour, who might put me in the Stone Jug for it?"
"Sorrow on me that ever I had the bad luck to meet with you."
"You're all witness," said Jack, "that my master says he is sorry for having met with me. My time is up. Master, hand me over double wages, and come into the next room, and lay yourself out like a man that has some decency in him, till I take a strip of skin an inch broad from your shoulder to your hip."
Every one shouted out against that; but, says Jack, "You didn't hinder him when he took the same strips from the backs of my two brothers, and sent them home in that state, and penniless, to their poor mother."
When the company heard the rights of the business, they were only too eager to see the job done. The master bawled and roared, but there was no help at hand. He was stripped to his hips, and laid on the floor in the next room, and Jack had the carving knife in his hand ready to begin.
"Now you cruel old villain," said he, giving the knife a couple of scrapes along the floor, "I'll make you an offer. Give me, along with my double wages, two hundred guineas to support my poor brothers, and I'll do without the strap."
"No!" said he, "I'd let you skin me from head to foot first."
"Here goes then," said Jack with a grin, but the first little scar he gave, Churl roared out. " Stop your hand ; I'll give the money."
"Now, neighbours," said Jack, "you mustn't think worse of me than I deserve. I wouldn't have the heart to take an eye out of a rat itself; I got half a dozen of them from the butcher, and only used three of them."
So all came again into the other room, and Jack was made sit down, and everybody drank his health, and he drank everybody's health at one offer. And six stout fellows saw himself and the master home, and waited in the parlour while he went up and brought down the two hundred guineas, and double wages for Jack himself. When he got home, he brought the summer along with him to the poor mother and the disabled brothers; and he was no more Jack the Fool in the people's mouths, but " Skin Churl Jack."
Prince Llewelyn had a favourite grey−hound named Gellert that had been given to him by his father−in−law, King John. He was as gentle as a lamb at home but a lion in the chase. One day Llewelyn went to the chase
and blew his horn in front of his castle. All his other dogs came to the call but Gellert never answered it. so he blew a louder blast on his horn and called Gellert by name, but still the greyhound did not come. At last Prince Llewelyn could wait no longer and went off to the hunt without Gellert. He had little sport that day because Gellert was not there, the swiftest and boldest of his hounds.
He turned back in a rage to his castle, and as he came to the gate, who should he see but Gellert come bounding out to meet him. But when the hound came near him, the Prince was startled to see that his lips and fangs were dripping with blood. Llewelyn started back and the grey−hound crouched down at his feet as if surprised or afraid at the way his master greeted him.
Now Prince Llewelyn had a little son a year old with whom Gellert used to play, and a terrible thought crossed the Prince's mind that made him rush towards the child's nursery. And the nearer he came the more blood and disorder he found about the rooms. He rushed into it and found the child's cradle overturned and daubed with blood.
Prince Liewelyn grew more and more terrified, and sought for his little son everywhere. He could find him nowhere but only signs of some terrible conflict in which much blood had been shed. At last he felt sure the dog had destroyed his child, and shouting to Gellert, " Monster, thou hast devoured my child," he drew out his sword and plunged it in the greyhound's side, who fell with a deep yell and still gazing in his master's eyes.
As Gellert raised his dying yell, a little child's cry answered it from beneath the cradle, and there Llewelyn found his child unharmed and just awakened from sleep. But just beside him lay the body of a great gaunt wolf all torn to pieces and covered with blood. Too late, Llewelyn learned what had happened while he was away. Gellert had stayed behind to guard the child and had fought and slain the wolf that had tried to destroy Llewelyn's heir.
In vain was all Llewelyn's grief; he could not bring his faithful dog to life again. So he buried him outside the castle walls within sight of the great mountain of Snowdon, where every passer−by might see his grave, and raised over it a great cairn of stones. And to this day the place is called Beth Gellert, or the Grave of Gellert.
There were formerly a man and a woman living in the parish of Llanlavan, in the place which is called Hwrdh. And work became scarce, so the man said to his wife, I will go search for work, and you may live here." So he took fair leave, and travelled far toward the East, and at last came to the house of a farmer and asked for work.
"What work can ye do? ' said the farmer.
"I can do all kinds of work," said Ivan.
Then they agreed upon three pounds for the year's wages.
When the end of the year came his master showed him the three pounds. " See, Ivan," said he, "here's your wage; but if you will give it me back I'll give you a piece of advice instead."
"Give me my wage," said Ivan.
"No, I'll not," said the master ; "I'll explain my advice."
"Tell it me, then," said Ivan.
Then said the master, " Never leave the old road for the sake of a new one."
After that they agreed for another year at the old wages, and at the end of it Ivan took instead a piece of advice, and this was it: "Never lodge where an old man is married to a young woman."
The same thing happened at the end of the third year, when the piece of advice was : " Honesty is the best policy."
But Ivan would not stay longer, but wanted to go back to his wife.
"Don't go today," said his master ; " my wife bakes tomorrow, and she shall make thee a cake to take home to thy good woman."
And when Ivan was going to leave, " Here," said his master, " here is a cake for thee to take home to thy wife, and, when ye are most joyous together, then break the cake, and not sooner."
So he took fair leave of them and travelled towards home, and at last he came to Wayn Her, and there he met three merchants from Tre Rhyn, of his own parish, coming home from Exeter Fair. " Oho ! Ivan," said they, " come with us; glad are we to see you. Where have you been so long?"
I have been in service," said Ivan, "and now I'm going home to my wife."
"Oh, come with us ! you'll be right welcome."
But when they took the new road Ivan kept to the old one. And robbers fell upon them before they had gone far from Ivan as they were going by the fields of the houses in the meadow. They began to cry out, "Thieves !" and Ivan shouted out "Thieves ! " too. And when the robbers heard Ivan's shout they ran away, and the merchants went by the new road and Ivan by the old one till they met again at Market−Jew.
"Oh, Ivan," said the merchants, "we are beholding to you; but for you we would have been lost men. Come lodge with us at our cost, and welcome."
When they came to the place where they used to lodge, Ivan said, "I must see the host."
"The host," they cried; "what do you want with the host? Here is the hostess, and she's young and pretty. If you want to see the host you'll find him in the kitchen."
So he went into the kitchen to see the host ; he found him a weak old man turning the spit.
"Oh ! oh!" quoth Ivan," I'll not lodge here, but will go next door."
"Not yet," said the merchants, " sup with us, and welcome."
Now it happened that the hostess had plotted with a certain monk in Market−Jew to murder the old man in his bed that night while the rest were asleep, and they agreed to lay it on the lodgers.
So while Ivan was in bed next door, there was a hole in the pine−end of the house, and he saw a light through it. So he got up and looked, and heard the monk speaking. "I had better cover this hole," said he, "or people in the next house may see our deeds." So he stood with his back against it while the hostess killed the old man.
But meanwhile Ivan out with his knife, and putting it through the hole, cut a round piece off the monk's robe.
The very next morning the hostess raised the cry that her husband was murdered, and as there was neither man nor child in the house but the merchants, she declared they ought to be hanged for it.
So they were taken and carried to prison, till at last Ivan came to them. "Alas ! alas ! Ivan," cried they, "bad luck sticks to us; our host was killed last night, and we shall be hanged for it."
"Ah, tell the justices," said Ivan, "to summon the real murderers."
"Who knows," they replied, "who committed the crime?"
"Who committed the crime !" said Ivan. " If I cannot prove who committed the crime, hang me in your stead."
So he told all he knew, and brought out the piece of cloth from the monk's robe, and with that the merchants were set at liberty, and the hostess and the monk were seized and hanged.
Then they came all together out of Market−Jew, and they said to him: "Come as far as Coed Carrn y Wylfa, the Wood of the Heap of Stones of Watching, in the parish of Burman. Then their two roads separated, and though the merchants wished Ivan to go with them, he would not go with them, but went straight home to his wife.
And when his wife saw him she said: "Home in the nick of time. Here's a purse of gold that I've found; it has no name, but sure it belongs to the great lord yonder. I was just thinking what to do when you came.
Then Ivan thought of the third counsel, and he said: "Let us go and give it to the great lord."
So they went up to the castle, but the great lord was not in it, so they left the purse with the servant that minded the gate, and then they went home again and lived in quiet for a time.
But one day the great lord stopped at their house for a drink of water, and Ivan's wife said to him: "I hope your lordship found your lordship's purse quite safe with all its money in it."
"What purse is that you are talking about?" said the lord.
"Sure, it's your lordship's purse that I left at the castle," said Ivan.
"Come with me and we will see into the matter," said the lord.
So Ivan and his wife went up to the castle, and there they pointed out the man to whom they had given the purse, and he had to give it up and was sent away from the castle.
And the lord was so pleased with Ivan that he made him his servant in the stead of the thief.
"Honesty's the best policy!" quoth Ivan, as he skipped about in his new quarters. "How joyful I am!"
Then he thought of his old master's cake that he was to eat when he was most joyful, and when he broke it, lo and behold, inside it was his wages for the three years he had been with him.
My grandfather, Andrew Coffey, was known to the whole barony as a quiet, decent man. And if the whole barony knew him, he knew the whole barony, every inch, hill and dale, bog and pasture, field and covert. Fancy his surprise one evening, when he found himself in a part of the demesne he couldn't recognise a bit. He and his good horse were always stumbling up against some tree or stumbling down into some bog−hole that by rights didn't ought to be there. On the top of all this the rain came pelting down wherever there was a clearing, and the cold March wind tore through the trees. Glad he was then when he saw a light in the distance, and drawing near found a cabin, though for the life of him he couldn't think how it came there. However, in he walked, after tying up his horse, and right welcome was the brushwood fire blazing on the hearth. And there stood a chair right and tight, that seemed to say, "Come, sit down in me." There wasn't a soul else in the room. Well, he did sit, and got a little warm and cheered after his drenching. But all the while he was wondering and wondering.
"Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey!"
Good heavens! who was calling him, and not a soul in sight? Look around as he might, indoors and out, he could find no creature with two legs or four, for his horse was gone.
"ANDREW COFFEY ! ANDREW COFFEY ! tell me a story."
It was louder this time, and it was nearer. And then what a thing to ask for! It was bad enough not to be let sit
by the fire and dry oneself, without being bothered for a story.
"Andrew Coffey I Andrew Coffey I Tell me a story, or it'll be the worse for you."
My poor grandfather was so dumbfounded that he could only stand and stare.
"ANDREW COFFEY! ANDREW COFFEY! I told you it'd be the worse for you."
And with that, out there bounced, from a cupboard that Andrew Coffey had never noticed before, a man. And
the man was in a towering rage. But it wasn't that. And he carried as fine a blackthorn as you d wish to crack
a man's head with. But it wasn't that either. But when my grandfather clapped eyes on him, he knew him for Patrick Rooney, and all the world knew he'd gone overboard, fishing one night long years before.
Andrew Coffey would neither stop nor stay, but he took to his heels and was out of the house as hard as he could. He ran and he ran taking little thought of what was before till at last he ran up against a big tree. And then he sat down to rest.
He hadn't sat for a moment when he heard voices.
"It's heavy he is, the vagabond." "Steady now, we'll rest when we get under the big tree yonder." Now that happened to be the tree under which Andrew Coffey was sitting. At least he thought so, for seeing a branch handy he swung himself up by it and was soon snugly hidden away. Better see than be seen, thought he.
The rain had stopped and the wind fallen. The night was blacker than ever, but Andrew Coffey could see four men, and they were carrying between them a long box. Under the tree they came, set the box down, opened it, and who should they bring out but − Patrick Rooney. Never a word did he say, and he looked as pale as old
snow.
Well, one gathered brushwood, and another took out tinder and flint, and soon they had a big fire roaring, and my grandfather could see Patrick plainly enough. If he had kept still before, he kept stiller now. Soon they had four poles up and a pole across, right over the fire, for all the world like a spit, and on to the pole they slung Patrick Rooney.
"He'll do well enough," said one; "but who's to mind him whilst we're away, who'll turn the fire, who'll see that he doesn't burn?"
With that Patrick opened his lips : "Andrew Coffey," said he.
"Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey!"
"I'm much obliged to you, gentlemen," said Andrew Coffey, "but indeed I know nothing about the business."
"You'd better come down, Andrew Coffey," said Patrick.
It was the second time he spoke, and Andrew Coffey decided he would come down. The four men went off and he was left all alone with Patrick.
Then he sat and he kept the fire even, and he kept the spit turning, and all the while Patrick looked at him.
Poor Andrew Coffey couldn't make it all out at all, at all, and he stared at Patrick and at the fire, and he thought of the little house in the wood, till he felt quite dazed.
"Ah, but it's burning me ye are !" says Patrick, very short and sharp.
"I'm sure I beg your pardon," said my grandfather "but might I ask you a question?"
"If you want a crooked answer," said Patrick; "turn away or it'll be the worse for you."
But my grandfather couldn't get it out of his head; hadn't everybody, far and near, said Patrick had fallen overboard. There was enough to think about, and my grandfather did think.
"Andrew Coffey I Andrew Coffey ! it's burning me ye are."
Sorry enough my grandfather was, and he vowed he wouldn't do so again.
"You'd better not," said Patrick, and he gave him a cock of his eye, and a grin of his teeth, that just sent a shiver down Andrew Coffey's back. Well it was odd, that here he should be in a thick wood he had never set eyes upon, turning Patrick Rooney upon a spit. You can't wonder at my grandfather thinking and thinking and not minding the fire.
"ANDREW COFFEY, ANDREW COFFEY, IT'S THE DEATH OF YOU I'LL BE."
And with that what did my grandfather see, but Patrick unslinging himself from the spit and his eyes glared and his teeth glistened.
It was neither stop nor stay my grandfather made, but out he ran into the night of the wood. It seemed to him there wasn't a stone but was for his stumbling, not a branch but beat his face, not a bramble but tore his skin.
And wherever it was clear the rain pelted down and the cold March wind howled along.
Glad he was to see a light, and a minute after he was kneeling, dazed, drenched, and bedraggled by the hearth side. The brushwood flamed, and the brushwood crackled, and soon my grandfather began to feel a little warm and dry and easy in his mind.
"Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey !"
It's hard for a man to jump when he has been through all my grandfather had, but jump he did. And when he looked around, where should he find himself but in the very cabin he had first met Patrick in.
"Andrew Coffey, Andrew Coffey, tell me a story."
"Is it a story you want?" said my grandfather as bold as may be, for he was just tired of being frightened. "Well if you can tell me the rights of this one, I'll be thankful."
And he told the tale of what had befallen him from first to last that night. The tale was long, and may be Andrew Coffey was weary. It's asleep he must have fallen, for when he awoke he lay on the hill−side under the open heavens, and his horse grazed at his side.
I will tell you a story about the wren. There was once a farmer who was seeking a servant, and the wren met him and said: "What are you seeking?"
"I am seeking a servant," said the farmer to the wren.
"Will you take me?" said the wren.
"You, you poor creature, what good would you do?"
"Try me," said the wren.
So he engaged him, and the first work he set him to do was threshing in the barn. The wren threshed (what did he thresh with? Why a flail to be sure), and he knocked off one grain. A mouse came out and she eats that.
"I'll trouble you not to do that again," said the wren.
He struck again, and he struck off two grains. Out came the mouse and she eats them. So they arranged a contest to see who was strongest, and the wren brings his twelve birds, and the mouse her tribe.
"You have your tribe with you," said the wren.
"As well as yourself," said the mouse, and she struck out her leg proudly. But the wren broke it with his flail, and there was a pitched battle on a set day.
When every creature and bird was gathering to battle, the son of the king of Tethertown said that he would go to see the battle, and that he would bring sure word home to his father the king, who would be king of the creatures this year. The battle was over before he arrived all but one fight, between a great black raven and a snake. The snake was twined about the raven's neck, and the raven held the snake's throat in his beak, and it
seemed as if the snake would get the victory over the raven. When the king's son saw this he helped the raven, and with one blow takes the head off the snake. When the raven had taken breath, and saw that the snake was dead, he said, " For thy kindness to me this day, I will give thee a sight. Come up now on the root of my two wings." The king's son put his hands about the raven before his wings, and, before he stopped, he took him over nine Bens, and nine Glens, and nine Mountain Moors.
"Now," said the raven, "see you that house yonder? Go now to it. It is a sister of mine that makes her dwelling in it; and I will go bail that you are welcome. And if she asks you, Were you at the battle of the birds? say you were. And if she asks, 'Did you see any one like me, say you did, but be sure that you meet me tomorrow morning here, in this place." The king's son got good and right good treatment that night. Meat of each meat, drink of each drink, warm water to his feet, and a soft bed for his limbs.
On the next day the raven gave him the same sight over six Bens, and six Glens, and six Mountain Moors. They saw a bothy far off, but, though far off, they were soon there. He got good treatment this night, as before−plenty of meat and drink, and warm water to his feet, and a soft bed to his limbs−and on the next day it was the same thing, over three Bens and three Glens, and three Mountain Moors.
On the third morning, instead of seeing the raven as at the other times, who should meet him but the handsomest lad he ever saw, with gold rings in his hair, with a bundle in his hand. The king's son asked this lad if he had seen a big black raven.
Said the lad to him, "You will never see the raven again, for I am that raven. I was put under spells by a bad druid; it was meeting you that loosed me, and for that you shall get this bundle. Now," said the lad, "you must turn back on the self−same steps, and lie a night in each house as before; but you must not loose the bundle which I gave ye, till in the place where you would most wish to dwell."
The king's son turned his back to the lad, and his face to his father's house; and he got lodging from the raven's sisters, just as he got it when going forward. When he was nearing his father's house he was going through a close wood. It seemed to him that the bundle was growing heavy, and he thought he would look what was in it.
When he loosed the bundle he was astonished. In a twinkling he sees the very grandest place he ever saw. A great castle, and an orchard about the castle, in which was every kind of fruit and herb. He stood full of wonder and regret for having loosed the bundle − for it was not in his power to put it back again − and he would have wished this pretty place to be in the pretty little green hollow that was opposite his father's house; but he looked up and saw a great giant coming towards him.
" Bad's the place where you have built the house, king's son," says the giant.
"Yes, but it is not here I would wish it to be, though it happens to be here by mishap," says the king's son.
"What's the reward for putting it back in the bundle as it was before?"
"What's the reward you would ask?" says the king's son.
"That you will give me the first son you have when he is seven years of age," says the giant.
"If I have a son you shall have him," said the king's son.
In a twinkling the giant put each garden, and orchard, and castle in the bundle as they were before.
"Now," says the giant, "take your own road, and I will take mine; but mind your promise, and if you forget I will remember."
The king's son took to the road, and at the end of a few days he reached the place he was fondest of. He loosed the bundle, and the castle was just as it was before. And when he opened the castle door he sees the handsomest maiden he ever cast eye upon.
"Advance, king's son," said the pretty maid; "everything is in order for you, if you will marry me this very day."
"It's I that am willing," said the king's son. And on the same day they married.
But at the end of a day and seven years, who should be seen coming to the castle but the giant. The king's son was reminded of his promise to the giant, and till now he had not told his promise to the queen.
"Leave the matter between me and the giant," says the queen.
"Turn out your son," says the giant ; "mind your promise."
"You shall have him," says the king, "when his mother puts him in order for his journey."
The queen dressed up the cook's son, and she gave him to the giant by the hand. The giant went away with him but he had not gone far when he put a rod in the hand of the little laddie. The giant asked him − "If thy father had that rod what would he do with it?"
"If my father had that rod he would beat the dogs and the cats, so that they shouldn't be going near the king's meat," said the little laddie.
"Thou'rt the cook's son," said the giant. He catches him by the two small ankles and knocks him against the stone that was beside him. The giant turned back to the castle in rage and madness, and he said that if they did not send out the king's son to him, the highest stone of the castle would be the lowest.
Said the queen to the king, "We'll try it yet ; the butler's son is of the same age as our son.
She dressed up the butler's son, and she gives him to the giant by the hand. The giant had not gone far when he put the rod in his hand.
"If thy father had that rod," says the giant, " what would he do with it?"
He would beat the dogs and the cats when they would be coming near the king's bottles and glasses."
"Thou art the son of the butler," says the giant and dashed his brains out too. The giant returned in a very great rage and anger. The earth shook under the sole of his feet, and the castle shook and all that was in it.
"OUT HERE WITH THY SON," says the giant, "or in a twinkling the stone that is highest in the dwelling will be the lowest." So they had to give the king's son to the giant.
When they were gone a little bit from the earth, the giant showed him the rod that was in his hand and said:
"What would thy father do with this rod if he had it ?"
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Home » Blogs » brad's blog » Platoon, or just carpool?
Platoon, or just carpool?
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2016-08-10 16:14
At the recent AUVSI/TRB symposium, a popular research topic was platooning for robocars and trucks. Platooning is perhaps the oldest practical proposal when it comes to car automation because you can have the lead vehicle driven by a human, even a specially trained one, and thus resolve all the problems that come from road situations too complex for software to easily handle.
Early experiments indicated fuel savings, though relatively modest ones. At practical distances, you can see about 10% saving for following vehicles and 5% for the lead vehicle. Unfortunately, a few big negatives showed up. It's hard to arrange platoons, errors can become catastrophic multi-car pile-ups, other drivers keep inserting themselves into the gap unless it's dangerously small, and the surprising deal-breaker that comes from the stone chips which are thrown up by lead vehicles which destroy the finish -- and in some cases the radiator or windshield -- of following cars. They can also create a congestion problem and highway exit problem the way existing convoys of trucks sometimes do that.
One local company named Peloton is making progress with a very simple platooning problem. They platoon two (and only two) trucks on rural highways. The trucks find one another over the regular data networks, and when they get close they establish a local radio connection (using the DSRC protocol that many mistakenly hope will be the standard for vehicle to vehicle communications.) Both drivers keep driving, but the rear driver goes feet-off-the-pedals like a cruise control. The system keeps the vehicles a fixed distance to save fuel. The trucks don't mind the stone chips too much. Some day, the rear driver might be allowed to go in the back and sleep, which would allow cargo to move 22 hours/day at a lower cost, probably similar to the cost of today's team driving (about 50 cents/mile) but with two loads instead of one.
Trucks are an easy win, but I also saw a lot of proposals for car platoons. Car platoons are meant to save fuel, but also to increase road capacity. But after looking at all the research a stronger realization came to me. If you have robocars, why would you platoon when you can carpool?. To carpool, you need to find two cars who are going to share a long segment of trip together. Once you have found that, however, you get far more savings in fuel and road usage if the cars can quickly pause together and the passengers from one transfer into the other. Then the empty car can go and move other commuters. This presumes, of course, that the cars are like almost all cars out there today, with many empty seats. When the groups of passengers come to where their path diverts, the vehicle would need to stop at a transfer point and some passengers would move into waiting robotaxis to take them the rest of the way.
All of this is not as convenient as platooning, which in theory can happen without slowing down and finding a transfer point. This is one reason that the carpool transfer stations I wrote about last month could be a very useful thing. Such stations would add only 1-2 minutes of delay, and that's well worth it if you consider that compared to platooning, this carpooling means a vastly greater fuel saving (almost 50%) and a much greater increase in road capacity, with none of the other downsides of platooning.
If you're thinking ahead, however, you will connect this idea to my proposed plan for the future of group transit. The real win is to have the computers of the transport service providers notice the common routes of passengers early, before they even get into a vehicle, and thus pool them together with minimal need to stop and switch cars.
A number of folks have imagined designing cars that can physically couple, which would produce very efficient platoons and not add a delay. The problem (aside from the difficulties in doing this safely) is that this requires a physical standard, and physical standards are much harder to get working than software ones. It requires you find a platooning partner who has the same hardware you do, rather than software platooning, which can work with any style of car. Automated matching and carpooling makes no requirements on the individual robocars and their design, which gives it the best path to success.
It is possible (though a bit frightening) to imagine a special bus which could dock to robocars to allow transfer of passengers at speed. Some of you may have seen that a Chinese company has actually built the formerly hypothetical straddling bus (really a train) that has cars drive under it. If you were assured a perfectly smooth road one could imagine a docking extension which could surround a car door of a perfectly synced robocar and allow transfer. I suspect that's all pretty far in the future.
Beyond the carpool
In a robocar world, we should see a move to having vehicles with fewer empty seats. This happens if more people use single person vehicles for their solo trips, and as carpooling and other technologies make sure that the 4 seater vehicles end up with more people. Indeed, if the carpooling works, that happens naturally. At that point one might say, "now's the time to platoon." There is merit to that, but it comes later, rather than sooner. At this later date we can be more comfortable with the safety, and have a greater density of vehicles making it more likely to find others vehicles ready to platoon. Of course, we'll also have more vans and buses on the road who can combine even larger groups, if you find groups with a lot of journey in common. Platooning is practical even for a few miles, while carpooling tends to need a longer amount of shared journey to make it worth the switch.
At that point in the technology, you can do much more serious platoons, with larger groups of cars, and distances which are short enough for even greater benefit, and short enough to strongly discourage people trying to insert themselves in the middle of the platoon.
So platoons will come and give us even more road capacity. Carpooling, though, is already happening, with 50% of Uber requests in San Francisco being done in UberPool mode. It is the more likely early answer.
Lun Esex
Sharing space and platooning's deal-breaker
Congratulations, you've invented self-driving public transit! ;)
Honestly, the fact that "50% of Uber requests in San Francisco [are] being done in UberPool mode" should make you seriously re-consider your oft-repeated contention of how much weight most people give to traveling in a vehicle all to themselves vs other tradeoffs. Humans *are* social creatures, after all. Civilization is built on this. If we couldn't handle being in (very) close proximity to other people we don't know for short-to-medium stretches of time (or longer), cities simply couldn't exist.
In fact, the amount of solo space, solitude, and alone-time that so many humans get in the modern world as they spend many hours driving alone in their four-seat car to commute to work, and living in homes where there's enough rooms that every family member can be entirely out of eye- and ear-shot of each other at any point in time, is quite unusual in human history. Any ideas that people will of course naturally prefer these conditions can only be borne of ethnocentrism from personally living in that kind of environment. (Of course there are many human cultures where it's simply unthinkable to spend that much time alone.)
...the surprising deal-breaker that comes from the stone chips which are thrown up by lead vehicles which destroy the finish — and in some cases the radiator or windshield — of following cars
I've only been bringing this problem up for the past umpteen-many years every time platooning gets mentioned. Yep, surprising. :O
It is not my experience that people do UberPool to be social. But then I have only used it 3 or 4 times, but generally it was just polite hello to the other passengers or light conversation, but more often the same staring at phones you see everybody doing on the subway.
Simone Brunozzi
I agree with Brad. I take both UberPool and Lyft Line - and most of the time there is no conversation happening in the car.
I think that most people like to take the pool options because they save money. Period.
I think the reality is that most people simply don't want to share cars. You only have to look at the success of car-sharing schemes in to see that, in general, people don't use them. I could give a list of reasons, but it would go on for some time eg. choice of music, cabin temperature, other people's bad habits, security, conversation, personal space, keeping belongings in the car etc. etc. The bottom line is that the personal car is, for many people, an extension of their own personal space...and they want it to be private.
On a slightly different note, with regard to platooning, why does no-one ever factor in the wage and responsibility of the 'lead driver' - the lead driver would have to be a trained professional (even then there is no way would I hook my family up to one of these things), and that professional is going to need paying; the wage and costs of this professional would probably negate any fuel savings for the remaining vehicles, plus it would also mean yet more traffic on the road as you now need to account for the professional driver's vehicle as well.
You would think
(Note that sharing cars and sharing rides are two very different things)
The surprising truth is people are willing to share rides to save money, and get access to carpool lanes. I suspect that as it takes off, you will see cars designed for sharing, for example, with a privacy divider in the back.
The Sartre platoon plan had the lead driver always be a trained truck driver who was hauling a load, and cars and other trucks could attach on the back. No extra pay needed -- even the lead truck saves fuel.
However, I am talking about robot platooning, no drivers.
cxed
Platooning might have its place
I think that the question of whether people want to ride in an empty or full car is premature. Probably there are some of each (especially if there's an easy to read meter running or the worst of city bus patrons present). But we never even get to that because of coordination. We have had HOV lanes for decades and I do not get the sense that they have provided incentive to completely restructure people's transportation habits in a revolutionary way. The problem is that if you need your own car for that last mile to a weird place or to carry those 14 bags of groceries you just bought or to take your dog to the beach, etc, car pooling is just not even something that one can consider.
I also just did a week vacation from S.California to Colorado. I flew, but it took all day to fuss with the TSA, awkward packing, rental car, and final destination far from the airport. If I could platoon my car and sleep for half of such a drive, that would beat flying for me on such a trip.
Keith Pomakis
One important difference between platooning and carpooling is the ability to carry luggage. You discuss the shifting around of people from car to car, and how straightforward that would be even for personal automobiles. But it's a trickier situation when there's a lot of luggage involved, as is commonly the case for long-distance driving. Platooning handles this aspect more gracefully.
Agreed. Mostly we're talking about commuting here. Carpooling with luggage is still a lot easier than riding transit with it.
For long haul trips, where you do have luggage, it is a burden. But it's also a very big win there, particularly as luxury coach travel becomes available. In today's cars which cost about 50 cents/mile, a 300 mile trip has sufficient cost that most people would handle the burden of a luggage switch with a 10 foot walk to take a $50 luxury bus or $40 carpool.
Platoon savings are so tiny compared to carpool savings, but people love convenience, it's true. That's why super-convenient carpooling is interesting.
1JLEzkRutp2q5xrv9
jzd9CVgLp4g79S4M8
Tesla 1 day 4 hours ago
Scales and tails 2 days 9 hours ago
Monitoring 3 days 8 hours ago
Waymo 3 days 13 hours ago
Other places 3 days 19 hours ago
Special 4 days 23 hours ago
Everyone? 5 days 1 hour ago
Email 5 days 2 hours ago
Elsewhere 5 days 2 hours ago
In some instances 5 days 3 hours ago
LIDARS for robocars are everywhere at CES
Robocars 2019 Year In Review
California regulations are no cause for panic but they show "gasoline thinking"
The Dems may have chosen the two wrong articles of impeachment
EV fast charging connector battles and standards wars might be OK
Trolleys, Risk and Consequences: A Model For Understanding Robocar Morality
How to save a lot of money when installing electric vehicle charging in your home
In car navigation needs to learn to shut up
California Is Collecting the 2019 Robocar Disengagement Reports. It Should Stop
Battery, ICE, Hybrid: What About Temporary Mixes?
Copyright © 2020, Brad Ideas
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Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aje/articl/v1y2004i1p5-17.html
Good-byE old, hello new in teaching economics
Becker, William E.
() (Indiana University, Wylie Hall Room 105, Bloomington, IN 47405-6620, USA)
William Edward Becker Jr.
Becker, William E., 2004. "Good-byE old, hello new in teaching economics," Australasian Journal of Economics Education (AJEE), University of Queensland, School of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 5-17, March.
Handle: RePEc:aje:articl:v:1:y:2004:i:1:p:5-17
File URL: http://www.uq.edu.au/economics/AJEE/docs/Volume%201,%20Number%201,%20%202004/3%20becker%20-%20good-bye%20old,%20hello%20new%20in%20teaching%20economics_Damaged.pdf
Charles A. Holt & Susan K. Laury, 1997. "Classroom Games: Voluntary Provision of a Public Good," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 209-215, Fall.
Michael Pickhardt, 2005. "Teaching Public Goods Theory With a Classroom Game," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 145-159, April.
David Colander, 2003. "Caveat Lector: Living With the 15% Rule," Middlebury College Working Paper Series 0326, Middlebury College, Department of Economics.
William E. Becker & Michael Watts, 2001. "Teaching Economics at the Start of the 21st Century: Still Chalk-and-Talk," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 446-451, May.
Becker, William E & Watts, Michael, 1996. "Chalk and Talk: A National Survey on Teaching Undergraduate Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 448-453, May.
Christopher A. Sims, 2001. "Pitfalls of a Minimax Approach to Model Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 51-54, May.
Becker, William E & Greene, William & Rosen, Sherwin, 1990. "Research on High School Economic Education," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 14-22, May.
Peter Hans Matthews, 2001. "Positive Feedback and Path Dependence Using the Law of Large Numbers," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 124-136, January.
William E. Becker, 2004. "Economics for a Higher Education," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 3(1), pages 52-62.
Charles A. Holt, 1996. "Classroom Games: Trading in a Pit Market," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 193-203, Winter.
Chris Starmer, 2000. "Developments in Non-expected Utility Theory: The Hunt for a Descriptive Theory of Choice under Risk," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(2), pages 332-382, June.
Simon P. Anderson & Maxim Engers, 2002. "A Beautiful Blonde: a Nash coordination game," Virginia Economics Online Papers 359, University of Virginia, Department of Economics.
Lenie Kneppers & Carla Van Boxtel & Bernadette Van Hout-Wolters, 2012. "The Road to Transfer: Concept and Context Approaches to the Subject of Economics in Secondary School," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 11(1), pages 36-56.
William E. Becker, 2007. "Quit Lying and Address the Controversies: There are No Dogmata, Laws, Rules or Standards in the Science of Economics," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 51(1), pages 3-14, March.
Becker, William E., 2007. "Quit lying and address the controversies: there are no dogmata, laws, rules or standards in the science of economics," MPRA Paper 39958, University Library of Munich, Germany.
Joshua C. Hall & Robert A. Lawson & J. Dirk Mateer & Andrew Rice, 2008. "Teaching Private Enterprise Through Tunes: An Abecedarium of Music for Economists," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 23(Spring 20), pages 157-166.
Seyyed Ali Zeytoon Nejad MOOSAVIAN, 2016. "Teaching Economics and Providing Visual “Big Pictures”," Journal of Economics and Political Economy, KSP Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 119-133, March.
Seyyed Ali Zeytoon Nejad Moosavian, 2016. "Teaching Economics and Providing Visual "Big Pictures"," Papers 1601.01771, arXiv.org.
repec:jpe:journl:1397 is not listed on IDEAS
Green, Tom L., 2013. "Teaching (un)sustainability? University sustainability commitments and student experiences of introductory economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 135-142.
Peter Davies & William L. Goffe, 2011. "Journals and Beyond: Publishing Economics Education Research," Chapters, in: Gail M. Hoyt & KimMarie McGoldrick (ed.), International Handbook on Teaching and Learning Economics, chapter 37, Edward Elgar Publishing.
Dr. Mohammad Alauddin & Professor John Foster, 2005. "Teaching Economics at the University Level: Dynamics of Parameters and Implications," Discussion Papers Series 339, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
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:: Issues > Islamic Issues
IUMS Statement on the iron wall between Egypt and Gaza
The Islamic law forbids the building of the iron wall intended to oppress our Palestinian brothers.
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger, his family, Companions, and those who follow his guidance.
by IUMS IkhwanWeb
The iron wall currently being built by Egypt on its border with Gaza from the viewpoint of Islam is prohibited. Its intention to block all outlets to Gaza will surely aggravate the Palestinians hunger, humiliate them, and intensify the pressure on them in an attempt to let them submit and surrender to Israel.
On hearing the news, I immediately doubted it and maintained that it was meant to sow the seeds of dissension between Egypt and Palestine. However, I was astounded when it was confirmed that it was true.
We do not deny that, Egypt is free and has the right of sovereignty over its lands, but surely it does not have the right to support the killing of its brothers and neighbors in Palestine. This is clearly unacceptable, neither under the notion of Arabism, nor under the notion of Islamic brotherhood or even human brotherhood.
In the Glorious Qur'an, Almighty Allah says, (The believers are but brethren) (Al-Hujurat 49:10). Also, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "The Muslim is the brother of another Muslim; he does not wrong him, let him down, or desert him." He (peace and blessings be upon him) also said, "Support your brother, whether he is the oppressor [by preventing him from being so] or he is the oppressed." The Prophet did not say, "Besiege him, starve him, or put him under pressure in service of your enemy."
It is Egypt's obligation to open the Rafah Crossing for the Gazans, because it is their only way out. This obligation is enjoined both by the Islamic Shari'a and by law. No law authorizes the tightening of the grip over the people of Gaza or consents to becoming accomplices in killing them.
The Gazans have resorted to digging tunnels in hopes of finding an alternative to the blockaded crossing, which is closed even in the face of human relief convoys. Blocking the tunnels by Egypt is tantamount to saying, "Palestinians may die, but Israelis must live."
Each and every Egyptian, Arab, Muslim and honorable person has demonstrated chagrin over the unjust construction of the iron condemning the very thought of denying Palestinians help. This is very similar to the road map of Israel.
It is hard to believe and extremely saddening that after Palestinians suffered oppression from the Israeli's erection of the apartheid wall that, Egypt would follow suit and construct another wall that is mainly in service to the Israelis.
I appeal to all my brothers in Egypt to stand united against the ruling regime and urge it to refrain from committing this unjustifiable crime. I call upon the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to interfere and stop this tragedy.
I hope that Egypt, which shares borders with Palestine, will not continue with this act, which is completely against the interests of Palestinians and surely in service of Israel. I wish that Egypt would fear Allah and support our wronged and besieged brothers, and that it would safeguard itself against the supplication of the oppressed and afflicted brothers in Palestine. Allah raises the call of the oppressed one over the clouds and opens for it the gates of heaven and says, "By My Might and Glory, I will render you victorious, even after a time."
We seek Allah's protection against every oppressor and his arrogance. O Allah, we are defeated, so make us victorious, and wronged, so avenge us. We supplicate You, so respond to us, O You Ever-Alive and Eternal.
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
President of IUMS
tags: Al-Qaradawi / The Egyptian Authorities / The Besieged Gaza Strip / Lifeline / Islam
Posted in Islamic Issues , Palestine
Alshaab Newspaper: Egypt is building an electronic fence around Rafah city
Members of (Lifeline-3) go on hunger strike
strangling those besieged in Gaza with more walls is not permissible.
Hamas slams building of steel wall on Gaza borders with Egypt
Dr. Ashraf “Our case is like an old Arabic Movie
Arab community in Belgium donates two vehicles to Lifeline-3 convoy to Gaza
Haneyya calls on Obama to adopt campaigns of solidarity with Gaza
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Death Tales
Hellbride
KillerKiller
The Devil’s Music
TrashHouse
Jinx Media
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Back to The House on the Witchpit
Posted: August 31, 2012 in Uncategorized
Funny thing with scripts. They tend to drift in and out of the forefront of my mind depending on real-world events, becoming either incredibly important or dim and distant in direct proportion to how much influence they are exerting on my day to day activities. I’d be hard pushed to even name the characters in a script like, say, Brainbath, (which has been on my backburner so long it’s probably burned to a crisp by now), whereas something like Chainsaw Fairytale feels incredibly vivid and important because of how much time I’ve spent tinkering with it over the last year or so. Slap bang in the middle of these two extremes sits The House on the Witchpit, although that may well be changing.
Witchpit many times before on this blog, and I won’t bore you by repeating myself. Summary: It’s my pitch black, 3am panic attack, actual horror movie. It had funding and production resources attached to it a while back, but that deal collapsed when another external company ran out of cash. The Witchpit deal fell apart, and never really recovered. Since that day I’ve tried a few other routes to get funding for the project which haven’t worked out and then…
Well, frankly, Chainsaw Fairytale turned up in my brain and HotWP ended up getting sidelined.
There are a couple of reasons that this is a particular shame, and the first and foremost reason is this: Witchpit is genuinely scary. There aren’t many scary films out there: hell, each and every one of my IMDB credits are on horror projects and I think it’s fair to say that not a single one of those projects has ‘scaring the viewer’ as #1 on its agenda. Witchpit wants to make you scream, and I want to see how well we can deliver on the promise of the script.
Reason #2 that this is a shame is that, like Strippers vs Werewolves before it, there’s a considerable chance that Chainsaw Fairytale won’t actually end up being a Jinx production or, indeed, end up with me directing it. I’ll get the script into the finest shape that I possibly can, and then someone will buy it and it’ll have to make its way in the world without me. The only way to make it in this industry for any period of time is to be realistic about these things, and, partly due to the scale of it, Chainsaw Fairytale is looking like something that will ultimately end up elsewhere. And where will that leave me, eh? EH?
Well, in all likelihood it’ll leave me back with The House on the Witchpit, which has got ‘Jinx production’ printed through the screenplay like a stick of rock. Not literally, but you get the idea. There’s nothing to stop HotWP being delivered on a very small budget and with a very tight schedule. I’ve got a location in mind and a lot of cast in mind, so maybe that’s what I should be getting into place for that inevitable moment when I sign a piece of paper and Chainsaw Fairytale leaves home forever.
I rather like the idea that HotWP could be rehearsed almost like a play. It’ll be a single location, small cast shoot and I rather relish the idea that we could have a few days just hammering the hell out of the thing in terms of performance; working with actors I like and trust, with a few new faces to keep things interesting. Rehearse like hell and then just shoot the thing. Sometimes procrastination needs to end, and maybe the moment when Witchpit would have been a big budget project has come and gone.
Squid Slayer: The Trailer!
Hellbride Flashback
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Struggling Pandora to relaunch brand at LA event
Reuters API
Pandora, the world's biggest jewellery maker, will relaunch its brand at an event in Los Angeles later on Wednesday as it tries to attract middle-class shoppers seeking affordable luxury back to its stores.
Instagram @theofficialpandora
The Denmark-based company, best known for its customisable silver charm bracelets, will completely revamp the design of its 2,700 shops worldwide, unveil a new logo, increase marketing campaigns featuring celebrities and launch themed collections, including Harry Potter and Walt Disney's Frozen.
Pandora's sales increased more than 10-fold in the decade to 2017 as it found a relatively unoccupied market niche between cheaper accessories found in stores like H&M and more expensive jewellery such as that from Tiffany & Co.
But a lack of innovation and overstretching itself at both the top and bottom end of the market has kept both shoppers and investors at bay recently.
"Customers tell us they used to think of Pandora as affordable but don't any more. The brand has drifted away from its original position and now we're trying to move it back to what made Pandora," Chief Executive Alexander Lacik told Reuters in an interview this week.
"We have to strengthen our position as an affordable jewellery brand big time," he said.
Lacik took the helm at Pandora, which sold 280,000 pieces of jewellery per day in 2018, in April after the former CEO was ousted last year after several profit warnings.
Investors have generally welcomed Pandora's new strategy, which was launched at the beginning of the year and focuses on cost savings, improved brand positioning and less promotions.
Pandora's stock has risen 10% since the beginning of the year to 296 Danish crowns ($44.24) a share, still a far cry from a 2016 peak of more than 1,000 crowns.
The firm said it will start using more "influencers" and celebrities to entice young shoppers. The use of Colombian pop singer Shakira to promote jewellery in Latin America had been positive, it has said.
The company will showcase a bigger variety of its jewellery in its stores, allowing shoppers to see and touch the products, while also refreshing the online experience on marketplaces like China's Tmall.
"We hope to drive a much more interesting interaction with the shoppers," said Lacik.
Perfect Corp. teams up with Paramount for 'Like A Boss' virtual beauty
Tiffany sees rise in holiday sales on higher China spending
Kering and Moncler: The risks and rewards of a possible alliance
Tiffany Q3 profit misses on slow Americas, Hong Kong demand
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U.S. tariffs won't harm French luxury firms' appeal
Kering: watches and jewellery division CEO leaves, will not be replaced
Tiffany Langlinais
Spring-Summer 2016 New Orleans
Tiffany & Co ave des Champs Elysées
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Collect – Orsoni Venezia 1888 support
I am delighted to announce that the world famous smalti manufacturers Orsoni Venezia 1888 are supporting my exhibition REVEAL at Collect Open 2019.
Orsoni have generously provided me with sumptuous 24K gold leaf glass smalti and coloured smalti – their support has enabled me to work with these precious materials to create new artworks on an architectural scale.
Saatchi Galleries, London
Tickets available via the Crafts Council
This collaboration with Orsoni comes at an exciting juncture both within the evolution of my artwork and in relation to the Italo-Scots links I have been developing over recent years.
REVEAL references both architecture and the act of making something known or visible. The work forms part of the ongoing series of mosaic and cast concrete artworks (In)visible Cities, inspired by urban environments and the work of the Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa. The series takes its title from Italo Calvino’s novel, ‘Invisible Cities’, and plays with the notion of what is / is not visible, exploring the intimate detail and beauty of unseen, ‘glimpsed’ spaces.
Orsoni, in the constant research for new excellence, has the ability to move around art and design. The ambition to transport art into everyday life translates into contemporary works of expression, just like the unique masterpieces of the mosaicist and artist Joanna Kessel.
Orsoni, the historical Venetian furnace that uses the same traits since 1888 to produce 24K gold leaf mosaics, colored gold and enamels. While it is a traditional Italian company, rather than relying on the past, Orsoni focuses on innovation.
The company seeks to convey emotions through its uniqueness and attention to detail, all firmly rooted in its passion for excellence. In 2003 Orsoni was incorporated into TREND Group.
Orsoni’s Color Library, is a timeless environment that preserves more than 3,500 enamels of different tones and shades from which was born the famous panel by Angelo Orsoni. This piece of art was displayed for the first time at the Universal Exhibition in Paris back in 1889. Years later Antoni Gaudí, the Spanish architect was amazed with its beauty and decided to use Orsoni mosaics in the construction of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain.
Since its beginning Orsoni has manufactured mosaics for the renovation of the St. Mark’s Basilica and still is the only furnace that can produce the “Oro San Marco” for the restoration.
Orsoni is related to the realization of several iconic buildings and projects such as: Trocadero and Le Sacre-Coeur in Paris, Saint Paul Cathedral in London, Rudolf Nureyev’s Tomb and many other mosaic masterpieces of Arabic and Oriental architecture.
ABOUT COLLECT OPEN
Ravenna Mosaico 2019
Mosaic & Tapestry course in Kefalonia, Greece 2020
Speaking In Cultures
Introduction to Mosaic – September.
New images from Collect OPEN are now viewable on the website
Crafts Council Maker of the Week
REVEAL Leaflet
Test installation for Collect Open at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop
The Minumentals
Collect-Creative Scotland funding
Collect Open
All images on this site are copyright © 2019 Joanna Kessel and must not be reproduced in any form. All rights reserved.
Photography by Michael Wolchover unless otherwise stated | Website by Julia Douglas
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Bjorn Lomborg (London Times):
The last twenty years of international climate negotiations have achieved almost nothing and have done so at enormous economic cost. Japan’s courageous announcement that it is scrapping its unrealistic targets and focusing instead on development of green technologies could actually be the beginning of smarter climate policies.
Japan has acknowledged that its previous greenhouse gas reduction target of 25 per cent below 1990 levels was unachievable, and that its emissions will now increase by some 3 per cent by 2020. This has provoked predictable critiques from the ongoing climate summit in Warsaw. Climate change activists called it “outrageous” and a “slap in the face for poor countries”.
BTW: These activist want to redistribute the wealth of “wealthy nations” to “developing nations” for the cost. Sounds familiar somehow? 🙂
Yet, Japan has simply given up on the approach to climate policy that has failed for the past twenty years, promising carbon cuts that don’t materialise – or only do so at trivial levels with very high costs for taxpayers, industries and consumers. Instead, almost everyone seems to have ignored that Japan has promised to spend $110 billion over five years – from private and public sources – on innovation in environmental and energy technologies. Japan could – incredible as it may sound – actually end up showing the world how to tackle global warming effectively.
Unfortunately the Japanese model is not even on the agenda in Warsaw. The same failed model of spending money on immature technologies remains dominant. That involves the world spending $1 billion a day on inefficient renewable energy sources — a projected $359 billion for 2013. But a much lower $100 billion per year invested worldwide in R&D could be many times more effective. This is the conclusion of a panel of economists, including three Nobel laureates, working with the Copenhagen Consensus Center, a think-tank that publicises the best ways for governments to spend money to help the world.
If green technology could be cheaper than fossil fuels, everyone would switch, not just a token number of well-meaning rich nations. We would not need to convene endless climate summits that come to nothing. A smart climate summit would encourage all nations to commit 0.2 per cent of GDP – about $100 billion globally – to green R&D. This could solve global warming in the medium term by creating cheap, green energy sources, that everyone would want to use.
Instead of criticising Japan for abandoning an approach that has repeatedly failed, we should applaud it for committing to a policy that could actually meet the challenge of global warming.
“climate activists” like most liberals have a set way of doing things because they are so superior that questioning their superiority is not allowed. You are not allowed to doubt them or change your mind or “find another way”.
Of course they are right 100% of the time.
Never doubt them.
“Under my plan, if you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your healthcare plan, you’ll be able to keep your healthcare plan. Period. Nothing changes, except your health insurance costs will go down.”
It was just a couple of renegade IRS agents in Cincinnati. Benghazi was a spontaneous protest that got out of control in direct response to an inflammatory video posted on the internet. During September 2012, our rebounding economy created an astonishing 873,000 jobs. And on and on.
If we have learned anything about President Obama and his administration, it is that they are compulsive, practiced prevaricators – determined to advance their agenda of “fundamentally transforming” America and imposing greater government control over our lives, living standards and pursuit of happiness. When caught, they dissemble, say they were “not informed directly,” issue false apologies, or fire back with “What difference, at this point, does it make anyway?!?” (Paul Driesen)
Standard | Posted in politics | Tagged America, choice, Citizens, Congress, democrats, diversity, doublespeak, economics, Fairness, faith, freedom, global warming, Jobs, liberty, Media, Ministry of Truth, Newspeak, Obama, politics, Responsibility, security, socialism, tea party, We the People | 0 comments
Not Thankful for
The principles America was founded on have paved the way for the freedoms and privileges each citizen is thankful for today. At the heart of conservatism, is the recognition that many of these founding ideals are worth fighting to preserve.
In the words of John Quincy Adams: “Posterity–you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.”
So in the spirit of preserving today’s blessings for tomorrow’s Americans, let’s take a look at ten things the Founding Fathers would be fighting against in the 21st century.
1. President Obama’s Power Grabs
“The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.” – Thomas Jefferson
2. Increased Taxation
The apportionment of taxes on the various descriptions of property is an act which seems to require the most exact impartiality; yet there is, perhaps, no legislative act in which greater opportunity and temptation are given to a predominant party to trample on the rules of justice. — James Madison
3. Adult Children
Congratulations, 26-year-olds today can now stay on their parents health insurance and prolong adolescence. By the age of 26, George Washington had already worked as an official surveyor for Virginia, fought in the French and Indian War and climbed to the rank of Colonel.
4. Breakdown of the Family
Marriage is an institution, which may properly be deemed to arise from the law of nature.…It distributes the whole of society into families, and creates a permanent union of interests, and a mutual guardianship of the same. It binds children by indissoluble ties, and adds new securities to the good order of society, by connecting the happiness of the whole family with the good behavior of all. It furnishes additional motives for honest industry and economy in private life, and for a deeper love of the country of our birth. – Joseph Story
5. Foreign Involvement
“It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.” -George Washington
But we’ll fix Iran’s planes and they’ll agree not to build Nukes. Isn’t that special!
6. Chicago’s Gun Laws
“To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them.” -George Mason
7. Religious Intolerance
“The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right.” -James Madison
8. Direct Election of Senators
“The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.” U.S. Constitution Article I, section 3.
9. The National Debt
“No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt; on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy of the time more valuable.” -George Washington
10. The Federal Reserve
“Paper is poverty…it is only the ghost of money, and not money.” -Thomas Jefferson
Happy Thanksgiving! (Townhall)
Now, you can go “Awwww!” isn’t that so cute. Nothing wrong here. The 800 pound gorilla that wants to play “knockout games” with you is just so cuddly…:)
Standard | Posted in politics | Tagged America, bi-partisan, choice, Citizens, Congress, debt, deficit, democrats, diversity, doublespeak, economics, Fairness, freedom, Health Care, Insurance, Jobs, liberty, Media, medicare, Ministry of Truth, Obama, obamacare, Orwell, politics, Race, reform, Responsibility, security, socialism, speech, taxes, tea party, We the People | 0 comments
Obama Air
You knew there’d be cronyism.
A senior Democrat is lashing out at a provision of the nuclear deal with Iran that could make it easier for the country to repair its aging fleet of civilian aircraft.
A little-noticed provision of the deal paves the way for U.S. companies such as Boeing and General Electric (Major Obama Donors, remember Jeffrey Imhelt of GE :)) to inspect and repair Iran’s American-made planes inside Iran. But Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs panel and a hawk on Iran, says the planes could be used to promote terrorism and support Syria’s Bashar Assad.
“America should exploit some of the vagaries in the agreement’s language and prevent Boeing from repairing Iranian aircraft until we have a final deal,” Sherman said in a statement Tuesday. “Otherwise we will have made a permanent irreversible concession in a ‘temporary’ agreement.”
He said he opposes “licensing parts and services needed to repair Iran’s American-made planes because they have been used to support some of Iran’s worst activities.”
The deal reached over the weekend in Geneva calls on the United States and its negotiating partners to “license safety related inspections and repairs” as well as the “supply and installation … of spare parts for safety of flight for Iranian civil aviation and associated services” inside Iran. The deal stipulates that sanctions relief “could” apply to the national carrier, Iran Air, which has been singled out for carrying military equipment, and to other airlines that haven’t been designated.
The Treasury Department says the details of the aircraft provision need to be finalized by the negotiators – the U.S., China, Russia, France, Great Britain and Germany – and possibly by federal regulators. Current U.S. sanctions allow Iran to apply for special licenses to fix failing aircraft but this would be the first time the repairs could take place inside Iran.
Iran blames the sanctions for a surge in crashes that have killed many passengers and aircrew in recent years. Sherman however is worried that the deal will allow Iran to try to refurbish its entire fleet – it can’t afford to buy a new one – instead of seeking piecemeal repairs, as it has in the past.
He pointed out that the Obama administration itself has singled out Iran Air for providing support to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and identified it as a key part of the military procurement network for Assad’s forces in Syria, as well as a conduit of aid to Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese terrorist ally. A 2011 UN report has also accused Iran of using the airline to transport missile parts and other illegal trade between Iran and North Korea, and Iranian agents allegedly used an Iran Air flight to escape Geneva after murdering a dissident there in the early 1990s.
“Iran should ground its unsafe planes until they are properly repaired, which requires American parts and service,” Sherman said. “American corporations should not repair these until a final deal is reached.” (Julian Pacquet)
Hotair: When you dig into the details of this arrangement, there’s a lot of frosting and not much cake. First of all, this is not a permanent agreement in any way shape or form. It’s a six month “arrangement” which Iran could simply walk away from at the end (or at any point, really) after receiving a massive fiscal injection in the form of sanction relief. It is also simply a “suspension” of certain enrichment activities, with no dismantling of any of Iran’s facilities. The entire show can be started back up at any time. There’s additional transparency, with more inspectors allowed into additional facilities, which is good, but much like the suspension of enrichment this can be terminated any moment Iran decides not to honor the deal. (As they have done numerous times in the past.) The deal also allegedly limits the level of uranium enrichment the Iranians can reach, but that’s the same bone we’ve been chewing on for years. And finally, we have the Iranians on every cable channel doing an end zone dance saying this is “formal recognition” of their right to enrich uranium, while Kerry and his team are saying the opposite. It’s hard to imagine how solid any “deal” can be when the two sides are announcing essentially 180 degree opposite conclusions on basic terminology.
So it’s like Iran Air, a flying disaster waiting to happen.
Sounds like an Obama foreign policy decision…
Standard | Posted in politics | Tagged America, Boeing, choice, Congress, cronyism, democrats, doublespeak, economics, Fairness, freedom, GE, Iran, Iran Air, liberty, Ministry of Truth, Newspeak, nuclear weapons, Obama, politics, security, taxes, tea party, We the People | 0 comments
Bassackwards
Watch the Orwellian spin in terms discussed in this Walter Williams’ piece. Mr. Williams is a conservative so he’s pointing them out but watch how to liberals Positive is Negative and Negative is Positive.
Because Americans still retain a large measure of liberty, tyrants must mask their agenda. At the university level, some professors give tyranny an intellectual quality by preaching that negative freedom is not enough. There must be positive liberty or freedoms. This idea is widespread in academia, but its most recent incarnation was a discussion by Wake Forest University professor David Coates in a Huffington Post article, titled “Negative Freedom or Positive Freedom: Time to Choose?” (11/13/2013) (http://tinyurl.com/oemfzy6). Let’s examine negative versus positive freedom.
Negative freedom or rights refers to the absence of constraint or coercion when people engage in peaceable, voluntary exchange. Some of these negative freedoms are enumerated in our Constitution’s Bill of Rights. More generally, at least in its standard historical usage, a right is something that exists simultaneously among people. As such, a right imposes no obligation on another. For example, the right to free speech is something we all possess. My right to free speech imposes no obligation upon another except that of noninterference. Likewise, my right to travel imposes no obligation upon another.
Positive rights is a view that people should have certain material things — such as medical care, decent housing and food — whether they can pay for them or not. Seeing as there is no Santa Claus or tooth fairy, those “rights” do impose obligations upon others. If one person has a right to something he did not earn, of necessity it requires that another person not have a right to something he did earn.
If we were to apply this bogus concept of positive rights to free speech and the right to travel freely, my free speech rights would impose financial obligations on others to supply me with an auditorium, microphone and audience. My right to travel would burden others with the obligation to purchase airplane tickets and hotel accommodations for me. Most Americans, I would imagine, would tell me, “Williams, yes, you have the right to free speech and travel rights, but I’m not obligated to pay for them!”
What the positive rights tyrants want but won’t articulate is the power to forcibly use one person to serve the purposes of another. After all, if one person does not have the money to purchase food, housing or medicine and if Congress provides the money, where does it get the money? It takes it from some other American, forcibly using that person to serve the purposes of another. Such a practice differs only in degree, but not kind, from slavery.
Under natural law, we all have certain unalienable rights. The rights we possess we have authority to delegate. For example, we all have a right to defend ourselves against predators. Because we possess that right, we can delegate it to government, in effect saying, “We have the right to defend ourselves, but for a more orderly society, we delegate to you the authority to defend us.” By contrast, I don’t possess the right to take your earnings to give to another. Seeing as I have no such right, I cannot delegate it.
The idea that one person should be forcibly used to serve the purposes of another has served as the foundation of mankind’s ugliest and most brutal regimes. Do we want that for America?
The Liberals do. They are authoritarians/totalitarians. Especially the Homo Superior Liberalis variety. They are after all, so vastly superior to you that’s why they think you’re stupid and need to be condescended to. You must be controlled. If they let you do what you want all you’ll do is evil.
Welcome to the world of the Liberal.
Standard | Posted in politics | Tagged America, authoritarian, bi-partisan, choice, Citizens, Congress, democrats, diversity, doublespeak, economics, Fairness, freedom, Liberal, liberty, Media, Ministry of Truth, negative, Newspeak, Obama, obamacare, Orwell, politics, positive, reform, regulations, Responsibility, rights, security, socialism, speech, taxes, tea party, totalitarian, We the People | 0 comments
The Blessed
I don’t normally have Glenn Beck on the radio, but I was driving to a movie when I heard about this story.
An appreciation for Glenn Beck, Ted Cruz and a well-known Bible verse appears to be the main reasons an aspiring professional golfer was abruptly cut off from his main source of income by his sponsor.
After Tea Baggers like Ted Cruz are evil for wanting less government in our lives and a redress of 17+ Trillion dollars of debt!
I am not what people should call a Christian, either. So I don’t make it a regular habit.
That said…
How Neanderthal Am I!! 🙂
The golfer’s name is Jeff Cochran and until a few weeks ago, it appeared that he may have finally gotten the big break that would help him achieve his goal of having a shot to play on golf’s elite PGA tour. Cochran claims he was contracted in January by Virginia-based businessman Brian McMahon to help promote Nebraska Golf Card (NGC), a budding promotional operation that says it’s “designed to give golfers reduced rates and access to private clubs.”
After playing most of the year for Nebraska Golf Card, Cochran alleged his sponsorship was abruptly terminated. The initial reason given seemed quite surprising — his support for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz; Cruz’s father, Raphael; and Glenn Beck — but faith, and specifically a Bible verse, also played a big part in the termination of the contract.
The verse in question? Philippians 4:13, which reads, ” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (shown as a cross and Phil 4:13 on the bag).
Ah, the loving nature of the left wing, known for their coexistence and tolerance for those with a different belief in life.
The compassionate, toleerant and vastly superior Left. 🙂
In late October, Cochran, his agent David Reynolds and NGC’s Brian McMahon both claim they were at a dinner and the conversation turned to Cruz. Cochran says he praised Cruz and his father, Raphael, mentioning that he had seen the elder Cruz on an episode of “The Glenn Beck Program.”
Cochran told TheBlaze that his sponsor was taken aback by this statement and was also troubled by the fact that his business associate was a fan of Beck. Following his pro-Cruz statement, Cochran said McMahon asked him, ”Would you be willing to give up our support to stand with that wackjob (Beck)?” Cochran answered “yes” and said the dinner continued without any additional tension or drama.
But the next morning, Cochran’s agent said, he received an email from NGC announcing that it was pulling all financial and product support from Cochran.
The email, a copy of which was provided to TheBlaze, demanded immediate return of all equipment and that Cochran stop using their logo as well. The initial email from McMahon to Cochran’s agent was quite specific as to the reason for the split (emphasis added):
David, I have never had an issue with you or really Jeff for that matter, but this situation is very disturbing. I have been tolerant of his religious views and even supported his off course speaking. However, I just can’t allow my company to be associated with these radical political views. The idea that Jeff would line up with the likes of Glenn Beck or Ted Cruz or any other individual interested in destroying America, just isn’t something I can swallow.
Cochran and Reynolds said they immediately complied with the demand and returned the equipment, they told TheBlaze. That quick response triggered the email thank-you from McMahon shown below, but that note also contained a few parting shots (emphasis added).
“I looked up the verse Jeff put on the bag and had to laugh,” the email said. ”How can someone so smart be so gullible? The idea of trusting or believing that someone has control over your future is the definition of insanity. I will continue to trust people I’ve actually met and trust to help chart my course.”
McMahon’s email continued (emphasis added): “Tell Jeff if he ever decides to relinquish these childish and uneducated views, we might be willing to renew our relationship.” He ended the email, “In me I trust, Brian.”
After all, he’s obviously Homo Superior Liberalis and you’re an ignorant monkey.
But doesn’t he sound like your typical HSL from Huffington Post or elasewhere on the Progressive side of things?
Yep. Very Typical. Childish, bombastic, narcissistic and so full of their “superiority” that you have to be a moron to be anything other than “enlightened” as they are.
It was shortly after the second email was sent that Cochran and his agent reached out to TheBlaze.
McMahon did not mince his words and almost immediately attacked TheBlaze, writing, “I spent a little time on your website this morning and you should be ashamed of what you’ve created.”
He didn’t hold back, mocking Cochran for listening to Beck: “Jeff is the perfect target for someone like Beck. He believes he has been forgiven for past indiscretions by a mystical power who lives in the clouds, so why wouldn’t he be gullible (sic) enough for the Tea Baggers.”
The email closed with a particularly angry and personal attack on Beck (emphasis added): “He is a lousy drunk who should be led to the nearest border, given a big toss and told to never return. And if he hates the government as much as he says, that should be a welcome event for him too.”
In it’s entirety:
Thursday, November 21, 2013 10:36 AM
Opelka, Mike
agentdavid******@gmail.com
Jeff Cochran
Mr. Opelka, It has been brought to my attention that your website or radio station is considering doing a story on my relationship with Jeff Cochran. I spent a little time on your website this morning and you should all be ashamed of what you’ve created. I don’t listen to Glenn Beck often, unless I need a good laugh, but the idea he has influence over people is a scary thing. Making people believe the “big nasty government” is only looking to ruin their lives is nothing short of brain washing. You prey on the weak and simple minded, who don’t have the ability to think on their own.
I make no apologies for how I handled my relationship with Jeff. I was willing to overlook the continual religous jargon, but when I learned he was a “follower” of Beck, I couldn’t swallow anymore. Beck’s political party has done more damage to this country than anything in the last 20 years. Jeff is the perfect target for someone like Beck. He believes he has been forgiven for past indiscretions by a mystical power who lives in the clouds, so why wouldn’t he be gulible enough for the Tea Baggers.
I am more than willing to concede that Jeff is a powerful public speaker and a very talented player. I wanted him on my team because people are drawn to him, but I just can’t tolerate the weak minded. He has worked hard to overcome some massive road blocks and I just wish he knew it was him and not some spirit.
I can only assume you are one of Beck’s minions, so please feel free to forward this to him. He is a lousy drunk who should be led to the nearest border, given a big toss and told to never return. And if he hates the government as much as he says, that should be a welcome event for him too.
B.L. McMahon
You see, unlike Liberals I understand that “hate speech” not matter how vile is protected speech. But can you imagine having a “rational” discussion about logic or facts with such ranting ball of hatred and derision??
Responding to McMahon’s email, we tried to correct some of his misconceptions (Beck doesn’t have or represent a “political party”), learn more about his organization (Nebraska Golf Card), and further understand the reason, or reasons, he terminated Conchran’s sponsorship. He did reply to our email. According to him, Nebraska Golf Card “is run by me alone.” He addressed a question about the ability to terminate someone for religious and political reasons by stating, “Jeff was not an employee but rather a private contractor.”
McMahon ended his email by saying, ”the only people who will care what happened to Jeff are the same religous (sic) zealots. Finally, my character might not be what you like, but I think for myself.”
You will do as I say or else! You will believe what I believe or else!
You might as well try arguing with a Dalek.
Cochran told TheBlaze in a telephone interview that he met McMahon at a “pro-am” tournament about a year ago. The two struck up a friendship that turned into a business relationship. According to Cochran, beginning in 2013 he was contracted by McMahon to play golf under the NGC logo and would be paid an annual salary large enough to support him and his family. Jeff also stated that in January he made a conscious decision to dedicate his life to his Christian faith.
Telling TheBlaze that he had been “less than genuine” in the past, Cochran talked about making a total commitment to God. Asked whether that meant problems with alcohol or drugs, the answer was an emphatic, “no, but I wasn’t a good guy.” Cochran said the only dark spot in his past was an arrest “three or four years ago over an unpaid hotel bill.” That arrest was in 2007 and the issue ended up with Cochran being found guilty of a misdemeanor for skipping out on a hotel bill. He made restitution, but also worries that “anyone can find my mug shot online.”
When asked if McMahon ever told him to stop talking about his faith or not to put “Phil 4:13″ on his golf bag, Cochran said, “no.” And McMahon’s emails seem to back up his initial tolerance for the golfer’s faith. In his initial email to us, he seemed more upset with Jeff’s appreciation of Beck: “I was willing to overlook the continual religous (sic) jargon, but when I learned he was a ‘follower’ of Beck, I couldn’t swallow anymore.”
Cochran’s explanation of the events that led up to his termination from NGC matched the reasons given to TheBlaze by McMahon in emails. The pro golfer appears to have lost his source of income mainly because he is a fan of Beck and Cruz, but his faith wasn’t overlooked. McMahon’s initial email to TheBlaze also praised Cochran’s speaking abilities as well as his prowess on the golf course, but took a shot at his beliefs, stating, “He has worked hard to overcome some massive road blocks and I just wish he knew it was him and not some spirit.”
TheBlaze requested a telephone interview with McMahon, as we were hoping to learn more about Nebraska Golf Card and asked if there will be a faith or political litmus test for any future pros contracted to represent the company. Brian McMahon declined our offer, stating: “I have no desire to do an interview or draw anymore attention to this issue. Of course EVERYONE will be welcome to participate when we begin the program.”
He also added, ” I have no problem with anyones (sic) views. The problem comes when they try to push them on other people. Jeff makes it a point to share his religous (sic) views at every moment. When he is representing other peolple (sic), those views should be kept private. I don’t have any interest in going back and forth on this. I am free to associate with anyone I choose and Jeff is no longer on that list.”
Curiously, after sending the above comments to TheBlaze, Cochran says he received a call from McMahon. McMahon appeared to be encouraging Cochran to stop this story from being published on TheBlaze or even in local papers. According to Cochran, McMahon told him over the phone, “You do realize that if this goes public, everyone will know everything about you.”
Cochran did go through with it. And seems to be at peace with that.
“I hope this story can be one of redemption and willingness to stand up and say ‘Yes I am flawed, yes I’ve had struggles, but God is still good,’” he said at the end of our conversation.
McMahon?
“You talk as though you are representing Jeff and investigating legal matters,” he ended his last email to TheBlaze. “Should I contact my attorney?”
Author’s note: Golf Card International is not affiliated with Nebraska Golf Card.
But I wouldn’t encourage membership in that Card lest ye be judged. 🙂
Standard | Posted in politics | Tagged America, bi-partisan, choice, Christianity, Citizens, Congress, debt, deficit, democrats, diversity, doublespeak, economics, Fairness, faith, freedom, Glenn Beck, golf, government, Health Care, Jeff Cochran, Jobs, liberty, Media, Ministry of Truth, narcissism, Nebraska Golf Card, Newspeak, Orwell, politics, reform, Responsibility, security, socialism, speech, taxes, tea party, Ted Cruz, We the People | 0 comments
And you know what I learned after 10 days in the UK?
There politicians are just as scummy and narcissistic as ours.
I didn’t get a chance to watch BBC News because I was too busy with other things but you still had a guy who was the head of a bank who got busted for doing cocaine and was largely unqualified but had the job because of connections. (“FORMER Co-op Bank chairman Paul Flowers has been arrested in connection with a drugs supply investigation, police said“)
You have the Deputy Prime Minister who is Labour Party (Liberal) running against his own brother for Party Leader supreme.
I come home and Obama strikes a deal with Iran to get HIM out of that Foreign policy hole, for now. You are incompetent or naive to believe anything Iran’s leaders say. So he was just trying to fix HIS OWN problem. Not actually do anything.
And then he told the biggest lie he’s ever told, which for him is saying something: “I’m not a particularly ideological person,” Obama said.
BWAH hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
He’s NOTHING BUT IDEOLOGICAL.
Obama added Sunday that while he’s still passionate about giving people a fair shake, about the environment, and working for peace and national security, he’s also “pretty pragmatic about how we get there.”
You are either a no-conscious liar or delusional , which is Mr. President??
And what does it say about anyone who’d believe him??
Take DWS, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the DNC Mouthpiece Extradonaire:
“At the end of the day, Americans were not only, not meyezled by the president….”
Say what? “….not meyezled by the president”? Imagine msnbc viewers running to look up that word.
Like a good liberal, the chairwoman was simply not thinking. And she misread “misled.” (IBD)
How Ironic. 🙂
Meyezled is a perfectly good yiddish word meaning in effect “we are all screwed”.
IBD: In another naked attempt to protect Democrats from ObamaCare, the administration plans to delay next year’s exchange enrollment until after the elections, so they can hide another round of rate shocks from voters.
Health and Human Services announced on Thursday that next year’s open enrollment period won’t start until Nov. 15, which conveniently puts it after the midterm elections. An administration official said the delay “will give issuers the benefit of more time to evaluate their experiences during the 2014 plan year.”
Please. This is nothing more than a political move designed to minimize ObamaCare’s damage to Democrats.
By delaying open enrollment until Nov. 15, the administration can keep consumers in the dark about the prices they’ll have to pay in the ObamaCare exchanges before they go to the polls. That, in turn, could spare Democrats another round of rate shock stories in the run-up to the elections.
This is hardly the first time Obama has tried to mask the dark side of ObamaCare for political reasons.
Just before the 2012 elections, for example, the HHS announced an $8.3 billion “demonstration project” for the privately run Medicare Advantage plans. It paid just about every one of them “quality improvement bonuses.”
When the Government Accountability Office looked into it, auditors couldn’t find any reasonable justification for the payments.
But this phony demonstration project did manage to paper over steep cuts to the Medicare Advantage program that ObamaCare is imposing. And by doing that, Obama prevented any backlash from seniors.
Since then, Obama has delayed the employer mandate, verification rules and out-of-pocket caps, all to keep the ultimate costs of ObamaCare hidden from view.
The very law itself was designed to hide the pain — and the costs — from taxpayers as long as possible.
Standard | Posted in politics | Tagged America, bi-partisan, choice, Citizens, Congress, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, democrats, diversity, doublespeak, economics, Fairness, faith, freedom, Health Care, ideological, liberty, Media, Ministry of Truth, Obama, obamacare, Orwell, partisan, politics, Responsibility, security, socialism, speech, tea party, We the People | 0 comments
The Hippocrite’s Oath
Going on Vacation today.
So this blog may be offline for a bit.
‘Substandard” and “cut-rate” is what President Obama calls the health plans that millions of Americans have lost, even though they wanted to keep them.
Backpedaling on his promise that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan,” Obama is now telling Americans another whopper: The insurance they can get on ObamaCare exchanges is a better deal.
Don’t believe him.
On the exchanges, you may no longer be able to use the doctors and hospitals you prefer. Many exchange plans exclude the top-drawer academic hospitals like Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles, the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and New York Presbyterian in New York City.
Instead, the law says exchange plans must cover care at “essential community providers … that serve predominantly low-income, medically underserved individuals.” (Sec. 1311c(1)C) That means clinics, public hospitals and hospitals largely serving the Medicaid community.
The law’s authors reasoned that exchange plan customers should be able to shift back and forth between their plans and Medicaid, as their earnings fluctuate, without changing doctors and hospitals.
That’s reasonable, but it’s bad news for consumers who had access to esteemed hospitals and doctors under their old plans and then got pushed into the exchanges.
Medicaid-level care is, sadly, “substandard,” to use the President’s word. A review of the experiences of nearly 900,000 patients undergoing eight different surgical procedures found that Medicaid patients were 50% more likely to die in the hospital after surgery than patients with private coverage.
This review, by researchers at the University of Virginia, is one of several studies proving that Medicaid patients get worse care than patients with private insurance.
But many of the plans being offered on the exchanges are Medicaid with a private label slapped on them. The McKinsey Center for U.S. Health System Reform reports that Medicaid insurers are playing a large role in the exchanges.
Just as many doctors refuse to accept Medicaid, they are also refusing to accept exchange insurance. In California, a Blue Cross plan on the exchange covers 47% fewer doctors than Blue Cross subscribers in California currently get. In New York, only a quarter of physicians have decided to take exchange insurance, because the payments are so low.
Why so low? Because insurers know the low-cost plan will be king in nearly every exchange. All the plans offer the “essential benefit package.” Customers currently have no other way to compare than on price.
That’s despite the law’s promise that exchanges would list each plan’s quality rating and disclose which hospitals and doctors are covered. (Sec. 1311d(4)D) and (Sec. 1311c(1)B). Why isn’t this information provided, as the law requires? We can only guess that it’s because ObamaCare administrators don’t want us to see the truth.
Cancer patients whose plans are canceled are getting whacked hardest. They are losing access to the specialized cancer hospitals and oncologists treating them. And they will get meager help, if any, paying for innovative cancer drugs that cost thousands of dollars.
The most troubling provision in ObamaCare’s Section 1311 gives the secretary of health and human services blanket authority to control how doctors and hospitals treat patients. All in the name of improving “quality.” That could mean everything in medicine, such as when your OB/GYN should do a Caesarean.
What that means for you is that if you enroll in an exchange plan, with or without getting a subsidy, your care will be standardized by the federal government with an eye to reducing what you consume and how much it costs.
Your doctor may have to choose between doing what’s right for you and avoiding a penalty. Exchange plans can pay only those doctors who obey whatever regulations the Secretary imposes.
Yet the President claims that people losing their health plans and having to sign up on the exchanges will be getting a better deal. Losing your doctor, shopping blind for a health plan, settling for Medicaid-level care and government controls, all for a premium 41% higher than before and with a deductible that’s doubled? Sounds substandard to me.
Right now, most people getting cancellations bought plans in the individual market. Wait until the other shoe drops in 2014, and millions of people who had on-the-job coverage lose it. The truth about ObamaCare will become so painfully obvious that even the White House lie machine can’t cover it up. (BETSY MCCAUGHEY)
But don’t worry, The Ministry of Truth is here to save you from this so don’t worry, be happy!
Standard | Posted in politics | Tagged cancellations, cancer, cost, doctor, employer, exchange, health plan, hospital, if you like your plan, Insurance, Obama, obamacare | 0 comments
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GK Pre-Season Bootcamp (Auckland)
Kick start your football season with a fun and challenging bootcamp. Open to junior, youth and senior boys and girls, the Goalkeeper Pre-season Bootcamp consists of six weeks (1 session each week) of goalkeeper specific skills. Venue Auckland Central (TBC)…
GK Pre-Season Bootcamp (North Shore)
Kick start your football season with a fun and challenging bootcamp. Open to junior, youth and senior boys and girls, the Goalkeeper Pre-season Bootcamp consists of six weeks (1 session each week) of goalkeeper specific skills. Venue Takapuna Grammar School…
Huge goalkeeper turnout exceeds expectations
Goalkeeping coach James Bannatyne was expecting a good turnout for the first specialist goalkeeping training camp in Tauranga he has run in the Western Bay. But the 46 young goalkeepers and 20 coaches who turned up at Links Avenue on…
Ngaruawahia football team recruits player from Ghana
Ngaruawahia United AFC has a new player on one of their teams and he has travelled all the way from Ghana. Isaac Tetteh with play for the club over the next four months “I need to play outside my country,…
ABOUT INGOAL
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Santana: Live at Montreux 2011
directed by Chris Cowley
starring Carlos Santana
Eagle Rock Entertainment
Somewhere around “Black Magic Woman” Carlos Santana hits that classic chord we’ve all heard and I think “My God, he’s held that note since Woodstock!” With 25 albums under his belt, this guy is the poster boy for Latin rock and has never sounded better. This astonishing two-DVD concert from the 2010 Montreux jazz festival packs in over three hours of material, with pretty much all of it top caliber. Backing him up is a fluid sea of band members, guests, and fellow stars. Where to begin? Well, the first big surprise is a rocking cover of AC/DC’s “Back In Black.” Never mind the jarring cross-cultural high-concept hipness, this a GREAT cover of a song that just rolls out of left field and blows you away. Another great cover is Eric Clapton’s “Sunshine of Your Love.” This is less surprising, yet every bit as good as you might hope: one guitar god covers another, capturing the essence of the original while taking us deeper into the song with effortless ease. Naturally Santana’s big hits are here, besides “Black Magic Woman” you’ll groove to “Oye Como Va” (technically a Tito Puente cover itself), “Duende,” “Evil Ways,” and “Guajira.”
The fast cutting and steady stream of guests make it hard to identify the band members, much less count them. You can cheat and look inside the jewel box where I count 10 backing players, and they support at least three drum kits, a small armada of synthesizers, a bass, and a small but tight brass line. No rest for the wicked; if you’re not playing your main instrument pick up some bells or a tambourine or gourd and make some noise. The show is so long there are two drum solos, one by band regular Dennis Chambers and one by Cindy Blackman Santana. With her Angela Davis hairdo and scrunchy facial expressions, she’ll take you as close to the Sixties as we can get in these pre-time-travel days. Everyone looks cool, but Santana looks best of all in his white brocade vest, white hat, and third eye jewel. Everyone sticks to the music, occasionally a few words are muttered, and there’s a short speech about ending war and disbanding armies. Hope that goes well.
The emphasis is on the concert experience, besides some sound options there are just three featurettes: a rambling interview with Santana, a more coherent one with Ms. Santana and the de rigueur “making of” video. Read the booklet if you care, but crank the music — this sounded great on my giant three-inch “Insignia” brand speakers; with a real stereo I think you could do some serious ear damage.
Eagle Rock: www.eaglerockent.com
Carl F Gauze
Santana Greatest Hits - Live at Montreux 2011
Tito Puente
Mike Garrigan: Live At The Evening Muse
This is the debut live concert DVD from Greensboro-based singer-songwriter Mike Garrigan, and Andrew Ellis is impressed.
A Russian woman grows a tail. Amazingly, men find this attractive and she falls in love with a doctor and out of favor in her job.
Canadian-bred Hot Hot Heat began their North American tour with an MTV live taping at Orlando’s Hard Rock Live. Jen Cray gives us a glimpse.
Papa Byrd
The Many Moods of Papa Byrd (Transistor Recordings). Review by Bill Campbell.
On Soulfly’s sophomore album, Primitive, Max Cavalera invites a few fr…
Hissyfit
Shut up and Play (Double Play). Review by David Lee Beowülf
The Selmanaires
The Air Salesman (International Hits). Review by Jen Cray.
The Medium
With the release of their new album, Teetering on the Edge, New Jersey’s the Medium chatted with Brittany Sturges about their first show, the Battle of the Bands, Prince and — oh yea, their favorite fruit.
Backwoods Barbie Collector’s Edition (Dolly). Review by Matthew Moyer.
Say Sue Me
Christmas, It’s No Biggie (Damnably Records). Review by Bob Pomeroy.
Red Letter Day EP (Doghouse). Review by Andrew Chadwick
Comin' At Ya!
The Blu-ray reissue of Comin’ At Ya, a 1981 3D Spaghetti Western movie falls flat.
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Affinity-based transaction processing
Status: Expired due to Fees
receiving a transaction message at a router residing within a server;
determining whether the transaction message includes an affinity indicating a preference regarding processing of the transaction message;
modifying the transaction message to include an identification of a server system to process the modified transaction message based on the determination of the affinity;
routing the modified transaction message to a coupling facility;
receiving a notification message from the coupling facility, wherein the notification message requests the server including the router to send a bid to process the modified transaction message;
sending the bid to process the modified transaction message to the coupling facility; and
receiving authorization to process the modified transaction message from the coupling facility based on a timestamp of the bid.
A router receives a transaction message. The router determines whether the transaction message may include an affinity indicating a preference regarding processing of the transaction message. The transaction message may be modified to include an identification of a server system to process the modified transaction message based on the determination of the affinity. The router may route the modified transaction message to a coupling facility. A notification message may be received from the coupling facility, where the notification message requests a server associated with or including the router to send a bid to process the modified transaction message. The router may send the bid to process the modified transaction message to the coupling facility. An authorization message, to process the modified transaction message, may be received from the coupling facility based on a timestamp of the bid.
Administering workload groups
Teradata US Inc.
Content delivery for client-server protocols with user affinities using connection end-point proxies
Riverbed Technology Incorporated
TEMPORAL AFFINITY-BASED ROUTING OF WORKLOADS
Oracle International Corporation
Method for identifying a workload type for a given workload of database requests
RESOURCE CONSUMPTION REDUCTION VIA MEETING AFFINITY
Optimization for transaction failover in a multi-node system environment where objects' mastership is based on access patterns
Method and apparatus for communication of message data using shared queues
Repeatable message streams for message queues in distributed systems
Methods and systems for implementing on-line financial institution services via a single platform
Citicorp Credit Services Incorporated
Method for forwarding data packets by a router
Distributed cache between servers of a network
Scott Ruple
Timeout detection facility
Method and apparatus for maintaining session affinity across multiple server groups
Method and apparatus for controlling the number of servers in a multisystem cluster
AFFINITY-BASED ROUTER AND ROUTING METHOD
Broker for computer network server selection
Digital Equipment Corporation
View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 14, 15, 16)
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification of the server system comprises selecting the server system from a plurality of server systems based on the affinity of the transaction message and based on a system affinity of the server system, and wherein the system affinity specifies processing characteristics of the server system.
3. The computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the at least one server of the set of servers of the particular server system comprises a transaction management system.
4. The computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises initializing the router prior to receiving the transaction message, wherein initializing the router is based on one or more customer affinity definitions.
14. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein initializing the router comprises:
retrieving the customer affinity definitions from a customer definitions library; and
determining whether a runtime definitions library of the coupling facility includes the customer affinity definitions.
15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises creating a routing table based on the customer affinity definitions, wherein the routing table includes information associating at least one system affinity and at least one class affinity to each server of the set of servers.
16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:
determining whether an affinity definition of the customer affinity definitions includes an identifier of a server of the set of servers, wherein the server is associated with the router; and
sending an affinity registration message to the coupling facility, wherein the affinity registration message identifies the server with a server affinity based on the affinity definition.
5. A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
generating, at a router, a modified transaction message in response to receiving a transaction message that specifies an affinity indicating a preference regarding processing of the transaction message, wherein the modified transaction message specifies a particular server system to process the transaction message based on the affinity, and wherein the particular server system comprises a set of servers;
receiving, at the router, a notification message from the coupling facility, wherein the notification message requests at least one server of the set of servers to send a bid to process the modified transaction message, wherein the at least one server of the set of servers includes a server in which the router resides;
sending, to the coupling facility, a bid for the at least one server to process the modified transaction message; and
receiving, from the coupling facility, authorization indicating that a particular server of the set of servers is chosen to process the modified transaction message, wherein the particular server is chosen from the at least one server based on at least one criteria, the criteria including a characteristic of the at least one server that submits the bid, a timestamp of the bid, or any combination thereof.
View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
6. The computer-readable storage device of claim 5, wherein the timestamp indicates one of when the bid is received at the coupling facility and when the bid is sent to the coupling facility.
7. The computer-readable storage device of claim 5, wherein the characteristic includes availability of resources of the least one server to process the modified transaction.
8. The computer-readable storage device of claim 5, wherein the particular server system is selected from a plurality of server systems based on the affinity of the transaction message and based on a system affinity of the particular server system, and wherein the system affinity specifies processing characteristics of the particular server system.
9. The computer-readable storage device of claim 8, wherein selection of the particular server system comprises determining whether the transaction message has a specific affinity to the particular server system by determining whether a transaction affinity of the transaction message matches the system affinity associated with the particular server system.
10. The computer-readable storage device of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises determining whether the transaction message has a generic affinity to the particular server system by determining whether the transaction affinity of the transaction message matches a portion of the system affinity associated with the particular server system.
11. The computer-readable storage device of claim 10, wherein the system affinity comprises a system identifier.
12. The computer-readable storage device of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises determining whether the transaction message has a class affinity by determining whether a transaction class of the transaction message matches a class attribute associated with the particular server system.
13. The computer-readable storage device of claim 12, wherein selection of the particular server system further comprises determining whether the at least one server of the set of servers of the particular server system is active.
17. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a router coupled to the processor, wherein the router is operable by the processor to;
generate a modified transaction message in response to receiving a transaction message that specifies an affinity indicating a preference regarding processing of the transaction message, wherein the modified transaction message specifies a particular server system to process the transaction message based on the affinity, and wherein the particular server system comprises a set of servers;
route the modified transaction message to a coupling facility;
receive a notification message from the coupling facility, wherein the notification message requests a bid to process the modified transaction message;
send, to the coupling facility, the bid to process the modified transaction message; and
receive, from the coupling facility, authorization to process the modified transaction message, wherein the coupling facility determines the authorization based on characteristics of the server, a timestamp of the bid, or any combination thereof.
View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the particular server system is identified in response to determining that the particular server system includes at least one active server.
19. The system of claim 17, wherein the modified transaction message includes a transaction class and a transaction affinity.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the transaction affinity indicates the preference regarding processing of the modified transaction message.
I. CLAIM OF PRIORITY
This application is a continuation patent application of, and claims priority from, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/130,746, filed on May 30, 2008 and entitled “Affinity-based transaction processing,” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.
II. FIELD
The present disclosure is generally related to affinity-based transaction processing.
III. BACKGROUND
Generally, in a multiple server environment, when a transaction message is received at a common message queue, each server in the multiple server environment is notified that the transaction message has arrived. Each server may then determine if it has the resources to process the transaction message and, when the server has sufficient resources to process the transaction message, the server may send a bid to process the transaction message. Upon receipt of multiple bids, the transaction message may be routed to a server that is selected at random in order to distribute transaction message processing equally among the multiple servers of the multiple server environment.
IV. BRIEF SUMMARY
A system and method to route a transaction record is disclosed. In a particular embodiment, the method includes receiving a transaction message at a router. A determination is made whether the transaction message includes an affinity. The affinity indicates an administrator-specified preference regarding processing of the transaction message. When the transaction message includes the affinity, a server system is selected to process the transaction message. The server system includes one or more servers. The server system is selected from among a plurality of server system based on the transaction message affinity and based on a system affinity of the server system. The system affinity specifies processing characteristics of the server system. Based on the transaction message affinity and based on the system affinity, the transaction message is modified to include an identification of the server system. The modified transaction message is routed to a message queue for subsequent processing by the identified server system.
V. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a system to route a transaction message;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of a system to route a transaction message;
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a method to initialize a router;
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a first illustrative embodiment of a method to route a transaction message;
FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a second illustrative embodiment of a method to route a transaction message;
FIG. 6 is an illustrative embodiment of customer definitions;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of a system to route a transaction message; and
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a third illustrative embodiment of a method to route a transaction message.
VI. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first particular embodiment of a system 100 to route a transaction message. The system 100 includes a first server system 102, a second server system 104, and a third server system 106 coupled to a coupling facility 108. A first transaction source 109 is coupled to the first server system 102. A second transaction source 110 is coupled to the second server system 104. A third transaction source 111 is coupled to the third server system 106. The server systems 102, 104, and 106 are coupled to a customer definitions library 112.
Each of the server systems 102, 104, and 106 may be adapted to receive a transaction message from a transaction source, to modify the transaction message, and to send the transaction message to the coupling facility 108. For example, the first server system 102 is adapted to receive a transaction message 116 including a transaction affinity 118 from the first transaction source 109. The first server system 102 is also adapted to modify the transaction message 116 to create a modified transaction message 120 including a server system identifier 122 and to send the modified transaction message 120 to the coupling facility 108. In the illustrated embodiment, the first server system 102 includes a first server 124, a second server 126, and a third server 128. In other embodiments, the first server system 102 may include more or fewer servers. The first server 124 includes a first router 130, the second server 126 includes a second router 132, and the third server 128 includes a third router 134. In addition, each of the server systems 104 and 106 also include one or more servers (not shown). In an illustrative embodiment, one or more of the servers 124, 126, and 128 may be configured as a transaction and hierarchical database management system or as an information management system (IMS).
The coupling facility 108 may be adapted to receive a modified transaction message, such as the modified transaction message 120, at a message queue 136. The coupling facility 108, responsive to receiving the modified transaction message 120, may be further adapted to identify a target server system based on the server system identifier 122 and to send a notification message 162 to the target server system. In FIG. 1, the target server system is one of the server systems 102, 104, or 106.
In operation, a router, such as the first router 130, receives the transaction message 116 and determines whether the transaction message 116 includes the transaction affinity 118. When the transaction message 116 includes the transaction affinity 118, the first router 130 selects a server system from the server systems 102, 104, and 106, and modifies the transaction message 116 to create the modified transaction message 120 that includes the selected server system identification 122. The first router 130 then sends the modified transaction message 120 to the message queue 136 of the coupling facility 108.
The coupling facility 108, responsive to receiving the modified transaction message 120 at the message queue 136, selects a target server system from the server systems 102, 104, and 106 based on the server system identifier 122, and sends the notification message 162 to the selected server system. For example, the notification message 162 may be sent to the third server system 106. In response, at least one server in the server system 106 may send a bid 164 to the coupling facility 108. The bid 164 identifies a server (not shown) of the third server system 106 that has sufficient resources to process the modified transaction message 120. The coupling facility 108 selects a server of the third server system 106 based on the received bids, such as the bid 164, and sends the modified transaction message 120 to the selected server for processing.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a second particular embodiment of a system 200 to route a transaction message. The system 200 is an example of a server system and includes a first server 202, a second server 204, and a third server 206 that are each coupled to a coupling facility 208 and to a customer definitions library 210. One or more of the servers 202, 204, and 206 may be configured as a transaction and hierarchical database management system or an information management system (IMS). A transaction source 212 is coupled to the first server 202.
The servers 202, 204, and 206 may be adapted to receive and to process transaction messages. The first server 202 includes a processor 214 coupled to a memory 218. The memory 218 includes a router 220, a queue interface 222, an identifier 226, and a routing table 228. The router 220 may be adapted to route transaction messages to a message queue. The queue interface 222 may be adapted to provide the first server 202 an interface for accessing a message queue at a coupling facility. The identifier 226 identifies the first server 202. The routing table 228 includes a representative definition 229 which defines characteristics associated with a server, such as the system to which the server belongs, and the system affinity and system class associated with the system. The representative definition 229 in the routing table 228 may associate a server identifier 230 to a system identifier 232, a system affinity 234, a class affinity 236, and a state 224. The server identifier 230 uniquely identifies a server, such as the second server 204. The system identifier 232 may indicate the system associated with the server identified by the server identifier 230. The system affinity 234 may indicate an affinity associated with the system identified by the system identifier 232. The class affinity may indicate a class of transactions capable of being processed by the system identified by the system identifier 232. The state 224 may indicate a state, such as an active state or an inactive state, associated with the server identified by the server identifier 230.
The router 220 may use the routing table 228 to select a server to process a transaction message. To perform the various functions of the first server 202, the processor 214 is adapted to execute computer readable instructions of the router 220 and of the queue interface 222. The processor 214 may also read, modify, and write data stored at the routing table 228 and at the identifier 226.
The coupling facility 208 includes a message queue 238 and a runtime definitions library 240. The run time definitions library 240 includes runtime affinity definitions 242 and notification rules 266. The coupling facility 208 may be adapted to receive transaction messages at the message queue 238 from the transaction source 212 via the router 220.
The customer definitions library 210 includes customer affinity definitions 244. The customer affinity definitions 244 include one or more affinity definitions, such as a representative affinity definition 246. The customer affinity definitions 244 also include one or more transaction codes, such as a representative transaction code 245. The representative transaction code 245 is compared to the representative affinity definition 246 to determine whether the transaction code 245 is associated with a specific affinity, a generic affinity, or a class affinity. A customer may use the customer affinity definitions 244 to associate one or more transaction affinities with a particular server or server system. For example, a customer may use the customer affinity definitions 244 to associate an affinity “IMS” with the second server 204. Subsequently, when the customer creates a transaction message having the transaction affinity “IMS,” the transaction message may be routed to the second server 204 for processing.
The coupling facility 208 may use notification rules 266 to determine which of servers should be notified that a transaction message has arrived for processing. For example, the notification rules 266 may include information identifying which of the servers 202, 204, and 206 are in an active state to enable the coupling facility 208 to notify only active servers about the arrival of a transaction message.
Router Initialization
The router 220 may be implemented as a process executing computer executable instructions stored at a computer readable medium. The first server 202 may install the computer executable instructions of the router 220 at a computer readable medium, such as the memory 218. After installing the router 220, the first server 202 may initialize the router 220 at different times based on various circumstances. For example, the first server 202 may initialize the router 220 during or after the initialization of the first server 202. In the illustrated embodiment, the first server 202 initializes the router 220 before the first server 202 receives a transaction message 250.
During initialization, the router 220 may retrieve the customer affinity definitions 244 from the customer definitions library 210 and determines whether the runtime definitions library 240 includes the customer affinity definitions 244. For example, the router 220 may compare the customer affinity definitions 244 to the runtime affinity definitions 242 and, when the customer affinity definitions 244 are equivalent to the runtime affinity definitions 242, determine that the runtime definitions library 240 includes the customer affinity definitions 244. When the runtime definitions library 240 does not include the customer affinity definitions 244, the router 220 may create the runtime affinity definitions 242 based on the customer affinity definitions 244. For example, to create the runtime affinity definitions 242, the router 220 may parse one or more of the customer affinity definitions 244 and convert the customer affinity definitions 244 from a customer format to a coupling facility format.
The routing table 228 may include an entry for each server in one or more server systems. Each routing table entry may include a server identifier for each server of a server system and information, such as a system identifier, a system affinity, a class affinity, and a state associated with each server identifier, such as the representative routing table 228. In the representative routing table 228, the representative server identifier 230 is associated with the representative system identifier 232, the representative system affinity 234, the representative class affinity 236, and the state 224. The server identifier 230 may include one or more alphanumeric characters.
During initialization, the router 220 may create the routing table 228 based on the customer affinity definitions 244. The router 220 may also determine whether the affinity definition 246 includes the identifier 226 of the first server 202 that is associated with the router 220. When the affinity definition 246 includes the identifier 226, the affinity definition 246 indicates that the first server 202 is a preferred server for processing a transaction message having a particular transaction affinity or a particular class affinity specified by the affinity definition 246. For example, when the affinity definition 246 indicates that the identifier 226 has a “TRANS” affinity, then a transaction message with the affinity “TRANS” may indicate that a system administrator has requested that the transaction message be processed by a server having a “TRANS” affinity, such as the first server 202. Thus, the system administrator can specify that the transaction message should be processed by a particular server system based on the affinity of the transaction message. For example, the system administrator may specify that a particular server system processes the transaction message because only that particular server system has the resources to process the transaction.
When the affinity definition 246 includes the identifier 226, the router 220 may send an affinity registration message 248 to the coupling facility 208. The affinity registration message 248 identifies that the first server 202 is associated with a system affinity based on the affinity definition 246. The coupling facility 208 stores the information of the affinity registration message 248 at the runtime definitions library 240 for use during runtime operation.
Runtime Operation
During runtime operation, after the first server 202 has initialized the router 220, the first server 202 may receive a transaction message 250 from the transaction source 212. The first server 202 may then request the router 220 to process the transaction message 250. For example, in one embodiment, the first server 202 passes control to the router 220 to process the transaction message 250 and, when the router 220 has completed processing the transaction message 250, the router 220 returns control back to the first server 202. The router 220 may receive the transaction message 250 and determine whether the transaction message 250 includes an affinity 252 indicating an administrator-specified preference regarding processing of the transaction message 250. The affinity 252 may include a transaction affinity 253 and a class affinity 254.
When the transaction message 250 includes the affinity 252, the router 220 may select a server system among a plurality of server systems to process the transaction message 250 based on the affinity 252 and based on the system affinity 234 of the server system. For example, in FIG. 1, a plurality of server systems includes the server systems 102, 104, and 106. The system affinity 234 specifies processing characteristics of each server system, such as the server system 200.
The router 220 may select a server system by using the routing table 228 to determine whether the transaction message 250 has a specific affinity, a generic affinity, or a class affinity to a particular server system. The router 220 may determine whether the transaction message 250 has a specific affinity to the particular server system by determining whether the transaction affinity 253 matches the system affinity 234 associated with the particular server system. For example, when the transaction affinity 253 indicates a system identifier, the router 220 determines whether the transaction affinity 253 matches the system identifier 232.
The router 220 may determine whether the transaction message 250 has a generic affinity to the particular server system by determining whether the transaction affinity 253 matches a portion of the system affinity 234 associated with the particular server system. For example, when the transaction affinity 253 indicates a system identifier, the router 220 determines whether the transaction affinity 253 matches a portion of the system identifier 232. To illustrate, the router 220 may use one or more wild card characters to determine the system identifier 232 that is the closest match to the transaction affinity 253. When more than one system identifier matches the transaction affinity, the router 220 may use a matching algorithm to determine which system identifier 232 is a closest match to the transaction affinity 253.
The router 220 may determine whether the transaction message 250 has a class affinity to the particular server system by determining whether the transaction class 254 of the transaction message 250 matches the class affinity 236 associated with the system identifier 232. When the class affinity 236 of more than one server system matches the transaction class 254, the router 220 may select a server system based on a selection algorithm or may randomly select a server system from the matching server systems. For example, a system administrator may define a transaction class “1” to indicate a high priority transaction message, a transaction class “2” to indicate a medium priority transaction message, and a transaction class “3” to indicate a low priority transaction message. When the transaction class 254 has a class of “1,” the transaction message 250 is routed to a server system having a class affinity of “1.”
The router 220 may also identify a set of target servers of the particular server system and determine whether the set of target servers includes at least one active server. For example, the router 220 may select the server system 200 including the servers 202, 204, and 206 and may use the state 224 to determine whether at least one of the servers 202, 204, or 206 are active. The router 220 may select the particular server system when the set of target servers includes at least one active server.
The router 220 may modify the transaction message 250 to create a modified transaction message 256 that includes a server system identifier 258 and may route the modified transaction message 256 to the message queue 238 at the coupling facility 208. The server system identifier 258 indicates the server system selected by the router 220 to process the modified transaction message 256.
The router 220 may use the queue interface 222 to route the modified transaction message 256 to the coupling facility 208. For example, the queue interface 222 may be implemented as a common queue server (CQS). The coupling facility 208 may receive the modified transaction message 256 and determine whether the modified transaction message 256 includes the server system identifier 258 indicating a preference regarding processing of the modified transaction message 256.
The coupling facility 208 may select a server system to process the modified transaction message 256 based on the notification rules 266 and based on whether the modified transaction message 256 includes the server system identifier 258. The coupling facility 208 may send a notification message 260 to each server of the selected server system. The notification message 260 may request each server of the selected server system to send a bid to process the modified transaction message 256.
The coupling facility 208 may receive at least one bid 262 from the selected server system to process the modified transaction message 256. The coupling facility 208 may select a server of the selected server system to process the modified transaction message 256 based on the at least one bid 262. For example, the coupling facility 208 may select the server system based on a variety of criteria, including when the coupling facility 208 receives the at least one bid 262, the amount of resources available at each server system, at random, other characteristic of the server system, or any combination thereof. After selecting the server system, the coupling facility 208 may send the modified transaction message 256 to the server system to enable the server system to process the modified transaction message 256.
Thus, the affinity 252 of the transaction message 250 may be used by a system administrator to specify one or more server systems to process the transaction message 250. For example, the system administrator may define various affinity definitions and configure the system to process transaction messages based on the affinity of the transaction message in order to substantially maximize the use of resources with a limited availability and reduce contention from servers that are trying to access certain resources.
In addition, the system administrator may define various affinity definitions and configure the system in order to try and reduce global false-scheduling. Global false-scheduling occurs when more than one server system attempts to take ownership of the modified transaction message 256 that has been placed on the message queue 238. Since only a single server system may take ownership of the modified transaction message 256 to process the modified transaction message 256, the other server systems may expend resources in an attempt to take ownership. Using an affinity-based routing system, global false-scheduling may be reduced or eliminated because fewer server systems bid to process the modified transaction message 256. In an affinity-based routing system, the system administrator can use affinity definitions to configure the system to enable only the server system that has the system affinity 234 that matches the transaction affinity 253 is requested to bid to process the modified transaction message 256. When a transaction message has a generic affinity, only those server systems that have the system affinity 234 that matches a portion of the transaction affinity 253 are selected to bid. When a transaction message has a class affinity, only those server systems that have the class affinity 236 that matches the transaction class 254 are selected to bid.
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a method to initialize a router. The method of FIG. 3 may be executed by a server, such as the first server 202 in FIG. 2. For example, when the first server 202 initializes, the first server 202 may initialize the router 220 in accordance with the method of FIG. 3.
At 302, customer affinity definitions may be retrieved from a customer definitions library, such as the customer definitions library 210 in FIG. 2. Continuing to 304, a determination may be made whether a runtime definitions library includes the customer affinity definitions. For example, the router 220 in FIG. 2 may compare the customer affinity definitions 244 to the runtime affinity definitions 242 to determine whether the runtime definitions library 240 includes the customer affinity definitions 244. At 304, when the runtime definitions library does not include the customer affinity definitions, then the customer affinity definitions are added to the runtime definitions library at 306, and the method proceeds to 308.
At 304, when the runtime definitions library includes the customer affinity definitions, a routing table may be created based on the customer affinity definitions at 308. A routing table, such as the routing table 228 in FIG. 2, may include information associating at least one system affinity and at least one class affinity to each server in the set of servers. Moving to 310, a transaction code of the customer affinity definitions may be selected. Advancing to 312, a determination may be made whether the selected transaction code matches an affinity definition in the customer affinity definitions. At 312, when the selected transaction code matches the affinity definition, an affinity registration message may be sent to a coupling facility, at 314, and the method may proceed to 316. The affinity registration message may include information based on the selected affinity definition. For example, the affinity registration message may inform the coupling facility that the server associated with the router has an associated system affinity or an associated class affinity.
At 312, when the selected transaction code does not match any of the affinity definitions in the customer affinity definitions, the method proceeds to 316. At 316, a determination may be made whether there are more transaction codes. When a determination is made, at 316, that there are more transaction codes, the method may return to 310. Otherwise, when a determination is made, at 316, that there are no more transaction codes, the method may end at 318.
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a first illustrative embodiment of a method to route a transaction message. The method of FIG. 4 may be performed by a component of a server, such as the first server 202 in FIG. 2.
At 402, a router may be initialized. For example, in FIG. 2, the first server 202 may initialize the router 220. Proceeding to 404, a transaction message is received. For example, during runtime operation, the server 202 may receive the transaction message 250. Moving to 406, an affinity of the transaction message is determined. Advancing to 408, a determination may be made whether the transaction message has a specific affinity. For example, when a transaction affinity of the transaction message matches a system affinity of a server system, the transaction message has a specific affinity for the server system. At 408, when the transaction message has a specific affinity, the method may proceed to 414.
When the transaction message is determined to not have a specific affinity, at 408, a determination may be made whether the transaction message has a generic affinity, at 410. For example, when a transaction affinity of the transaction message matches a portion of a system affinity of a server system, the transaction message has a generic affinity for the server system. To illustrate, when the system affinity is in the form of an alphanumeric system identifier, wild card characters may be used to determine whether the transaction affinity of the transaction message matches a portion of the system affinity of the server system. When the transaction message has a generic affinity, at 410, the method may proceed to 414.
When the transaction message is determined to not have a generic affinity, at 410, a determination may be made whether the transaction message has a class affinity, at 412. For example, a determination may be made whether a transaction class of the transaction message matches a class affinity of the server system. At 412, when the transaction message has a class affinity, the method may proceed to 414. When the transaction message is determined to not have a class affinity, at 412, the method may end at 426.
At 414, a server system is selected based on whether the transaction message has the specific affinity, the generic affinity, or the class affinity. Continuing to 416, a set of target servers of the selected server system may be identified. For example, a primary set of target servers may be selected and when the primary set of target servers in not available a secondary or backup set of target servers may be selected. Advancing to 418, a determination may be made whether the set of target servers includes at least one active server. When a determination is made that the set of target servers does not include at least one active server, at 418, a routing failed error may be generated at 424 and the method may end at 426.
When a determination is made that the set of target servers includes at least one active server, at 418, the transaction message is modified based on the affinity of the transaction message at 420. For example, when the affinity of the transaction message is an alphanumeric identifier, the name of the transaction message may be modified to include the alphanumeric identifier. To illustrate, when the affinity of the transaction message is “IMS” and the name of the transaction message is “T1,” the name of the transaction message may be modified to “IMS_T1.” Proceeding to 422, the modified transaction message is routed to a message queue of a coupling facility, and the method may end at 426.
FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a second illustrative embodiment of a method to route a transaction message. The method of FIG. 5 may be performed by a network component configured to distribute transaction message to one more servers, such as the coupling facility 208 in FIG. 2.
At 502, a transaction message is received. For example, in FIG. 2, the coupling facility 208 receives the modified transaction message 256. Proceeding to 504, a determination is made whether the transaction message includes an affinity indicating a preference regarding processing of the transaction message. For example, in FIG. 2, the coupling facility 208 deter mines whether the modified transaction message 256 includes the server system identifier 258. To illustrate, when the name of the modified transaction message 256 is “IMS_T1,” the coupling facility determines that the modified transaction message 256 has an affinity for the server system “IMS.” Continuing to 506, a server system is selected based on a selection algorithm and based on whether the transaction message includes the affinity. For example, when the name of the modified transaction message 256 is “IMS_T1,” the coupling facility selects the server system having the system identifier “IMS.” The coupling facility may select the server system based on one or more of the system identifier, the runtime affinity definitions 242, and the notification rules 266.
Advancing to 508, a notification message is sent to each server of the selected server system. The notification message may inform each server that a transaction is available for processing at a message queue of the coupling facility. The notification message may also request each server to send a bid to the coupling facility to process the transaction message. Moving to 510, at least one bid to process the transaction message may be received. Proceeding to 512, a server of the selected server system may be selected to process the transaction message based on the at least one bid. The coupling facility may select a server system to process the transaction message based on various criteria, such as a timestamp of the bid indicating when the bid was sent or received and an indication of the availability of resources at the server system to process the transaction message. Continuing to 514, the transaction message may be sent to the selected server. The method may end at 516.
FIG. 6 is an illustrative embodiment of customer definitions. The customer definitions may be at the customer definitions library 210 in FIG. 2.
Customer definition 602 illustrates how a user can set various configuration options for a router using the customer definitions. The customer definition 602 indicates that the router may use a data structure named COM_DEF_1. The data structure COM_DEF_1 is typically located at a coupling facility. The router may determine whether the COM_DEF_1 data structure is valid before using the COM_DEF_1 data structure. The customer definition 602 also sets the status of the router to “enabled.” When an error condition occurs and the transaction message is received from a network entity, such as the transaction source 212 in FIG. 2, the error message ERR_MSG_1 is returned to the network entity. For example, an error condition occurs when no servers are available to process the transaction message. When an error condition occurs and the transaction message is received from another software program, such as another software program in the memory 218, the error message ERR_1 is returned to the program.
Customer definition 604 defines a server system by associating a name IMSGRP01 to a set of servers, IMS1, IMS2, and IMS3, and enabling the status of the server system IMSGRP01. The name IMSGRP01 may be referred to in an affinity definition, such as definitions 610 and 612. Customer definition 606 defines a server system by associating a name IMSGRP02 to a server, IMSA, and disabling the status of the server system IMSGRP02. Customer definition 608 defines a server system by associating the name IMSGRP03 and a wild card character “*,” which matches the server associated with the router. For example, during initialization, when the router 220 retrieves customer definition 608 which includes the wild card character “*,” then the name IMSGRP03 is associated with the server system 200. The customer definition 608 also enables the status of the server system IMSGRP03.
Customer definition 610 defines an affinity for a transaction message by specifying that a transaction message having the transaction affinity TRANSMSG has an affinity to be processed by the server systems identified by system identifier IMSGRP03. Customer definition 610 also indicates that when an error is encountered, the router should stop processing the transaction message and return a rejection message or rejection code, such as ERR_MSG_1 or ERR_1. When an error is encountered, the user can either specify that the router return a rejection code or rejection message or specify that the router place the transaction message on the message queue without an affinity.
Customer definition 612 defines an affinity for a transaction message by specifying that a transaction message having the generic transaction affinity “I&S*” has an affinity to be processed by the server systems identified by system identifiers “IMSGRP01” or “IMSGRP02.” The first system identifier, IMSGRP01 indicates a primary server system for the transaction affinity and the second system identifier, IMSGRP02, specifies a secondary or backup server system. The router will attempt to route the transaction message to the primary server system and, when the primary server system is unavailable, the router may route the transaction message to the secondary server system. In customer definition 612, DISP(QUEUE) indicates that when an error is encountered, the router may queue the transaction message without an affinity.
Customer definition 614 defines an affinity for a transaction message by specifying that a transaction message having a class affinity of 1, 2 or 3 has an affinity to be processed by the server system identified by system identifier “IMSGRP02.”
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computing system in which systems and methods of the present disclosure may be implemented. Computing system 700 includes an example of a server, such as the first server 202 in FIG. 2, in which computer usable code or instructions are executable to implement the various components, such as the router 220 and queue interface 222 may be implemented.
In the depicted example, the computing system 700 employs a hub architecture including a north bridge and memory controller hub (MCH) 702 and a south bridge and input/output (I/O) controller hub (ICH) 704. A processor 706, a main memory 708, and a graphics processor 710 are coupled to the north bridge and memory controller hub 702. For example, the graphics processor 710 may be coupled to the MCH 702 through an accelerated graphics port (AGP) (not shown).
In the depicted example, a network adapter 712 is coupled to the south bridge and I/O controller hub 704 and an audio adapter 716, a keyboard and mouse adapter 720, a modem 722, a read only memory (ROM) 724, universal serial bus (USB) ports and other communications ports 732, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) and Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) devices 734 are coupled to the south bridge and I/O controller hub 704 via bus 738. A disk drive 726 and a DVD-ROM drive 730 are coupled to the south bridge and I/O controller hub 704 through the bus 738. The DVD-ROM drive 730 may be capable of reading various optical media, including compact disc (CD), and digital versatile disc (DVD). The PCI/PCIe devices 734 may include, for example, Ethernet adapters, add-in cards, and PC cards for notebook computers. The ROM 724 may be, for example, a flash binary input/output system (BIOS). The disk drive 726 and the DVD-ROM drive 730 may use, for example, an integrated drive electronics (IDE) or serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interface. A super I/O (SIO) device 736 may be coupled to the south bridge and I/O controller hub 704.
The main memory 708 includes a router 740 and a routing table 742. The computing system 700 is coupled via a network 744 to a message queue 748, a first server system 750, a second server system 752, a third server system 754, and a transaction source 756. The computing system 700 receives a transaction message 758 having an affinity 760 from the transaction source 756.
The router 740 may be implemented as computer instructions installed onto a computer readable medium, such as the main memory 708. In one illustrative embodiment, the computer instructions of the router 740 may be installed at the main memory 708 via a transfer from another computer readable medium, such as the disk drive 726, from the ROM 724, or from an optical disc 731 capable of being read via the DVD-ROM 730. In another illustrative embodiment, the computer instructions of the router 740 may be installed at the main memory 708 via a transfer from another computer readable medium accessible to the network 744. For example, the computer instructions of the router 740 may emanate from a server (not shown) of the first server system 750. The computer instructions of the router 740 may be received via the network adapter 712 and may be installed at the main memory 708.
The router 740 includes a computer implemented process to enable routing a transaction message based on an affinity of the transaction message. The computer implemented process to enable routing the transaction message based on the affinity of the transaction message is made by a method that includes installing first computer instructions onto a computer readable medium, such as the main memory 708. The first computer instructions are configured to receive a transaction message at the router 740. Second computer instructions are further installed onto the computer readable medium. The second computer instructions are configured to determine whether the transaction message includes an affinity indicating an administrator-specified preference regarding processing of the transaction message. When the transaction message includes the affinity, the second computer instructions are configured to select a server system among a plurality of server systems to process the transaction message based on the affinity and based on a system affinity of the server system. The system affinity specifies processing characteristics of the server system. The server system comprises a set of servers.
Third computer instructions are further installed onto the computer readable medium. The third computer instructions are configured to modify the transaction message to include an identification of the server system. Fourth computer instructions are further installed onto the computer readable medium. The fourth computer instructions are configured to route the modified transaction message to a message queue.
Selecting the server system includes installing fifth computer instructions onto the computer readable medium. The fifth computer instructions are configured to determine whether the transaction message has a specific affinity to the server system by determining whether a transaction affinity of the transaction message matches the system affinity associated with the server system. The fifth computer instructions are further configured to determine whether the transaction message has a generic affinity to the server system by determining whether the transaction affinity of the transaction message matches a portion of the system affinity associated with the server system. The fifth computer instructions are further configured to determine whether the transaction message has a class affinity by determining whether a transaction class of the transaction message matches a class attribute associated with the server system.
The method to make the computer implemented process to enable routing the transaction message 758 based on the affinity 760 of the transaction message 758 may be performed by an installer 780 that is provided by and functions on behalf of, or as an agent of, a software distributor 784. The installer 780 may perform installation functions in response to detecting a system message from the keyboard and mouse adapter 720. In one embodiment, in response to detecting a system message from the keyboard and mouse adapter 720, a software package 782 may be downloaded from the software distributor 784 via the network 744 and then executed to create the installer 780. In another embodiment, in response to detecting a system message from the keyboard and mouse adapter 720, the installer 780 may download the software package 782 from the software distributor 784.
The installer 780 may carry out various installation steps to transform the software package 782 from an un-executable, unusable state to an executable, useful state. For example, the installer 780 may install first computer instructions (CI) 786, second CI 788, third CI 790, fourth CI 792, and fifth CI 794 to create a computer implemented process, such as the router 740, to enable routing the transaction message 758 based on the affinity 760.
An operating system (not shown) runs on the processor 706 and coordinates and provides control of various components within the computing system 700. The operating system may be a commercially available operating system such as Microsoft® Windows® XP (Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both). An object oriented programming system, such as the Java® programming system, may run in conjunction with the operating system and provide calls to the operating system from Java programs or applications executing on computing system 700 (Java and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both).
Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented programming system, and applications or programs are located on storage devices, such as the hard disk drive 726, and may be loaded into the main memory 708 for execution by the processor 706. The processes of the disclosed illustrative embodiments may be performed by the processor 706 using computer implemented instructions, which may be located in a memory such as, for example, the main memory 708, the read only memory 724, or in one or more of the peripheral devices.
The hardware in computing system 700 may vary depending on the implementation. Other internal hardware or peripheral devices, such as flash memory, equivalent non-volatile memory, or optical disk drives and the like, may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in FIG. 7. Also, the processes of the disclosed illustrative embodiments may be applied to a multiprocessor data processing system.
In some illustrative examples, portions of the computing system 700 may be implemented in a personal digital assistant (PDA), which is generally configured with flash memory to provide non-volatile memory for storing operating system files and/or user-generated data. A bus system may be comprised of one or more buses, such as a system bus, an I/O bus and a PCI bus. Of course the bus system may be implemented using any type of communications fabric or architecture that provides for a transfer of data between different components or devices attached to the fabric or architecture. A communications unit may include one or more devices used to transmit and receive data, such as a modem or a network adapter. A memory may be, for example, the main memory 708 or a cache such as found in the north bridge and memory controller hub 702. A server may include one or more processors or CPUs. The depicted examples in FIG. 7 and above-described examples are not meant to imply architectural limitations. For example, portions of the computing system 700 also may be implemented in a tablet computer, laptop computer, or telephone device in addition to taking the form of a PDA.
Particular embodiments of the computing system 700 can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In a particular embodiment, the disclosed methods are implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a method to create a computer implemented process. The method may be executed by a component of a server, such as the installer 780 in FIG. 7.
At 802, a software package may be received. For example, the installer 780 may receive the software package 782 from the software distributor 784 via the network 744. Continuing to 804, pre-installation preparations may be performed. For example, the installer 780 may determine whether there are sufficient resources, such as memory space and processor capacity, to install and run the software package 782. Moving to 806, the instructions of the software package may be read. The instructions of the software package may provide additional information associated with the installation.
Advancing to 808, a determination may be made whether any installation choices are required. For example, the installation choices may determine various configuration parameters and may determine which components of the software package are installed. When installation choices are not required, at 808, then the method proceeds to 814. When installation choices are required, at 808, then the installation choices are presented at 810. Proceeding to 812, selections to the installation choices are received. For example, the installer 780 may receive selections to the installation choices via system messages from the keyboard and mouse adapter 720.
Continuing to 814, files may be extracted from the software package and stored. For example, the installer 780 may extract files from the software package 782 and store the files at the disk drive 726 or the main memory 708. Moving to 816, operating system files may be updated. For example, the installer 780 may update a program registry of an operating system.
Proceeding to 818, first computer instructions (CI) may be installed onto a computer readable medium, the first CI configured to receive a transaction message. Advancing to 820, second CI may be installed onto the computer readable medium, the second CI configured to determine whether the transaction message includes an affinity and to select a server system. Continuing to 822, third CI may be installed onto the computer readable medium, the third CI configured to modify the transaction message to include an identification of the server system. Moving to 824, fourth CI may be installed onto the computer readable medium, the fourth CI configured to route the modified transaction message to a message queue. Proceeding to 826, fifth CI may be installed onto the computer readable medium, the fifth CI configured to determine whether the transaction message has a specific affinity, a generic affinity, or a class affinity to the server system.
Advancing to 828, an uninstaller may be created. The uninstaller may be used to remove a portion of or all of the computer instructions installed using the computer implemented process. Continuing to 830, post-installation cleanup may be performed. For example, the installer 780 may remove temporary files created during the installation process. The method ends at 832.
Further, embodiments of the present disclosure, such as the one or more embodiments in FIGS. 1-8, can take the foam of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and digital versatile disk (DVD).
A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code may include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution.
Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the data processing system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers.
Network adapters may also be coupled to the data processing system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modems, and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters.
The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosed embodiments. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope possible consistent with the principles and features as defined by the following claims.
Kennedy, Michael Bruce, Magid, Robert Mark, Ziebarth, Mark Neal
Moise, Emmanuel L
Assistant Examiner(s)
MURPHY, CHARLES C
709/246, 709/238, 709/231, 709/230, 709/229, 709/227, 709/225, 709/224, 370/401, 370/389, 370/252
H04L 45/02 : Topology update or discover...
H04L 45/121 : Minimizing delay
Affinity Based Transaction Processing
Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
Sponsoring Entity: International Business Machines Corporation
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Carlo Giustini Releases ‘Manifestazioni’
Stefan Baranowski / Review /
Saturday 29th September // As far as concept albums go, this one is truly special. ‘Manifestazioni‘ is the title of the 5 track album by Italian composer Carlo Giustini, an experimental drive capturing the essence of desolate streets in a suburban town. Released on the Berlin based label ROHS! RECORDS, the album is sure to have a positive effect on the ambient community.
The opening track ‘Il Vicino (Si Muove)‘ is the perfect introduction to begin our journey. I’m reminded of the early sounds of ambient pioneer Gigi Masin, a composer of some of the most influential ambient pieces from the late 80’s. A series of progressive ambient drone-like sounds combine whilst the distorted vision of environmental sounds litter the composition. There’s certainly a dream-like essance running through the album, but the opening track strongly paints a fundamental visual of what awaits.
Taken from the description of the album, here is a fantastic definition that defines the experience.
“These are five untamed field recordings captured between the desolate streets of suburban Treviso in late June 2018. Five explorations of the secret language whispered by its houses and by the slow and mysterious movements of its inhabitants exhausted by the summer heat.”
The album is available on both digital and physical formats, cassette version limited to 20 copies.
« ‘Vessels of Time’ Revisited » Italian Producer FALLEN Showcases ‘Tout est Silencieux’
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Insight Interview: Cobalt Rabbit
Antony O'Loughlin / Interview /
We caught up with Insight favourite Cobalt Rabbit to talk about his music, collaborating with glo and the future. Read his story here…
Hey Cobalt Rabbit! Thank you for agreeing to an interview. First off, can you recall your first real exposure to music?
No problem! I had this mp3 player that was able to tune into different FM/AM radio stations and I happened to be up late at night around 3:00AM to stumble upon an interview with Amon Tobin talking about his incredible LP “ISAM.” The intricate sounds and rhythms were something on another planet to me at the time. I looked up his library the following day and fell more and more down the rabbit hole into the more obscure underground music scene.
How and when did you first begin writing and creating music?
Back in 2008 my dad was friends with a guitar player who worked with and told him about FL Studio. I remember my dad describing the things you could do with the software and I knew I had to get my hands on it and start creating right away. He downloaded the demo version on the family computer and the rest is history, I guess!
Have you ever played live? Would you like to in future? Any upcoming shows?
I played a few shows as Cobalt Rabbit in the past and would like to do it again. I’ve been in a different mindset with other projects lately. Got back from a recent show under an alias of mine that’s far more hyper haha.
What have been your biggest influences?
I would have to say Eskmo and Baths are pretty big influences on what I do, personally. Their complex layering of organic sounds on top of delicate elements like piano and atmospheric pads are definitely a good influence.
Do you think producing electronic music requires technical or creative skill? Or both?
I believe it definitely comes from years of understanding how different programs work and function, on top of in-depth analyses of how music is structured. It has been 10 years since I’ve started producing and I’m still learning.
Would you say you find the creative process cathartic or therapeutic at all? Has creating music helped you cope with difficult periods in your life?
The process is definitely cathartic, yes. I would say some of my recent material is my best work to date, as it was written around the time I was still living with my mom and her abusive boyfriend. I had a lot of rough nights and writing music to distract me/take me to different worlds kept me alive.
Any other genres you’d like to explore in future?
I have definitely been diving into different and more abstract genres as of late. I’ve been very busy with a more fun, colorful project called “♥ GOJII ♥.” It’s an amalgamation of rave-influenced music fused with intricate future bass melodies. Cannot wait to watch it grow ♥.
Do you have any thoughts on the future of underground musical styles? Do you think the scene will evolve further?
The scenes are definitely evolving and growing into beautiful subgenres and styles. I don’t think I would want them to become mainstream, as there’s something magical and feeling more like a “family” when it stays “underground” you know.
Your latest EP is a collab with Fox Machine Gun. How did that collab come about and how did you both work together to produce such amazing sounds?
Fox Machine Gun is one of my many side-projects actually! Dnb and neuro subgenres have been of fascination to me. I wanted to see if I could utilize bass sound design as more of a percussive element and less of a focal point of a track, as can be heard in my latest EP. it was a fun process and I might do more of it in the future, we’ll see.
Can we expect any more Cobalt Rabbit collabs in future? Any other specific artists you’d like to work with?
I would love to do more collaborations with glo again. His dark yet delicate soundscapes are magic to work with and I feel our sound as a whole is something magical. As far as new collabs go, i’ve always dreamed of possibly producing for FKA Twigs….
Do you have a favourite track / song of all time? Favourite artist?
I wouldn’t say I had a ‘top’ favorite, as i love A LOT of music, haha, but I’m currently in love with Bewilderbeast‘s LP “Still/Alive.”
It’s been said that a life in music can be a hard one. Would you agree with that? Have you ever thought of swapping this life for a different one? Would you have any words of advice for young producers who might be nervous about putting their music out there?
Life personally has been a bit rough lately and i’ve been struggling with depression/anxiety episodes daily on top of cutting off a toxic family. Swapping lives has crossed my mind occasionally, but I don’t think I would. I get to live with the love of my life and we both appreciate each other’s art. it’s not perfect, but it’s very special and dear to me. As for aspiring producers, if you’re trying to get into the music scene in hope of fame and financial success, it’s a very tough field and there will be a lot of obstacles. Also luck determines whether or not you really “make it.”
Ultimately if you’re doing something that makes you happy and you feel the world should hear it, definitely put your stories out there!
Any other Cobalt Rabbit projects on the horizon that you’d like to tell us about?
I’m gonna take a little break from that project at the moment production-wise but I am interested in playing more shows in the future by the end of 2017.
And finally – are there any tracks / artists that are relatively unknown that you’d like people to know about?
Underground/underrated artists I definitely recommend: Bewilderbeast, Elevation, Geotic, and Isqa.
Thanks so much Cobalt Rabbit!
‘Luminance’ by Cobalt Rabbit x Fox Machine Gun is out now on Insight – available here.
« Insight Interview: Rift » Insight Interview: Jameson Hodge & Waller
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Search Inspection.gc.ca
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
QSM-09: Compliance Agreement (CA)
This page is part of the Guidance Document Repository (GDR).
Looking for related documents?
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Quality Management System Requirements For Facilities Receiving and Handling Regulated Non-Propagative Potatoes and Related Potato Articles, Including Associated Soil
Contact and Review
1.0 Scope
3.0 Definitions, abbreviations and acronyms
4.0 CA approval process
4.1 Application for CA approval
4.2 Official signature
4.3 Evaluation of applications
4.4 Approval process
4.5 National list of CA-approved facilities
4.6 CA approval's lifespan
4.7 Re-applying for CA approval
5.0 Responsibilities of the approved facility
6.0 Quality Management System Manual
7.0 Training of employees
8.0 CFIA evaluations and audits
8.1 Evaluation
8.2 Surveillance audit
8.3 Non-conformances
8.3.1 Critical non-conformance
8.3.2 Major non-conformance
8.3.3 Minor non-conformance
8.3.4 Observations
8.3.5 Suspension of a CA
9.0 Enforcement measures
10.0 Internal audits
10.1 Frequency
10.2 Documenting the internal audit
10.3 Corrective actions
11.0 Record keeping and document verification
Appendix 1 Application for Approval under a Compliance Agreement (CA) with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
Appendix 2 CFIA Evaluation Checklist
Appendix 3 CFIA Surveillance Audit Checklist
Appendix 4 Report (D-96-05 & QSM-09)
Appendix 5 CFIA Corrective Action Request (CAR)
Appendix 6 List of Required Records and Documents
Appendix 7 Required elements of the Quality Management System Manual of an Approved Facility
Appendix 8 Guidelines for the Transport and Disposal of Regulated Articles and Cleaning Requirements
This document will be updated as required. For further information or clarification, please contact the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
Chief Plant Health Officer
Plant Health Directive Listserv
Other government organizations (Federal, Provincial, Municipal) (determined by Author)
National industry organizations and stakeholders (determined by Author)
General requirements for the importation and domestic movements of non-seed potatoes are prescribed in CFIA's Directive D-96-05, Phytosanitary requirements for the importation and domestic movement of non-propagative potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and related potato articles, including associated soil. D-96-05 introduces the concept of a Compliance Agreement (CA) as one of the options available to permit the movement of regulated potato articles in Canada.
A facility must be approved by the CFIA under a CA in order to be issued a Permit to Import or a Movement Certificate for the purpose of receiving and/or handling regulated articles as described in D-96-05.
The purpose of QSM-09 is to provide detailed information on the CA option as described in D-96-05. QSM-09 outlines the requirements for a facility to apply for approval under a CA, and for the CFIA to audit the facility. In particular, QSM-09 provides instructions and a template for the development of a Quality Management System Manual (herein referred to as the Manual).
QSM-09 is intended for use by both CFIA inspection staff and facilities seeking approval or already approved under a CA.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Fees Notice, Canada Gazette, Part I
D-96-05: Phytosanitary requirements for the importation and domestic movement of non-propagative potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and related potato articles, including associated soil.
Plant Protection Act (S.C. 1990, c.22)
Plant Protection Regulations (SOR/95-212)
PI-016 - Procedure for inspecting regulated articles for freedom from soil, plants, plant parts and related matter
Definitions for terms used in the present document can be found in the Plant Health Glossary of Terms.
A facility seeking approval under a CA must be willing to adhere to the administrative and operational requirements described in QSM-09 and D-96-05. A signed Application for Approval under a CA with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (Appendix 1) and a copy of the Manual must be sent to the local CFIA office for review. A list of local CFIA offices can be found on the CFIA website.
The person responsible for the facility's quality management system must sign the Application for Approval under a CA with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (Appendix 1).
The CFIA will review and compare the facility Manual to the CA requirements as specified in D-96-05 and QSM-09. An evaluation of the facility will be conducted by the CFIA.
Provided the Manual meets the CA requirements and the evaluation of the facility is satisfactory, the CFIA will sign the application form (Appendix 1) and the facility will be considered approved. A copy of the signed application must be placed in an appendix at the end of the Manual.
Listing of the facility in the national list of CA-approved facilities is mandatory. The list will be kept internally and will not be disclosed to individuals other than CFIA employees.
For facilities handling regulated articles year-round, the CA continues to be valid if a surveillance audit has been completed within the last 90 days, and all corrective actions (if any) have been addressed to the satisfaction of the CFIA.
The CA is no longer valid and the facility must complete an Application for Approval under a Compliance Agreement (CA) with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) (Appendix 1) if:
An audit has not been completed in the last 90 days;
The facility has been suspended;
The facility has voluntary withdrawn from the program;
The Import Permit or the Movement Certificate has been cancelled.
Note: The local CFIA office must be notified upon arrival of the first load of regulated articles. A surveillance audit is required prior to any movement of regulated articles to the facility. A review of the Manual may also be required.
A facility that has voluntarily withdrawn from a CA may re-apply for CA approval following the instructions outlined in section 4.1.
A facility for which the CA has been suspended by the CFIA (per section 8.3.5) may re-apply for CA approval, provided all requested corrective actions have been implemented to the satisfaction of the CFIA. An updated version of the Manual and a detailed report on corrective actions taken by the facility must accompany the application form (Appendix 1). Additional CFIA scrutiny including an increased audit frequency will also be implemented following the approval. Once on-going conformance has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the CFIA, the facility will be assigned the regular audit frequency.
The approved facility must comply with all the provisions of D-96-05 and QSM-09, including:
Planning, drafting and maintaining the Manual
Implementing the provisions of the Manual.
Circulating all updated versions of the Manual to the CFIA and the facility's staff.
Obtaining the CFIA's approval before implementing any changes to the Manual.
Conducting internal audits and making results available to the CFIA.
Cooperating with the CFIA's auditors.
Applying corrective actions as discussed and mutually agreed with the CFIA, and consequently updating the Manual to reflect corrections to administrative or operational procedures.
Employing competent staff in sufficient numbers to carry out the requirements of the Manual.
Training all staff members involved in receiving or handling the regulated articles in accordance with the provisions of the Manual. All staff involved must be aware of the phytosanitary requirements associated with the facility's CA approval.
Identifying a person responsible for the facility's quality management system.
Develop a contingency plan in case of an accidental spillage or overflow of the regulated articles.
Ensure all third parties contractors comply with the requirements of D-96-05 and QSM-09.
Informing the CFIA of receiving schedules for regulated articles.
The Manual should be designed so that full regulatory compliance is met through fulfillment of the provisions of the Manual. It is the facility's responsibility to develop its own Manual. The Manual will be used as a basis for evaluation and surveillance audits conducted by the CFIA, as well as internal audits conducted by the approved facility. A Manual must be kept up-to-date at all times, reflecting the facility's organizational and operational plans and the associated activities. Modifications to the Manual must be documented according to a protocol determined by the approved facility and described in the Manual. Approved facilities must seek CFIA approval prior to implementing any changes made to the Manual. Timelines for updating the Manual after findings of non-conformance are the same as the timelines for responding to a specific non-conformance (i.e., next audit for a minor, 2 weeks for a major etc.)
Appendix 7 outlines all expected elements to be found in the Manual of an approved facility. Note that some sections listed in Appendix 7 may not apply for some facilities.
In addition, Appendix 8 provides general guidelines for the movement and disposal of regulated articles and cleaning of facilities equipment. These elements should also be taken under consideration into the Manual.
Timely and effective training of all individuals involved in implementing the requirements of the Manual is essential. The approved facility must develop a training strategy and training plans must be documented and implemented. This includes relaying information contained in the Manual, D-96-05 and QSM-09, as well as any information pertinent to changes made to the Manual, D-96-05 and QSM-09. All CA-related training delivered and received must be recorded. Training records must indicate training dates, names of trainers and trainees, training type and content, and whether the training was completed satisfactorily. Training records must also include any additional training needs identified.
CFIA evaluations and audits are verifications that the facility conforms to the requirements of both the Manual and the D-96-05. CFIA audits may be scheduled and carried out during or after the period in which the facility is receiving potato articles from regulated areas.
CFIA inspection staff will use checklists to conduct evaluations and audits (Appendices 2 and 3). The person responsible for the facility's quality management system must be present and available to help during all scheduled CFIA activities at the facility. This includes allowing the CFIA inspectors to examine records and documents, collect samples, inspect articles and equipment, observe processes and interview facility staff.
Evaluation and audit findings will be compiled by the CFIA in a report (Appendix 4). Non-conformances will be identified and recorded in the evaluation and audit checklists (Appendices 2 and 3), and a Corrective Action Request (CAR) will be issued to the facility (Appendix 5) for any identified non-conformances. The facility is responsible for the implementation and documentation of corrective actions to address non-conformances within the time frame specified in the CAR. Corrective actions will be verified by the CFIA.
The CFIA evaluation is conducted prior to any movement of regulated articles into the facility and is a scheduled systematic examination of a new CA applicant's facility, which verifies if the facility is capable of meeting program requirements. It includes a review of the Manual and its proposed implementation plan (Appendix 2) and must be completed prior to CA approval. The evaluation will be scheduled after the facility has applied for CA approval (Appendix 1) and submitted a copy of their Manual to the CFIA. All non-conformances found during the course of the evaluation must be addressed before the facility is approved. Failure to address non-conformances and update the Manual accordingly will result in rejection of the application for CA approval.
The CFIA surveillance audits are reviews of the organizational structure, procedures, processes and resources used by the approved facility to fulfill all CA requirements, including the verification that the Manual and the corrective actions are implemented as planned (Appendix 3). Surveillance audits also include the review of all internal audit reports and associated records produced by the approved facility.
In general terms, the CFIA will conduct at least one surveillance audit during the period when the facility is receiving and handling regulated articles, with a minimum of one surveillance audit every three months. Ideally, the first surveillance audit will be performed within a week of receiving the first load of regulated articles. The last surveillance audit will be conducted immediately after the period during which regulated articles are handled by the approved facility. The purpose of the last surveillance audit is to verify proper cleanup practices in accordance with the Manual. For facilities handling regulated articles year-round, a specific schedule for clean-up of all equipment and areas used for receiving, conveying, storing and processing the regulated articles must be kept on record and will be used as a basis for at least one targeted CFIA surveillance audit per year.
Unsatisfactory findings during the surveillance audit will be dealt with in accordance with the non-conformance scheme as prescribed in section 8.3.
During the course of a CFIA audit or evaluation, any procedures, documentation, or articles that are found to be in contravention of the standards of the quality management system implemented by the facility are considered to be a non-conformance; this includes any deficiencies of the procedures in meeting the requirements of D-96-05 and QSM-09 or violations of the provisions of D-96-05, QSM-09 or the Manual.
Non-conformances can be classified into three types: critical, major, or minor. The classification of non-conformances is based on the evaluation of the associated phytosanitary risk and the resulting threat to the integrity of the quality management system of the approved facility. In the event of a dispute over the classification of a non-conformance, the CFIA's decision will be final.
For every non-conformance found during the course of a CFIA audit or evaluation, a Corrective Action Request (CAR) will be issued to the approved facility (Appendix 5), and the implementation of corrective actions will be expected and monitored by the CFIA. The approved facility must seek approval from the CFIA prior to implementing remedial actions to address CARs.
The identification of non-conformances and/or the unsatisfactory management of the associated CARs may increase the CFIA audit frequency for a period to be determined by the CFIA, and may result in suspension of a facility's CA.
A critical non-conformance is any single audit finding that reveals that the integrity of the quality management system of the approved facility is in jeopardy. The facility will be immediately suspended from the program if any critical non-conformances are found by the CFIA. Suspended facilities can re-apply for CA approval as per section 4.7.
Critical non-conformances include, but are not limited to:
Facility operating without implementing the requirements of D-96-05 and QSM-09 for the movement of potatoes originating from a regulated area.
Employees of the facility are not aware of the requirements of D-96-05.
Failure to take corrective action on a major non-conformance during the specified timeframe.
Failure to perform any internal audits.
Records for the program are unavailable or do not exist.
A major non-conformance is any isolated incident of non-conformance which does not immediately impact on the integrity of the quality management system of an approved facility. Corrective actions must be completed in a CFIA-approved manner within the time frame specified by the CFIA, which shall not exceed a maximum of two weeks. If two or more major non-conformances are detected during a CFIA audit, or if the facility fails to carry out the required corrective actions within two weeks, the non-conformance will be assessed as critical and the facility's CA will be immediately suspended. Suspended facilities can re-apply for CA approval as per section 4.7.
Major non-conformances include, but are not limited to:
Facility operating with significant changes to their procedures that have not been approved by CFIA.
Employees of the facility who are involved with implementing the quality procedures are not sufficiently trained.
Loads of regulated potato articles received by the facility are not recorded in a log.
Minor non-conformances are incidents that do not immediately and/or significantly affect the integrity of the quality management system of an approved facility, but that could lead to a major non-conformance if left unaddressed. Minor non-conformances must be addressed in a CFIA-approved manner before the next surveillance audit, or within the time frame specified by the CFIA. Should the facility fail to complete the corrective actions in the specified time frame, the non-conformance could lead to a major non-conformance.
If three or more minor non-conformances are detected in any one CFIA audit, this is considered equivalent to one major non-conformance. Therefore, four minor non-conformances are equal to one major plus one minor non-conformance. Similarly, six minor non-conformances are equal to two major non-conformances, which constitute a critical non-conformance; the facility's CA would therefore be immediately suspended.
Minor non-conformances include, but are not limited to:
Facility operating with minor adjustments to their procedures, incorporated or not in their quality manual, which have not been reviewed and accepted by CFIA.
Facility record-keeping is inadequate but records essential to the integrity of the phytosanitary standard (e.g. receiving log records) are complete.
One load of regulated potato articles received by the facility was not recorded in the log.
The CFIA's observations are points or practices which may be noted during audits and could be used to improve the Manual. An observation may be used to identify a situation of concern that does not warrant a CAR, or to highlight, suggest or reinforce particular practices.
Observations may include but are not limited to:
Suggest computer backup of files be done on a more regular basis.
Excellent record keeping.
Internal audit reports are being completed and are available, but an updated copy of the audit report template should be added to the Manual.
The suspension of a CA must occur in consultation with the CFIA Regional Program Officer (RPO) and the CFIA Area Program Specialist.
The CFIA will suspend a CA if:
One critical non-conformance is identified by the CFIA; or
The equivalent of one critical non-conformance is identified (i.e. two major, six minor, or one major plus three minor); or
The approved facility fails to address a major non-conformance; or
The approved facility voluntarily withdraws from a CA.
Immediately following the suspension of a facility's CA, the facility must terminate all importation/receiving and handling of regulated articles. The CFIA will suspend all Permits to Import and Movement Certificates associated with the regulated articles to prevent their movement to and from the suspended facility. Additional regulatory controls may be imposed on the suspended facility by the CFIA in order to alleviate any other phytosanitary risks associated with the non-conformance or the situation.
The facility's name and contact information will be removed from the National List of CA-Approved Facilities.
A suspended facility can re-apply for CA approval following instructions in section 4.7.
In addition to the fulfillment of the provisions of D-96-05 and QSM-09, facilities approved under a CA must ensure they comply with the Plant Protection Act, the Plant Protection Regulations and any additional requirements that apply to the regulated area from which the potato article is originating. The CFIA may take enforcement measures including prosecution for any violations of the above requirements.
The person responsible for the approved facility's quality management system must conduct internal audits, or designate and supervise employees to perform internal audits. In general terms, it is expected that internal audits be conducted at least twice during the period during which the approved facility is receiving and handling regulated articles, with a minimum of one internal audit every month. Internal auditors shall not audit their own work. Examples of audit checklists can be found in Appendices 2 and 3.
Internal audits do not need to be performed during the period when an approved facility does not receive or handle regulated articles subject to the CA, unless otherwise specified in the Manual
Internal audits include, but are not limited to:
The assessment of the adequacy and effectiveness of the facility's processes as outlined in their Manual in meeting the CA requirements prescribed in D-96-05 and QSM-09.
The verification of whether the required CA-related documentation is sufficient, current and readily available to staff.
The verification whether the facility's quality management system is operating in accordance with the specified requirements, including the performance of all staff identified in the Manual.
The verification that effective corrective action plans have been developed and properly implemented for all non-conformances identified.
The evaluation of the competency of employees in carrying out duties and responsibilities as outlined in the Manual.
The verification that the facility's record-keeping activities comply with the provisions of the Manual and are sufficient to ensure proper traceability and segregation of the regulated articles.
The verification that actions are taken on all outstanding non-conformances or CFIA CARs.
Records of every internal audit must be kept for a period of ten years. An internal audit report must be prepared within three working days of performing the internal audit, detailing any non-conformances, remedial action plans, corrective actions implemented and opportunities for improvement that related to CA requirements. Internal audit reports must be made available to the local CFIA office responsible for the surveillance audits. Internal audit reports and associated records will be review by the CFIA during surveillance audits.
Activities or articles that are found to be in violation of the provisions of D-96-05, QSM-09 or the Manual are considered non-conforming. Non-conformances detected during internal audits must be documented in internal audit reports. Corrective actions must be implemented for each non-conformance detected by the approved facility. Remedial action plans and the implementation of corrective actions must also be documented in internal audit reports.
Non-conformances found during internal audits must be identified as being "critical", "major" or "minor", in accordance with section 8.3. The implementation of remedial action plans and the associated corrective actions must be prioritized based on the type of the non-conformance. Internal audit reports must include detailed instructions on how to prevent recurrences of the non-conformances, generally requiring that the Manual be amended and staff be informed accordingly. It is the responsibility of the facility to inform CFIA of any critical non-conformances found during an internal audit no later than the next business day following the finding.
Record keeping is a key CA requirement. The approved facility must keep records of all organizational and operational processes and procedures used to fulfill all CA requirements. Internal and CFIA auditors will review these records to verify if the facility's quality management system as described in its Manual, including the corrective actions, is implemented as planned. As well, the verification of an approved facility's records will help the CFIA determine if a facility satisfies all requirements stated in D-96-05 and QSM-09. Records must be kept on the premises of the approved facility and must be available to the CFIA upon request at any time. CA-required records must be kept for a minimum of ten years. CA-required records relate to receiving, rejecting, storing, handling, processing and shipping regulated articles, disposing of by-products, cleaning activities, training of staff, identifying and remedying non-conformances, internal and CFIA audit reports, tracking amendments to the Manual, etc. Consult Appendix 6 for list of all CA-required records and documents.
In addition, up-to-date copies of the following documents must be readily accessible for use by all facility staff and contractors involved in the management, processing or handling of regulated articles:
Plant Protection Act and Plant Protection Regulations.
QSM-09: Compliance agreement - Quality system requirements for facilities receiving and handling regulated non propagative potatoes, related potato articles and the associated soil.
Any other regulatory documents that relates to the areas from which the imported or received potato article is originating.
Appendix 1: Application for Approval under a Compliance Agreement (CA) with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
As described in D-96-05 and QSM-09 Under the authority of the Plant Protection Act and Regulations of Canada
Please check one:
New applicant
Renewal (good compliance status)
Re-application (following voluntarily withdrawal from the CA)
Re-application (following CA suspension by the CFIA)
Facility address
Title or position
Applicant's statement:
I agree to act as the person responsible for the above facility's quality management system.
I have read and agree to comply with all provisions of D-96-05 and QSM-09. In particular, I agree:
To implement the provisions of the Manual and keep it up to date.
To circulate all updated versions of the Manual to the CFIA and the facility's staff.
To seek the CFIA's approval before implementing any changes to the Manual.
To conduct internal audits and make the results available to the CFIA.
To cooperate with the CFIA's auditors.
To apply corrective actions as discussed and mutually agreed to with the CFIA, and update the Manual accordingly.
To employ competent staff in sufficient numbers to carry out the requirements of the Manual.
To train all individuals involved in implementing the provisions of the Manual.
To identify a person responsible for the facility's quality management system.
To develop a contingency plan in case of an accidental spillage or overflow of the regulated articles.
To ensure all third parties contractors comply with the requirements of D-96-05 and QSM-09.
To inform the CFIA of receiving schedules for regulated articles.
I will contact the local CFIA office as soon as a date for receiving the first load of regulated articles has been confirmed.
I have read and understand all conditions in the above statement.
Printed Name and Title
Approval Statement from the CFIA:
In my capacity as CFIA Inspector or Regional Program Officer authorized under the Plant Protection Act, and further to my review of the applicant's Manual and results of the evaluation audit of the facility, I authorize the above facility to be approved under a CA with the CFIA in order to implement the provisions of their Manual for the following period:
Period importing (active): from to .
Signature & printed name
CFIA Inspector or Regional Program Officer
CFIA Area Program Specialist
This application form must be submitted to the local CFIA office. A list of local CFIA offices can be found at the CFIA website.
Appendix 2: CFIA Evaluation Checklist (D-96-05 & QSM-09)
The following checklist should be used during the evaluation of the facility.
CFIA Evaluators
Date of Evaluation
Evaluation Checklist (D-96-05 & QSM-09)
This checklist is designed to be completed by a CFIA inspector. The Evaluation Checklist is split into 2 sections. The first section is for recording the general details about the CFIA Evaluation, e.g. the company name and address, evaluation date, etc. The second part of the checklist is for recording the details of the facility's conformance with the evaluation criteria. The sections listed in the checklist are the following:
Receiving and Handling of Regulated Article
Handling and Disposal Rejected Loads
Storing, Tracking and Labelling
Washing and Brushing
Peeling and/or Cooking
Packing and Repacking
Sprout Inhibition
Collection within the Facility
Final Disposition of By-Products
Appendix 3: CFIA Surveillance Audit Checklist (D-96-05 & QSM-09)
The following checklist should be used during the surveillance audit of the facility.
CFIA Auditors
Date of Audit
CFIA Surveillance Audit Checklist (D-96-05 & QSM-09)
This checklist is designed to be completed by a CFIA inspector. The Surveillance Audit Checklist is split into 2 sections. The first section is for recording the general details about the CFIA Surveillance Audit, e.g. company name and address, audit date, etc. The second part of the checklist is for recording the details of the facility's conformance with the audit criteria. The sections listed in the checklist are the following:
Appendix 4: Report (D-96-05 & QSM-09)
Importation and Domestic Movement of Non-Propagative Potatoes
Report (D-96-05 & QSM-09)
This report is designed to be completed by a CFIA inspector. The Report summarizes the results of the CFIA Evaluation or the CFIA Surveillance Audit. The report also lists:
Report no.,
Name and address of facility,
Facility representative information,
Lead CFIA representative information,
Participants,
Period covered by the report,
And all the Corrective Action Requests issued to the company as a result of the CFIA Evaluation or the CFIA Surveillance Audit.
Appendix 5: CFIA Corrective Action Request (CAR) (D-96-05 & QSM-09)
Corrective Action Request (D-96-05 & QSM-09)
The Corrective Action Request is designed to be issued by a CFIA inspector. The Corrective Action Request is split up into 5 parts. The first part is for recording the general details about the CFIA Evaluation or CFIA Surveillance Audit. The second part describes the details of a non-conformance found during a CFIA Evaluation or a CFIA Surveillance Audit. The third part is for the facility's corrective action plan. This section has to be sign by the facility representative. The fourth part is for the CFIA inspector to sign the Corrective Action Request once the corrective action plan has been completed. The fifth and final part of the Corrective Action Request is for additional comments and the signature box.
Appendix 6: List of Required Records and Documents
The following records, logs and documents must be kept for a period of ten years.
Records to be kept up to date:
Staff and contractors responsibility list;
Training records;
Shipment reception log;
Shipment rejection log;
Logs and records associated with storing, handling, grading, processing, packing, shipping, sprout inhibiting and other activities;
Logs and records for the collection and disposal of regulated articles and by-products;
Cleaning records;
Internal audit records;
Records of internal and CFIA audit non-conformances and corrective actions;
Manual updates.
Documents to be available at any time (electronic copies are acceptable):
Movement Certificates;
Corrective Action Requests;
Permits to Import;
Bills, shipping slips, treatment certificates or any other document that relates to tasks required by the Manual;
Previous versions of the Manual;
Internal audit reports;
Any documents sent by the CFIA (letters, reports, etc.)
Appendix 7: Required elements of the Quality Management System Manual of an Approved Facility
The following information must be included in the Manual of an approved facility under a CA in accordance with the provisions of D-96-05 and QSM-09. Some requirements may not apply.
A. Format of the Manual
The front page of the Manual must display the following information:
The facility's legal and business name.
The complete address (es) of the premises where the facility will be receiving and handling the regulated articles subject to the CA.
The suggested document title "[insert company name] Quality Management System Manual for the implementation of the CFIA CA requirements in order to receive and handle regulated potato articles as described in D-96-05 and QSM-09".
The date and/or version number of the document.
The following information should be recorded on each page of the Manual:
On the lower left-hand side: version date and/or number.
On the lower right-hand side: "page X of Y" pagination.
B. Generalities
B1. Management Endorsement
Facility management must sign and date a statement in the Manual, indicating that they agree to operate in accordance with the terms of the Manual, D-96-05 and QSM-09. Facility's management must identify one employee responsible for the facility's quality management system as a main contact for the CFIA, including at least one alternate person. Names of representatives must be clearly spelled out.
B2. Facility Description and Administrative Structure
The Manual must briefly describe the facility's main business lines. All activities associated with CA requirements prescribed in D-96-05 and QSM-09 must be described in detail. The Manual must list all employees involved in these activities, including a description of their respective responsibilities. The name of all individuals involved in implementing the provisions of the Manual must appear in the Manual; this includes all hired third-party contractors. An organizational chart must be included in an appendix to the Manual.
B3. Training of Employees
All training plans pertinent to the implementation of the Manual requirements must be described in the Manual. This includes a description of the process by which the facility deals with and communicates changes to the Manual. Training records must be completed and kept. A template for training records must be included in an appendix to the Manual.
B4. Internal Audits
The facility's plan for conducting internal audits must be described in the Manual. This includes a description of the audit frequency and the associated operational procedures. Internal audit reports must be completed and kept. A template for internal audit reports must be included in an appendix to the Manual.
B5. Updating the Manual
The Manual must describe how to update the Manual. All modifications to the Manual should be recorded in a tracking sheet to be included in an appendix to the Manual.
B6. Record Keeping
The Manual must indicate that all records associated with the implementation of the Manual must be kept on the facility's premises for a period of ten years, and that all records must be made available to the CFIA upon request.
C. Identification of All Process Steps Associated with the Regulated Articles
All processing steps and activities related to receiving and handling regulated articles must be described and documented in the Manual.
The Manual must clearly identify the nature of the regulated articles being received and handled by the facility.
The Manual must contain a general diagram of the overall flow of articles and by-products (wash water, liquid and solid wastes, culls, peels, other potato parts, soil, used containers, etc.) throughout the facility, from receiving to shipping. The diagram should primarily focus on articles, installations and activities associated with receiving, handling, processing and disposing of the regulated articles.
By-products generated by the facility, such as rejected potatoes, culls, potato parts, soil, wash water and used containers are considered regulated articles and must be subject to specific collection and disposal instructions in the Manual as part of all processing steps. Appendix 8 outlines additional disposal requirements.
Specific to every processing step, the identification of equipment, areas, procedures, responsible staff members, the use of logs and the creation of a layout and/or flow diagram may be required in the Manual for clarification.
C1. Receiving and storing the regulated articles
The Manual must identify the period of the year when the facility plans to receive the regulated articles, including an evaluation of the volumes to be received and the origin of the articles. All documents related to sourcing and purchasing the regulated articles must be made available to the CFIA upon request. All loads of regulated articles received by the facility must be recorded in a log. A template of the reception log must be included in an appendix to the Manual. This log must include the following information for each load of regulated articles:
Reception date.
Description of the articles.
Quantity received.
Load identification or tracking number, including a copy of the delivery bill.
Packaging status (i.e. bulk or packaged), including package size.
Cleanliness status (i.e. received as washed or not).
Origin of the articles, including the certificate of origin, Phytosanitary Certificate, or Movement Certificate, if applicable.
Status of load: accepted or rejected.
Cleanliness of trailer after unloading.
Notify the local CFIA contact person prior to or within one business day upon arrival of the first load of regulated articles.
C1.1 Description of the unloading area
A detailed diagram of the layout of the unloading areas must be appended to the Manual, including a description of the article flow, the washing/cleaning areas, and the type of surfaces onto which the regulated articles and the associated conveyance will be traveling and unloading (i.e. cement, gravel, dirt, etc.)
C1.2 Description of the unloading process
The Manual must contain the following information:
A list of unloading equipment (trailers, conveyor belts, etc.)
An unloading procedure.
C1.3 Managing rejected loads
The Manual must indicate a procedure for the disposal of rejected loads of regulated articles. The CFIA must be contacted for a Movement Certificate if a rejected load is going to a destination other than the one stated in their Manual. All rejected loads must be recorded in a log. A template of the rejection log must be included in an appendix to the Manual. This log must include the following information for each rejected load:
The delivery date.
Reasons for rejection.
Movement Certificate number if applicable.
Final destination.
C1.4 Storing
A procedure for identifying and operating the storages that ensures the regulated articles are segregated from non-regulated articles. All movement of regulated articles within storage must be recorded in a log. A template of the storage log must be included in an appendix to the Manual. This log must track all regulated articles in and out of the storage (e.g., bins, regulated potatoes, etc.)
A detailed diagram of the layout of the storage area to be appended to the Manual.
C2. Grading
A list of grading equipment.
A grading procedure.
C3. Washing and brushing
A list of washing and brushing equipment.
Washing and brushing procedures.
C4. Packing and repacking
A list of packing and repacking equipment.
Packing and repacking procedures.
C5. Peeling
A list of peeling equipment.
Peeling procedures.
C6. Cooking
A list of cooking equipment.
Cooking procedures.
C7. Sprout inhibition
A list of sprout inhibition equipment.
Sprout inhibition procedures. Sprout inhibition activities must be recorded in a log. A template of the sprout inhibition log must be included in an appendix to the Manual. This log must contain:
the load/or lot identification,
the sprout inhibition products used,
the application rate,
the date and time of treatment,
the name of the person who performed the treatment.
Should the sprout inhibition be performed prior to receiving the regulated potatoes, treatment information must be collected and records must be kept in association with the above log or independently. This includes treatment procedures as stated above, and any documents ensuring the identification and traceability of the sprout-inhibited lots.
C8. Other Processing Steps
The Manual must describe any other processes applied by the facility to the regulated articles. The Manual must indicate all mitigation measures implemented in order to reduce the phytosanitary risks associated with these other processes.
C9. Cleanup Activities, including Collecting and Disposing of Regulated Articles and By-Products
The Manual must describe cleanup activities including the collection and disposal of regulated articles and by-products generated at every processing step.
This includes a description of all procedures used for cleaning equipment and areas dedicated to unloading, storing, conveying, grading, washing and brushing, packing and repacking, peeling, cooking, sprout inhibition, or any other processing steps.
This also includes a description of all procedures used for collecting and disposing of all waste associated with the regulated articles being handled, processed or treated, such as rejected potatoes, culls, potato parts, soil, wash water, and containers and packages used to store and transport the regulated articles.
In addition, the Manual must contain a description of any other cleanup activities of equipment or areas, as well as any procedures used to ensure segregation of the regulated articles and possible by-products. This includes end-of-season cleanup activities for facilities not handling regulated articles year-round, and transitioning to a period when non-regulated articles will be received or handled.
Refer to Appendix 8 and PI-016 for more details.
C10. Final Collection and Disposal of Regulated Articles and By-Products
Final collection and disposal of regulated articles and by-products can occur on the approved facility's premises or using third party service providers (please see Appendix 8).
The Manual must clearly indicate how the facility will handle final collection and disposal of any regulated articles and by-products generated from the above processing steps (wash water, liquid and solid wastes, rejected potatoes, culls, peels, other potato parts, soil, used containers, etc.), including any other things potentially contaminated by contact with the regulated articles.
For the purpose of providing detailed instructions for final collection and disposal of by-products, the identification of equipment, areas, procedures, responsible staff members, the use of logs and the creation of a layout and/or flow diagram are required and must be identified in the Manual. All documents associated with the disposal of regulated articles and by-products including information such as destination, authorization, service providers, date, time, quantity, description of articles and by-products, bills of lading, conveyance, treatment, etc., must be collected and kept on file.
Appendix 8 specifies additional collection and disposal requirements.
Appendix 8: Guidelines for the Transport and Disposal of Regulated Articles and Cleaning Requirements
The overall principle addressing the final disposal of regulated articles and by-products exiting the approved facility is outlined in the CFIA's directive D-96-05, section 2.9.5. The purpose of this appendix is to provide additional instructions pertinent to disposal options and cleaning. Guidance on what to include in the facilities Manual regarding cleaning and disposal can be found in Appendix 7 section C9 and C10 of this document.
It is the approved facility's responsibility to ensure that additional local disposal requirements are met. This includes and is not limited to environmental considerations in municipal bylaws and regional, provincial and federal legislations.
A list of disposal sites to be utilized must be included in the facilities Manual. All the specifications (records, procedures, diagrams etc.) regarding the movement and the disposal of regulated articles must be defined in the Manual. In all cases, disposal procedures and sites will be evaluated and approved by the CFIA.
The CFIA may be required to issue regulatory documents such as Notice of Prohibition of Movement (CFIA/ACIA 0113) and/or Movement Certificates (MC) to control the movement and the disposal of regulated articles and by-products. If a MC is issued, all conditions on the issued document must be followed. In addition, all conditions and limitations applied to a disposal site must be clearly identified.
The requirements pertaining to the transport and disposal of regulated articles apply to:
Movement of regulated articles
Cleaning sites
Commercial and private landfills sites
Other disposal sites (such as retention lagoons and treatment facilities)
Note: It will be at the discretion of the regional CFIA office to determine if an inspection of the disposal facility is required.
A. Movement of regulated articles
All means of transporting regulated articles must be leak-proof. The transporting vehicle, trailer or container is to be cleaned in an appropriate manner prior to the next load at an approved cleaning site. This applies to both the transport of regulated articles from the United States (U.S.) and within Canada.
B. Cleaning sites
The cleaning site location can either be one of the following:
Importing/receiving facility:
Vehicles, containers or mini totes containing or transporting regulated articles from the U.S. to Canada or from a regulated area in Canada can be cleaned directly at the importing or receiving facility.
Third party location
In some circumstances, it may be more convenient to use a different cleaning site than the importing or receiving facility.
C. Commercial and private landfills sites
The site has been granted a current valid permit or license from the appropriate municipal, regional and/or provincial authorities to operate or has been recognized as satisfactory by CFIA to contain any potential pests of concern.
The landfill site must have a clearly defined boundary and location (Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates may be used).
The regulated articles and by-products presented for disposal must be entirely covered within a one-day period by a layer of any suitable covering material that will efficiently prevent the regulated articles from being exposed to the environment. The covering material could consist of domestic garbage, compacted soil or other standard covering materials. The final covering must be permanent and stable meaning that it should not be removed or moved, unless it has been discussed with CFIA and CFIA has provided written authorization.
The CFIA may authorize the disposal of regulated articles back to the place of origin. For disposal in regulated areas within Canada, provisions of deep burial may not apply. Please contact your local CFIA person for disposal options.
D. Other disposal sites (such as retention lagoons or treatment facilities)
Floating material and sediments should be contained and disposed of as solid waste.
Segregated clear water should be discharged into an approved collecting and treatment and/or disposal system (e.g. a municipal sewage treatment system).
Liquid waste from retention lagoons cannot be used to irrigate agricultural land. Lagoons (natural or constructed) must be designed to prevent possible overflow.
The regulated articles generated following the emptying and/or the cleaning of a lagoon or treatment system must be disposed of in compliance with the disposal requirements outlined in this document.
For disposal sites within Canada, CFIA may be required to place additional regulatory restrictions on these sites.
General cleaning guidelines for processing and packing equipment
Each facility will have its own individual cleaning procedure which will be part of their Manual.
Some points to consider:
The dismantling of equipment for effective cleaning may have to occur.
After clean up, all equipment and the facility itself must be free of soil.
Closed piping that cannot be disassembled must be considered (i.e., may need to be flushed first before non-regulated articles/loads can be accepted through this system).
Bulk boxes comprised of wooden material may be difficult to clean effectively.
Conveyor belts may need to be taken apart to clean effectively.
The washing of transport vehicles and containers will have to occur every time they leave a facility. Unless otherwise stated in the Manual and authorized by the CFIA.
The equipment of the processing and packing lines may only be cleaned once a week or a major clean up at the end of the CA period based on the use/reception intensity of the regulated articles.
Roll-off and roll-on containers (which strictly carry only waste to disposal sites) will only be required to be cleaned at the end of the CA period.
For more information on cleaning standards please refer to PI-016
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Brand Portfolio: Wixon Jewelers
WIXON
This article originally appeared in the June 2016 edition of INSTORE.
Wixon Jewelers has a 4.8-star
Google rating. But what makes that
statistic really impressive is that it
is based on 64 reviews. On Yelp, its
average rating is 5 stars. The consensus
on both sites, in a nutshell:
“I couldn’t have asked for a better
experience at Wixon.”
What’s not surprising — considering its
stellar reviews and quality website — is that
Wixon has a full-time, in-house marketing
director, Jayme Pretzloff, as well as a graphic
designer.
In-house marketing allows for flexibility
as well as consistency. “We’re a two-person
show doing the bulk of everything
in-house,” Pretzloff says. “Our web agency
does the hard programming on the website’s
back end, but copy, graphics and web
design are all done in-house. You know your
product better than some ad agency and
you have creative control and execution.
You can get everything out on time and you
can turn on a dime to adapt to changes.”
Pretzloff, who has been on staff for three
years, says his first assignment was to focus
on the digital side of the branding package.
Before 2012, Wixon’s online presence was
negligible; now it’s outstanding.
“It’s always tough with reviews,” says
Pretzloff, “and it seems that you tend to
hear from the negative people — that’s the
nature of the beast. If they’ve had a bad experience,
they want to tell everyone about
it.” The only way to circumvent that is to
make sure they don’t have a sad tale to tell.
“Our goal is to provide an incredible experience
whether they’ve come in to have their
watch battery replaced or they’re having an
engagement ring designed.”
Wixon’s staff encourages satisfied customers
to write a review and hands them
a reminder card, but it doesn’t offer them
incentives to do so. “In everything we do, we
take the approach of doing it the right way,”
Pretzloff says, “rather than using gimmicks
or tricks. Where some companies would
do a big push for reviews we wanted it to be
organic and come across that way.”
BRANDING ELEMENTS AT WIXON JEWELERS
RADIO STRATEGY
Copy is written specifically
for each radio station. “If we
know a certain demographic
is very conservative, we know
how to craft the message for
them,” Pretzloff says. The
message will be targeted to
how the demographic would
use the store — engagement,
service, watches, etc.
The morning host of the
local CBS news talk radio station
talks about his experiences
at Wixon Jewelers. “He’s so
important to his listenership
that whatever he says is really
gold,” Pretzloff says. “He’s
really able to talk in a personal
sense. That’s the way we want
the message to come across.
People can see through all the
smoke and mirrors in marketing.
When you do have a brand
that has that true sense of service
and is doing all the right
things for all the right reasons
that comes through.”
Wixon does still advertise frequently in print
ads targeting the affluent, on radio stations and
outdoor displays. Online, they’ve perfected their
SEO to drive traffic to their website. They’ve spent
money on Google ads and time on social media.
“Instead of having each piece work independently,
when you have a holistic plan, you’re able to
leverage all of your media spends to build off each
other,” Pretzloff says. “We need to be where our
clients are.”
All magazine ads and website photos are
shot in-house. “I realized we didn’t have consistent
images available and there wasn’t always
a front shot and a side shot,” Pretzloff says.
“Some were vendor images. We needed to find
a way to cost effectively do photos in-house, to
have consistency but not have it be ridiculously
time consuming. In retrospect, all of the time
we invested in that was well worth it. Now we
don’t have to pay several hundred dollars an
hour to have a pro shoot it, and we can have any
angle we want — and details of each piece.”
When a client picks
up an engagement
ring purchased from
Wixon, they are surprised
with a bottle
of champagne. The
bottle features a front
label with a large photo
of the engagement
ring and is customized
with the couple’s
names. The back label
also has a customized
message on it. Some
couples use it to celebrate their engagements, some
save it for their first anniversary; others display it
in their house. The bottle is often featured on social
media posts. “We always look for ways to differentiate
ourselves from other jewelry stores,” Pretzloff
says. “It wasn’t our original intent, but it’s good
marketing, too. Response from clients has been
OUT OF THE BOX EVENTS
Store events always deliver
signature cocktails and a
crowd-drawing surprise. The
Wixons flew in a multimillion-
dollar Bugatti supercar
for a recent watch event and
their garden party featured
human garden statues, painted
white — so convincing, they
caused a few spilled drinks
when they moved. (Unlike
Greek sculptures, these models
were fully clothed.)
Pretzloff oversees all of the store’s branding
to ensure it reflects the message of luxury and
reaches the target demographic — ages 35 to 65
and most often male. “We are a huge jewelry store,
but we don’t talk about our size,” he says. “We try to
connect with our client. That’s what gets difficult
as you grow. Especially within print, our approach
has been witty. If you can get someone to laugh,
they are more likely to remember your message.
We don’t want our marketing to be dry and matter
of fact, because that’s not fun.” Pretzloff says people
will save print ads and bring them in five years
later. “They’ll say, ‘Now is the time to design my
ring, and this is the one I want.’”
Wixon launched a new website
in May 2013, which received terrific
feedback from clients and industry
associates. It features “responsive
design,” meaning that the web pages
adapt to whatever device the visitor
is using for the best possible browsing
experience. So it looks completely
different on an iPhone than
it does on a computer screen. All of
the content on the website’s education
section is produced in-house.
“Even if the visitor doesn’t buy from
us, it’s important that they get their
questions answered, so that they
can make the most informed decision
possible,” Pretzloff says.
How a Big Advertising Spend is Producing Big Results for New Jeweler
Brand Portfolio: Veloce
Store Brands Its Nautical-Themed Identity
A quest for a canoe started it all.
WHEN ERIK AND LESLIE Runyan were planning interior design for their new store in Vancouver, WA, they were browsing in a store in Portland, OR, and happened to see a light fixture they loved: a hollowed-out canoe hanging upside down from the ceiling, with lights mounted inside. That led to a quest for a canoe chandelier of their own. After searching for weeks, they found a handmade wooden canoe for sale atop a houseboat on the Willamette River near Portland. “I drove my boat to it, Leslie and I hoisted it up, and so began its journey to Vancouver,” Runyan recalls. “The seller had no reason to suspect that I was going to put three holes in it and hang it upside down!” The resulting work of functional art, crafted by Steve Strong of Strong Construction, set the tone for the nautical-inspired store on the Columbia River as well as a branding campaign. The canoe is a powerful symbol for Runyan, for several reasons. The river, Runyan says, and access to the ocean, created Vancouver and define both city and store. When not running the store, Runyan can be found crewing aboard motor yachts from Mexico to Canada as a licensed Merchant Marine 100-ton captain. “These moments are my inspiration,” he says.
Events “Under the Canoe” have included Chamber of Commerce “After Hours” parties and receptions for artists during Art Walk Downtown Vancouver events.
The Gift of Gab
Erik Runyan says even his talented staff fits in with the nautical theme, since they are all great storytellers, an important attribute to have when engaged in high-seas adventures or a canoe ride down the Willamette River.
Under The Canoe
The novel canoe chandelier became the center of a marketing campaign. “Promoting all of the good things that can happen ‘Under the Canoe’ is fun and will continue to grow,” Runyan says.
A branded wine label is part of the ERJ branding plan. “It gives me great pleasure to open and share a bottle with a customer or send them home with some to enjoy later,” Runyan says. They also introduced Wine Wednesdays, when light appetizers and local seasonal wines are served.
All In, Online
Most of ERJ’s advertising dollars go to the Internet. “SEO, SEM and social are how you can find me now. I am ‘all in’ looking for a connection with future customers of ERJ. My web traffic has quadrupled for the efforts put toward Google, Yelp and Facebook. Our blogs discuss both diamond education and proposal tips.”
A Catchy New Moniker
In addition to the Under the Canoe branding campaign, the use of EJR, rather than Erik Runyan Jewelers, helped modernize and transform branding for the century-old business.
Almost Seaworthy
The nautical branding theme is smoothly integrated with the store’s interior. Other nautical notes found throughout the store include an operational ship’s wheel, plank wood flooring, welcome aboard sign, custom compass rose wood floor medallion and visibly marked latitude and longitude coordinates. The 18-foot ceilings add to the feeling of openness and room for adventure.
Making an Impression
ERJ’s ad images include the canoe symbol as well as the compass symbol, which is integrated into the ERJ logo.
Canoe Talisman
Erik Runyan is in the process of developing canoe-themed jewelry.
Kentucky’s EAT Gallery Aims to Feed the Soul
Brand identity tied to neon sign.
MAYSVILLE, KY, IS A PICTURESQUE town of about 9,000 on the banks of the Ohio River. For much of the 20th century its downtown was home to Morgan’s restaurant, a popular diner with a classic neon sign that spells out EAT.
When it became a jewelry gallery, new owners Simon and Laurie Watt kept the sign, lost the food and gained an eclectic collection of art, jewelry and other treasures. In its current incarnation, EAT stands for Exquisite Art Treasures. The owners showcase one-of-a-kind pieces from jewelers around the world and create natural stone and pearl jewelry in-house. It’s an unusual but distinctive brand identity for a jewelry store. “New people in town get confused and we do get the occasional person who comes in and looks around and says, ‘Isn’t this a restaurant?’ But overall, it’s a clever play on a vintage sign. The name does a lot for us. It makes people curious,” says manager Katherine Cotterill.
The store’s tagline, appropriately enough, is “EAT Gallery: We feed your soul.”
Maysville is not far from Lexington, KY, and just about an hour east of Cincinnati, OH, which has a thriving art community. So to reach the artsy denizens of Cincinnati, they’ve targeted independent movie houses that show foreign films and other independent films for a marketing campaign. Movie-theater advertising brings in more potential customers than anything else they’ve tried. Cotterill created a 15-second video showing actual products available at EAT Gallery that runs before every movie.
Advertising on National Public Radio takes the form of sponsorship and offers some information on the history of the building and “the business that houses jewelry and treasures from around the world,” Cotterill says.
Manager Katherine Cotterill, left, organized a contest called Thankful For, in which customers were invited to share what they were thankful for and why. The winner was given an original painting. Other contest winners have been awarded swag bags.
The name EAT Gallery (Exquiste Art Treasures) comes from the neon sign (pictured above) that has hung on the front of the building for over 60 years.
Glossy postcards for trunk shows and special events feature beautiful photographs of jewelry found in the store. Cotterill, who once worked for a Maysville portrait photographer and took some photojournalism classes in college, also handles most of the store’s product photography in-house using a lightbox and lamps she stores in the gallery’s basement.
Gem Gossip
Influencer Danielle Mielle visited EAT Gallery as part of Gem Gossip’s jewelry road trip series.
Maysville has a group called Maysville players, the oldest continuing theater group in the state. “We do a big glossy full page in all of their programs. We definitely stick to very artsy kind of organizations and groups, because all of the jewelry is handmade. When they leave with something, they have a story,” says Cotterill.
EAT Gallery’s bags are likely to bring comments and boost brand visibility wherever they go.
How Regional Jeweler Meets Customers Where They Live
Lately, the company is focused on data-driven geo-fencing.
BERNIE ROBBINS JEWELERS’ marketing strategy, fueled by a savvy, full-time staff of four, is ever-evolving. Lately, it’s focused on data-driven geo-fencing. “We’re trying to be more relevant to the audience we want to attract,” says CEO Harvey Rovinsky.
Geo-fencing is, in essence, a virtual perimeter drawn around any space. Potential clients within that geo-fenced area can be targeted for certain events, such as bridal events, in the store. So Bernie Robbins can concentrate on a geographical area they believe has a strong potential for bridal customers, and then the marketing department will know in real time whether or not it’s working. They’ll be alerted when someone they’ve targeted walks into the store. “We are a brick-and-mortar location, so return on digital ads is usually an impression or a click,” says Peter Salerno, digital marketing manager. “But in this circumstance, we can see that someone is walking into one of our physical locations because of it.”
In the past year, geo-fencing and behavior-targeted social media advertising have become a larger part of the company’s media budget. Shifting the advertising to be more data driven has increased the ability to deliver advertisements to people who will actually be interested in them. “Every day, we grow our database and develop a better understanding of our potential customers,” says Cristin Cipa, director of marketing.
“I can’t overestimate the value of marketing,” Rovinsky says. “We commit very significant resources to it. We look at ourselves as a marketing company that happens to sell jewelry.” One staffer in the marketing department spends two days every week taking professional photos of jewelry to use on Instagram and the website.
Says Rovinsky: “We still do clienteling by telephone and text. Here’s what we’re not doing: newspaper and TV. We still do radio, outdoor, and we do one city book. Other than that, it’s all things digital.”
“Our clientele is busy and on-the-go; they are looking for visual and easily digestible content,” says Cipa, citing the example of a co-op Cartier billboard. “Regional billboards are still a large part of our media budget. With five locations across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, we cover a large geographic footprint and believe that strategically placed billboards continue to reach our geographic targets.”
Bernie Robbins has increasingly engaged with “micro-influencers,” people in a range of age demographics who live in the community, have strong social followings, but also have a real relationship with a network of potential local customers. Influencers are recruited for their authenticity, a word Salerno describes as the big, sexy word for 2018.
A co-op Forevermark ad in Philadelphia Style magazine focuses on a classic engagement ring that, thanks to clean branding, is allowed to simply pop off the page. “Forevermark engagement rings are stunning and we loved aligning with their elegant language, ‘It’s a long journey to become the one,’“ says Cipa.
Bernie Robbins adapts its brand voice to its social media audience. “We know we have to have a strong presence on Instagram to engage with our younger customers,” Cipa says. “Our brand voice on Instagram is slightly younger and tends to be more playful. We are selective and only post professional, clean-looking photos.”
Regional Promotion
Leveraging key regional happenings is key to the company’s marketing strategy. Bernie Robbins owners Harvey and Maddy Rovinsky, lifelong fans of their hometown team, the Philadelphia Eagles, offered fellow fans a dream proposal story by giving away two tickets to the 2018 Super Bowl LII to the first couple who purchased an engagement ring valued at $50,000 or more. The giveaway launched on a Monday, and by the end of the week, they had a winner — Bob Wanum of Doylestown, PA. Married for more than 30 years to the love of his life, Teresa, Bob proposed a vow renewal during the big game.
Butterfly Packaging
The signature butterfly packaging, which represents joy, hope and love, has been an iconic part of the brand for 50 years.
Branded Champagne
Bernie Robbins’ branded champagne is served for special occasions and during events.
Chic at the Shore
Bernie Robbins has hosted the event series, Chic at the Shore, in the Somers Point, NJ, location every summer for years, publishing a magazine to highlight the events and the jewelry. In 2017, the marketing department bolstered the branding by sending out email blasts and launching a digital flip book, which lives on their website and allows consumers to browse at their convenience. “Our loyal consumers love the weekly events hosted all summer long,” says Cipa.
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Kanchan Nepal
Empowering Communities with Water Resource Management Services.
Rain Communities
Blue Schools Program
A story of rain and grateful villagers
Pokhara, a much talked about destination among tourists in Nepal, was on the top list of places for me to visit in Nepal. Recently I visited Pokhara as part of a rainwater harvesting project I had been working on as an intern with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Kathmandu. Apart from the beautiful mountains, serene lakes, and nicely built houses, I saw the real life of people living only a few kilometers away from the hustle and bustle of the Pokhara city. The experiences gained during the trip have been life changing!
The main purpose of the visit was to observe the effectiveness of the rainwater harvesting systems at the end of the dry season. It was a follow-up to a study done with WHO support in late 2008, right after the rainy season.
The outcome of the visit will also contribute to the national policy on rainwater harvesting which is being drafted by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, the lead agency for water supply.
Our team of three people visited the Pokhara area for three days. The team included Han Heijnen, Environmental Health Advisor of WHO, Gajendra Singh Pun, programme engineer with Kanchan Nepal in Pokhara, and myself, Kalpana Bhandari, working as an intern with the WHO Environmental Health Unit in Kathmandu during my holidays from studies in the US. It took us about an hour and half by car from Pokhara town to get to the first community. The road was narrow and it let only one vehicle ply. Smiling villagers with garlands of flowers greeted us at Rupakot. The flowers and their smiles could explain not only the hospitality and respect, but also their satisfaction with what Helvetas and RAIN Foundation, a Netherlands based sponsor, have done, that is, building ferro cement tanks, as they fondly call it ghainto, for catching and storing rain. Rainwater harvesting has immensely altered their way of life.
Rupakot village is comprised of a large Gurung population. On the day of our visit, they had gathered for a puja, a ceremony to ask God so that He would grant water. The village had been witnessing one of the driest seasons; their ghainto’s were emptying fast and their nearest waterspout, pandhero, half an hour downhill, had dried up. They hoped that the monsoon would start soon so that it would end their struggle for water.
As the villagers were already together for the puja, we organized a focus group discussion to talk about their experiences with rainwater harvesting and their level of satisfaction.
“The rain water harvesting system is a blessing”. One of the villagers explained that now they don’t have to waste hours getting water from the nearest water source. When asked about the quality of Annex 1 page 38 water and the possibility of any diseases, villagers responded with confidence in their voices that they have not experienced any illness. “The water is so good that it even cures gastric”a villager said and others concurred. I came to know that Helvetas had also helped villagers build latrines and improve hygiene at the household level. The incidence of diseases like diarrhea, cholera, and dysentery has decreased dramatically as people have been more conscious of sanitation and personal hygiene.
I was pretty impressed by their way of water security and water management. Villagers showed that they use a padlock in their taps to prevent misuse of water by uninvited parties. They concurred that proper management of water was a necessity and the way they manage water is through preservation and conservation. They store rainwater for dry seasons by using water from pandhero first until it dries out. Villagers know which water to use first so that they have a continuous source of water until the next rainy season begins. I was wondering how difficult their lives were in the dry season before the rainwater harvesting system, when there was no water in pandhero or at their house. One of the villagers narrated stories of how he used to fetch water at odd hours of the night.
Villagers use water in the nearby pond for feeding livestock. That will last until January, February when the real dry season starts. At that time people trek over 2 hours down to the river for bathing and washing clothes. Much of the villagers’ concern was with constructing a bigger storage tank. One lady commented, “Oh I am so upset when it rains and we can’t store excess water. Water overflows from the tank. In dry season, all we can do is think about how wonderful it would be if we could store water at that time.” Villagers discussed alternatives to storing water, including public storage and bigger ferro cement tanks. Our next task was to conduct a household survey and collect water samples from the houses that were previously sampled during the last survey. We surveyed four households and collected five samples at Rupakot. People at each house reiterated the need for bigger water tanks. The tanks we surveyed still had water, though very little. Helvetas has constructed 6.5 m3 tanks
Our second destination was Chisapani, a further 30 minutes drive up from Rupakot. I was amazed to see the steep roads that almost seemed like they would lead somewhere to the sky. At Chisapani, we started out with a household survey and water sampling. Interviews with the villagers revealed that they were excited about the rainwater harvesting system and equally voiced the necessity of a bigger Figure 21 Preparing for water testing page 39 water collection tanks. We surveyed two houses that were also included in the previous study. The chairman of rainwater user committee at Chisapani called in a focus group discussion in the evening. Even though the electricity went out, as part of the regular load shedding schedule, villagers came in for the meeting.
Villagers of Chisapani expressed that rainwater harvesting is a blessing to their village. Since there is not enough water even in the mul, the natural spring, rainwater harvesting is the best option available. They are living a life of comfort now as compared to earlier and they said that proper management of water is their aim and proper management depends on user management. The Chisapani had a problem that was different from the villagers at Rupakot. The people from the neighboring village would ‘steal’ water from their public natural tap. Water is that scarce around here. Villagers use a padlock at their tank and different houses in the village have together appointed a person to guard the water source at night.
Villagers expressed that they didn’t trust rainwater at first but now they think that it is the best option available for their remote village. They even said they were saving money on doko and namlo, the baskets they used to carry water with from the traditional source to their houses.
Unlike a typical village, these villages lacked the younger generation. The majority of the households we visited had women, old people and younger children. The few young adults that we saw were mostly visiting their homes for a day or two before going back to Pokhara or beyond. Villagers voiced their concern saying that youngsters visiting their families in the village were not conscious of the importance of rainwater and they misuse water. This raises a serious question about who will remain in those villages in 20 years time?
“We had to wait in lines for the higher caste people to get water first.” I could sense the social discrimination based on caste system and Gurung people were not given privilege to collect water first. They had to use the larger public ponds.
We spent the night at Chisapani. It is an incredible experience to spend time with the villagers being a part of their everyday lives. We received one of the best hospitalities that one can get in a Gurung village. On the second day, I woke up by the sound of rain splattering on the tin roof. My boss then made a comment of how the villagers prayed the day before and it rained the next day!
Rain in Chisapani. Tank in the back. Waiting for morning tea, me at left!
We headed towards Thumki, the final destination of the field trip. Even though Gajendra Pun’s attempts to contact the president of the Rain Water Harvesting System of Thumki failed, he was able to get in touch with one of the villagers who relayed the message to the president.
So, our work in the village was much more than we had expected.
The lady at the very first house we interviewed, was re-building her house when the rainwater harvesting systems were built 3 years before. Initially she made a temporary shed to put on the GI sheets that were to catch the rain. Together with her husband she had re-fitted the gutter to the roof of her new home and fixed the delivery pipe. She had to buy a length of extra HDP pipe to send the water to the tank. delivery and surveyed . She was happy and proud with her tank: “before the rainwater tank, my husband and I used to fetch water until 12 midnight and wake up at 4 am to get water because we wanted to avoid the rush of getting water at other times.”
The plight of people at Thumki was pretty much the same as the villagers at Rupakot and Chisapani. They said that they alternate between the pandhera and tank.
The roof of the toilet and bathroom is also used to collect rainwater with a bamboo gutter and a collection drum
We asked only few people about their health, but comparatively, a higher number of villagers were found to be sick than in the other two villages. People said that they don’t filter or boil the water and believe that the diseases and health problems have declined since the installation of rainwater harvesting system three years ago.
Villagers at Thumki were found to be more satisfied with the rainwater harvesting system and two families said that the water from the tank is enough for their 3 member family. I observed that the water management system at Thumki was excellent; villagers using water from the pokhari, then pandhero, then the ferro cement tank. Villagers however expressed that they have less livestock now than Figure 24 A happy owner! Figure 23 The roof of the toilet and bathroom is also used to collect rainwater with a bamboo gutter and a collection drum page 41 before because there are not enough family members to help and it is difficult to store water for livestock.
During focus group discussion, people’s main concern was regarding the houses that were left out during rainwater harvesting system construction phase. People also requested to make RWH in public places including the club and the school. Villagers showed a great interest and concern in making another tank and are ready to donate money or labour. We recommended for reuse of water and encouraged youngsters to help the village.
What surprised me the most was how valuable water was in each village. Each tap in the ferrocement tank is equipped with a ‘lock-system’ in the tap, and villagers lock the tap when not in use. I was also impressed with the respect and concern that villagers showed to us. Villagers were so happy with rainwater harvesting system that they would respect us with garlands of flowers and the best food that they could give us. Our trip to these villages was a life changing experience for me as I realized that doing little things can bring smiles and so much relief to those villagers.
–Kalpana Bhandari
Posted in: Rainwater Harvesting Filed under: Majkot, Pokhara, rain story, rainwater, RWH
Value of Rain →
How An Open Defecation Free Evaluation in Pokhara changed the lives of Perth students
Value of Rain
Copyright © 2020 Kanchan Nepal
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« Michael Cohen | Main | Traditional Market Meltdown Open Thread »
Hey, Dude, Where's My Collusion?
Tabloid Publisher’s Deal in Hush-Money Inquiry Adds to Trump’s Danger
Yeah, yeah, and Al Capone was busted for tax evasion. More to the point, Richard Nixon was busted for (among other things) campaign finance irregularities. But for heaven's sake - the Watergate investigation started with irrefutable evidence of a break-in at DNC headquarters, which we all understand to be a crime. Not to mention that Nixon wondering whether the CIA could head off the FBI investigation looked a lot like obstruction and an abuse of Presidential power.
But Trump and Cohen? For better or worse, paying off former Playmates and playmates is not a crime. As to whether the actual mechanism violated campaign finance rules, well, first of all, that is why Trump hired lawyers. Lacking evidence that Cohen advised Trump this was illegal and Trump ordered him to go full speed ahead anyway, where is the criminal intent? And a perceived lack of criminal intent is why Hillary is not serving time for her server shenanigans.
This is a crime so subtle that charging it looks like yet another interminable NFL booth review of a sideline catch, where replay officials host a seance to determine the location of various body parts relative to ground and sideline and then enlist diviners to judge whether the receiver was juggling the ball, had firm possession, engaged in a football move, or whatever.
Even top Democrats admit that this campaign finance thing is iffy:
If the campaign finance case as laid out by prosecutors is true, [incoming House Judiciary Chair] Mr. Nadler said, Mr. Trump would be likely to meet the criteria for an impeachable offense, and he said he would instruct his committee to investigate when he takes over in January.
But he added that did not necessarily mean that the committee should vote to impeach Mr. Trump. “Is it serious enough to justify impeachment?” he asked. “That is another question.”
Democrats can use it as a tack-on to their central charge of "Orange Hair Bad".
Great news peter
Posted by: Rocco | December 13, 2018 at 12:37 PM
Glad to hear it, peter.
Posted by: Extraneus | December 13, 2018 at 12:41 PM
Excellent Peter!
Posted by: Jane | December 13, 2018 at 12:41 PM
:-) Jane.
They only do eye orbit surgery through the nose when that approach works. Otherwise they pop your eyeball out and work behind it!
I told if it ever comes to that with me, don't tell me about it until they wake me up about a week later.
Your mistake was waking up and going home the same day...
Posted by: Old Lurker | December 13, 2018 at 12:42 PM
Today’s news - IG says Strzok’s and Page’s phones have been wiped. And the backups are gone.
Dirty. All dirty.
And I am the crazy one for praying for Mitch Rapp to get off his duff:)
Posted by: Buckeye | December 13, 2018 at 12:43 PM
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bolton-threatens-to-pull-aid-for-unproductive-un-missions-in-africa-vows-reform
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 12:44 PM
Of course, I assumed the toughest circumstance, Peter. Glad all went well.
Posted by: sbwaters | December 13, 2018 at 12:44 PM
IG says Strzok’s and Page’s phones have been wiped. And the backups are gone.
I saw that, but I thought they'd gotten all the texts from the server.
Posted by: jimmyk | December 13, 2018 at 12:45 PM
Glad to hear that, peter.
Great news peter.
Posted by: Captain Hate | December 13, 2018 at 12:48 PM
Kelly sealed the leaks. Hopefully his successor can do the same.
The rampant speculation surround the White House is a story in itself. How many times was it predicted that Kelly was leaving or that the WH was in chaos or that Sanders was leaving?
That call to #Resist was real and is ongoing. Talk about a propaganda campaign.
Interesting that Strozk & Page wiped their phones clean, isn't it? Who else did? Seems to be catching in our federal bureaucracy.
Posted by: matt - deplore me if you must | December 13, 2018 at 12:48 PM
"Thanks Jeff."
"I LOVE that program too. Scrub it with a cloth, I always say...Can't wait for Dir Wray to get on board to help me with all this house cleaning...I mean, how many HR slots do we have for parking these high dollar guys out of sight until the caravan moves on?"
jimmyk,
The Inspector General used some sort of recovery program. Mueller did not. Therefore the information is in the IG report.
I am assuming that Mueller didn't know such a program existed.
I would appreciate prayers for one of the twin grandsons of a friend of mine. He is in the hospital because they cannot get his oxygen level up. He had a bad cold and they are not sure whether he has pneumonia or something else.
BTW, YL2, after all this time in the Eye Trauma Room, continues to nag me about throwing away every bungee cord in my garage. Near the top, if not the top, of causes for serious injuries to the eyes.
Clarice do not record this next. Last week I was organizing my shop and climbed on a ladder (which Mrs. OL THINKS I swore to never do without her there to hold the ladder - long story - so that I could retrieve a tool held up there with a long bungee cord. Yes it slipped and went zinging by my face. I'm thinking, in the split second, that if that thing blinds me and I fall off the ladder, I hope it kills me because that would be faster that what MrsOL and YL2 would do to me.
"Feeling good; surgeon said all went well."
I propose we remain Peter as Peter-Peter.
OK, this is without any question the most horrifying thing I have ever read.
Posted by: James D. | December 13, 2018 at 01:00 PM
:-) James!
The other day had a friend use an aphorism I hadn't heard before;
So and so couldn't find an anvil in a sandbox.
Dennis Prager had a mother of 5 call in yesterday who said as a child she was embarrassed because all she ever wanted to be was a wife and mother and that was not politically correct, so she had to hide her desire. Dennis had some nice comments/questions and he asked her is she happy and satisfied, and she replied "Yes", that she had a 12, a 10, an 8, a 6 and a 4 year old, and that she couldn't be happier, and then she said "The days are long, but the years are short."
Prager loved that line, and so do I.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 01:02 PM
This is pretty funny. Steve Hayward at PowerLine:
SETTLED SCIENCE: THERE REALLY ARE ‘LATTE LIBERALS’
Prayers, MM!
A good point regarding the Flynn 302 forms:
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1073226734969995264?s=21
Also, if you read the sentencing memo from Flynn’s legal team, it’s fairly obvious that Mueller shared the exculpatory evidence with Flynn as directed by the judge.
Posted by: Tom R | December 13, 2018 at 01:05 PM
@newtgingrich
It would help if Mueller would release the 70 hours of interviews with Michael Cohen. The American people could see how many different stories he told, how much he was threatened and how the prosecutors blackmailed and bargained to get what they wanted. Release the tapes.
Eddie Scarry
@eScarry
Fox News right now airing an interview with Harris Faulkner and Trump. Eagerly awaiting all the think pieces about his civil engagement with a black female reporter.
Listening to Rush go thru the details on the corrupt FBI's dealings with Flynn. He mentions the Ted Stevens corruption since he is also a big fan of that book just out by female author Sydney somebody (I forget her name.)
It reminds me that the one guy we never hear from and that I would like to hear speak out now, is the FBI Rookie Agent in the Ted Stevens case, Chad Guy (IIRC) who was the WhistleBlower in the case and he was hammered very aggressively by the Press and his co=workers for speaking out about all the corruption going on and the difference between how they were supposed to function and how they functioned in actual practice.
To my knowledge we have never heard from him since. He is long gone from the FBI as a consequence of speaking out, but the corrupt bast*rds he worked with got inconsequential handslaps and are still with the Agency. In a just world an intrepid reporter would be digging him up and publicizing his story for the masses. Nice to hear Rush in Hour 1 and Hour 2 discussing Judge Sullivan. Don't know if Rush reads JOM but it wouldn't surprise me.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2018/12/13/breaking-doj-ig-report-strzok-and-page-n2537436
Rush hammering Napolitano for being wrong. Rush says Napolitano is dead wrong on his pronouncement on Cohen, then plays Andy McCarthy also saying Napolitano is completely wrong. Hammering Napolitano is par for the course at JOM, so even if Rush doesn't read JOM I'll declare him an honorary JOMer.
I’m already seeing people on Twitter jump to conclusion regarding the OIG report today. Let me cheer up everyone here.
Strzok and Page apparently had two government issued cell phones each. They had Samsung’s issues by the DOJ/FBI for their regular jobs. These were the ones where Horowitz was able to forensically recover thousands upon thousands of incriminating text messages, many which have already been publicly released. These phones were issued long before the 2016 election.
Strzok and Page were also issued Apple IPhones once the Mueller SC was formally stood up. In other words, any text messages sent from the Iphones did not occur until after Comey was fired. Anyone who has an IPhone knows that text messages sent between IPhone users uses the IMessage feature, not SMS texts. Therefore, Horowitz/Huber have the capability to recover the IPhone texts sent by Strzok and Page via a search warrant. That is something that falls under Huber’s scope to use as evidence in a trial. Horowitz duty it to identify if the DOJ/FBI complied with federal policy/regulations/processes.
Tom, I posted a link to the OIG report earlier. That does not quite match what it said... (or I missed something in the FBI response). Veriszon claimed it only kept messages for 5-7 days (i assume those are the SMS texts). The reset of the iphones was std procedure. After much searching, they found a lot of the messages.
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 01:26 PM
here is the link to the OIG pdf:
https://t.co/007YZyWr4R
What's to stop a guy being interviewed by the FBI in a one party state from slowly pulling out a device and recording the interview?
FBI liars lying?
Posted by: Pinandpuller | December 13, 2018 at 01:28 PM
It is not a long report... 6 pages have all the details. The FBI response is longer.
gee, I wonder what happened early November?
CNBC @CNBC
Economic optimism has plunged since reaching record highs in October, according to CNBC's All-America Economic Survey. Do you agree with the pessimism?
Started watching "Shetland" on Netflix last night. Opens with an old lady getting killed.
Is it based on an anti Paul Ryan commercial?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGnE83A1Z4U
My post at 1:17 discusses the IG finding the "lost" texts of Strzok and Page.
The Horde in the holiday mood:
Mika's legs look like those biscuits you make from the recipe on a Bisquick box.
Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at December 13, 2018 01:12 PM (4ErVI)
Like a white kitchen trashbag full of wet oatmeal.
Posted by: Calm Mentor at December 13, 2018 01:15 PM (ffYR/)
Heh, OL! How many TM's can I write you down for now!
Posted by: clarice | December 13, 2018 at 01:41 PM
Mika will keep her job. Colbert kept his job after 'cuck holster.' Those were on-air comments. Roseanne for some reason was treated differently for a mere Tweet that had an innocent explanation. Puzzling.
The Clinton Foundation whistleblowers are supposed to testify at 2PM Eastern.
C-SPAN 3 is going to cover it. Live stream link is on this site:
https://www.c-span.org/networks/?channel=c-span-3
"Heh, OL! How many TM's can I write you down for now!"
Clarice what was that commercial 20+ years ago where the guy said "I liked the product SO MUCH that I bought the company"?
You probably have me up to that territory by now with TM.
This is from a CNN reporter:
Jim Sciutto
@jimsciutto
The president has now twice used the threat of terrorism to justify the wall. Facts supplied by DHS don’t back that up.
But wait! CNN NEVER CONTACTED THEM:
Tyler Q. Houlton
@SpoxDHS
We are happy to provide the facts -- but you never reached out. In fact, DHS prevented 3,755 known or suspected terrorists from traveling to or entering the U.S. in FY 17. That's in addition to 17,526 criminals, 1,019 gang members, and 3,028 special interest aliens. #FactsFirst
Where MM starts us off with a funny one:
"You know, if those 302's were falsified, that is a pretty serious crime."
Yep. Top Anchorage FBI Agent Mary Beth Kepner, who in the Ted Stevens case pencil whipped 302's two whole years after the fact and lied to other FBI Investigators under oath that the 302's were contemporaneous, was "severely disciplined" and got a cautionary letter of warning in her official FBI jacket!!!
And who was the 6 foot 10 inch tall FBI Agent who severely disciplined her? Go ahead and guess.
FBI Agent 'Severely Disciplined' for Misconduct in Ted Stevens Case, Director Says
...the agent was severely disciplined," Comey said. "The discipline has been imposed." ...
..."On top of that, we pushed out refresher training to the entire workforce, especially about our discovery obligations and how we expect them to conduct themselves during those investigations. So, both broad remedial work was done, and individual discipline was imposed for the agent involved," he said.
She remained the top FBI Agent in Anchorage after that "severe discipline," so possibly a tad less severe than advertised.
what was that commercial 20+ years ago where the guy said "I liked the product SO MUCH that I bought the company"?
Pats fans here should know that was Victor Kiam on Remington razors.
Clarice seems more like a female Ron Popeil. "But wait, there's more!"
Puzzling, indeed, jimmyk. Of course, they are paying for this stupidity.
Thanks for posting that MM, I've been wondering about that hearing.
this is awful:
Breaking Details: Teen kills himself inside Indiana middle school after shootout with police
https://twitter.com/breaking9111/status/1073290382165843970?s=12
I bet it's global warming scientists:
Two days after a huge cloud of chaff lit up weather radar covering portions Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky, as well as social media, more plumes have now appeared over Maine and Florida. We have no official confirmation as of yet, but the formations look very similar in composition to the one that developed in the Midwest.
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/25460/now-massive-plumes-of-chaff-are-lighting-up-radar-over-maine-and-florida-too
Rats. I can't access the live stream, because we don't have cable TV, only internet.
My Cspan 3 at that link has yesterday on.
So the FBI takes notes but Mueller records?
New Christmas Tradition …
KFC is now selling a log that smells like fried chicken.
The KFC 11 Herbs and Spices firelog goes on sale on Thursday.
The firelog costs $18.99 and can be purchased online while supplies last.
KFC is kicking off the holiday season with a log that smells like fried chicken.
Posted by: Neo | December 13, 2018 at 02:06 PM
She could shoot a guy twice in the back in Georgetown and her supporters wouldn't abandon her:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0_pd2HYs_A&feature=youtu.be
LIVE: Clinton Foundation U.S. House Hearing Investigation 2pm Eastern
Sorry, Jane.
I tried.
I will see what I can find out on Twitter.
Apparently yesterday was Universal Health Coverage Day and the Rock F has funded a documentary. https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/health-evolving-story/
If you look at the Roots portion it hypes Eleanor Roosevelt and the UDHR, which is probably linked to the Inequality "What does Eleanor Roosevelt have to do with Black Lives Matter?"
To jimmy's point, that I agree with, Abrams clearly knows what the link is and intends to get an elected office where she can act to fully implement this vision. Dangerous not to recognize the MH vision by function, however, it pitches itself for PR purposes.
Posted by: rse | December 13, 2018 at 02:09 PM
From MM's 01:17
When Page and Strzok left the Special Counsel, their phones were wiped by Special Counsel Records Officer. DOJ maintains this was simply standard procedure in order to give the device to another user.
Samo, samo.
If you have a screw up FBI agent in Anchorage where do you send them to make their life miserable?
I'm not putting down Alaska, daddy. But could you keep her there in the winter and send her to Tierra del Fuego during the Northern Hemisphere Summer so she never sees the sun?
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards gets sober, quits drinking alcohol
"It just wasn't working anymore, you know? I think the Keith that we used to know and love had this cutoff point where if he had one more, he'd go over the top and he'd be nasty," Wood, 71, said. "The cutoff point became shorter and shorter, you know, and he realized that."
Wood added of the newly-sober Richards, "He's a pleasure to work with, much more mellow. He's open to more ideas, whereas before I'd kind of grit my teeth and go, 'He's gonna give me some s—t for saying this.' Now, he'll say, 'That's cool, man.' "
"We're weaving [guitar parts] a lot more conscientiously now," Woo added. "We're much more aware of the gaps and the spaces between. We're in our seventies, but we're still rocking like we’re 40-year-olds, you know?"
Wood's own sobriety helped him cope with a series of recent major events in his life, including the birth of twin daughters Gracie and Alice in 2016 and a cancer scare earlier this year.
Twins at age 69.
No kidding. Strzok left because of the text messages.
Am listening to Rush play audio of (Anthoney Weiner's former girlfriend) Kirsten Powers, yesterday say the Election would have been different if Americans had known Trump was hanging out with Playboy Bunnies. She said that since so many Americans get their news from FOX News and Rush, who never talk about Trump hanging with Playboy Bunnies, that Americans were denied the opportunity to know Trump hung out with Playboy Bunnies, but if they had known, then Hillary would have been President..
I suppose Kirsten is correct. If only voters had known about Trump and Playboy Bunnies:(
Trump Trashes Mika Over Homophobic "Butt Boy" Slur; MSNBC Pulls From Thursday Show
While discussing the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and remarks made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Brzezinski said:
"I understand that Donald Trump doesn’t care. He doesn’t care. But why doesn’t Mike Pompeo care right now? Are the pathetic deflections that we just heard when he appeared on Fox and Friends, is that a patriot speaking? Or a wannabe dictator’s butt boy?"
MSNBC attempted to censor the comment, only to hit the mute button too late. Closed Captioning did not contain the phrase.
In response to the comments, President Trump tweeted on Thursday: "If it was a Conservative that said what “crazed” Mika Brzezinski stated on her show yesterday, using a certain horrible term, that person would be banned permanently from television. She will probably be given a pass, despite their terrible ratings. Congratulations to @RichardGrenell, our great Ambassador to Germany, for having the courage to take this horrible issue on!"
Brzezinski was notably absent from Thursday's show.
It's Cspan 1
Mike Brooks
Verified account @MikeBrooksOKC
#Breaking - @OKCPD say there are about 13 bomb threats in and around the city. Add'l threats in Edmond. They tell Fox 25 it's a national alert with bomb threats coming in thru email. If you get a threat, contact your police department. #Oklahoma #Okla
11:09 AM - 13 Dec 2018
https://twitter.com/mikebrooksokc/status/1073293742914920448?s=12
from Chitown Lurker for maryrose and CH:
https://twitter.com/jwh1895/status/1073297335826952196?s=12
Now that Comey is cheerfully telling America that he took pleasure in orchestrating the takedown of Michael Flynn by specifically catching him off guard in the early days of the Trump Administration, I wonder if Comey's actions complied with the specific retraining Instructions he mandated all Agents receive following Agent Kepner's crimes re: Ted Stevens.
It'd be worthwhile laying side by side those instructions Comey issued in 2010 after Agent Kepner's crimes, alongside his exuberant explanation of how he set up Gen Flynn, and see if they agreed with one another.
Suspected jihadists on motorcycles kill 42 in Mali's nomadic Tuareg camps
BAMAKO, Mali — A Tuareg leader says suspected jihadists on motorcycles have killed at least 42 people in Mali's eastern Menaka region during a series of attacks on their nomadic camps.
Moussa Ag Acharatoumane of the Tuareg self-defense group said Thursday that children as young as eight were among the victims of the attacks Tuesday and Wednesday. The region in the sprawling West African nation is home to a number of extremist groups, including those with links to Islamic State militants.
Well that would have been Mueller, Comey was over at Lockheed at the time, as general counsel
Posted by: Narciso79 | December 13, 2018 at 02:31 PM
If only the Voters had known:(
I thought Tuareg was a VW platform:
A study more than thirty years in the making found that smoking marijuana permanently lowers intelligence, or IQ. Frequent pot smokers (even those who had given up marijuana) tended to have deficits in memory, concentration, and overall IQ. The reduction in IQ for those who smoked pot heavily prior to age 18 was most pronounced: an average of eight points. An eight point reduction in IQ is enough to have a significant, negative impact upon your life. To put it into context, consider that individuals with an IQ of 110 have an average net worth of $71,000 and individuals with an IQ of 120 have an average net worth of $128,000. It looks like smoking pot can lower your tax bracket.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2015/02/10/new-study-shows-smoking-pot-permanently-lowers-iq/#534ce86c2f5b
Very few showed up for the hearing, and no one in the audience. Dems pushing back hard on how silly any Clinton allegations are.
If only he hadn't worked so hard to keep this under wraps:(
A 21-year-old Foothill High School graduate, who was attending college in the Netherlands, was stabbed to death Wednesday in Rotterdam, according to friends and published reports.
Sarah Papenheim, who played drums in the school's Jazz band and moved to Minnesota after her 2016 graduation, was killed by a 23-year-old man from Rotterdam. Authorities have arrested him.
https://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2018/12/13/foothill-high-school-grad-stabbed-death-netherlands/2299398002/
Nothing raysiss here:
The leader of a South African political party has called for the killing of white women and children in a row over the taxi industry.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6491151/Black-South-African-politician-says-kill-whites-kill-children-women.html
Miss M,
Up here we just had 2 teenagers (19 year olds) shoot each other to death in an argument about a gun selling deal gone wrong.
Instead of it being considered "awful," from the comments it appears about 80% are thankful the 2 offed themselves and saved society the trouble.
So the nitwits running Europe are still running Europe, first May, now Macron:
The Wall Street Journal @WSJ
France's Macron handily survived a "no confidence" vote. Yet his troubles are far from over.
I don't know if I can keep listening to this.
Representative Connolly, the ranking member, is infuriating.
Connelly, d international Saudi academy, that guy?
Wow! feeling overwhelmed! Ask for a few prayers and get inundated. I have benign prostate enlargement, not cancer, but was feeling very apprehensive because it was a re-do after four other procedures and my doc said because of that it was going to be tricky due to scar formations and strictures. I definitely felt the good wishes and prayers helping me. Now I get to lounge around the house for three days and bingewatch the tube. Another reason I was apprehensive was interesting--I've been taking a huge amount of antibiotics lately and one of the side effects is that they have greatly increased anxiety. It is true what they say--your gut is your second brain; mess with the gut by using anti-biotics and your second brain goes wacky.
Posted by: peter | December 13, 2018 at 02:58 PM
C-Span has it on now---Jim Jordan now quizzing Fitton of Judicial watch and just hammered some Obama Flunkie.
The previous guy was Mr Hackney and he denied to Jim Jordan that there was any targeting of Conservative Groups by the IRS back in the Lois Lerner days.
Yay, peter.
Sad Ahoys for these guys though
http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=378651
If only Voters would have known:(
Glad it was the easier stuff, peter.
Italian Minister Salvini: Anyone Celebrating Strasbourg Islamist Christmas Market Shooting Will Be Jailed Immediately
Anyone found celebrating a deadly shooting in the French city of Strasbourg will be immediately sent to prison, Italy’s Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Wednesday.
“Our postal police [service] is at the cutting edge and it is sifting the Web to find the heinous people who are celebrating someone else’s death,” Salvini said, as quoted by the Ansa news agency, promising “immediate arrest for anyone who has been rejoicing online over the last few hours.”
As many as 3 people were killed and 13 others injured on Tuesday after a gunman opened fire near Strasbourg’s Christmas market. The shooter is still on the run.
Media has reported that the suspect is a 29-year-old native of Strasbourg, previously known to police for past offences in Germany and France, as well as for radical Islamist views.
If it was a Conservative that said what “crazed” Mika Brzezinski stated on her show yesterday, using a certain horrible term, that person would be banned permanently from television....
....She will probably be given a pass, despite their terrible ratings. Congratulations to @RichardGrenell
, our great Ambassador to Germany, for having the courage to take this horrible issue on!
Narciso,
From my 01:55 link to The Hill:
While Comey did not identify the agent disciplined by name, details of Joy's complaint went public in 2009. Joy made a series of allegations of impropriety against FBI Special Agent Mary Beth Kepner, outlined in a report from the Anchorage Daily News .
Comey told Murkowski that he would look into reaching out to Joy, and that his law enforcement agency's response went beyond dealing with the individuals involved.
"On top of that, we pushed out refresher training to the entire workforce, especially about our discovery obligations and how we expect them to conduct themselves during those investigations. So, both broad remedial work was done, and individual discipline was imposed for the agent involved," he said.
Who is we? Let's see the paperwork.
Listening to the Dem women on the panel in the Fitton Hearing is like listening to space aliens.
That does not quite match what it said... (or I missed something in the FBI response). Veriszon claimed it only kept messages for 5-7 days (i assume those are the SMS texts). The reset of the iphones was std procedure. After much searching, they found a lot of the messages.
What I wrote synchs 100% with what is in the OIG report. I just added in some observations to cover what wasn't mentioned.
The part of the report discussing Verizon and their policy of only retaining SMS text messages for 3-7 days applies to the FBI-issued Samsung Galaxy phones. That is not really that big of a deal because the OIG was able to recover almost all of those text messages via their forensics tool.
The part of this report that could be construed as a potential "coverup" is the part concerning the Mueller SC-issued Apple Iphones. While it may be standard DOJ policy to erase phones and return them to factory standard so that they can be issued out to another employee, you would think that based on the reasons Strzok and Page got fired from the Mueller SC that someone would have confiscated their Iphones before they had the opportunity to erase them.
With that said, since they were Iphones they use the IMessage service to send texts and not SMS. That means any texts Strzok and Page sent using their Iphones got routed thru Apple's servers. Apple likely only keeps Imessages on there servers for 3-7 days like the telecomm companies do for their SMS messages. Here is the kicker though. I am fairly certain the telecoms and Apple make daily backups of everything as part of their disaster recovery procedures. We also know that the Feds also require the telecoms to archive every single phone call made in the US in the event that data is needed for a counterterrorism investigation. I think text and IMessages fall under that category as well. In other words, if Strzok and Page sent IMessages to each other in the short time they had Mueller SC-issued Iphones, I believe that information could be acquired from Apple's servers with a search warrant. It's quite possible a search warrant wouldn't even be required since they were government issued phones and which means the government has the authority to monitor all calls, emails and texts sent by the phone during the course of performing official government duties.
Who say you aren't, red electronics In particular.
The part of after "with that said" was not in the OIG report.
I want this former IRS guy, now a law professor, to be charged for misleading statements and so forth.
--..."On top of that, we pushed out refresher training to the entire workforce...--
That would be the "keep on lying, just don't get caught" manual.
Posted by: The Infamous Ignatz | December 13, 2018 at 03:47 PM
That is because it is out of scope for the Horowitz IG report.
Federal Inspector Generals focus on compliance with department policies, regulations, rules, etc. They point out when a federal agency/organization is violating federal policy and they can offer recommendations for how the department can fix their internal problems.
If during the course of their investigation there is evidence that a crime is committed, the OIG coordinates with a US Attorney to provide them with the evidence. In this specific case, if Huber believes Strzok/Page committed a crime, then it would be him, not Horowitz, who would work with Apple to get backup copies of any Imessages sent. Whether that happened or not is unknown at this time but regardless of whether it did or didn't it wouldn't be addressed in Horowitz' IG report.
Mark Meadows closes the Hearing segment of Fitton and the Lib Lawyer by reminding that the 2 guys who investigated and cleared something re: Uranium 1, were McCabe and Rod Rosenstein.
Meadows: ...Why would Attorney General Eric Holder not have looked into some of the issues as it related to the Uranium 1 Deal? And why would they have looked the other way, because apparently, according to your testimony, they did not know whether the FBI or the DOJ ever alerted the Committee Members to criminal activity that they uncovered. And that was a quote from your written testimony. The investigation was ultimately supervised by (pauses for effect)
US Attorney Rod Rosenstein, and
(pauses for effect )
Andy McCabe.
Isn't it amazing how these names continue to show up? Isn't it amazing? And with that, if there's no further business for this panel, we will excuse you 2 gentleman...and we'll ask the next panel to be set up.
I take it Meadows don't think Rod R wears a White hat.
France24 reports that the Strasbourg murderer is killed by the police.
Can you get the conclusions these guys are putting forth?
Taxable undertakings, not a charity, closely held family partnership.
Neither does Jordan or Gohmert. Did you happen to see the White House Hannukah reception, and in particular Trump's shout-out to Rosenstein? Pretty interesting IMO.
The guys testifying now are forensic analysts who swear they are non-partisan. Say they have worked in Law Enforcement and on Wall Street. Big prelim comments about their nonpartisanship.
Now Moynihan and Dolyle are going to state in bullet form what they found. let me transcribe so you know what I mean:
Moynihan: At this time what we would like to do, in an expeditious fashion, is to state in bullet form, the process we went through, and to state our findings that are in our submission to the IRS. It is a complex issue, a significant amount of information, but let it be said Our Claim is a Tax Claim. It's a claim of probable cause indicating that the (Clinton) Foundation operated outside the bounds of its approval that came from the IRS. That's our claim.
So that's his preamble for what is to follow.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-and-campaign-finance-11544733632?mod=djemBestOfTheWeb
(Go to outline if you can't read this link)
I have benign prostate enlargement
Peter. Glad to hear it is benign.
I have the same issue, but it doesn't seem at all benign on those nights you get up 4 times to take a wizz:)
Hope you heal up quick.
Bullet Form:
---We went to the 990's...
---we started with the Returns that the Foundation filed...
---These were their revenue sources and their expenses
---we attempted to reconcile all of those donations with expenses.
---The basis of our claim is that we were unable to do that.
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Finally! The Osama bin Laden as a Zombie Movie The World Has Been Waiting For
After WWII it took filmmakers almost 20 years to find a schlocky way to exploit the death of Adolf Hitler (see: 1969′s ‘They Saved Hitler’s Brain‘). Osama bin Laden hasn’t been dead a full year yet but his terrorist-plotation film is already upon us…
The World is coming to an end!
Because of the state of the economy, until further notice, the light at the end of the tunnel has been extinguished!!
Scott Ronson
Thank the Lord for White Trash!
What kinda world would it be if we didn't have white trash around to make our lives feel so much better.
[LINK] Osama bin Laden Watched Porn! A LOT!!!
From "The Daily" today: part of that vast "treasure trove" of intel material and stuff that Navy SEAL Team 6 took away from Osama bin Laden's compound after they popped a cap in his ass was his extensive selection of PORN!
Qaddafi Ducked. Or Maybe Not. If He Didn’t, Obama’s On a Roll
According to this post at Slate.com, Moammar Qaddafi might be dead, done in by a NATO airstrike on April 30. If so, President Obama and Team America have done in Public Enemy No. 1 and the guy who held that spot in 1986 in the span of two days!
[Photo] Monster Pic of The Day-The Superhero Situation Room
Yesterday I posted a funny picture of president Obama in the situation room using a controller to kill Osama Bin Laden. Today's photoshopped wonder is the superhero situation room.
[Photo] Monster Pic Of The Day-President Obama In The Situation Room
Check out this funny picture of President Obama in the situation room during the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.
[VIDEO] Osama’s Death Brings Closure…and a Haircut for El Paso Teacher
A great story from our partners at the El Paso Times on Mesita 4th and 5th grade teacher Robert Banta, who made a vow to his students a decade ago. In the aftermath of 9-11, Banta's students at the time were disturbed by the images of the Twin Towers collapse -- so he promised them that, in remembra…
[PHOTO] We have Osama bin Laden’s Death Photo!
It's been the hot topic of discussion around the United States and the world. Even though the President doesn't want to release it doesn't mean we can't, though. Here it is, exclusively via Jimmy Kimmel Live! The Osama bin Laden death photo...(WARNING! It's graphic -- innard…
[PHOTO] Osama Been Found
Breaking news! We have found Osama Bin Laden. Check out this funny picture that shows who he hangs out with.
President Bush on Bin Laden??
While President Barack Obama was organizing a targeted operation to kill terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, it appears that former President George Bush was taking care of his own business in Texas - well, sort of.
In this hilarious video from Funny or Die, Will Ferrell reprises his Dubya impersonatio…
Did UCLA Nerds Know Where Osama bin Laden Was?
According to a story at sciencemag.org, a UCLA geography professor and his class of undergraduates did a study that has turned out to be very accurate, successfully predicting the general area where Osama bin Laden was hiding in plain sight. Their paper got published by the MIT International Review …
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Mr Selfridge Series 3 (2015)
Starring: Jeremy Piven, Katherine Kelly, Aisling Loftus, Ron Cook, Zoë Wanamaker, Kara Tointon, Hannah Tointon, Sacha Parkinson, Leon Ockenden Production Companies: ITV Studios, Masterpiece Kent locations used: The Historic Chatham Dockyard, South Foreland Lighthouse Dover Based on the novel ‘Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge’ by Lindy Woodhead about the life of charismatic American entrepreneur, Mr […]
Tagged Aisling Loftus, Hannah Tointon, Jeremy Piven, Kara Tointon, Katherine Kelly, Leon Ockenden, Mr Selfridge film locations, Ron Cook, Sacha Parkinson, South Foreland Lighthouse Dover, The Historic Dockyard Chatham, TV Drama, Zoë Wanamaker
Call the Midwife – Series 4 (2015)
Starring: Helen George, Miranda Hart, Bryony Hannah, Jessica Raine, Vanessa Redgrave, Laura Main, Jenny Agutter, Pam Ferris, Ben Caplan, Judy Parfitt Production Company: Neal Street Productions Kent locations used: The Historic Dockyard Chatham Based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth, the popular BBC drama, Call The Midwife, is back for a fourth series. Set in 1950s East […]
Tagged Ben Caplan, Bryony Hannah, Call the Midwife film locations, Helen George, Jenny Agutter, Jessica Raine, Judy Parfitt, Laura Main, Miranda Hart, Pam Ferris, The Historic Dockyard Chatham, TV Drama, Vanessa Redgrave
Wolf Hall (2015)
Writer: Peter Straughan, Hilary Mantel (novel) Director: Peter Kosminsky Starring: Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, Claire Foy, Mark Gatiss, Jonathan Pryce Production company: Company Pictures Kent locations: Penshurst Place, Dover Castle This January, BBC Two airs new British drama Wolf Hall, charting the meteoric rise of Thomas Cromwell in the Tudor Court, from his lowly start […]
Tagged Claire Foy, Damian Lewis, Dover Castle, Mark Rylance, Penshurst Place, TV Drama, Wolf Hall film locations
Take Me Out – Series 7 (2015)
Production Company: Thames Kent Locations Used: The Maidstone Studios The master of matchmaking, Paddy McGuinness returns for the seventh series of ITV’s hit dating show Take Me Out. 30 single ladies wait for their dream date to arrive by the Love Lift, each hoping that the next eligible bachelor to arrive on the Isle of […]
Tagged Paddy McGuinness, Take Me Out film locations, The Maidstone Studios, tv entertainment
Into the Woods (2015)
Director: Rob Marshall Writer: James Lapine, Stephen Sondheim Starring: Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Christine Baranski, Billy Magnussen, Mackenzie Mauzy, Tracey Ullman, Daniel Huttlestone Production companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Lucamar Productions Kent locations: Dover Castle Into the Woods is a film adaption of James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s […]
Tagged Anna Kendrick, Billy Magnussen, Chris Pine, Christine Baranski, Daniel Huttlestone, Dover Castle, Emily Blunt, feature film, Into the Woods film locations, James Corden, Johnny Depp, Mackenzie Mauzy, Meryl Streep, Tracey Ullman
Director: Diarmuid Lawrence Writer: Steve Pemberton Starring: Miranda Richardson, Anna Chancellor, Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, Frances Barber, Felicity Montagu, Gemma Whelan Production Company: BBC Kent Locations: Kent & East Sussex Railway – Tenterden Station This Christmas, the BBC offers a new three part adaptation of E.F. Benson’s Mapp & Lucia novels set in 1930 in the […]
Tagged Anna Chancellor, Felicity Montagu, Frances Barber, Gemma Whelan, Kent & East Sussex Railway, Mapp and Lucia film locations, Mark Gatiss, Miranda Richardson, Steve Pemberton, Tenterden, TV Drama
Steph and Dom Meet Nigel Farage (2014)
Production Company: Studio Lambert Kent Locations: The Salutation, Sandwich The stars of Channel 4 series Googlebox, Steph and Dom Parker, welcome their local MP candidate, UKIP leader Nigel Farage, into their luxury B&B for an entirely different kind of interview. The one off special is a spin off from Gogglebox, the popular show where different […]
Tagged Sandwich, Steph and Dom Meet Nigel Farage film locations, The Salutation, tv factual
The Only Way is Essexmas (2014)
Production company: Lime Pictures Kent Locations: Lympne Castle Reality show The Only Way is Essex follows the lives of a group of infamous Essex residents and returns to ITVBe with an hour long Christmas Special. The show known as TOWIE is narrated by Denise van Outen and is now in its thirteenth series after becoming […]
Tagged Lympne Castle, The Only Way is Essexmas film locations, tv entertainment
Flog It! (2014)
Production Company: BBC Kent Locations: Chiddingstone Castle, Chartwell Flog It! is a BBC One programme where members of the public bring their antiques to be examined and valued by a team of experts, with an option to sell at auction. The popular show is now in its thirteenth series and in July 2014, presenter and antiques […]
Tagged Chiddingstone Castle, Flog It! film locations, Paul Martin, tv factual
Black Sea (2014)
Director: Kevin Macdonald Writer: Dennis Kelly Starring: Jude Law, Jodie Whittaker, Michael Smiley, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn Production company: Film4 Productions, Cowboy Films, Etalon Film Kent locations: Black Widow Submarine, River Medway Black Sea is an adventure thriller about a rogue submarine captain who brings together a misfit crew to seek out a sunken treasure […]
Tagged Ben Mendelsohn, Black Sea film locations, Black Widow Submarine River Medway, feature film, Jodie Whittaker, Jude Law, Michael Smiley, Scoot McNairy
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Home > Announcements > Change in timings of Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Bi-Weekly AC Express from Jul 01
By Kerala Rail News Jun 14, 2019
Trivandrum: The timings of AC Biweekly Express from Thiruvananthapuram Central to MGR Chennai Central has been revised permanently due to operational reasons. The new timings will come into force from 01st July 2019. There is no change in the days of service (Wednesdays and Sundays).
From 01.07.2019, Train No.22208 Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Central Bi-Weekly Superfast AC Express will be leaving Thiruvananthapuram at 19.15 hrs instead of 21.25 hrs on Wednesdays and Sundays to reach Chennai Central at 10.15 hrs. instead of 12.00 hrs. on Thursdays and Mondays.
Revised Timings (Arrival/Departure) Thiruvananthapuram Central (-/19.15 hrs), Kollam (20.05 hrs./20.07 hrs.), Alappuzha (21.26 hrs./21.28 hrs.), Ernakulam Junction (22.30 hrs./22.35 hrs.), Thrissur (23.57 hrs./00.00 hrs.), Palakkad Junction (01.07 hrs./ 01.10 hrs.), Coimbatore Junction (02.28 hrs./ 02.30 hrs.), Erode Junction (03.50 hrs./ 03.55 hrs.), Salem Junction (05.03 hrs./ 05.05 hrs.), Katpadi Junction (07.58 hrs./ 08.00 hrs.), Chennai Central (10.15 hrs./-).
Changanassery railway station gets a new station building
One thought on “Change in timings of Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Bi-Weekly AC Express from Jul 01”
Narayanan says:
!0 hours to reach Chennai ? Railway authorities must think the passengers plight and irunn according to that. The running time is too much.
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Officials: Oklahoma Attorney arrested in connection to Okmulgee Co. triple homicide
Posted 8:57 pm, September 13, 2019, by Kaylee Douglas, Updated at 07:20AM, September 15, 2019
OKLAHOMA CITY - Sources in the district attorney’s office tell News 4 that an Oklahoma trial attorney has been arrested in connection to a triple homicide investigation, but the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office tells a different story.
Keegan Harroz was arrested Friday in Oklahoma County. Sources close to the investigation told News 4 she is being held for "intimidating a state's witness." She's currently being held in the Oklahoma County Jail.
While sources close to the investigation tell News 4 Harroz's arrest is in connection with the triple homicide, the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office says this is not the case.
Dustin Todd with the Investigation Unit says her arrest was for an unrelated offense.
"...Regardless of what the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office is confirming or release, they are not the ones prosecuting Mrs. Harroz for her arrest and are not involved in this investigation," Todd wrote in a statement.
Back on September 6, the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office was called to a home north of Beggs around 3 p.m. after a family member went inside the home and discovered the three.
Officials have identified the victims as 65-year-old Jack Chandler, his wife, 69-year-old Evelyn Chander, and their daughter, 43-year-old Tiffany Eichor.
No other details have been released at this time.
If you have any information, call the Tip Line at (918) 516-8332.
Okmulgee Co. Sheriff’s Office offers reward for information on triple homicide
Federal grand jury indicts OKC attorney, boyfriend on weapons charges
New search warrant shows footprint may link attorney Keegan Harroz to triple-murder
New court documents show Okmulgee investigators seized multiple boxes of ammunition, white gloves from Keegan Harroz’s home
Investigators conduct another search at attorney Keegan Harroz’s home in triple murder probe
ICE Agents at odds with OK CO Sheriff’s Office over Salvadoran citizen custody status
Federal judge orders Oklahoma City attorney detained pending trial
Oklahoma man arrested after allegedly sexually abusing teen girl
OSBI, Pushmataha Co. Sheriff’s Office arrest suspect in Albion man’s 2018 murder
Oklahoma woman agonized by mystery of her father’s murder
Ft. Towson woman charged with husband’s murder
OSBI investigating homicide of Wetumka man
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senate ethics committee
Scotland's Referendum: Fair or Foul Play? (tags)
Hagel and Brennan Nominations (tags)
Senator Feinstein's Iraq Conflict (tags)
As a member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, Sen. Feinstein voted for appropriations worth billions to her husband's firms
Virginia Sen. Allen didn't disclose stock options as rules required (tags)
Do your really think Congress can police its self and stop corruption. No way! Congress by the defination of government is corrupt
The Son of Man (tags)
THE SON OF MAN / / Anybody who supports George W. Bush is my ENEMY. George W. Bush committed 9/11 with his buddy, General Ahmad who funded the mastermind ring leader. That's according to the FBI. Any bushite who gets in my way, who says that isn't the case, I WILL KILL. \ \ / / Mr. Sattler, if you don't want US to arrest those responsible for 9/11, don't you thing we Americans should kill you? \ \
A special broadcast for the bushite nazi grunts (tags)
The reasons why, US true Christ like Patriot Warriors kill the enemy bushite for God and Freedom in America.
Bush Making an Issue of Kerry’s Military Service Is Dumber Than--Well, Anything, Rea (tags)
Why would a president who did everything he could to not put on a uniform during wartime but couldn’t wait to don one years later as the most protected person on Earth, cast aspersions about a guy who volunteered to wear one in Vietnam and upon arriving back home as a decorated vet did everything he could to help other soldiers take theirs off? For more details about the Bush Baby’s last-gasp grasp at a straw man, read on.
Thom Hartmann: 'Want to win an election? Just control the voting machines' (tags)
You'd think in an open democracy that the government - answerable to all its citizens rather than a handful of corporate officers and stockholders - would program, repair, and control the voting machines. You'd think the computers that handle our cherished ballots would be open and their software and programming available for public scrutiny. You'd think there would be a paper trail of the vote, which could be followed and audited if a there was evidence of voting fraud or if exit polls disagreed with computerized vote counts. You'd be wrong.
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Pro-China supporters gather at a park during a counter-rally in support of the police in Hong Kong Saturday, July 20, 2019. AP Photo - Vincent Yu
Hong Kong braces for latest mass protest
21st Jul 2019 5:45 PM
HONG Kong police have locked down the city centre as it braced for yet another mass protest over an extradition bill that has plunged the Chinese-ruled financial hub into crisis and triggered violent clashes.
Tens of thousands are due to march from Victoria Park in the bustling shopping district of Causeway Bay to Wan Chai, just one metro station away, after police shortened the route, citing safety concerns.
Rally organisers lost their appeal to have the march route end in Central district, close to the scene where police in June fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse activists in some of the most violent protests to rock the former British colony in decades.
The protest comes a day after tens of thousands gathered to voice support for the police and call for an end to the violence.
Hong Kong is on edge after a series of skirmishes between activists and police at a wave of recent rallies that have extended across the territory.
Police late on Friday seized a cache of explosives and weapons in an industrial building in the New Territories district of Tsuen Wan. Three people were arrested in connection with the seizure, which police described as the largest ever of its kind in Hong Kong.
They said it was unclear if the explosives were related to the protest.
Government and police headquarters, which have been targeted by protesters in previous rallies, were barricaded by massive water barriers, while media said 5000 police were being deployed for the rally.
Several major roads were closed off and global bank HSBC , in a rare move, pulled down large metal barriers on the street level of its skyscraper building.
Hong Kong's embattled leader, Carrie Lam, has apologised for the turmoil the extradition bill has caused and declared it "dead". Opponents say nothing short of its full withdrawal will do.
Under the terms of the handover from Britain in 1997, Hong Kong was allowed to retain extensive freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland under a "one country, two systems" formula, including an independent judiciary and right to protest.
But for many Hong Kong residents, the extradition bill, which would allow extraditions to China and which they fear could be used to silence dissent, is the latest step in a relentless march toward mainland control.
The protesters are also demanding an independent investigation into what they describe as excessive use of force by police, the withdrawal of word "riot" from the government's description of the demonstrations and the unconditional release of those arrested.
How do I sell my property to overseas buyers?
premium_icon Cocaine Cassie’s amazing transformation inside jail
premium_icon Aussie expats in HK worried about extradition laws
china hong kong hong kong protests mass protests
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The housing commission block where Mark Dower was killed.
Body-in-the-laundry killer jailed
by Gavin Fernando and Natalie Wolfe
23rd May 2019 11:57 AM
WARNING: Graphic
A Wollongong man who killed a pensioner and dropped his body from a second-storey window inside a surfboard bag, then planned to kill a witness with a heroin overdose, has been sentenced to 19 years in jail with a non-parole period of 14 years.
Mark Kenneth Jenkin, 47, was found guilty of manslaughter in June after carrying out at least two violent assaults on Mark Dower, 56, at a housing commission block in Mangerton in 2015.
Jenkin, who bashed the man so severely a tooth was found in his stomach, had pleaded not guilty to murder and conspiracy to commit murder the month before.
Justice Peter Hamill said the offences were "extremely serious" and "necessarily attract substantial jail sentences".
He said Jenkin's risk of future violent offending was "significant", based on his criminal history.
He described Jenkin as a man with a "very short fuse" and a "violent temper", noting the video he took of the victim on his phone, in which he called him a "dirty f**king rat" and said "I'm gonna kill you" during the assaults.
"I was not satisfied that Jenkin formed an intention to kill nor inflict grievous bodily harm," Justice Hamill told the court.
"However, I found that the deliberate unlawful assault by Jenkin during 22-28 March substantially contributed to Mr Dower's death, and that he was guilty of manslaughter.
"His conduct demonstrates a remarkable lack of remorse and empathy."
The judge took into account that Jenkin would be "well into his middle age" before he was entitled to seek parole.
He said Jenkin's treatment of Mr Dower's body, which stayed in his bathtub for at least two days before he disposed of it, showed his "indifference for his dignity".
Mark Dower died in 2015 after being severely and repeatedly bashed.
In a statement, Mr Dower's daughter, who was not present for the sentencing, described her father as "her hero", and said she wished she could "spend just one more day with him".
"She wants to laugh with him and hug him again. She is lost in pain and endless grief," the judge said, based on a statement from the woman. She described her father as "the kindest man on the planet".
"I hope that in time the pain leaves, although I don't know that it will," Justice Hamill said.
During his Supreme Court trial in May last year, the court heard Mr Dower had been assaulted a number of times before dying from "homicidal violence", according to the Crown prosecutor.
The court heard that after Mr Dower had died, his body was placed into a zippered surfboard bag before being dropped from a two-storey balcony and hidden behind a number of bagged-up surfboards in the apartment complex's communal laundry.
Before Mr Dower's death, he had spent a substantial amount of time in Finland where he taught as an English teacher.
After his Finnish wife and father died, Mr Dower decided to move back to Australia where his mental health began to deteriorate.
The court heard Mr Dower would drink cask wine every day and by March 2015 he no longer had a fixed address and would often stay in a housing commission complex in the Wollongong suburb of Mangerton.
That was where Mr Dower, 56, met Jenkin and the two became acquaintances.
The prosecution alleged Jenkin was known for befriending people to eventually gain access to their bank accounts or savings.
Due to the significant amount of time he spent teaching English in Finland, Mr Dower was able to receive superannuation payments from there as well as from his Australian super.
The prosecution alleged Jenkin had previously robbed and intimidated Mr Dower before his death and that a number of witnesses noticed he had "been physically mistreated over some days" before dying.
The Crown prosecutor said it had several witnesses who remembered seeing Mr Dower in an increasingly injured state while he was staying in a friend's housing commission apartment.
The court heard the woman who owned the apartment he was staying in told detectives she regularly saw Jenkin intimidate and assault Mr Dower.
The Crown also said it would be submitting videos found on Jenkin's mobile phone as evidence.
The court heard one video showed Mr Dower in the apartment bathtub appearing visibly disoriented, with his pants down and faeces on his buttocks.
He also had an injury on his head and the right side of his face was swollen.
Jenkin could be heard in the video abusing Mr Dower and saying to another man: "Throw him in there head first and I'm going to kill him."
The Crown prosecutor also said it had a witness who had overheard Jenkin saying he'd hit Mr Dower so hard "it had exposed his brain".
The court heard another video allegedly showed Jenkin punching Mr Dower so hard three of his teeth were knocked out.
A post-mortem autopsy confirmed Mr Dower had one tooth in his stomach when he died.
The doctor concluded the tooth was there before he died.
Mr Dower had bleeding on the brain, fractures to his ribs, a fractured upper jaw and "severe trauma" to his mouth before he died, the court heard.
It was on April 16, 2015, just before midnight when police discovered Mr Dower's badly decomposed body in the communal laundry room of the Mangerton housing commission.
"The condition of that body made it obvious that person had been dead for some time," the Crown prosecutor said.
Officers quickly figured out the location of the body after breaking open the lock on the laundry room and smelling a "strong, putrefying odour".
A number of residents had also previously complained about the smell coming from the laundry.
Police had originally been notified of the body thanks to an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip-off.
Jenkin was already in custody for an unrelated matter when he was charged with Mr Dower's murder in November 2015.
The court heard that while Jenkin was in jail, he told his stepbrother to find out who had tipped off police.
Eventually, the pair allegedly figured out the person who had called Crime Stoppers was an acquaintance of Jenkin's who had helped him move the body "out of fear".
She had taken Mr Dower's pulse in the bathtub but found he was "unresponsive and cold", the court heard.
Jenkin and the woman then allegedly placed him the surfboard bag, before dropping it over the balcony and obscuring him behind a number of other boards in the laundry.
While Jenkin and his stepbrother had allegedly figured out who was behind the tip-off, police were simultaneously investigating Mr Dower's murder and had tapped a number of telephones they thought he might call in prison.
The court heard that in late 2015, Jenkin used a contraband mobile phone - a device that is banned in prison - to hatch a plan with his stepbrother about the woman who had tipped off police.
The court heard Jenkin told his stepbrother to give her a "hot shot of heroin" - something that would cause her to overdose and die.
Jenkin told his stepbrother the woman was already a drug user so it "would not seem that unusual".
After the phone calls, the woman, who was one of the Crown's key witnesses, was put in witness protection and Jenkin was further charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
He also pleaded not guilty to that charge last year.
In August 2015, while Jenkin was in jail, he was recorded saying on the phone, "about 10 minutes after this c**t died, (the woman) rocked up".
The Crown said it had a number of witnesses who could testify that Jenkin's stepbrother actively tried to buy heroin despite not being known to use the drug.
Son gets dad jailed in 20-year-old cold case
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Robby Gal — @robbygal0719 Nov 12th, 2019
According to AirYards.com, in Week 10, 21 wide receivers had more than 100 air yards. Among those, six of them would be considered second or third options in their team's receiving corps. It's a reminder that it's prudent down the stretch to look at situations that have changed, especially ones which may have elevated previously forgotten players to important status in fantasy football.
Let's recap some usage trends from the past week.
Rushing Market Shares
Kareem Hunt, making his debut for the Cleveland Browns, had four carries for 30 yards and seven receptions for 44 yards on nine targets. Hunt's unknown status kept some fantasy owners from acquiring him and others from dealing him until they knew what they had. And now, the area is less grey but is still uncertain.
Nick Chubb did Nick Chubb things despite Hunt’s return, with a 20-carry, 116-yard rushing day, adding two receptions for five yards).
It's just one game, but it sure looks like Hunt is going to be a factor in the passing game after seeing a 23 percent share of the targets in Week 10. Given that it was his first game, it's possible his workload grows. If he's available in your league, pick him up.
Brian Hill
Brian Hill is getting his chance.
With Ito Smith lost for the season and Devonta Freeman potentially out for multiple weeks after suffering a mid-game injury in Week 10, Hill dominated the rushing shares in the Atlanta Falcons' backfield with 20 carries for 61 yards and one reception for 11 yards and one touchdown.
Other than Freeman, only one other running back saw a carry in Atlanta's shocking win at the New Orleans Saints, and that was Kenjon Barner, who got one.
Hill looks poised to dominate the rushing work while Freeman is out, and he showed he’s more than capable of handling a three-down role if needed.
Receiving Market Shares
Demaryius Thomas, wide receiver for the New York Jets, is an odd insert in this article, but he’s becoming a stable asset. On Sunday versus the New York Giants, Thomas led the Jets in targets with nine, and he finished with six receptions for 84 yards, including a 47-yard grab, something that used to be a hallmark of his game.
Overall, Thomas accounted for a 30 percent target share and saw 50 air yards.
Perhaps the Giants' defense was awful, or perhaps Sam Darnold and the Jets’ offense are going to start doing what many had expected of them earlier in the season. Either way, it's a situation worth monitoring as Gang Green has some juicy upcoming matchups, including a nice one this week at Washington.
Thomas may have some fantasy relevance down the stretch.
DeVante Parker has the chance to become the top option for the Miami Dolphins. While being the number-one wideout for one of the league's worst offenses isn't an ideal spot, fantasy is all about volume, and Parker could see plenty of it. Plus, with Ryan Fitzpatrick at the helm, this offense has been better.
This last Sunday, Miami's first game sans Preston Williams, Parker caught five passes for 69 yards on 10 targets. He handled a 30 percent target share and a massive 69 percent air yards share for the Dolphins. His 120 air yards were 11th most in Week 10 among all players.
With Fitzpatrick under center and few other viable options to speak of around him, Parker can serve as a flex play or WR3 down the stretch.
Red Zone Market Shares
Latavius Murray was stellar when Alvin Kamara missed time earlier this year. Kamara returned in Week 10, but Murray might be able to hold some standalone value the rest of the way.
Murray currently has three red zone rushing touchdowns on 17 attempts. He handles 37.8 percent of the Saints’ red zone carries. Kamara, meanwhile, has only 10 red zone carries, good for a 22.2 percent share. Obviously, Kamara's missed time skews the numbers a bit, but Murray looks like the Saints' preferred red zone option.
Kamara is the alpha in this backfield, but now that he's back and healthy, it should be easier to acquire Murray on the cheap. Latavius is a top-shelf handcuff as well as a decent flex option on bye weeks.
Deebo Samuel performed well on Monday night (eight catches for 112 yards on 11 targets), but he’s still under the radar enough to acquire for cheap.
Samuel, wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, has been a big factor in the red zone. He has 10 red zone targets -- a 27.8 percent share -- this year for the 49ers. He also had 95 air yards on Monday, and for the year, he's seeing a 17 percent target share and 19 percent air yards share. Not bad at all.
With only one touchdown so far for Samuel, he's due for some positive regression in the scoring department. He's also aided by a banged-up San Fran passing game. Emmanuel Sanders exited early in Week 10, and the Niners were already without George Kittle.
Samuel appears poised for a strong finish to his rookie campaign, especially if Sanders has to miss time.
NFL Betting Guide: Conference Championships
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Daf of the Day: Berakhot 15b
by Rabbi Dov LinzerPosted on January 18, 2020
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About Rabbi Dov Linzer
Rabbi Dov Linzer is the Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School and holds the Norman and Tova Bulow Rosh HaYeshiva Chair. He is the primary architect of YCT's groundbreaking curriculum of Torah, Halakha, pastoral counseling and professional training. He teaches regular classes in advanced Talmud, advanced Halakha and the thought of Modern Orthodoxy, and serves as a religious guide to the yeshiva’s 34 rabbinical students and its 100 + rabbis currently serving in the field. Rabbi Linzer has been a leading rabbinic voice in the Modern Orthodox community for over 20 years, and teaches a Daf Yomi shiur which is available on Youtube and iTunes. He publishes regular teshuvot on a wide variety of topics, and is the co-host of the highly popular Joy of Text podcast.
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Apple CEO Cook adds to litany of condolence tweets for victims of Islamic terrorism
Sunday, June 4, 2017 11:55 am Sunday, June 4, 2017 101 Comments
Following the latest Islamic terrorist attacks in London that left at least 7 dead and nearly 50 injured after a van ran down pedestrians on London Bridge after which three men jumped out of the van with large knives and attacked people at bars and restaurants, Tim Cook tweeted about the incident is what has become a litany of such responses from Apple’s CEO (see below).
This latest attack was reminiscent of the truck attack in Nice, France on the evening of July 14, 2016.
Following the third terrorist attack in three months, UK Prime Minister Teresa May issued a warning to jihadis and those who harbour them as she said “things need to change.” May said, “It is time to say enough is enough. Everybody needs to go about their lives as they normally would. Our society should continue to function in accordance with our values. But when it comes to taking on extremism and terrorism, things need to change. While we have made significant progress in recent years there is, to be frank, far too much tolerance of extremism in our country. So we need to become far more robust in identifying it and stamping it out – across the public sector and across society. That will require some difficult and often embarrassing conversations, but the whole of our country needs to come together to take on this extremism.”
Shocked by more senseless attacks in London. Our hearts go out to our friends, coworkers, neighbors and everyone in that great city. 🇬🇧
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 4, 2017
Deeply saddened by the tragic events in Manchester. Our thoughts are with everyone affected. 🇬🇧
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 23, 2017
نعبِّر عن بالغ حزننا وأسفنا حول التفجيرات المروعة في مصر ونعزي جميع أهلها🇪🇬
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 9, 2017
Våra tankar går till våra vänner i Stockholm efter dagens fruktansvärda händelser. 🇸🇪
Искренние соболезнования всем, кого коснулась трагедия в Санкт-Петербурге 🇷🇺
Standing with our friends in London in the face of today's senseless attack. 🇬🇧
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 22, 2017
Sevgili Türkiye, acınızı ve üzüntünüzü paylaşıyoruz. #Istanbul kalbimiz sizinle. 🇹🇷
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 1, 2017
Wir sind bestürzt über die Ereignisse in München. Unsere Gedanken sind bei allen Menschen in der Stadt. 🇩🇪 #Munich
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) July 22, 2016
La France est dans nos coeurs et nos pensées. 🇫🇷 #Nice
Our hearts go out to the victims of the unspeakable tragedy in #Orlando, their families and all who grieve with them.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 12, 2016
Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends, customers, coworkers and all the people of Belgium.
Prayers for Paris, the victims and their loved ones. Nous sommes tous Parisiens.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) November 14, 2015
Prayers, condolences, and hope for all those affected by the bombings in Turkey.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) October 12, 2015
MacDailyNews Take: That is a very sad list of such tweets to which, hopefully, no more will ever need to be added.
So much senseless death, grievous injury, and needless pain.
Enough is enough indeed.
Apple CEO Tim Cook advocates privacy, says terrorists should be ‘eliminated’ – February 27, 2015
Sunday, June 4, 2017 at 12:02 pm
Empty platitudes solve nothing.
Candles and flowers just get wax and detritus all over the sidewalk.
Political correctness kills.
Sunday, June 4, 2017 at 3:17 pm
The chrome on your truck bumper does nothing, take it off.
Your children don’t need a pat on the back when they get good grades, stop it and put them to work on chores instead.
The pagan celebration christians coopted and renamed Christmas is a waste of cards singing and wrapping paper.
What a miserable excuse for a person who would question the value of humans caring for other humans. Stop commenting already, nobody wants to read you antisocial screed.
MacObserver
Monday, June 5, 2017 at 10:03 pm
How does being civil and respectful kill anyone? Logical fail.
botvinnik
Theresa May is Neville Chamberlain with a bra.
England better find themselves another Churchill, and they better find him fast.
Davewrite
I am NOT in anyway justifying what is happening in UK and Europe by crazed Islamics but you would note:
UK : Colonial power
Denmark : Colonial power
France: Colonial power
Belgium : Colonial power
Germany : Colonial power
Austria:Colonial power
Sweden: Colonial power
Norway: Colonial power
Netherlands: Colonial power
Austria : Colonial power
Spain: Colonial power
POLAND : NOT COLONIAL POWER.
“Wikipedia : Poland never formally had any colonial territories, however over its history the acquisition of such territories was at times contemplated, but never attempted”
Don’t really want to get into history stuff but I think roughly many of these countries got really wealthy running overseas colonies and then allowed many colonials to settle in their homeland for various reasons. Some got large numbers of muslims like France, UK. France’s got like 5 million muslims (many from Algeria etc which France used to rule. ).
NOTE ALSO it’s not ‘migrants’ in general. Practically Every city, town in Europe , USA etc have ‘Chinatowns’ for example since the 1800s, don’t see them doing Terror Attacks (like what we see from fanatic muslims) . So Don’t LUMP ALL MIGRANTS into one group.
(I believe a ‘we hate all migrants’ policy is going to backlash and negate steps needed to deal with Islamic Crazies. I don’t care how many one stars I get but I’ll say a lot of White Supremacists are hiding behind the ‘stop islamics’ as general ‘hate colored’ stand and I won’t agree to that, like I said it’s going to make stopping Islamic fundamentalism harder. )
BTW: an interesting fact is that Poland is a staunch US ally in war in Terror losing 20+ dead in Iraq and 40 in Afghanistan. (these are relatively high numbers for Polands size)
Interesting analysis, but I think it’s more that Poland learned a permanent lesson from their last invaders in 1939.
If it was not for Polish and Czech pilots in the Battle of Britain, there wouldn’t be an England left.
…and American.
…and Canadian.
sinclap
Monday, June 5, 2017 at 10:07 am
….and Detroit.
Yes, thank you to the 11 or so American pilots who of their own accord made their way to England , violating the United States official position of neutrality at that point, to participate before the Americans had any forces in the war.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-British_personnel_in_the_RAF_during_the_Battle_of_Britain
The US Army aviation corps did impressive work later, but the point is valid that Britain drew on every possible friend in the commonwealth and in Europe to defend itself against Hitler. Bottvinnik, you should stop being so literal about everything.
actually, I take this guy “literally”:
“…our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”
Monday, June 5, 2017 at 4:43 am
only mentally ill libtards downvote a map.
London yesterday…
https://twitter.com/GoldingBF/status/843137525728378886/video/1
“Donald Trump, we love you. Donald Trump we love you.
Britain first, fighting back. Britain first, fighting back.”
The grandchildren of the RAF awaken.
Only a desperate fool with an IQ of 1 would make scurrilous claims based on a twitter feed widely condemned as grossly inaccurate.
Where was the terrorist attack in the North Sea? or Lincolnshire?, or Yorkshire?, or Tyneside?, or Liverpool?, or North Wales?
Fact…they didn’t happen.
You have zero credibility, but then you know that… >>duplicitous little man hiding behind lies, disinformation and childish insults.
#kakistocracy
Monday, June 5, 2017 at 1:05 pm
you mad, bro?
Chamberlain bought time for the UK at least 2 yrs to re arm. UK was all alone in Europe and had to do what was best for them.
Until US & UK govs stop blowing the fsck out of countries and leaving power vacuums where IS build their web of terror from nothing will change.
Supplying Saudi Arabia with billions of dollars worth of weapons while they continue to fund IS and export Wahhabism across the globe must stop.
Or is the profit of weapons sales worth the collateral damage of slaughtered civilians on our streets?
First 2014, Then 2016
That is not the root cause of Islamic terrorism. Until you figure out what is the root cause, you will continue to fail to stop Islamic terrorists.
We must support the efforts of honest Muslims to fight to eliminate the evil side of Islam. We must stop lying about Islam. We must stop embracing and reinforcing its claims to a special right to getting violently offended. We must instead join in the fight against its evil. – Ira Straus, February 20, 2015
The root cause is fundamentalism, plain and simple. Fundamentalism is born of fear and ignorance. There are a great many moderate and even non-practicing people of Muslim origin. Fighting this is like fighting the Spanish Inquisition, and philosophically, change will come about the same way. Generationally, hatred and ignorance will have to be expunged from people’s hearts, it will be a process. In the meantime, perpetrators will have to be held accountable.
Dean Botvinnik Clark's mommy
Oklahoma breeds fundamentalist pro-authoritarians like Dean Clark. If he wasn’t such a coward, he would fight an religious crusade too. Equal and opposite hate and ignorance on both sides. Terrorists would have nothing to fight for if it wasn’t for the evil that the terrorists of the other side perpetrate in words and deeds.
Trump dropped the “Mother of all bombs” accomplishing nothing but creating another recruitment poster for people to hate America’s 4 decades of misplaced military priorities.
Fundamentalism is only a problem when the religion is fundamentally evil — as Islam is. Mohammed ordered Muslims to kill. Mohammed was an evil POS.
But you feel entitled to break Christ’s commandments with exceptions you make up for your convenience? Thou shalt not kill except if I declare war? Thou shalt not kill but selling military hardware used only for killing is okay? Thou shalt not kill but it’s okay to use drone strikes?
The sooner the west pulls its collective head out of its ass and realizes that no amount of military superpower is going to create peace? You Americans obviously didn’t learn a damn thing in Korea or Vietnam or any war since. You are arrogant enough to think you earn respect via shock and awe. All it does is increase the resolve of the despairing impoverished kids who are being brainwashed into performing heinous crimes. Meanwhile the nation that used to support human rights around the world continues to hold people in prison without trial, and the president repeatedly supported human torture. Then you expect the other side to behave like good little peasants? Get a clue. Karma is a bitch. One reaps the hatred you sow.
People who call themselves “Truth” never are.
Nekogami13
The commandment is actually thou shalt not commit murder, not kill.
If you read the Bible, God encouraged and supported killing.
jfblagden
War and murder are two entirely different things. By the way, in the Bible, the jews had a number of battles and wars, and as long as they were faithful, God blessed their efforts tremendously – and they always won. Also, “Eye for an Eye” is actually a limitation on vengeance.
No, all fundamentalism is a huge problem. You see it every day here, in business, in congress — people too tied to unchanging beliefs even when new data becomes available. Gridlock and tit-for-tat actions that undermines the greater good. It has to stop. Don’t be blind to your own fundamentalist gaps in logic.
Conflating Islam, a governance of murder, with “business, congress and people tied to unchanging beliefs” is a lie of nauseating proportions.
Curiously, you point out how long this has been going on. The Spanish Inquisition was, of course, an attempt to remove the remaining Islamic control in Spain after the islamists had invaded and held Spain for 500 years.
That first paragraph is definitely correct, although we need to throw France into the mix too. Saddam, Gaddafi, and Assad were/are evil bastards, but they were the one thing keeping their countries from descending into failed states. Now look at those countries. Hell holes from which Islamist extremists spew hate.
And I will point out that when I said as much on this site before Bush/Blair’s fool’s crusade back in late 2002/early 2003 I got shouted down by the same bunch of “freedom loving patriots” who continue to shout down any long term strategies regarding the Middle East.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/06/04/world-leaders-call-for-unity-after-london-attack-trump-tweets-the-complete-opposite/
Make Amerika hate again
I have more respect for a terrorist than a limp wristed, self loathing libtard.
RonnieRaygun
Then you are a fucking moron and an enemy of freedom.
Trump fits that description perfectly. People painting him as a conservative have lost their moorings to reality. Trump is liberal in social goals (promised everyone cheap health insurance), areligious, financially unrestrained in spending (sharp increase in peacetime budget), and chicken hawk with no military experience. And he is a Samsung user. The only thing worse than this is a botvinnik
Then you are a traitor.
Colossal Fail – T-R-U-M-P
How exactly, genius, did Trump fail? Did he let thousands of jihadis into the UK and then fail to properly track them after the mistake of letting the enemy into your country was realized?
No, the failure is of LIBERAL anything goes, politically correct idiots like you. The blood is on your hands. The failure is yours. Projecting it on others won’t absolve you or your ilk, sufferer of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Look in the mirror for once, loser.
Breeze can’t look in the mirror, vampires don’t cast a reflection.
Many of these murderers are UK born citizens.
You’all hilarious! We have 13k domestic murders mostly perpetrated by Christians along with tens of thousands of gunshot wounds of those who survived. You’re worldview must be terrifying.
Because “world leaders” have done so well dealing with Islamic terrorists so far…
This isn’t a “hug it out/kumbaya/whirlled peas” situation, snowflakes. This is eliminate them before they eliminate you, your spouse, your son, and/or your daughter.
Terrorism is horrible and must be stopped. All of us must do everything we can do to stop this craziness.. These people shouldn’t exist. They should be eliminated. – Apple CEO Tim Cook, February 27, 2015
SCARED are you pussy cat mucho man????????
FactChecker
He doesn’t sound at all scared, you feckless, nonsense-spouting lib.
DoSomeMoreChecking
The root of conservatism is fear. Down to the neuro-correlates of political opinions.
lol, “neural-correlates.” Thank you, Sigmund Fraud.
Tim Cook actually had balls at one time. You can’t persuade a terrorist not to kill you, you can only kill them before they kill you.
Actually you can persuade terrorists not to kill you. Ghengis Khan had overrun much of the Roman Empire and was making a march for Ravenna when Pope Leo V rode out to meet him. Nobody knows what was said, but the invasion was halted immediately without further bloodshed.
Those who rely only on brawn to solve their problems are ignorant of the other tools of peace.
Do us all a favor. Go try to hug an Islamic terrorist. Take breeze etc. with you.
Take Obama with you, too. Yo can get him to go easily. Just tell him there’ll be free coke and gay porn actors.
You preach a message you are unwilling to practice.
The Washington Post. Jeff Bezos’ mouthpiece. They’ve always been left-leaning, but now they’ve effectively shot all of their credibility very quickly since Bezos bought the outfit. Now it’s just another slanted Liberal rag. Anyone who links to the Wash Post as if they’re credible is a fool.
Something tells me this is about to get political. Where’s my updated Mac mini????
TRUMP-PENCE 2020
Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2017
We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!
We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don't get smart it will only get worse
At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!"
Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!
Shame the fraudster couldn’t resist dissing the mayor of London who has other things to think about than insincere political point scoring. But what else to expect. Sadiq Kahn didn’t say any such thing, but why let that spoil an opportunity for self-agrandising crap.
What a creep.
A Real Brit
The Mooslim mayor of Londonstan. How ridiculous! The multicultis are MAD.
You obviously haven’t got a clue about London, so how about you just shut up and stop making a fool of yourself.
You are defending the murder of innocents in the streets. You are an abomination.
And you obviously haven’t got a clue about anything at all.
Go f*ck yourself.
sure, Habib.
You really are a sicko…making demented and insulting comments whilst there is still warm blood on the streets.
Sadistic clown that you are.
Well, I’m sure you’ll send teddy bears and light candles and sing “Imagine” as an effective counter-measure, Mr. Pussy.
…until the next time it happens because nothing was done about it this time…you know, besides scented candles, stuffed toys and chants of “We Are The World, We Are The Universe.”
fucking idiots.
yes, he most certainly did say it.
“We are not having a gun debate right now” because guns are heavily controlled in the UK, so it’s irrelevant.
Three gunmen rather than knife wielders in that crowded part of London last night, on an 8 minute spree before being gunned down by the police? The number of dead would be into three figures. Doesn’t bear thinking about. Exactly why I’m happy we have our laws rather than US style ones.
Trump is such a demented fool. Hurry up and get rid of him.
We will, on January 20th, 2025.
TxUser
You could continue with the string of tweets Monday morning that continue attacking the UK authorities, continue misquoting the London mayor, attack anybody who quoted the mayor accurately, and blame all the attacks committed by Western citizens on immigrants. He also undercuts his own Justice Department by criticizing their approach to the appeals of the travel ban and actually calling it by the term that the lawyers have been carefully avoiding, “TRAVEL BAN” (in all caps).
If the UK wasn’t more concerned with its own affairs than with the bleatings of someone determined to abdicate his country’s position in the world, they would be recalling their ambassador to rethink this whole notion of a “special relationship.”
Incredibly fast response by Met police within 8 mins.
And thank goodness for the UK’s gun control laws that deny terrorists easy access to mass murder weapons. Yeah, I know, I will be crucified on the second amendment alter of denial but in one pub, drinkers repelled the terrorist with a shower of chairs, bottles and glasses. Try that on a nutter with a gun.
Thoughtful response
Or try this…… in many US states now there would have been several people in that pub with their own guns who would have been armed and capable of bringing a swift end to the “nutters with guns” to whom you were referring.
As George Washington wrote, “A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.” George Mason said, “I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people…To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.”
And, of course, they are all expert marksmen who could never possibly shoot an innocent bystander…
Personally, I’d much rather get hit by “friendly chair throwing” than friendly fire.
You mean like the armed police did?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/04/armed-police-killed-london-attackers-hail-bullets/
http://www.newsweek.com/london-bridge-attack-bystander-caught-crossfire-police-shoot-dead-three-620522
You my friend are a liar. There is no sane person, when given the choice of a chair or a gun to defend themselves, would choose the chair when someone was trying to kill him.
Yeah…and two hundred years ago they thought blood letting cured the plague.
I guess some folk are just incapable of evolving.
The issue is not wholly about guns — as you point out, attackers and defenders alike take up the weapons at hand — but about beliefs. A belief system that embraces and incites war, and glorifies murder and suicide, is more damaging than any arsenal — it is a tool for endless recruitment of cannon fodder by charlatans posing as holy men.
Where you’re from is not the problem. Your gender is not the problem. Your race is not the problem.
Islam is the problem.
Currentinterest
These are terrorists who rationalize their actions by invoking Islam. This is quite different than suggesting Islamic terrorism is to blame. Only by connecting even more closely to the Islamic community can we hope to prevent these horrific events.
Yeah, we need to better connect with those people who follow the murderous Mohammed. That will solve everything.
Are you really that daft?
You are so convinced that America is infallible and your religion/race so superior that you will achieve peace by declaring an endless war on a desperate tactic?
For what its worth, Lewis and Clark, living in a time of even greater racism, were smart enough to take Indians, French trappers, and even black slaves on their discovery expedition of the American west. There is absolutely no chance they would have made it without having a multiracial team.
Yes. Christianity is superior to Islam because Muhammad wasn’t fit to carry Jesus’ sandals. The Son of God trumps a mere purported prophet whose followers tend to like blowing up little girls. Christians are to ones who respond to disasters and terrorism by delivering food, water, blankets and whatever else is needed. Muslims look the other way and do nothing. It will be their ultimate downfall.
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” – Jesus of Nazareth (John 15:13)
“I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.” – Muhammed The Pedophile (Quran 8:12)
I have a degree from a Christian seminary, so I obviously agree that Christianity is true and that Islam is (to the degree it differs from Christianity) mistaken. An argument can be made that Islam is actually a Christian heresy, not an independent religion.
That said, we live in a country governed by a written Constitution that goes to considerable lengths to promise that there will never be any religious tests to exclude citizens from voting, officeholding, or any other benefit of citizenship.
If that were not clear enough, the Constitution was amended in 1791 to add prohibitions against the federal government either establishing a religion or interfering with the free exercise of religious freedom. Every state now has similar provisions in its own constitution.
The Federal Constitution was amended again in 1868 to provide that nobody within the jurisdiction of the U.S. (not even non-citizens) could be denied due process or equal protection of the law. That incidentally extended the earlier religion clauses to cover the states as well as the federal government; there are no “states rights” to allow discrimination. A further amendment in 1870 specifically insured that race and color could not be used to discriminate.
Statutes lawfully passed pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment have further guaranteed the rights of all our citizens to avoid the burdens of an established state religion and to exercise their own faith in any matter under all circumstances, absent a compelling governmental interest to the contrary. Another statute forbids religious or ethnic discrimination in immigration matters.
So, as a Christian I prefer Christian values, but as an American I must tolerate all other religions. Any expressly “Christian America” is an America that betrays the values that made our beloved country what it is.
crisrod63
“But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” – Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 5:39).
What religion was the IRA while they bombed and murdered people?
What religion are the whackadoodles in the US that commit mass shootings?
What religion were the branch daviidians?
What religion was Timothy McVeigh?
What religion was the Inquisition?
Nutcases find anything that supports their agenda and twist it.
No one is arguing that there are nut jobs, the point is what a religion teaches. See the above example of Jesus of Nazareth and Muhammed The Pedophile.
Islam: Where every day is always 700 ad.®
USN retired
Allow me to introduce you to Mohammad Gulab. Mohammad risked his life and that of his family to save the life of Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell — you may have heard some of this from Luttrell’s account in the book Lone survivor.
Speaking through a translator to CBS’s ’60 Minutes’ in 2013, Gulab said: ‘I knew I had to help him; to do the right thing, because he was in a lot of danger.’
‘He very well could have just left me laying there on the side of that waterfall and let me die,’ Luttrell said. ‘But he didn’t.’
Following Luttrell’s rescue, Gulab and his family were targeted by the Taliban. Gulab repelled bomb and gunfire attacks on his home and was on the run for a decade in Afghanistan before the US approved his refugee status and allowed him to immigrate.
Why did Gulab, a muslim, save Luttrell? Because of Pashtunwali. Look up the word. Christianity is not the only religion rooted in humane practices.
Stop conflating the Taliban or the Islamic State with the majority of peace loving Muslims.
If you take the Bible literally, especially the Old Testament, you will see an inconsistent litany of excuses to kill stone or maim people. Much of it is equally as reprehensible as the Qua’ran and most Christians cannot identify which book the old haterade came from.
http://www.evilbible.com/evil-bible-home-page/murder-in-the-bible/
Well, maybe you can do some of that “connecting more closely to the Islamic community” next time when you are picking nails out of your daughter’s eyeballs.
TooSad
Wow! It must be so painful for you to live in such fear day in and day out. Have you tried seeking medical help? A Valium or three maybe? You sound like you could snap in a second and be the next Timothy Mcveigh. I suggest you run, not walk to the nearest mental wellness clinic (while you can still afford healthcare!) and get help! You really do need it.
nah, I leave all the drug abuse to you libtards.
Tim sure said some supportive things, quite the contrast to the president of Apple’s home country, but then again what do you expect from a leader of a terrorist nation.
Body count in Iraq that day, 84, and they still haven’t found that weapons of mass destruction program.
Terrorist, a bunch of gutless cowards, be they ISIS or USUS.
Yeah, President Trump is so unsupportive. Oh, wait, you’re wrong, as usual:
The contrast is that chump was supportive and non supportive. Your quote from the chump is supportive.
But he also said this:
“At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is “no reason to be alarmed!””
Totally out of context and downright insulting as per usual. The chump challenged London Mayor Sadiq Khan for saying there was “no reason to be alarmed.” but Khan spoke those words in a television interview Sunday in the context of reassuring Londoners about an increased police presence they might see. The chump’s tweet is out of context and a contrast to what Tim Cook has said.
So again, just so that you get it, Tim Cook said supportive things and only supportive things about this terrorist attack whereas the chump said something supportive and derogatory, hence the contrast.
Clear enough for you? Possibly not.
G5 PowerBook
Suicide bombing happens because the bomber believes that they will go straight to Paradise after the explosion. Accordingly, the only way to stop suicide bombing is to threaten to wrap the corpse of the bomber in a pig-skin before burial so that he/she will be denied access to Paradise. This worked successfully in India, during the days of the Raj. The first Muslim to murder a British official was tried, found guilty and hanged. The body was then wrapped in a pig-skin and buried. There were no further incidents of this kind. General Pershing used the same technique to counter Muslim terrorism in the Philippines. After execution, 49 convicted terrorists were buried in a pit and covered with pig blood, entrails and so on. The 50th terrorist was released to spread the word. That was the end of Muslim terrorism in the Philippines for decades!
G5 PowerBook,
I am shocked that nobody else has responded to this bit of alternate history.
To begin with, the Pershing story is more than just baseless. It is an insult to the memory of one of our greatest American heroes. Pershing was called “Black Jack” precisely because racists in the military thought that he was a “n-word lover” who foolishly treated troops and civilians of color the same as if they were white.
According to every living biographer of Pershing, there is no truth to the pig blood story, which apparently first began circulating after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. (There was a similar story published in 1927, based on rumors without eyewitness testimony, but in that account nobody was executed).
http://time.com/4235405/donald-trump-pig-blood-muslims-story/
As for the story about the Raj, I don’t know if it is true. Even if it is, I hardly think that it is relevant to the behavior of civilized states today. Nineteenth-century British imperialists exercised the White Man’s Burden over their conquered nonwhite subjects in much the same fashion as 20th-century imperialists from Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union, and China treated the “lesser breeds without the law” within their respective empires.
Anyone with an ounce of decency knows that America needs to be better than that. If we are not, Road Warrior is right about our status within the ranks of civilized nations.
Oh, and besides all that, there is no Muslim belief that a person who is wrapped in pig hide or shot with bullets dipped in pig blood will be denied Paradise. This is a myth right up there with the effect of silver bullets on werewolves.
There are hadith (traditional teachings of Muhammed and his first followers) that specifically say that ritual uncleanness will not bar a saint or martyr from Paradise. Once a soul is in God’s presence, it does not matter what happens to the body. Another hadith teaches that if one’s clothes become spattered with pig’s blood or dog’s blood, that does not release the believer from his duty of joining the congregation of the faithful for prayers.
So abusing Muslim corpses would not only be inhumane, but also entirely ineffective.
A detail conveniently ignored by some above — there have been WAY more killings in the US by Christian fanatics than by Muslim fanatics.
Tags: Isis, Islamic terrorism, London, mass murder, Tim Cook
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Denver Comes Alive @ Mission Ballroom
« Spin Doctors @ Brooklyn Bowl
Snowsio Festival @ 10 Mile Music Hall »
This coming January 31st, Live For Live Music, in partnership with AEG, is thrilled to present the inaugural Denver Comes Alive at Mission Ballroom. A limited number of $29.95 early bird tickets are on sale now, with regular on sale happening Friday, November 22nd at 10 am MT.
Following in the footsteps of its East Coast predecessor, Denver Comes Alive will mix in never-before-seen collaborations with nationally touring fan favorites. The lineup for the inaugural Mile High edition of the event will feature Oteil Burbridge & Friends, Ghost-Live (a special Ghost-Note/Soulive collaboration), Star Kitchen & Friends, plus Poppa Funk & The Nite Tripper: A Tribute To Art Neville & Dr. John, a tribute to Art Neville, the legendary founding member of The Meters, and Dr. John, a.k.a. The Night Tripper, after their tragic passings in 2019.
These carefully crafted lineups are comprised of some of the finest musicians in the live music space and beyond, including members of Dead & Company, Jerry Garcia Band, The Disco Biscuits, JRAD, Snarky Puppy, Soulive, Ghost-Note, Prince’s band, Break Science, Pretty Lights Live, The Motet, Dumpstaphunk, and more.
Over this one day musical marathon, the Mission Ballroom will be transformed into an indoor music festival unlike anything Denver has seen before. With its near perfect sight-lines from every seat in the house, an intimate but large feel and immaculate production, there was no better place the DCA team could think of to host the new festival’s launch.
Fans can elevate their Denver Comes Alive experience with a VIP experience, which includes: exclusive use of Artists Lounge with private bar & food in the West Balcony, a private viewing area with seats in the west balcony and an exclusive limited edition poster.
art neville, Break Science, dead & company, denver comes alive, Dr. John, Dumpstaphunk, ghost note, ghost-live, Jerry Garcia Band, JRAD, Mission Ballroom, Oteil Burbridge, Poppa Funk & the nite tripper, pretty lights live, Prince’s band, Snarky Puppy, soulive, star kitchen, The Disco Biscuits, The Motet
https://www.missionballroom.com/event/388003-mission-ballroom-denver-tickets
Mission Ballroom
4242 Wynkoop Street
Denver, CO 80216 United States + Google Map
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Doctor Harold Majolica and the Student
September 4, 2012 at 7:31 pm (Doctor Majolica, Uncategorized) (crow, doctor, hands, majolica, piano, teacher)
My hands can reach a range of 17 semitones on a standard piano keyboard. This makes me an awful teacher, especially for children. Mrs Susumu had hired me to teach her daughter mostly as a charitable favour. We’d known each other for a few years now; I’d nursed the family cat more times than I could remember and her gratitude, along with her respect, somehow remained untarnished after the incident which threatened to revoke my licence.
Mrs Susumu had two children. Jeri the rebel, a bright boy given up long ago to a world of mud, k-nex and plastic pistols; then there was Mimi, a reserved, thoughtful child who was dull even for an eight year old. The pay was generous, and our first lesson a success. Mimi had a reasonable ear for a girl her age and already had some idea how to read treble clef. That opening lesson I reserved totally for gauging the girl’s confidence and understanding of the instrument. She knew a few scales and nursery rhymes. I’d guess that she would have done a little better in that initial lesson had she not been so nervous about me, such a large, bedraggled crow, perched next to her. But Mrs Susumu seemed pleased; she rang the next evening and assured me that Mimi was already excited about next week’s lesson.
Six days later Miss Mimi was running from the study bawling, face covered in hot tears and bubbling snot. She didn’t say what was wrong, she didn’t scream for her mother; she just ran wailing, utterly horrified. I stood in the doorway awkwardly. I wanted to comfort her but this shaggy mass of hands and feathers is the last thing she wants near her right now.
I had been taking her through the F major scale. She knew the notes, but kept trying to play it too fast and stumbled every single time. Half way through a particularly broken attempt I reached out for her wrist, indicating that she should pause. As my bony blue fingers touched her skin for the first time I felt an involuntary twitch. Her fingers left the keys and she looked at me. Blank, brown little eyes. So I showed her the scale once more, being sure to demonstrate how the slower rhythm helps the fingers find the correct keys. Mimi doesn’t listen. Mimi looks down at my spindly hands, dislocating and contracting alarmingly as they find every key in the two octave scale. As her face cracked from lip-nibbling discomfort to open, weeping horror I looked down at my own hands; they were almost translucent, and hideously contorted. Like the mutilated hands of a corpse which, with a sigh, I realised was just what they were. I knotted my fingers as I watched Mimi waddle from the room in tears.
I could hardly believe it, but Mrs Susumu wants me to come back. She suggests that we leave a week or two for her daughter to recover, but she wants to keep me in her employ. I’m flattered, but deeply embarrassed. I tell her no. I don’t think Mimi’s going to want to be in the same room as me again. More than ever I long for my own study in Furrington Wood, but plenty of the animals there would be more scared of me than Mimi was. With good reason too, for the most part – but that’s a story for another time.
Doctor Harold Majolica and the Sideshow
August 30, 2012 at 11:09 am (circus, Doctor Majolica) (circus, crow, freaks, hands, majolica, sideshow)
All the lonely old bastards and freaks join a circus at some point. That would have been close to fact one hundred years ago, maybe even fifty. But today it seems unthinkable – a well educated bird from a clean, prosperous town was destined at one pivotal moment of misjudgement to adopt a gaggle of misanthropes and perverts as his family. For a short time, I am relieved to observe. I have a new job set up for me over in the next county west, but I don’t want to think about that yet. It’s not much more pleasant than my current employment, but I get to live in the one nest and the reek of failure is a little less Victorian in vintage.
I won’t miss many of them for long. It makes a change to be employed somewhere with other animals, but most of them are from more exotic places than I and we don’t have much to talk about. The lions boast tediously, the horses only seem interested in their costumes. Of the humans there were a few memorable characters. Develon the strongman has an acute lack of self esteem which I find endearing. One of the trapeze twins goes out of her way to be kind to me, the one with the slightly longer nose and crooked brow. I can never keep her name separate in my mind from that of her sour sister, her memory will fade quicker than I’d like. Richelle, Nadine, whoever you were; I am sorry. There is one who I feel will stay with me for long time – the unbelievable, the uncanny Garry “The Squawker” Davis. While working the drain on Gale Street as a Constricted Object Retrieval Specialist, I’d received my offer to join this circus from a greasy young lad, whose job I found later to be some strange merge between barker, stable boy and recruitment officer. He introduced me to the ensemble in the canteen as though I were the punch line to a joke they’d all been aching for. Nadine, or Richelle, (the shorter nosed twin) didn’t even bother to hide her giggles when I was introduced.
As laughter subsided I noticed a fellow hunched over his meal at the dining table. A scrawny middle aged man covered in irony grey fuzz, with the tiniest paunch resting on his bone-thin frame like some monstrous pregnant belly. He wore no shirt. His legs were like knotted pipe cleaners, his arms may once have been similar, but they had been separated from his torso a long time ago. Now his shoulders ended in a pair of lopsided grey wings, a little shorter than my own had been. They spasmed and flapped sluggishly. His fork rested between the toes of his left foot.
We became friends, partly because everyone acted as though it had to happen. I juggled, quite badly, but no one in the audience seemed to mind since they’d never seen a crow juggle before. Garry’s act was more sideshow. The wings gave him no talent or even visual intrigue being so grotesque and tiny. It was not enough for poor Garry to stand in the ring in the same way the bearded lady or three armed man could, their very presence giving enough gawp for any audience. Garry had to put on a show, his stage name “The Squawker” was part of a larger act. He pretended to be a simpleton with a country-gothic aesthetic, whose cursed bird appendages had given him a fixation with flight which his hilarious little bird wings only emphasised as futile. He’d lunge about the ring cooing and throwing himself off any structure he could climb arms-free. Part pratfall, part freak, part myth. He was quite popular.
Garry and I never shared a stage. I can’t fly any better than he can with these weighty hands. Besides, Garry never showed any interest in putting an act together ourselves and, despite the prods and hints of the rest of the cast, the Ringmaster seemed ambivalent. Next Thursday I start my new job. I’ll miss Garry, I’m sure of that – but I reckon I’ll be happier if I never see such a sharp and misshapen reminder of my own mistakes ever again. But my own mistake: that’s a story for another time.
Doctor Harold Majolica and the Little Car
August 28, 2012 at 10:08 pm (Doctor Majolica) (car, children, crow, forest, hands)
There are worse things a bird could come to specialise in. I used to know a magpie who was hired by a fortune teller to stand in front of her stall and mutter ‘one for sorrow’ in the hope of attracting superstitious clients. Ravens are continually rented for gothic weddings, its hard work perching on a woman’s shoulder for hours on end, especially if the dress is silk, which it almost always will be. The whole practise is ostentatious if you ask me; and discriminatory, they would never hire a crow like me. Don’t get me started on canaries, they have a rough deal. The fight is mostly over for the poor fellows now, but it still happens; the cages, the smoke. But that is not to say that things are all bad for us, I knew a white rook who got a major role in a BBC miniseries. Major for a bird, anyway
It could be much worse, but even so, my current job is demeaning. I’m a freelance Constricted Object Retrieval Specialist. It pays alright when there’s work, but it is hard to attract clients when you’re barely ten inches off the ground. What my job boils down to is retrieving objects from nooks and crannies which most human hands are unable to reach. It’s a hard service to pitch, especially when you’re an odd looking bird like me. Not many people are willing to part with their hard earned cash to retrieve debit cards and key rings from the grills along the pavement. And if they are interested, a few of them are put off by the sight of the long, skinny, bluish hands attached to the end of my wings. Sometimes it can work out; I’ve earned plenty before just by hanging around one drain. You only need a few clients to drop their keys and that’s you set for a couple of days. The only problem is that the client will sometimes realise that he or she is seven or eight times my size and can easily stride away while I’m trying to fly after them. I haven’t been able to fly more than a few feet at a time since I had the hands grafted, they weigh the wings down considerably, being made of dense, human bone; on top of that they severely alter the wing’s aerodynamics. It’s humiliating leaping and flapping along like a chicken, I usually just let them get away.
A little boy in dungarees approaches me one afternoon. He’s dropped his toy car down the drain in the park and he only has ten pence on him. I do it for free; I can’t take a kid’s money. I sort of want to, but I can’t. The drain in the playground was filthy, I hardly had to reach down, the car was elevated rotting leaves, animals and worse. There was a cluster of dead slugs almost touching the front wheels; I nearly shed a tear for that. I hand the boy his car and he toddles off shouting “Thanks Handy-bird”. I don’t know whether it’s the informality of his address or the cluster of little slugs, but I feel sentimental. I feel a great longing to return to my nest in Furrington wood, it was my practice, my study. I don’t think that I’ll be able to return for a long while yet. But that’s a story for another time.
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Japan's National Daily Since 1922
Japan-S. Korea row over radar incident likely to keep affecting bilateral ties
January 22, 2019 (Mainichi Japan)
In this May 14, 2017 file photo, a Maritime Self-Defense Force P-1 patrol plane flies over the city of Chofu in western Tokyo. (Mainichi/Yosei Kozano)
TOKYO/SEOUL -- The Japanese government terminated talks with South Korea over the latter's destroyer locking fire-control radar on a Japanese patrol plane, in an apparent bid to de-escalate a contentious issue. However, a final statement released by the Japanese Ministry of Defense on Jan. 21 harshly criticized South Korea, signaling that a resolution still may be far away.
【Related】Japan releases 'final' statement on S. Korea radar lock-on incident
【Related】Tokyo, Seoul growing further apart over thorny issues
【Related】Editorial: Japanese, S. Korean leaders must work together to resolve latest rows
"The MOD (Ministry of Defense) has concluded that the ROK's (South Korea's) claim lacks both persuasiveness and the support of factual evidence, and was made to dilute other important issues regarding the fire-control radar incident," the statement said. Seoul had claimed that the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) P-1 patrol plane was flying at "a threateningly low-altitude" near its destroyer doing a "humanitarian rescue mission."
A senior Japanese official stated, "There is no point in dragging this issue out further because South Korea doesn't accept anything we say." In response to the Japanese announcement, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo expressed "deep regrets" at a press conference.
The Japanese Defense Ministry initially intended to settle the matter peacefully. Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya criticized the Dec. 20 radar incident in the Sea of Japan as an "extremely dangerous act," but called for Seoul to establish a "cooperative relationship" between defense authorities of the two countries that looked toward the future. A senior Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official also expressed a hope that "misunderstanding would be settled through discussions among professionals at the working level," because Japan and South Korea enjoy friendly relations.
The situation, nevertheless, continued to deteriorate. The South Korean Ministry of Defense even denied the lock-on incident, saying that the destroyer only used search radar to locate a North Korean fishing boat in distress. After Japan released a video showing the incident, South Korea used the footage to append voiceover and subtitles contesting the account, and released a re-edited version as a rebuttal.
In a Jan. 14 working-level meeting in Singapore, Japanese officials proposed presenting radar wave data proving the lock-on, but the South Korean side refused to provide its data, citing military secrets. The following day, Choi accused Japanese officials of being "extremely rude" at a press conference.
Behind these developments lie the deterioration of the bilateral relationship overall, stemming from historical issues between Japan and South Korea. They include the recent South Korean Supreme Court decisions ordering Japanese companies to compensate its wartime South Korean laborers who said they were forced to work. Another issue of contention is the dissolution of a foundation set up based on an agreement between the two governments to support former "comfort women" who were forced to offer sexual services to Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Moreover, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his staff, who are supposed to lead efforts to improve the Japan-South Korean ties, have effectively left almost all the handling of the radar issue up to the South Korean Defense Ministry. The Moon administration is instead focusing on improving ties with North Korea, and keeping the domestic economy in shape. South Korean media as well as its citizens have also not shown much interest in the radar incident.
In contrast, the Japan government has been angry about Seoul's moves over the issues concerning forced laborers and comfort women, saying it counters bilateral agreements on wartime redress in 1965 and for victims of wartime sexual violence in 2015.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference shortly before the Jan. 21 Defense Ministry announcement that the he had received a report from the ministry about "objective facts," suggesting the ministry's final statement represents the stance of the entire Japanese government.
Yun Deok-min, former chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed a pessimistic view about the future of bilateral ties. The two sides will "most likely not even be able to discuss measures to avoid a recurrence (of the radar incident) for the time being," he said.
(Japanese original by Yoshitaka Koyama, Political News Department, and Chiharu Shibue, Seoul Bureau)
Go to The Mainichi Home Page
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Category Archives: Flash Fiction
Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Mark Lord’s Writing
Jake Savage and the Field of Battle – New Flash Fiction
March 9, 2016 Mark Leave a comment
The field between the manor and the church had once held a crop of wheat, but all the yellow stalks were bent and trampled destined never to become bread. Instead they were weighed down by the bodies of the dead, the blood of French and English soldiers blending to blacken the crop and the soil.
Jake grasped a handful of wheat stalks and tried to pull himself to a sitting position. But he couldn’t. There was a weight on his stomach and legs. He levered himself on his elbows and regarded the obstruction—the heavily armoured corpse of a French knight was sprawled over him. With a jerk of his knees Jake was able to shift the armoured corpse enough to move it. The body rolled away. Jake didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t help seeing the face of the Frenchman—he’d worn an open bascinet, no visor to protect his face and he’d been paid back for his recklessness. The knight’s face was opened from top to bottom by a knife that had been jammed in there and twisted so hard that the face’s features were distorted like a lump of dough that had been kneaded by a baker.
And then Jake remembered that it had been his knife and that he had done the kneading. He felt his head. It was sore and tender. Someone must have hit him. But not hard enough. He had been lucky, unlike this knight he’d killed. If he’d been a knight and able to afford a bascinet with a visor, he’d have bought one. No matter what if you could get so terribly injured like this knight. But for an archer like him the cost was beyond his reach and besides the visor would get in way when drawing the bow.
Without the weight of the Frenchman on him he was able to stand. He did so and looked around. He wondered where the rest of the retinue were. He couldn’t see anyone around apart from the field littered with bodies.
That was Ralph de Chester there he realised—the decapitated head of his ventenar stared up at him. Poor Ralph, he’d not been a bad leader to the archers. And near him lay more in the colours of ??, Old Cob, John the Snake, Hugh, Richard. On and on the names came to Jake’s mind. He stalked across the field, using his sword to prod at the bodies and turn them if he couldn’t see their faces. They were all there. Even Sir Robert himself and his son, the young Robert. They were all dead. The whole retinue.
He was the only one living out of all of them. The French must have won. Jake went back to each body looking for signs in life, in case like him some of them had only knocked been knocked cold by a blow to the head. But no, the wounds were ghastly and all mortal—deep cuts from swords axes or skulls smashed by hammers and maces.
The fighting had been bloody, brutal, fast and violent when the two forces met. Jake thought that neither had known of the other in the vicinity until each one came across from the opposite side of the field—the English from the church side and the French from the manor.
There had been about forty of the French—and the English had numbered thirty two. Jake counted the bodies. He was careful not to count any twice. Sixty five. Could there have been any survivors apart from him?
He shuddered. The day was darkening. The sun had sunk behind the clouds over a wood in the West while he had been counting. Long shadows of the trees lurched across the field and Jake imagined that the spectres of the dead were getting up to walk—to leave their bodies in the night.
And who would they haunt? Who else would they pursue, but him, the only one who survived the encounter of the bloody field?
Jake turned and ran.
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Archive for the ‘Radio and Audio Review’ Category
A Lost Generation of Young Italians and Elizabeth Bowen’s The Heat of the Day via Harold Pinter’s screenplay
Cover of the novel 'The Young Italians' by Amanda Prantera
Why do Italy’s hard working idealistic and well educated young people have to flee abroad to pursue their hopes and dreams, and the chance to catch an audio screenplay dramatisation of Elizabeth Bowen’s The Heat of the Day.
A half hour R4 documentary convincingly argued that ‘Italy is losing its young, talented professionals, driven out by a stagnant domestic economy and an entrenched employment market riddled with patronage and nepotism. As the Prime Minister advocates marrying someone wealthy as a means to get ahead, more and more young Italians are choosing to find work, recognition and respect abroad.’ Read the rest of this entry »
Tagged with BBC Radio Four, Birdsong, Catherine Bailey Production, Dr Fred Hunter, Elizabeth Bowen, George Monbiot, Hacks and Dons, Honeysuckle Weeks, Polly Toynbee, Radio Four Documentary of the Week, Samuel West, Sebastian Faulks, The Classic Serial, The Heat of the Day, The Young Italians, Tom Baker
Voices from the Old Bailey, The Other Simenon and Positive by Tina Pepler, Afternoon Play- Radio and Audio Review 3rd August 2011
Drama, social history and politics from Old Bailey court transcripts
Riots and sexual subcultures in Voices From The Old Bailey, Maître lawyer falling in love with his client in The Other Simenon, and who would want to be a doctor dealing with the ethics of under-age teenagers getting pregnant and being tested positive for HIV and that’s not all Tina Pepler managed to electrify into an Afternoon Play. Read the rest of this entry »
Tagged with Amanda Vickery, BBC Radio Four, Bruce Young, Crawford Logan, Dr Katrinia Navickas, Eliza Langland, Elizabeth Burke, Fortnum and Masons, Francesca Dymond, Gavin Kean, Georges Simenon, In Case of Emergency, Inside the Ethics Committee, Jimmy Chisholm, Joan Bakewell, John Wilkes, Kenny Blyth, Laura Smales, Laurie Taylor, Lincoln's Inn, Lisa Gardner, Loftus Productions, Nicola Miles-Wildin, Old Bailey Online, Positive, Professor Peter King, Professor Tim Hitchcock, riot, Ronald Frame, Sara Davies, Sarah Collier, sexual subcultures, Stanley Baldwin, Steven McNicoll, Tescos, The Afternoon Play, The Gordon Riots, The Little Man From Archangel, The Other SImenon, Tina Pepler, Voices From The Old Bailey
The Purple Land, Mervyn Peake and Gormenghast, and The Day We Caught The Train. Audio and Radio Review 20th July 2011
Uruguay- the Purple Land
Hunting, riding, herding, loving and killing through the Purple blaze, crumbling stone and ancient ritual, horses with lion tales, people called Sepulchrave, Prunesquallor and Steerpike and the shocking confrontation of your mother’s secret past.
A snapshot of BBC audio drama output at any time offers depth in dramatic literary output, entertainment and sophisticated production aesthetics. Read the rest of this entry »
Tagged with A Hundred Years of Mervyn Peake, Afternoon play, Alan Beck, Andrew Davies, Anne Bunting, BBC Radio Four, Belsen, Brian Sibley, Caleb Knightley, Clare Peake, Clive Brill, Countess of Groan, Daniel Weitz, David Tennant, Esben Tjalve, Fabian Peake, Gemma Jenkins, Gertrude, Gormenghast, Green Mansions, Island of Sark, Jane Whittenshaw, Jeremy Mortimer, JK Rowling, John Rowe, Keith Graham, lobotomy, Maeve Gilmore, Matthew Mills, Mervyn Peake, Miranda Richardson, Nick Payne, Nicole Fitzpatrick, Nishi Malde, Olivia Colman, Olivia Hallinan, Pacificus Productions, Play Download of the week, Prunesquallor, Radio 4 Publicity, Ralph Ineson, Richard Lamb, Ross Hughes, Sara Jane Hall, Sasha Yevtushenko, Sebastian Peake, Sepulchrave, Simon Bubb, Southport, Steerpike, The Classic Serial, The Day We Caught The Train, The Purple Lane, Titus Arrives, Titus Groan, Titus Inherits, Tolkein, Uruguay, William Henry Hudson
The Hireling- Classic Serial, An Interior Life, A Living Death- File On Four, Cause Célèbre, Afternoon Plays- A Terrible Beauty, The People Next Door, and Crimes of Mancunia: Radio and Audio Review 27th June 2011
New Radio Four dramatisation of L.P. Hartley's "The Hireling"
BBC Radio Four’s Classic serial has been fizzing with a magnificent two part dramatisation of L.P.Hartley’s The Hireling (Sunday 19th June, Saturday 25th June, Sunday 26th June and Saturday 4th July). Hartley seemed to specialise in catastrophic and intriguing class crossing relationships in the manner of D.H.Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover.”
In “The Go-Between” passion vis-a-vis an already betrothed aristocrat’s daughter and the gamekeeper leads to broken hearts and suicide as well as rights of passage intensity for a young teenage boy deployed to run between the Manor and Lodge as an unwitting cupid. Read the rest of this entry »
Tagged with 1916, 1955, A Living Death, A Terrible Beauty, alcoholism, Alma Rattenbury, Alun Raglan, Ann Alexander, Anne-Marie Duff, BBC Radio Four, Belgravia, Beth McCann, British Columbia, Camberwell, Cause Celebre, Central Criminal Court, Charlotte Riches, Chris Wallis, Claire Rushbrook, Classic Serial, Crimes of Mancunia, D.H.Lawrence, Danielle Henry, David Pownall, Dublin, Easter Rising, Edith Davenport, File On Four, Fiona Victory, Francis Rattenbury, Greek tragedy, James Quinn, Jane Whittenshaw, Jason Done, John Kavanagh, John MacBridge, Judith Adams, Kenneth Cranham, L.P.Hartley, Lady Chatterley's Lover, Lady Franklin, Laurence Grissell, Lisa Dillon, Lise Lazard, low awareness state, Luther, Lydia Wilson, Marlene Sidaway, Mary Peate, Maude Gonne, Michael Symmons Roberts, Mikey Finn, Niamh Cusack, Nicholas Gleaves, Number One Court, Old Bailey, Old Vic, Paul Grant, persistent vegetative state, Peter Kavanagh, Polly Thomas, Radio Documentary of the week downloand, Radio Play of the week download, Russell Richardson, Sean Baker, Shelley Silas, Simon Day, Sinead Keenan, Stephen Hoyle, Steve Leadbitter, Susan Roberts, Terence Rattigan, the gallows, The Go-Between, The Hireling, The Interior Life, The People Next Door, Thea Sharrock, Thompson and Bywaters, Vancouver, WIlliam Butler Yeats
Plantagenets, Rattigan’s Flare Path and Letter to My Body: Radio and audio review 10th June 2011
Edward the First, known as "Longshanks" because of his tall stature.
The Second Series of Mike Walker’s Plantagenets in the Sunday Classic Serial (BBC Radio Four) starts with the sound of England pissing on Scotland followed by William Wallace replacing it with the sound of dripping blood. Read the rest of this entry »
Tagged with Andy Warhol, Archbishop of Canterbury, BBC Radio Four, BBC Radio Four Extra, BBC Radio Three, Berkeley Castle, Big Bang, Braveheart, Broadcasting House, Caryl Churchill, Catch 22, Catherine Bailey Ltd, Classic Serial, David Hartley, Despenser, Drama on Three, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Edward Longshanks, Edward the Confessor, Edward the First, Edward the Second, Edward the Third, Ellie Kendrick, England, Essay, Flare Path, Frankenstein, haemoglobin, Hattie Morahan, Haymarket, Holinshed's Chronicles, Jeremy Herrin, Jeremy Mortimer, Jessica Dromgoole, John Harvey, Julian Wadham, Justin Salinger, Kelly Shirley, Kenneth Tynan, King's Council, Letter to my Body, Lincolnshire, Lord Chamberlain, Mary Shelley, Mel Gibson, Mike Walker, Money Talks, Monica Dolan, Mrs Oakes, Ned, Oh What A Lovely War, Patricia Graham, Peter Kyle, Philip Jackson, Plantagenets, Queen Elizabeth the First, Queen Isabella, Queen Margaret, radio drama, Richard II, Richard the Second, Rory Kinnear, Royal Court Theatre, Rupert Penry Jones, Ruth Wilson, Sam Troughton, Sarah Graham, Scotland, Second World War, Serious Money, Shakespeare, Sienna Miller, Sir Roger Mortimer, Smiley season, Teddy Graham, Terence Rattigan, The Browning Version, The Creature, The Winslow Boy, Theatre Royal, Tim Crook, Tom Goodman-Hill, Trevor Nunn, Trystan Gravelle, Una Stubbs, West End, Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Hall, William Wallace, XY Chromosomes
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Carbohydrate tolerance test | definition of carbohydrate tolerance test by Medical dictionary
https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/carbohydrate+tolerance+test
(redirected from carbohydrate tolerance test)
[kahr″bo-hi´drāt]
a compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the latter two usually in the proportions of water (CH2O)n. They are classified into mono-, di-, tri-, poly-, and heterosaccharides. Carbohydrates in food are an important and immediate source of energy for the body; 1 g of carbohydrate yields 4 calories. They are present, at least in small quantities, in most foods, but the chief sources are the sugars and starches. Food substances that are almost pure sugar include granulated sugar, maple sugar, honey, and molasses. The monosaccharides (simple sugars) include glucose and fructose. galactose, another simple sugar, is produced by the digestion or hydrolysis of lactose. The disaccharides (double sugars) include sucrose (white sugar, found in sugar cane or sugar beets), maltose, and lactose. All ripe fruits and many vegetables contain natural sugars. The starches are present in such foods as rice, wheat, and potatoes. Carbohydrates may be stored in the body as glycogen for future use. If they are eaten in excessive amounts, however, the body changes them into fats and stores them in that form.
(kär′bō-hī′drāt′)
1. Any of a group of organic compounds, including sugars, starches, celluloses, and gums, that contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen and that originate chiefly as products of photosynthesis. Carbohydrates serve as a major energy source for living things.
2. A food, such as bread, rice, or potatoes, that is composed largely of these substances.
Aldehyde or ketone derivatives of a polyhydric—especially pentahydric and hexahydric—alcohol. The name derives from ratio of hydrogen and oxygen-Cn(H2O)n; the major carbohydrates are starches, sugars, celluloses and gums, which are classified into monosaccharides (e.g., glucose), disaccharides (e.g., sucrose), trisaccharides (e.g., raffinose) and polysaccharides (e.g., starch, cellulose and glycogen).
An abundant organic compound, it is one of the three main classes of foods and a principal source of energy. Ingested carbohydrates are sugars and starches, which are metabolised into glucose or assembled into glycogen and stored in the liver and muscle for future use.
Nutrition An abundant organic compound, which is one of the 3 main classes of foods and a principal source of energy; ingested carbohydrates are sugars and starches, which are metabolized into glucose, or assembled into glycogen, and stored in the liver and muscle for future use. See Complex. Cf Fats, Protein.
car·bo·hy·drate
(kahrbō-hīdrāt)
Organic compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; sugars are simple carbohydrates, starches are complex carbohydrates.
Fig. 89 Carbohydrate . The types of carbohydrate.
a family of organic molecules (hydrates of carbon) with the general formula (CH2 O)x, ranging from simple sugars such as glucose and fructose to complex molecules such as starch and cellulose. All complex carbohydrates are built up from simple units called MONOSACCHARIDES which cannot be hydrolysed to a simpler structure.
The types of carbohydrate are described in detail under their own heading, but are summarized in Fig. 89.
Patient discussion about carbohydrate
Q. What are carbohydrates and where they are found and what is their nutritional value?
A. You got it.
More discussions about carbohydrate
<a href="https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/carbohydrate+tolerance+test">carbohydrate</a>
acetoacetate
activity intolerance
antiketogenesis
antiketogenic
Bilious Vomiting Syndrome
bronze diabetes
carbazole
carbohydrase
Carbohydrate Intolerance
carbohydrate loading
carbohydrate-deficient transferrin
carbohydraturia
carbetapentane
carbidopa
carbidopa-levodopa
carbimide, calcium
carbinol
carbinolamine dehydratase
carbinoxamine
carbo-
Carbo veg
Carbocaine
carbocation
carbocisteine
carbogen
carbohemia
carbohydrate absorption
carbohydrate drink
carbohydrate tolerance test
carbohydrate utilization test
carbolate
carbolfuchsin
carbol-fuchsin paint
carbolfuscin paint
carbolic gangrene
carbolic oil
carbolise
carbolism
carbolize
carbo-load
carbol-thionin stain
carboluria
carbon autotrophy
carbohydrate loads
carbohydrate loss
Carbohydrate metabolism, inborn errors
Carbohydrate Recognition Domain
carbohydrate sulfotransferase 1
carbohydrate sulfotransferase 10
carbohydrate tolerance
Carbohydrate-binding protein 35
Carbohydrate-binding protein p33/p4
Carbohydrate-Deficient Glycoprotein
Carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome
Carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome type I
carbohydrate-free refed
carbohydrate-induced hyperlipemia
carbohydrazides
Carbohydride
Carbol fuchsin
carbol fuschin stain
carbolated
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Appointment and Reappointment
Health Professions Act, Regulations, and Bylaws
Hospital Act and Health Authorities Act
Medical Staff Rules & Bylaws
Organizational Structures
Medical & Academic Affairs
Each physician, midwife, dentist and nurse practitioner must receive an appointment to join Island Health’s medical staff prior to practicing. The process of appointment is called "Credentialing and Privileging."
The Credentialing and Privileging team coordinates new applications for privileges, reappointments and changes to privileges as governed by Island Health's Medical Staff Bylaws and Medical Staff Rules.
Physicians, midwives, dentists and nurse practitioners in good standing with their respective college may be considered for medical staff appointment. If you are interested in applying for privileges, please contact Credentialing_Office@viha.ca
The Island Health Board requires reappointment of medical staff every three years. By March 2020 the balance of medical staff need to be reappointed. Although the volume of medical staff to be reappointed is large, we are working to reduce the workload for division and department heads by using the Cactus system approval process.
Medical Staff are required to participate in the reappointment process to confirm hospital privileges. The reappointment package is developed provincially along with input from Department Heads and the Island Health Medical Planning & Credentialing Committee (MPCC).
Reappointment involves reviewing the following information (as per the Medical Staff Bylaws):
evidence of current professional liability coverage protection in the category appropriate to the practice of a member of the medical staff, which is subject to approval by the Board of Directors;
information on any physical or mental impairment or health condition that affects, or may affect, the proper exercise by the member of the necessary skill, ability and judgement, to deliver appropriate patient care;
evidence of renewal of licensure or registration status with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C., the College of Dental Surgeons of B.C., the College of Midwives of B.C., or the College of Registered Nurses of B.C.;
information on any actions taken by a disciplinary committee of the applicable regulatory college;
a list of the privileges currently held, and any additional privileges requested;
information on any civil suit arising out of professional activity where there was a finding of negligence or battery or where a monetary settlement was made on behalf of the member.
The Process for Reappointment:
Providers will receive communication from Medical and Academic Affairs regarding the reappointment process.
Anyone going through the reappointment process will subsequently receive an invitation sent to their email address on file to apply for reappointment via CACTUS App Central.
The Credentialing and Privileging team will coordinate the processing of documentation and forward to the appropriate Department Heads for review.
Once the review is completed the recommendations will be forwarded to MPCC, HAMAC and the Board for final approval.
The Credentialing and Privileging team will confirm via correspondence the decision of the Board.
Schedule for Reappointment 2019/2020 by Department/Division
For help with AppCentral: <Link to FAQ and user resources>
For other questions about the reappointment process, please contact: Credentialing_Office@viha.ca
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French[remove]63
Multiple Languages51
Undetermined1
15th Century[remove]63
Multiple Centuries30
England[remove]63
Multiple Origins17
Parchment[remove]63
Mixed16
Unknown2
Selected pages only24
MSS. Arch. Selden. (Archivum Seldenianum)1
MSS. Ash. (Ashmole) Rolls1
MSS. Bodl. (Bodley)6
MSS. Bodl. Rolls (Bodley Rolls)2
MSS. Don. (Donation)1
MSS. E Mus. (e Musaeo)4
MSS. Eng. misc. (English miscellaneous)1
MSS. Fr. (French)3
MSS. Hatton2
MSS. Lat. hist. (Latin historical)1
MSS. Lyell2
MSS. Radcliffe Trust1
MSS. Rawl. B (Rawlinson B)1
MSS. Rawl. C (Rawlinson C)3
MSS. Rawl. G. (Rawlinson G)1
MSS. Tanner1
MSS. Wood1
You searched for: Language French Remove constraint Language: French Century 15th Century Remove constraint Century: 15th Century Materials Parchment Remove constraint Materials: Parchment Origin England Remove constraint Origin: England Repository Bodleian Library Remove constraint Repository: Bodleian Library Type manuscript Remove constraint Type: manuscript
MS. Arch. Selden. B. 27
Collection of maritime laws — 15th century, middle; English
MS. Ash. Rolls 4
Coats of arms of sovereigns of Europe and English nobility, Treatise on heraldry, etc. — 14th century, end or 15th century, beginning
Letter of fraternity — c. 1395-1402, 1450; English
Alexander de Villa Dei, etc. — c. 1300
Martin of Spain, etc. — 15th century
Petrus de S. Audomaro, Albumasar, etc. — 14th century
Alcabitius, etc. — 15th century
Geoffrey Chaucer — 15th century
Matthias Woghenoris — 15th century
Alexander de Villa Dei, Johannes de Sacro Bosco, etc. — 13th century
Calendar, Astrological notes and tables, etc. — 14th century, early
Astronomical diagram — 13th century
Treatise on geomancy — 15th century, beginning; English
Aeneas Sylvius, Honoré Bouvet, etc. — 15th century, third quarter - late; English (script); French (decoration)
Genealogical collections — 16th century, first half; English
Genealogical and heraldic collections — 16th century - 17th century; English
Inventory of the treasury of St. Paul's, London, 1295 — 14th century, first half; English
Documents relating to a dispute between the bishop of London and the dean and chapter of St. Paul's, London, 1402 — 15th century, beginning; English
Rental of lands in Herefordshire — c. 1300; English
Satirical text on the Council of Constance, 1417 — 15th century; English
Index to the Bible — 14th century; English
Documents relating to the Order of the Garter — 17th century; English
Account of ceremonies of the Order of the Garter, 1564-7 — 16th century; English
Notes on Henry VIII's will — 16th century; English
Documents collected by (?) Robert Champlayn, Knight of the Garter, relating to his campaigns in Hungary against the Turks and to the Order of the Garter — 15th century, late; English
Documents relating to Anglo-French diplomacy, 1408-9, Letter from Christ to the King of France — 15th century; English
Writs of Edward III and Henry IV, Act of Parliament, 1446, etc. — 15th century, beginning (with additions); English
Eusebius Gallicanus, Origen, etc. — 11th century or 12th century; English
Peter of Poitiers — 13th century, beginning; English
Boethius — 12th century, middle; Flemish (?)
Register of John de Sautre, abbot of Ramsey — 13th century, late - 14th century, early; English
'Computation of the Tymes' from Creation — 16th century, second half; English
Richard Rolle, etc. — 15th century; English
MS. Bodl. 9
Calendar, Psalter, etc. — 15th century, second quarter; English
Romance of Alexander — 1338-1344; Flemish
Marco Polo, etc. — c. 1400; English
Parliament Roll for 1388, Laws of Oleron — 15th century, middle; English
Thomas Walsingham — 15th century, middle; English
Thomas de Elmham — 15th century, middle; English
Life of Adam, Religious texts, etc. — 15th century, beginning (after 1415); English
John Lydgate — 15th century, third quarter; English
Bede, Lethaldus Miciacensis, etc. — 11th century, end - 12th century, beginning; Multiple places of origin
John Mandeville — c. 1430; English
Alain Chartier — 15th century
Peter the Chanter — 13th century
Robert of Bridlington — 15th century; English
Acts, Catholic Epistles and Apocalypse with gloss — 13th century, end; English
MS. Bodl. Rolls 2
Genealogy of the kings of France and England to Henry VI — after 1424; English
Gervase of Canterbury, etc. — 15th century, second quarter; English
John March (15th cent.), Antonius Musa, etc. — c. 1430; English, Oxford
Life of St. Modwenna, Sermon — 13th century; English
H. of Sawtry, Adam of Eynsham, etc. — 13th century; English
Charm, Sermon, etc. — 15th century; English
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mrschristine.com
458. Bad Neighbours
Title: Bad Neighbours Director: Nicholas Stoller Year: 2014 Run time: 1hr 37m
“Seth Rogan stars in this comedy about a father who has his life upended when a frat house run by an obnoxious student (Zac Efron) moves in next door. This results in an epic battle of wills. The Muppets’ Nicholas Stoller directors, Seth Rogen produces, with script by Andrew Cohen and Brendan O’Brien. The film also stars Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Ike Barhinholtz.”
3:20 - Moving into suburbia really is admitting you’re grown up. See: Friends. 6:43 - “Who looks at the other people when they Facetime?” 12:13 - I’m just wondering that if Zac Efron and Dave Franco were my neighbours, they could be as loud as they want. I’d just podcast somewhere else. 15:56 - Oh god, fraternities are awful! 20:17 - They’re having a Batman-off! Hey, I’m Batman! 25:04 - Scary policeman saying “Never call us again” is scary. 27:41 - I don’t think I ever want to buy a house. 29:52 - Phoebe! 31:42 - The Dean thing has always confused me too. 33:39 - Not quite the film debut 3D printing might have wanted, but yay! 37:16 - Rose Byrne is a lot more awesome than I thought. 39:22 - I would suck at dance offs too, unless there are premeditated steps. 42:41 - I don’t think I would last long at the neon party thing either, it’s boggling my mind. 48:54 - Mom-tipping! 57:43 - “Oh god, he looks like JJ Abrams.” 59:14 - “We never planned for nice.” 1:03:45 - The airbag thing is ridiculously good. 1:13:45 - “Who makes flyers anymore?” 1:17:37 - The friend tiptoeing is amazing. Hands up, weird face. 1:28:50 - “It escalated really quickly.” Understatement of the year! 1:32:10 - Amazing credits!
I don’t think this was a film I was eagerly awaiting, but after seeing the trailer, I was keen to see Zac Efron (I mean, you know), and I have a growing affection for Rose Byrne too. The film was so much funnier than I thought it was going to be. It got off to a really slow start, a lot of nonsense setting up the almost ideal life of Rose and Seth, with their baby daughter.
Then, of course, Zac Efron and Dave Franco move in next door and life can never be the same again. I mean, it wouldn’t be, would it? Some of it was a bit crude, as you might imagine of a frat house, but mostly I thought it was hilarious. The bit with the airbags, I really loved that. I might need a gif of it. Also, the Robert Di Niro outfits. Genius.
Overall lots of fun, very re-watchable, and perfect to enjoy with a beer in hand.
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© Copyright 2002-2019 Christine Blachford. All rights reserved.
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Caldwell Theater Now Has Leather Reclining Seats
Credit: Mike Kasper
I'm not sure if everyone's going this route now but I like it. About a month ago the theater at The Village announced they're implementing a major overhaul and one of the big bonuses is that they're adding more spacious seats that are made from leather and recline. Guess what? The Reel Theater in Caldwell just beat them to it. It's becoming a trend and theaters are realizing that by making viewers more comfortable, they come more often and even though the theater can only fit about half of what they'd normally fit, they make just as much or more.
Some theaters charge a bit more for the luxurious experience but it's well worth it. Oh, and bringing in a blanket or pillow is not only accepted, it's encouraged. I find it tough to stay awake for two hours when I bring all my comfy gear but hey, to each their own right?
The Reel Theater in Caldwell is located at 913 Arthur Street, Caldwell, Idaho, and showtimes are listed below.
REEL THEATER IN CALDWELL SHOWTIMES
Filed Under: Caldwell, newsletter
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Some Baseball Pranks . . . Including The Time Kent Mercker Got Me
Tuesday was Ron Johnson’s 54th birthday.
It’s too bad that he wasn’t on a plane with my broadcasting partner Steve Hyder.
For the past five years when RJ was Pawtucket’s manager and Hydes was one of the broadcasters, Steve would pull the same gag every time that the PawSox took a flight. Hydes would ask a stewardess to wish passenger Ron Johnson a happy 75th birthday (or a similarly inflated number). Invariably they did, and RJ good-naturedly played along.
Once on a Southwest Airlines flight, the crew even sang, “Happy Birthday.”
Now that was funny.
After five years of bogus birthday greetings, RJ finally tired of the gag late last season and Steve stopped making the request rather than annoying his friend.
But it would have been impossible to resist a “Happy Birthday” greeting on the actual day.
Pranks on a baseball team are a time-honored tradition. Moments after Abner Doubleday supposedly invented baseball, a young farm boy from Cooperstown probably gave him the game’s first hot foot.
One gag that never gets old is the three man lift. Here’s how it works: A veteran player tells an unsuspecting rookie that he is strong enough to lift three men off of the ground at the same time. The rookie naturally thinks that it’s impossible and agrees to be one of the three people that the veteran will attempt to lift. The kid is told to lie on the ground in the middle of two teammates and the three of them lock arms. At that point, the rookie is pinned down while the entire team dumps a nasty concoction of whatever is available in the kitchen on top of him – catsup, mayonnaise, eggs, etc.
If you would like to see the three man lift, here’s one of the many examples that can be found on YouTube.
Clubhouse pranks are not strictly limited to players and coaches. Virtually anyone who enters is considered fair game.
When I was the broadcaster for the Syracuse Chiefs, our manager Bob Bailor decided to have a little fun with the beat writer from the local newspaper. After an especially good pitching debut by a young right-handed starter named Rob Wishnevski, our manager told the writer how incredible the performance was considering that the pitcher had always been a lefty until hurting his arm in spring training. Remarkably, just a few months later he was getting hitters out at the Triple-A level with his right arm. The writer was obviously skeptical, but when he approached Wishnevski at his locker, Rob played along with the gag and added a few more details. Sure enough, the headline in the next morning’s paper read something along the lines of, “Ambidextrous Pitcher Leads Chiefs to Victory.”
The players and coaches found it hysterical. The newspaper . . . not so much.
I can’t tell that story about a fellow member of the media getting “punked” without describing how it happened to me.
When I was hosting the Cincinnati Reds pregame show on Fox Sports Ohio, Kent Mercker was on the pitching staff and we often discussed golf in front of his locker. Kent is a skilled golfer who has a home at Muirfield Village near Columbus, OH – the home of the prestigious Memorial Tournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus.
Kent must have sensed that playing at Muirfield had always been a dream of mine (OK, I might have given him a few thousand hints), and he promised that he would invite me to play the course as his guest.
Sure enough, midway through season, Kent gave me a date and tee time to meet him in Columbus. It was the Monday after the Memorial Tournament and the Reds happened to have an off day in the middle of a homestand. It was the ultimate opportunity to play Muirfield because the course would still be in prime condition after hosting the world’s best pros.
After initially jumping for joy and thanking him profusely, I realized that I couldn’t make it. That was actually two days after my wedding date, and Peg and I would be on our honeymoon (I didn’t think she would go for a romantic night in the Columbus suburbs).
Mercker was ticked off, telling me that the course wasn’t even supposed to be open on the day after the tournament and said that he had pulled some major strings to set up our tee time. He made it abundantly clear that I had blown my one and only opportunity to be his guest.
I bought it hook, line, and sinker and felt awful . . . until he began cracking up and admitted that another member of the media had told him when I was getting married.
I had to admit – it was pretty funny.
And I really got a kick out of it when I eventually got to play the course.
Written by Dan Hoard Posted in Dailies
Who Was Bill James Referring To?
PawSox Prepare To Open The Gates at McCoy
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@CinCincyGirl I counted 11 different flavors last night so it might have made it to the end of the game 🤓 1 day ago
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Mt Diablo from Clayton, drawing
I had finished teaching art at the Montessori school in Clayton, I was so close, I was practically looking up the mountain's nostrils. I made a quick sketch on the trunk of the car as I was packing up my art supplies.
Labels: art, drawing, Mt. Diablo
Shells, three drawings, stabillo pencil, 3/95
Though these drawings were actually dated 3/95, I'm posting them Dec. 31, 1995, so I can find them easier. In-class drawings.
Labels: art, drawings
Light: particle, or wave?
Light: particle, or wave? If a wave, then not instantaneous, but sequential. I will break my promise to buy Nathan's father apricot brandy this Christmas. He comments: as if he needed it. It took two years for Edison to find a lightbulb that worked. Edison tried 6000 times to find the right filament. Einstein invented a new universe relative to the young one. Now Newton's universe is full of holes. The frame of reference was built by absorbed particles, so could particles be waves? Particles are waves. Interference waves. Heisenberg said; You can measure position on speed, but not both. The Uncertainty Principle. We can't know if light is both a particle, or a wave. You can't observe position and speed at the same time. The comfortable certainty that science provided didn't exist any more. Relativity itself is only what you say it is.
Building an Arc in the Dark of the Year
Fragments for Arc
Obler's paradox. The universe is so immature that all the starlight hasn't had time to reach us. If there are so many bright stars in the universe, why isn't the sky lit up at night?
What is the speed of water rising up a dahlias stem? 4 feet an hour. Is this true of all plants?
The bomb Oppenheimer a blind woman saw the light and asked about it. Eoliths: dawn stones.
The Dogstar, Serius. Roman dogs were sacrificed in winter.
Egyptians believed there was an alliance, or a dalliance between the sun and the brightest star and it caught the summers heat. The dog days of summer.
They circle each other in a 50 year-orbit, like slow dancers sniffing each others assholes. The closest one now is -94. The dog and the dwarf always circling in a gravitational red shift.
Beautiful words in the English language cellar door, bodega dunes, bread pudding, back porch, spring training, public library, atomic bomb.
They say after the bomb went off, Oppenheimer rode into the hills with whiskey and chocolate. Was he seeking the sacred plain of Kuruksetra?
In the fall of 1992, 50 years after Oppenheimer had founded Los Alamos in a Faustian bargain, I visited the museum where forest-green casings for Fat Man and Little Boy slept.
Oppenheimer was a Bohemian scholar, a Jew, and he devoured 16th-century French poetry. He thought a bomb would make the world a better place. Quantum mechanics. Enamored by the Bhagavad Gita, he moved increasingly to the left and learned Sanskrit. The first chapter laments the consequences of war.
But Pearl Harbor led to the Manhattan Project . In the fall of 42 Los Alamos was founded. Code names: Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones. Lawrence built the bomb, and it was a place he was not allowed to name. The sudden irony of one-way tickets to a tiny station in NM. A secret lab atop a mountain, a potential of things to come a walled city. They said that worms came out of the faucets.
Edward Teller played Beethoven late at night, disturbing everyone in the bomb town.
Did my cousin Marie Walsh attend the parties drinking lab alcohol? I search the stills looking for a family resemblance in these 1940s women. Mary hadn't yet found us. A woman I had never met. They say I resemble her in baby photos. That she look like an angel.
A radio station with no call letters. In 1942 there was barely enough plutonium in the world to cover a pinhead. The first atomic bomb was detonated in the Obscuro Mountains, Alamogordo, Trinity was Apache country, Jornado Del Muerto, the journey of death
The world became unnatural. GIs slaughtering wild antelope with machine guns.
Thye say there was storm lightning that night, the night of fear, a portends of things to come it was an augur light in the desert he said, I was a different person from then on. The purple clouds, the key to the thunder reverberated, echoing back-and-forth and Oppenheimer yelling, It worked, it worked! The light of a thousand stars.
The sun was rising in the wrong direction. The blind woman saw the light and asked what it was, having no reference to it. Oppenheimer rode off into the hills carrying chocolate and whiskey to drown his sorrows. They say that the hair of cattle turned white. A black cat with white spots.
Then, Tokyo, reduced to rubble. The bomb was dropped because no one had the courage to say no. Hiroshima was a virgin city, untouched by firebombs and Frank Oppenheimer said, We hadn't thought about of all those fallen people. What have we done? It shouldn't be in anger, my brothers.
The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2: The Eternal Reality of the Soul's Immortality
Mary's death by cancer, and her cousin, my mother's breast cancer, a result of the bomb fallout.
Shoah is the Hebrew word signifying utter destruction. Holocaust. Shovah, a period of time in Japanese history. Shiva, goddess of destruction. L'shanah tovah. Cast our sins into the river. The starlight of the universe unleashed all at once. Karma, revelations of the ultimate truth. Om, shanti, om.
December,1995
Solstice Blues: the day Jerry Garcia died
I've been sleeping until 10 AM the past few days, very uncharacteristic of me. We approach the solstice at the speed of darkness while I sleep like the dead. Only with strange dreams. Do the dead still dream?
Mike Tuggle on translation and transliteration, translates a dream. I think of Peter Sellers. Mike offers advice. Do not repeat yourself, he said, repeating himself, Do not repeat yourself.
Deadheads holding long stemmed roses at sunset overlooking Bolinas Lagoon. While I was atop Mount Tam, where I was conceived, the day Jerry Garcia died, that hot August night.
They say to play the blues, a bluesman has to live the blues, he has to have lived a life of sorrow. A 10-year-old, Brody Buster, harmonica prodigy, opened for B.B. King, at age 8. We're talking dark blues clubs and alcohol. You don't really have to live the blues in order to play the blues, says Brody. Wise child. He.
All the Goldeneyed Birds
Yesterday Nathan and I went to see Goldeneye, the latest James Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan. He was certainly handsome, but I didn't laugh as much as I did in the old Sean Connery 007 films. The entendres were well delivered. You could see them coming, the bad girl was thoroughly bad, the Russian focus was fun—especially St. Petersburg, but having lived there, I was distracted by familiar sites, places that I had walked daily. The plaza where the blackbirds, with their golden eyes, trapped suns, strutted and cooed. I had a pang of homesickness when I saw the airport, where Valera had greeted me with carnations. A pang, because I fell out of love with him, and couldn't ever get back to that place within me. And now it seems that Sonny and I are heading towards a truce, but to what end? All the golden-eyed birds in the bottom of a shot-glass.
Labels: Leningrad Rok Opera, Russia, Sonny Lowe, Valeriy Stupachenko
Giving it back to the Dead
Day three or four of earache, allergy medications don't seem to relieve the pressure. My cousin Sinead quips don't spray hairspray in your ears. I had to laugh as this was one of my mother's bizarre quirks. I put a scarab on the earring I've been wearing as a bracelet these past few months. Thinking it might help. Yesterday, the wire broke, I lost the scarab, it was one of Mom's. I am devastated, but maybe it's time to give back the dead to the dead. We've done our year's worth of penance. For both my mom and my dad. It will be his birthday in two days. Time to move on. A cartouche of Horus the hawk. The feather of truth. The Egyptian book of the Dead comes back to haunt me, one of my mother's favorite books. Sinead's dad died on December 8. A busy month for the dead. Sinead said she smelled cigarettes in the hall, as if he was there, saying one last goodbye.
BE ONE MILE
Be one mile above your home
dreaming of a time when childhood
held the meaning of magic.
Hopefully there, you'll become
part of the memory.
Be one mile above the coastal ridges
where you were conceived,
on Mount Tamalpais's body at sunset,
after the wedding.
Remember there are no accidents.
Be one mile north of your heart.
Watch its struggle,
necessary growth requires the shedding of pain.
Layer by layer,
onion tears to cleanse the wound
of the father and the mother.
Be one mile above Forest Knolls,
the hill your family's owned a hundred years,
the big rock like a phallus jotting out,
the ravines, his legs.
your house at his feet
if Mount Tam is a woman
then surely this ridge is a man.
This is the way of things.
Be above the road that leads you home,
named after an English pirate.
Remember how the Estero
uncovered the old wood, the square nails,
and you dreamed this was part of his legacy.
Yes, the plaque was fake.
But the idea of Nova Albion
and the ache of those white cliffs
seeking the cadence of speech with the sea's voice.
It told you of other stories:
How the Miwoks dressed in fine embroidered silk
and ate shellfish from the Chinese blue bowls.
When a trader ship foundered on the craggy shores,
Point Reyes was the foggiest place in America,
but all you can remember is the sun
christening this island in time.
The point of the three Kings, Little Christmas.
Be one mile above Creamery Bay and Home Bay.
Be one mile above the sunken valleys
where you want to skim across their surface
in bidarkas. Perhaps the Russians already did this,
but where you were raised is rich in sea nurseries
on an otherwise inhospitable coast.
Hover above the wild purple irises in spring
and remember you carry this place within you always,
that it wasn't a sin to be born here,
not knowing the concept of beauty until you left in exile,
expelled from the garden by those with more money.
For, in your dreams, beauty walks before you
in these wild coastal hills that you call home,
having called this place home for ages untold.
Labels: poem, Point Reyes National Seashore
Paracas, II, first draft
Paracas, II
I have stood in the deserts where it has never rained in living memory, where the ancients brought water from miles away in canals. Snowmelt from the Andes made this desert bloom a thousand years ago, but the Cordilleras grew up to the sky, taking the fertile plains with them, until the water flowed backwards.
I have climbed the skeletons of ancient cities, on man-made mountains, where strange crows flew to the center of the labyrinth. I have hiked into the heart of the Inca Empire.
I have been to Sacsayhuaman, the panther of the Milky Way slept there. The red ocher on the walls. I have stood on the Masada at Cerro Baul, where there was a siege of 50 days. No water forced a surrender.
Why was Chan Chan deserted like all the other citadels along this coast? When the Spanish came? All the deserted terraces lying fallow for 500 years, the desert endures the confession of stone.
I have carried the red rocks back from Nazca where they have lain undisturbed for centuries, staring up into that forever sky for millennia on end, while the constellations orbited into the Aquarian age. Who knows how long the erosion chewed on their rock faces, the undersides, smooth from river polishing? This place that hasn't seen a river flow in the millennia.
Skulls and bones have lain here undisturbed for a thousand years. Llama bones and scraps of burial shrouds. The ceremonial death ritual to ensure life.
Climbing the metal water tower on the Pan-American Highway, we view the necropolis. Chen Chen was already in decline when the Incas invaded Chimo the remains of hundreds of young women in the burial bed of the king. God Kings of Chan Chan.
Coastal desert reed boats on the Pacific. Where do you find water in the desert where it never rains? Green jewels on cliff edges In the Moche Valley.
I stood at the top of this ancient pyramid at Huaca del Sol, abandoned canals 2500 years old. The the inter valley canal, once fed by a river 60 miles, away was built in 1100 A.D. There are hundreds of canals and river valleys here, they used the water to measure the degree of slope. I've walked down those dry canal beds, with their sophisticated hydraulics on par with the Great Wall of China and the Egyptian pyramids, as a great ancient engineering feat.
Meanwhile the land rose like a budding tooth.
El Niño in 1983, flooded this region; 50 feet above the valley floor there is a flood line with freshly eroded bricks above it. The taxi driver tells us of the flooding of El Niño, he said that the Pan-American Highway was underwater.
I'm reminded of the pink flamingos at Titicaca, on the altiplano, the giant Andean coots and grebes, the shell middens like giant chess figures dotted the landscape on this rapidly receding coastline where one coastal uplift of 60 feet at a time, combined with a deluge of rain, forever altered the landscape.
The orange and red Peruvian buses with their white stripes like a reflecting mirror shining on the desert into these opposite shores.
I've stood in dry riverbeds, and I have been the raw scarred banks, decades after the deluge. All those skulls staring out to sea, refusing to stay buried, as if the sea held all the answers.
Only now, after seven years, every cell in my body having replaced itself, but what about my hair? Surely my hair hasn't replace itself, for it is longer than seven years growth.
On the temple of the moon above Machu Picchu I wanted to leave something of myself behind for my dead grandmother and so I cut off a chunk of my hair and left a quartz rock from home at the top of the moongate.
December 3, 1995 (from my journal)
See Letter to Luis Kong, from the Necropolis, Paracas 1988
Labels: Machu Picchu, Nazca, Paracas, Peru
Folklore: Bernard Reilly vs the City of San Francisco; Seamus Mooney case
Sinead was talking to a Marin County sheriff the other day, and they got into some genealogy. He perked up at the mention of grandpa's name, saying that all officers had to learn about that case in police Academy, for he was the first to successfully sue his city and win.
My grandfather was the undersheriff of San Francisco County and he was the next in line to be promoted to high sheriff. But he was passed over due to political reasons. Someone said he was too well-liked. And so he sued for backpay, representing himself. And when he finally won the settlement, he was on his way to UC Medical Center with cancer. So it was a merely a matter of time before he died.
That case nearly broke my grandfather and made him bitter.
And aunt remarks about how Mrs. Mooney gave us the orange tablecloth after Grandpa had worked on the famous case of Seamus Mooney, who was held responsible for the death during a Longshoremen's riot. Seamus/James was convicted of murder during that labor strike and it too is a famous case taught in law school.
I'll have to dig out those letters from Mooney to my grandfather at one point. Some of this information should be available to the public, the Bancroft Library, but first it has to be put into some sort of historical context or framework.
Sinead and I seem to have the passion and interest to collect family stories, but unless we write it down, it too will dissipate. Facts will muddle even more than they already are. No one else seems to be interested.
Labels: Bernard Reilly, folklore, Seamus Mooney
On the eve of my 43rd birthday I get a call
I get a surprise phone call from Sean Kilty who informs me that he's separated from his wife after all these years. Am I surprised? No. And now he's calling me. He lives in Castroville, near my cousins. We'll try to connect this weekend. Tomorrow I'll be 43.
And I keep thinking, now there's an opening on his dance card, do I want to check it out? Like with poor Hanafi who visited on Sunday, we went for a hike in the Palisades, he's smitten, but I'm ambivalent. Not worth the bother.
I've been Sean's casual lover for years. Very sporadically I might add. Once every other year for nearly a decade—we've kept it hidden from his friends. That's not enough to base a relationship on, and now I have to look at him in a whole new light. I need to find out about what exactly is going on with this separation. Do I even want to? Sideways opportunity.
He has three small kids, so the rest of his life will be tied up with her and with them for at least for the next 15 to 20 years. I would need to follow him. Do we have enough in common to make something actually work? He's tied to a middle-class existence. And here I am conjecturing, and I haven't even talked to him yet, nor have I seen him in over a year.
Once Sean and I fell madly in love in an instant, but his sin was ambivalence. He was afraid to act and when his friends stopped us at the door as we were about to run away together going to Mexico. He gave me up—just like that. I never quite forgave Michael Larrain, Luke Breit, nor Patrick Grizell for their intervention. It wasn't divine intervention, that's for sure. What was so wrong with me to be rejected by a committee of his friends like that?
Within that same week he met his future wife. Also a Maureen—Michael Larrain's sister. That love and passion Sean and I shared was a long time ago, and certainly I have a fondness in my heart for him, and the lust that comes and goes, is a bonus. But whether there's a grand passion there remains to be seen.
Handsome Sean, who looks a lot like Anthony Quinn, is easy on the eyes. Then, there's the problem of his size, he's enormous all over. As in girth. I've been completely inactive for most of the year, so sleeping with him is bound to hurt. Hopefully our bodies adjust to such things.
Then there is the desire for a child that I haven't quite gotten out of my system. He's had a vasectomy, no, make that two vasectomies, the first one didn't take. At least one kid is a post-vasectomy child.
I let things resolve themselves via the law of entropy. I don't return the call. Tomorrow I'll be 43.
Labels: Sean Kilty
Dream Journal, Shroud of Turin, Ken Bullock at the Mayflower
I kept dreaming I was lying next to someone who was wrapped in shroud, someone I knew. Perhaps they were alive, perhaps dead. I wasn't scared or grossed out by it. Mimi the cat sleeps on my right side these nights. And I have to fight for covers sometimes.
There was another similar shroud, but I wasn't sleeping next to it. I kept waking up and it was still there, and I dreamed about it some more. This went on all night. I petted the cat, who was snoring, for reassurance. I was swaddled in bedcovers, sleeping like the dead. Then I woke myself up snoring. Cat on my chest.
I had another dream where Ken Bullock and I were on the at the old Mayflower pub on 4th St. in San Rafael, drinking whiskey to the dead lovers and relations. My cousin Sinead was there too. We drank whiskey out of an odd assortment of bowls and cast-iron frying pans, like cats. Toast and after toast. So many dead. I was worried about driving home because we had at least two more toasts to go.
Kelly Slattery was there too, along with all the Woodacre drunks: Ken's father Keith Bullock, Cal Davis, Old Man Slattery and Sinead's father, Bill Dinsmore—they all drank together at that tiny corner bar on Railroad in Woodacre. Did Kelly's father die too?
It was busy at the bar. So many dead. So many toasts. Where did my dead father fit into this dream memory, except as a young man? Did we remember to toast JFK?
In the third dream, Ken and I take a little red wagon out for a spin down the steep Lagunitas roads. We nearly get hit by cars while towing the wagon up to the top of the hill. Each time we felt a little braver, and we took the wagon a little further up the top of the steep hill, then rode it down like bats out of hell. Seeking a thrill ride with death.
Labels: dream, Ken Bullock
My Thoughts Aren't Birds
My thoughts aren't birds learning flight, they are the feathers on the wings of time, drifting downward into the darkness of the soul. My past always threatens to abscond with memory, as if it were long buried pirate treasure, the moon's fish seeking the pocket of the sky.
My life always snakes forth like runnels of erratic water in the dry acrid dust of Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, a solid thought holding up the blueness of sky.
And when I wake, dreams take on the flight of words, seeking the stillness of the pond in late afternoon light—not a reflection, but real words frosting the cake.
Whose fear finds me fighting for words in the stillness of the afternoon. Why all this preoccupation with waning light, why not the cover of darkness, or the last thoughts of the waning moon?
I want to find the or origins of rivers between the corners of my eyes that hunger for the thirsty land, a mirage oases, so I can appreciate the sundance at the bottom of the well.
Labels: CPITS, prose poem
Letter to Carol Cullar, Editor, Maverick Press/Terrapin
Maverick Press/Terrapin
Carol Cullar, Editor,
Rt. 2, Box 4915
Dear Carol,
I’m deeply honored to be included in another issue of Maverick/Terrapin. On the latest flyer, a stamped note, “need bio for upcoming issue” had me scrambling through my notes as to what poem, “Feeding the Minotaur”; during the interim, I’ve made some small word changes which I’ve highlighted, but I suspect you’ve already gone to press, since it’s already November. No matter. !No te preocupes!
I’m slowly crawling out of the morass of two year’s worth of significant deaths—my parents & an uncle—all within a year’s span (not to mention a bad relationship), has left me virtually speechless/wordless. . . so this publication means more to me than you can imagine. It reminds me of my duty: I am still writer despite all my stripped down illusions.
The Mother Earth Journal: Latin American issue came out in a slightly different format—I was too busy grieving to do layout, so Herman Berlandt finished it (to the best of his abilities). I’m very attached to good layout, etc., so I’m not happy with it visually. He used several of your woodcarvings. They look great. Did he send you a copy?
I loved the poems you sent me, I’d love to see more. . . are you a sister voice in the dark? I often feel my personal obsession as materia prima isn’t currently popular or acceptable in the publishing world, but it’s the angst/grist for my mill/who I am. If I’d a listened tae my teachers, my vision/voice wouldn’t exist. If only I could get a book published. . . I keep sending my MS out to contests, often placing as a runner up, to no avail. Still no book in sight. It makes me doubt my work. Your continued support of my writing (and a “Pushcart” nomination!) gives me reason/courage to submit/publish.
BIO: Maureen Hurley lives in Forestville, near the redwoods along the Russian River, in northern California. Her poems have appeared in Maverick Press’s Paisano, Culebra! and numerous journals and anthologies including Atomic Ghost, & Hermit Kingdom. Poetry awards include Negative Capability, Chester H. Jones, Kalliopea, National Writers’ Union, National Federation of State Poetry Societies, and two regional NEA fellowships. “Feeding the Minotaur” grapples with the unconscious dendritic history buried within her personal mythopoetics.
Labels: Herman Berlandt, Maverick "Terrapin" issue, Mother Earth Journal, submission letter
Kizer, O'Hehir reading at Mudd's
I'm emceeing at Mudd's Cafe tonight with Carolyn Kizer and Diana O'Hehir. Carolyn arrives dressed to the nines in heels and a mink coat. The audience is almost non-existent so we have a small, intimate reading. I hate the industrial cavernous space of Mudd's, in Santa Rosa, but beggars can't be choosers.
Diana reads about living on the earthquake fault. She said that poems fall into categories: children, parents, relationships. I don't believe in God but I'll try anyway, and then she writes a poem about salvation. Poetry of loss and of separation from the mother.
I said my mother's ashes gather dust on the bureau in my brother's room where the forgotten pieces of the discarded past seek eternal rest. A dog chewed on the crucifix, it's a secret hiding place of Sacrament, amid the tarnished golf clubs. Diana tells me to write of an apple and then relate it to my mother. I think the last known wild aurochs died in Poland in 1627, when did the last wood bison die? Fallen among the apples.
Labels: Carolyn Kizer, Diana O'Hehir, Russian River Writers’ Guild
It was good to see Jim and Nancy. They seem to have healed the rift between them, and all was as it was last year before he left her. He left on the blood red road, only to find it led right back to her door. Family. Roots. In his own backyard.
I was relieved when Nancy was cordial to me, she didn't seem to harbor hostility for she was angry that he came and stayed with me. If only for a short time. Was I to throw him out in order to offer sisterly solidarity? I, who knew him first? I didn't think so.
I never wanted to live with him, I found his wandering eye drove me crazy. And I felt jealous and I didn't like feeling jealous, so I was done with that. True, he was a loose cannon, but when a man is with me, I expect him to be with me, not just take up physical space.
But then I pushed him away because I didn't want him. The second man to return to my arms like a boomerang, and I didn't want him for the second time round.
Men whom I have loved but rejected. At least Jim has remained a friend for over 10 years later as does Lee Perron. The others I hear from infrequently: Edwin Drummond, Geoff Davis, who else?
Who were the man in my life who mattered, who continued in some kind of relationship after the relationship was over? John, Oleg, Jim, Lee.
Oleg wasn't quite in the same category as John or Lee and Jim, Geoff and Edwin were one to two-year relationships not as deeply felt as my relationships with John and Lee.
Vince is somewhere in that list too but I never loved him with the same intensity as Lee or John. Where does Bob fit in? Seven years of my life I spent with him and he's not even in the first arcana of men because he so thoroughly disappeared? Did I love him in the way that I loved Lee? Bob is elsewhere on this list.
Where do all the almost lovers fit into this list? There's Jan and Sonny, all that unrequited love at the wrong time for all the wrong reasons, etc.
I know Jan Bogaerts loved me, at least he was able to admit it. But he fled because something was not quite right in the packaging, but I think it had more to do with his fear of having a real lover, the whole kit and caboodle.
And I could not chase him. There were two continents and an ocean in the way. I did not believe in throwing everything away for him to be. Besides he had a wild streak of something I did not, and could not ever trust. That place would wound me beyond belief, and after John, no man will ever be given that opportunity to eviscerate me thusly again.
I still think of Vince not so much in Amsterdam, but in Antwerp and Eindhoven, and in Brussels, there was a stripping away of the fear and we were closer together, and we were truly naked before each other. And where did that go?
I couldn't take Vince's craziness, nor Jan's for that matter. Vince's craziness was scary, something to do with him always manipulating the past to fit the present argument, and I hadn't the tools to survive that. On some level I guess we're all crazy, it comes with the territory. A line I wrote somewhere I'm sure, but it is a matter of what we can live with, can cope with.
Of all the men who have loved and left me, but I have left a few as well. Vince, Oleg, Valera practically at the altar, Edwin, the last two, I left before it got any more riddled with intrigue.
In a sense, I left Bob by falling in love with Lee, and I was sleeping with him and pregnant, when Bob threw me out, and he never knew. John and Jim and Geoff truly left me in the lurch. John, so much so, I still haven't recovered.
I harbor this picture of myself as being the one who always gets left behind, but it's simply not true. I'm not always decisively cut and dry. Other circumstances intervene. Oleg left for the Ukraine, but I had long since ceased loving him months before. He became intolerable, it was a love based upon regret for what will never be. He had unfinished business with his wife.
And then there's Sonny, and I don't know where to place him on this particular scheme of things. Certainly I've loved him long enough from afar up close but that must be the most intimate I've ever been with him was a late night steaming kissing scene.
Jan and I fooled around but I wouldn't fuck him though he drag me on top of him several times, we were doing our fair share of rolling around. But I was so afraid of AIDS and of his attraction to the homosexual world, I couldn't, I would not fuck him.
And right now Pat's fucking Sonny while George and I talk about his cock outside on the porch. I had to come over to George's to borrow some sugar ironically. George relates the scariest moment was when had an oral encounter with a girl eating licorice. That was truly alarming I thought this at the very least what I was bruised.
I told him about the Karma Sutra, how men wrapped their cocks and stinging nettles to make them bigger, and slept on cots with holes in them.
We giggle like schoolgirls when he tells me about the time he fell asleep in the sun and thought he had leprosy when the skin sloughed off. We giggled and I said, Well, George, I'd love to talk about your penis some more, but I'm cold and I'm going home.
I'm sure Pat overheard most of our ribald conversation as she had open the windows and the blinds. Just the sound of our voices drives her crazy, let alone, my my presence, and I do make my presence known here, as I live here. She is not going to drive me away from my home.
As for Sonny I think he's waited too long, and the rifts cannot be breached nor healed but then his modus operandi is avoidance. I thought of writing another letter but I'm losing attachment.
Does he plan to avoid me the rest of his life, does she lead him around by a ring in his nose, or in his cock, to the extent that he has no life beyond her specific needs?
As if to blame me for his need to trust me, or to open up about other women, or to cry on my shoulder, then dismiss it with a third word manipulation. A word that couches the action and explains, intellectualizes it, thus removing it from its primary emotion, invalidating everything.
Labels: Sonny Lowe
On the Red Road: sweat lodge
In the sweat lodge at Westerbeck Ranch,
the lava rocks glowed red,
the cedar offerings ignited like stars.
I prayed for Nathan, that he would find his teachers,
that I would be worthy of teaching him,
for the good Red Road is not my path,
though I am of it.
I prayed for the release of my parents.
I prayed for the release of Sinead's father.
I prayed for my cousins who wanted us to sell the land,
to understand that land is more important
than just money.
I thanked Jim for bringing us here,
I thanked the land we met on etc.,
Lakota Sioux chants to offer us up.
He said there would be some discomfort, yes, my muscles ached, was all this from playing pool the night before? I don't think so. I was in a vulnerable position several times because of my whiplash, and I began to hurt. I didn't accomplish much yesterday so couldn't have been food that made me so violently ill. The night before, I have a hamburger and a half a Newcastle on draught.
Uneasy sweat rolled off of me. If I had toxins, they were plentiful. By around three PM, my outer layer of skin began to itch, and I thought of how like a snake shedding its skin it was. We shed the old, burdensome layers, and emerge with new skins. I washed under the nearly full hunter's moon, my breasts like answering orbs.
I thought I wasn't going to make it to the last sweat round. I was dizzy. Jim Byrd talked about the lodge being the womb, and here we were,10 people in a tiny space filled with hot glowing rocks. I did not feel well, and my dizziness increased, my headache became a migraine. It was the carbon dioxide and smoke.
I resorted to Advil after the sweat, to relieve the blinding headache, but my stomach had other plans, and it was a battle just to keep it down to drive home. My mouth was foaming, preparing to upchuck. I wondered what if I'd have to pull over, and the drive home was long. Many close calls. I was tortured beyond belief but soda crackers and bread relieved some of the symptoms and Pepto-Bismol took care of the rest, but it took some time.
It was good to see Jim and Nancy. They seem to have healed the rift between them, and all was as it was last year, before he left her. He left on the red road, only to find it led right back to her door. Family. Roots. Right in his own backyard.
(11/4) excerpt
Labels: Jim Byrd
AMOR AMARGO
Inside the microwave oven,
my note, with "I'm sorry"
scrawled in large purple letters,
the color of forgiveness,
returned as if to say, shove it.
And take your oven back too.
These words were seeking forgiveness,
they were seeking the heart line,
the calmness of gray skies.
Instead, I find them returned,
unspent words. Still trying to apologize,
how to soothe the raging heart of anger.
A song that haunted me in Holland,
I never knew the name, says it all:
the Gypsy Kings sing Amor Amargo.
Bitter love, just my luck.
rev. 11/4/2015
Last night I dreamed
Last night I dreamed a lot. I can't remember much of my dreams but Sonny was definitely busy in my dreams doing God knows what.
I dreamed of a new house by the sea, and women I didn't know, moving in with me. Another dream where David Om committed suicide. I was devastated. It made me feel so upset I called him up, anxiety ridden, and he was fine.
Yesterday afternoon Sonny came over to Steve's cabin while we were watching Northern Exposure—Joel and Maggie finally become lovers. I was lying on the bed hiding my face in the crook of my arm, which was a mistake. I should have made eye contact, and now it's too late.
I left a large note of apology on the floor, when he was away at the store. Did I mention how the other night Sonny held up my letter saying, It's a novel? I've been reduced to fiction?
He stood at the door a couple of minutes. I assume he had softened. I was wrong. There was that thin wire in his voice as he paced Steve's cabin, like a bull, holding the bottle of apricot brandy, still in its bag. The full Moon in Taurus on Monday had me in charge, I had in my arsenal, the duality of Gemini, the twins, Scorpio's sting, and Sagittarius's arrow. We are crazed extremist overreacting, this time, gambling and always losing. Another bet for the house.
I had to flush Sonny out, find his limits, and see where he would break. I needed to find the shape of his anger, and to see how he would use it. I'm disappointed.
Mind you, he hasn't told me a thing, just a brief message via Nathan. I hate it when he uses his son as the messenger, too cowardly to face me. Let's see how much he'll actually act out, understanding he's an extremist. Prepare for the worse, prepare to do a face-to-face.
Geraldine Gower says it's his dark side surfacing, his lowest common denominator. I called Pat, his girlfriend, a toxic waste site, and Geraldine said that's his lowest equivalent. She says I'm his higher power, but he chooses the negative side.
Last night, under cover of darkness, he returned the microwave to my bench, I heard rustling, and looked out the window, but could see nothing.
Nathan pulls me aside to tell me that he can no longer come to my art class, he can't come and visit me anymore, and I tell him the ban isn't permanent. As for the rest, Sonny will have to do some growing up. Nathan is devastated, and I'm armored. I was expecting retaliation, but I didn't think he'd actually do it. I gambled and lost big time.
Labels: journal, Sonny Lowe
After the poetry reading: all roads lead to Moscow
Last night, after the poetry reading, we discussed a mutual friend, Christine Gonzalez Larson. I said she went to Russia. Also, a translation company called asking for Oleg Atbashian, wanting something translated from the Ukrainian.
Last night I wrapped myself in my Russian shawl and all the images have little to do with Moscow. In St. Petersburg, Oleg in the Ukraine, my shawl and me in California.
But Moscow is the capital, all roads lead to Moscow, like with Mexico City, it is the collective unconscious of Russia. It is the mother of cities, the umbilicus.
Labels: Oleg Atbashian
MIDWINTER LETTER FROM THE SUN
I awoke reciting these lines:
There was a woman of the state
centuries of snowflakes
do not a necklace make.
A bone of light falls on her door,
a midwinter letter from the sun.
dream image
After spending two and a half painful hours at Barnes & Noble, going over Armando's book manuscript, explaining my diacritical remarks, and getting nowhere, I found my cousin Dave in the reference section. We went out for a few beers and a game of pool. Dave was a good teacher, I sunk a few balls, even won a game or two. I learned a few new shots, spins, and more bad English. Wish my meeting with Armando, whose second language is English, went this smooth. Chalk it up to experience.
Boschka Layton on Glenn Gould
I remember Boschka Layton talking of Glenn Gould, she recalled the brilliance of his conversations. The way he played Bach. He must've been a family, or childhood friend, for when he died, she was devastated.
I remember Boschka's poem for Glenn Gould. I wish I had a copy of it.
Her family was quite extraordinary to draw so many interesting people to its bosom, Leonard Cohen, Irving Layton, and of course, her half-brother, Donald Sutherland's fame comes from that same bosom as well.
In the character who played Glenn Gould, I heard Donald Sutherland's accent, his voice trilled in the ear, but it was not him. It serve to spark this memory of Boschka, or Betty Sutherland, as she was known then, and Glenn Gould.
Funny how memory works like that, and I was wanting more information, but she is dead these past 14 years. She would've enjoyed this movie, and I watched it for her, remembering all the silly things we used to talk about.
Irving must've gotten ahold of some of my old letters to Boschka, or did they send her papers to him later? I recently received a form letter from McGill University wanting to put my letters to Boschka into Irving's archives, into his literary estate. I had to laugh. And I am such a very minor footnote.
Labels: Boschka Layton, Donald Sutherland, Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen
GLENN GOULD'S MUSIC IN DEEP SPACE
Sometimes it feels like that,
the sound of footsteps receding in snow,
and one forgets the loneliness of leaves in autumn.
My mother madly painted while I was in the womb,
the colors permeated, and crossed the membrane,
and later I would be nostalgic for places
I had never been to before.
What accounts for a life of miracles?
Early memories, or of things yet to come?
Stacking wood, I think of how art
has always been present in my life.
Coming up with answers was always harder.
Poets are always on the verge of tears,
we could fill lakes haunted by music.
Voyager has left our solar system,
carrying a gold record of Bach,
with Glenn Gould at the keyboard,
crooning into the folds of deep space.
added 11/17 minor revisions
Labels: Boschka Layton, Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen, poem
from Sonoma journal: war stories (full text)
Tom Kelly encourages me to write more of the old West Marin, saying he liked my Nicasio piece so much. I said I wasn't a writer back then, I didn't hold onto the details in the same way.
We talked about the gay priests and how one was a little too interested in his 11-year-old boy and how it made Tom's blood boil. I wanted to kill him he said. I tell him about how the kids at school taunted Nathan, calling him a faggot and how he was so devastated. I didn't know what to say, being female. I talked about pecking order proper channels of authority up, and then asked how his fighting skills were in case they laid into him and ambushed him, etc.
Tom said: I would have said: you are not a faggot. I didn't even think to say that. He said that I did the right thing by putting it into perspective. I didn't want to open it up because I had crossed my mind a couple of times, what if he's gay, then what/ I will still love him the same. It's such a hard road, the absurd fear that Nathan's father would blame me for it.
It is conjecture over 10-year-old boy being called names on the playground. Tom says it's good that you be able to talk about it, and that he's able to talk to you. He had met Nathan at the Barnes & Noble reading and thought he was my son as do most people. I had needed reassurance that I had said the right thing—this was a man thing after all. Nathan doesn't tell his father because the evil girlfriend's there. I tell Nathan he has the right to speak of it with his father privately. Not with Pat around.
Sonoma journal: war stories
After David Bromige and Gerry Haslam's reading, we all go to the Redwood Café and tell travel horror stories. I tell Guatemala stories, of Panajachel, the roadblocks, the Guatemalan army. Jane McPherson and I spin yarns about the guns we've met. Trying to find a decent place to sleep in Panajachel, it was either two-dollar dives or three-star $40 digs, with nothing in between. Jane said she had a tantrum when she was traveling, her boyfriend traveled only on the cheap.
I tell Jayne of the Nazi place we stayed at in Panajachel, the bungalow was the only place available. But he gave us the creeps with his Doberman pinschers, his black leather boots, and the eyepatch.
Steve Tills is trying to write this piece entitled #69, and can't. And we become ribald. Maybe it's in context – the other pieces will support it as a title. As the complete poem. We segue off into personal tirades of bad relationships, love gone wrong in all the odd places. I can finally talk about Latin America without any mention of John at all.
I like Tom Kelly a lot, he's a married man with two kids. He tells Old Eureka stories, and we both went to church last Sunday—to our great surprise. Everyone turns to us and asks Together? We laugh and say, no we've only just met, no, in different towns, Eureka and Nicasio. Tom Kelly encourages me to write more of the old West Marin, saying he liked my Nicasio piece so much. I said I wasn't a writer back then, I didn't hold onto the details in the same way. But here we are anyway, chronicling the past.
Labels: David Bromige, Nicasio
After David Bromige and Gerry Haslam's reading, we all go to the Redwood Café and tell horror stories. David tells us of Jim McCreary's stint being William S. Burroughs' secretary.
Jane McPherson and I spin yarns about the guns we've met on the Gringo Trail. I tell Guatemala stories, the war, the roadblocks, the Guatemalan army. Trying to find a decent place to sleep in Panajachel, it was either two dollar dives or three-star $40 digs, with nothing in between. Jane said she had a tantrum when she was traveling, her boyfriend traveled only on the cheap.
I tell Jayne of the Nazi place we stayed at in Panajachel, the bungalow was the only place available. But he gave us the creeps with his twin Doberman pinschers, his black leather boots, riding crop, and the eyepatch. We lasted one night as it was Gestapo Central.
Steve Tills is trying to write this piece entitled #69 and can't. And we become ribald. Maybe it's in context – the other pieces will support it as a title. As the complete poem. We segue off into personal tirades of bad relationships, love gone wrong in all the odd places. I don't mention how John liked his bondage. I can finally talk about Latin America without any mention of John at all.
I like Tom Kelly a lot, we have a lot in common. He's a married man with two kids. He tells Old Eureka stories, and we both went to church last Sunday—to our great surprise. Everyone turns to us and asks Together? We laugh and say, no we've only just met, no in different towns, Eureka and Nicasio.
Tom Kelly encourages me to write more of the old West Marin, saying he liked my Nicasio piece so much. I said I wasn't a writer back then, so I didn't hold onto the details in the same way. But here we are anyway, chronicling and channeling the past.
November 2, 1995 (excerpt)
Labels: David Bromige, Gerald Haslam, Guatemala, journal
Sometimes I worry about the time
I spend obsessing on journal writing.
I keep thinking there are better things to do.
Sometimes my dream journal remains
the only thread of sanity, or salvation.
Times when I'm overwhelmed by rawness,
but in the journal, I acknowledge them,
and let those feelings flow through me,
they come in and out like the tide,
like an oil spill going down the river—
a momentary patch of calmness,
and then the turbulence where it meets the sea.
But I am not the river flowing to the sea.
I am the riverbank monitoring the journey.
The river is the seat, the vessel of emotions,
and my feelings are as varied and rough
as the rocks in the riverbed.
added, rev. 11/17
Labels: journal, poem
I opened the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts events guide, only to find yet another piece of my art reproduced to advertise the arts program. This is the third piece they've used, without my information without my name on it.
It becomes another graphic, a piece of white noise—like any other. My art is the art you see without really noticing it, a filler in various reincarnations.
My mask drawing must have run in the Press Democrat for months, now my woodblocks, or my scratchboard drawings are making the rounds.
Yes, you've seen my art, you've probably glanced at it, then turned the page. A sudden urge for culture might lead you inevitably to the entertainment section, where you would no more notice my art than you would any other graphic design, placed to fill a void and to comfort the eye, to invite you in and then, let you go.
Labels: art, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
Housesitting the Heart
Yesterday I left Marsha Connell's place, homesick, no real reason to stay there, other than to feed the cats and collect the mail. I had to fight with myself all day long just to stay there, which I managed to do until about 4 PM, then the blues settled in, and I was crying for my mother, for it's been a year since she died.
I was happy to be on my home own doorstep, sitting amid the scattered rose petals, weeping, when Steve duBois came by, and invited me over for some beer and pot. We watched reruns of Northern Exposure and giggled over nothing and everything.
I confessed to Steve that my strength and self-reliance was a front. I'm very fragile, and lately the facets of being responsible have weighed too heavily upon me. I just can't do it anymore, I said, and added something about feeling out from under Sonny after my last letter, thinking of it was pretty final, when Steve pipes up, That's not what Sonny said. Shit!
Steve said: The other day he seem to think you had a relationship after all. He didn't know what kind it was or where it was going, but he acknowledged it. And he began talking about it before he had some brandy, and he talked some more after having some brandy. He admitted he had a hard time opening up.
That's what made me perk up and take notice. It was before the alcohol. So it all really is on a positive note and I was blown away. Here I had gambled and lost all, only to discover my observations weren't accurate. Of course Sonny said nothing to me. Thank God for the intervention of friends. Frickin' Peyton Place.
I didn't even care when a couple of hours later Sonny came home, I could hear her voice. He came over to Steve's to check up on Nathan who was snuggled up into me. And I was smelling his hair, snuffling like a mother dog or a horse those family pheromones uniting us.
We ordered pizza, Alastair Ingram came over and we all watched The Gods Must Be Crazy. Sonny and Pat went over to the Hacienda to her brother's place to get something. Nathan didn't want to go and snuggled back into my arms. I stared at the TV, not wanting to be a part of this action anymore, knowing Pat was here.
He didn't know that I knew what was up, of course, and I was curious to see what he would do. Knowing that his kid would Velcro himself onto me, here I was again watching him while Sonny was out with Pat, a sticky situation.
Steve said Nathan could stay, so to technically I wasn't watching the kid, but I needed him in my arms. Solace. I would've loved to have Sunny hold me too, but it was a little too crowded, a little too loaded, but if I had asked, I believe he would've done it. Even with Pat being there. There was something different in the air. And I didn't know what, perhaps, hope.
Both times when Sonny came over, he was trying to pay attention to all of us equally, but there was certainly a charged aura between us. It's like we could almost see each other better by not looking directly at each other, by using the other senses. I know I must've shone like a lantern when he walked in the door. He wasn't expecting to see me there. But as he entered, he must've had some forewarning, perhaps my laughter drifted out into the night. But he had his poker face on. All bets were off.
Labels: Alastair Ingram, Forestville, Sonny Lowe, Steve duBois
Celli Cabin Cat Chronicles
In a united furry front, the cats made a steady parade of dramatic and entrances and exits in ans out of our cabin doors. Alastair's cat Angus, was renamed Ankles, Anguish and Anxiety. Evan's cat Hucky (Huckleberry) had other plans for the evening. He was the most doglike of the litter, and followed Evan everywhere. (Evan's girlfriend Heather Granahan brought over a box of kittens and nearly everyone at the cabins adopted one—except me.)
Nathan and Sonny's cat, Mucky yowled for attention in his scaredy-cat way. A timid one. And I cuddled him to sleep. Steve says, It must be you, he he never comes into my cabin on his own accord. Mucky never much for cuddling, made his escape.
It took Mucky a few tries to get the hang of opening Steve's screen door. At first, he was too timid and too slow and the screen door kept slamming on his head. Finally he gave it a big push and manage to shoulder his way through the door, but got a little too nonchalant towards the end, too slothful, and the door slammed on his tail. Startled, he took off, having blown his cool cat exit.
Mucky nags me some more, he wants me to go over to my house and pet him by the food bowl, he doesn't want food, my door's been open all evening. He wants the ritual of being patted and fondled in his special space. Eventually I indulge his little furry whims while on a beer run to my house.
Steve said Sonny was supposed to be back soon, but it was hours later, and the necessity to drink beer and to get stoned was an order, so we partied on into the night. At one point, Nathan wanted to watch a new program on TV, and went to my house, but like Mucky the cat, he also wanted to be petted in his own special spot, which happens to be my spot on the bed.
So we went back to Steve's cabin next door for pizza and returned to my cabin until Sonny came home. He called in around midnight, and I was asleep. Nathan nearly so. We were watching Raising Arizona. Mucky was quite pleased to have both of us in the same place at the same time, and acted silly, flopping all over, ecstatically wiggling his whiskers to be scratched and all those secret little places.
I tell Nathan Mucky prefers it when we're all together especially at his house, then wonder am I anthropomorphizing this too much? No. Mucky comes unglued if I'm at Sonny's with Nathan on the couch bed—definitely his idea of the cat's pajamas.
Meanwhile Anguish is chewing on Nathan's dogtags. A cat eating dog tags? Woof? We give him some pizza and he's in hog heaven. It's only a tiny scrap of pizza but he is ever so grateful that it requires a full body bath before retiring for the evening.
I take notes from these little fur godlets, they give me metaphors to live by, parallel structure. I wasn't forceful enough with Sonny, so he kept slamming the door in my face. I did a good shoulder shove and the door opened, letting me in. But if I linger I'll get my tail caught in the door.
Then there's poor timid Moppet who wants to please everyone, but psychically follows the energy. Whenever important stacks of paper I am working on, becomes her new nesting spot. Even the laptop isn't exempt from her radar scanning. Maybe she's just a heatseeking cat, but the papers don't generate heat unless the words combust on the page.
Once I yelled at her for sitting on the self-portraits from Windsor High School that were on the chair. I want her to sit on the chair, not on my desk. Now, that she's finally gotten the idea of place, not things, it's no longer okay. Each time she's on the chair, when she sees me, she scurries off. And I feel so bad. Sometimes I'm able to intercept and cuddle her so it's not such a big deal. Place, not things, is her reality.
I begin to think of what Sonny and I are going through is of a similar mistranslation. Action/reaction but to the wrong things. Place oriented versus object oriented. Place becomes conceptual. Objects become a list of examples. He sums things up in generalities, sweeping the chair and the table slate clean. Offering me estimation.
While I need to see all the stuff that was stacked on the chair, or on the plate. in order to understand the concept. The place above the chair is a conceptual space, potential. It is potentially could harbor a body which leads to the heart and to the head via the genitals.
The chair becomes an extension of my own overcrowded table that doubles as a desk, storage space, etc., which upsets the cats, they know chairs are their turf. I fill the chairs with stuff so no human or cat can occupy that space. Chair equals an intent to eat, intent to talk, intent to study. Activity takes place there.
I need to open myself and my living space up to the possibility that's why we exist to fulfill our human potential, not to hide behind our own misery. Yes, I've told a man that his very presence gave me courage to go on, and for once, he's not slamming the door in my face.
Labels: Alastair Ingram, Evan Morgan, Sonny Lowe, Steve duBois
LOVE LIVES IN THE DARKEST OF PLACES
The engineer who spilled 20,000 gallons of poison
into the Sacramento River was a railroad man.
The river died for our sins, writes the poet.
It could've been my father, or me, he says.
The river and the town died for their sins.
Love lives in the darkest of places.
1991 spill
Mike Holland, born in Dunsmuir
Bohemian Housewarming Party
At my childhood friend Micaela's housewarming party in Berkeley, I ran into small segments of our past; it's a shock to see Micaela and her brother Chris, mirrored in the faces of their children. Christopher has a 10-year-old boy that looks just like him; Chris must've been 10 when I first met him.
Chris is an equipment appraiser for Bank of America, a vice president in a roomful of vice presidents, living in suburbia, with the wife and two kids. I expected so much more from Chris, with his intellectual prowess, I expected him to go places. All the people that his parents knew were part of the avant-garde Bohemian world. Instead, the black corporate heart of America took him hostage.
The people we met through their parents were unusual in and of themselves. Bohemian artists for the most part. Arthur Boericke was friends with Jaimie de Angulo. I remember the stories about the drunken sweat lodge parties in Berkeley. Imagine building a full-on sweat lodge in a Berkeley backyard.
I think Arthur was a sociologist. During the 1970s, he wrote Handmade Houses: A Guide to the Woodbutcher's Art, the first book of its kind. Then there was Patrick Wall who was Micaela and Chris's father, from the island of Jersey, his formidable intellect, his love of classical music, his coldness shaped us. His wife, Betty the potter, once married to New Mexican painter Wilfred Lang, was a worrywart and self-depricating in a delightful way that made up for Pat's distance.
Micaela and I went for a hike on Saturday and discovered that both Pat and my grandmother actively discouraged us from using the broad American Aaaaa sound they found so offensive to their ears. Their tirades against our using that nasal American A sound left us feeling a little like mini Eliza Doolittles. To this day I still say ofTen with a full T sound instead of offen.
Betty's first husband, Wilfred Lane, recently died; his paintings are valuable already, said Chris. Micaela mentions the name of the woman that kept Willfred in suspense for years – Marsha. I remember meeting her with her Mexican tiered skirt skirts and Willfred with his gobs of tiered turquoise. They were all living in Santa Fe at the time.
The New Mexico contingency included Betty and Wilfred and the children—Chris and Micaela's stepbrothers and sisters: Pete, Sonia, Stan, and Justina—the joke always was: What is your name? Tina. Tina? No, Justina. Just Tina?
Pete was always a little in love with Micaela and but he went off to become a spy when she rejected him. I stayed with Pete and his wife Sarah in Parksville, British Columbia. They moved to Florida where he built wooden boats and got divorced. She's now living in Hawaii and he's in Galveston Texas, said Chris. The others I didn't ask about.
Stan was living in the Virgin Islands. I think Micaela was always a little in love with Stan who looked like bad boy James Dean. I was a little in love with Chris. I imagine Sonia and Tina are still living in New Mexico. Sonia was one of the first people to move to Morning Star Ranch, and become part of Lou Gottlieb's commune. She was always out there on the periphery of way cool.
Chris and Micaela's mother, Rosalind Sharpe Wall died about four years back; her book on Big Sur memories was on its third printing. Kudos, none of this happening during Rosalind's lifetime ironically. She grew up on a rancho in Bixby Canyon in Big Sur. Rosalind dabbled in paint too, which was handy as her then husband Patrick was an art dealer in Carmel. The first modern art dealer on the West Coast.
One artist that was well represented in Patrick's house beside Wilfred Lang, was Carmel artist Ellwood Graham. Graham's paintings always fascinated me. (See more Pat Wall, Modern Art Dealer: Ellwood Graham).
Rosalind dabbled in the occult as well. She was an overbearing woman who always had some project going. She was a bit like Frida Kahlo, and Wilfred was a lot like Diego Rivera but they never hooked up. I don't think the fabric in the time-space continuum could've contained it.
The mysterious Marsha was more like Georgia O'Keeffe, the model. I've no idea what she did, other than to be haughty. Her full size portrait has a marionette at the bottom. Was it a portrait of the artist, Wilfred?
Rosalind, and my mother were like two cats locked up in a room, too similar for words, each itching to defrock the other of her occult witches' vestments. Each calling the other a fraud, each designing their own tarot decks. Rosalind's rather simplistic deck design was at least published, in John Starr Cooke's The New Tarot: The Tarot for the Aquarian Age (Boxed Set with Cards)1970.
It turned out that Brite Bonnier, the painter with her jaunty beret and red sports car, was also a friend of John Cook's. Small world. She was at the party with her small dog.
I arrived late having nearly been nearly clobbered by a bad driver who, as luck would have it, was also coming to the party as well. And I had to go a block out of my way to keep from being hit, so when I parked, Micaela and Brite were on the front steps.
And I was in a rage so I wasn't introduced to Brite till much later. That I even remembered her last name was a miracle. She mentioned her brother living in Sweden. I think he visited once. I never knew she was Swedish. She asked if I remembered the barge in Sausalito. I'm not sure, but I do remember the Charles Van Damme, Pero and Alice Wolfe's houseboat, and the others.
I remember crashing parties when we were kids, Chris lighting off cherry bombs underwater. We were banned from the parties, but snuck in anyway. I was on the Charles Van Damme ferryboat at least two times when Varda lived there. His paintings were bolted to the walls of the skewed boat. I recognized the paintings by style, like the ones I had seen in Patrick's house in Sausalito, and later when he was our neighbor in Forest Knolls. Varda, Lang, Graham: a litany of Bohemian artists: West Coast names that changed the face of art.
I remember late at night walking the plank at Pero and Alice's houseboat, and peeking into the windows to see the partygoers, the water was alive with biolytic luminescence under the full moon. Which place was Brite Bonnier's? She was friends with John Cook and I will have to interview her to find out more about it.
I tell Brite the story of how I managed Western Star Press for Alice Kent. Alice was John's sister. Before John's death in the early 60s, Chris, Micaela and I used to steal things from the Trade Faire, a ferryboat emporium. We were nine and ten years old and we mailed all the large turquoise rings to John Cook in Cuernavaca. He must've wondered about why we were sending him turquoise rings in the mail as we didn't have any money.
I remember John Cooke, a tall broad-shouldered bald silent man with a kindly face. At that age we knew nothing of the world. Betty called us her brats. And we ran wild through the alleys of Sausalito, and the hills of Forest Knolls. I didn't know I would want those memories back one day, but with the tag that explains their significance and relevance.
For it was those interesting people that help shape us and made us who we are. By their very presence, and not necessarily by design. The order of the Golden Dawn, Allister Crowley, Alan Watts, Jean Varda—these are all names out of my childhood. But I have no place to put them in the larger order of things.
Actor and dancer John Cooke was a kind of a mythical God. We knew he was special, but we didn't know why. Begin the Beguin was his favorite song, said Alice Kent. Did the Sufis really burn him with their hands on his shoulders at the airport because no one ever escaped their order – was it in Morocco? Tangiers? The imprint of the hand on the shoulder had the doctor shaking their heads, for it was to become the cancer that eventually killed him.
John's Tarot for the New Aquarian age was decades ahead of its time. And we grew up on the arcane trivia from the Tibetan and the Egyptian books of the dead, we grew up on tarot, and astrology, you name it—long before the New Age.
My mother's world, and Micaela and Chris' world, each parent was a satellite with an asteroid belt of followers—and small rivalries were of no concern to us. My mom was an actress and costume set designer at the Gate Playhouse Theatre in Sausalito.
Patrick was a connoisseur of the arts, he was in the realm of the philosophical world. Rosalind Sharpe was into the occult, living in Sausalito during the early 60s as well—these three people that helped shape my life.
What I remember most are the visual images, the quality of light, the colors of the sky, the colors of the bay and the cypress trees, and the odor of nasturtiums and geraniums. Chris's paper route. The stinking bay. The dilapidated boats. Gate Five. Tiki junction. And now all those adults who live there are nearly all dead now, and their stories buried. All I have left are the incomplete fragments that have little or no shape.
What about Pero and Alice Wolfe? Pero who owned Anchor Steam Beer crossing the bay in a boat dressed to the nines, to go to the opera but they forgot to check the tides. Who will write their stories?
Micaela said her lover, musician Tim Boomer, with whom she had bought the house, hence the housewarming party, reminded her a bit of me, Chris Rosalind, and Pat. All of us so strong-willed with lots of interesting things to say.
Micaela elaborated how her mother was so overbearing, she snuffed her out like a candle. And I'm shocked by the inference. Did she feel of no importance as a child with nothing to say? Sure, I spin fantastic stories now but back then I was rather mute, quiet and shy. My entire world was made of horses. Micaela went on to say that the best years of her childhood were spent with me running around the hills of Forest Knolls with me.
School was awful, a kind of death for her. Me too. She dropped out during her sophomore year. I'd always thought it was because of the drug scene. We grew apart by the time puberty had set in. And she was more adventurous, the Summer of Love, pot, etc., while I was redneck, and more than a couple of years behind her socially, so to speak.
I remember a reconciliation of sorts at age 13 or 14. We spent a good week together making miniskirts out of old 50s pencil skirts, and castoff clothing, and then we gradually drew apart into our own respective worlds.
We lost touch when she moved—or ran away. I didn't consciously drop her as a friend, she just moved on. Our values were no longer the same. I suspect sex had something to do with it. She was 14, I waited until I was 18. The invisible border between child and woman had been drawn out and there was no defrocking of the wall, pardon the pun on her last name, Wall.
Micaela reminded me of the time that Ken and Mary Howard were having a party and a movie on Arroyo Road and we were forbidden to attend. But Chris was allowed to go. So we snuck over to the Howard's place at sunset after they had all left, and under the cover of dusk, we crept into the darkened living room to watch The Wild Ones.
Brando lounged on his motorcycle. In the late 1940s, bikers took over Hollister. What are you rebelling against? ask someone. What've you got? quipped Brando. After the movie was over, we made our escape via the kitchen, only to be busted for tripping over the silverware box. The Bohemians we were surrounded by, busted us for watching The Wild Ones. Odd. What were they sheltering us from?
We'd seen much more. Jean Varda liked young women, lots of them, Alan Watts, and Jaunita Mousson all lived on the Charles van Damme. Not all at the same time. Maybe it was her party, I don't know. My neighbor George said that the Charles van Damme was falling apart even way back then and she was busted for something and then hauled out.
Who moved in after Juanita? Brite Bonnier? But she had the barge I think. Perhaps it was Varda. Anyway, what was the big deal about seeing Brando anyway? Ken Howard was a Harvard man and Mary had East Coast leanings, and money too. Both are dead now, their daughters, Debbie who goes by the name of Nina, and Sarah, were pretty whacked and scarred by that relationship.
Ken and Pat were very much alike—both carpenters, both very intellectual, and cold towards women, unless they wanted sex. They were cruel to their daughters who didn't survive them emotionally. The boys fared better, Chris Wall, and Guy Howard, but they chose the American life over Bohemia.
Children of Bohemians living a middle-class life, feeling like frauds and guilty for going against the quasi-Bohemian grain, fitting into neither world very well. I was the observer, raised by my grandmother from a previous generation, and and a way of life destined to fail, for what could follow that?
The Beatniks were not the physical inheritors of the Bohemians, for they escaped the middle-class, and sought refuge here, while we children of Bohemians were never middle class. More like ravaged by a social experiment. I later found out that one of the thinkers that influenced the Bohemian movement, Allister Crowley was an omni-sexual pervert, flaunting sexual mores and delving into magic. But we were sheltered from any deviant behaviour.
I'm sure Brite Bonnier and John Cooke were both bisexual, and Crowley's teachings would've seemed like a blessing to them. Brite, being Swedish, only had quasi American morals to overthrow. John Cooke came from a real missionary family, for they were the famous Cookes of Hawaii. They were the black sheep, Alice assured me, not the Castle-Cookes, not the Big Five.
The Beats would've been closer to my mother's age. And Patrick was from a previous generation; he was in his 40s when he had children. Our generation is doing much of the same thing, having children so late... or not at all.
Pat Wall, Modern Art Dealer: Ellwood Graham (journ...
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Labels: Alan Watts, Forest Knolls, Gate Five, Gate Playhouse, Jean Varda, John Cooke, Juanita Musson, Micaela Wall, Sausalito, Tiki Junction
Touring with Elemental Portraits
Last evening, after teaching, I met with Kirk Whipple and Marilyn Morales to pursue grants for touring with Elemental Portraits—for all of us. Kirk gave me carte blanche to pursue self interest. He said, You don't have to be responsible for the larger picture, but if we get a large touring grant it will benefit all of us.
I will also get paid for my time if I write grants is the is the oblique message. It's on me, they're taking care of themselves first, and the amount of dollars to be raised to nourish their dream is enormous. Half a million. My needs are considerably less, but my dreams should remain big, I shouldn't be afraid to manifest those dreams—why not?
The other day I was telling someone about working with Kirk and Mari developing the Elemental Portraits, and they were clearly impressed. It was not my intent to do so, I was merely explaining something I was working on. And they saw me in a new light.
I saw myself in a new light too. I was out there galavanting around with important musicians, just like in centuries past—when artists collaborated. I don't think my poems are particularly avant garde, but Kirk considers himself to be a late late late romantic composer, so I guess it's okay to have some tangible, concrete imagery.
I still think I need to work on the Elemental Portraits more. I've got the human portraits down, but are they in essence, elemental? My framework is the scaffolding is air, earth, fire, and water—with a dash of classical references, seasoned with quantum physics.
Maybe I need to see the Elemental Portraits in a new light, as multimedia events. Yes, I realize that I will be riding on Kirk and Mari's fabulous coattails, but I also will have earned the right as well. I did earn a fellowship for them. When will I quit thinking of myself as a fraud and begin to take myself seriously?
Labels: Elemental Portraits, Kirk Whipple, Marilyn Morales
WORD HUNTER
Poetry is eagle of experience—Gary Snyder
The eagle within me soars,
a word hunter searching
for the perfect metaphor,
searching for the crumbs of words,
while incautious mice fuel my rage,
honing my experience,
until I breathe the fire of the stars.
I am at home beneath a relentless sun.
My job is done when I find the right words
to put the sun to sleep,
and when the darkness comes,
my dream-self glides into the minds
of those who no longer sleep.
Labels: CPITS, freewrite, poem
Inverness Fire
Yesterday I spent quite some time working on my obsessively long prose poem to my neighbor, Sonny Lowe, Obsession, after I returned from the Mendocino Woodlands. Like the Inverness fire, it's growing by leaps and bounds and shows no sign of ending.
I haven't had a chance to write in my journal since I came back from the Mendocino Woodlands. I came home to the big Inverness fire and to O.J. Simpson's acquittal. There was little news to be had in the deep woods, but on Tuesday we did get the news of O.J. Simpson. The woods couldn't filter that injustice out, it was so atrocious.
Meanwhile 12,000 acres of Bishop Pine went up in smoke as the Pope gave mass in the pouring New Jersey rain, drenched believers filling the football field.
Last night I went to a party with Verona Seiter and Herman Berlandt at Zoravia Bettoil's flat in Pacific Heights, she is a Brazilian artist. Full moon over the San Francisco Bay took our breath away. A magical night.
We danced the samba, the lambada, with the Latin American ex-pats. Zoravia said I can move my hips like no other. I am flattered. I guess. She said that she thought that she could gyrate and flick her pelvis, until she saw me in action. She said every man's eyes were glued to my hips. I was wearing the ruffled tea dress from my 25th high school reunion, which helped. The Brazilian Consul wanted more than just a dance in the moonlight.
That complement coming from a Brazilian from São Paulo is a compliment indeed, but then I had reason to move like that. The more I hurt inside, the harder I danced, rejected by my neighbor Sonny and his latest skank, Pat. Because of them I am somewhat homeless, she is now living with him, invading my space with her negative energy. I can't be at my home anymore. This is why I danced so hard.
Herman and I snuck off to Bolinas on Sunday. And I tried to find out if my friends were burned out. At the American Red Cross in Point Reyes, I find Stephen Torre's name on the roster. The fire left his house standing, miraculously, since it stands atop Drakeview Estates Road, at the ridgeline. His neighbor, Van Morrison, lost everything. His place burned to the ground. Even the gold and platinum records. Bob Hamilton and I once almost bought the lot next to Van's place but there was no water.
Steve's house was listed as habitable but he did not show up for the Russian River Writers' Guild Monday night reading, nor did Kathy Evans. Oh well. I called her to see why she didn't show up for her reading, and she's having a hit histamine reaction to the world, and to the smoke. I give her the allergic saga, how works the immune system.
Meanwhile, Steve is in British Columbia thinking he has no home. I tell her it's still standing. Kathy can't believe it. Stress levels threaten to undo us all. No way to reach Steve.
Anyway, to catch up on things, last Sunday afternoon, Herman and I hiked from RCA Beach to Palomarin Beach. There were very few people on the trail. We didn't realize we had hiked so far north.
Behind the roped off area, was the fire zone. The park rangers were quite surprised to see us, saying we'd hike to a fair distance. The park is closed as the trees are still sizzling. And looters have invaded, making their mark. There are cops everywhere. The rangers rifle, a symbol for martial law.
We can't see the fire, but my voice begins to hurt by nightfall. We hiked up one creek to a waterfall. Herman, for all his 72 years, is surprisingly agile. He continues to remind me of my grandmother. How odd. How we used to go on long hikes and adventures without any real preplanning. They just happen.
Herman too likes this spontaneous approach to dailiness, we are invincible. We spend Sunday night in his cabin on the Mesa. A nice dinner of salmon and couscous. I always take it upon myself to cook most meals, treating Herman. I suspect Verona does the same, but I like to cook for him. Maybe it's the female thing. He purchases most of the food and does the dishes, so it's a decent exchange.
I've been managing to keep away from home because of Sonny. Which means my life is changing. I don't have my home anchor anymore. Sonny's son Nathan hardly ever visits anymore and wonders why I'm never home. I explain, it's not forever. Yesterday Nathan's mother, Cindy, came to get him, leaving Sonny and Pat alone, and I growl.
I've taken to flipping him off whenever they drive by. Safe within the walls of my tiny cabin, I'm living between two places—my cabin, and my truck, my bags are always packed. Bolinas is my refuge, it's becoming my new home, and I am on fire, raging against betrayal, and the injustice of it all.
Labels: Bolinas, Herman Berlandt, Inverness, Kathy Evans, Russian River Writers’ Guild, Sonny Lowe, Stephen Torre, Van Morrison, Verona Seiter
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Yet another little portrait of Hermann Weyl: as painted by John Archibald Wheeler
The Continuum, Hermann Weyl, translated by Stephen Pollard and Thomas Bole.
This is what famous physicist, John Archibald Wheeler writes as the foreword:
Hermann Weyl was-is-for many of us, and for me, a friend, a teacher, and a hero. A North German who became an enthusiastic American, he was a mathematical master figure to mathematicians, and to physicists a pioneer in quantum theory and relativity and discoverer of gauge theory. He lives for us today, and will live in time to come, in his great findings, his papers and books, and his human influence.
I last knew Weyl after I last knew him. Day after day in Zurich in late 1955 he had been answering letters of congratulations and good wishes received on his seventieth birthday, walking to the mailbox, posting them, and returning home. December eighth, thus making his way homeward, he collapsed on the sidewalk and murmuring, “Ellen, died. News of his unexpected death reached Princeton by the morning New York Times. Some days later our postman brought my wife and me Weyl’s warm note of thanks. I like to think he sent it in that last mailing.
I first knew Weyl before I first knew him. Picture a youth of nineteen seated in a Vermont hillside pasture, at his family’s summer place, with grazing cows around, studying Weyl’s great book, Theory of Groups and Quantum Mechanics, sentence by sentence, in the original German edition, day after day, week after week. That was one student’s introduction to quantum theory. And what an introduction it was! His style is that of a smiling figure on horseback, cutting a clean way through, on a beautiful path, with a swift bright sword.
Some years ago I was asked, like others, I am sure, to present to the Library of the American Philosophical Society the four books that had most influenced me. Theory of Groups and Quantum Mechanics was not last on my list. That book has, each time I read it, some great new message.
If I had to come up with a single word to characterize Hermann Weyl, the man, as I saw and knew him then and in the years to come, it would be that old fashioned word, so rarely heard in out day, “nobility.” I use it here not only in the dictionary sense of “showing qualities of high moral character, as courage, generosity, honour,” but also in the sense of showing exceptional vision. Weyl’s eloquence in pointing out the peaks of the past in the world of learning and his aptitude in discerning new peaks in newly developing fields of thought surely were part and parcel of his lifelong passion for everything that is high in nature and man.
Erect, bright-eyed, smiling Hermann Weyl I first saw in the flesh when 1937 brought me to Princeton. There I attended his lectures on the Elie Cartan calculus of differential forms and their application to electromagnetism — eloquent, simple, full of insights. Little did I dream that in thirty-five years I would be writing, in collaboration with Charles Misner and Kip Thorne, a book on gravitation, in which two chapters would be devoted to exactly that topic. At another time Weyl arranged to give a course at Princeton University on the history of mathematics. He explained to me one day that it was for him an absolute necessity to review, by lecturing, his subject of concern in all its length and breadth. Only so, he remarked, could he see the great lacunae, the places where deeper understanding is needed, where work should focus.
The man who ranged so far in his thought had mathematics as the firm backbone of his intellectual life. Distinguished as a physicist, as a philosopher, as a thinker, he was above all a great mathematician, serving as professor of mathematics from 1913 to 1930 at Zurich, from 1930 to 1933 at Gottingen, and at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study from October 1933 to his retirement. What thinkers and currents of thought guided Weyl into his lifework: mathematics, philosophy, physics?
“As a schoolboy,” he recalls, “I came to know Kant’s doctrine of the ideal character of space and time, which at once moved me powerfully.” He was still torturing himself, he tells us, with Kant’s Schematismus der reinen Verstandesbegriffe when he arrived as a university student at Gottingen. That was one year before special relativity burst on the world. What a time to arrive, just after David Hilbert, world leader of mathematics, had published his Grundlagen der Geometrie, breaking with Kant’s predisposition for Euclidean geometry and taking up, in the great tradition of Karl Friedrich Gauss and Bernhard Riemann, the construction and properties of non-Euclidean geometries, and — having just published an important book on number theory Zahlericht — was giving absorbing lectures on that field of research. Philosophy! Mathematics! Physics! Each was sounding its stirring trumpet blast to an impressionable young man. Mathematics, being represented in Gottingen by its number one man, won the number one place in Weyl’s heart.
Weyl tells us the impression made upon him by Hilbert’s irresistible optimism, “his spiritual passion, his unshakable faith in the supreme value of science, and his firm confidence in the power of reason to find simple and clear answers to simple and clear questions.” No one who in his twenties had the privilege to listen to Weyl’s lectures can fail to turn around and apply to Weyl himself those very words. Neither can anyone who reads Weyl, and admires his style, fail to be reminded of Weyl’s own writing by what he says of the lucidity of Hilbert: “It is as if you are on a swift walk through a sunny open landscape; you look freely around, demarcation lines and connecting roads are pointed out to you before you must brace yourself to climb the hill; then the path goes straight up, no ambling around, no detours.”
Electrified by Leibnitz and Kant, and under the magnetic influence of Hilbert, Weyl leaped wholeheartedly, as he later put it, into “the deep river of mathematics.” That leap marked the starting point of his lifelong contributions to ever widening spheres of thought.
For the advancing army of physics, battling for many a decade with heat and sound, fields and particles, gravitation and spacetime geometry, the cavalry of mathematics, galloping out ahead, provided what it thought to be the rationale for the real number system. Encounter with the quantum has taught us, however, that we acquire our knowledge in bits; that the continuum is forever beyond our reach. Yet for daily work the concept of the continuum has been and will continue to be as indispensable for physics as it is for mathematics. In either field of endeavour, in any given enterprise, we can adopt the continuum and give up absolute logical rigour, or adopt rigour and give up the continuum, but we can’t pursue both approaches at the same time in the same application.
Adopt rigour or adopt the contiuum ? These ways of speaking should not be counted as contradictory, but as complementary. This complementarity between the continuum and logical rigour we accept and operate with today in the realm of mathematics. The hard-won power thus to assess correctly the continuum of the natural numbers grew out of titanic struggles in the realm of mathematical logic in which Hermann Weyl took a leading part. His guidance, his insights and his wisdom shine out afresh to the English-speaking world with the publication of the present volume. The level of synthesis achieved by now in mathematics is still far beyond our reach today in physics. Happily the courageous outpost-cavalry of mathematical logic prepares the way, not only for the main cavalry that is mathematics, but also for the army that is physics, and nowhere more critically so than in its assault on the problem of existence.
Hermann Weyl has not died. His great works speak prophecy to us in this century and will continue to speak wisdom in the coming century. If we seek a single word to stand for the life and work of Hermann Weyl, what better word can we find than passion? Passion to understand the secret of existence was his, passion for that clear, luminous beauty of conception which we associate with the Greeks, passionate attachment to the community of learning, and passionate belief in the unity of knowledge.
— John Archibald Wheeler, University of Texas, Austin.
By Nalin Pithwa | Posted in mathematicians, miscellaneous, motivational stuff, physicisrs | Tagged Hermann Weyl, John Archibald Wheeler | Comments (0)
Another little portrait of Hermann Weyl
(I simply loved the following introduction of Hermann Weyl; I am sharing it verbatim; as described by Peter Pesic in the book Mind and Nature by Hermann Weyl, Princeton University Press; available in Amazon India)
“It’s a crying shame that Weyl is leaving Zurich. He is a great master”. Thus, Albert Einstein described Hermann Weyl (1885-1955) who remains a legendary figure, “one of the greatest mathematicians of the first half of the twentieth century…No other mathematician could claim to have initiated more of the theories that are now being explored,” as (Sir) Michael Atiyah (had) put it. Weyl deserves far wider renown not only for his importance in mathematics and physics but also because of his deep philosophical concerns and thoughtful writing. To that end, this anthology gathers together some of Weyl’s most important general writings, especially those that have become unavailable, have not previously been translated into English, or were unpublished. Together, they form a portrait of a complex and fascinating man, poetic and insightful, whose “vision has stood the test of time>”
This vision has deeply affected contemporary physics, though Weyl always considered himself a mathematician, not a physicist. The present volume emphasizes his treatment of philosophy and physics, but another complete anthology could be made of Weyl’s general writings oriented more directly toward mathematics. Here, I have chosen those writings that most accessibly show how Weyl synthesized philosophy, physics and mathematics.
Weyl’s philosophical reflections began in early youth. He recollects vividly the worn copy of a book about Immaneul Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason he found in the family attic and read avidly at age fifteen. “Kant’s teaching on the “ideality of space and time” immediately took powerful hold of me, with a jolt I was awakened from my ‘dogmatic slumber,’ and the mind of the body found the world being questioned in radical fashion.” At the same time, he was drinking deep of great mathematical works. As “a country lad of eighteen,” he fell under the spell of David Hilbert, whom he memorably described as a Pied Piper “seducing so many rats to follow him into the deep river of mathematics”; the following summer found Weyl poring over Hilbert’s Report on the Theory of Algebraic Numbers during the “happiest months of my life.” As these stories reveal, Weyl was a very serious man; Princeton students called him “holy Hermann” among themselves, mocking a kind of earnestness probably more common in Hilbert’s Gottingen. There, under brilliant teachers, who also included Felix Klein and Hermann Minkowski, Weyl completed his mathematical apprenticeship. Forty years later, at the Princeton Bicentennial in 1946, Weyl gave a personal overview of this period and of the first discoveries that led him to find a place of distinction at Hilbert’s side. This address. never before published, may be a good place to begin if you want to encounter the man and hear directly what struck him most. Do not worry if you find the mathematical references unfamiliar; Weyl’s tone and angle of vision express his feelings about the mathematics (and mathematicians) he cared for in unique and evocative ways; he describes “Koebe the rustic and Brouwer the mystic” and the “peculiar gesture of his hands” Koebe used to define Riemann surfaces, for which Weyl sought “a more diginfied definition.”
In this address, Weyl also vividly recollects how Einstein’s theory of general relativity affected him after the physical and spiritual desolation he experienced during the Great War. “In 1916, I had been discharged from the German army and returned to my job in Switzerland. My mathematical mind was as blank as any veteran’s and I did not know what to do. I began to study algebraic surfaces, but before I had gotten far, Einstein’s memoir came into my hands and set me afire. Both Weyl and Einstein had lived in Zurich and taught at its ETH (Eidgenoschule Technishce Hochschule) during the very period Einstein was struggling to find his generalized theory, for which he needed mathematical help. This was golden period for both men, who valued the freer spirit they found in Switzerland, compared to German, Einstein adopted Swiss citizenship, completed his formal education in his new country, and then worked at its patent office. Among the first to realize the full import of Einstein’s work, especially its new, more general, phase, Weyl gave lectures on it at the ETH in 1917, published in his eloquent book Space Time and Matter (1918). Not only the first (and perhaps the greatest) extended account of Einstein’s general relativity, Weyl’s book was immensely influential because of its profound sense of perspective, great expository clarity, and indications of directions to carry Einstein’s work further. Einstein himself praised the book as a “symphonic masterpiece.”
As the first edition of Space Time Matter went to press, Weyl reconstructed Einstein’s ideas from his own mathematical perspective and came upon a new and intriguing possibility, which Einstein immediately called ” a first class stroke of genius”. Weyl describes this new idea in his essay “Electricity and Gravitation” (1921), much later recollecting some interesting personal details in his Princeton address. There, Weyl recalls explaining to a student, Willy Scherer, “that vectors when carried around by parallel displacement may return to their starting point in changed direction. And, he asked also with changed length? Of course, I gave him the orthodox answer {no} at that moment, but in my bosom gnawed the doubt.” To be sure. Weyl wrote this remembrance thirty years later, which thus may or may not be a perfectly faithful record of the events; nevertheless, it represents Weyl’s own self-understanding of the course of his thinking, even if long after the fact. Though Weyl does not mention it, this conversation was surrounded by a complex web of relationships: Weyl’s wife Helene was deeply involved with Willy’s brother Paul, while Weyl himself was the lover of Erwin Schrodinger’s wife, Amy. These personal details are significant here because Weyl himself was sensitive to the erotic aspects of scientific creativity in others, as we will see in his commentary on Schrodinger, suggesting that Weyl’s own life and were similarly intertwined.
In Space Time Matter, Weyl used the implications of parallel transport of vectors to illuminate the inner structure of the theory Einstein had originally phrased in purely metric terms, meaning the measurement of distances between points, on the model of the Pythagorean theorem. Weyl questioned the implicit assumption that behind this metrical structure is a fixed, given distance scale, or “gauge.” What if the direction as well as the length of meter sticks (and also the standard second given by clocks) were to vary at different places in space-time, just as railway gauge varies from country to country? Perhaps, Weyl’s concept began with this kind of homely observation about the “gauge relativity” in the technology of rail travel, well-known to travelers in those days, who often had to change trains at frontiers between nations having different, incompatible railway gauges. By considering this new kind of relativity, Weyl stepped even beyond the general coordinate transformations Einstein allowed in his general theory so as to incorporate what Weyl called relativity of magnitude.
In what Weyl called an “affinely connected space,” a vector could be displaced parallel to itself, at least to an infintely nearby point. As he realized after talking to Willy Scherrer, in such a space a vector transported around a closed curve might return to its starting point with changed direction as well as length (which he called “non-integrability,” as measured mathematically by the “affine connection.”) Peculiar as this changed length might seem, Weyl was struck by the mathematical generality of this possibility, which he explored in what he called his “purely infinitesimal geometry,” which emphasized infinitesimal displacement as the foundation in terms of which any finite-displacement needed to be understood. As he emphasized the centrality of the infinite in mathematics, Weyl also placed the infinitesimal before the finite.
Weyl also realized that his generalized theory gave him what seemed a natural way to incorporate electromagnetism into the structure of space-time, a goal that had eluded Einstein, whose theory treated electromagnetism along with matter as mass-energy sources that caused space-time curvature but remained separate from space-time itself. Here Weyl used the literal “gauging” of distances as the basis of a mathematical analogy; his reinterpretation of these equations led naturally to a gauge field he could then apply to electromagnetism, from which Maxwell’s equations now emerged as intrinsic to the structure of space-time. Though Einstein at first hailed this ‘stroke of genius’, soon he found what he considered a devastating objection: because of the non-integrability of Weyl’s gauge field, atoms would not produce the constant, universal spectral lines we actually observe: atoms of hydrogen on Earth give the same spectrum as hydrogen observed telescopically in distant stars. Weyl’s 1918 paper announcing his new theory appeared with an unusual postscript by Einstein, detailing his objection, along with Weyl’s reply that the actual behaviour of atoms in turbulent fields, not to speak of measuring rods and clocks, was not yet fully understood. Weyl noted that his theory used light signals as a fundamental standard, rather than relying on supposedly rigid measuring rods and idealized clocks, whose atomic structures was in some complex state of accommodation to ambient fields.
In fact, the atomic scale was the arena in which quantum theory was then emerging. Here began the curious migration of Weyl’s idea from literatly regauging length and time to describing some other realm beyond space-time. Theordor Kaluza (1922) and Oskar Klein (1926) proposed a generalization of general relativity using a fifth dimension to accommodate electromagnetism. In their theory, Weyl’s gauge factor turns into a phase factor, just as the relative phase of traveling waves depends on the varying dispersive properties of the medium they traverse. If so, Weyl’s gauge would no longer be immediately observable (as Einstein’s objection asserted) because the gauge affects only the phase, not the observable frequency of atomic spectra.
At first, Weyl speculated that his 1918 theory gave support to the radical possibility that “matter” is only a form of curved, empty space (a view John Wheeler championed forty years later). Here Weyl doubltess remembered the radical opinions of Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell, who went so far as to consider so-called matter to be a nexus of immaterial lines of force.
Weyl then weighed these mathematical speculations against the complexities of physical experience. Though he still believed in his fundamental insight that gauge invariance was crucial, by 1922 Weyl realized that it needed to be re-considered in light of the emergent quantum theory. Already in 1922, Schrodinger pointed out that Weyl;s idea could lead to a new way to understand quantization. In 1927, Fritz London argued that gravitational scale factor implied by Weyl’s 1918 theory, which Einstein had argued was unphysical, actually makes sense as the complex phase factor essential to quantum theory.
As Schrodinger struggled to formulate his wave equation, at many points he relied on Weyl for mathematical help. In their liberated circles, Weyl remained a valued friend and colleague even while being Anny Schrodinger’s lover. From that intimate vantage point, Weyl observed that Erwin “did his great work during a late erotic outburst in his life,” an intense love affair simultaneously with Schrodinger’s struggle to find a quantum wave equation. But, then as Weyl inscribed his 1933 Christmas gift to Anny and Erwin (a set of erotic illustrations to Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis), “the sea has bounds but deep desire has none.”
Weyl’s insight into the nature of quantum theory comes forward in a pair of letters he and Einstein wrote in 1922, here reprinted and translated for the first time, responding to a journalist’s question about the significance of the new physics. Einstein dismisses the question: for him in 1922, relativity theory changes nothing fundamental in out view of the world, and that is that. Weyl takes the question more seriously, finding a radically new insight not so much in relativity theory as in the emergent quantum theory, which Weyl already understood as asserting that “the entire physics of matter is statistical in nature,” showing how clearly he understood this decisive point several years before the formulation of the new quantum theory in 1923-26 by Max Born, Werner Heisenberg, Pascual Jordal, P.A.M. Dirac, and Schrodinger. In his final lines, Weyl also alludes to his view of matter as agent, in which he ascribed to matter an innate activity that may have helped him understand and accept the spontaneity and indeterminacy emerging in quantum theory. This view led Weyl to reconsider the significance of the concept of a field. As he wrote to Wolfgang Pauli in 1919, “field physics, I feel, really plays only the role of ‘world geometry’, in matter there resides still something different, (and) real, that cannot be grasped causally, but that perhaps should be thought of in the image of ‘independent decisions,’ and that we account for in physics by statistics.
In the years around 1920, Weyl continued to work out the consequences of this new approach. His conviction about the centrality of consciousness as intuition and activity deeply influenced his view of matter. As the ego drives the whole world known to consciousness, he argued that matter is analogous to the ego, the effects of which, despite the ego itself being non-spatial, originate via the body at a given point of the world continuum. Whatever the nature of this agents, which excites the field, might be — perhaps life and will — in physics we only look at the field effects caused by it. This took him in a direction very different from the vision of matter reduced to pure geometry he had entertained in 1918. Writing to Felix Klein in 1920, Weyl noted that “field physics no longer seems to me to be the key to reality; but, the field, the ether, is to me only a totally powerless transmitter by itself of the action, but matter rests beyond the field and is the reality that causes its states.” Weyl described his new view in 1923 using an even more striking image: “Reality does not move into space as into a right-angled tenement house along which all its changing play of forces glide past without leaving any trace; but, rather as the snail, matter itself builds and shapes this house of its own.” For Weyl now, fields were “totally powerless transmitters” that are not really existent or effectual in their own right, but only a way of talking about states of matter that are the locus of fundamental reality. Though Weyl still retained fields to communicate interactions, his emphasis that the reality of “matter rests beyond the field” may have influenced Richard Feynman and Wheeler two decades later in their own attempt to remove “fields” as independent beings. Weyl also raised the question of whether matter has some significant topological structure on the subatomic scale, as if topology were a kind of activation that brings static geometry to life, analogous to the activation ego infuses into its world. Such topological aspects of matter only emerged as an important frontier of contemporary investigation fifty years later. Looking back from 1955 at his original 1918 paper, Weyl noted that he “had no doubt” that the correct context of his vision of gauge theory was “not, as I believed in 1918, in the intertwining of electromagnetism and gravity” but in the “Schrodinger-Dirac potential of the electron-positron field…The strongest argument for my theory seems to be this that gauge-invariance corresponds to the conservation of electric charge in the same way that co-ordinate invariance corresponds to the conservation of energy and momentum,” the insight that Emmy Noether’s famous theorem put at the foundations of quantum field theory. Nor did Weyl himself stop working on his idea; in 1929 he published an important reformulating his idea in the language of what today are called gauge fields; these considerations also led him to consider fundamental physical symmetries long before the discovery of the violation of parity in the 1950’s. The “Weyl two-component neutrino field” remains a standard description of neutrinos, all of which are “left-handed” (spin always opposed to direction of motion), as all anti-neutrinos are “right-handed.” In 1954, (a year before Weyl’s death, but apparently not known to him), C. N. Yang, R. Mills, and others took the next steps in developing gauge fields, which ultimately became the crucial element in the modern “standard model” of particle physics that triumphed in the 1970’s, unifying strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions in ways that realized Weyl’s distant hopes quite beyond his initial expectations.
In the years that Weyl continued to try to find a way to make his idea work, he and Einstein under went a curious exchange of positions. Originally, Einstein thought Weyl was not paying enough attention to physical measuring rods and clocks because Weyl used immaterial light beams to measure space-time. As Weyl recalled in a letter of 1952, “I thought to be able to answer his concrete objections, but in the end he said: “Well, Weyl let us stop this. For what I actually have against your theory is: ‘It is impossible to do physics like this (that is, in such a speculative fashion, without a guiding intuitive physical principle)!”‘ Today, we have probably changed our viewpoints in this respect. E. believes that in this domain the chasm between ideas and experience is so large, that only mathematical speculation (whose consequences, of course, have to be developed and confronted with facts) gives promise of success, while my confidence in pure speculation has diminished and a closer with quantum physical experience seems necessary, especially as in my view it is not sufficient to blend gravitation and electricity to one unity, but that the wave fields of the electron (and whatever there may still be of nonreducible elementary particles) must be included.
Ironically, Weyl the mathematician finally sided with the complex realities of physics, whereas Einstein the physicisit sought refuge in unified field theories that were essentially mathematical. Here is much food for thought about the philosophic reflections each must have undertaken in his respective soul-searching and that remain important now, faced with the possibilities and problems of string theory, loop quantum gravity, and other theoretical directions for which sufficient expeimental evidence may long remain unavailable.
Both here and through out his life, Weyl used philosophical reflection to guide his theoretical work, preferring “to approach a question through a deep analysis of the concepts it involves rather than by blind computations,” as Jean Dieudonne put it. Though others of his friends, such as Einstein and Schrodinger, shared his broad humanisitc education and philosophical bent, Weyl tended to go even further in this direction. As a young student in Gottingen, Weyl had studied with Edmund Husserl (who had been a mathematician before turning to philosophy), with whom Helene Weyl had also studied.
Weyl’s continuing interest in phenomenological philosophy marks many of his works, such as his 1927 essay on “Time Relations in the Cosmos, Proper Time, Lived Time, and Metaphysical Time,” here reprinted and translated for the first time. The essay’s title indicates its scope, beginning with his interpretation of the four-dimensional space-time Hermann Minkowski introduced in 1908, which Weyl then connects with human time consciousness (also a deep interest of Husserl’s). Weyl treats a world point not merely as a mathematical abstraction but as situating a “point-eye,” a living symbol of consciousness peering along its world line. Counterintuitively, that point-eye associates the objective with the relative, the subjective with the absolute.
Weyl used this striking image to carry forward a mathematical insight that had emerged earlier in the considerations about the nature of the continuum. During the early 1920’s, Weyl was deeply drawn to L.E.J. Brouwer’s advocacy of intuition as the critical touchstone of modern mathematics. Thus, Brouwer rejected Cantor’s transfinite numbers as not intuitable, despite Hilbert’s claim that “no one will drive us from paradise which Cantor created for us.” Hilbert argued that mathematics should be considered purely formal, a great game in which terms like “points” or “lines” could be replaced with arbitrary words like ‘beer mugs” or ‘tables” or with pure symbols, so long as the axiomatic relationships between the respective terms do not change. Was this, then, the “deep river of mathematics” into which Weyl thought this Pied Piper had lured him and so many other clever young rats?
By the mid-1920’s, Weyl was no longer an advocate of Brouwer’s views (though still reaffirming his own 1913 work on the continuum). In his magisterial Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural sciences (written in 1927 but extensively revised in 1949), Weyl noted that “mathematics with Brouwer gains its highest intuitive clarify…It cannot be denied, however, that in advancing to higher and more general theories the inapplicability of the simple laws of logic eventually results in an almost unbearable awkwardness. And the mathematician watches with pain the larger part of his towering edifice which he believed to be built of concrete blocks dissolve into a mist before his eyes.
Even so, Weyl remained convinced that we should not consider a continuum (such as the real numbers between 0 and 1) as an actually completed and infinite set but only as capable of endless subdivision. This understanding of the “potential infinite” recalls Aristotle’s critique of the ‘actual infinite. In his 1927 essay on “Time Relations,” Weyl applied this view to time as a continuum. Because an infinitely small point could be generated from a finite interval only through actually completing an infinite process of shrinkage, Weyl applies the same argument to the presumption that the present instant is a “point in time.” He concludes that “there is no pointlike Now and also no exact earlier and later.” Weyl’s arguments about the continuum have the further implication that the past is never completely determined, any more than a finite, continuous interval is ever exhaustively filled; both are potentially infinite because always further divisible. If so, the past is not fixed or unchangeable and continues to change, a luxuriant, ever-proliferating tangle of “world tubes,” as Weyl called them, “open into the future and again and again a fragment of it is lived through.” This intriguing idea is psychologically plausible: A person’s past seems to keep changing and ramifying as life unfolds, the past today seems different than it didi yesterday. As a character in Fauklner put it, “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
In Weyl’s view, a field is intrinsically continuous, endlessly subdividable, and hence, an abyss in which we never come to an ultimate point where a decision can be made. To be or not to be? Conversely pointlike, discrete matter is a locus of decisive spontaneity because it is not predictable through continuous field laws, only observable statistically. As Weyl wrote to Pauli in 1919, “I am firmly convinced that statistics is in principle something independent from causality, the ‘law’; because it is in general absurd to imagine a continuum as something like a finished being.” Because of this independence, Weyl continued in 1920:-
the future will act on and upon the present and it will determine the present more and more precisely; the past is not finished. Thus, the fixed pressure of natural causality disappears and there remains, irrespective of the validity of the natural laws, a space for autonomous and causally absolutely independent decisions. lI consider the elementary quanta of matter to be the place of these decisions.
“Lived time,” in Weyl’s interpretation, keeps evoked the past into furhter life, even as it calls the future into being. Weyl’s deep thoughts may still reap the further exploration, they have not received so far.
Weyl also contributed notably to the application of general relativity to cosmology. He found new solutions to Einstein’s equation and already in 1923 calculated a value for the radius of the universe of roughly one billion light years, six years before Edwin Hubble’s systematic measurements provided what became regarded as conclusive evidence that our galaxy is one among many. Weyl also reached a seminal insight, derived from both his matheamtical and his philosophical considerations, that the topology of the universe is “the first question in all speculations on the world as a whole.” This prescient insight was taken up only in the 1970’s and remains today at the forefront of cosmology, still unsolved and as important as Weyl thought. He also noted that relativistic cosmology indeed “left the door open for possibilities of every kind.” The mysteries of dark energy and dark matter remind us of how much still lies beyond that door. Then too, we still face the questions Weyl raised regarding the strange recurrence throughout cosmology of the “larger numbers” like and (seemingly as ratios between cosmic and atomic scales), later rediscovered by Dirac.
Other of Weyl’s ideas long ago entered and transformed the mainstream of physics, characteristically bridging the mathematical and physical through the philosophical. He considered his greatest mathematical work the classification of the semisimple groups of continuous symmetries (Lie groups), which he later surveyed in The Classical Groups: Their Invariants and Representations (1938). In the introduction to this first book, he wrote in English, Weyl noted that “the gods have imposed upon my writing the yoke of a foreign tongue that was not sung at my cradle.” But even in his adopted tongue he does not hesitate to criticize hte “too thorough technicalization of mathematical research” In America that has led to a ” mode of writing which must give the reader the impression of being shut up in a brightly illuminated cell where every detail sticks out with the same dazzling clarity, but without relief. I prefer the open landscape under a clear sky with its depth of perspective, where the wealth of sharply defined nearby details gradually fades away toward the horizon.” Such writing exemplifies Weyl’s uniquely eloquent style.
Soon after quantum theory had first been formulated, Weyl used his deep mathematical perspective to shape The Theory of Groups and Quantum Mechanics (1928). It is hard to overstate the importance of his marriage of the mathematical theory of symmetry to quantum theory, which has proved ever more fruitful, with no end in sight. At first, as eminent and hard-headed physicist as John Slater resisted the “group-pest” as if it were a plague of abstractness. But Weyl, along with Eugene Wigner, prevalied because the use of group theory gave access to the symmetries essential for formulating all kinds of physical theories, from crystal lattices to multiplets of fundamental particles. It was this depth and generality that moved Julian Schwinger to ‘read and to re-read that book, each time progressing a little farther, but I cannot say that I ever —- not even to this day — fully mastered it.” Thus, Schwinger considered Weyl “one of my gods,” note merely an outstanding teacher, because “the ways of gods are mysterious, inscrutable, and beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals.” This from someone regarded as god-like by many physicists because of his own inscrutable powers. Weyl’s insights about the fundamental mathematical symmetries led Schwinget and others decades later to formulate the TCP theorem, which expresses the fundamental indenticality between particles and anti-particles under the combined symmetries of time reversal (T), charge conjugation (reversal of the sign of charge, C) and parity (mirror) reversal (P), In one of his most powerful interventions in physics, Weyl used such symmetry principles to argue that Dirac’s newly proposed (and as yet unobserved) “holes” (anti-electrons) could not be (as Dirac had suggested) protons, which are almost two thousand times heavier than electrons. Weyl showed mathematically that anti-electrons had to have the same mass as electrons, though having opposite charge; this was later confirmed by cosmic ray observations. Weyl’s purely mathematical argument struck Dirac, who drew from this experience his often cited principle that “it is more important to have beauty in one’s equations than to have them fit experiment,” a principle that continues to be an important touchstone for many physicists. Even though Weyl’s mathematics moved Dirac to this radical declaration, Weyl’s own turn away from mathematical speculation about physics raises the question whether in the end to prefer beautiful mathematics to the troubling complexities of experience.
Whether a “god” or no, Weyl seemed to feel that the philosophical enterprise cannot remain on the godlike plane but really requires the occasions of human conversation. The two largest works in this anthology contain the rich harvest of Weyl’s long standing interest in expressing his ideas to a broader audience, both began as lecture series, thus doubly public, both spoken and written. To use the apt phrase of his son Michael, The Open World (1932) contains “Hermann’s dialogues with God” because here the mathematician confronts his ultimate concerns. These do not fall into the traditional religious traditions but are much closer in spirit to Spinoza’s rational analysis of what he called “God or nature,” so important for Einstein as well. As Spinoza considered the concept of infinity fundamental to the nature of God, Weyl defines “God as the completed infinite.” In Weyl’s conception, God is not merely a mathematician but is mathematics itself because “mathematics is the science of the infinite,” engaged in the paradoxical enterprise of seeking “the symbolic comprehension of the infinite with human, that is finite, means.” In the end, Weyl concludes that this God ‘cannot and will not be comprehended” by the human mind, even though “mind is freedom within the limitations of existence, it is open toward the infinite.” Nevertheless, “neither can God penetrate into man by revelation, nor man penetrate to Him by mystical perception. The completed infinite we can only represent in symbols.” In Weyl’s praise of openness, this freedom of the human mind begins to seem even higher than the completed infinity essential to the meaning of God. Does not his argument imply that God, as actual infinite, can never be actually complete, just an infinite time will never have passed, however long one waits? And if God’s actuality will never come to pass, in what sense could or does or will God exist at all? Perhaps, God, like the continuum or the field, is an infinite abyss that needs completion by the decisive seed of matter, of human choice.
Weyl inscribes this paradox and its possibilities in his praise of the symbol, which includes the mathematical no less than the literary, artistic, poetic, thus bridging the presumed chasm between the “two cultures.” At every turn in his writing, we encounter a man of rich and broad culture, at home in many domains of human thought and feeling, sensitive to its symbols and capable of expressing himself beautifully. He moves so naturally from quoting the ancients and moderns to talking about space-time diagrams, thus showing us something of his innate turn of mind, his peculiar genius. His quotations and reflections are not mere illustrations but show the very process by which his thought lived and moved. His philosophical turn of mind helped him reach his own finest scientific and mathematical ideas. His self-deprecating disclaimer that he thus “wasted his time” might be read as irony directed to those who misunderstood him, the hardheaded who had no feeling for those exalted ideas and thought his philosophizing idle or merely decorative. Weyl gained perspective, insight, and altitude by thinking back along the never unfolding past and studying its great thinkers, whom he used to help him soar, like a bird feeling the air under its wings.
In contrast, Weyl’s lectures on Mind and Nature, published only two years later (1934), have a less exalted tone. The difference shows his sensitivity to the changing times. Though invited to return to Gottingen in 1918, he preferred to remain in Zurich, finally in 1930, he accepted the call to succeed Hilbert, but almost immediately regretted it. The Germany he returned to had become dangerous for him, his Jewish wife, and his children. Unlike some who were unable to confront those ugly realities, Weyl was capable of political clear-sightedness, by 1933 he was seeking to escape Germany. His depression and uncertainty in the face of those huge decisions shows another side of his humanity, as Richard Courant put it, “Weyl is actually in spite of his enormously broad talents an inwardly insecure person, for whom nothing is more difficult than to make a decision which will have consequences for his life, and who mentally is not capable of dealing with the weight of such decisions, but needs a strong support somewhere. That anxiety and inner insecurity gives Weyl’s reflections their existential force. As he himself struggled along his own world line through endlessly ramifying doubts, he came to value the spontaneity and decisiveness he saw in the material world.
Weyl’s American lectures marked the start of a new life, beginning with a visiting professorship at Princeton (1928-1929), where he revised his book on group theory and quantum mechanics in the course of introducing his insights to this new audience. Where in 1930 Weyl’s Open World began with God, in 1933 his lectures on Mind and Nature start with human subjectivity and sense perception. Here, symbols help us confront a world that “does not exist in itself, but is merely encountered by us as an object in the correlative variance of subject and object.” For Weyl, mathematical and poetic symbols may disclose a path through the labyrinth of “mirror land,” a world that may seem ever more distorted, unreal on many fronts. Though Weyl discerns “an abyss which no realistic conception of the world can span” between the physical processes of the brain and the perceiving subject, he finds deep meaning in “the enigmatic two fold nature of the ego, namely that I am both: on the one hand a real individual which performs real psychical acts, the dark, striving human being that is cast out into the world and its individual fate, on the other hand light which beholds itself, intuitive vision, in whose consciousness that is pregnant with images and endows with meaning, the world opens up. Only in this ‘meeting’ of consciousness and being both exist, the world and I.”
Weyl treats relativity and quantum theory as the latest and most suggestive symbolic constructions we make to meet the world. The dynamic character of symbolism endures, even if the particular symbols change, “their truth refers to a connected system that can be confronted with experience only as a whole.” Like Einstein, Weyl emphasized that physical concepts as symbols “are constructions within a free realm of possibilities,” freely created by the human mind. “Indeed, space and time are nothing in themselves, but only certain order of the reality existing and happening in them.” As he noted in 1947, “it has now become clear that physics needs no such ultimate objective entities as space, time, matter, or ‘events’, or the like, for its constructions symbols without meaning handled according to certain rules are enough.” In Mind and Nature, Weyl notes that in nature itself, as (quantum) physics constructs it theoretically, the dualism of object and subject, of law and freedom, is already most distinctly predesigned.” As Niels Bohr put it, this dualism rests on “the old truth that we are both spectators and actors in the great drama of existence.”
After Weyl left Germany definitively for Princeton in 1933, he continued to reflect on these matters. In the remaining selections, one notes him retelling some of the same stories, quoting the same passages from great thinkers of the past, repeating an idea he had already said elsewhere. These repetitions posed a difficult problem, for the latest essays contain some interesting new points along with the old, Because of this, I decided to include these later essays, for Weyl’s repetitions also show him reconsidering. Reiterating a point in a new or larger context may open further dimensions. Then too, we as readers are given another chance to think about Weyl’s points and also see where he held to his earlier ideas and where he may have changed. For he was capable of changing his mind, more so that Einstein, whose native stubbornness may well have contributed to his unyielding resistance to quantum theory. As noted above, Weyl was far more able to entertain and even embrace quantum views, despite their strangeness, precisely because of his philosophical openness.
Weyl’s close reading of the past and his philosophical bent inspired his continued openness. In his hitherto unpublished essay “Man and the Foundations of Science” (written about 1949), Weyl describes an ocean traveler who distrusts the bottomless sea and therefore clings to the view of the disappearing coast as long as there is in sight no other coast toward which he moves. I shall now try to describe the journey on which the old coast has long since vanished below the horizon. There is no use in staring in that direction any longer.” He struggles to find a way to speak about “a new coast [that] seems dimly discernible, to which I can point by dim words only and may be it is merely a bank of fog that deceives me.” Here symbols might be all we have, for “it becomes evident that now the words ‘in reality’ must be put between quotation marks, we have a symbolic construction, but nothing which we could seriously pretend to be the true real world.” Yet even legerdemain with symbols cannot hide the critical problem of the continuum. “The sin committed by the set theoretic mathematician is his treatment of the field of possibilities open into infinity as if it were a completed whole all members of which are present and can be overlooked with one glance. For those whose eyes have been opened to the problem of infinity, the majority of his statements carry no meaning. If the true aim of the mathematician is to master the infinite by the finite means, he has attained it by fraud only — a gigantic fraud which, one must admit, works as beautifully as paper money.” By his reaffirmation of his critique of the actual infinite, we infer that Weyl continued to hold his radical views about “lived time,” especially that “we stand at that intersection of bondage and freedom which is the essence of man himself.”
Indeed, Weyl notes that he had put forward this relation between being and time years before Martin Heidegger’s famous book on that subject appeared. Weyl’s account of Heidegger is especially interesting because of the intersection between their concerns, no less than their deep divergences. Yet Weyl seemingly could not bring himself to give a full account of Heidegger or of his own reactions, partly based on philosophical antipathy, partly (one infers) from his profound distaste for Heidegger’s involvement with the Nazi regime. Though he does not speak of it, Weyl may well also have known of the way Heidegger abandoned their teacher, Husserl, in those dark days. Most of all, Weyl conveys his annoyance that Heidegger had botched important ideas that were important to Weyl himself and, in the process, that Heidegger lost sight of the future of science. “Taking up a crucial term, they both use, Weyl asserts that ‘no other ground is left for science to build on than this dark but very solid rock which I once more call the concrete Dasein of man in his world.” Weyl grounds this Dasein, man’s being-in-the-world, in ordinary language, which is “neither tarnished poetry nor a blurred substitute for mathematical symbolism; on the contrary, neither the one nor the other would and could exist without the nourishing stem of the language of everyday life, with all its complexity, obscurity, crudenss, and ambiguity.” By thus connecting mathematical and poetic symbolism as both growing from the soil of ordinary human language, Weyl implicitly rejects Heidegger’s turn away from modern mathematical science.
In his late essay “The Unity of Knowledge” (1954), Weyl reviews the ground and concludes that “the shield of Being is broken beyond repair,” but does not take this disunity in a tragic sense because “on the side of Knowing there may be unity. Indeed, mind in the fullness of its experience has unity. Who says ‘I’ points to it. Here he reaffirms his old conviction that human consciousness is not simply the product of other, more mechanical forces, but is itself the luminous centre constituting that reality through its “complex symbolic creations which this lumen built up in the history of mankind.” Even though “myth, religion, and alas! also philosophy” fall prey to “man’s infinite capacity for self-deception,” Weyl implicitly holds our greater hope for the symbolic creations of mathematics and science, though he admits that he is still struggling to find clarity.
The final essay in this anthology, “Insight and Reflection” (1955) is Weyl’s rich Spatless, the intense, sweet wine made from grapes long on the vine. This philosophical memoir discloses his inner world of reflection in ways his other, earlier essays did not reveal quite so directly, perhaps aware of the skepticism and irony that may have met them earlier on. WE are reminded of his “point-eye,” disclosing his thoughts and feelings while creeping up his own world line. Nearing its end, Weyl seems freer to say what he feels, perhaps no longer caring who might mock. He gives his fullest avowal yet of what Husserl meant to him, but does not hold back his own reservations; Husserl finally does not help with Weyl’s own deep question about “the relation between the one pure I of immanent consciousness and the particular lost human being which I find myself to be in a world full of people like me (for example, during the afternoon rush hour on Fifth Avenue in New York).” Weyl is intrigues by Fichte’s mystic strain, but in the end Fichte’s program (analyzing everything in terms of I and not=I) strikes him as “preposterous.” Weyl calls Meister Eckhart “the deepest of the Occidental mystics…a man of high responsibility and incomparably higher nobility than Fichte.” Eckhart’s soaring theological flight beyond God toward godhead stirred Weyl alongwith Eckhart’s fervent simplicity of tone. Throughout his account, Weyl interweaves his mathematical work, his periods of soberness after the soaring flights of philosophical imagination, though he presents them as different sides of what seems to his point-eye a unified experience. Near the end, he remembers with particular happiness his book Symmetry (1952) which so vividly unites the poetic, the artistic, the mathematical, and the philosophical, a book no reader of Weyl should miss. In quoting T. S. Eliot that “the world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated,” we are aware of Weyl’s faithful openness to their strangeness, as well as the ever more complex and beautiful symmetries he discerned in it.
Weyl’s book on symmetry shows the fundamental continuity of themes throughout his life and work. Thinking back on the theory of relativity, Weyl describes it not (as many of his contemporaries had) as disturbing or revolutionary but really as “another aspect of symmetry” because “it is the inherent symmetry of the four-dimensional continuum of space and time that relativity deals with.” Yet as beautifully as he evokes and illustrates the world of symmetry, Weyl still emphasizes the fundamental difference between perfect symmetry and life, with its spontaneity and unpredictability. “If nature were all lawfulness then every phenomenon would share the full symmetry of the universal laws of nature as formulated by the theory of relativity. The mere fact that this is not so proves that contingency is an essential feature of the world.” Characteristically, Weyl recalls the scene in Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain in which his hero, Hans Castorp, nearly perishes when he falls asleep with exhaustion and leaning against a barn dreams his deep dream of death and love. An hour before when Hans sets out on his unwarranted expedition on skis he enjoys the play of the flakes “and among these myriads of enchanting little stars,” so he philosophizes, “in their hidden splendour, too small for man’s naked eye to see, there was not one like unto another, an endless inventiveness governed the development and unthinkable differentiation of one and the same basic scheme, the equilateral, equiangular hexagon. Yet each in itself — this was the uncanny, the antiorganic, the life-denying character of them all — each of them was absolutely symmetrical, icily regular in form. They were too regular, as substance adapted to life never was to this degree — the living principle shuddered at this perfect precision, found it deathly, the very marrow of death === Hans Castrop felt he understood how the reason why the builders of antiquity purposely and secretly introduced minute variation from absolute symmetry in their columnar structures.”
Weyl’s own life and work no less sensitively traced out this interplay between symmetry and life, field and matter, mathematics and physics, reflection and action.
So rich and manifold are Weyl’s writings that I have tried to include everything I could while avoiding excessive repetitiveness.
Not long after making his epochal contributions to quantum theory, Dirac was invited to visit universities across the United States. When he arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1929, a reporter from the local paper interviewed him and learned from Dirac’s laconic replies that his favourite thing in America was potatoes, his favourite sport Chinese chess. Then the reporter wanted to ask him something more:
“They tell me that you and Einstein are the only two real sure-enough high brows and the only ones who can understand each other. I won’t ask you if this is straight stuff for I know you are too modest to admit it. But I want to know this — Do you ever run across a fellow that even you can’t understand?
“Yes”, replied Dirac.
“This will make a great reading for the boys down at the office,” says I (reporter). “Do you mind releasing to me who he is?”
“Hermann Weyl,” says he (Dirac).
The interview came to a sudden end just then, for the doctor pulled out his watch and I dodged and jumped for the door. But he let loose a smile as we parted and I knew that all the time he had been talking to me he was solving some problem that no one else could touch.
But if that fellow Professor Weyl ever lectures in this town again I sure am going to take a try at understanding him. A fellow ought to test his intelligence once in a while.
So should we —- and here is Professor Weyl himself, in his own words.
Reference: Amazon India link: Mind and Nature (Hermann Weyl) — Peter Pesic.
By Nalin Pithwa | Posted in mathematicians, memory power concentration retention, miscellaneous, motivational stuff, pure mathematics | Tagged Albert Einstein, Cantor, David Hilbert, Edmund Husserl, Erwin Schrodinger, Eugene Wigner, Felix Browder, Felix Klein, Fichte, Hermann Minkowski, Hermann Weyl, Jean Dieudonne, John Slater, Julian Schwinger, L.E.J. Brouwer, Martin Heidegger, mathematical intuition, Meiser Echhart, Niels Bohr, Paul Dirac, Peter Pesic, Richard Courant, Spinoza, Thomas Mann Magic Mountain, transfinite numbers | Comments (0)
A little portrait of a genius mathematician
Reference: A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar, the life of mathematical genius and Nobel Laureate, John Nash, A Touchstone Book, Published by Simon and Schuster.
…”Geniuses”, the mathematician Paul Halmos wrote, “are of two kinds: the ones who are just like all of us, but very much more so, and the ones who apparently have an extra human spark. We can all run, and some of us can run the mile in less than 4 minutes, but there is nothing that most of us can do that compares with the creation of the Great G-minor Fugue.” Nash’s genius was of that mysterious variety more often associated with music and art than with the oldest of all sciences. It wasn’t that his mind worked faster, that his memory was more retentive or that his power of concentration was greater. The flashes of intuition were non-rational. Like other great mathematical intuitionists — Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann, Jules Henri Poincare, Srinivasa Ramanujan —- Nash saw the vision first constructing the laborious proofs long afterwards. But even after he would try to explain some astonishing result, the actual route he had taken remained a mystery to others who tried to follow his reasoning. Donald Newman, a mathematician who knew Nash at MIT in the 1950s, used to say about him that “everyone else would climb a peak by looking for a path somewhere on the mountains. Nash would climb another mountain altogether and from that distant peak would shine a searchlight back onto the first peak.”
Hats off,
By Nalin Pithwa | Posted in mathematicians, memory power concentration retention, miscellaneous, motivational stuff | Comments (0)
A little portrait of Hermann Weyl
“A Proteus who transforms himself ceaselessly in order to elude the grip of his adversary, not becoming himself again until after the final victory.” Thus, Hermann Weyl (1885-1955) appeared to his eminent younger colleagues Claude Chevalley and Andre Weil. Surprising words to describe a mathematician, but apt for the amazing variety of shapes and forms in which Weyl’s extraordinary abilities revealed themselves, for “among all the mathematicians who began their working life in the twentieth century, Hermann Weyl was the one who made major contributions in the greatest number of different fields. He alone could stand comparison with the last great universal mathematicians of the nineteenth century, David Hilbert and Henri Poincare,” in the view of Freeman Dyson. “He was indeed not only a great mathematician but a great mathematical writer,” wrote another colleague.
https://www.amazon.in/Concept-Riemann-Surface-Hermann-Weyl/dp/160796239X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=Hermann+Weyl&qid=1574319421&s=books&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEySUUzOVBXM0ZHTzZPJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwODY2MzM5TUUzMzlCVVRYREpRJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwNjQ5MDJXUk03SkhIQk1HRE8md2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl
https://www.amazon.in/Continuum-Critical-Examination-Foundation-Mathematics/dp/0486679829/ref=sr_1_17?keywords=Hermann+Weyl&qid=1574319421&s=books&sr=1-17
Nalin Pithwa
By Nalin Pithwa | Posted in mathematicians, miscellaneous, motivational stuff, pure mathematics | Comments (0)
Theory of Quadratic Equations: Part III: Tutorial practice problems: IITJEE Mains and preRMO
Problem 1:
Find the condition that a quadratic function of x and y may be resolved into two linear factors. For instance, a general form of such a function would be : .
Find the condition that the equations and may have a common root.
Using the above result, find the condition that the two quadratic functions and may have a common linear factor.
For what values of m will the expression be capable of resolution into two rational factors?
Find the values of m which will make equivalent to the product of two linear factors.
Show that the expression always admits of two real linear factors.
If the equations and have a common root, show that it must be equal to or .
Find the condition that the expression and may have a common linear factor.
If the expression can be resolved into linear factors, prove that P must be be one of the roots of the equation .
Find the condition that the expressions and may be respectively divisible by factors of the form and .
Problem 10:
Prove that the equation for every real value of x, there is a real value of y, and for every real value of y, there is a real value of x.
If x and y are two real quantities connected by the equation , then will x lie between 3 and 6, and y between 1 and 10.
If , find the condition that x may be a rational function of y.
More later,
By Nalin Pithwa | Posted in algebra, IITJEE Mains, ISI Kolkatta Entrance Exam, KVPY, Pre-RMO, RMO | Comments (0)
Theory of Quadratic Equations: part II: tutorial problems: IITJEE Mains, preRMO
If x is a real number, prove that the rational function can have all numerical values except such as lie between 2 and 6. In other words, find the range of this rational function. (the domain of this rational function is all real numbers except quite obviously.
For all real values of x, prove that the quadratic function has the same sign as a, except when the roots of the quadratic equation are real and unequal, and x has a value lying between them. This is a very useful famous classic result.
a) From your proof, you can conclude the following also: The expression will always have the same sign, whatever real value x may have, provided that is negative or zero; and if this condition is satisfied, the expression is positive, or negative accordingly as a is positive or negative.
b) From your proof, and using the above conclusion, you can also conclude the following: Conversely, in order that the expression may be always positive, must be negative or zero; and, a must be positive; and, in order that may be always negative, must be negative or zero, and a must be negative.
Further Remarks:
Please note that the function , where and is a parabola. The roots of this are the points where the parabola cuts the y axis. Can you find the vertex of this parabola? Compare the graph of the elementary parabola , with the graph of where and further with the graph of the general parabola . Note you will just have to convert the expression to a perfect square form.
Find the limits between which a must lie in order that the rational function may be real, if x is real.
Determine the limits between which n must lie in order that the equation may have real roots.
If x be real, prove that must lie between 1 and .
Prove that the range of the rational function lies between 3 and for all real values of x.
If , Prove that the rational function can have no value between 5 and 9. In other words, prove that the range of the function is .
Find the equation whose roots are .
If are roots of the quadratic equation , find the value of (a) (b) .
If the roots of be in the ratio p:q, prove that
If x be real, the expression admits of all values except such as those that lie between 2n and 2m.
If the roots of the equation are and , and those of the equation be and , prove that .
Prove that the rational function will be capable of all values when x is real, provided that p has any real value between 1 and 7. That is, under the conditions on p, we have to show that the given rational function has as its range the full real numbers. (Of course, the domain is real except those values of x for which the denominator is zero).
Find the greatest value of for any real value of x. (Remarks: this is maxima-minima problem which can be solved with algebra only, calculus is not needed).
Show that if x is real, the expression has no real value between b and a.
If the roots of be possible (real) and different, then the roots of will not be real, and vice-versa. Prove this.
Prove that the rational function will be capable of all real values when x is real, if and have the same sign.
By Nalin Pithwa | Posted in algebra, IITJEE Foundation mathematics, IITJEE Mains, ISI Kolkatta Entrance Exam, KVPY, Pre-RMO | Comments (0)
Theory of Quadratic Equations: Tutorial problems : Part I: IITJEE Mains, preRMO
I) Form the equations whose roots are:
a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k)
II) Prove that the roots of the following equations are real:
III) If the equation has equal roots, find the values of m.
IV) For what values of m will the equation have equal roots?
V) For what value of m will the equation have roots equal in magnitude but opposite in sign?
VI) Prove that the roots of the following equations are rational:
VII) If are the roots of the equation , find the values of
VIII) Find the value of:
(a) when
(b) when
(c) when
IX) If and are the roots of form the equation whose roots are and /
X) Prove that the roots of are always real.
XI) If are the roots of , find the value of (i) (ii)
XII) Find the condition that one root of shall be n times the other.
XIII) If are the roots of form the equation whose roots are and .
XIV) Form the equation whose roots are the squares of the sum and of the differences of the roots of .
XV) Discuss the signs of the roots of the equation
XVI) If a, b and c are odd integers, prove that the roots of the equation cannot be rational numbers.
XVII) Given that the equation has four real positive roots, prove that (a) (b) , where equality holds, in each case, if and only if the roots are equal.
XVIII) Let be a quadratic polynomial in which a and b are integers. Given any integer n, show that there is an integer M such that .
By Nalin Pithwa | Posted in algebra, IITJEE Foundation mathematics, IITJEE Mains, ISI Kolkatta Entrance Exam, KVPY | Comments (0)
Set theory, functions, relations: part VI
October 8, 2019 – 6:18 am
What follows are some more practice questions on functions. The questions are not challenging but we can say that they do lead to conceptual clarity and present some standard set of questions on this topic (it behooves every beginner in calculus or IITJEE mains or RMO or pre RMO to try these set of questions):
Find the domain and range of the function:
If , find .
If , show that
If show that .
Find the domain and range of the real valued function
Find the domain of the real valued function of a real variable:
Find the domain and range of the real valued function .
A function is defined by where . Does the inverse of f exist? If so, find it. Also, find the domain and range of the inverse.
A function is defined piece-wise as follows: for and for , find ; the domain and range of f; and the value of x for which
If and given by and , find (a) (b) (c) and (d)
Find and if (a) and (b) and
If and prove that
Find the domain and range of the following functions: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)
Find the range of each of the following functions: (a) , when (b) for (c) for all .
Solve the following: (a) if , find , and . (b) If , find , , . (c) If , find .
Which of the following relations are functions? Justify your answer. If it is a function, determine its range and domain. (a) (b) (c) (d)
Find a, if , and
If for , find x.
If , then find the value of x satisfying .
Let and be the set of integers. Define by . Show that f is a function from A to Z. Also, find the range of f.
Find if the following functions are one-one or onto or bijective: (a) (b) given by for all .
Find which of the following functions are surjective, injective or bijective or none of these : (a) as for all (b) given as for all (c) defined from A to B where and
Let f and g be two real valued functions defined by and . Find and and .
Find and where (a) and (b) and .
If prove that is an identity function.
If and , prove that .
If and find .
Show that given by is one-one and onto also. Find its inverse function also. Also, find the domain and range of the inverse function. Also find and
Let be defined by and be defined by . Find whether the two functions f and g are same, or not same. Justify your answers.
By Nalin Pithwa | Posted in IITJEE Foundation Math IITJEE Main and Advanced Math and RMO/INMO of (TIFR and Homibhabha) | Comments (0)
Set theory, relations, functions: preliminaries: Part V
Types of functions: (please plot as many functions as possible from the list below; as suggested in an earlier blog, please use a TI graphing calculator or GeoGebra freeware graphing software):
Constant function: A function given by , where is a constant. It is a horizontal line on the XY-plane.
Identity function: A function given by . It maps a real value x back to itself. It is a straight line passing through origin at an angle 45 degrees to the positive X axis.
One-one or injective function: If different inputs give rise to different outputs, the function is said to be injective or one-one. That is, if , where set A is domain and set B is co-domain, if further, such that , then it follows that . Sometimes, to prove that a function is injective, we can prove the conrapositive statement of the definition also; that is, where , then it follows that . It might be easier to prove the contrapositive. It would be illuminating to construct your own pictorial examples of such a function.
Onto or surjective: If a function is given by such that , that is, the images of all the elements of the domain is full of set Y. In other words, in such a case, the range is equal to co-domain. it would be illuminating to construct your own pictorial examples of such a function.
Bijective function or one-one onto correspondence: A function which is both one-one and onto is called a bijective function. (It is both injective and surjective). Only a bijective function will have a well-defined inverse function. Think why! This is the reason why inverse circular functions (that is, inverse trigonometric functions have their domains restricted to so-called principal values).
Polynomial function: A function of the form , where n is zero or positive integer only and is called a polynomial with real coefficients. Example. , where , is called a quadratic function in x. (this is a general parabola).
Rational function: The function of the type , where , where and are polynomial functions of x, defined in a domain, is called a rational function. Such a function can have asymptotes, a term we define later. Example, , which is a hyperbola with asymptotes X and Y axes.
Absolute value function: Let be given by when and , when for any . Note that since the radical sign indicates positive root of a quantity by convention.
Signum function: Let where , when and when and when . Such a function is called the signum function. (If you can, discuss the continuity and differentiability of the signum function). Clearly, the domain of this function is full whereas the range is .
In part III of the blog series, we have already defined the floor function and the ceiling function. Further properties of these functions are summarized (and some with proofs in the following wikipedia links): (once again, if you can, discuss the continuity and differentiablity of the floor and ceiling functions): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floor_and_ceiling_functions
Exponential function: A function given by where is called an exponential function. An exponential function is bijective and its inverse is the natural logarithmic function. (the logarithmic function is difficult to define, though; we will consider the details later). PS: Quiz: Which function has a faster growth rate — exponential or a power function ? Consider various parameters.
Logarithmic function: Let a be a positive real number with . If , where , then y is called the logarithm of x with base a and we write it as . (By the way, the logarithmic function is used in the very much loved mp3 music :-))
By Nalin Pithwa | Posted in algebra, Basic Set Theory and Logic, calculus, Cnennai Math Institute Entrance Exam, IITJEE Foundation mathematics, IITJEE Mains, Pre-RMO, RMO | Comments (0)
Set Theory, Relations and Functions: Preliminaries: IV:
Problem Set based on previous three parts:
I) Solve the inequalities in the following exercises expressing the solution sets as intervals or unions of intervals. Also, graph each solution set on the real line:
a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) (l) (m) (n) (o) (p)
II) Quadratic Inequalities:
Solve the inequalities in the following exercises. Express the solution sets as intervals or unions of intervals and graph them. Use the result as appropriate.
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h)
III) Theory and Examples:
i) Do not fall into the trap . For what real numbers a is the equation true? For what real numbers is it false?
ii) Solve the equation: .
iii) A proof of the triangle inequality:
Give the reason justifying each of the marked steps in the following proof of the triangle inequality:
…..why ?
….why ?
….why?
iv) Prove that for any numbers a and b.
v) If and , what can you say about x?
vi) Graph the inequality:
Questions related to functions:
I) Find the domain and range of each function:
a) (b) (c)
II) Finding formulas for functions:
a) Express the area and perimeter of an equilateral triangle as a function of the triangle’ s side with length s.
b) Express the side length of a square as a function of the cube’s diagonal length d. Then, express the surface area and volume of the cube as a function of the diagonal length.
c) A point P in the first quadrant lies on the graph of the function . Express the coordinates of P as functions of the slope of the line joining P to the origin.
III) Functions and graphs:
Graph the functions in the questions below. What symmetries, if any, do the graphs have?
a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) (l)
IV) Graph the following equations ad explain why they are not graphs of functions of x. (a) (b)
V) Graph the following equations and explain why they are not graphs of functions of x: (a) (b)
VI) Even and odd functions:
In the following questions, say whether the function is even, odd or neither.
Sums, Differences, Products and Quotients:
In the two questions below, find the domains and ranges of , , , and .
i) , (ii) ,
In the two questions below, find the domains and ranges of , , and
i) ,
ii) ,
Composites of functions:
If , and , find the following: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h)
If and , find the following: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h)
If , , and , find formulas or formulae for the following: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)
Let , , , and . Express each of the functions in the questions below as a composite involving one or more of f, g, h and j:
a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (k) (l) (m)
a) , , find
b) , , find
c) , , find .
d) , , find
e) , , find .
f) , , find .
Reference: Calculus and Analytic Geometry, G B Thomas.
NB: I have used an old edition (printed version) to prepare the above. The latest edition may be found at Amazon India link:
https://www.amazon.in/Thomas-Calculus-George-B/dp/9353060419/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1XDE2XDSY5LCP&keywords=gb+thomas+calculus&qid=1570492794&s=books&sprefix=G+B+Th%2Caps%2C255&sr=1-1
By Nalin Pithwa | Posted in algebra, Basic Set Theory and Logic, calculus, IITJEE Foundation mathematics, IITJEE Mains | Tagged G B Thomas, triangle inequality proof | Comments (0)
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Listening to Proteus
Daniel Golding
Volume 72, Number 2, 2013
It’s spring in Proteus, and the whole world sounds like it’s in bloom. Made by two men—Ed Key, a programmer and designer from Cambridgeshire in the UK, and composer David Kanaga, who lives in Oakland, California—Proteus is a very unusual video game. The player is presented with the most remarkable island, randomly generated by the game’s rules and imagined in strokes of hard, ungradiented colour. The world is a blanket of greens, browns, pinks, blues, whites, oranges. It looks like Kandinsky with a copy of MS Paint. For the player, there are two possible things to do: you may walk or sit. That’s not entirely true—players can also look and listen. These mundane acts of the senses, so routinely overlooked in favour of the more complicated interactions that video games can offer, become paramount in Proteus. It is a video game for contemplation, not reflexes; the world of Proteus is for rumination, not ruination.
Screenshot from the game Proteus, released 2012
The island is the brightest green for today’s spring. There is a smattering of trees, their brown, pink and khaki shapes dot the island with meandering pathways leading nowhere in particular. Holding down the space bar of my computer has the effect of lowering my viewpoint slowly until I am at ground level, the trees now well above my head. From here, I listen.Listening is important in Proteus. The island’s greenery has a peculiar sound to match its peculiar appearance: it hums digitally, a calming bedrock of low harmony, punctuated by whirring chirps and bubbles. This is no stagnant audio track, content to saturate the game regardless of mood or moment; the sound in Proteus shifts organically and restructures itself depending on your movements across the island. This creates the unusual feeling of being able to control sound through movement, creating a kind of performance through navigation. From my viewpoint, I can still see the sea that encloses the island, and the clouds above that now roll in towards the land. As they approach, the grotto around me grows darker and indistinct, while another layer is added to Proteus’s aural environment. The rain sounds like a hundred toy pianos, jangling softly overhead, adding texture and weight to the thin grey lines drizzling in front of me. A small creature catches my eye, and I get up. It is white, indistinct—maybe a rabbit, maybe a frog—but before I can reach it, it hops away shyly, cheerfully blipping like a power-up from a Super Mario game. I walk down to an inlet and find an assembly of crabs that waddle along to the groggy sound of an African talking drum without much care for me. These layers of sound shift in and out of the music of the game, spots of sonic colour that project above Proteus’s gentle hum. Proteus’s music is alive and unrepeatable, further blending the already muddled meanings of ‘play’—playing a game, playing a song, playing an instrument. Playing Proteus.
In summer I sit under the largest tree on Proteus’s island, and a squirrel with xylophones for feet appears above my head. I move towards it but, like most animals on the island, it quickly retreats from me. Proteus’s inhabitants are quite bashful. ‘There’s wildlife you can’t quite grasp, there’s a wild world and you can’t go and pet it,’ said Ed Key about the game in 2011. ‘You have to look at it from far away.’1
Summer has a different groove to spring; it’s all syncopated clacks and bass fizz. Likewise, there’s a little more ochre to Proteus’s green island. In the distance is the circle of stone totems that players use to travel between seasons. In the evenings, after the sky turns orange and then a deep, dark blue, a luminous flow of tiny white bubbles begins to congregate at this place. Further lines of totems spread out across the island, some acting as guides towards other stone circles. As each totem is passed on the player’s way to the circle, a sonorous gong is sounded, with a different frequency for each. The power of these gongs causes the whole island to vibrate in sympathy—trees shudder and more xylophones sound—and by moving quickly, a melody of sorts can be formed.Much has been made about the video game’s power to create unreal spaces and environments. ‘Video game spaces stage our dreams and nightmares,’ writes theorist Michael Nitsche.2 Through the medium of the video game we may tour digital facsimiles of Renaissance-era Florence or Rome or current-day Manhattan; equally, we may get lost in a non-Euclidean Escher’s maze, a world that remodels itself after your actions, an architecture that fights you for spatial supremacy. The geography of video games has become increasingly complex in recent years; contemporary designers commonly imbue space with emotional and narrative qualities too.
Yet what is not often spoken about is the power of video games to invent sonic geographies as well as visual ones. After all, making space is often just as much a question of noise as it is of sight. Consider the noises that define your space right now; perhaps there is some music or the whirr of a computer fan, or the murmur of traffic nearby. Some of these sounds might be unique in your life to this location, while others might be commonplace. Spaces can sound like places and they can sound like nowhere at all: the traffic of a metropolis, the gunfire reports of a warzone, the footsteps of an impossible space. What does a stone circle on Kandinsky’s island sound like? How does an 8-bit squirrel walk? Such is the challenge of environmental sound design for video games, and a game such as Proteus. The right sound, the right music, can make all the difference in the world, giving weight to weightlessness, and meaning to superficiality. As Siegfried Kracauer wrote in his Theory of Film, with the addition of music, cinema’s ‘ghostly shadows, as volatile as clouds, thus become trustworthy shapes’,3 and a process on a larger scale can occur with the video game, too.
Of course, to step outside the limited frame of video games is also to realise that Proteus is far from the first work to link the power of place with the power of sound and music.
In Alaska, John Luther Adams created a room that can sing the northern lights. Adams, the ‘chief standard-bearer of American experimental music’ according to New Yorker critic Alex Ross,4 has lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, for more or less his entire life. He once considered moving to a metropolis, but decided against it when, among other things, another composer by the same name—John Adams, the minimalist composer of the opera Nixon in China—broke into the public consciousness in New York. ‘Alaska’, said Adams in a 2011 interview, ‘gave me not only a life, it gave me a life’s work.’5 His music is experimental, but it is also glacial, moving in slow patterns and flows, as though giving voice to his surrounds. I saw one of Adams’ most striking pieces, Dark Waves, performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra last year at the Melbourne Recital Centre in Southbank, with dozens of musicians on the slightly cramped and elegant wooden stage; violins, bassoons, cellos, trombones and all. Dark Waves comprises layered modules of sound that are placed against each other; various sections of the orchestra are given languid, enveloping perfect fifths (the fundamental building block of all harmony) to play, working in differing and conflicting scales. Gradually the notes are set on top of each other, building and overflowing across the orchestra until the climax sees all twelve notes of the chromatic scale played at once—the harmony of someone sitting on a piano. It was electrifying, a sheer cacophony of a scale and power I had not previously encountered. The woman behind me said at interval that it had sounded like a truck emerging from a tunnel, all reverberation and anticipation. Whatever it was, there was something elemental about it.
The Place where You Go to Listen—the room that can sing the northern lights—is a sound-and-light installation at the Museum of the North in Fairbanks, Alaska. It is a musical work (perhaps composition is too strong a word for it) that runs infinitely, constantly responding to live weather data that are fed into the exhibit by way of seismological, meteorological and geomagnetic stations across Alaska. There are fourteen speakers around the stark white room, which envelop visitors and create a geographic experience as much as an auditory one. Indeed, the title The Place where You Go to Listen derives from Naalagiagvik, the Inupiaq name for a location on the coast of the Arctic Ocean where, in legend, a woman went to sit and quietly listen to the language of birds and unseen things. ‘At Naalagiagvik, The Place Where You Go To Listen, she would sit alone, in stillness,’ writes Adams in one of his short essays. ‘The wind across the tundra and the little waves lapping on the shore told her secrets. Birds passing overhead spoke to her in strange tongues.’6 The Place, just like Naalagiagvik, tells you things about itself.
The music of The Place, dependent on the outside world for structure, is in concert with Alaska’s weather. Depending on the time of your visit, you will hear either what Adams calls the ‘day choir’ or the ‘night choir’, each structured differently in undertones and overtones; one major, one minor; one dark, one light. Both move around the room, focused on the direction of the sun, and rise or recede in strength based on the position of the sun above or below the horizon. Another tone follows the path and phases of the moon over the course of a month, and passing clouds mute the brightness of all effects. The room’s bass rumbles in accordance with seismic activity, discharging rounds of what Adams calls ‘Earth Drums’. If a full-force earthquake were to strike The Place, they would sound at 24.27 Hz, ‘the fundamental frequency (derived from the earth’s daily rotation) on which the whole sonic world of The Place is grounded’, says Adams in his guide to the installation.7 Lower level rumbles are no strangers to The Place, as Alaska is one of the most seismically active places on earth and records around twelve thousand earthquakes a year.
But it is the northern lights, the aurora borealis, that provide the most striking audio element of The Place. The shimmering, dancing lights, hungered for by tourists the world over, are fed into the installation by data from the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska. Here, they become a sweep of pink noise that varies in intensity and location, moving with the lights over the Alaskan terrain. These shimmering, intense sounds crown The Place, overlaying the complex blanket of frequencies, the highest peak in a musical, ecological landscape. They fly above the other resonant frequencies and are tuned to a different system, making them sound as though they come from a different universe. For visitors to The Place, the northern lights sound as bells; to me, they sound like the world is singing.
While both are clearly interested in what links sound, space and weather so strongly, The Place is a kind of inverse Proteus. At The Place, the weather dictates the experience of visitors—if it is cloudy all day, with no seismic or geomagnetic activity, then a visitor may hear very little of interest, but that same visitor may come back to an orgy of sound and light the very next day. Proteus, on the other hand, is both more controllable (a player turns it on and off, and decides which part she wants to experience next) and more wild (with its randomised, procedurally generated environment, not even its creators can forecast its weather for you). The Place, then, is a simulacrum that resonates in sympathy with the world outside. Proteus, by contrast, is a world unto itself, but one that responds and reacts to the actions and decisions of the player.
Both works explore the power of music to tell us about space. In this sense they can be taken as something like siblings—and as part of a family of music that predates them both. Musicians of all stripes have been making songs about land and place since time immemorial, but there’s a strand of classical music of the twentieth century—and, counting Adams, the twenty-first century—that feels particularly affiliated with Proteus.
Consider Charles Ives, for instance, an insurance director, baseball captain, and likely America’s first great classical composer. In his Piano Sonata No. 2, published in 1919, he drew a musical portrait of the transcendentalist movement associated with Concord, Massachusetts, in the mid nineteenth century. Regarding his ‘Thoreau’ movement (all four movements are named after transcendentalists—the other three are Emerson, Hawthorne and the Alcotts), Ives writes, ‘Thoreau was a great musician … He was divinely conscious of the enthusiasm of Nature, the emotion of her rhythms and the harmony of her solitude.’8 The resulting music—the final movement of his Piano Sonata—is achingly beautiful and enigmatic, at once intensely dissonant (some say Ives ‘discovered’ atonality before Schoenberg) and melodic. ‘Thoreau’ hints at a harmonic centre while simultaneously refusing to conform to it completely; in this sense it is reminiscent of the man who inspired it, living like a hermit on the shores of Walden Pond. The music tells us about a place and a time, illustrating ‘the enthusiasm of Nature, the emotion of her rhythms and the harmony of her solitude’ by way of Walden and Massachusetts—a sentiment that is, despite the interval of nearly a century, not too distant from Proteus.
Then there’s Jean Sibelius, the Finnish patriot who spent his later years in seclusion, as Thoreau did, living at Ainola, his house on the banks of Lake Tuusula, near Helsinki. His fifth symphony, from 1915, was seen by contemporaries as a reactionary composition, featuring neither Schoenberg’s (or indeed Ives’) dissonances nor Stravinsky’s rhythmic intensity, the key markers of musical radicalism of the time. It is instead a near weightless piece of consonance and melody that moves in slow undulating waves. Sibelius seems to have been inspired by a group of returning swans over Ainola; he wrote in his diary, ‘it’s strange to learn that nothing in the world affects me—nothing in art, literature, or music—in the same way as do these swans’.9 The symphony concludes with six vast chords that have the sound to stop time, with each staccato stab spaced by many seconds of dead silence. These ripples might be either the unhurried wings of a gliding swan or the lapping waves of a flat Finnish lake; either way, the notes tell us as much about where Jean Sibelius was when he wrote them as who he was or what the composition means for twentieth-century music.
The music of birds was literalised by the French composer and dedicated ornithologist Olivier Messiaen. While other experimental composers of the mid twentieth century such as John Cage and Morton Feldman were delving into composition by chance and graphic notation (their experiments with randomisation would fit well with Proteus), Messiaen was devotedly transcribing bird calls into music. ‘Birds are my first and greatest masters,’ he announced at a lecture at Darmstadt University in Germany, a famous hotbed of compositional radicalism.10 Much of his life’s music was modelled on the innumerable forms of birdsong, the pinnacle of which is his 1953 work Réveil des oiseaux (Awakening of the Birds). The twenty-minute piece for piano and orchestra is a dawn chorus for musical instruments; even to an untrained ear, the origin of the melodies is obvious. Another familiar element of Messiaen’s compositions was the early electronic instrument the ondes Martenot. Somewhere between a keyboard and a cello, the ondes Martenot produces eerie, wavering notes that were convenient for the science fiction films of the 1950s, but Messiaen made effective use of them in emulating his beloved birdsong. And, while it is unlikely to be an ondes Martenot (the instrument is famously rare today), a similar electronic cry heralds Proteus’s dawn chorus, personifying the game’s daylight life.
Autumn in Proteus is brown, red, yellow and orange. The sky is overcast and the trees are shedding their leaves. The music for the season has changed again, this time moving between a series of languid minor chords, spaced out and atemporal, just like the end of Sibelius’s fifth. Night falls quickly, and I decide to climb to Proteus’s highest point. At the peak of a snowy mountain the music drops away, leaving only a soft, awe-struck bed of shimmering, synthesised strings as I look out over the clouds that cover the island. In the cool night sky, I look up and see rows of dancing, brilliant lights in the sky above, an Alaskan aurora borealis.
Winter is almost silent. It is ghostly white, with only the stark black outlines of withered trees to break up the landscape. Now it really looks like Fairbanks, Alaska, or Ainola, Finland. The natural sound is so quiet as to be almost inaudible; the musical foundation for winter is only a single brittle synth, playing a handful of modulating, unfaltering notes.
Night falls for the last time in Proteus, and the island turns a deep blue. Snow falls from the blanketed clouds above. As it gets later, the brittle synth recedes, and the music turns into sustained humming voices, perhaps the only clearly human element in all of Proteus. As I walk down a hill, dark in the winter night, my feet lift from the ground. I am ascending, flying. I am leaving Proteus’s island. I fly through the clouds, which obscure everything, precluding all vision in a cover of whiteness, and then, suddenly, I am looking down on them and the island.
As I float higher and higher, the moon dips in reverse motion, sinking towards the horizon. With the island far below, the sky begins to brighten for a final time. Closing eyelids—a signal of finality for a video game about senses—slowly shut off my vision, and Proteus is finished.
These humming voices—the sound of Proteus’s coda—are reminiscent of a more contemporary musician concerned with landscape and sound. In 1998, Björk moved from London, the site of her pop-dance breakthrough success, back to her hometown of Reykjavík and started to make music that was at once clearly Björk and influenced by her Icelandic surrounds. At this time Björk also became perceptibly more interested in the possibilities of the voice, touring Vespertine (2001) with an Inuit choir and recording Medúlla (2004) almost entirely with vocal sounds, which the hums of Proteus clearly recall. Perhaps these are the places of Proteus’s winter, then: Fairbanks, Alaska; Ainola, Finland; and Reykjavík, Iceland. Uncannily, the ninth track of Vespertine, ‘Sun in My Mouth’, parallels much of Proteus, thematically and sonically. Musically it’s not a bad match for Kanaga’s Proteus sound design, with celeste, harp and strings shimmering and pulsating just like the effects of Proteus’s vibrating trees—not to mention Björk’s voice, which has an austere, powerful beauty just like the game itself. But it’s the lyrics to this song, taken from an E.E. Cummings poem, ‘I Will Wade Out’, that are truly remarkable when considered alongside the game.
As though anticipating the climax of Proteus, Björk sings, by way of Cummings, ‘I will wade out / Till my thighs are steeped in burning flowers.’ In the moment that follows, the loop of place and music in Proteus is closed; from Ives to Sibelius to Messiaen to Adams to Björk, the strange musical power of geography in this video game is revealed.
‘I will take the sun in my mouth / And leap into the ripe air,’ Björk sings, ‘Alive with closed eyes / To dash against darkness.’
Robert Yang, ‘Level with Me, Ed Key’, Rock Paper Shotgun, 29 November 2011, <www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/11/29/level-with-me-ed-key/>.
Michael Nitsche, Video Game Spaces, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2009, p. 2.
Siegfried Kracauer, Theory of Film: The Redemption of Physical Reality, Princeton, NJ, 1960, p. 135.
Alex Ross, ‘Letter from Alaska: Song of the Earth’, New Yorker, 12 May 2008, <www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/12/080512fa_fact_ross>.
Molly Sheridan, ‘John Luther Adams: The Music of a True Place’, NewMusicBox, 1 March 2011, <www.newmusicbox.org/articles/john-luther -adams-the-music-of-a-true-place>
John Luther Adams, ‘The Place where You Go to Listen’, in David Rothenberg and Marta Ulvaeus (eds), The Book of Music and Nature: An Anthology of Sounds, Words, Thoughts, Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Conn., 2001, p. 181.
John Luther Adams, The Place where You Go to Listen: In Search of an Ecology of Music, Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Conn., 2010, p. 136.
Charles Ives, Essays before a Sonata, Knickerbocker Press, New York, 1920, p. 56.
Sibelius, quoted in Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise, Picador, New York, 2007, p. 182.
Messiaen, quoted in Ross, The Rest Is Noise, p. 491.
Sacred Cow
Australia in Three (Crime) Books
Lucy Sussex
The Beast Is Us
Na'ama Carlin
Nina Christesen and I
Helen Cerne
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Stockswatch
Stocks: Third day of gains at risk
by CNNMoney Staff @CNNMoneyInvest April 10, 2014: 7:51 AM ET
Click on chart to track premarkets
Thursday's big question in the markets is whether stocks can advance Thursday for the third day in a row.
U.S. stock futures were edging lower, abandoning their earlier gains.
Investors were feeling upbeat after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting seemed to indicate that interest rates will remain low for some time. But as the morning dragged on, futures slipped into the red, as a mixed bag of earnings results failed to carry the momentum forward.
Rite Aid (RAD) shares surged in premarket trading, driven by strong adjusted earnings per share in the drug retailer's quarterly report.
Home decor retailer Pier 1 (PIR) announced that quarterly net income dropped, compared to the year before.
Shares in retailer Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) managed to even out in premarket trading, after falling in the after-hours following a company report about quarterly revenue that missed Wall Street's expectations.
Shares of La Quinta (LQ)rose in extended trading. The hotel chain began trading Wednesday.
Related: Fear & Greed Index still running scared
Looking to the day ahead, markets are awaiting the weekly jobless claims report that will come out at 8:30 a.m. ET.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 jumped by more than 1% and the Nasdaq gained 1.7%, boosted by the latest Fed minutes.
The minutes showed that Fed members were broadly united in ditching the 6.5% unemployment target as a gauge for timing interest rate increases. Investors assume this means low rates will stick around for longer than expected.
Related: CNNMoney's Tech30
Most major European markets were moving slightly higher in midday trading in the afterglow of Wednesday's rally on Wall Street. But the CAC 40 in Paris was flat.
Investors across Europe are watching as Greece returns to the bond market for the first time in more than four years. The country is looking to raise money by issuing five-year bonds, and demand is reported to be strong.
Greece was shut out of international markets in 2010 when its economy collapsed, leading to two rescues by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile, in Asia, nearly all the major stock markets ended with gains. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shot up by 1.5% and the Shanghai Composite added 1.4%.
CNNMoney (New York) First published April 10, 2014: 4:47 AM ET
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stories by monica byrne
patreon.com/monicabyrne
story 7 : alexandria
Posted on February 12, 2017 January 26, 2018 by Monica Byrne
“Alexandria” was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January/February 2017. Photo by author: young wheat at Melleray.
What does a Lighthouse mean, when it is not by the sea?
—Phan Thj Khiem, Studies in Suffering
(University of Kansas Press, 2075)
Beth woke at the coldest hour, her mind ringing from a dream.
She lay with her head on her pillow, looking up at the ceiling, mottled with water stains the color of tea. She and Keiji had named them all—the many seas of their intimate geography.
She pushed back the blankets, eased her thick legs over the side of the bed, and pressed her fists into the mattress to stand up. On the rocking chair by the vanity, she found her dressing gown—made of flannel, patterned with crocuses—and tied it over her pajamas.
Outside, the moon shone bright as the sun, and the wind stung like ice water. But Beth was a native daughter. She liked the cold. She removed one slipper, then the other, and curled her feet into Kansas dirt. Globes of soil burst between her toes.
Later that morning, Beth made a breakfast of toast and eggs and looked through her mail. There was some paperwork from her estate lawyer. There was a newsletter
from the Farmworkers’ Union advertising summer jobs, including at her own Miyake Farms. There was a card from Nell Greer, inviting her to another “home-cooked dinner” at their house.
This meant the Greers were angling for her land again. They didn’t bother to hide it much. The invitation was even printed on Greer Contractors company stationery. Beth tossed it aside with more force than she meant to, and its inertia made the whole pile swivel, and all of the letters ended up on the floor.
Beth stared at them.
The clock on the wall ticked in the silence.
She got up, carried her dish and cup over to the sink, washed each, dried each, and put each of them away.
There: done.
She looked out the window. The acres of farmland receded to the horizon, farther than her eyes could see, stretching away like a rubber band that never got to snap.
The night before Keiji died, they did their evening routine, like it was any other evening.
They shared a study in the back of the house. In it was a star projector, three globes, and two overstuffed armchairs. They were travelers, though of the domestic sort. After their terrible honeymoon, they’d never left Kansas again.
But Keiji had become restless. That night, Beth was surprised to find him bent over a book of classical archaeology. He straightened up and blinked in greeting, and Beth could see the page: an artist’s rendering of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Oh, that old thing, she said.
You remember? he said.
I remember that it wasn’t there, she said.
Keiji nodded and looked down at the drawing again. Beth took a seat across from him, and they sat in silence. She knew they were both remembering themselves as teenagers in Egypt. The church folk had not looked kindly on it. First she marries a Jap, now she’s going to Arabia on honeymoon?
Jokes abounded. But it wasn’t funny. Nothing was funny when they got there and realized that, contrary to their foolish assumption, the Lighthouse no longer existed.
How long has it been gone? Keiji asked a young British soldier.
About seven hundred years, he said.
Beth could still remember the look on that young man’s face. Hilarity, incredulity, and pity. They must learn such things in school in England. But Beth and Keiji had never even thought to check whether the Lighthouse was still standing. They’d planned to climb to the top, look out across the sea, and imagine the Roman warships arriving, or the Chinese junk traders, or the great Ottoman fleet.
Beth and Keiji had been private, before. But when they returned from their honeymoon, they were even more so. Every night during fifty years of marriage, they held their study sessions, sometimes in silence and sometimes in conversation. They quizzed each other on dates and names and geography. They pored over books of ancient sculpture and marveled at all the things in the world that had been lost. They gifted each other with talk and quiet.
And so it was, on their last night together. Keiji set the archaeology book on the table, and they both looked at the drawing of the Lighthouse, in silence.
When I first laid eyes on the Lighthouse, it was as if a mallet had dropped vertically from my head to my toes, and I stood there, ringing. The Lighthouse was both Rooted and Reaching, the midpoint of all things. When I entered the courtyard, I felt I knew its contours and colonnades as if by memory—as if I had played there as a child and forgotten till now.
—Francis Mbachu, Midwestern Dreaming
(Sankofa Inc., 2191)
Nell and Nathan Greer, co-owners of Greer Contractors, sat across the kitchen table.
“Beth, we’re worried about you,” said Nell, her voice low and soft, like a wheedling loon.
“How’s that?” said Beth, not looking their way.
“It’s been about, oh, eighteen months since Kay passed on,” said Nathan.
Keiji, Beth corrected in her mind. His name was Keiji.
“You have no children and your brothers have also
passed on. Beth, you’re sixty-nine years old. And here you are, sitting alone on five hundred acres. What are you going to do with it all?”
Beth held her coffee cup close and leveled her eyes at Nathan. “You folks sure are concerned,” she said.
The rebuke swung in the air like a scythe. Beth waited for it to slow, relishing the silence.
At last, she said, “I’m going to build.”
Nathan looked at Nell in alarm. “You’re going to build? Build what?”
“A lighthouse.”
Long silence.
Finally, Nathan said, “You’re not the joking type.”
“I don’t suppose you’ve lost your mind.”
“Beth, the nearest coastline is a thousand miles away.”
“I know that.”
Nathan went quiet. Outside the window on a branch, a raven cawed, and the sound curdled in the cold.
Nell asked, “Well, what do you want to build it for?”
Beth knew, but she didn’t want to tell them, so instead she said, “Couldn’t quite say.” She put down her coffee cup and used her hands to draw in the air. “But I can tell you it’s limestone, with a room at the top, faced in granite. And there’s a pretty good-sized courtyard, walled in. There’s a long ramp that leads up to a doorway. Then there are four tiers, like a wedding cake. First there’s a square tier at the bottom, and then an eight-sided tier rising up out of that, and then one circular tier, then another, more narrow, and . . . oh, a statue at the top.” She flapped her hand, as if to dismiss the sentimentality.
“What’s the statue?”
“Poseidon.”
“Is that Indian?”
“He’s the Greek god of the sea.”
Nell and Nathan exchanged looks. They were trying to discern whether Beth was senile.
“Is this some kind of temple?”
“I told you. It’s a lighthouse.”
“And you want the body of it faced in limestone?”
“No, I want it pure limestone.”
“Pure limestone? How high is this lighthouse?”
She’d considered this as well. “Higher than the house.”
“So what, thirty feet?”
“Make it fifty. Got to top the weather vane.”
Nathan guffawed. “And granite facing for the top room, which would have to come from out of state. Beth, that could cost you your land and everything on it.”
She held up her coffee mug as if to toast him. “You almost figured it out.”
He sat back in his chair, stunned.
But Nell had caught on. “If we put in the order at the quarry by spring, we can get construction started,” she said, as if waking from a dream.
Nathan leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Now just hold on, the both of you,” he said. “Beth, you’re saying you want to sell all your land?”
“All but what this house is built on. And the lighthouse.”
“Five hundred acres?”
“Yes. To you. And then you’ll build for me.”
“But think this through, now. You want to forgo any concrete? Pure limestone and granite? You’d be willing to sell the lake and the duck pond, too? And the dairy? The greenhouse and the garden? Even the vineyard?”
Each place he named felt like a bolt to the chest, but all she said was, “Yes.”
Nathan turned to his wife, who pursed her lips at him as if to say, Do you understand now?
And he did. Now he understood the scope of the exchange and how much he was going to make. He started murmuring to Nell, who started taking notes. “We’ll need to get it all appraised, so call Jane. I guess we have to find some kind of artist to make that statue. And we’d better call Pete Stocker over in Kansas City, too, because we can’t contract everything. He’ll know people in the mirror business, if you want a proper lighthouse—Beth, what do you want to put up there? A big ol’ lens?”
But Beth had stopped listening. She was staring out the window, off into the cornfields, where in the summer, it was so easy to disappear.
On their wedding night, Keiji wrote her a poem.
Keiji, she said, This is prettier than anything I’ve ever read. Can I show it to Dad?
No, he said, looking heartbroken.
Beth knew she’d said something very wrong, but didn’t know what.
He took her hand in his. Forgive me, he said. I haven’t explained. These poems are only for you. I ask that you never share them.
Beth did not understand, but she nodded, a young bride in blind faith.
Keiji pushed her hand over her heart and pressed it there. Please promise me, he said. I want you to read this poem and commit it here.
Beth nodded.
And then, he said, please burn it.
The first stones arrived in February.
Beth walked out onto the porch with her cup of coffee, in her crocus dressing gown, to watch the trucks drive up. Slabs of white limestone were strapped across the flatbeds.
Right behind them were two four-by-fours, full of workers who hopped out of the cabs in sweatshirts and jeans and called to each other in English and Spanish. Another vehicle followed, this one shaped like a hundred-foot giraffe with the crane as its neck and a tiny pulley-head. New vehicles kept arriving, one after the other. A mechanical menagerie. It was beginning.
Overwhelmed, Beth took a breath and went back into the house to change her clothes so she could meet the workers properly.
As she moved through the house, she murmured a poem of Keiji’s to herself.
It was the one from their fifth anniversary. A tense night. She’d cooked dinner for the whole family, including her three older brothers, who were always a little wary of Keiji. Roger, her oldest brother, pulled her aside in the kitchen.
Are you happy with him? he said. Because if you’re not, we’ll take care of you.
Beth folded her arms. What makes you think I’m not happy with him?
Well, hell, it can’t be easy living with a person from a whole other country. And one that has it in for Americans.
Beth gave him a look that made him take a step back.
Roger held up his hand. All right, I know what you’re about to say. I’ll shut up. But let me just tell you: it looks odd. He never thanks you. He never appreciates you. He never even seems to acknowledge you. I don’t know if this is a custom of his people or what, but it sure feels strange for my baby sister to be treated like she’s not there.
Beth stared at him. What he was saying might make sense—from outside the marriage. But how could she tell him how much Keiji adored her? How passionate he was? How extraordinary his love poems were—twelve of them, at last count, and all faithfully committed to memory? But she was forbidden to tell anyone about them.
That night, Keiji gave her a new poem with the usual command to memorize and then burn it.
Why? she said.
Keiji looked at her in surprise. Why what?
Why do we have to hide this? Everyone thinks we don’t love each other. That you’re just a mute and I’m just a serving maid. If I show this to people, they wouldn’t think that.
Keiji narrowed his eyes at her, looking very disappointed. Why do you care what others think?
Beth stared down at the poem. After a while, she said, I just don’t know that love has to be secret to be valuable.
It was May. The ground had softened in spring rains. At the construction site, wildflowers popped up in the soil.
Beth stood at the top of the new ramp with her fists on her hips. She looked ahead, off the edge, into the empty air where the lighthouse itself would stand. Down on the ground, she could see the Greers in matching hard hats. They were bent over a blueprint. Nell was pointing and gesturing. Nathan was nodding.
Beth turned toward her house. It was time for lunch. She could tell because the picnickers were back. There were families on quilts spread out, watching and chewing, and teenagers on truck hoods. Beth had resigned herself to it. She’d figured the construction was bound to attract the curious and the stupid alike.
As Beth approached the house, she saw a small, neat figure in a rocking chair on the porch. She drew closer. It was Dr. Anselm.
Beth sighed in her mind but made no other sign. Dr. Anselm was an old friend, and fragile, now.
“Afternoon, good Doctor,” she said, pulling off a canvas glove to shake his hand.
Dr. Anselm steadied himself up from the chair and shuffled forward to take her hand. “Bethany Handel!” he said. “How are you doing?”
“It’s Beth Miyake, Doc.” She shook his hand, then took his arm to support him.
“Well.” His blue eyes focused on something in the distance. “It’s always been Bethany Handel to me.”
Beth nodded. This exchange was well-worn. When they were young, Mike Anselm had gone sweet on her for awhile. Lovestruck looks exchanged at church, notes carried back and forth, and so on. But the romance blew away as soon as it had blown in. He married Georgia Presley, and then of course Beth got engaged to the field hand’s son Keiji, and all hell broke loose for about a year. Old news.
Now both of them were old news, too. Dr. Anselm was stooped and skinny. Beth was taller by several inches, and commanded the space around her with her sloping river-shelf of bosom, her body wide and strong as a pillar.
“I was just about to have lunch, Doc,” she said. “Care to join me?”
“Oh!” He looked surprised, as if he hadn’t planned to come around lunchtime for just that reason. “I certainly will, Bethany. I haven’t eaten anything since my morning fruit, which these days is a banana, which I think is good for me . . .”
He talked on as Beth led him into the kitchen. With her help, he pulled out a chair and sat down in it, more by way of falling than sitting. Beth set out bowls of warm potato soup, tomato sandwiches, and cups of milk. She settled across from him and picked up her spoon.
But Dr. Anselm did not pick up his spoon.
Beth, noticing, lowered her own spoon and waited for him to speak.
“I’m concerned about you, Bethany,” he said in a loud voice, as if volume counted as courage.
Beth nodded, but broke eye contact and sipped her soup. “What are you concerned about?”
Dr. Anselm made a noise of exasperation. He was looking beyond the porch, to the sun-bright fields outside. “About your health!” he said. “I don’t know how much you know, about people in the town talking—” he waved his fingers as if to mimic loose lips “—but they all think you’re crazy. And I said to them, you know, I’ve known this gal for sixty-odd years now and she’s no dummy. She knew what she was doing when she married Kay—everyone thought it was just the craziest thing to do, and now look at all the young kids doing it, marrying every which color, ten ways to Sunday. And she and Kay knew what they were doing when they inherited Art Handel’s land. They took it, they bought the Stiptik farm, they added it on, they dug a pond and planted a garden and built up the dairy, and they became worth a whole heck of a lot more than anyone else in this town.”
Beth nodded. She knew he’d stood up for her, and paid for it.
Dr. Anselm pressed on. “So I would just like to come out here and prove myself right, you know,” he said, making a show of getting back to his sandwich. He took off the top slice of bread and rearranged the tomatoes and put it back again.
Beth sat back in her chair. “Thanks for coming, Doc,” she said as Dr. Anselm finally brought the sandwich to his mouth. “I appreciate it. I know a lot of people don’t understand what I’m doing.”
Dr. Anselm had a mouthful and was now chewing, his eyes bright and focused on her. There was affection in his gaze. Beth saw it, recognized it, and put it away quickly, a gift she was embarrassed to receive.
“I just had this dream—” She stopped, and restarted. “This idea, from way back . . .” She stopped again. There were no words in her mind to follow that. The sudden generosity of heart was now gone without a trace. She didn’t want to tell Dr. Anselm about her studies with Keiji, about the poems he’d written for her, about all of the evenings of quiet, happy repose, balancing books on their knees, engaged in sparse conversation. The counties of Kansas, the islands of Japan. Their country of two.
Dr. Anselm reached across the table and placed a spotted hand on hers. “You must miss him,” he said.
Beth’s mind went blank. She stared at nothing.
“God knows,” he continued, leaning in, “I miss Georgie still, every day, and that’s been what—twenty years? And you just lost him not even two years ago.”
Beth was aware that her breathing was shorter, more shallow, like an animal in captivity.
“Bethany . . . ?”
Her vision began to go dark. Black specks danced around the periphery, closing in. Thousands of little black runners, thousands of little black arms pumping . . .
“Bethany!”
Beth coughed, and blinked, to recenter herself. She withdrew her hand and sat up in her chair. “Yep, well.” The words hung in the air, transparent, meaningless. She focused on her soup.
“Well what?”
Beth threw down her spoon so hard that it bounced and knocked over her cup. “Why do you want to know?”
Dr. Anselm stared at her. He didn’t answer. Milk dripped onto the floor.
After a few seconds, Beth got a washcloth, sopped up the mess, and dropped it into the sink. She rejoined him at the table and picked up her spoon. He picked up his sandwich. They ate in silence.
The area’s number-one attraction is, of course, the eccentric Lighthouse. The top tier was sealed off by the first major earthquake but, still, a visit is mandatory, more so because it may be underwater soon. You can climb to the top of the stairs and see the encroaching sea.
—A. MacAvoy, Old Kansas Historical Society, 2340
September was dwindling. The embers of summer were fading to grey.
Beth stood at her kitchen window in her dressing gown. The lighthouse was rising. A tower of stone. Shaped like a wedding cake. Construction workers circled its base. Every morning, she found herself gazing at it, like she was trying to stretch her mind around it, to let it in, to let it push out other things.
Suddenly her view was obscured by a woman on the porch: blonde bob, business suit. Sally Pickett from the Farmers’ Bank.
Beth went to the door and pulled it open. “Hello there.”
Sally jerked to one side as a way of greeting. Her eyes were bright green from colored contact lenses. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Miyake, how are you?”
“I’m doing all right,” Beth said. She looked into Sally’s lizard eyes. “Caught me a bit early, though. I’ll put on some coffee and find some decent clothes.”
“Oh, sure, Mrs. Miyake, take your time, I don’t mind at all, you just do . . . what you . . . need.” Sally’s words spilled out. As usual, Beth thought, she was ill-suited to any unscripted situation.
When Beth came down the stairs again, she saw Sally sitting at the kitchen table with coffee, shuffling through papers mindlessly, like a stuck machine. But as soon as Beth appeared, she was all sunshine again.
“Quite a . . .” Sally gestured out in the direction of the lighthouse. “What a lot of . . .” She faltered, as Beth did not meet her eyes. Beth saw her computing that pleasantries would do no good here. So instead she launched into her field script.
“Mrs. Miyake, you probably know why I am here. Almost all of your land and assets, including the dairy, have been transferred to Greer Contractors in exchange for their work on your . . . your project, but they’ve spoken with me, and unfortunately—”
“They want to take more.”
Sally looked uncomfortable. “They don’t want to take more, Mrs. Miyake, but the financial reality of the situation has become clear. The cost of this project is more than we projected when we first met with you. And as your case manager, I need to be honest with you.”
Beth raised her eyebrows. “Well, Sally, give me the worst. Am I going to lose my house?”
Sally shuffled papers and fumbled with words. “Well… ah, if we do a few things here and there, and if you give up on the granite facing, which seems to be a big—”
“Am I going to lose my house?”
Sally stopped, both hands suspended in midair, clutching papers. She rested them on the table before she spoke.
“Mmm.” Beth continued to gaze toward the lighthouse, as if considering. Then she got up to rinse dishes in the sink.
“Mrs. Miyake? We do need to talk about this.” Beth heard papers flapping. “I have the forms right here—you can sign them if you want to and get it over with, but if you want to talk about it first, that’s what I’m here for.”
Beth turned off the faucet, wiped her hands on a dish towel, and sat down. “Show me where to sign,” she said.
Sally spread her arms in exasperation. But Beth did not move. So Sally pointed to a line at the bottom of a long form. “Here. But Mrs. Miyake . . .”
Beth signed the paper, straightened up, and then flicked the end of the pen toward the lighthouse.
“There?” asked Sally, faintly.
“You got it, kiddo.”
Beth rose and went into the study and closed the door, leaving Sally in the kitchen, alone.
Beth sat down in the study. Her brain felt like wobbling mercury, in danger of spilling.
She traced the old sketch of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, lying open and untouched on the table for two years, now.
In her mind, Keiji sat across from her, the book balanced on his legs.
Alexandria, he said. Who built it?
Alexander founded it, but after he died, Ptolemy came back and finished it and built the Lighthouse.
Keiji nodded. Why there?
Because Alexander loved the place. He would have wanted to be buried there. Ptolemy loved Alexander, so he commissioned a monument to him, to show his love.
Keiji sat back in his chair, looking out toward the window. I wonder, he said.
You wonder what?
What a lighthouse is for.
It shows you where the danger is. It’s to warn away oncoming ships so they don’t wreck themselves on the rocks.
But it is also there to light the way, to guide you in. To show you the way to safety.
Hmm. Beth considered. I guess it depends on the sailor.
Keiji drew a line, from his heart, forward into empty space. Yes—the meaning of the signal depends on the receiver. Should I go away, or come closer? Will I dash myself on the rocks, or find safe harbor?
Beth let his words sink in.
Finally she dipped into a sagging pocket of her dressing gown and drew out a sheet of paper. Got this one memorized, she said.
Keiji stood and, from an upper shelf, pulled down a bronze urn. The bowl of it was blackened. They pushed the poem down into it. Beth reached across the desk and picked up a blue lacquered lighter that they used only for this purpose. She lit the paper, then watched as it became like a live thing, curling in the oncoming surf of the fire, and writhing in its wake.
Keiji, she said.
He looked up at her. Her bright-eyed husband.
Bethany, he said, inviting her to speak.
If you ever die, before me, she said, looking down into the bronze bowl. She couldn’t finish.
You’re a strong one, said Keiji. Strong as earth.
He reached out and gripped her arm, humming, squeezing in one place and then another, as if to transfer strength to her.
Strong as water. My wife.
Strong as water, my wife—
Beth came back to the present.
That was the first line of the last poem he had ever written for her, which lay curled and unburned in the bronze urn. She did not want to burn it, even though she knew Keiji would have wanted her to if he were alive.
But he was dead.
Tumbled blocks of stone upon the
bed, under tides the river-
bed, mother river cover
over, close the lids of learn’ed
dead, done and lost to all
—Ayesha Rawlings, “Midwest”
(Tesseract: A Journal of New Poetry, January 2415)
The first snowstorm of the year was settling in.
Beth stopped at the foot of the ramp and tipped her head back, looking up to the top of the lighthouse, straining
her eyes, but she couldn’t see the statue of Poseidon. Only
the faint butter glow of her own room.
She ascended the ramp, carrying bagfuls of supplies. The wind picked up and rose to a scream, pushing her body to the edge, but she struggled forward. Once she was through the doorway, everything became quiet, as if she’d flipped a switch. She turned around to look behind her. The snow was blowing sideways, and in the distance, the house lay silent, its windows now dark, taped, and ready for demolition. It was not hers anymore.
She got a better grip on her bags and walked forward.
White candles burned inside hurricane lamps, set in alcoves in the wall, lighting the way ahead. Her footsteps were loud in the vaulted space. Every echo took a beat to return. As she passed each candle, she bent and blew it out. Darkness followed her.
Her apartment was in the top tier of the tower. From outside, the tier appeared circular; but the room inside was shaped like an octagon and faced with rose-colored granite, with round windows at every point of the compass. There was a narrow bed with a single pillow, and a stack of woolen blankets at its foot. A composting toilet, just off the stairwell. A gas range with a cast-iron pan on the burner. Cupboards full of food. An oak desk, and surrounding it, her globes, maps, and books. Next to it were half-built bookshelves, with lumber and tools nearby.
The place was good. Her new home. Her last home.
Beth set down her bags and unpacked. The last thing she drew out was a brown parcel that she’d picked up from the engraver’s shop, by special order. She sat down at her desk, cut away the strings, sliced open the edges, opened the flaps, and drew close her wastebasket to hold all the shipping fluff. Once she’d cleared enough away, the tools emerged one by one.
Hammer.
Chisels.
Mallet.
Scrapers.
Knife.
Rasp.
Brushes.
Pencils.
She laid them out on her desk as if setting the table for a Thanksgiving meal, and then, folding her hands as if saying grace, she closed her eyes and recited every poem she had memorized in fifty years of marriage.
When she opened her eyes again, the snow was falling even harder outside her windows, blowing first one way then the other in erratic pulses. But Beth was warm and dry. She put on some water for instant coffee, sat down again, and eyed the narrow iron stairway across the room, which led up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. The great hearth—the light of the Lighthouse—was in the room above.
Tomorrow her work on the walls would begin. But tonight she would set the fire above, and keep her first watch—for what would go away to sea, and what would come in to harbor.
The first of the ruins was lifted at 7:44am, from a depth of twenty feet. Up it came, a monstrous, rosy slab of granite, like a goddess inert, patient with our grappling ropes. But when we laid it down on the deck, one of the sailors cried out and pointed, and a crowd came running to see. There were words in the stone.
—T. Y. Falion, The Recovery (2702)
patreon | instagram | twitter | facebook | the girl in the road
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Schlagwort: Larry Niven
3 Mrz 2014 11 Feb 2017 monstermaschineHinterlasse einen Kommentar
– can it be the internet is a deadly trap comparable to a Dyson sphere?
When I was much younger I got into contact with two science fiction novels that were variations of a famous idea of the not less famous physicist Freeman Dyson. The first was Larry Nivens Ringworld, a story about a ring of 150 million kilometres radius around a star, where a space ship from earth lands and the crew experiences a lot of adventures when traveling alongside the tangential direction on the inner, star facing side of the big ribbon or band. The other story was not as half as entertaining but much more philosophical: it was Bob Shaws Orbitsville. Here the crew of a space ship from earth enters a sphere around a star with 150 million kilometres radius. The area of the inner sphere is 500 million times bigger than the area of planet earth. It seems to be the solution for the problem of overpopulation on Earth and any other inhabited planet of the galaxy as well. And it seems to be the ultimate paradise of nature with it’s giant, practically endless landscapes, built by a mystic, ancient civilization. The sphere of the story has only one entrance: a tiny hole on one side, where spaceships can fly into it.
A cut-open hypothetical Dyson Sphere in our solar system, 500 million times the area of planet earth to settle, a paradise? Fig.: Wikipedia
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Posted by Amanda Mary (Mary) in Cures, GcMaf, Information coming soon!!
cancer, GcMaf, healthy, medical profession, natural medicines
Adding to mysterious deaths and disappearances of three American holistic anti-vaccine doctors in one state over the past two weeks plus three Mexican doctors and their two employees recently disappeared, supposedly found dead in the back of a pickup on June 19, are two more doctors missing, possibly disappeared in the US. Earlier this year, another holistic doctor met an untimely death after months of pleading for help as a self-identified Targeted Individual, as reported by Deborah Dupré. It has emerged that most of these had at least one common link.
Dr. Patrick Fitzpatrick, a retired opthalmologist who had practiced in North Dakota, went missing in neighboring Montana around July 3rd. Fitzpatrick, 74, is an MD specializing in Ophthalmology. NBC reports that the vehicle and trailer of Bismark resident Dr. Fitzpatrick were found abandoned next to a pea field Saturday, south of Willow Creek, near Three Forks, sheriff’s officials reported.
“Officials believe Fitzpatrick could have abandoned his vehicle as early as Friday. He is described as 6’ tall and over of 220 lbs. He has white hair and a goatee, and speaks with an Irish accent.” Anyone with information about Dr. Fitzpatrick is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office: 406-582-2100.” (NBC News)
Also mysteriously missing as of June 29 is physician and preventive health advocate Dr. Jeffery Whiteside, in Fox Valley area, residing in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. Door County Sheriff’s Department is reportedly looking for Dr. Whiteside, last seen in the Ephraim area of northern Door County at a family vacation home and boat slip in Ephraim. He was last seen walking away from his boat slip at the family gathering.
WFRV reports on Dr. Whiteside, saying he is M/W DOB: 05-07-52 Age: 63, Height 5’09” Weight 185 lbs Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown, He was last seen wearing a maroon colored polo shirt and gray shorts. He wears eye glasses.
Dr. Whiteside’s boat slip and vacation cabin is in Ephraim. Officials say he is believed to be on foot and still in the northern Door Co. area. Door Co. Sheriff’s Department was notified that Dr. Whiteside was missing on 07-01-15 at 0906 hrs. The Door Co. Sheriff’s Dept. along with Ephraim Fire Department volunteers and others continue looking for Dr. Whiteside, with search efforts concentrated in the Ephraim area. The Sheriff’s Department asks for the public’s assistance in finding Dr. Whiteside. If anyone has seen Dr. Whiteside, please call the Door Co. Sheriff’s Department at 920-746-2416.
Whiteside is a doctor at Fox Valley Pulmonary Medicine, serves as ThedaCare Board of Trustees secretary and is an Executive Committee member. He was previously president of Appleton Medical Center and ThedaClark Medical Center staff.
“Thousands of employees worked and work with (Dr. Whiteside) and the same number of patients have been helped by him,” said Megan Mulholland, spokeswoman for ThedaCare. “He has never stopped caring and developed long-term relationships with those patients.”
“The longer he remains missing the more suspicious it is,” said Chief Deputy Pat McCarty, Door County Sheriff’s Department.
The second doctor, also holistic in his anti-vaccine advocacy, is Dr. Bruce Hedendal DC PhD of Boca Roton area (E Coast, North of Miami). Dr. Hedendal suddenly died on Father’s day. His body was found in his car, but there was no accident nor was the car running. Hedendal held a PhD in nutrition from Harvard and a colleague of his said he was in great shape, “very healthy.”
Bradstreet’s family have established a GoFundMe campaign, asking for donations to assist them in pressing for a thorough investigation into what happened to him. Their GoFundMe web page says the need support “To find the answers to the many questions leading up to the death of Dr Bradstreet, including an exhaustive investigation into the possibility of foul play. Thank you for your support!.”
Holisitic Dr. Teresa Ann Sievers MD, 46, also in Florida, in the Naples area of the South West coast in Bonita Springs, was found dead on June 29 in what has been ruled a homicide. She was a well loved, popular holistic medical doctor, according to her clients, website and close associate. “Sievers’ work as a holistic doctor focused not just on healing the body, but the mind and spirit as well, according to her close friend and colleague,” NBC reported.
Dr. Sievers lived in a safe area where neighbors said problems are rare, if ever. That is no deterrent, however, to dangerous stalkers, including multi- or gangstalkers who work in organized groups. She was murdered in her home while her husband and children were with relatives in Connecticut. She’d flown home alone the night before. Her body was found Monday morning at her Jarvis Road home after she didn’t arrive at work. Sievers’ neighbors, however, describe hearing screams on day of death. Her murder has reportedly left family and friends puzzled.
“We don’t know anything but that she was murdered,” said Sievers’ sister, Annie Lisa, 52. She said Sievers, her husband and children had come to Connecticut for a gathering and her sister flew home alone Sunday, according to News Press.com.
“The 46-year-old victim’s relatives remained mystified as to who would want to harm the beloved physician who dedicated her life to helping women and girls,” the Daily Mail reports.
The professional’s neighbors said they are now concerned for their own safety, especially because authorities have remained tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding her murder.
‘I’m very scared for my safety,’ resident Donetta Contreras told WINK News, based in southwest Florida.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday they were pursuing several leads in connection with the slaying. They reassured locals that no threat to the general population exists and that the murder was targeted, not random, (no reassurance whatsoever to the thousands of self-denitrified targeted individuals).
Sievers’s husband Mark, office manager at Sievers’ Restorative Health & Healing Center clinic, is said to have adored his wife and worked hard for her tireless contribution to clients. Neighbors say they heard from law enforcement that this was a “gruesome murder scene,” some saying it involved a hammer. Neighbors reported to a tan-colored pickup truck was parked at the home the morning Dr. Sievers was found dead.
“It’s a very complicated case; there are details I wish I could share, but I can’t.” Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott.
CBS reports on Dr. Sievers’s death and a donation site on CBS’s official website.
Blogger Erin Elizabeth wrote from Florida, “A few still write that I shouldn’t cover these stories, but I am a journalist, and now that 3 doctors have died so quickly from my state (at least one murdered) I feel I need to write about it.”
Now, Elizabeth is uneasy about her fate.
“Dr. Bradstreet had lived just 45 minutes from us here in Florida before moving to the neighboring state of Georgia. I also have been with a prominent well known doctor for the last 6 years so this concerns me. Several high profile MD’s have contacted me these last 2 weeks who are also concerned and mourn the loss of their colleagues.”
Three Mexican Doctors and their Attorney Murdered
Added to the disappeared or deceased American doctors within the same couple of weeks are three Mexican doctors plus their attorney, a story that took an even more suspicious turn today. Authorities reported finding the three missing Acapulco, Mexico doctors and their lawyer dead in the back of a pickup on June 19, in the troubled southern Mexico state of Guerrero, around the time the American doctors began dying mysteriously. A prosecutor’s office official then reported that the four young men were kidnapped by an armed group on the federal highway linking Mexico City to Acapulco as they headed to Chilpancingo, according to NDTV.
Then, State Attorney General Miguel Ángel Godínez Muñoz told reporters Saturday that DNA tests confirmed the dead men were Dr. Raymundo Tepeque Cuevas, Dr. Marvin Hernández Ortega, Dr. José Osvaldo Ortega Saucedo and Julio César Mejía Salgado, the lawyer. The four were graduates of Autonomous University of Guerrero (UAG). The doctors worked at a community hospital, according to SDPnoticas.com.
Today, it is reported that before their disappearance, doctors Marvin Hernández Ortega and Reynaldo Tepeque Cuevas, and two “administrative employees” José Osvaldo Ortega Saucedo and Julio César Mejía Salgado, were traveling in a gray car that police later found in Xolapa riddled with bullet holes, blood stains, and shells from a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle. PanAm Post reports that to get the case closed as quickly as possible, officials delivered the wrong corpses, not those of the doctors and their attorney (as originally reported) nor administrative employees.
Sunday, the victims’ families again distributed leaflets, set up posters, and painted murals in Acapulco, as they had on Saturday to urge authorities to keep searching for the missing medical professionals.
“Contrary to statements from Guerrero Attorney General Miguel Ángel Godínez Muñoz, their families do not believe they have yet been found,” PanAm Post reports.
Possible Links
An anti-vaccine link has been posited regarding the first three American doctor meeting untimely deaths in June. Each of the three were anti-vaccine holistic doctors. The first was compassionate but controversial Autism researcher Dr. Jeff Bradstreet MD. His body was found far from home in a river, with a gunshot wound to his chest. Officials were quick to rule suicide. Family and friends disbelieve this. Dr. Bradstreet treated hundreds of children with autism through chelation therapy at his medical clinic in Palm Bay, Florida. His son has autism that he believed was due to a vaccine induced reaction when 15-months old.
While many still view anti-vaccine doctors as quacks, Italy is one nation that does not do so anymore. On Sept. 23, 2014, an Italian court in Milan awarded compensation to a boy for vaccine-induced autism. (See the Italian document here.) A GlaxoSmithKline Infanrix Hexa vaccine against six childhood diseases caused the boy’s permanent autism and brain damage. The vaccine contained antigens, thimerosal (mercury-containing preservative), aluminum, an adjuvant, and other toxic ingredients. The child regressed into autism shortly after receiving the three doses. The US media underreported the case.
Secrecy enshrouding vaccine adverse affects on the human population was also revealed in the case. Mary Holland, a research scholar and Director of the Graduate Legal Skills Program at NYU Law School, in a WorldTruth.Tv article, points to Presiding Judge Nicola Di Leo’s consideration of another piece of damning evidence: a 1271-page confidential GlaxoSmithKline report (available on the Internet). This document provided ample evidence of adverse events from the vaccine, including five known cases of autism resulting from the vaccine’s administration during its clinical trials.
In 2012, Judge Lucio Ardigo of an Italian court in Rimini presided over a similar judgment, finding the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine caused a child’s autism. Both cases went underreported in the US and both court decisions flatly contradict decisions from the “U.S.. vaccine court,” a Court of Federal Claim’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. There, from 2007 to 2010, in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding, three decision makers, “Special Masters,” found vaccines did not cause autism in any of six test cases, and one Special Master compared the theory of vaccine-induced autism to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The US government seems determined for autism to strike 50% of all children by 2025, as predicted by MIT senior researcher Dr. Stephanie Seneff. (See: Autism To Strike Half US Children In 10 Years: MIT Sr. Researcher Sounds Monsanto, Vaccine Alarm)
The American Medical Association (AMA) recently began crafting its ‘ethical guidelines for physicians in the media’ to ‘defend integrity of the profession.’ The new guidelines target unorthodox medical information that the AMA deems dubious and unsubstantiated and create disciplinary guidelines for doctors who make public claims that do not align with the ‘best available science’. The AMA spent nearly $20 million on lobbying in 2014 alone. Its roots are deep into American medicine. It has a powerful influence over the way state licensing boards oversee and discipline physicians in the U.S.. –
Dr. Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the well respected Lancet peer-reviewed medical journal, recently published a statement declaring that much published research is unreliable at best, if not completely false. “The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analysis, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness.”
“Organized medicine would like nothing more than to continue lining their pockets with the profits generated by Americans who are dependent on medications rather than taking charge of their own health and wellness.” (Erin Elizabeth)
Dr. Mark Sircus reported Wednesday on just how sleazy the American medical system is and how dangerous the FDA is: “It is hard not to think about doctors when talking about con games. The entire medical system is a con, a sleazy mix of lies and deception where medical studies are often not worth the paper they are printed on yet the FDA swallows medical studies as if they were chapters out of the bible.”
In relation to vaccines, Dr. Sircus points to mercury in the flu vaccine as one example of the cocktail’s danger:
“In the flu vaccine, there is a whopping 51,000 ppb (parts per billion) of mercury in the multi-dose flu vaccine—the most common type of flu vaccine given. How much is 51,000 ppb? It is 25,000 times the legal maximum for mercury in drinking water established by the Environmental Protection Agency. Keep in mind that when you inject mercury, it is 100% absorbed so it is more toxic to inject it as compared to eating it in fish or drinking it in water. Do pediatricians rise up against the CDC and complain?
“As far as I am concerned pediatricians, who inject children with the flu vaccine are criminals but like everything else, people are conned and very few complain,” says Sircus. “There is little to no kindness in mainstream medicine because they are too busy making money practicing a form of human butchery that maims and kills people by the hundreds of thousands a year around the world.”
Another possible link between at least two of the American doctors missing and the Mexican doctors is they had all had recent encounters with federal government officials.
Two of the American doctors had recently been contacted by federal agents.Both doctors Hedendal and Bradstreet reportedly had recent run-ins with US federal agents. FDA and DEA agents raided Dr. Bradstreet’s office on June 16. Reportedly, federal authorities has also contacted Dr. Hedendaldays before his death, according to ABC7.
An associate of Bradtsreet stated under anonymity:
“I know enough about Jeff Bradstreet to know his state of mind. He was a sound thinker! He was prudent and calculated. Acting out on the spur of the moment and deciding to kill himself is like a joke. He was a jet pilot!… The one thing all instrument pilots share is a high IQ with the ability to multi task and make sound pragmatic decisions in emergency situations. In other words, [they] don’t freak out!”
A commenter wrote that he’d spoken to Bradstreet while the agents were with him.
“I spoke to Jeff at 12:30 that Thursday just when the FDA was there. He was calm and told me there was a emergency he would call me back the next day, Friday. He was a genius, a very very smart man who would not have killed himself over this on such short notice.”
El Sur reports that hours before their deaths, the Mexican doctors had also been in contact with government officials.
“The complaint details that the three workers took early Friday headed to Chilpancingo to reclassification procedures at the State Health Secretariat. They stopped in Acapulco, and one of the doctors borrowed the car [an SUV] Ibiza gray family to move to Chilpancingo. (sic) At noon they came to government offices to gather documentation requested dependency site when last seen. The document details that the three doctors returned around 3:00 pm bound for Acapulco…”
El Universal reported last Thursday that investigators found an abandoned taxi near the SUV and in the back of the vehicle, they found a shirt with the state police logo on it and a cartridge belt.
Violence against Mexican health workers is not new, says Escobar Secretary Habeica. Recent American history is also littered with government-sponsored covert targeting of individuals, people PI William Taylor say are “Americas’ best people.” Accidental deaths and suicides of scientists with evidence showing what mainstream touts as news is leaving a big gap in truth. These targets had potential to sabotage important agendas not in best interest of humanity. The five American doctors who recently died untimely deaths or remain missing are among 74 prominent scientists murdered over the past ten years.
Another commonality between the mystery disappearances and deaths is that families and friends are accusing officials of fraudulent reporting on the disappearances and/or deaths. In the US, funds have been established to pressure further investigations. In Mexico, family and friends are demanding full, transparent investigations.
“Cecilia Ortega Solórzano, mother of Hernández Ortega, disagrees with the official report: “The day we were told about the bodies, we went to identify them, but they didn’t belong to our relatives, who have been missing for four days. These corpses were decaying as if they have been dead for 15 days,” she said.
On June 28, the Mexican victims’ families met with Governor Rogelio Ortega Martínez, who “does not believe the prosecutor … He is on our side, he believes us,” relatives told local reporters. In a document delivered to the governor, they reject the forensic analysis and demand the prosecutor resign over his “ineptitude, lack of professionalism,” and “attempts to impose” his conclusions. Guadalupe Reséndiz, a psychologist and wife of Tepeque, reported irregularities during the investigations. She says investigators tampered with the crime scene, and that the advanced decomposition of the corpses found suggests they died days before the physicians went missing.
Carlos Mejía Salgado, brother of Julio César, told press that he wants the federal police to run new DNA tests on the bodies. “We don’t anything they tell us here anymore; evidence can be manipulated,” he says.
One difference between Mexico and the US regarding the deaths and disappearances is that enough Mexican health worker targeted individuals have been disappeared for Mexicans to protest.
Doctors, nurses and hospital employees stage protest in Acapulco on June 24 demanding return of four missing men. Photo: Cuartoscuro
A second difference is that after the Mexican doctors and their attorney and/or employees disappeared, the US issued a red alert warning to Americans about the danger of traveling to Mexico. Mexico has not issue a similar travel alert for traveling to the US.
A representative from the National School of Topical Medicine says he isn’t buying “conspiracies that are surfacing on the web” about the disappearances. He is what is called a “Coincidence Theorist.”
Peter Jay Hotez of the National School of Topical Medicine said: “Look at some anti-vaxxer sites and there is a heavy component of conspiracy theorists that say pharmaceutical companies are in collusion with the Public Health Authorities.”
Are other American doctors at greater risk for being targeted to death for their upholding their “Do no harm” Hippocratic Oath by promoting safe and effective natural protocols rather than caving to the AMA and Big Pharma? How many other holistic doctors or doctors with interest in natural, alternative remedies rather than drugs Big Pharma pushes have been covertly murdered? We have documentation of one in recent months, Dr. Deborah Gilmaker. Dr. Gilmaker had been in contact with Deborah Dupré with her account of how she was being covertly targeted.
“Deborah touched my heart after only one phone conversation and a couple of emails. This almost never happens to me – and now my heart is broken,” commented Stephen Axelrod wrote four months ago about Dr. Gilmaker’s suspected murder. “Even though our encounter was brief, it was immediately clear to me, this is a woman of wisdom, of kindness and perhaps a kindred spirit and her untimely death diminishes us all. I am sad.”
“She was an extremely beautiful soul who, even though I didn’t see her much these past few years, helped me, encouraged me, and kept me going when I was very ill. I just can’t believe she’s gone. It’s devastating to me…” writes commenter Karen Redding.
Two days ago, Eve Axelrad commented about Dr. Gilmaker, “I think about Debbie often & it is close to her birthday now and I am wondering how the family is managing. Debbie kept me going when I was very ill. She was so magnificent and brilliant and funny and empathetic, and talked about her wonderful kids that she adored often.”
Perhaps as more US doctors are targeted for upholding their Oath are covertly disappeared and/or assassinated, more Americans will believe the targeted individual phenomenon and demand change. In this regard, the US is becoming more like the country they are warned to not travel in, Mexico.
Perhaps only when more Americans realize that chemical/drug profiteers are planning for some half of the U.S. population to be disabled with autistism or with Alzheimer’s by 2050, will enough American citizens demand better. Meanwhile, the targeting to death of America’s best professionals is soaring, as are autism and Alzheimer’s rates.
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Home News Top skills graduates compete in region 7
Top skills graduates compete in region 7
PLAYING FIELD NOW PAVED AT PLAZA—So it can be used for big cultural events, for big crowds, aside from playing games, the Quezon Park ballfield is now fully paved with brick tiles for more people to enjoy. This is where the City’s income from taxes went, including two multi million peso bridges coming up.
Four champions of 2018 Negros Oriental Pro-vincial Skills Competition are off in Cebu City to compete for TESDA VII Regional Skills Competition on April 10 – 12, 2019.
Negros Oriental participated in four various qualifications that are simultaneously conducted in Cebu City — on the respective participating registered Technical Vocational Institutions as follows: Cooking (Tourism Sector) at Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD); Restaurant Services (Tourism Sector) at University of Southern Philippines (USP); Welding (Metals and Engineering Sector) at TESDA VII Regional Training Center; and Web Design (Information Technology Sector) at TESDA VII Regional Training Center.
TESDA – Negros Oriental’s champions during the 2018 Negros Oriental’s Provincial Skills Competition are as follows: Alvin S. Rebadomia for Cooking (with expert Mishelle P. Sumanoy and assistant expert Jai Jaffrey B. Ligutom) from Teamskills School for Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Inc. (TSCAHMI); Edison Villamor for Restaurant Services (with expert Angelo Salvoro and assistant expert Rochelle S. Sabaiton) from Teamskills School for Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Inc. (TSCAHMI); Sheldom Jerome D. Tangonan for Welding (with expert Jenor M. Langgam) from Cebu Science of Welding and Skills Development Technology, Inc. (CSWSTI) ; and George Allen P. Subito for Web Design (with expert Shakespeare P. Calibo) from Asian College of Science and Technology (ACSAT), Inc. – Dumaguete City. These competitors, when given the chance, will likewise compete for the National Skills Competition then later to the Asian Skills Competition (ASC).
Negros Oriental’s Regional Skills Competitors were all products of the 2018 Provincial Skills Competition simultaneously conducted on November 29, 2018 at various registered Technical Vocational Institutions (TVIs) namely Asian College of Science and Technology (ACSAT), Inc.; Cebu Science of Welding and Skills Development Technology, Inc. (CSWSTI), and Teamskills School for Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management, Inc. (TSCAHMI).
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) VII initiated the conduct of Regional Skills Competition so as to select the best skilled Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates who are seen to possess potential and are equipped enough to demonstrate competence in their respective chosen qualifications. This endeavor cannot be made possible without the participation and support of both private and public industry – partners.
Regional Skills Competition is mandated under TESDA’s provision in section 30 of Republic Act 7796 otherwise known as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) which states, “…to promote quality skills development in the region and with the view of participating in international skills competitions…” Thus, in compliance to this — TESDA – Negros Oriental readily participated anchoring of its major objectives as follows:
Promote the development of quality vocation / technical and work values among the youth and skilled workers;
Foster technical cooperation in vocational / technical education and training among regions;
Encourage close cooperation between government, industries, employers’ and workers’ organization, and vocational training institutions;
Provide an avenue to recognize work excellence and develop new generation of highly Filipino skilled workers; and
Provide the platform to select PH participants to the Asian Skills Competition
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ShowbizBooksNews
Valedictory to Mungoshi, the brilliant writer
On Feb 21, 2019 19,295
By Tendai H. Manzvanzvike
“If you want to hide something from a black person, put it in a book,” was a saying meant to buttress the long-held stereotype against black people.
This picture collage shows the late novelist, playwright and poet Charles Mungoshi with covers of some of his books
The literary world celebrates the life and works of Charles (Lovemore Muzuva) Mungoshi who was laid to rest in his Chivhu, Mashonaland East, home on February 19, and it does so with pride knowing that Mungoshi, did not just open those books, but he went on to write a number of books in Shona and English, some of them classics that won him international literary awards.
He was a novelist, playwright and poet.
Mungoshi left lots of unpublished works
Mungoshi: Remembering the master of metaphor
Mar 4, 2019 9,424
Charles Mungoshi’s mother dies
‘Mungoshi left loads of unpublished works’
The icing on the cake for Zimbabwe’s literary giant was when he became one of the top five African writers in “Africa’s 100 Best Writers of the 20th Century”, spearheaded by the Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) at the turn of the new millennium.
With “Waiting for the Rain”, which was published in 1975, Mungoshi also entered the hall of fame of the Heinemann African Writers Series — “a series of books by African writers published by Heinemann since 1962. The series has ensured an international voice to major African writers —including Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Steve Biko, Ama Ata Aidoo, Nadine Gordimer, Buchi Emecheta, and Okot p’Bitek . . . The AWS created a forum for many post-independence African writers, and provided texts that African universities could use to address the colonial bias then prominent in the teaching of literature.” — (Wikipedia).
Mungoshi was not just a writer, he was a genius, both in his vernacular Shona language and the Queen’s language.
With a literary career spanning over four decades, Mungoshi was the voice of the voiceless, who wrote on every discipline — science and technology included.
A lot has been written about his English novels and short stories, especially “Waiting for the Rain”.
But, this writer studied and analysed Mungoshi’s Shona novels in the age of technological development, all four of them: Ndiko Kupindana Kwamazuva (The passage of time); Makunun’unu Maodzamoyo (worry breeds misery); Inongova Njake Njake(each does his/her thing); Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura? (Is silence not a form of speech?)
Mungoshi, like his pioneers, sought to find meaning between the pre- and post-colonial era where the Western way of life was gaining dominance and eroding the rich traditional past.
Through his writings, he was also searching for his identity and wanted the restoration of whatever was lost.
Using sharp terminology, especially in Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura?, Mungoshi penetrates at a world that has lost meaning and direction.
But it is the speech form — interior monologue or stream of consciousness —he uses, that makes him a cut above the more than 100 Shona writers the author has read.
One academic who has extensively studied Mungoshi’s Shona works, Professor George P. Kahari, says in his book, The Rise of the Shona Novel, “Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura? is composed entirely of interior (interior) monologues.
“It is a narrative of introspection in which the author captures the spectrum, depth, and flow of a character’s mental processes.”
Like a clairvoyant, Mungoshi goes into his characters’ minds in order for them to unravel the hidden truths about other personalities.
The badge of honour he bestows on Mungoshi is that he “has moved the Shona novel significantly forward by writing a work in which the thought processes of a character are made as ‘real’ in the narrative as the concrete objective world he inhabits.”
However, as these colossal giants and wordsmiths depart from our midst one-by-one, the major question is: who in this age of social media is filling their shoes?
Will we ever have thought leaders of such calibre, who will question the past and the present, and have visions about the future? Will we?
Are our institutions capable of producing competent writers such as Dambudzo Marechera, Patrick Chakaipa, Mungoshi and others? Who will also walk in Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi’s shoes?
Another key issue to interrogate is whether art — be it music, writing, sculpture or painting are relevant in a world preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
In a world where more people are using English as a medium of communication, are our languages: Shona, Ndebele, Shangaan, Tonga, etc still relevant?
Can one still be technologically innovative using OUR languages and the arts as a medium of communication?
What is also the economics of the arts or should it be the political economy of the artistic industry?
Did we also realise that the likes of Mungoshi and Mtukudzi were the linguists in our midst who passed on social, cultural, economic, political and technological knowledge since they did so in their mother tongues?
American information systems guru Paul A. Strassmann once decried the lack of linguists in the United States.
His perception was far reaching, for linguists have the ability to encode and decode communications in society.
Simply put, this is what our living and departed artists do. They are not just writing and/or singing, but they are telling us that Vision 2030 is possible.
They are also telling us that we can create the Fourth Industrial Revolution, using our indigenous knowledge systems.
China is not using English to achieve this. Neither Japan, South Korea, France and/or Germany. We can also do it through our vernacular languages that put Mungoshi and Mtukudzi and in the process Zimbabwe on the global map.The Herald
Charles Mungoshi
Masakadza appointment divides opinion
Bogus Zacc officials remanded in custody
Charles Mungoshiunpublished manuscripts
Charles MungoshiJesesi Mungoshi
Charles MungoshiCharles Mungoshi Foundation
Veteran author Mungoshi laid to rest
Jesesi, a steely dedicated wife
Gokwe family wants ‘killer son’ pardoned
Bosso’s endless expatriate romance
Jan 19, 2020 8,806
Armed police raid MDC headquarters… claim to be…
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By News-Register staff • December 7, 2019
Burglar takes cash, merchandise from Homeward Bound Pets thrift store
Submitted photo## Surveillance video shows a young, dark-haired man in a hood entering the Homeward Bound Pets thrift store Friday night.
Marcus Larson / News-Register## The Homeward Bound Pets thrift store raises money for the nonprofit organization's no-kill shelter for cats and dogs.
Someone broke into the Homeward Bound Pets thrift store late Friday and stole cash and merchandise, according to Ronnie Vostinak, executive director of the nonprofit, no-kill shelter program.
It's the second time in a week that a McMinnville charity shop has been burglarized. The Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 1040 S.E. First St., was hit the evening of Nov. 29 or morning of Nov. 30.
Volstinak said Homeward Bound personnel called police Saturday morning after noticing the break-in at the store, located at 1120 N.E.Lafayette Avenue.
"It's just devastating," Vostinak said, noting how the burglary hit the staff and volunteers. "We're trying so hard and now this."
Televisions, a Coleman lantern and other items were missing, along with two bottles of wine that had just been donated. Cash was missing as well, Vostinak said.
Video surveillance footage showed that someone got over a fence behind CarStar, the business that provides space for the thrift shop, and broke in by removing a window in a rear door. After spending a lengthy period inside the store, the burglar replaced the window as he left.
Homeward Bound posted on Facebook that the video shows a young man with dark hair and a slight build wearing a dark jacket over a brown hoodie.
"There've been a lot of changes around here today," Vostinak noting, saying Homeward Bound has responded to the burglary by increasing its security equipment.
The Homeward Bound thrift store raises money for the no-kill adoption shelter. The animal shelter is located at 10601 S.E. Loop Road, near the McMinnville Airport.
Homeward Bound also offers a low-cost spay and neuter clinic, located at 723 N.E. Evans St. in McMinnville.
The nonprofit program depends on donations, as well as thrift store proceeds. Donations can be made through its website, www.hbpets.org.
The burglary comes as the thrift store is preparing for one of its most popular annual events, Santa Paws. Pets and their owners can visit Santa from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14.
Drew1951
If a person steals a loaf of bread because his children are hungry, I will show due compassion but stealing from charities that serve our community??? Get real!!!
07:50 am - Sun, December 8 2019
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The country’s wealthiest state is realizing there are limits to “taxing the rich”
Marxist Democrats really energize their lunatic base when they scream that “the rich” don’t “pay their fair share” of taxes, though time and again, legitimate, non-politically correct research has proven that the rich pay more than 90 percent of income taxes every single year, while some claim people who qualify as “rich” to Democrats pay all the taxes. Meanwhile, a substantial plurality of Americans pay no income taxes at all.
In any event, one deep blue state where Democrats have super-majorities in both chambers of the legislature and own the governorship are learning what free-market economists have known forever: “Taxing the rich” has its limits and, eventually, that well runs dry.
Enter Connecticut. Though the state has the highest per-capita average income of any other, it has reached the edge of taxing its many millionaire citizens to the point that now, even its user-liberal governor, Dannel Malloy, is rethinking the state’s tax policies.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the state is having trouble collecting enough tax revenue to pay all of its bills. Though the state’s economy grew significantly over the past two decades, this fiscal year official bean counters believe the government will fall short in revenues of about $400 million — and going back to earners after a pair of large tax increases in recent years does not appear to be an option.
So some state lawmakers are set to propose a tax increase on sales, instead. Great.
The CT Mirror reported that the state’s overall budget shortfall is closer to $3.6 billion over the next two years:
Plummeting state income tax collections are experiencing their worst decline since the last recession, falling $450 million below anticipated levels for April — one-and-a-half times the free fall projected just one day ago.
More importantly, the escalating erosion means income tax projections for the next two fiscal years must be downgraded by $500 million and $600 million, respectively, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration said…
That adds $1.1 billion to an already daunting $3.6 billion deficit forecast, all but shattering hopes of avoiding tax increases or big municipal aid reductions in the next budget.
The continued free-fall in income tax revenue is being blamed by some on flight out of the state. High taxes, declining job opportunities and other factors are leading many to vote with their feet and seek a less expensive existence elsewhere.
Also, there are 100 earners in the state who supply an outsized portion of its revenue; if one leaves or any of them experience a loss of revenue, that in turn has an outsized effect on tax revenue.
As WSJ noted many of the super Connecticut wealthy work for hedge funds, and that industry has been hurt by an economic downturn.
As noted, twice in recent years Malloy has bet the farm that taxing those wealthy earners will solve the state’s fiscal problems, which is right out of the Left-wing Democratic playbook. However, WSJ reported, “neither increase resulted in sustained revenue growth, according to his administration, which says it would be a mistake to do it a third time.” (RELATED: Fair share? 44 percent of Americans won’t pay any federal income taxes)
Some Democrats in the state Legislature now want to make it even more expensive to live in the state by implementing a sales tax, from the current 6.35 percent to 6.99 percent. Then again, still others don’t mind “taxing the rich” again — raising the income tax rate from 6.99 percent to 7.49 percent, according to the Hartford Courant newspaper.
Either way, it seems as though Connecticut residents are going to get socked again with some sort of tax increase, which Americans for Tax Reform warned, will only lead to even bigger, more expensive state government that will have an even harder time making ends meet.
With Left-wing Democrats there is never enough money for the government to spend because there is never any limit to what they think the government should do.
Learn more at BigGovernment.news and Liberty.news.
J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.
ATR.org
Collapse.news
Tagged Under: Connecticut, income taxes, sales tax, states, tax increase, tax the rich, Taxes
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Why home gardening and food preservation is the best form of food insurance
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Tag: PS2 Classics
Meet the Ghost of Consoles Past – Jak and Daxter sequels join PS2 Classics range
December 2, 2017 December 4, 2017 by Tom Buxton, posted in News
Which do you want first – the good news or the bad news?
The good news is that Sony has opted to provide devotees with another opportunity to indulge in some hearty festive nostalgia this Christmas, namely by rehashing three of their past greatest hits as part of their PS2 Classics range. The bad news is that if you’re tired of callbacks to console generations gone by, then you’d best stop reading now.
Following Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy‘s three-month lead, the eponymous platforming franchise’s second, third and fourth instalments – Jak II, Jak 3 and Jak X Combat Racing – are all set to become PS2 Classics on December 6th.
In case you didn’t play them the first time around in 2003-2005, each member of this eclectic trio of follow-ups brought fresh new dynamics to the semi-open-world adventure saga, from Jak II‘s gunplay to Jak 3‘s weapon modifications to Combat Racing‘s visceral riffs on the Mario Kart formula (no, really!).
Don’t hold your breath for a full remaster, however, since all PS2 Classics re-releases are merely up-rezzed 1080p facsimiles of their former selves, albeit with recent PS4 online features like Remote Play, Share Play and Trophies thrown in for good measure.
Naturally, your mileage with each of these revived Jak titles will vary considerably depending on a) whether you’ve played them before and b) whether or not the ongoing industry trend of retreading well-trodden ground with such remakes has gotten old for you at this stage.
But Sony wouldn’t have pursued their Classics range if its offerings to date – as well as their recent Uncharted, The Last of Us and Crash Bandicoot remakes – hadn’t sold enough copies to make this a feasible business strategy. The appetite’s clearly there, then, even if the wider implications for video game innovation need further discussion down the line.
As for the two PSP-exclusive entries in Jak‘s platforming pantheon, 2006’s Daxter and 2009’s Jak and Daxter: The Last Frontier, whether they end up follow suiting most likely depends on how the latter three instalments in his original quadrilogy fare on the PlayStation Store.
Let us know below whether you’re planning to pick Jak II-X up, or want to see original storylines concocted for everyone’s favourite elf-ottsel pairing in future.
Tagged platformer, PS2 Classics1 Comment
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Creating resilient cities
Population growth, rapid urbanization and climate change put our urban infrastructure under pressure. Siemens’ technologies can help cities respond to these challenges with innovative solutions and our expertise in the areas of electrification, automation, and digitalization.
Get detailed information on how technology can support cities
Toolkit for resilient cities
Technology is key to building resilience
Stable economic development, comprehensive public safety, reliable infrastructure, sustainable and affordable housing – these are crucial factors enabling cities to thrive and grow. Cities depend on them to cope with population growth and urbanization across the globe.
Resilient infrastructure is not an option. It is a must!
Roland Busch, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG
Facing the challenge
Urban infrastructure systems and their effective and reliable operation ensure delivery of energy, mobility, water, sanitation and information, on a daily basis and during unplanned or unforeseeable situations. Yet with an ever-increasing frequency, businesses and communities face emergencies such as extreme weather-related events. City leaders have to find a new way of thinking about how to plan, design, build and manage their cities under more challenging conditions.
Siemens enables cities to boost their resilience by bringing international know-how directly to city managers. Our task is to help urban areas become more resilient to the physical, social, and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century. We work with public organizations as well as private companies in helping cities, their people, communities and institutions respond to the stresses and acute shocks caused by rapid urbanization, globalization, and climate change. For us, resilience is not only about surviving – it is also about thriving, regardless of the challenge.
Standing up to the test
When critical infrastructure, like power and water supplies, can continue functioning in times of emergency, it goes a long way in minimizing disruption and ultimately saving lives.
Water Management System
The Grid Electricity System
The Transportation Network
Water management in cities includes a number of critical and interrelated services:
1. Collection, treatment & distribution of drinking water
2. Removal, treatment and disposal or reuse of wastewater
3. Removal, treatment and disposal or reuse of rainwater (stormwater)
4. Protection of people and critical facilities from flooding.
Energy is fundamental for life in cities and is essential for water & wastewater treatment and distribution; train, tram and metro networks; communications; medical and emergency services; lighting, heating, ventilation and security.
The grid electricity system includes 3 primary activities:
1. Generation,
2. Transmission,
3. Distribution and supply.
The transportation network is a highly diverse system, composed of fixed assets (roads, railways, bridges, ports) and moving parts (trains, buses, cars, boats and bicycles).
Both must be operational to enable the network to function also in case of emergency. Diversity provided by multi-modal services and systems can help during unexpected system outages. Successful navigation is facilitated by integrated travel information.
Buildings house the infrastructure required to bring energy and water to consumers, and provide the destination points for most transportation systems.
In emergency situations where buildings remain safe, structurally sound and energy supply is maintained, technology can help to maintain occupant comfort and distribute information about emergency response. To minimize large scale disruption in IT services, safe, resilient and energy efficient data centers are essential.
Avoiding power failure
Energy is the backbone of life in cities, affecting every area of infrastructure from water distribution to public transport and medical services. The energy supply in urban areas comprises a diverse mix of sources and modes. But if distribution is affected by severe weather, millions of customers may lose power and be literally left in the dark.
Remote monitoring and energy storage provide back-up supplies
Making urban electricity systems more resilient and sustainable calls for a shift towards distributed, automated and remotely controlled energy systems. Microgrid infrastructure, whereby small, independent electricity or heat grids distribute locally generated energy to nearby customers, can ensure a constant power supply even if the main power grid is under stress. In the event of a major catastrophe at a centralized plant or in the transmission network, microgrids could channel energy to critical services, such as hospitals and other emergency services.
Remote monitoring, the flexible integration of decentralized energy and energy storage devices present opportunities to increase the resilience of energy supply while at the same time improving efficiency and adopting cleaner sources of power. During extreme weather, like hurricanes or other major substation events, mobile resilience transformers can replace units within days rather than weeks. For example, Siemens is providing Con Edison, the utility that powers New York City and local areas, with compact, light and environment-friendly transformers. The mobile resilience transformers allow Con Edison to respond to events in which multiple transformers are impacted and normal spares or system redundancy may not be able to address the issues.
Intelligent transportation networks
Mobility underpins the social and economic activity of any city, making an unobstructed and sustainable transport infrastructure crucial.
Yet while networks usually provide multiple options, travelers and freight transport tend to depend on a familiar route. Add to this the reliance on stable energy supplies, transportation services are a highly sensitive and easily disrupted system. With recent evidence suggesting that the frequency and severity of extreme weather events will be increasing noticeably, special attention needs to be paid to cities’ transport networks. Intelligent systems that forecast and respond to the impact of damaging weather events can ensure that periods of disruption are minimized and long-term economic sustainability is not undermined.
Secondary power supply
A secondary power supply for transportation networks enables trains to function through catastrophes that could disrupt grid functionality. The London Underground for instance is backed up by a separate power supply at Greenwich Power Station, which generates power specifically for the Underground. This back-up supply not only ensures trains running even through extreme weather events, but can also provide energy supply for more critical facilities, such as hospitals and evacuation centers.
Secondary power
Real-time system monitoring
In times of crisis, coordination of transportation is essential. Co-location of system operators can enable instant, shared decision-making for active transport management, enhancing passenger service with fewer disruptions. This was proven by the Transport Coordination Center (TCC) of the 2012 London Olympic Games, where event delivery partners and transportation organizations shared a single control room to coordinate operations, track incidents, and manage service times and vehicle capacity.
Automated system controls
In response to the chaotic evacuation of the Houston metropolitan area in Texas during Hurricane Ike, vehicle-to-infrastructure communications were developed as a pilot project. Intersections were equipped with a simple control system that dynamically alters the timing of traffic lights and uses Bluetooth signals to allow drivers access to real-time information on traffic volume, and also detect signals from emergency vehicles to turn green and facilitate rapid response.
Maintain health, comfort and a constant information flow
Buildings provide essential shelter and structure while shaping the culture and physical character of the city. They are a crucial element of resilient infrastructures since they are the hubs that bring energy and water to consumers and provide destination points for most transportation systems. When equipping or modernizing buildings or entire cities to the highest standards of resilience, it is paramount to have a comprehensive understanding of hazardous and emergency situations in order to be able to react and evacuate safely and with the highest possible speed. Technologies have to be taken into account as much as the site and the design of buildings. Siemens provides a range of technology solutions that help to support the resilience of building systems, and ensure their ongoing functionality.
Disaster prevention and emergency evacuation
Taipei 101, a 101 story tower in Taiwan, sees 40,000 people pass through its doors each day. Fire prevention and emergency reaction plans have been of utmost importance since the start of construction in 2000, offering a ‘layered’ approach to fire safety and ensure rapid response in the event of a disaster. Among many other features, Taipei 101 is equipped with very early warning fire detection systems, smoke detection and expulsion systems and automated fire extinguishing systems, which are coordinated via a central disaster prevention center.
Advanced 3D simulation software
Yet a rapid response also depends on correctly assessing the behavior of building occupants during an emergency. This can be modeled prior to an event, using advanced 3D simulation software. The software enables movement through a building or space to be forecast up to ten times faster than real time with relative accuracy. Using this information, evacuation strategies may be planned and communicated to building users to ensure a rapid flow of people to safety. The approach has been implemented with a number of high rise buildings, including 1 Canada Square at Canary Wharf, which until 2012 was the tallest building in London.
3D simulation software
In order to deliver targeted messages to advise building occupants during a crisis, Mass Notification Systems (MNS) can be implemented like for instance at Medicine Hat College in Alberta, Canada. Messages are disseminated through multiple redundant channels, including voice systems, LED signage and local area networks or even via personal devices such as cell phones. Systems inform occupants about what action they should take, therefore coordinating movement to facilitate safe and efficient response.
Securing information flows
Some of the most important features of Data centers are service reliability and data security. Built-in solutions protect against power supply interruptions, security and fire safety threats, and ensure that servers operate at the correct temperature. The Safe Host SA data center in Geneva, Switzerland for instance, features a central management system, over 800 smoke detectors and video surveillance at all major entrances.
Holistic system design
Ensuring a continuous water supply
Supplying drinking water and treating wastewater is a global challenge and critically important to all urban areas, particularly when keeping in mind the shortage of water we will face in the coming years. Through decentralized approaches, redundant infrastructure, automation and asset monitoring we can ensure a safe and continuous water supply, even in cases of irregularities, extreme weather or general water shortages. As industry experts for water applications, we offer powerful, innovative technical solutions.
Decentralized wastewater treatment
The Food Chain Reactor (FCR) solution for urban wastewater management combines conventional treatment methods with biological treatment. It is a decentralized approach, which manages wastewater on a neighborhood scale and helps to avoid the risk of sewer overflows and burst pipes during severe weather. The FCR facility in Shenzen uses advanced automation to ensure reliable and efficient treatment of wastewater.
Decentralized Wastewater
Redundant infrastructure
In the event of drinking water supply outages, it may be possible to compensate for partial system failures without relying on an alternative water source. Redundant pipe connections and strategically placed valves make it possible to isolate damaged pipes and minimize the area of lost service. New York City and Cleveland, USA, for instance, both rely on system redundancy for their emergency water supply plan.
Continuous asset monitoring
Engineered flood defenses are highly effective in designed-for flood events, but the impact of peak flood levels can be severely worsened if dams fail. By embedding a comprehensive system of sensors in the walls of defenses as implemented in Livedijk, flood management operators can continuously monitor the behavior of the structures, gain real time reporting and trigger alarms in the event of damage or failure.
Continous asset monitoring
A sustainable cities initiative by Siemens
Smart Cities Dossier
Our Pictures of the Future dossier explains how smart technologies are transforming our cities.
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Authoritative reporting on market challenges, success stories, and technology trends straight to your inbox.
Access and download premium content on a range of infrastructure topics.
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U.S. allocates first of $30M in grants for forest conservation in Sumatra
by Mongabay.com on 24 February 2011
The U.S. government announced the first grants under the first phase of its 2009 Tropical Forests Conservation Act agreement with Indonesia.
USAID will provide five grants over the next three years to local NGOs working to conserve and better manage forests and peatlands in Sumatra. The five lead grantees are Yayasan Leuser Indonesia, Institute Green Aceh, KKI-WARSI, JIKALAHARI, and PETRA.
The grants, according to USAID:
Yayasan Leuser Indonesia will strengthen management of Singkil Wildlife Reserve and create corridors for surrounding elephant habitats in Aceh.
Institute Green Aceh will improve protection of the Linge Isac Hunting Reserve in Aceh.
KKI-WARSI will strengthen community based forest management and develop ecologically sound spatial plans for the buffer zones around Kerinci Seblat National Park in Jambi and West Sumatra.
JIKALAHARI will facilitate multi-stakeholder coordination for best management practices on the Kampar Peninsula in Riau.
PETRA will improve management within and between Batang Toru forested areas and Batang Gadis National Park.
The TFCA provides debt relief to tropical countries in exchange for commitments to conserve forests and coral reefs. To date, the U.S. State Department has reached agreements generating more than $200 million for tropical forest conservation in Bangladesh, El Salvador, Belize, Peru, the Philippines, Panama, Guatemala, Colombia, Paraguay, Botswana, Costa Rica, and Jamaica. The 2009 agreement signed with Indonesia provides $30 million in funding for forests in Sumatra.
Sumatra has Indonesia’s highest deforestation rate. Over the past twenty years vast swathes of forest and peatlands have been cleared for industrial plantations, primarily for palm oil and pulp and paper production.
Conservation, Debt-for-nature, Environment, Forests, Green, Rainforests
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NAB announces $1 million Disaster Relief Fund
Go to additional resources
View Audio
* On 7 January 2020, NAB announced additional relief and recovery measures, including $2,000 grants for eligible business and agribusiness customers. More information here.
NAB has today announced a $1 million fund to help people affected by bushfires across Australia.
In recognition of the scale and severity of the bushfires, NAB has created the $1 million Disaster Relief Fund to give customers and employees displaced from their homes ready access to cash, as well as support in the months ahead as communities rebuild homes and businesses.
NAB customers who have lost homes this bushfire season can immediately access $2,000 grants to help cover costs such as temporary accommodation, food and clothing (further eligibility details at end). For information on how to access the grants contact the NAB Assist team on the dedicated number 1300 683 106 (8am-8pm Monday to Friday; and 9am-1pm Saturday AEST/AEDT). NAB employees who have had to evacuate their homes can also access a $1,000 grant.
The $1 million Disaster Relief Fund is in addition to the $250,000 already committed to bushfire affected communities in NSW, SA and QLD in the past two months. The fund will also be used to provide ongoing support during the rest of the year, as the scale of the impact of these natural disasters on people and businesses becomes clearer.
Other support measures NAB is providing include:
Financial relief measures for customers impacted by bushfire in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania (see notes for full details).
Donation collections in branches Australia wide, and via internet banking, for Australian Red Cross’ relief and recovery work. For Internet Banking donations, select: Funds Transfer » Donation » Charity » Australian Red Cross – NSW & QLD or Australian Red Cross – SA, VIC, WA & TAS
Dedicated hardship bankers from our NAB Assist team working on the ground in affected communities
Counselling support for our customers available via NAB’s Employee Assistance Program
NAB Chief Customer Officer – Consumer Banking, Mike Baird said the extent of damage across Australia was hard to comprehend.
“I have heard the grief in our bankers’ voices as they grapple with making sure our colleagues are safe and at the same time dealing with the impact more broadly on their own communities,” Mr Baird said.
“There are horrific tales of lost homes, lost livelihoods and most tragically, the loss of loved ones. Many families and businesses face an uncertain future and we want to do all we can.
“The Disaster Relief Fund is designed to assist our customers, colleagues and communities as they deal with the personal impact of the bushfires both immediately and throughout 2020.
“Customers in need of support should visit a NAB branch or call our NAB Assist team on 1300 683 106.
“In addition, any Australians who wish to donate to help Australian Red Cross’ support efforts in these communities can do so at any NAB branch across Australia or by logging into NAB Internet Banking.”
Mr Baird said in addition to the Relief Fund, NAB had a longstanding policy to provide our emergency service volunteers as much paid crisis leave as they require during emergencies, such as the current bushfires across Australia.
Australia’s banks are working together to ensure cash is accessible in the areas most affected by the bushfires.
NAB’s ongoing natural disaster financial relief measures include:
Credit card and personal loan relief where appropriate;
Suspending home and personal loan repayments;
Support to manage existing regional and agribusiness bank facilities;
Waiving costs and charges for withdrawing term deposits early;
Waiving home loan and personal loan application fees;
Support to restructure other existing bank facilities; and
Provision of support and counselling by making NAB’s Employee Assistance Program available to customers.
For any NAB merchant terminal customer impacted by the current bushfires and in need of support, please contact the Merchant Helpdesk on 1300 369 852 (between 7am – 7pm AEST) – they’re ready to help.
Further assistance for customers who need help:
Visit their nearest open NAB branch, contact their banker directly or call NAB Assist on 1300 683 106 (8am-8pm Mon-Fri, or 9am-1pm on Saturdays AEST/AEDT).
Eligibility criteria for the $2,000 grant is centred around:
A current customer or employee of NAB Group. For customers: need to have been a customer on or before 2 January 2020 and hold at least one active account;
Have lost your primary place of residence during the current bushfire season (rent or own) – meaning that the property is no longer in a liveable condition;
One grant per household (a household is defined as an address);
Only available for primary residences, not for investment properties.
All enquiries will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, with the NAB Assist team to determine eligibility.
Audio download - Mike Baird on Relief Fund
Australian bushfires
customer grants
NAB bushfire fund
NAB Disaster Relief Fund
NAB grants
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Uber boss Travis Kalanick quits after shareholder revolt
The taxi app's co-founder is forced out as chief executive, just a week after he confirmed he was taking indefinite leave.
By James Sillars, Business Reporter
Wednesday 21 June 2017 09:30, UK
Image: Travis Kalanick had already taken time out from his role
Uber's troubled chief executive, Travis Kalanick, has quit following a revolt by major shareholders.
He agreed to leave his post at the taxi app firm after receiving a letter demanding his resignation from some of its top investors.
The shareholders joined forces just a week after Mr Kalanick announced he was taking time out to battle personal problems.
He confirmed he had quit in a statement to the New York Times which said Uber's mission - currently beset by accusations of a toxic culture - must come first.
Uber boss sorry for taxi driver rant
Mr Kalanick said: "I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors' request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight."
Mr Kalanick, who recently admitted he needed to "fundamentally change and grow up", had said when he took indefinite leave a week ago that he wanted to think about "Uber 2.0" and "Travis 2.0".
His own issues came to a head in March after a video surfaced showing him in an angry pay row with an Uber driver.
More from Uber
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Taxi union boss found not guilty of assaulting police with loud megaphone
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Can I still use Uber in London? Here's what the TfL decision means
Uber stripped of London licence over passenger safety risk
Uber fights rearguard action as regulators weigh London ban
He also said he needed time to grieve for his mother, who died in a boating accident last month.
Uber said that while he was no longer chief executive, he would remain on its board.
The company's statement on his resignation said: "Travis has always put Uber first. This is a bold decision and a sign of his devotion and love for Uber.
"By stepping away, he's taking the time to heal from his personal tragedy while giving the company room to fully embrace this new chapter in Uber's history. We look forward to continuing to serve with him on the board."
Image: Uber has grown into the world's largest ride-sharing service
The company's problems are not confined to its internal battles over bullying and sexual harassment claims.
Its charge to become the world's biggest ride-hailing service has sparked regulatory challenges globally, including in the UK where it has fought drivers claiming an entitlement to minimum pay and a holiday wage.
It is currently fighting allegations it is relying on a key piece of technology stolen from Google spin-off Waymo to build self-driving cars.
But it has already begun efforts to turn its image around.
On Monday, in the wake of Mr Kalanick's temporary departure, Uber's board launched a six-month programme of reforms including allowing riders to give drivers tips through the Uber app, something the company had previously resisted.
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Van Dyke’s Partner Takes Stand, Claims Shooting Was ‘Necessary Action’
Day 2 of witness testimony in the high-profile murder trial
Matt Masterson | September 18, 2018 4:34 pm
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke listens in as an image showing the shooting death of Laquan McDonald is displayed during the trial on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune / Pool)
Even after he’d been shot 16 times and lay dying on Pulaski Road, Laquan McDonald still posed a threat to Chicago police officers because he held a knife in his hand. That’s what the partner of Jason Van Dyke testified during the second day of arguments in the high-profile murder trial.
Former Officer Joseph Walsh, who was partnered with Van Dyke on Oct. 20, 2014 when Van Dyke shot and killed McDonald, was one of five current or former Chicago Police Department personnel who testified Tuesday.
Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder after shooting McDonald during a police call on the Southwest Side. He also faces 16 counts of aggravated battery and one count of official misconduct. Prosecutors have painted this as an unjustified shooting while the defense says Van Dyke acted within the scope of his training.
Walsh admitted on the witness stand he was “startled” when Van Dyke fired his first shot at McDonald, but contends the teen raised his knife to shoulder level and remained a threat to officers until the knife was out of his hand.
In a surprising move later in the day, Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan tossed prosecution evidence and struck a witnesses’ testimony from the record, saying it wouldn’t help jurors better understand what was happening at the time of the shooting.
Below, updates from day two of the trial. Get updates from day one here.
3:18 p.m.: Enhanced Video Evidence Tossed Out
Jurors watched dashcam footage of the shooting several more times – but slowed down to one-quarter speed.
FBI audio/video analyst Mark Messick testified that he created “enhanced” versions of the original video by slowing down portions of it and adding green arrows to depict bullets as they hit McDonald’s body.
He also added an oval shape around McDonald to highlight him as he walked down Pulaski Road and fell to the ground.
But jurors won’t be able to consider that evidence in their deliberations: Gaughan struck the video and all of Messick’s testimony from the record.
Defense attorney Daniel Herbert argued that Messick is not an expert in ballistics and couldn’t testify about what was going on in the video. Messick testified that he couldn’t say with certainty that the arrows in the video were 100-percent accurate.
The judge agreed with Herbert and said the enhanced video does not help jurors better understand what they were seeing at the scene.
2:10 p.m.: Smith & Wesson Recovered
Jason Van Dyke’s 9 mm semiautomatic Smith & Wesson used in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald appears in court on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune / Pool)
Chicago Police Detective Roberto Garcia, who was assigned to investigate McDonald’s death, testified that he and an evidence technician recovered Van Dyke’s Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun at a police station in the hours after the shooting.
That gun was shown in court, along with the fully loaded magazine of 9 mm bullets that Garcia recovered with it. Van Dyke’s attorneys had previously try to bar prosecutors from mentioning at trial the fact that Van Dyke had reloaded his weapon after shooting McDonald 16 times.
On cross-examination, Garcia also testified that it’s standard procedure during this sort of investigation to recover the weapon used in any police-involved shooting.
Following that testimony, retired Chicago police Officer Victor Rivera took the stand to discuss additional metal bullet fragments he inventoried at a hospital following an McDonald’s autopsy.
1:42 p.m.: Blood-Stained Clothing
Officer Kamal Judeh, an evidence technician with the Chicago Police Department, testified about how he processed the scene on South Pulaski Road and located various bullet casings and metal fragments after McDonald was shot in October 2014.
Jurors were also shown dozens of photos and a video Judeh took at the scene the night of McDonald’s death. They depicted those fragments and casings surrounding two pools of blood on the pavement while a knife lay nearby.
Jurors also saw images of the clothes McDonald wore the night of his death, including underwear and a black hoodie that appeared to be stained with blood.
12:18 p.m.: “Gasping for Air”
Testimony from two more witnesses at the scene the night of McDonald’s death:
Chicago Police Officer David Ivankovich, who was up first, was shown dashcam footage from his squad car as it raced toward 41st Street and Pulaski Road following a “hot call” that an officer was in need of help.
Ivankovich and his partner were armed with a Taser. As another officer testified Monday, police near McDonald were “trying to buy time” until the Taser arrived on the scene. Ivankovich testified that he was around 59th Street and Pulaski when he learned that shots had been fired. About one minute later, he was at the scene of the shooting as footage from his dashcam showed McDonald laying on the ground.
Adam Murphy next took the stand. He’s an officer with the Cook County Sheriff’s Department who was on Cicero Avenue the night of the shooting when he saw Chicago police squad vehicles heading to McDonald’s location.
Murphy said he followed the officers to 41st and Pulaski where McDonald lay on the ground. Murphy testified that he put on rubber gloves and planned to give first aid to McDonald.
He heard McDonald “gasping for air and gurgling” and told the teen an ambulance was on the way, but received no response from McDonald.
11:43 a.m.: “Trying to Get Away”
Xavier Torres testifies from the witness stand at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune / Pool)
Xavier Torres, a 26-year-old utility worker, testified that he had an unobstructed view of McDonald being shot.
Torres and his father were heading to the hospital the night of the shooting, and during their trip, they came across McDonald and police officers on South Pulaski Road.
Torres said he never saw McDonald make any threatening movements toward officers and that he appeared to be walking toward a fence outside a nearby construction area – not toward officers Van Dyke and Walsh.
“It just looked like he was trying to get away from all the officers,” Torres said. He also testified that he saw McDonald move while on the ground after being shot “like he was in pain.”
On cross-examination, defense attorney Randy Rueckert questioned Torres about an interview he gave to FBI officials months after the shooting. Torres admitted it had been a long time and he didn’t recall exactly what he told the FBI.
“It’s been awhile,” Torres said.
Rueckert responded that it’s been awhile since the shooting, too.
“Yep,” Torres said.
11:17 a.m.: Still a Threat
Joseph Walsh, who was Van Dyke’s partner on the night of the shooting, took the stand for more than an hour and testified that he believed Van Dyke “took necessary action to save himself and myself.”
He was shown dashcam video of McDonald being shot and testified that he believed the teen still posed a threat as he lay on the ground after being shot because he still had a knife in hand and was “moving.” He also admitted he was “startled” by Van Dyke’s first shot.
Walsh repeatedly said the dashcam video didn’t reflect what he saw from his perspective on the scene. He also demonstrated to the jury how he saw McDonald raise the knife to shoulder level and look at himself and Van Dyke “with a stare and focus beyond us” at the time of the shooting.
Walsh testified under a grant of use immunity, meaning anything he said on the stand cannot be used against him in any other case. He and two other Chicago officers face charges stemming from an alleged cover-up of what happened on the night of the shooting.
9:43 a.m.: Jury Questioning
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune / Pool)
Tuesday’s hearing began with Gaughan questioning each juror about whether they have spoken with anyone or heard anyone talking about this case in their presence. One juror said her brother-in-law was speaking about the case near her, but she asked him to stop. That juror was then asked to look at Van Dyke and the prosecutors and say if she could still give them a fair trial. She said she could, and remains on the jury.
The trial will resume Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. Find full coverage of the trial here.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | mmasterson@wttw.com | (773) 509-5431
Van Dyke Trial to Stay in Cook County as Arguments Get Underway
Van Dyke Opts for Jury Trial as Venue Decision Looms
Van Dyke Case: ‘The More You Dig Into This, The Less Open-And-Shut It Is’
Prosecutors Want Bail Revoked After Van Dyke Speaks Out
A Timeline of the Laquan McDonald Shooting
Jason Van Dyke
Jason Van Dyke Being Held in Maryland Facility
Jason Van Dyke No Longer in Federal Custody
Judge Lifts Decorum Order in Jason Van Dyke Case, Freeing Up Last Documents
‘16 Shots’ Documentary Examines Fatal Shooting of Laquan McDonald
Report: Jason Van Dyke Distraught After Killing Laquan McDonald
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Google brings IBM Power Systems to its cloud
Frederic Lardinois
TechCrunch January 13, 2020
As Google Cloud looks to convince more enterprises to move to its platform, it needs to be able to give businesses an onramp for their existing legacy infrastructure and workloads that they can't easily replace or move to the cloud. A lot of those workloads run on IBM Power Systems with their Power processors, and, until now, IBM was essentially the only vendor that offered cloud-based Power systems. Now, however, Google is also getting into this game by partnering with IBM to launch IBM Power Systems on Google Cloud.
Update: Seattle-based Skytap also offers support for IBM Power systems and makes them available in its own cloud, as well as Azure and IBM Cloud.
"Enterprises looking to the cloud to modernize their existing infrastructure and streamline their business processes have many options," writes Kevin Ichhpurani, Google Cloud's corporate VP for its global ecosystem, in today's announcement. "At one end of the spectrum, some organizations are re-platforming entire legacy systems to adopt the cloud. Many others, however, want to continue leveraging their existing infrastructure while still benefiting from the cloud’s flexible consumption model, scalability, and new advancements in areas like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and analytics."
Power Systems support obviously fits in well here, given that many companies use them for mission-critical workloads based on SAP and Oracle applications and databases. With this, they can take those workloads and slowly move them to the cloud, without having to re-engineer their applications and infrastructure. Power Systems on Google Cloud is obviously integrated with Google's services and billing tools.
This is very much an enterprise offering, without a published pricing sheet. Chances are, given the cost of a Power-based server, you're not looking at a bargain, per-minute price here.
Because IBM has its own cloud offering, it's a bit odd to see it work with Google to bring its servers to a competing cloud -- though it surely wants to sell more Power servers. The move makes perfect sense for Google Cloud, though, which is on a mission to bring more enterprise workloads to its platform. Any roadblock the company can remove works in its favor, and, as enterprises get comfortable with its platform, they'll likely bring other workloads to it over time.
A bunch of promising cheap, new smartphones from Apple, Google, and others are expected to launch this year — and it says a lot about where the industry is headed
A group of small tech firms told Congress that Google, Apple and Amazon used bullying tactics to try to crush them. Here are some of the most astounding stories they shared.
Therap's EHR Software Provides Data Driven Outcomes (DDO) Tool to Support Evidence-Based Approaches in Care for Persons with Disabilities
Therap's Developmental Disability Software Provides Case Management Tools Supporting Conflict-Free Case Management
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Octopus Healthcare helps fill the gap in quality care home supply
Rebecca Askwith
First Published on Carehomeprofessional.com
Elderly care home fund manager Ben Penaliggon says Octopus Healthcare’s raison d’etre is to provide more quality accommodation for the UK care home market.
“It’s a well-known fact that there’s a real shortage of quality elderly care home investment product in the market,” Ben told CHP.
“There’s a chronic undersupply of quality accommodation that needs to be addressed. Developing new sites is a long and complicated process and we need an awful lot of new homes in the UK.” Octopus Healthcare has seen increasing investor interest since the launch of its Octopus Healthcare Fund, its open-ended care home fund, in 2017. “It seemed to us a real opportunity to create an
unlisted vehicle that was completely focused on the UK healthcare sector and we felt that would be of interest to institutional investors and would be of benefit to the UK healthcare sector generally, because we could help attract private capital to it,” Ben said.
The investor/developer has since attracted around £320m in equity to the Octopus Healthcare Fund, which has 23 assets. It also has a sister fund with 25 assets worth around £300m.The funds, which comprise trading assets, forward funding and forward commitment investments, focus on modern, purpose-built homes geared towards the private pay sector.“We think investor appetite for healthcare assets is going to grow,” Ben noted.“There’s a very important role that private capital can play in the sector and, for investors seeking long term, secure income, it can be very appealing.”
Octopus Healthcare took a global sample of institutional investors last year in which 37% of those with assets worth around $7trn said they intended to increase their exposure to healthcare real estate by up to 10%.
“We are definitely seeing that because of the market fundamentals of rising demand from multiple different needs-based demand drivers and a constrained supply picture,” Ben observed.“We really need to replace obsolete stock in the sector before we start to meet that rising demand.“Those market fundamentals are hugely attractive for investors, particularly in an increasingly challenging geopolitical environment.” Ben said investors were additionally attracted to the sector’s long term leases of 30-35 years, inflation-linked rent increases and its attractive pricing in comparison with fixed income and general commercial real estate.
The Octopus Healthcare portfolio of 21 operators encompasses the full range of care home providers from SPV operators through to mid-tier and some of the UK’s largest players. “We need to invest in the right homes, in the right locations at sustainable rental levels,” Ben said. “That frequently takes us to densely populated urban areas but also to smaller towns.“We typically invest in 60-80 bed homes and those within the top 10-20% quality band.”
Affluence and access to the labour force are key metrics in the Octopus Healthcare investment strategy.
Care UK’s Weald Heights In Sevenoaks
Investments in the Octopus Healthcare Fund portfolio are currently focused on the south east and south west ranging up to the Midlands and the north west, although both funds have a UK-wide mandate. While first and foremost a real estate investor, Octopus Healthcare also boasts its own in-house development team, which has sourced around five of the assets in its portfolio.The in-house team has also sourced and gained planning permission for two or three sites which have been sold on to other developers and their care home partners.“We also work closely with a variety of developers and, using our relationships in the sector, can at times help identify tenants for sites,” Ben said.
“Historically, the vast majority of assets in our portfolio have been sourced off market. Access to product is a big piece of added value that we can bring as a specialist investor. That naturally takes us to sale and leaseback opportunities. We have seen an increasing appetite from operators to lease, which is clearly a positive trend.
“There’s a real role for the investment market to be part of the equation if you bear in mind the enormous capital investment that is going to be required over the next few years.”
In terms of home management, Octopus Healthcare sees itself as an “engaged landlord” keeping a close view on the operational performance of its services.
“We are absolutely aligned with our tenants when it comes to realising the operational potential of our homes,” Ben said.
Unusually for a real estate investor, Octopus Healthcare also boasts its own clinical team, consisting of a GP and two nurses, who are available to assist with care quality and compliance issues, as well as trouble shooting and sharing best practices from across the industry sector.
The investor’s standard leasing contract stipulates it receives quarterly management accounts from its homes.
“That allows us to monitor operating performance, and if things don’t go to plan we are then well informed at an early stage and well placed to potentially be part of the solution,” Ben noted.
The director said Octopus carried out an annual building survey of all its assets to ensure they remained well maintained.
“We play close attention to the cap ex homes receive,” Ben said. “It’s critical that buildings are invested in and well maintained.”
The investor’s standard leasing contract has a clause that requires an agreed minimum level of capital expenditure to be undertaken when necessary.
“It’s absolutely key that we are working with operators who share our values and our overriding desire to provide homes that will provide great care to residents,” said Ben.
“We really want to understand track record as well as resourcing. Values and governance are absolutely critical to us. If those values are right then the rest of the picture is likely to work well.”
Looking ahead, Ben said Octopus Healthcare would continue with its “very disciplined approach” to underwriting acquisitions.
“We are all about building a long-term, low-risk and scalable fund in the care sector, that provides investors with a good return,” he said. Ben added that Octopus Healthcare would continue to aim to invest around £200m in the market annually.
Investment has totalled just over £300m since the launch of the Octopus Healthcare Fund in August 2017.
“The key thing is to get the right real estate into the fund at the right rental levels,” Ben said.
“It’s a great thing that we are seeing rising investment demand in the sector to help finance the development of new accommodation and we are very privileged to be part of that. There’s a lot of constructive work to be done over the next few years in that regard.”
Octopus Healthcare is merging with Octopus Property to create a single real estate business
To take advantage of the opportunities within the UK property market, Octopus Healthcare is joining with Octopus Property to create a single business called Octopus Real Estate. Here we explain the thinking behind the merger. Read more
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Specs on Your Palm
Carrying specifications in the Palm of your hand.
Dave Pawson’s recent thread about Palm devices and DocBook reminded me that I used to carry a bunch of specifications around with me. What happened was, a couple of years ago, Eve Maler, Michael Sperberg-McQueen, and I were having dinner and we got to arguing about some detail related to whitespace in XML (or maybe it was something about entity expansion, I can’t recall for sure) and none of us had the XML spec with us. I swore, “Never again!”
I took several Palm document tools for a test drive and finally settled on iSilo. There’s a compiler for iSilo that can convert HTML files into Palm databases and all the specs I want are available in HTML.
It all worked just fine, and before long I was carrying around a small collection of specs. Then somewhere in Tokyo, I lost my Tungsten’s SD Card. For a while, I’ve been wandering around without my specs. It was Dave’s mail that reminded me of this awful truth!
Yesterday when I sat down to reinstall them, I realized that several had been updated since I last “compiled” them. Loathe to update a bunch of files by hand, I quickly concluded that I wouldn’t have to, at least for the W3C ones. You see, the input for the iSilo compiler is an XML document and the W3C publishes metadata for all the documents on the “tech reports” page in RDF.
It wasn’t too much work to bang out a quick XSLT stylesheet that transforms entries in the TR page RDF into input files for the iSilo compiler. (Update 07 Apr 2004: I tweaked the stylesheet a bit; the new version is more aggressive about finding the ToC and adds a depth parameter for specs that are broken into chunks.)
After transformation, it’s a simple matter of compiling and installing them:
Extensible Markup Language on my Palm
That screen shot is from a Palm emulator. I don’t know of an emulator for Linux that works with ROMs from my Tungsten. The iSilo’d specs are really quite readable on the Tungsten.
The stylesheet takes the “short name” of the document as a parameter, so handed “REC-xml,” it produces REC-xml.ixl, the input control file for the compiler, and REC-xml.marks, a set of bookmarks from the Table of Contents.
Building the bookmarks is the biggest weakness in the stylesheet. It relies on a div with class="toc" to find the Table of Contents and not all specs are marked up that way. Consistent markup for the ToC is probably a good candidate for a pubrules enhancement.
Anyway, I have my specs again (whew!) and with these tools, so can you! For a complete, compiled example of what you get, check out the Palm version of DocBook: The Definitive Guide .
It's nice to see someone else who uses thier PDA as a portable reference library for tech stuff. Since most of the software I deal with as a Unix SysAdmin has HTML documentation available, I do the same.
But instead of iSilo, may I suggest an alternative?
I use a product called Plucker. Plucker is free software, open source under the GNU Public License. There is a Plucker Viewer (written in C) which runs on your PalmOS device, and a Plucker desktop, written in Python, which parses HTML pages and creates PDB files which can be displayed by the viewer. There is also a version of the desktop written in Java, so you can run the desktop on most platforms.
Plucker runs fine on my old Visor Pro, reading documents off a 256MB CF card ina MemPlug CF adapter. I expect it to continue to run fine when I upgrade to a newer device. (Soon, I suspect: the Pro is showing its age. I'd have done so sooner save that hacks aren't supported under OS5, and too much of my setup relies on them.)
You can find Plucker at http://www.plkr.org.
[Dennis]
—Posted by Dennis McCunney on 04 Apr 2004 @ 11:55 UTC #
Typo in the href for REC-xml.marks (points to .ixl instead).
—Posted by Alastair Rankine on 05 Apr 2004 @ 01:26 UTC #
Isn't there an HTML viewer for Palm devices?
Opera's small screen rendering displays W3C's standards perfectly on my P800.
—Posted by Sjoerd Visscher on 05 Apr 2004 @ 09:21 UTC #
I took plucker for a quick test drive. It's not useful until it supports documents that are UTF-8 encoded, but otherwise looks promising.
And I fixed the broken link; thanks Alastair.
—Posted by Norman Walsh on 07 Apr 2004 @ 12:49 UTC #
As to the question of an HTML viewer, yes I think there are, though I have yet to find a good one. The advantage that tools like iSilo and Plucker have over a simple HTML viewer is that they compile all the files and images into a single database. That's easier to transfer and keep on the Palm device.
Any idea why the second version fails on xquery-operators Norm?
Pulls xpath2 xslt2 fine, yet http://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-operators matches 0 items.
which isn't right, since the spec exists.
—Posted by Dave Pawson on 14 Apr 2004 @ 08:08 UTC #
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Alireza Karimi
Biography of Alireza Karimi
Alireza Karimi received his PhD in the field of Mechanical Engineering - Bioengineering from Kyushu University Japan. He published more than 120 international peer-reviewed papers so far and will continue his career in academic world thru the collaborative studies with many scientists in the world. His primary research interests are including Biomedical Engineering, biomechanics, injury simulation, tissue engineering, and cell mechanics.
Mechanical Engineering Department, Kyushu University, Kyushu, Japan
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Quality Control of Display Devices for Medical Radiodiagnosis Employing the Standard TG18, GSDF and JND
Hospital Engineering of Medical Devices in France
Additive Manufacturing and Dentistry: Designing a Semi-Physiological Articulator
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Join Our Editorial Board
News release date: March 29, 2018
The Open Medical Devices Journal is an Open Access online journal, which publishes research articles, reviews, letters, case reports and guest-edited single topic issues in all areas of medical devices. Bentham Open ensures speedy peer review process and accepted papers are published within 2 weeks of final acceptance.
The Open Medical Devices Journal is committed to ensuring high quality of research published. We believe that a dedicated and committed team of editors and reviewers make it possible to ensure the quality of the research papers. The overall standing of a journal is in a way, reflective of the quality of its Editor(s) and Editorial Board and its members.
The Open Medical Devices Journal is seeking energetic and qualified researchers to join its editorial board team as Editorial Board Members or reviewers.
The essential criteria to become Editorial Board Members of The Open Medical Devices Journal are as follows:
Experience in medical devices with an academic degree.
At least 20 publication records of articles and /or books related to the field of medical devices or in a specific research field.
Proficiency in English language.
The Roles of Editorial Board Member are to:
Offer advice on journals’ policy and scope.
Submit or solicit at least one article for the journal annually.
Contribute and/or solicit Guest Edited thematic issues to the journal in a hot area (at least one thematic issue every two years).
Peer-review of articles for the journal, which are in the area of expertise (2 to 3 times per year).
If you are interested in becoming our Editorial Board member, please submit the following information to info@benthamopen.net. We will respond to your inquiry shortly.
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News release date: April 11, 2018
All articles would be published FREE of all open access fees if submitted by June 30th, 2018 in The Open Medical Devices Journal.
"Open access will revolutionize 21st century knowledge work and accelerate the diffusion of ideas and evidence that support just in time learning and the evolution of thinking in a number of disciplines."
. —Daniel Pesut. (Indiana University School of Nursing, USA).
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. —Jacques Descotes. (Centre Antipoison-Centre de Pharmacovigilance, France).
"Publishing research articles is the key for future scientific progress. Open Access publishing is therefore of utmost importance for wider dissemination of information, and will help serving the best interest of the scientific community."
. —Patrice Talaga. (UCB S.A., Belgium).
"Open access journals are a novel concept in the medical literature. They offer accessible information to a wide variety of individuals, including physicians, medical students, clinical investigators, and the general public. They are an outstanding source of medical and scientific information."
. —Jeffrey M. Weinberg. (St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, USA).
"Open access journals are extremely useful for graduate students, investigators and all other interested persons to read important scientific articles and subscribe scientific journals. Indeed, the research articles span a wide range of area and of high quality. This is specially a must for researchers belonging to institutions with limited library facility and funding to subscribe scientific journals."
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"Open access journals represent a major break-through in publishing. They provide easy access to the latest research on a wide variety of issues. Relevant and timely articles are made available in a fraction of the time taken by more conventional publishers. Articles are of uniformly high quality and written by the world's leading authorities."
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"Open Access 'Chemistry' Journals allow the dissemination of knowledge at your finger tips without paying for the scientific content."
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"In principle, all scientific journals should have open access, as should be science itself. Open access journals are very helpful for students, researchers and the general public including people from institutions which do not have library or cannot afford to subscribe scientific journals. The articles are high standard and cover a wide area."
. —Hubert Wolterbeek. (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands).
"The widest possible diffusion of information is critical for the advancement of science. In this perspective, open access journals are instrumental in fostering researches and achievements."
. —Alessandro Laviano. (Sapienza - University of Rome, Italy).
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"Open access journals make up a new and rather revolutionary way to scientific publication. This option opens several quite interesting possibilities to disseminate openly and freely new knowledge and even to facilitate interpersonal communication among scientists."
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"Open access journals are freely available online throughout the world, for you to read, download, copy, distribute, and use. The articles published in the open access journals are high quality and cover a wide range of fields."
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The Designer's Guide to Building a Brand Story
Welcome to the Course
Expectations of Today's Designer (1:19)
Meet Your Instructor (3:47)
What Is T Brand Studio? (3:01)
Special Offer: Industry Talk Free Pass
Designing for an Ad-Blocking World
How Do New Devices and Technologies Affect Designers of Today? (7:33)
How to Approach Design-First Narratives Using an Idea-First Model (3:07)
The Power of Design and UX (3:08)
Exercise (0:47)
Reading | Resources
How to Generate an Idea That Will Permeate the Culture
The Timesian Context and Approach to Designing Brand Stories (3:54)
How to Stand Out (4:16)
Gathering the Inspiration (2:33)
Observing the Insights and Expectations (3:36)
Defining the Goals and Budget (3:13)
Assessing the Resources and Facts (1:32)
Project Milestone 1 (2:04)
RFP From Prahs Energy Drink
Design Strategy Brief Template
Creative and Strategy Go Hand in Hand
Designing for Internal and External Clients (2:46)
Multimedia Becomes Standard Media (3:04)
Translating the Idea Into a Visual Strategy (1:08)
Visual Strategy (Venn Diagram)
The Importance of Moodboarding, Wireframing and Prototyping (2:48)
Example of an Annotated Paid Post Wireframe
Focusing on User Experience (5:09)
The Art of the Pitch (2:27)
Wireframe Guidelines
The Industry Is Seduced by the Execution
Creating the Assets and Refining the Product (1:49)
Less Is More (3:40)
The Difference Between UX and UI (3:09)
How to Handle Critiques (0:53)
Implementing the Informed Ideation (1:22)
Expectations From the Modern-Day Designer
Collaboration Is the Key to a Successful Program (2:37)
Following the Rules (3:15)
Testing the Assets and Making Adjustments (1:36)
Dealing With Feedback (0:38)
Designers as Mini-Producers (1:12)
Functional Spec Template
Making Design Decisions Based on Data and Shareability
What Happens Post-Launch? (3:05)
Tracking the Performance (1:22)
How to Stay Relevant (1:59)
Best Practices Aren’t Shaped Overnight
How to Stay Fresh in a Constantly Evolving Industry (2:52)
Using Design as a Tool to Keep Readers' Trust (2:31)
Adapting Insights and Improving Processes (2:18)
Final Project (1:00)
Course Wrap Up (1:36)
Submitted Student Projects
How Do New Devices and Technologies Affect Designers of Today?
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Brodie Retallick Taking Break From All Blacks
June 14, 2019 by Lauren Ball
Brodie Retallick, a former World Rugby player of the year, has recently inked a new deal with New Zealand Rugby that will see the player taking a break from the All Blacks. The 28 year old will be leaving New Zealand after the World Cup later this year to play a total of two seasons in Japan, which will also included an extended family break.
The player will be returning to the All Blacks set up in May of 2022 and will remain with the team until the World Cup that is set to take place in 2023. Retallick told reports that he made the decision to give his body a break, adding that he was grateful to have been given the chance to head to Japan and experience not only the rugby but for his family and to be part of a different culture. He continued, saying that he has been playing rugby with the Gallagher Chiefs and the All Blacks since 2012, and while he has enjoyed it and his workload has been well managed, he has decided to give his body a break from the New Zealand game.
The All Blacks, like the English team, have a policy of not selecting players who have moved overseas to play club rugby. Steve Hansen, All Blacks coach, told reporters that Brodie will no doubt be missed; it gives future coaches the chance to build more depth into playing sabbaticals.
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From the latest sports results to any upsets or developments in the betting world, Lauren makes it her business to know what’s going on in the industry and share it with those who have the same interests.
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Mrs Fatialofa Asks Fans to Pray for Michael
January 10, 2020 by Gary Hicks
Tatiana Fatialofa has reached out to her husband Michael’s supporters on Instagram, sharing a lengthy message in which she pleads for them to keep him in their thoughts and prayers. ….
The Fate of the Goodhue Mullet Is Up To You
January 6, 2020 by Lauren Ball
Jack Goodhue’s famous mullet’s fate is up to Joe and Jane Public. Thanks to a new fundraising campaign, you are being asked to weigh in as to what’s to happen ….
Rebellion’s a Possibility if World Rugby Changes Sevens Format
December 30, 2019 by Lauren Ball
World Rugby is said to be facing a possible rebellion by its World Series Sevens teams after implementing radical changes to the format of the tournament. The men’s teams are ….
Dr Mayhew Tells of Lomu’s Final Years
December 27, 2019 by Gary Hicks
Dr John Mayhew, affectionately known as Doc, worked with the All Blacks from 1988 to 2004 before going on to work with the Warriors. He became very close with Jonah ….
NZ Warriors Interested in Fa’asuamaleaui
The New Zealand Warriors Rugby League team has confirmed that they are interested in Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, the well-rated forward for Franklin Storm, but deny that the deal has already been ….
NZ Cricketers Are Collecting All the Awards
Williams Wins Auckland Classic Final Against Pegula
Ricky May Talks About Dying on Live TV
Taylor Becomes NZ’s Best-Ever Test Runscorer
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Beach Drive Remodel
By Kaity Teer
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Household Know-How
A Contemporary Coastal Landscape
Salt and Iron, Revisited
Arlington Community Resource Center
Maple and Moss
Housing Hope – Opening Doors, Changing Lives
Wonder Woman – Lisa Dulude
The Coloring Craze
Bothell Furniture
Olympic Ballet Theatre – Directors of Enchantment
As far as remodels are concerned, you might think that the most dramatic transformations are also the most expensive and the most complicated. The waterfront Beach Drive Remodel on Camano Island, executed by principal architect Dan Nelson of Designs Northwest Architects, proves these misconceptions wrong. The resulting transformation was so complete that neighbors believed it to be a newly constructed home, yet the remodel was cost effective and, at times, surprisingly simple.
“Most of the remodel was an exterior intervention,” Nelson said. “It was an amazing transformation. We turned it into a modern house. It’s now contemporary, eclectic, and warm.”
He affectionately described the home’s original exterior as something reminiscent of a mid-century Econolodge. Renovations included removing false dormers from the mansard roof, adding corrugated steel panels, expanding window openings overlooking the water, and enhancing the entryway with arbors and steel columns.
While the interior also received a facelift, its transformation was achieved through strategic, less intensive changes. The staircase was improved by replacing wooden handrails, which were dark and heavy, with modern stainless steel cable.
Homeowners Ron and Judy Hoefer recognized the home’s potential, despite its lackluster, dated exterior. Intrepid remodelers, it was Ron Hoefer who discovered the original wooden stairs hidden beneath carpet. Willing to contribute more than a little elbow grease, Hoefer sanded and stained the stairs. The Hoefers were inspired by shingled beachfront buildings, both commercial and residential, in Canon Beach, Oregon, where they have traveled annually for almost forty years.
The Hoefers had previously built and remodeled several homes together, so their experience and input was an asset. “We had a great team that communicated well and really listened to us. It’s so important to choose a good team of architects, designers, and contractors,” Ron Hoefer said. “We ended with a great product, as well as our sanity, love, and appreciation.”
For homebuyers looking to achieve a similarly impressive, cost-effective remodel, Nelson advised evaluating a home’s structure. “The trick is to find a house that has a good structure already,” Nelson said. “It quickly becomes expensive when you decide to make structural modifications, for example, by adding a second story or other addition.”
The Hoefers enjoy spending time near the water with their friends and family, and enjoy demonstrating their hospitality. When asked about his favorite feature in the home, Hoefer said, “When you walk in the front door, you see a wall of windows that showcase the beauty of the water, Mt. Baker, and the Cascades. I suppose that’s what I love best about it. I love to see the sun rise over Mt. Baker in the summertime. And in the evening, when the sun is setting, you get this moon river effect coming across the bay.”
"The resulting transformation was so complete that neighbors believed it to be a newly constructed home, yet the remodel was cost effective and, at times, surprisingly simple."
Related Habitat Articles
A Picture-Perfect Refuge
Bay View House – Featured Home
Keeping Your Home ‘Healthy’
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A few more''• cli-fi bullets'' written for cli-fi novelists and screenwriters of the near future
NOTE: Here are dozens more''• cli-fi bullets'' written for cli-fi novelists and screenwriters of the near future -- Dan Bloom, editor, The Cli-Fi Report
UPDATE EVEN MORE: with more editorial input from friends and readers: SEE:
http://northwardho.blogspot.tw/2016/02/cli-fi-bullets-some-more-brief-zen-like.html
• Cli-Fi cannot, will not, save us from what's coming. Too late for that. But it's here, now, always. We have 30 generations to prepare. See?
• In the future, come 30 more generations of man, there will be no #CliFi. By 2500 A.D. (Anthrocenus Deflexus) it will be too late.
• People want cli-fi to offer solutions, comfortable happy fixes. Aint gonna happen. We are ''doomed, doomed'' as a species, and we did it to ourselves.
• Cli-Fi cannot, will not, save us from what's coming. Too late for that. But it's here, now, always. We have 30 generations to prepare. There's time.
• Cli-fi won't make much of a difference either way you define it. It's just here, now, beckoning future writers. It's not sci-fi, never was.
• Cli-fi is more than a mere genre: it's a cri de coeur, a warning flare, a pathway to the future before it's too late.
• Cli-fi is not sci-fi, it is not eco-fiction, it is not subgenred to anything earlier. #CliFi is a hashtag burning its stamp into our very skin, as we prepare.
• Cli-fi wasn't just a case of slapping a new name on an old genre. It's much deeper and existential than that. Think game-changer, new directions.
• We'll never make it out of here alive. That's cli-fi in a nutshell. Man the lifeboats, prepare to test the seas of one season after the next.
• Cli-fi defines a line the sands of time that no man can cross without trepidation or reverence. There's a reason we are here. What is it?
• If cli-fi is one thing, it's a chance to choose our future. One door leads here, another door leads there. Choose wisely: Your descendants are waiting.
• There's a tragic flaw in our genes, a selfish shellfish that doesn't want to share. This DNA will be our downfall. This Earth shall abide.
• Cli-fi doesn't choose sides. We do. Choose your weapon, use it wisely. We are here by the grace of God, and someday we won't be. God knows.
• You could say that in a post-sci-fi world, cli-fi has come to rescue us from oblivion. Not true. No way.
• You might not really be interested in cli-fi, or where it is going. But trust me, cli-fi is interested in you. Why? Becos the End is nigh
• When all is said and done, cli-fi points in only one direction. It's for everyone to find it on their own. ON THE BEACH from 1957 has clues.
• Cli-fi is not about who coined it or who popularized it. It's about much more pressing things, like how many more generations before the End?
• I never met a future I didn't like. No, that can't be true. Some futures spell the end of humankind. It's in the cards. Choose your exit.
• Cli-fi is neither pro nor con. It just is. Take your pick. Choose yr sides. We are at war with a future that threatens all futures. Arise!
• Cli-fi is so much a part of this world that on first hearing the word or seeing it in print, it slips right by, invisble, unnoticed.
• If by some remote chance you find yourself reading a cli-fi novel without realizing it's cli-fi, you have found it.
• There are are still 30 generations to be born before the real apocalypse begins. This now is just rehearsal. An audition.
• Cli-fi leads to a meeting of the minds, borderless, rudderless, unconsolable. Will we get there on time?
• If you think time is running out, or has already run out, in terms of the unspeakable cli-fi future we face, you are very close to solving the riddle. Why are we here?
• I don't want to sound pessimistic, as optimism must abound and console us. But listen to the wind, hear the chimes singing, ringing.
• Cli-fi has a place in our hearts and minds, now and forever. But forever is no longer forever. We sold the farm.
• Cli-fi can, and will, shine a light on the darkness that is about to befall us. Let's stick together and shoulder the burden.
• You didn't know cli-fi was coming. Nobody did. It's taken us by surprise.
• There will be days when cli-fi is beyond us, unscoutable, undetected. All the more reason to pay attention.
• Cli-fi doesn't mean resignation or giving in to the darkness ahead. To the contrary, it means taking up arms.
• If a time shall come when all else fails, cli-fi may just come to the rescue. Make room.
• Cli-fi cannot answer all our questions or undo the deeds we have done. No. But she can unburden us of our fears.
• There will come a time when there is no time left. That's where, and when, cli-fi comes in.
• Who will write the cli-fi of the future? They will be legion, legends. Welcome them.
• Cli-fi is more than a mere genre term, much more than a literary term. It's a battle cry, a cri decoeur, a shout-out to future generations: "We tried to warn you!"
• Think positive, think cli-fi. Think future generations, think now. Think the end is nigh unless we change our ways.
• There is no way out of here, said the sailors to the sun. Thirty more generations is all we have left. What then?
• Ploddingly, one step at a time, we are marching to future days. Cli-fi cannot stop the deluge, yet we must not surrender. Never.
• With sea levels rising in future times, Nature has been turned on its head. Cli-fi paints a picture, sight unseen.
• If we could see CO2, smell it, know that is there, over-loaded, we might be able to put out the fires. But it is invisible, odorless.
• Whatever generation you belong to, know in your heart that there is no way out of here. Nature has spoken, Earth recoils. Write on.
• Cli-fi cannot, will not, lead the way. This is a clean-up action, and way too late. But it matters nevertheless.
• One cannot see the future, cli-fi is blind. But the stories we tell will matter, even if it is all for naught.
• Not doomed yet? What will it take to connect the dots? Not doomed yet? Some overly-rosy displays of optimism in print could be seen as pathological.
• As humans, like all life forms, we are hardwired and programmed to believe that the near future will be similar to the recent past. Our Achilles heel, so to speak.
• Cli-fi won't solve our problems, and can't undo what's done. Fasten your seatbelts. This is a ride to Hell.
• Climate change is more than a fact of life. It is the result of human ingenuity, greed, rapaciousness and fear. Fear not: cli-fi is here. Write it.
• I came to the table naive and unquestioning. I left totally convinced there will be dead people, lots of dead people. That was the genesis of cli-fi.
• You might not want to go down the cli-fi road, and that's okay. It's not for everyone. It's not a pretty picture, not a happy selfie. It's disaster, writ large.
• In the long and rambling history of humankind, cli-fi will be just a blip on the radar screen. Pay it no heed.
• You weren't born yesterday. Your descendants may not even be born at all, ever. That's how unfathomable cli-fi is.
• If you can manage to fit the personal stories of cli-fi between the covers of a book, do it. With trepidation. Know your audience.
• Cli-fi will have no denouement, no act three, no happy ending, no Greek chorus, no social media take-away. Push send.
• Sorry, but this is how cli-fi is going to be, in the Anthropocene. Just 12 letters spelling doom.
• I wish there was some cli-fi way out of here, but there ain't. Ain't ain't ain't. Ain't ain't ain't times ten, ten thousand times times ten.
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A statement in solidarity with Black Lives Matter from The CAIR Project and the Network for Reproductive Options
Last week, police officers murdered three Black men: Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and Alva Braziel. Police also killed six Latinxs: Fermin Vincent Valenzuela, Vinson Ramos, Melissa Ventura, Anthony Nuñez, Pedro Villanueva, and Raul Saavedra-Vargas.
The CAIR Project and the Network for Reproductive Options are saddened, sickened, and outraged by this racist violence.
As organizations currently with a majority of White board members and volunteers, we stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and the many other organizations that have been working for racial justice, and we call on the White people among our families, friends, and communities to join this movement.
White silence fuels violence.
Our hearts go out to the families of the victims of racist violence, as well as to those of the five murdered Dallas police officers. We mourn them, and we mourn the many trans and gender non-conforming people of color murdered this year, among them Monica Loera, Jasmine Sierra, Veronica Banks Cano, Maya Young, Demarkis Stansberry, Kedarie/Kandicee Johnson, Kourtney Yochum, Shante Thompson, Keyonna Blakeney, Reese Walker, Mercedes Successful, Amos Beede, and Goddess Diamond. We also mourn the 49 lives, mostly queer Latinx people, lost to hate in Orlando.
We are abortion funds. We believe all people should be able to determine if and when to have children, and to raise children in safe and healthy environments, free from violence. Black Lives Matter is central to our missions because anti-Black racism prevents many Black people from doing this.
We recognize that anti-Black racism is the root cause of police and other violence against Black communities, and that anti-Black racism is at the core of White supremacy. White supremacy is, in the words of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective co-founder, Loretta Ross, “a set of ideas created to generate wealth in the United States and reserve it for the benefit of a certain group of people, originally property-owning White men. It has evolved into a totalizing system—a toxic sea in which we all swim.”
We affirm the humanity and dignity of all Black people and people of color, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, income, immigration status, national origin, language, and other identities. We recognize that discrimination based on these identities overlaps.
We recognize that the murders of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and Alva Braziel are the latest in a legacy of systemic, racist violence and devaluation of Black life that reaches back before the founding of the United States.
We deplore and condemn the police brutality and other forms of racist violence that rob children of parents, and parents of children.
We demand that police stop the violence against people of color. We demand accountability for those who do commit this racist violence.
We reject deflections such as “All Lives Matter.”
We refuse to succumb to feelings of helplessness or hopelessness.
We commit to doing the ongoing work it takes to become/be anti-racist organizations.
We commit to opposing racism in our personal and professional lives, every day. This means examining and interrupting our own racist thoughts and actions. This means holding other White people accountable. This means using our “power and privilege responsibly in the service of justice.”
We recognize that because racist oppression is systemic and institutional, individual change is not enough. We commit to using our social capital, power, and privilege to change the systems, structures, and organizational cultures that perpetuate violence and White supremacy.
We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and other organizations working for justice, respect, and dignity for communities of color.
We echo the National Network of Abortion Funds with this call to action: “If you have not been paying attention, this is the time to start. If you have been paying attention and have remained silent, this is the time to speak. If you have been speaking and unwilling to take action, this is the time to act. If you have been acting, it is time to get louder.”
There are a lot of ways to get involved, and we ask you to take action on some level. Talk to your family, neighbors, and coworkers. On a community level, investigate your city or town's police oversight policies. Get involved in your local chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice. Donate money to organizations like Black Lives Matter. When people are arrested for demonstrating, donate to the bail fund to get them out of jail and back in their communities.
Northwest Abortion Access Fund is a member of the national network of abortion funds (NNAF).
© 2019 Northwest Abortion Access Fund
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MVP Invitational College Coach Recap
The 2018 MVP Invitational hosted over 500 athletes and 55 college coaches for an intense three-day tournament at West Chester University.
The 2018 MVP Invitational was held this past weekend at the former home to the Philadelphia Eagles’ training camp, West Chester University. MVP is one of the oldest recruiting events in the country, differentiating itself by being held on college campuses all over the US. New to this year, MVP was held at West Chester University for the first time. Players and parents had the opportunity to explore the campus and college town in West Chester, PA.
Over the course of the three days, this invite-only event attracted 55 NCAA college coaches from 47 different schools. Six Division I, eight Division II and 33 Division III schools populated the sidelines to watch 2019, 2020, and 2021 recruiting classes. Included in the line-up was the 2017 NCAA National Champions, University of Maryland and 2017 Ivy League Semi-Finalist, Princeton University.
The 32 teams, totaling over 500 players, that attended had a maximum-exposure experience to the scouts as they played on only five fields. Players traveled as far north as Connecticut and upstate New York to as south as Georgia to compete against some of the most competitive club teams in the country. Below is the complete list of college coaches that attended the first MVP Invitational:
COLLEGE COACHES AT THE MVP INVITATIONAL
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE COACHES SIGN IN SHEET
University of Maryland (DI)
Princeton (DI)
NJIT (DI)
Canisius (DI)
Bucknell (DI)
Mount St Mary College (DI)
Tampa (DII)
Chestnut Hill College (DII)
Florida Southern (DII)
Lees-McRae (DII)
University of Indianapolis (DII)
Post University (DII)
Mars Hill University (DII)
Wilmington University (DII)
Lynn University (DII)
Eastern University (DII)
RIT (DIII)
Cabrini (DIII)
McDaniel College (DIII)
Goucher College (DIII)
Delaware Valley University (DIII)
Hartwick College (DIII)
Misericordia University (DIII)
The Sage College (DIII)
Thiel College (DIII)
Bard College (DIII)
Franklin & Marshall (DIII)
Keystone College (DIII)
Moravian College (DIII)
Barton College (DIII)
University of Mount Union (DIII)
Marietta College (DIII)
Wooster (DIII)
King’s College (DIII)
Virginia Wesleyan (DIII)
Widener University (DIII)
College of Wooster (DIII)
Fairleigh Dickinson (DIII)
Neumann (DIII)
Marian University (DIII)
Lycoming (DIII)
Ferrum College (DIII)
Drew University (DIII)
Muskingum University (DIII)
Alvernia (DIII)
DeSales University (DIII)
Albright College (DIII)
Follow Showcase Lacrosse on Twitter and Instagram. Click here to view the photos from the MVP Invitational.
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More Than A Club: Episode 6
Brett Manney, current New England Blackwoves (NLL) and Team USA Indoor Defenseman joins this episode as a featured guest. An original leader of NXT Lacrosse, Brett shares his lacrosse journey through his multi-sport background to playing at the University of Delaware to going full-time in the lacrosse world. Topics discussed include club lacrosse, professional lacrosse in the MLL and NLL, box lacrosse, leadership and networking with other coaches.
Tony Resch brings one of the most impressive lacrosse resumes ever to his first podcast appearance. Currently a High School Guidance Counselor and Coach at La Salle College High School as well as an Assistant Coach with the PLL Archers and the GM of the USA U-19 Team, Tony shares his journey. Topics discussed include multi-sport athletes, humble beginnings with the sport of lacrosse, a two-sport career at Yale, his playing and coaching career with his hometown Philadelphia Wings, and more on his time with the NLL, MLL, PLL and Team USA.
Tucker Durkin, current Assistant Men's Lacrosse Coach at Drexel, PLL All-Star and Team USA Defenseman joins this episode as a featured guest. A former player of Coach Leahy's during his time at La Salle College High School, Durkin shares his story and mindset now as both a pro player and college coach. Topics discussed include the recruiting process, Tucker's favorite teammates, Johns Hopkins, Team USA's World Games victory and playing in the newly founded Premier Lacrosse League (PLL).
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John Lees
Speaker available for hire, based in Victoria
John Lees has special qualities as a keynote speaker and trainer that make him a great asset to any organisation and all types of conferences and events. Mr Lees has the capacity to affect profoundly the business performance of those who take on board his ideas. His presentations are memorable and enjoyable, leaving a lasting impression. Whether it is a small meeting or a very large one, John Lees is equally effective – his clients think Lees is a 'three-dimensional man':
1ST DIMENSION: He offers countless original and proven ideas on modern business achievement in Australia, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific and in major international markets.
2ND DIMENSION: He is a compelling 'platform communicator', with inspirational and original messages for people at all levels in business.
3RD DIMENSION: He is able to entertain audiences with a rare gift of humour that is altogether unexpected, increasing the impact and understanding of his ideas.
John Lees’ experience in the sales industry is extensive. He was a sales representative with Reckitt & Colman, in the UK and then Australia, and became their youngest ever State Sales Manager in NSW at age 25. Three years later he was 'headhunted' to join Schwarzkopf as National Sales Manager, and went on to become the Marketing and Sales Director for Australia and NZ. Under his guidance, those operations became the most successful worldwide. His success led to more engagements and John Lees was asked to perform an international consulting role for Schwarzkopf. In this role, he introduced his advanced business ideas to the American, Canadian, British, South African, Asian and leading European markets.
Consultant, trainer and keynote speaker
Since forming his own consulting firm in Sydney, John Lees has developed an enviable reputation as a consultant, trainer and keynote speaker. At over 1000 conferences, John Lees has trained sales people and sales managers from some of Australia's and New Zealand's leading organisations. He coaches on leadership skills and has created many training products to help in personal and business development. As well as being a popular speaker, John Lees is the author of excellent books on sales techniques and has produced a range of motivational audio presentations.
SAMPLE OF PRESENTATIONS
* How To Create Profitable Customer Relationships (for people in selling and consulting)
* The Move from Order Taker to Sales Maker (for people in selling and consulting)
* How To Guarantee The Bottom-Line (for senior managers in sales and marketing)
* Business Is Never Good Or Bad, It's What You Make It (for people in small business)
* Winning ... With Service Attitudes And Team Work (for people at all levels in business)
* After-Dinner (Motivational) Humour (according to your theme and needs)
These titles can be organised as keynote presentations or workshops, and full details of presentations are available upon request.
John Lees’ classics
John Lees has a range of classic presentations that have endured because of their continuing relevance and success, including:
* Sold ... On Selling!
* Succeeding ... On Purpose!
* Retailing Success in the 90s
* Manage The Customers ... Lead the Staff
* The Critical Steps Before and After Service
* How Management Can Improve Business Results
BOOKS PUBLISHED INCLUDE:
* The Move from Order-Taker to Sales Maker
* Successful Sales Management
* Small Business is Never Good or Bad…It’s what you Make It!
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Author: Boyce Tankersley
Boyce Tankersley serves as director of living plant documentation at the Chicago Botanic Garden. His staff’s responsibilities include maintaining records on all aspects of over 2.7 million plants. These aspects include accuracy of inventories, maps, labels, plant purchase order database while also recording phenology (blooming times), carbon storage (carbon sequestration), soils, Image, DNA and Herbarium vouchers and transferring older media images (slides) into digital files. He serves as an advisor to a number of international botanic gardens and arboreta and is active in American Public Gardens Association and Botanic Gardens Conservation International. His hobbies include gardening, archeology, anything related to geophytes (bulbs) and science fiction literature. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture from NMSU, a Master of Science in Floriculture from TAMU, and a Certificate in Gardening from the Royal Horticultural Society.
Discovery of the Red Fernleaf Peony
As plant collectors, we spend a lot of time and energy researching the flora of the areas we are going to visit. We search out areas of the world where the climate is similar to that of the midwestern United States, and we make lists. Lots of lists.
Massive spreadsheets document travel plans, emergency contacts; high-value germplasm that we hope to find at each of our planned collection locations; and costs: airfare, gasoline in the country, driver wages, botanist guides, food, and lodging. All of this data is condensed into a one-page document that our hosts submit to the national environmental agencies within each country for approval and permits for the trip. Among our goals on plant-collecting trips is to collect seeds to conserve and to look for plants of horticultural interest to display in our collections.
Paeonia tenuifolia
Invariably, some of the treasures we return with are unanticipated. Such was our discovery of a very large population of Paeonia tenuifolia that was unknown to Georgian scientists in the remote and sparsely populated Vashlovani Reserve—a peninsula-shaped area surrounded by Azerbaijan on three sides, containing large rolling hills breaking into badlands—areas so heavily eroded I thought I was in the Badlands of the Dakotas.
We were in search of seeds of unusual bulbs in the Vashlovani Nature Reserve with Peter Zale from Longwood Gardens (the trip organizer), Panyoti Kelaidis from the Denver Botanic Gardens, and Manana Khutsishvili from the Institute of Botany, Ilia State University.
It was one of those breathtakingly beautiful days, with the rolling grasslands backdropped by the snow-covered peaks of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range. Dirt roads had not been graded in quite a while, and the sun-baked ruts left over from the winter rains gave rise to the trip joke: shaken, not stirred. This was definitely four-wheel-drive country.
One of our target species in this area was Merendera trigyna, a beautiful spring-flowering Colchicum relative with pale pink to white flowers about twice the size of Crocus and blooming about the same time. Our data source was a herbarium voucher on file with the Institute of Botany Herbarium in Tbilisi. Peter had entered the coordinates into the GPS receiver after lunch, and the road seemed to head in the correct direction. A couple of hours later we were on the border with Azerbaijan and the coordinates suggested we needed to cross the border—not a match with the written description of the location on the herbarium voucher.
We continued to skirt the border, and an hour later we found a hilltop that allowed Manana to make a cellphone call back to the herbarium in Tbilisi. Thirty minutes further down the track, on another exceptionally high hill, we learned the coordinate system recorded on the voucher was from a Russian GPS system, not the American system our GPS was programmed for.
By that time it was too late to retrace our steps. In new territory for all of us, we continued on the track paralleling the Azerbaijan border, knowing that eventually it would lead us to a small Georgian town. By this time, it was about 6 p.m., and as we surmounted another rise we were greeted with thousands of fernleaf peony (Paeonia tenuifolia) in full flower. Each flower was the size of a salad plate, and a deep, intense red. Unlike the 8-inch-high representatives of this species in our American collections, the whole population was 2.5 to 3 feet in height, with an equal width. This population was unknown to the Georgian scientific community until we managed to get lost and found it in the process of working our way back home.
Paeonia tenuifolia in the remote and sparsely populated Vashlovani Reserve; the Caucasus Mountains in the background.
A trip is planned for 2019 for the Republic of Georgia. It is timed to collect seeds from this population, as well as the nine other species of peonies native to this floristically rich country. Who knows what unsuspected treasures we will discover next year?
Posted on July 5, 2018 July 5, 2018 Author Boyce TankersleyCategories Horticulture & Display Gardens, Plant Science & ConservationTags plant collection2 Comments on Discovery of the Red Fernleaf Peony
The SciFi Rant
I have been a fan of science fiction since the early days of Star Trek on TV (Yep, I am that old). I think it is one of my strengths, as a scientist, that I have the ability to visualize “out of bounds” solutions. I like to think this open-mindedness has contributed to my successes.
I discovered a love of growing plants and archaeology as a young child on a ranch in West Texas, surrounded by miles of vegetation and peppered with intriguing traces of the people that had lived on the land before I got there.
Coming from a family of modest means, I realized that I did not have the luxury of “discovering myself” at college, and so at 16, I made a short list of possible careers with their pros and cons: growing plants and studying ancient civilizations. Neither career path was going to result in wealth, but that was not a major goal in my life’s plan. (Yes, I have on several occasions wished for time travel to reevaluate the advantages of wealth.) A strong contender was archaeology, but one of the cons was that if I were out of a job, I would not have the skills to grow food to feed my family. Don’t you just love spreadsheets? So growing plants was to be my career—and if I were unemployed, at least I would have the skills needed to grow food for my family.
I soon learned that within the whole plant science field were a number of specializations, not just “growing things”: horticulture, botany, plant taxonomy, plant physiology, plant genetics, agronomy, and plant pathology. Yikes, another decision! Like any good budding scientist, I knew research was in order:
Horticulture is the art and science of growing plants.
Botany is the scientific study of plants, including their physiology, structure, genetics, ecology, distribution, classification, and economic importance.
Plant Taxonomy is the science that finds, identifies, describes, classifies, and names plants.
Plant Physiology is a sub-discipline of botany concerned with the functioning—or physiology—of plants.
Plant Genetics deals with heredity in plants, specifically mechanisms of hereditary transmission and variation of inherited characteristics.
Agronomy is a branch of agriculture dealing with field-crop production and soil management.
Plant Pathology is defined as the study of the organisms and environmental conditions that cause disease in plants, the mechanisms by which this occurs, the interactions between these causal agents and the plant (effects on plant growth, yield and quality), and the methods of managing or controlling plant disease.
Horticulture was the name of the discipline I wanted to specialize in, and that, as radio commentator Paul Harvey used to say, “was the rest of the story.”
So where does the rant about SciFi fit in?
Siting on the couch with my son and watching E.T. the Extra-terrestrial for the umpteenth time, I was dismayed to learn in the director’s cut that the original title had been The Botanist. Now everyone in plant sciences knows that botanists are great folks to share a beer with, but they are lousy at growing plants. If they could grow plants ,they would be horticulturists, not botanists. But I let this one slide, Steven Spielberg is a great guy, and everyone deserves a break sometimes. Besides, in an alien culture, perhaps the two are more closely aligned. (Another example of out-of-the-box thinking!)
Fast forward to The Martian, a real thriller that pushed all of the right buttons in my SciFi loving psyche…except that they described the survivor as a botanist. No self-respecting botanist would know enough about growing plants and their requirements to pull off that feat. Nope, another missed opportunity. Obviously a horticulturist; a botanist would have studied the tubers as they dried up and died. The horticulture field just lost another opportunity to attract the first generation to grow plants on another planet!
ET: A tiny botanist, or maybe something a little more cross-disciplinary? Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/Universal
Mark Watney may be a botanist, but here he’s a horticulturist. Photo via wallpaperscraft.com.
The stomach flu earlier this year was a really unpleasant experience, but while channel surfing Netflix last weekend, I came across a SciFi series called The Expanse. Yep, that was me for four days straight—watching a total of 26 episodes—knowing that I was out of it enough to be able to come back in a time of health and catch some details my fevered brain didn’t absorb. (Yes, Netflix was concerned and periodically offered me alternatives, but I was hooked.)
About halfway through the second season, the action shifts to a food production facility featuring solar collectors, greenhouses, and plants grown in hydroponic solution. Vital to survival of our species in space, plants cleanse the air and provide nutrition for space-based operations—NASA has been working on it for at least 40 years. Great scenes, great actor, actually got the technical terminology right…and then they referred to him as a botanist!
My wife, son, and our new puppy came rushing to my bedside—such a cry of anguish they had never heard. They reassured neighbors at the door that everything really was “all right.” Ugh!
John “JC” Carver, a payload integration engineer with NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Test and Operations Support Contract, uses a FluorPen to measure the chlorophyll fluorescence of Arabidopsis thaliana plants inside the growth chamber of the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) Flight Unit No. 1. Half the plants were then harvested.
Dear SciFi movie writers, directors, etc.: In space, plant scientists probably wear many hats, but please note: horticulturists grow plants; botanists study them.
Posted on March 2, 2018 Author Boyce TankersleyCategories Plant Science & ConservationTags horticulture, plant biology, plant science careers6 Comments on The SciFi Rant
Sunshine and titan arum relatives at the Garden
Sunshine is the latest corpse flower at the Chicago Botanic Garden to bloom.
A member of the Aroid plant family (Araceae) from Sumatra, it has a number of titan arum relatives at the Garden from around the world.
Sunshine the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) in the Sensory Garden
Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) and Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) are the two most common Chicago natives in this family. Other relatives hail from continents, regions, countries, and islands. Taxa growing at the Garden have the following native ranges: North America, Northeastern United States and Canada, Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Russian Far East, Kamchatka Island, Sakalin Island, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sumatra, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Greece, Republic of Georgia, Spain, Italy, India, Nepal, Afghanistan, Tibet, Burma, Himalayan Mountains, Yemen, Mexico, Central America, Panama, Guatemala, Caribbean Islands, South America, Colombia, Peru, South Africa, and Lesotho.
Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)
Photo by Jacob Burns
Not only is it widespread, the members are also adapted to a number of environments from hot, humid Sumatra rain forests where Sunshine calls home to cold, temperate deciduous forests, temperate and tropical wetlands, Mediterranean climates, and deserts.
Find caladiums and others as you stroll Brazil in the Garden this summer; visit #CBGSunshine the titan arum outside in the Sensory Garden and stay tuned for a potential bloom!
The Araceae is one of the larger plant families, containing 117 different genera. The Garden features 27 of those genera containing 152 species and cultivars. Our GardenGuide smartphone app features the locations where Sunshine’s family can be seen throughout the Garden. Many are grown ornamentally for their attractive leaf shape (philodendrons, anthuriums) and colorations (elephant ears, caladiums, dieffenbachia, pothos, taro) while others, anthuriums and Calla lilies chief among them, are grown for their attractive flowers. While not all members of the family smell bad—the Calla lily, for instance, has a light citrus fragrance and anthuriums don’t have any fragrance at all—many are real stinkers with common names like Dead Horse Arum, Dead Mouse Arum, and Corpse Flower.
White Dynasty caladium (Caladium bicolor) ‘White Dynasty’
Calla lily (Zantedeschia aetiopica)
Red Flash elephant ear (Caladium ‘Red Flash’)
Most members of the family contain a number of compounds (often including calcium oxylate crystals) in their sap to deter herbivores that illicit a mechanical gag reflex in people. Calcium oxylate crystals look like glass shards on steroids under a microscope and play havoc with the soft tissues of the inside of the mouth, tongue, and throat. The most notable food crop in this family? Taro, or poi. Preparation of the starchy tubers have adapted techniques over the centuries that remove the toxic compounds.
Ready for an Aroid treasure hunt?
Find these titan arum relatives as you stroll the Tropical Greenhouse, where a titan arum leaf is also housed. Can you spot the family resemblance?
Flamingo flower (Anthurium andraeanum ‘White Heart’) is a classic anthurium flower of the florist trade in white with a red spadix; find it near the east entrance.
Find Garfield anthurium (Anthurium × garfieldii) in classical birds’ nest form with a long, thin flowering spathe and a spadix in dark maroon. Photo by horticulturist Wade Wheatley.
Split leaf philodendron or Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) has a vining habit; it is clambering up the side of the greenhouse sporting large, deeply divided leaves.
Its name says it all: Camouflage dumb cane (Dieffenbachia ‘Camouflage’) is hidden west of the palm alleé.
Amorphophallus titanum leaves in the production greenhouses. Find one in the Tropical Greenhouse, too.
Posted on August 20, 2017 August 20, 2017 Author Boyce TankersleyCategories Garden Tours, Horticulture & Display GardensTags #CBGSunshine, amorphophallus titanum, corpse flower, titan arum, titan arum relatives1 Comment on Sunshine and titan arum relatives at the Garden
Use Fragrant Plants for a Breathtaking Garden
Fragrance is one of the benefits of a garden that is often overlooked.
Lots of thought is given to plants’ textures, colors, seasonality, sizes—all important visual characteristics without a doubt—but a garden with scents provides a deeper, richer experience by supplementing visual stimuli with olfactory.
Fragrances, like music, often elicit memories, and so this short list of favorite fragrant plants includes a number that I experienced when I was younger. People, places, time—all are recalled with great fondness in a single whiff.
Also among the list are a number of annuals that are perfect for containers, which allow the gardener to move plants into prominence as they reach their peak throughout the season.
Finally, I believe every garden should have a least one rose; and that it should be fragrant. Rosa ‘Mister Lincoln’, with deep velvety red petals and incredible tea rose fragrance, has stood the test of time. Both Honey Perfume™ (Rosa ‘JACarque’) and Rosa ‘Apricot Nectar’ reflect the current desire to combine fragrance with beauty and disease resistance in a hardy shrub rose. The Chicago Peace rose (Rosa ‘Chicago Peace’) earned a place at the top of our list long before we moved to Chicago with its creamy yellow flowers tinged with pink along the edges of the petals and a delicate rose fragrance. My wife would be upset if I didn’t mention her favorite, a David Austin shrub rose by the name of Evelyn (Rosa ‘AUSsaucer’), which bears delicate apricot-to-pink single-to-double quartered flowers—and a wonderful fragrance.
Rosa ‘Mister Lincoln’
Honey Perfume™ rose (Rosa ‘JACarque’)
Evelyn rose (Rosa ‘AUSsaucer’)
Photo by Patrick Nouhailler [CC 2.0].
And now, the list:
Honeysuckles are among the most fragrant of garden plants available, but many of the most common are non-native and have begun to “jump the fence” and invade natural areas. Many of the sterile cultivars, unfortunately, are not fragrant, and the species native to the southeastern United States are not reliably hardy (Lonicera sempervirens). Fortunately Lonicera flava—also native to this region—is fragrant. Its yellow-to-orange summer blooms are followed by showy (but inedible) berries in fall.
Lonicera flava honeysuckle is a fragrant and hardy variety. Photo via southeasternflora.com.
Tuberose, Polianthes tuberosa, is a nonhardy (for us) bulb from northern Mexico with an intoxicating scent so distinctive it is known simply as “tuberose.” Creamy white flowers on spikes appear from late summer up to frost. Like many fragrant plants, the scent was developed to attract night-flying pollinators and becomes more intense as late afternoon transitions to evening. Tuberose is great in a large container or can be planted in flower beds.
Hosta have long been used by gardeners to fill parts of the garden that are heavily shaded. While they all flower, ‘Royal Standard’ (among others), produces large, white intensely fragrant (in the evening) flowers in late summer.
Oncidium Sharry Baby ‘Sweet Fragrance’
One of the featured plants from the Garden’s recent Orchid Show, Oncidium Sharry Baby ‘Sweet Fragrance’ is easily grown on a brightly lit windowsill in the home. A relatively small plant maturing at about 6 inches in height, it produces sprays of pinkish red, sweetly fragrant flowers almost year-round. It’s not overpowering.
At the end of the daffodil season, end of May to the beginning of June, a small-statured Narcissus jonquilla fills the garden with delightfully sweet scents. Relatively small in stature, the bright yellow flowers, one to three per stem, are produced above grass-like foliage. Unlike some of the larger leafed cultivars, there is rarely a need to fuss with the foliage as it dies back. Tuck it in among perennials and small shrubs.
Garden stock (Matthiola incana) is another one of those plant groups that for a while, featured size, shape, and color of the flowers at the expense of fragrance. Fortunately the pendulum has swung back and a number of modern cultivars feature fragrance in addition to some really cool colors.
Prairifire crabapple (Malus ‘Prairifire’)
Crabapples bloom here at the Garden, reliably on Mother’s Day, and their fragrance is another one so distinctive as to be given its own name. Malus ‘Prairifire’ is not only fragrant, but is smaller in size—perfectly suited for modern gardens. It features white to pink flowers and showy red fruit in fall.
Paeonia ‘Festiva Maxima’
The herbaceous peony Festiva Maxima is an old cultivar but its fragrance has earned it a spot in the moving van during every move. White flowers flecked with red have that wonderful peony fragrance. It needs staking and if planted in a crowded location, is susceptible to powdery mildew. Recipes online provide instructions on using the petals to make peony-scented jelly—a very delicate, flavored sweet with a light pink color. Small nectar glands on the sides of the flower buds attract small ants to the plants. The ants don’t pollinate the flowers, but they are important to the dispersal of the seeds later in the year. The seeds feature an elaiosome (fleshy appendage) that the ants strip off and feed upon once they have hauled the seed to their nest—insuring the dispersal of peony seeds. The nectar is simply there to make sure they are around when the seeds are ripe.
Phlox paniculata ‘David’
Many of the garden phlox, Phlox paniculata, feature a vanilla clove fragrance in mid-summer. The cultivar ‘David’ features pure white flowers on disease-resistant foliage. I let it reseed in the garden, and the results are spectacular—the offspring feature light to dark lavender flowers surrounding the white parent.
Nicotiana alata ‘Perfume Deep Purple’
Fragrant tobacco, Nicotiana alata, produces tall spikes of sweetly scented long, tubular white flowers throughout the summer. I let mine reseed underneath the dryer vent, ensuring a return the following year. This plant is great in containers or used as an in-ground annual.
Clove currant (Ribes odoratum) is an underutilized medium-sized shrub with bright yellow flowers with, you guessed it, the scent of cloves. This is a great plant as a mounded specimen or can be utilized as a hedge.
Butterfly bushes are another of the “must have” sweetly scented garden plants. Like others on this list, the cultivars I grew up with have developed a bad habit of “jumping the fence” and invading natural areas. Plant breeders have risen to the challenge and produced a number of sterile hybrids. Lo & Behold Blue Chip is smaller in stature with lavender-to-blue flowers with the classic fragrance. Asian Moon is a larger growing cultivar with deep purple petals surrounding the orange throat and a rich, sweet fragrance.
Pineapple sage, Salvia elegans, is a classic selection for a “brush against” plant for a location near a walkway or door. Dill, parsley, basil, thyme, rosemary, scented geraniums, and many other herbs can be selected to add their notes to the garden, depending on the gardener’s tastes.
Heliotrope, Heliotropium arborescens, rounds out the favorites list. Deep purple flower clusters add a wonderfully sweet scent to the landscape and work out well in containers or in-ground locations.
Posted on April 6, 2017 Author Boyce TankersleyCategories Horticulture & Display GardensTags best plants for scent, fragrant plants1 Comment on Use Fragrant Plants for a Breathtaking Garden
Plant Collecting in the Republic of Georgia
This past summer, the Chicago Botanic Garden joined an intrepid team of plant collectors from four other American institutions on an expedition to the Republic of Georgia.
Our focus: to collect seeds to diversify the genetic diversity of ex-situ plant collections; to bring back and evaluate species for their ornamental potential; and to provide a hedge against natural and man-made disasters—all while building upon institutional collaborations developed during previous expeditions.
The PCC16-Georgia group poses at the Old Omalo Guest House in the Tusheti Region, Georgia. From left to right: Joe Meny (US National Arboretum), Peter Zale (Longwood Gardens), Boyce Tankersley (Chicago Botanic Garden), Vince Marrocco (Morris Arboretum), Koba (owner of Old Omalo Guest House/Hotel Tusheti), Matt Lobdell (The Morton Arboretum), Temuri Siukaev (driver), Koba’s daughter, Constantine Zagareishvili (driver), Manana Khutsishvili (botanist), David Chelidze (botanist)
Just east of the Black Sea is the Republic of Georgia. Map courtesy worldatlas.
The Republic of Georgia was chosen because it is the only biodiversity hotspot that is situated within the temperate climatic zones.
Over millennia, the high peaks of the Greater Caucasus Mountains to the north, Lesser Caucasus Mountains to the south, and their inter-connecting mountain ranges situated between the Black Sea to the west and Caspian Sea to the east have provided a refuge for species that have gone extinct elsewhere due to glaciation and other climate extremes.
Tucked into hundreds of microclimates created by this varied topography, many of these endemic species (found nowhere else on earth) are perfectly hardy in American, Russian, and European gardens much farther north.
Coordinating the trip on the Georgian side were our colleagues from the Institute of Botany, Tbilisi and Bakuriani Alpine Botanical Garden. They provided invaluable logistical support through the use of two of the foremost botanists in the region, drivers, vehicles, and places to stay.
The varied topography of the Tusheti Region.
Bakuriani Alpine Botanical Garden, Institute of Botany, and American collectors at Bakuriani Field Station
In a little more than two weeks in the field, the group traveled more than 1,100 miles from the high—and barely accessible—Greater Caucasus Mountains of the Tusheti region in northeastern Georgia, through the central valleys, to Lake Tabatskuri in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south, between the Tetrobi Reserve and Bakuriani Alpine Botanical Garden.
The central valley separating the Greater and Lesser Caucasus mountain ranges
Lake Tabatskuri is situated between the Tetrobi Reserve and Bakuriani Alpine Botanical Garden; the Lesser Caucasus mountain peaks are in the distance.
The geographic location of Georgia (Russia to the north, Central Asia to the east, Persia to the south and Asia Minor, the Middle East, and Europe to the west) has made this region a favorite transit point for merchants. Tucked into remote mountain valleys are small communities created from the descendants of Greeks, Germans, Hebrews, Persians, Armenians, Turks, Russians, Circassians, Huns, Mongols, and more, with remnants of each people’s own unique culinary, religious and linguistic traditions.
It was also, unfortunately, a thoroughfare for invading armies. Ancient fortifications, places of worship, homes—all show evidence of destruction and rebuilding.
Samshvilde Fortress ruins
Fortified towers are a typical feature of many homes in the Greater Caucasus mountains.
Church of St. George
The collections wrapped up with a foray into western Georgia (ancient Colchis in Greek mythology) in and around Kutaisi, the legislative capital and its third largest city. A brief visit to the Kutaisi Botanical Garden was in order here, before we left the region. A highlight: a small shrine built inside a living 450-year-old oak.
In all, 205 different seed lots and herbarium vouchers—representing 169 different species of trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs—were collected, including six of seven species of Quercus (oaks) in support of the IUCN Redlist of all of the Quercus in the world.
A religious shrine is built inside this 450-year-old Quercus hartwissiana at Kutaisi Botanical Garden.
What a haul! Admiring hundreds of seed collections to be cleaned are (left to right): Dr. Fritz, Dr. Tatyana Shulina (Garden consultant), Dr. Manana Khutsishvili (lead Georgian botanist) and Dr. Marina Eristavi (botanist on a former trip).
While we each came away with a fantastic collection of seed to propagate, this trip was about much more than collecting plants. Our journey’s end featured a meeting with representatives of institutions from America, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia all focused on expanding collaboration to match areas of expertise with areas of need—not only in the area of collections, but also horticulture, conservation science, education, and fundraising/collaborative grants.
The Caucasus Regional Meeting participants pose on balcony at the of Institute of Botany. The ancient Narikala Fortress of Tbilisi is in the background.
Left to right: Dr. Marine Eristavi, conservation scientist, National Botanical Garden of Georgia, Dr. Tinatin Barblishvili, deputy director, National Botanical Garden of Georgia, Dr. Lamara Aieshvili, curator of rare and endemic plants of Georgia ex situ collection, National Botanical Garden of Georgia, Vince Marrocco, horticulture director, Morris Arboretum, Dr. Manana Khutsishvili, botanist, Institute of Botany, Tbilisi, Dr. Peter Zale, curator and plant breeder at Longwood Gardens, Matt Lobdell curator of The Morton Arboretum, Dr. Fritz, Dr. Tatyana Shulkina, former curator of the living collections of the Soviet Union, Komarov Botanical Garden and currently Chicago Botanic Garden consultant, Dr. Rashad Selimov, head of education, Institute of Botany Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, Baku, Joe Meny from the US National Arboretum, Dr. Vahid Farzaliyev, National Botanical Garden Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, Baku, Boyce Tankersley director of living plant documentation at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Dr. Shalva Sikharulidze, director of Institute of Botany, Georgia and Bakuriani Alpine Botanical Garden, Dr. George Fayvush, Department of Geo-botany Armenian Academy of Sciences, Yerevan, Dr. Zhirayr Vardanyan director of the Institute of Botany and National Botanical Garden Armenian Academy of Sciences Yerevan
What can we expect from our efforts? New blooms in the Garden! We have added quite a few plants to those brought back from Georgia on three previous trips:
Lilium monadelphum
Muscari armeniacum
Tulipa undulatifolia
Bellevalia makuensis
Campanula lactiflora
Gentiana schistocalyx
Stachys macrantha
Stokesia major
Dianthus cretaceous
Iris iberica ssp. elegantissima
Verbascum pyramidatum
Colchicum trigyna
Stay tuned! Invitations have been received from institutions in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia for future plant collecting trips to the region. Likewise, scientists from these countries were invited to collect American native plants to increase the biodiversity of their ex-situ collections.
Posted on December 19, 2016 December 16, 2016 Author Boyce TankersleyCategories Behind the Scenes, Horticulture & Display GardensTags Boyce Tankersley, documenting collections, managing living collections, plant collection, Republic of GeorgiaLeave a comment on Plant Collecting in the Republic of Georgia
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Billed as an alternative Jubilee Jamboree, William’s planned 12 mile walk which takes in some spectacular scenery in the Ebbw and Sirhowy valleys certainly turned into an adventure for the six walkers who joined him at Cwmcarn on an overcast but dry morning. Firstly, as a complete surprise the leader presented them all with engraved medals in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee, before they entered the Visitor’s Centre to view a webcam of five Goshawk chicks in the nest and with a father who had absented himself, the female was out hunting squirrels and birds to feed her brood.
William’s Jubilee Jamboree medal
In humid conditions from Cwmcarn village the seven walkers including Linda and her delightful dog Meg from Swansea crossed the bridge over the Ebbw River and discarding coats joined a steep narrow woodland path with some stunning views that led them up onto Mynydd-y-Lan common. It didn’t take long for the forecasted rain to start falling and continuing their journey to Mynyddislwyn they took advantage of one of the ancient yew trees in St Tudur’s churchyard to shelter for morning coffee. This remote church, rebuilt in 1820 is situated by the old road which crosses the mountain to Risca and is 1,000 feet above sea level. They journeyed on past St Tudur’s Mound the history of which is a little vague, it may have been a Pagan site before a church was built and allegedly a motte and bailey castle stood there before a Norman lookout and signal tower, now it is just a small hump. Crossing fields they passed over the grassy dam of the eerie abandoned Nant-y-Draenog reservoir built last century and abandoned in 1950.
Then they entered the Sirhowy valley through Ynysddu and crossed the river bridge spotting wild brown trout in the clear water below before joining part of the disused railway line which is now a cycle track and footpath. Leaving the flat pathway after a short distance a steep climb up through the woods followed and slippery paths led up to Ynys Hywel Countryside Centre. With a little respite from the rain, lunch was hastily taken before they continued through woodland passing below ancient beech trees on their way to open common land, where the wind buffeted them in the face, to reach an old coal tip near Mynydd Machen, where normally the views stretch across to Somerset and north Devon and over Newport but alas in the heavy rain were totally obscured.
Reverse of Medal
The area sloping down to the valley floor is known as Blackvein after the coal mine that was worked there. Although the coal was of good quality and plentiful, large quantities of methane gas caused many disastrous problems and locally it was known as ‘the death pit’. In 1846 a huge gas explosion killed 35 miners and again in 1860 a total of 146 were killed. A downhill trek followed through woods where the trees had been felled and reaching Risca the group re-crossed the Ebbw to join the disused Crumlin part of the Brecon and Monmouth canal where they sheltered under a stone bridge for refreshment. A very steep climb by road and track brought them to the base of Twmbarlwm, from where thankfully it was all downhill through woods to Cwmcarn and on the web cam; the female Goshawk was in the nest sheltering her chicks, which hopefully will survive from the heavy rain.
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From Michigan to Idaho, locals hope TIGER survives in the Trump era
The TIGER-funded Razorback Greenway in Bentonville, Ark.
The grant program that has funded the crown jewels of U.S. bike infrastructure—from the Indianapolis Cultural Trail to the Razorback Greenway of northwest Arkansas to Portland’s remarkable Moody Street—has picked its latest round of winners.
[Update 3/19: here’s the list.]
Meanwhile, for the second year in a row, it’s also been proposed for elimination. (Our friends at Streetsblog briefly reported Wednesday that the program had already been killed, then retracted the story.)
The proposal from the Trump administration to end the U.S. Department of Transportation’s TIGER program seems unlikely to advance this year. But with TIGER’s survival now subject to an apparently annual debate, it’s worth asking: What’s the case for TIGER, and what’s the case against it?
Detroit trail network: ‘A tool for revitalization’
The Joe Louis Greenway would become a “spine” for Detroit’s low-stress biking network.
TIGER has funded many projects that don’t include major biking components, from freeway lanes to streetcars. But biking advocates said in interviews that except in the very largest metro areas, it’s almost the only way to get a substantial sum all at once for a major non-automotive transportation improvement.
The City of Detroit first submitted the proposed Joe Louis Greenway as a TIGER candidate last fall. This year’s application was apparently unsuccessful but Todd Scott, director of Detroit Greenways, said the city is likely to resubmit in future years.
“It is our nonmotorized spine project,” Scott said. “It connects up major investments that are occurring within the city. … It’s being seen as a tool for revitalization of city neighborhoods.”
Because a low-stress biking network has little value until it is connected, it might be politically difficult to justify building the trail one mile at a time.
“Such a major project with such a large price tag — there just aren’t very many funding opportunities unless you want to take a really long time to construct it over multiple grants,” Scott said. “And the TIGER program was the way to do that.”
Idaho trail advocate: ‘I don’t know where else we’re going to get it’
Connecting the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail would serve several small cities that struggle to pull together large chunks of money.
TIGER grants may be even more important to rural areas, said Susan Drumheller, president of Friends of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail in Ponderay, Idaho.
That’s because 20 percent of the program is set aside for projects outside larger cities, where the tax base is often too small to afford any new infrastructure at all.
“It’s a shoreline trail along Lake Pend d’Oreille,” Drumheller said. “For years, people only were able to use it by trespassing on private property … to get there from Ponderay or Kootenai, you had to trespass across the railroad tracks to get down to the trail and to get to the lake.”
Drumheller’s group raised private donations to purchase land to improve access to the trail, but has been working with nearby cities for two years to prepare a TIGER grant that would fund a fully track-free connection with a new underpass.
“Getting an underpass built is extremely expensive, and this little community of Ponderay—it’s within their city limits—they can’t afford this on their own,” she said. “We got the benefit cost analysis done, and we’re working on [National Environmental Policy Act documentation] and trying to come up with a matching funds strategy, and we hired a firm to help us get all our ducks in a row. … If they pull the funding from TIGER it’s kind of like pulling the rug out from under these efforts. I don’t know where else we’re going to get it.”
Paying for parks, or just pork?
A built section of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail. Photo via Friends of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail.
In the Trump administration’s defense, it’s also proposed a new, one-time $40 billion program of largely unrestricted block grants for infrastructure in rural areas—all of it to be awarded, if the program were to pass, by 2019. State governors would decide which projects got funding—and they could decide to spend it on biking networks.
But the No. 2 and No. 3 Republicans in the Senate essentially declared Trump’s infrastructure plan dead last week.
Opponents of the TIGER program have called TIGER an “administrative earmark.”
In 2015, Heritage Foundation policy analyst Emily Goff wrote that TIGER “gives cities perverse incentives to pander to Washington, asking for money for projects that may not even be aligned with their priorities at home.”
Goff said TIGER should be eliminated because it sends money “to purely local, not federal, projects” that are “of the government’s choosing, not where private investors in a free market might put resources.”
Drumheller, the northern Idaho trail advocate, said she can’t make a case that a lakeside biking-walking trail is nationally significant, except that without national support it seems unlikely to ever exist.
“It certainly would have major local and regional impacts,” she said.
But she wondered why any other local transportation project would have national significance, either.
“There’s all these people who live out that way who have no way to get to that lake,” she said. “I can imagine that this trail would get an enormous amount of use from people getting between these three communities. You would have a wonderful way to ride your bike through town from one end to another.”
PlacesForBikes helps U.S. communities build better biking, faster. You can follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook or sign up for our weekly news digest about building all-ages biking networks. Story tip? Write [email protected]
> Riding on BLM lands? What you need to know
> Voters approve bike funding nationally at the ballot box
> Senate committee votes yes on important public lands and recreation legislation
> Department of Interior agencies issue interim e-bike policies
> PeopleForBikes connects bike executives with federal lawmakers
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My neg scans
Cars I’ve known
Days Past
The Tasman Series
Jim Clark’s 1963 season
peterwindsor.com
…chance doesn't exist; there's always a cause and a reason for everything – Elahi
Archive for the tag “anthems”
Notes from the Sepang paddock
After the beauty of the AGP 60th anniversary celebrations at Albert Park, it’s a shame that not more is being made of this being Sepang’s 15th F1 birthday. I know it’s not a major milestone but, so far as modern supercircuits go, Sepang has done well to get this far. It has none of the carnival atmosphere of Melbourne; it’s hot and debilitating; but it does boast some incredible corners and it does have the Malaysian government full-square behind it, despite relatively small crowds. Personally, I love Sepang. I just wish the weekend as a whole had a bit more AGP-style gift-wrapping.
Speaking of great corners, I spent Friday watching our aces through the very quick left- and right-handers they call Turns Five and Six. I’m particularly fond of this section because there are about three different solutions to the problems posed by high-speed changes of direction. You can really lean on the right rear as you go in, then ask a lot of the car as you pivot it back to the left rear for the dive into the right-hander (as Mark Webber, Romain Grosjean, Paul di Resta and Sergio Perez were doing); you can compromise the left-hander a little and move the car way over to the left for the right-hander that follows (as Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button were neatly doing); or you can ride a very narrow line of perfection by finding the tiniest of “neutral” zones for the change of direction between the two corners (as Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Adrian Sutil were doing). The last group also tucked in a little earlier to the apex of the right-hander (Turn Six), thus shortening the corner. All this in a flash of a second – but easy to see from the elevated vantage points both on the inside and outside of the corners. Best through this section? Kimi, by a car’s width or two, although Lewis never really looked as though he was on the absolute limit.
Then it rained. For the second race in a row, plaudits must go to Sauber’s new signing, Esteban Gutierrez, who looked very relaxed and supple in the semi-wet. There was about a five minute period of reasonable consistency, weather-wise, in FP2, and Gutierrez for this little cameo was right up there with Romain Grosjean, Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso. He was fastest, indeed, on my stopwatch. Romain had a big moment at the aforementioned high-speed esses but – unlike Melbourne – Esteban kept it all nicely on the island. Sauber didn’t have the greatest of days in the dry (fire extinguisher and cracked exhaust issues) so this should have cheered them at least for ten minutes or so. Also impressive in the wet (as in Melbourne) was STR’s Jean-Eric Vergne. Unlike Kimi (who should know better) JEV also kept his car nicely to the right-hand side of the finishing straight all day whilst accelerating through the gears. Kimi, for some strange reason, was running diagonally across the straight over to his braking point for Turn One.
It was good to see Daniel Riccardo juggling a trio of tennis balls as he walked to his garage this morning. I’m sure most F1 drivers are able to juggle if they put their minds to it, but it’s not often you actually see the skill in motion in the F1 paddock. Ross Cheever, the mega-quick American, was also a serious juggler and we know that both Lewis and Nico are mono-cyclists of some repute. Then there’s Kimi. I’ve seen him balancing a motionless mountain bike for well over a couple of minutes. Again, I’m sure he’s not alone. Why don’t we organize some sort of “circus” day for the F1 stars? It’s one thing to see them plying their skills at 280kph. It would be quite another to seem them displaying their co-ordination, balance, timing and eyesight in ways that we can all understand.
I may be wrong, but I suspect – I say I suspect – that still nothing has formerly been done about the pre-race national anthems. Certainly it looked to be the usual shambles in Melbourne. The AGP Corporation, like all organizing bodies, went to great lengths to execute the anthem with a local singing star and with suitable respect for their country – “Please be upstanding for the National Anthem of Australia”, said the circuit PA – but the F1 world, from what I could see, just went on about its business on the starting grid, sucking drink bottles, looking at watches (sorry, “timepieces”), checking tyre warmers, downloading data and generally milling around. There was no observance whatsoever, in other words, of the local national anthem. Can it be that hard for the F1 industry to set itself a new standard of behaviour? We can’t expect the drivers to stand to attention – or even sit to attention if they’re already in their car – but why isn’t it de rigour for each team to nominate a representative to stand to attention at the front of the grid whilst the anthem is played? Is the opening anthem any less important than the post-race podium anthems? Pre-race, the TV cameras could pan along the row of uniforms, rugby-style, and commentators could stay quiet for a minute whilst the anthem is respected. It would be a poignant, respectful moment. A moment that at present we don’t have. And that, I think, is wrong.
Anyway, time for dinner. I’m staying at an amazing hotel called the Golden Palm Tree. Our cottage is on stilts; the water shimmers beneath us; and the circuit is but a 40-min adventurous ride away in a battle-scarred Proton. This weekend the locals are due to set fire to elaborate paper decorations they’ve been keeping specially for the occasion. Should add nicely to the general heat and haze. As I say, I love Sepang.
Posted in Circuits, F1 and tagged anthems, F1, Malaysian GP, Raikkonen, Sauber, Sepang, Vergne
DomReilly
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F1 charity auction
Grea to chat yesterday to C.A.S. Brooks, better known as the ultra-quick Tony who helped Vanwall to the 1958 Constructors' Championship (with three classic wins) before joining Ferrari in '59 to win in Germany and France. He's still fit, well and a major class act. #f1
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Firestone Indy Lights
Formula Pilota (China)
Gabby Chaves
Jim Clark's 1963 season
Star Mazda
The Racer's Edge
Toyota Series NZ
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Sexual Identity, Mental Health, and Risky Health Behaviors: New Evidence from Australia
Joseph J. Sabia, San Diego State University
Mark Wooden, University of Melbourne
In 2012, respondents to the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey were, for the first time, asked to report their sexual identity. This study uses these newly-released nationally representative, longitudinal data to examine the relationship between sexual identity and a variety of risky health behaviors, including tobacco use, binge drinking, and exercise. We examine “level” differences in health behaviors, as well as differences in over-time trends in individuals’ health behaviors, between sexual minorities and their heterosexual counterparts. In addition, we empirically explore a potentially important mechanism that may explain a relationship between sexual identity and risky health behaviors: mental health. Our empirical strategy examines the sensitivity of our estimated health effects to potentially important confounders, including family background characteristics and personality.
Presented in Session 176: Sexual Orientation and Mental Health Outcomes
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Panduan Wisata Indonesia
Home Uncategorized A Breakthough for This Year: New Holiday Birds-Eye View Debuting in Sweeden
A Breakthough for This Year: New Holiday Birds-Eye View Debuting in Sweeden
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People Happily Await the Begining of the Show
On Set with the Crew
To illustrate this, I pixelated an image of a priest, then tore off his head and replaced it with an image of a wolf. I looked to Warhol’s subversive dictator portraits to shape this poster of Immortan Joe.Warhol had a remarkable ability to distract from the meaning of his art. On the surface his work simply looks “cool”.
Mad Max: Fury Road has the same effect: The stylized nature of the film gets more attention than the meaning behind it.
Getting Ready for the Big Night
Telephone Booth Shooting
The 88th annual Academy Awards are underway, and viewers are anxiously awaiting the ceremony to find out if their favorite flicks and actors win, which categories will see big “upsets,” and which speeches and performances will stand out. Not to mention how host Chris Rock will approach the “Oscars So White” controversy, and who he will target during the opening monologue. Did Leo finally take home a golden statue? The buzz began during the red carpet events prior to the official event.
Jennifer Jason Leigh, nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Hateful Eight, seemed slightly out of it during her interview with Ryan Seacrest on E!’s special. But arguably the biggest surprise was Best Actor nominee Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role nominee Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs) playing to their nostalgic fans by walking the red carpet together. Can you believe it’s been nearly two decades since they starred together in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic (which took home Best Picture)?
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Tag: Ted Taylor
Edward Hallows Taylor (Ted Taylor) @ PlayUpLiverpool.com
July 5, 1956 kjehan
All articles about Ted Taylor on PlayUpLiverpool.com; About Ted Taylor: Born: March 7, 1887: Liverpool (Lancashire), England. Passed away: July 5, 1956: Huddersfield (Yorkshire), in
Memories No 14: Ted Taylor (Everton F.C.)
January 11, 1936 kjehan
January 11, 1936 Ted Taylor, Everton Football Club. (Source: Liverpool Echo: January 11, 1936) X
Champions’ grip on Liverpool
March 22, 1926 kjehan
March 22, 1926 At Anfield there was a blustering breeze, which gave Liverpool a decided advantage in the first portion of the game with Huddersfield,
Liverpool v Huddersfield Town 1-2 (League match: March 20, 1926)
March 20, 1926 Match: Football League, First Division, at Anfield, kick-off: 15:15. Liverpool – Huddersfield Town 1-2 (0-2). Attendance: 35,255. Referee: Mr. E. Pinckston; linesmen:
Huddersfield Town v Liverpool 3-1 (League match: November 10, 1923)
November 10, 1923 kjehan
November 10, 1923 Match: Football League, First Division, at Leeds Road, kick-off: 14:45. Huddersfield Town – Liverpool 3-1 (0-0). Attendance: 15,000. Referee: Mr. F. Todman
Liverpool v Huddersfield Town 1-1 (League match: November 3, 1923)
November 3, 1923 kjehan
November 3, 1923 Match: Football League, First Division, at Anfield, kick-off: 15:00. Liverpool – Huddersfield Town 1-1 (0-1). Attendance: 30,000. Referee: Mr. F. Todman (Croydon);
Ireland v England 2-1 (International)
October 20, 1923 kjehan
Saturday, October 20 – 1923 International, British Championship, at Windsor Park, Belfast. Ireland – England 2-1 (1-1). Attendance: 23,000. Referee: Mr. Alex Jackson. Ireland (2-3-5):
England XI v South XI 1-0 (International trial match: February 12, 1923)
February 12, 1923 kjehan
February 12, 1923 International, Trial match, friendly, at The Den (New Cross). England XI – South 1-0 (0-0). Attendance: 22,500; gate receipts: 1,457. Referee: Mr.
Oldham Athletic v Liverpool 4-0 (League match)
April 8, 1922 kjehan
Saturday, April 8 – 1922 Match: Football League, First Division, Boundary Park, kick-off: 15:15. Oldham Athletic – Liverpool 4-0 (1-0). Attendance: 12,000. Referee: Mr. H.W.
Liverpool v Oldham Athletic 2-0 (League match)
Saturday, April 1 – 1922 Match: Football League, First Division, Anfield, kick-off: 15:15. Liverpool – Oldham Athletic 2-0 (1-0). Attendance: 30,000. Referee: Mr. H.W. Andrews
Liverpool v Oldham Athletic 2-2 (League match, April 5 – 1920)
Monday, April 5 – 1920 Match: Football League, First Division, at Anfield, kick-off: 15:30. Liverpool – Oldham Athletic 2-2 (1-1). Attendance: 30,000. Referee: Mr. H.
Letter from Ted Taylor, Liverpool F.C. and Oldham Athletic
Thursday, November 8 – 1917 “I am in Salonika, or, to be more correct, in Macedonia, for, as a matter of fact, we are some
Ted Taylor in charge
Wednesday, January 24 – 1917 Ted Taylor (ex-Liverpool goalkeeper) is quite well, and seems to be comfortably fixed up at Norwood. He has charge of
Derby day awaits at Anfield
December 1, 1916 kjehan
December 1, 1916 There is a furore about tomorrow’s games. Liverpool and Everton meet at Anfield in the season’s first “Derby” game, and South Liverpool
Derby rivals prepare for Anfield
Wednesday, November 29 – 1916 Footballically we are in great form, and Saturday next will be a most exciting period, for our rivals meet at
Fred Pagnam stationed in Gosport
Thursday, November 9 – 1916 Fred Pagnam, Liverpool’s crack centre and scorer, is in the R.G.A., and is stationed at Gosport, near Portsmouth. He is
Campbell returns from Southport Central
Wednesday, October 25 – 1916 There is a good stock of chat this morning and space being “tight,” I must simply note the news and
Liverpool v Stockport County 3-1 (League match: October 21, 1916)
October 21, 1916 Match: Lancashire Section, at Anfield, kick off: 15:30. Liverpool – Stockport County 3-1 (1-1). Attendance: 15,000. Referee: Mr. F. Leigh; linesmen: Messrs.
Taylor called for military service
Friday, October 20 – 1916 This morning the Notebook has exclusive news of the ending of the great triangle that has stood for Liverpool through
Liverpool’s super defensive triangle
Wednesday, October 18 – 1916 At this stage of the season it is customary to point to the clubs with an undefeated record. But Liverpool
Blackpool v Liverpool 0-1 (War time, League match)
Saturday, October 14 – 1916 Match: Lancashire Section, Primary, at Bloomfield Road. Blackpool – Liverpool 0-1 (0-1). Attendance: 8,000. Referee: Mr. R. Eccles; linesmen: Messrs.
Can a goalkeeper score from a goal-kick?
Friday, October 13 – 1916 The performance of kicking a goal-kick the length of the field, credited to Ted Taylor last Saturday, brings to mind
Arthur Metcalf back in action
Thursday, October 12 – 1916 At Blomfield-road on Saturday Pagnam will play against his old club, and, in view of the form of the Seasiders
Ted Taylor with a special feat
Wednesday, October 11 – 1916 En passant, Ted Taylor, the Liverpool goalkeeper, last week performed a rare feat at Manchester United’s ground. There was a
Manchester United v Liverpool 0-0 (War time, League match)
October 7, 1916 kjehan
Saturday, October 7 – 1916 Match: Lancashire Section, at Old Trafford. Manchester United – Liverpool 0-0 (0-0). Attendance: 2,000. Referee: Mr. L.P. Hitchen; linesmen: Messrs.
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