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Opiates of the People
Home/Fiction, Issue #7, Stories/Opiates of the People
Image design by S. Kitts
By Manfred Gabriel
Miquel stood on the steps of Saint Sebastian’s pushing vials of ‘god’. He held a baggie up in front of his two customers, Bible Boys from one of the havens on the surrounding hills. They had pulled up in a red sports sedan that probably belonged to one of their daddies. They didn’t leave the vehicle, kept the engine humming.
“It’s twice the price we normally pay,” the driver said, looking at the pale blue powder in the baggie. His hair was cropped short and he had a simple gray-black cross tattooed on his cheek.
“What do you expect?” Miquel said. “Next week’s holy week. This stuff’s in demand. Could probably sell it for three times as much, but I have a soft spot for you kids.” He talked the way the boys expected a dealer to talk. The orator’s voice he saved for mass, or the soft-spoken tone he used to minister to those in pain, would have sounded too much like one of their own preachers and turned them off.
The boy in the passenger seat, tall and thin and sporting an Ichthus nose ring, nudged the driver. The driver glanced up at Saint Sebastian’s dark spire, the gargoyles staring down from the eaves, faces laughing, menacing, grim. “My dad told me never to trust a Mick.”
Miquel laughed. “I look like I dye the river green? Look, you didn’t drive all this way to get the run-of-the-mill ‘samson and goliath’ they give kids in Sunday school. You came here for the good stuff. A hit of this will have you speaking in tongues.”
“What guarantee do we have?” The boy was nervous, being so far away from the havens, with their gates and cameras and private security. His voice shook slightly, and he kept his hands tight on the steering wheel.
Miquel waved his free hand. “This is my parish. Been here ten years, will be here a lifetime if they’ll let me. I have a reputation to maintain. If I’m cheating you, and a rosary of Hail Marys if I am, you’ll know where to find me. Still, if you’d rather deal with one of your brethren in that haven of yours, I’m sure they’ll be willing to sell you some ‘rapture’ that isn’t a quarter as good for half the price.” Miquel started to pocket the baggie.
The driver looked at his friend. His friend nodded. The driver produced a wad of cash from his jacket pocket. The exchange was made in one swift motion.
As they pulled away, Miquel made the sign of the cross. “Have a blessed Palm Sunday.”
The sedan zipped down the boulevard, took the corner without slowing down and was gone.
Miquel entered Saint Sebastian’s through its heavy, weathered double-doors, dipped his fingers into the holy water that he had blessed himself, untainted by the hallucinogens the archdiocese preferred he use. He genuflected toward the crucifix that hung above the massive altar, a solid piece of marble too heavy for looters to steal, too solid for vandals to break. The Jesus hanging on the cross was without a head, but some blood still stained his shoulder and his sunken chest still struggled for breath.
Miquel walked down the center aisle, linoleum worn, past where the pews would have sat if they hadn’t all been taken for kindling during the Incendium. The dying light of day filtered through the broken stained glass on either side. Each window once depicted a station of the cross. Only one remained intact – a large bearded man taking on the burden of the crucifix while a haloed Christ walked behind him – Simon Helps Carry the Cross.
In an alcove stood a statue of the Virgin Mary, arms that once held her babe now empty. A mural depicting Saint Sebastian, being nursed back to health by Saint Irene after being shot with arrows as a martyr, was so dark with soot that even the mural’s candles were dim. No matter how hard Miquel scrubbed them, he could not bring back the light.
He spent the evening sweeping the church floor of dirt that never seemed to stop blowing in from the city streets. He dusted the altar vessels, the chalice, the paten, the ciborium – which he had purchased on the black market with money he earned by selling ‘god’ in little plastic baggies. The church’s original gold ones had been stolen. These ones were simpler, plated bronze. Still, he hid them under some floorboards in his changing room, beneath the mattress where he slept, the same place he kept the inventory he sold to the Bible Boys and others from the havens.
The day after next was Palm Sunday. Parishioners would arrive, emerging from the surrounding, overcrowded tenements and the brownstones long abandoned by the gentrified elites who used to live there before the Incendium set the neighborhood ablaze. Miquel had no palms to bless, but still people would find some sense of normalcy in Mass. They would spill out the doors and fill the gallery to pray and sing and rejoice in God. He would give Communion with bread he commissioned some local women to bake. He did not trust the wafers that the Benedictine Sisters provided at no cost. What they called the ‘body’ was baked into them, which gave a sense of euphoria to make communicants think the body of Christ had entered them, but it was a temporary joy. It did not come from God, no matter what the archbishop preached.
No one who came to celebrate Mass would ask whether or not he was ordained, if he was qualified to wear the white collar, to perform the sacraments. No one had ever asked, not since he had taken up in this parish the Church had abandoned long ago.
When they called him Father or Padre or Père, he felt shame in not correcting them. He did not tell them he never finished seminary, did not deserve the honorific. To make up for it, he worked that much harder. He ministered to the sick in their homes, brought notebooks and pencils to the makeshift elementary school, always making sure he also had a pocketful of candy. He gave the homeless beneath the silent underpasses blankets and canned food and even cigarettes, and spoke to them about where their lives had gone wrong, how they could make them right again. He sometimes saw them standing in the back of the church the next Sunday, listening intently to his Homily, but no doubt also there for the free meal that he served after the Blessing and Dismissal were finally said.
And he never gave any of them the drugs the Church insisted would be their salvation.
Many of the parishioners praised Miquel for his work. He would demur humbly; remind them that it was not him, but Jesus working through him.
Miquel woke early the next morning to the sound of a car engine, not the hum of one of the new models, but the rumble of gas or maybe even diesel. He went out to meet the car, but as he entered the sanctuary, he found that the monsignor was already there, just inside the door.
The monsignor was a tall man, balding, with a Romanesque nose. He wore a purple sash over a black cassock trimmed with purple. Two priests stood on either side of him in simple black, broad-shouldered and taller even than the monsignor, one with a shaved head, the other with hair so short it might as well have been shaved.
The monsignor held out his hand. On it was a large gold ring set with a deep blue stone. Miquel hesitated. The monsignor waited. He was no ordinary messenger. A ring like this could only be bestowed by the archbishop, who lived and worked on his moated isle where the rivers forked, seven spires of his newly built cathedral blazing in the sun.
Miquel went to the monsignor, bent and kissed the ring. As he straightened, the monsignor dipped his hand into the cup of holy water just inside the door, and sniffed it. The drugged holy water the archdiocese distributed, and that Miguel refused to use, was slightly sweet.
“Still refusing Vatican III.”
“Has anyone complained?” No doubt the archdiocese had spies within his congregation.
The two priests left the monsignor’s side and walked through the church, inspecting the broken statues, the shattered stained glass, the marble altar.
“We tolerate you because of your good works.”
“And without me, who would be here to minister to these people?”
“I remember you from seminary. You would have made an excellent priest if only you had accepted the Sacraments.”
“Your ‘sacraments,’” Miquel countered.
The monsignor gave a wry smile. “Yet you sell to the Baptists, the Lutherans, the Methodists.”
“I use that money for my good works. There aren’t many resources here.”
“You should be converting them, not selling them more of the poison the preachers in their megachurches convince them is their salvation.”
“And your wafers, your water, your wine, are so much better? If they want to change, they are welcome here.” Miquel glanced sideways, tried not to appear concerned at seeing the two priests enter the changing room. “You can’t impose faith.”
The monsignor looked up towards the vaulted ceiling then settled his gaze on the headless crucifix. “I always liked this church. Wouldn’t it be nice to restore it to its former glory?”
“It suits God’s needs as is,” Miquel replied. “I’ve heard this pitch before. From your predecessor, and his before that. How many have there been?”
The monsignor waved the question away with a manicured hand. “Just a thought, that’s all. It isn’t why we’re here. We’re looking for someone. Someone you know. Jeremy Hiltz.”
Miquel paused. He had not heard that name in a long while. “I haven’t seen him since he was kicked out of seminary.”
“Still, I understand you were good friends back then. Inseparable. The man has not had any easy life, as you can imagine. We thought he may have come to you for help, as a last resort.”
“Why now? What has he done?”
The priests came out of the changing room. The bald one shook his head. They returned to stand on either side of the monsignor. “That is none of your concern. But if you see him, it is your duty to inform us.”
“Of course,” Miquel said, not knowing if he actually would. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I must prepare for tomorrow’s Mass.”
“It’s not Mass if you give it,” the monsignor reminded him as he walked out with the other priests. The words stung. The logical part of him knew whether he was officially ordained did not matter, that his good works were all that were important in the eyes of God. But a greater part of him, the part his mother brought to church each Sunday, who learned the catechisms from the Carmelite Nuns every Tuesday, felt that without it, he would always be incomplete.
Miquel spent the afternoon organizing the next day’s meal. He had managed to procure a case of canned ham just past its expiration date, several sacks of potatoes, assorted canned vegetables, even some apples and pears from last fall’s harvest that had been kept cool and fresh in some basement somewhere, traded with a Hasidic sect near the city center for several grams of ‘exodus’.
The rectory that once abutted the church, with its industrial kitchen, was nothing but rubble and ruin, so he had to rely on the same parishioners who baked the Communion bread. The altar servers arrived, seven boys and girls with sallow faces in tired clothes but eager to help. He sent them scattering with wagons of food through the streets and avenues and alleys to the various cooks, along with instructions of what was to be done. Many were strong despite their size, and even the ones who weren’t pulled their load without complaint or reward. Today, he had a cache of chocolate to share with them when the task was done, but they didn’t know that.
Serena was last to leave. Tall and lanky, she was the most mature of them, forced to grow up too soon. Her brother had been gunned down by some Bible Boys just for fun. Her father used to get hyped up on ‘jawbone of an ass’ and beat his mother, until one day he simply disappeared. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, she was ever helpful, often smiling, her teeth bright and straight even though she had probably never seen a dentist. She assisted Miquel in assigning the others their errands, making sure they understood. She watched out for them, reminding Horatio to keep his jacket zipped and helping Lia with a knotted shoelace. As she loaded up a wagon with her own deliveries, she started to sing. The voice of an angel. Miquel never grew tired of it. Her mother never missed Mass, and she had taught Serena how to use her voice to praise God. Miquel envied her that. He couldn’t carry a tune. Even during Mass, he avoided joining the chorus, mouthing the words instead.
After Serena left, pulling the wagon behind her down the street, melodic voice mixing with the chilled air, Miquel took a sack of potatoes to a woman everyone called Tia. She was seventy-nine, lived in a fifth-floor walk-up, and whenever he saw her, she would ask him to pray for her bad knees. She had been a friend of his mother, back in the old neighborhood, in the few buildings that remained standing, making their lives amongst the fallen facades and blackened framework.
Miquel’s mother had died while he was away at school. He had been accepted into an academy for would-be priests, set up by the Church to help fill their aging ranks. His mother was so proud when he went off to live in the dormitory. She didn’t tell him she had tuberculosis, did not want to interrupt his studies. He both hated and loved her for that.
One winter, she went without a coat so that an expectant mother with nothing else could have it. She often told Miquel that a church was not a building made of stone, but a community made of people. That’s what Hiltz used to say, too, at seminary, before the drugs got hold of him.
The day had faded. Saint Sebastian’s was gray and silent. Miquel knelt and prayed at the altar before sitting down to write the next day’s Homily. It was then he heard a rapping coming from the one confessional with its doors still intact. The sign above it indicated someone was there.
Miquel went to the booth. One of his parishioners had no doubt gone in while he was lost in prayer, wished to confess his sins, beat the Holy Week rush.
“Bless me, Miquel, for I have sinned.”
Miquel recognized the voice instantly. “Hiltz?”
The silhouette on the other side of the screen nodded. “It has been ten years since my last confession. To a priest, anyway.”
Miquel understood. The ‘reconciliation’ was popular. A simple capsule with almost no side effects, it left one feeling free of all guilt, all regret, cleansed them. Hiltz had bought into Vatican III with all his soul, taking advantage of the seminary’s access and abusing it all – from ‘baptism’ to ‘last rites’. One evening, Miquel had found him in the small dorm room they shared, his eyes rolled back, his tongue swollen. They took him away on a stretcher and he never returned.
“They are looking for you,” Miquel said through the confessional screen.
“Did they tell you why?” Hiltz asked. “Did they tell you what I stole?” He pushed open the screen. His face, once chiseled, was gaunt and sunken, and he had let his hair grow long. He held up a small vial between his thumb and forefinger. The liquid within it sparkled, seemed to give off its own faint light. “I could not be a priest,” he said, “but they still needed people to clean the bathrooms, make the beds, prepare basic meals. I’ve been working at the seminary, scrounging the ‘sacraments’ when I could. Sometimes, they’d give them as payment, in hopes of making me a better man.”
Miquel noted the bulging veins in his neck, the weariness in his eyes.
“You know the Church, all about redemption. Eventually they trusted me with keys to most of the building. I never took enough that it would be noticed. The other day, I saw something new, something I had never come across before.” He shook the vial slightly.
“What is it?” Miquel asked.
Hiltz smiled. “It’s ‘resurrection’. Just a sample, but ‘resurrection’ nonetheless.”
Miquel leaned back in the confessional. ‘Resurrection’. It was thought to be a myth – something the Church told worshippers to provide them hope, keep them strung out. If Hiltz was to be believed, the drug of ‘resurrection’ promised new life.
“How do you know?” Miquel asked. “How can you be sure?”
“I tried some, right there and then. Not knowing what it was of course, just that it was new. A drop on my tongue was enough. I felt, I felt—” Hiltz suddenly went silent.
Miquel gazed into the vial as if he would find some answers in it. “Is that all there is?”
“There must be more somewhere. With the Archbishop in his cathedral, or locked away in the Vatican. I don’t know why it wasn’t under better security. Perhaps it was a mistake, or perhaps they thought the storeroom was safe enough.”
“You have to give it back,” Miquel said. “They’ll never stop looking for you if you don’t.”
“You don’t understand. You never could. It’s the ultimate salvation.” Hiltz palmed the vial. It disappeared into his coat.
“Salvation does not come from something you can keep in your pocket. It is a gift from God.”
“Who do you think gave this to us, gave us all the ‘sacraments’, if not God?”
“Someone other than God.”
Hiltz held up his hand. “I am not here to argue creed. I’ve come seeking sanctuary.”
“Sanctuary protects you from the legal system. If you haven’t noticed, that system is broken beyond repair. We have only the Church to rely on. You cannot seek protection from the Church within the Church.”
“Hide me for a few days, at least. I’ve heard them speak of you in the seminary – the priest who is not a priest. They shun you, but there is a touch of admiration in their voices.” He glanced down. “As much as I’d like to keep this for myself, I could get a hundred ‘baptisms’ for this one little vial. I’ll give you a cut. How does twenty-five percent sound?”
Miquel calculated how many children he could feed, how much real medicine he could buy, with that much money. What had the Church intended to do with the vial? Keep it for the monsignor, the archbishop, make a gift of it to the pope himself to gain favor? Still, theft was a sin, and theft from the church was doubly so. Hiltz was a thief, and Miquel was going into league with him.
“Make it thirty,” he said with more than a twinge of guilt.
Hiltz nodded.
Miquel slid the screen shut. “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.”
Hiltz response was automatic even after all those years. “His mercy endures forever.”
Miquel made the sign of the cross. “Go in peace,” he said, but neither man moved for a long while.
After Palm Sunday Mass was over, everyone fed, the dishes washed and dried, good-byes bidden, Miquel sent Serena with a message to one of his dealers. It said only that he had something special to sell, and that he could meet with the dealer Monday afternoon in the usual place.
Serena returned a short time later. She seemed undisturbed by having entered the dealer’s lair, down by the fallen bridge. She was not bothered by likely having been frisked and escorted by angry looking men with crosses scrawled into their AR-15s. That’s why Miquel had sent her. She had been through so much he knew nothing could faze her. Besides, in the end, they were businessmen. She was his messenger, and he was a valued customer. The dealer had said he would be there.
Miquel had searched for Hiltz’s face during Mass, at the meal afterwards, but had seen no sign of him. He wasn’t hiding in the confessional, either. It wasn’t until everyone was gone, including Serena, that he found his old friend up in the gallery behind what was left of the organ, its pipes long sold for scrap.
Hiltz lay spread-eagled, naked, his head tilted to one side, eyes closed, spittle dribbling from his lips. He was muttering in a language that Miquel could not understand. His stomach was slightly swollen from malnutrition; track marks riddled his arms and legs. His palms trickled with blood.
The vial of ‘resurrection’ sat by his right hand, opened, about a quarter of it gone. Miquel sealed the vial and pocketed it, then lifted his friend. He was surprisingly light, but Miquel stumbled more than once coming down the stairs. He brought Hiltz down to his bed and covered him in several blankets. Hiltz was still muttering, opened his eyes once or twice. Despite his appearance, he looked strangely serene, a slight smile on his lips.
Miquel sat up all night with Hiltz as he alternated between chills and fever, turning him when he began to vomit so he would not choke, giving him sips of water in his periods of lucidness. Finally, Hiltz fell soundly to sleep. Miquel climbed into bed with him and closed his eyes. His friend was warm, but no longer with fever.
They awoke mid-morning, almost at the same time. Hiltz seemed to have suffered none the worse for wear. Miquel brought out some bread, some of his precious butter, and marmalade donated by a parishioner on condition Miquel would not give it to someone else. They sat at his tiny table. Hiltz ate like he hadn’t eaten in a while.
“Why do you do that to yourself?” Miquel asked.
Hiltz stood. Miquel had given him a collarless shirt and loose pants to wear. “Look at me, do I seem like I’m suffering? Sure, it may not be pretty, but during that time, my mind is at peace. And now, I feel as if though I could conquer the world. And you know what? I believe again.”
“Long enough. Tell me, where’s the rest of it?”
Miquel patted his pocket, told Hiltz about the meeting. “Fortunately, there’s still enough to sell.”
“About that. I was thinking it would be a shame to have it wasted on some rich Bible Boys. You and me, we could string it out for several months at least.”
Miquel averted his gaze. “I have to go out.”
Down the street from the church sprawled Mount Olive Cemetery. It was once a part of the archdiocese, but like Saint Sebastian’s, the Church had abandoned it long ago.
A gravel path, overgrown with weeds, meandered between the gravestones, many of them chipped and marred, sprayed with graffiti or tipped over and broken. Miquel felt nurtured walking amongst the dead. Unlike in the city parks and boulevards, many of the trees still stood, and now, with spring harkening, were beginning to bud. He felt a sense of calm, and in that calm, he could think and pray.
He often talked to God, but God seldom talked back. Still, he hoped this time, he might get some sign of what to do next. He had thought that in selling the ‘resurrection’, it would allow Hiltz to get back on his feet, start a new life. Now, he realized Hiltz needed more than just money. He had long since lost his way.
Miquel came upon a mausoleum with a peaked tile roof, framed by Ionic columns like some ancient Greek temple. Miquel must have walked past this structure a hundred times, but this was the first time he ever read the family name etched in marble above the padlocked door. Flannagan. Judging by the mausoleum’s size and ornateness, they must have been wealthy and powerful once. Now, there was nothing left of them but this house of the dead. Life on this earth was fleeting, temporary. And while there was a better life waiting after death, this life was still one worth living. Hiltz deserved a chance to live that life well.
Deep down, the Church could be good. It could take Hiltz back in, the Prodigal Son. It could nurse him, attempt again to rehabilitate him, to save him, and maybe, in gratitude, ordain Miquel, make him a proper priest for his congregation.
Miquel found Serena at the makeshift school on Kenmare Street. He asked the teacher, a slip of a woman with close-cropped hair that the children knew not to mess with, to excuse her, sent her out with a message to the monsignor.
Back at the church, Hiltz trembled and sweat formed on his brow. He kept asking for the ‘resurrection’. “It’s mine, give it back to me. I’ll take it and be on my way. I’ve been too much trouble already.”
“You promised me thirty percent.” The monsignor had told Serena they would come soon. Miquel had to keep Hiltz here until then, and the only way to do that was to keep the ‘resurrection’ from him.
Hiltz began to pace. Miquel stood by the open doors, shifting his gaze between the outside and Hiltz, ready to flee if he lashed out.
They heard the monsignor’s car come to a quick halt at the curb. Hiltz stopped pacing, stared at Miquel, his face twisted. “You were my friend,” he said.
“I still am,” Miquel replied.
The monsignor’s priests hurried into the church. Hiltz turned and ran. Miquel followed as the priests chased Hiltz through the back door, catching up with them in the ruins of the rectory. They dragged him into the alley, threw him to the ground. He did not resist. Miquel watched from the church door as they kicked him. He curled up into a ball, trying to protect himself from the blows.
During and after the Incendium, Miquel had seen his share of violence and normally responded with calm and reason. This time, he hurled himself at the two men. He jumped on the back of one, gripping him around the neck and yelling at them to stop. The larger man grabbed Miquel’s arm and flung him over his shoulder. Miquel hit the ground hard. He turned, looked into Hiltz’s face. He could hardly recognize it for all the blood.
The car pulled up and the Monsignor got out. He walked over to Hiltz, knelt beside him, whispered something. No doubt, he was asking where the ‘resurrection’ was. Miquel had only told them where to find Hiltz. If he wasn’t going to sell the drug for a hefty profit, at least he could bargain with the archdiocese for antibiotics. Drugs that might really help his people.
Hiltz shook his head. The monsignor now spoke at length. He produced a syringe from his coat, injected Hiltz’ neck.
He was performing ‘last rites’.
The monsignor made the sign of the cross, rose. The priests dragged Hiltz into the back of the car, his body limp. The monsignor got into the front seat and the car drove off.
Serena stood in the alley’s entrance, a wisp in the trail of the car’s exhaust. The look on her face said she had seen everything. She tried to help Miquel, but he pushed her away. He staggered into the church. His outer injuries were superficial, but inside he felt pain not felt in a long while. The pain that came with hate. Hate for the men who beat Hiltz. Hate for the monsignor. Hate for the entire Church he had for so long wanted to be a part of. Hate for himself, realizing that he had let Hiltz down, and in letting him down, he had let Serena and those like her down as well. They did not need a priest, they did not need his drug money, they needed him.
He spent the rest of the afternoon in prayer, his lips moving, holding his rosary so tight the beads imprinted into his palms. He prayed for God to have mercy on Hiltz’s soul. He prayed for the strength to fight the raw emotions that dwelled within him. It would have been easy to blame God for all this, to lose faith. It was his own fault for misreading the sign in the cemetery. If God was trying to tell him anything at all, it was that death was near.
That evening, a van pulled up in front of Saint Sebastian’s. Several men in body armor got out. The archbishop’s guard. They genuflected before ransacking the church. They found his inventory under the floorboards, and after inspecting it all thoroughly, left it strewn about the changing room along with the communion dishes. They scanned the rubble of the rectory with flashlights, picked through the remains of the organ in the gallery.
They acted as if Miquel was not even there, until the end, when two of them strip-searched him on the altar. As he got dressed, another man appeared. He did not genuflect as he entered, but strode toward Miquel, his face becoming visible in the dim light. It was the balding priest who had been with the monsignor and had helped beat Hiltz to a pulp.
“Tell me where it is,” he said.
Miquel did not answer.
“We know you have it.” He looked around, his face twisted. “We’ve been polite up till now. But I am here to tell you that if you don’t turn it over to us by Friday, this little sanctuary of yours will be razed to the ground. Think about it. If that happens, what will happen to your flock?”
He left, the archbishop’s guard filing out behind him. As the van pulled away, Miquel locked the church doors, something he had not done in all the years he had been there. It was only then that he noticed Serena. She came out from behind the altar. Even after he pushed her away, she had not left. How she had avoided detection, he had no idea, but children like her were good at making themselves invisible.
“How long have you been here?” Miquel asked.
“Long enough,” she replied. “What did they want?”
In response, Miquel went to the statue of the Virgin Mother, reached behind it, opened a compartment no larger than a small pill container and removed the ‘resurrection’. The only way they could have found it was to smash the statue to pieces, and even these men dared not do that. He showed it to Serena, who nodded as he told her what it was.
“Are you going to give it to them?” she asked.
Miquel sat on the altar steps. “I can’t.”
Serena’s eyes welled. Miquel had never seen the girl cry before. “I don’t want anything to happen to you,” she said.
“I’m of no importance. The parish is what matters.”
Serena sat down next to him. “You’re the parish. As long as you’re here, there’s hope.”
Miquel put his hand on the girl’s shoulder, squeezed gently. He wasn’t sure if he believed that he was that important, but she believed it. The parish believed it.
“Maybe they’re bluffing,” Serena said hopefully. “If you give it to them, they’ll be grateful.”
For a moment, Miquel fantasized she was right. They would laud him a hero, maybe even ordain him. He shook the idea from his head. He had seen what they’d done to Hiltz. And even if they deemed to call him Father, he now found it nothing but an empty word.
“So they’ll destroy the church?”
“No,” Miquel said. “They won’t do that either.”
He sent her away, but not before giving her a message to relay to the other children, to spread throughout the congregation.
The demolition crew arrived early Good Friday with wrecking balls, dump trucks and bulldozers. Private contractors hired by what was left of City Hall with condemnation orders. The Church had paid off the mayor, no doubt, but if anyone bothered to check, it had no official involvement.
One of crew crossed himself before getting to work. By mid-afternoon, nothing remained except bits of shattered concrete, splintered wood, shards of ceramic tile in piles around a cement foundation. That and the first step leading up to the main doors, where Miquel had stood only a few days before, selling ‘god’ to the Bible Boys in their red sports sedan.
Miquel had watched the destruction from the safety of a nearby rowhouse. It hurt to see the walls come down in a shower of broken masonry and dust, but he thought he owed it that much. When the crews were gone, he went and stood on the remaining step. He looked up, as if the steeple and the gargoyles were still there, while fingering the vial in his coat pocket.
Easter was celebrated in an old warehouse belonging to Miquel’s suppliers, a few of them even staying to hear him say Mass. Parishioners filtered into the warehouse in small numbers so as not to attract attention, until the whole space was full. Miquel had no meal to feed them, but they showed up all the same, parting for him as he led the Processional, the Good News in hand.
Prior to the demolition, some of them had come to Saint Sebastian’s to claim the statue of the Virgin Mother, cut away the mural, and take down the headless crucifix. They now surrounded Miquel, who stood on a makeshift altar hastily built of wooden pallets and old crates, giving the warehouse a sense of home.
Miquel looked out over his church. A Church made of people, just like his mother had taught him. He would deal with his hate later. Today was a day of joy.
The monsignor stood in the front of the crowd, his priests on either side, all in black except for the monsignor’s purple sash, faces grim. Jules, one of Miquel’s suppliers, beckoned him from the left side of the altar. He had a beatific glow to his face; smooth, radiant skin that hid inner scars of a life hard-lived. Miquel hoped to save him one day.
“Do you want us to kick them out?” Jules nodded toward the three.
“Let them stay.”
“They could cause you trouble,” Jules replied.
“If they try anything, they’ll have the congregation to contend. They’re all the protection I need.” He only half believed it. In the end, it didn’t matter either way. The real church, the community made of his people, would endure without him and without drugs.
Serena was the altar server assisting him with mass. She nodded to Miquel and he nodded back. He turned to his congregation, withdrew the vial of ‘resurrection’ from beneath his vestments, and held it up. The sparkling light it emitted was unmistakable.
The Monsignor shook his head vigorously, seeming to realize Miquel’s intent. Up until that moment, Miquel himself was not sure if he’d go through with it. But in looking at the Monsignor, he saw more than one man. Instead, he saw Hiltz, a hundred, a thousand, a million Hitlz’s, all strung out on false faiths, all having the saddest of lives, all coming to the saddest of ends.
Miquel smashed the ‘resurrection’ vial to the ground. Its contents slowly seeped between the cracks in the concrete floor. Most of the congregation would have no idea what he had just done, but the Monsignor knew. Miquel looked straight at him and dared the slightest jutting of his chin.
The two priests moved towards the altar, pushing those before them out of their way. The Monsignor halted them with a word. He understood that doing anything to Miquel now would be meaningless at best, ensure martyrdom at worst.
After a tense moment, the Monsignor nodded once with a hint of a smile. Miquel nodded back. The Monsignor turned and disappeared into the crowd, priests in tow.
Serena beamed at Miquel. Hands now empty, he opened them wide in welcome. “Let us pray.”
Manfred Gabriel
Manfred Gabriel lives and writes in Western Wisconsin. For his day job, he spends all day dealing with people, and writes to maintain his sanity. His short stories have appeared in over two dozen publications. His musing on the workplace can be found at www.wordpress.highschoolwithmoney.com.
By admin|2019-12-29T23:24:43-05:00December 21st, 2019|Fiction, Issue #7, Stories|0 Comments
“This is Your Child, Who You Love”
“How Did They Get You?”
“So It Fermented, in Bitter Florals with a Lasting Spiced Finish”
“Echoes Through the Vacuum”
“By the End”
Rene Walling
Why Your Point of View Character Can’t Die at the End Letter from Editor Jean Asselin
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Home Lymington Pennington Residents plan vigilante squads in response to vandals’ return
Residents plan vigilante squads in response to vandals’ return
Antonella Lazzeri
Worried residents (from left) Karen Davies, Tony Stone and Barry Chislett-Bruce
RESIDENTS on a Pennington housing estate say they will form vigilante squads to combat vandals who have smashed up vehicles there for the second time in just over a month.
At least four vehicles were targeted in Bays Road on Friday in the early hours, but victims claim that police are “not interested” in investigating the crimes. They plan to take action themselves to prevent it happening again in the future.
Tony Stone, a former paratrooper, said: “We feel we have absolutely no alternative. If the police won’t do anything to protect our property, we will have to do it ourselves.
“A vigilante squad seems to be the way forward. We will have to patrol this estate ourselves to prevent these idiots coming back to do this again.”
The vandals match the description of previous yobs who targeted 26 cars over two nights in Pennington and Lymington in the first week of December. They smashed up three cars in nearby Meadowlands before making their way to Bays Road at around 12.15am.
One of the cars attacked in Lymington in December
Mr Stone said the youths who carried out the latest attacks seem “totally blasé” about being caught.
He said: “In Meadowlands they were caught on CCTV, one of them holds his middle finger up to the camera before ripping it off the wall. They seem to be revelling in what they are doing, knowing they will probably get away with what they are doing.”
Barry Chislett-Bruce, who had his van attacked while his wife’s car had a window smashed and items taken from it, said: “We found the hammer that they used lying by my wife’s car.
“But when I told Hampshire police, they said they ‘might consider’ coming to get it and if they do it won’t be for another two days.
“To be honest they could not have sounded less interested if they tried. It’s disgusting. If these thugs get away with this for a second time it won’t be long before they are back again.
“There have been talks about forming a vigilante squad and it looks like that is what we will have to do.”
On 7th December last year at least eight cars in Bays Road were smashed up by a gang of teens who then went on to damage cars in roads all over Pennington and Lymington that night and the following one.
Residents said they feared then that if the culprits were not caught, they would attack vehicles again.
‘It’s a horrible feeling’
Mr Chislett-Bruce, a chimney sweep, said: “That certainly seems to have come true. I am sure it is probably the last lot who smashed up cars here who have done it again.
“Last time they were young teenagers wearing hoodies and scarfs over their faces.
“Someone in Meadowlands caught the thugs who did this to our cars on CCTV at around 12.03. They matched the description of that last gang.”
After damaging at least three cars in Meadowlands the gang made their way to Bays Road where they damaged two cars and stole items from others.
Mr Chislett-Bruce said: “They attacked my van with the hammer making huge dents in the passenger door.
“That is going to cost me hundreds if not thousands to have repaired and I have lost a day’s work because I have to have deal with all this. The hassle and inconvenience of it all is sickening.”
His wife Karen Davies, who was also unable to go to work at a vets, said: “They smashed my passenger window, then got everything out of the glove compartment. They even took a Will Young CD.
“A neighbour’s car was unlocked so they went all through that too. My daughter’s car was also targeted, she lives around the corner.
“Hers was unlocked and they’ve been all through it. We’ve found items stolen from the cars dumped in the road, its all so mindless. There was nothing of value in my car but I’ve got to pay £75 for the insurance excess to have the window repaired, not to mention not being able to go to work.
“It’s a horrible feeling to know someone has done this and that they could easily come back and do it again.”
The couple were alerted to what had happened by neighbour Mr Stone. He had heard the gang but did not realise they had caused any damage until the morning.
‘It’s disgusting’
He said: “My wife woke me up saying she had heard noises in the street. We heard voices but could not see anyone.
“I have a very bright torch which I shone in the direction of the noise. I kept looking out the window until 1am and I think I must have frightened the gang off.
“It wasn’t until I came out around 7.30am this morning that I realised Barry and Karen’s vehicles had been done over.”
Mr Stone is also going to complain to the council about the fact that street lighting on the estate is off from 1am-4am, saying: “That obviously doesn’t help the situation. They should be on all night.”
Items stolen from cars in Bays Road and Meadowlands, including a rucksack that had contained new clothes and £20 in cash, were later found on Pennington Common.
A blaze in a bin that firefighters responded to on the common around 1am is suspected to be linked to the car attacks with witnesses reporting a group of youths burning items.
Hampshire police say that they have reports of two cars being vandalised, one in Bays Road and one in Meadowlands.
Anyone with information should contact officers on 101, quoting crime reference number 44200011, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
What do you think? Write to the Advertiser and Times via letters@adt.press.
Previous articleStorm Brendan: Met Office issues alerts for heavy wind and rain
Next articleDrivers urged to avoid Beaulieu as morning flood alert issued
Senior reporter Antonella Lazzeri has returned to her local roots after decades of reporting around the world. A mum of one, she covers news, features and anything that readers think people should know.
Police call for witnesses after residents hit by night of vandalism
Graves damaged in trail of destruction at New Forest cemetery
Church bids to beef up security to stop the vandals
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Scottish Advertisements and Information
Re: Scottish Advertisements and Information
Postby dognose » Sun Mar 30, 2014 5:40 pm
JAMES COULL Ltd.
Mitchell Street, Glasgow
Mr WILLIAM CHESTERS
The death occurred yesterday of Mr William Chesters, who was well known in business circles in Glasgow. He was managing director of James Coull Ltd., wholesale jewellers, and a founder-member of the Scottish Jewellers' and Watchmakers' Association of which he was also the honorary president.
Mr Chesters, who was 81, was a native of Cheshire, and had been in business in Glasgow for nearly 40 years. He was a former magistrate of the burgh of Milngavie; the senior elder of St Paul's Church, Milngavie; a superintendent of the Sunday school; a member of the Dumbartonshire Elders' Association, and an office-bearer in the Dumbartonshire Unionist Association.
Source: The Glasgow Herald - 16th August 1949
James Coull Ltd., whose last known directors were Norman Ian Chesters, George Irving Christisom, Hector McKay Scott & Paul Roskow Gentle Thompson, registered their marks at both the Glasgow and Edinburgh assay offices. The Glasgow registered mark was 'J.C' contained within an oblong punch with clipped corners. The Edinburgh registered mark 'JC', the 'J' and 'C' overlapping one another and contained within a lozenge shaped punch.
James Coull Ltd. ceased trading on the 8th November 1982.
Postby dognose » Tue Apr 01, 2014 1:45 pm
GEORGE S. WHYTOCK
At Forebank, Dundee, on the 22nd inst. by the Rev. Richard Logan, Mr George S. Whytock, jeweller, to Eliza Goodair Scott, second daughter of Mr William Balbirnie, slater.
Source: Dundee Courier - 29th July 1857
This person may be the originator, or one of the sons, of the business of Whytock & Sons of Dundee (see above post), who claimed establishment in 1830.
Postby dognose » Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:45 am
GEORGE A. MOIR
36, St. David Street, Brechin
George A. Moir - Brechin - 1900
Geo. A. Moir - Brechin - 1907
Postby dognose » Sat Apr 05, 2014 6:28 am
JAMES RATTRAY
Nethergate, Dundee
Dundee Royal Casket. –A meeting of the Special Committee of Dundee Town Council, appointed to consider and select a design for the casket in which the addresses to the Duke of York and the Princess May are to be enclosed, have decided that the design submitted by Mr. James Rattray, jeweler, Nethergate, Dundee, should be accepted. The casket is to be made of 18-carat gold, weighing fully 18 ounces, and measuring over all 8 inches long and 5" inches high. The top will be surmounted with the Dundee coat of arms. In front of the lid are to be shown the Royal arms, and at each side of the lid there will appear a portrait of the Duke of York and the Princess May. The centre panel is to be filled in with a picture of the Art Galleries and Free Library. The narrow panels on each side are to be filled in with ornamental scroll work, and the end panels will show pictures of the Royal Arch and the Old Steeple. The border of the base is to be beautifully chased, and will rest on four neatly chased scroll feet.
GEORGE D. RATTRAY
32, Nethergate, Dundee
Box detail
Geo. D. Rattray - Dundee - 1910
The continuation of James Rattray's business (see above post), established in 1850.
George David Rattray succeeded to his father, James's business by a least 1907. George David Rattray died on the 22nd January 1918, aged 62 years.
George D. Rattray entered his mark 'G.D.R' contained within an oblong punch with clipped corners, with the Edinburgh and Glasgow assay offices.
George D. Rattray entered similar marks to the above with the London Assay Office, on the 8th May 1907.
G.D.R - Birmingham - 1914
The maker's mark may be over-striking that of another in this case.
See: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=14729&p=127464#p127464
RATTRAY & Co.
32-36, Nethergate, Dundee
Rattray & Co. - Dundee - 1927
Probably the third phrase of the Rattray business.
Rattray & Co. entered their mark 'R & Co' contained within an oval punch, with the Edinburgh and Glasgow assay offices.
Rattray & Co. entered their mark 'R & Co' contained within a six-sided punch, with the Chester Assay Office on the 23rd September 1935. A similar mark was also entered with the Birmingham Assay Office.
The partners of Rattray & Co. in 1935 were noted as Joan Kirkcaldy and John Shelland (Shilland).
Postby dognose » Sun Apr 06, 2014 8:02 am
JAMES DUNCAN
St. Jame's Place, Brechin
James Duncan - Brechin - 1896
Postby dognose » Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:06 pm
20, High Street, Brechin
John Mitchell - Brechin - 1896
Later styled J.Mitchell and Son. They are still in business today styled J.Mitchell and Son and are still located at 20, High Street, Brechin. The business has been owned by the Laing family since 1960.
HUGH DUNLOP
65, High Street, Ayr
Hugh Dunlop - Ayr - 1898
Postby dognose » Fri Apr 18, 2014 12:46 pm
GRAHAM LEISHMAN STEWART
A picturesque 300-year-old building, rescued from demolition in Dunblane's Cathedral Square, houses the Cornerstone Gallery which constantly specialises in silver and goldsmithing and diversifies with exhibitions of paintings, prints and so on every four to six weeks.
Bill and Graham Stewart (father and son) make individual hand-worked pieces of jewellery which are much in demand for clients ranging from local farmers to Margaret Thatcher. Bill Stewart originally trained in optical instruments and industrial design before turning to silversmithing and his designs are clean-cut and elegant. His latest commission has been a triangular rosebowl presented to the Royal College of Surgeons by three of its Fellows.
Graham Stewart trained at Aberdeen. Torn between painting and jewellery he eventually decided to return to Dunblane to goldsmithing and, in his case, his work is gently decorative - using different coloured golds, often embellished with open filigree, delicate leaves, and tracery windows. Pendants, necklaces, and lockets are a speciality.
Graham Leishman Stewart (b.1955) entered his mark 'GLS' contained within a heraldic shield, with the Edinburgh Assay Office in 1976.
He studied at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen and established his workshop at Dunblane in 1978.
Postby dognose » Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:08 am
18, Swan Street, Brechin
George Guthrie - Brechin - 1892
G. Guthrie - Brechin - 1904
Postby dognose » Fri Apr 25, 2014 9:45 am
ROBERT G. LAWRIE Ltd.
The Highland House, 38 Renfield Street, and North Wallace Street, Glasgow
An example of the work of Robert G. Lawrie Ltd., an Irvine clan badge:
RGL - Glasgow - 1951
Manufacturer of Highland accoutrements, bagpipes, Highland dress, etc.
The name is often mis-spelt as 'Robert G Laurie Ltd.'
Robert G. Lawrie Ltd. entered their marks 'RGL' and 'R.G.L', both contained in oblong punches, with the Glasgow and Edinburgh assay offices.
Postby dognose » Tue Apr 29, 2014 12:52 pm
JAMES PEAT
Carluke, Lanarkshire
Peat - At Strathclyde Hospital, Motherwell, on 15th February 1968, JAMES PEAT, in his 91st year (retired jeweller), 72, High Street, Carluke. - Friends desirous of attending funeral please meet cortège at Daldowie Crematorium (West Chapel), Broomhouse, tomorrow (Saturday) at 11.45 a.m.
Source: The Glasgow Herald - 16th February 1968
Postby dognose » Thu May 01, 2014 6:38 am
39, Bridge Street, Inverness
Morrison, Robert, watchmaker & jeweller, 2 Douglas Row, Inverness, son
Source: Inverness Advertiser - 17th June 1870
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM - DAMAGE TO THE TOWN CLOCK
On Tuesday afternoon, about one o'clock, a severe thunderstorm burst over Inverness. There were only a few peals of thunder, but one of these was so loud and startling that for a moment it was supposed some of the buildings in town had been struck. In High Street and Bridge Street nearly every one turned out of doors, and looked about to see if any damage had been done, most attention being directed to the town steeple. No injury to the steeple, however, was apparent, and the storm passed off in a deluge of rain; but on the following day, Mr Morrison, jeweller, Bridge Street, observed that the town clock was not striking, and going up to see what was wrong he found that the steeple had actually been struck, though the damage was slight. The lightning appeared to have come in above the clock from the window, then down the chain which is attached to the hour-hammer, along the pendulum, and tearing its way through the woodwork protecting the pendulum, it escaped by the open bars towards Bridge Street. The chain attached to the hammer has been half melted and stiffened, just as if it had passed through the fire.
Source: Inverness Advertiser - 7th July 1871
Robert Morrison's private residence was noted as 72, Church Street, Inverness, in 1873.
Postby dognose » Fri May 02, 2014 1:18 pm
SALE OF BANKRUPT STOCK OF GOLD AND SILVER WATCHES, JEWELLERY, SILVER AND PLATED GOODS, CUTLERY Etc.
AT 156 TRONGATE
ROBERT STEWART respectfully informs his Friends and the Public that he has purchased the whole STOCK belonging to the Sequestrated Estate of William Johnstone, watchmaker and jeweller, which will be ready for inspection on Wednesday, 29th instant. The stock having been all purchased within 18 months, the whole will be found new and fashionable.
R.S. is determined to offer it to the Public at unprecedented low prices, as the whole must be immediately turned into cash.
Glasgow, 27th December 1847
Source: The Glasgow Herald - 27th December 1847
Postby dognose » Thu May 15, 2014 2:31 pm
ANDREW SWAN
4, Port Street, Stirling
Andrew Swan - Stirling - 1865
Andrew Swan's business was established by at least 1864. He was joined in partnership by his son, Robert in c.1882, and the business restyled to Andrew Swan & Son. The firm survived until at least 1903.
Andrew Swan registered his mark 'AS' contained within a shield shaped cartouche, with the Edinburgh Assay Office.
Postby dognose » Sun May 18, 2014 3:33 pm
THOMAS DUNN
The Sign of the Gilded Globe, 50, North Hanover Street, later, 106, George Street, Edinburgh
Thomas Dunn - Edinburgh - 1860
Thomas Dunn took over his brother's, John Dunn, business in c.1843. He appears to have been in business until 1867 at least.
Postby dognose » Fri May 23, 2014 7:05 am
Norman Cherry - Kelso - 1983
1966-70 Glasgow School of Art
1970-71 Assistant to Louis Osman, Goldsmith, Canons Ashby, Northants
1971- Designer - Goldsmith - Jeweller, Kelso
1974-86 Proprietor, Woodmarket Gallery, Kelso
1978-84 Part-time Lecturer, Scottish College of Textiles, Galashiels
1983 Temporary Part-time Lecturer, Edinburgh College of Art
1984-85 Associate Lecturer, University of Northumbria, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1985-96 Principal Lecturer, Head of Division of Three Dimensional and Environmental Design, University of Northumbria, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1996-08 Professor and Head of School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University
2008 - Dean of Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design, University of Lincoln
2009 - Visiting Professor, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
1971 Crafts Consultative Committee setting up grant
1972 Saltire Society John Noble Craft Award
1983 Sir Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship
1983 Grand Prize - Society of North American Goldsmiths Platinum Design Competition
1984 1st Prize, Jewellery, Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh Design Competition
1993 Betty Davies Award for Jewellery - Scottish Artists and Artist Craftsmen
2003 Applied Arts Award - Visual Arts Scotland
Norman Cherry registered his mark 'NC' contained within a lozenge, with the Edinburgh Assay Office.
Postby dognose » Mon May 26, 2014 3:50 pm
WILLIAM MACDONALD MILNE
DEATH OF AN ABERDEEN JEWELLER
The death occurred yesterday at his residence 38 Grosvenor Place, Aberdeen, of Mr William Macdonald Milne, jeweller and optician. Mr Milne started business on his own account in Aberdeen 35 years ago, and built up a large business, his work as an optician being well known throughout the North of Scotland. He took out a patent for individual Communion service cups of his own design, and supplied these to over 100 churches in the country.
Source: The Glasgow Herald - 20th March 1931
William Macdonald Milne registered his marks 'MILNE' 'ABDn' with the Edinburgh Assay Office.
Postby dognose » Wed May 28, 2014 9:00 am
9, Old Bridge Street, Ayr
John Lyall - Ayr - 1914
J.LYl. AYR.
John Lyall entered similar marks to the above with the Glasgow Assay Office.
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Home / Archive / featured / A new home for Vintage Music to launch early 2019
A new home for Vintage Music to launch early 2019 Reviewed by RXTV-newsdesk on December 12, 2018 Rating: 5
A new home for Vintage Music to launch early 2019
December 12, 2018 Archive , featured Edit
Fans of older hit music can look forward to a new music television channel that's being prepared for launch.
View TV Group have confirmed to a516digital that plans to turn their Vintage Music webstream into a fully-fledged television channel are advanced and that a launch on Sky, Virgin Media and Freeview is planned during 2019, beginning with a launch on Sky, currently earmarked for the end of January 2019.
The company previously provided the now defunct Vintage TV a webstream facility via its streaming division Kapang before the channel went into administration. Working together with creditors of the former channel, View TV Group intends to launch Vintage Music as a pure music video channel.
Vintage Music however will have no association with the former Vintage TV channel. Administrators of Vintage TV are currently in the process of selling off the channel's remaining assets, including the channel's library of original content.
Ahead of the launch of the TV service, View TV Group have already launched the Vintage Music brand in the north-east of England following a rebrand of their FM station in County Durham last week. A version of Vintage Music Radio tailored for national audiences is also due to take up a slot on DAB in London soon. Vintage Music covers the 70s, 80s and 90s.
UPDATE 30/01/2019: The service is delayed. View TV Group has been contacted for more information.
Image: Screenshot - Vintage Music
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From Neo-Nazi to militant: The foreign fighters in Ukraine who Australia's laws won't stop
By Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Suzanne Dredge, and Michael Workman, ABC Investigations
Updated May 07, 2018 14:45:28
Video: The Australian former soldier turned Neo-Nazi who fought in Ukraine (ABC News)
Related Story: On the frontline of Ukraine's bloody stalemate
Related Story: More than 9,000 killed since start of Ukraine conflict: UN
Related Story: Is violence in Ukraine a precursor to something worse?
Map: Brisbane 4000
When Australian former Neo-Nazi and registered gun owner Ethan Tilling flew into Brisbane this year, he was returning under the radar of Australian authorities with newfound combat experience from a brutal and forgotten war.
Two Australians have been identified as joining militant groups to fight in the war in Ukraine
One of the men, Ethan Tilling, is a former Neo-Nazi and soldier in the Australian Army and the other was an airman with the Royal Australian Air Force
There are no rules prohibiting Australians fighting for Ukraine
Mr Tilling, who was until recently a member of the Nazi group Right Wing Resistance, had spent the Australian spring in the bitter cold of Eastern Ukraine firing Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers and grenades at Russian-backed separatists.
The 23-year-old former soldier from Brisbane is one of two Australian ex-Defence Force personnel identified by the ABC who have joined thousands of ultranationalists flocking from across the world to take up arms in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass.
Mr Tilling and former Royal Australian Air Force airman Jared Bennet joined a patchwork of pro-Ukrainian militia groups taking on the Russian-backed separatists in a chaotic and stuttering conflict, which has become to right-wing extremists what the war in Syria is to jihadists.
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Unlike Australians who break strict foreign fighter laws by joining Islamic State or the Kurds who oppose them, neither Mr Tilling nor Mr Bennet, from Melbourne, have broken any Australian law by taking up arms in Ukraine.
The ABC does not suggest Mr Tilling or Mr Bennet pose any threat, but Australian and international security experts say the cases highlight an inconsistency in the law which leaves Australia vulnerable to the brand of violent right-wing extremism that is spreading across the US and Europe.
From the Australian Army to Nazism
Like many young men attracted to the global ultranationalist movement, Mr Tilling reveres the Norse gods of war and grew up desperate to become a warrior himself.
Photo: Ethan Tilling behind the Right Wing Resistance flag at a Reclaim Australia rally in November 2015. (AAP: Dan Peled)
"I think it's a rite of passage for every man," he said.
"Some men feel they should defend something or go to war. It's part of the things they have to do in their life."
Mr Tilling's body is plastered in tattoos which he says merely honour his Scandinavian ancestors, but among them are emblems worn by white supremacists.
Infographic: Ethan Tilling has tattoos with right-wing associations.
By Mr Tilling's account, he was a violent teenager.
At the age of 18, he joined the Australian Army but he did not serve out his contract and was discharged after serving 18 months with the 8th/12th artillery regiment in Darwin.
Two months after his discharge in late 2015, when anti-Islamic sentiment was boiling over in Australia, Mr Tilling wore a Southern Cross flag to a Reclaim Australia anti-Islam protest in Brisbane.
He said it was there that he met a New Zealand-based Neo-Nazi group called Right Wing Resistance, which describes itself on its website as "an active army of white nationalists" committed to white supremacy.
"I got involved [in Nazism] firstly following Islamic terror in Australia and with the terror attacks overseas," he said.
"I just became increasingly worried about the immigration into Australia and who was coming in, and whether or not we could guarantee those people wouldn't harm us."
Mr Tilling joined Right Wing Resistance's tiny Brisbane chapter but said he quickly became frustrated with the commitment shown by its three other local members.
"They had no agenda for political and economic reform," he said.
"They were there because they had no-one else.
"I realised they were absolutely useless human beings … I decided I wanted nothing to do with those people.
"It wasn't even any part of why I went to the Ukraine."
'It's hard to join a foreign army'
Mr Tilling abandoned the group after just six months and three meetings, but said he remained a Nazi skinhead for about another half a year.
Photo: Ethan Tilling's Facebook profile picture in 2016. (Facebook)
Still "an Australian nationalist, a patriot … very much anti-immigration" and "definitely anti-Muslim", Mr Tilling turned his mind to fighting a war.
He was initially drawn to fighting against Islamic State in Syria, but Australians who joined the Kurdish forces were being threatened with charges under foreign fighter laws.
Under Australian law, anyone who participates in acts merely with the intention of engaging in hostile activities faces life in jail, but taking up arms alongside an army on their soil is perfectly legal.
Mr Tilling set about trying to find a foreign army that would take him.
"It was actually a lot harder to join a foreign army than people might think," he said.
"I jumped on the internet and for weeks and weeks, I tried to find articles and reviews about foreign legions taking foreign nationals voluntarily into their forces and then fighting from there."
It was a YouTube video that drove him to sign up with the Georgian National Legion, an international unit of foreign fighters in Ukraine including Americans, Brits and Europeans.
The video featured Craig Lang, a former US soldier who had fled America after allegedly stealing military equipment and threatening to kill his ex-wife.
External Link: The video of Ukraine's Foreign Legion which inspired Ethan Tilling to join the war
Tilling arrives on the frontline
After contacting the Georgian National Legion and assuring the unit he was not breaking any laws, Ethan Tilling landed on the frontline of Lugansk, the site of the most intense battles of the war in eastern Ukraine.
Photo: Ethan Tiller joined the Georgia National Legion and fought with Ukrainian nationalists against pro-Russian separatists. (Snapchat)
The Georgian National Legion was among a mishmash of militant groups which had gained strength and popularity in Ukraine when the ill-prepared and under-resourced Ukrainian army struggled to beat back Russian-backed separatists after war broke out in 2014.
Groups on both sides of the conflict were a magnet for thousands of ultranationalist amateur militants who were on an ideological "pilgrimage", according to Dr Kacper Rekawek, from the GLOBSEC Policy Institute in Slovakia.
"There's been a dream of these guys of having a war right next door to Europe ... to prepare themselves for a war back at home," he said.
"For them, this is a perfect occasion to train, prepare, organise and in the future, maybe launch something bigger somewhere else."
Dr Rekawek estimated at least 17,000 people had travelled to fight in Ukraine from more than 50 countries, with most of them coming from Russia to join the separatists.
Mr Tilling said his ideology had nothing to do with his decision to fight in Ukraine.
He said the war was not what he expected.
"Everything smells rotten. The ground smells like a combination of piss, shit and blood," he said.
"When you're in combat, it smells like smoke, it smells like gunpowder. Everyone's letting off about 50,000 rounds in 60 seconds. It's almost like out of a film."
The legion fought alongside the Ukrainian army, under constant artillery fire from Russian-backed separatists, who seized a large swathe of eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Fighters were equipped with Soviet-era machine guns, small rocket launchers, semi-automatic grenade launchers and sniper rifles, Mr Tilling said.
"I personally had an AK assault rifle and a grenade launcher — and we had everything on the line," he said.
"It's more or less World War I-style trench warfare and I certainly didn't expect that when I got into occupied Donetsk.
"We were getting shelled by a combination of mortar and artillery for almost 24 hours a day."
Photo: Cramped bunks for the soldiers fighting in Ukraine, 2017. (Supplied: Ethan Tilling)
The fighting was very close, Mr Tilling said, with soldiers having to do six-hour night watches to stop the enemy "running across the trenches at you".
"We were up to our guts in mud and the difference between the lines was about 120 metres," he said.
"We could hear them speaking Russian from our trench, we could see their bunkers, we could see their trenches clear as day."
Their uniforms were not made for the icy temperatures and the snow, and food and water were scarce.
The legion was living off stale bread and biscuits.
"I lost about 10 kilograms while I was in the trenches there. The mental state, it's rough," Mr Tilling said.
"It certainly wasn't what I expected, and I would tell any Australian thinking about going there to fight in the war to think very carefully about what they want to do, whether it's something they want to endure."
Photo: Ethan Tilling took part in trench warfare, contending with snowfall and mud. (Supplied: Ethan Tilling)
Mr Tilling told the ABC he witnessed atrocities but never engaged in any war crimes.
"There were certainly things going on there that would be considered war crimes," he said.
"We found one of our guys with his fingers, toes, his testicles and his penis cut off in a field with his throat slashed."
The ABC was unable to independently verify Mr Tilling's account, but the commander of the Georgian National Legion, Mamuka Mamulashvili, and an independent observer confirmed there had been instances of bodies of fighters being mutilated.
'We do not tolerate nationalism'
Within days Mr Tilling found himself dismayed by the chaos surrounding him and again disillusioned by the incompetence of his peers.
Fighters were often drunk and sometimes high.
"That was combined with things like walking around at night-time with lights on, singing at night, pointing loaded guns at your own team," he said.
Mr Tilling walked off the battlefield in anger after less than two months in Ukraine.
Photo: The trenches on the nationalist side of the Ukraine conflict are just over 100 metres from opposing forces. (Supplied: Ethan Tilling)
Commander Mamulashvili said Mr Tilling left after raising concerns about a severe lack of food and water.
He described Mr Tilling as a "motivated" and "good soldier", but expressed concern at learning he was a former Nazi.
"We have Muslims, we have Jewish guys, we have Americans, we have British guys, we are a big family," he said.
"We do not tolerate nationalism here."
A former RAAF airman joins the war
A year before Mr Tilling flew to Ukraine, another former Australian Defence Force serviceman traded his suburban life in Melbourne's north for the battlefields of Donetsk.
Photo: Jared Bennet fought in the Ukraine with the Right Sector Volvika Tactical Group. (Facebook)
After ending a five-year stint with the Royal Australian Air Force, Jared Bennet, 30, had spent his days going to the gym and his nights driving trucks.
Like Mr Tilling, Mr Bennet was inspired by social media to take up arms in Ukraine.
Mr Bennet told the ABC the catalyst to join the war was the Facebook posts from the frontline of a former US military friend he had met on a training exercise in Australia while in the air force.
Mr Bennet said he travelled to Ukraine in 2016 to fight for the country's radical ultranationalist Right Sector.
A spokeswoman for the Right Sector-aligned Volvika Tactical Group told the ABC that Mr Bennet returned to Ukraine to fight with the unit again last year, but Mr Bennet refused to respond to the claim.
Mr Bennet served alongside Craig Lang, the same American ex-soldier who had fled the US for Ukraine after allegedly threatening to kill his ex-wife and who later joined Mr Tilling's unit.
The Right Sector Volvika Tactical Group was not the only ultranationalist cause Mr Bennet was drawn to on social media.
On Facebook, he likes the pages of the Australia First Party and self-styled ultranationalist leader Blair Cottrell, as well as right-wing army veterans groups and bikie clubs including the Rebels.
The ABC does not suggest Mr Bennet is an extremist.
Photo: Then-airfield defence guard AC Jared Bennet demonstrates equipment at a school. (Supplied: RAAF)
Uneven approach a 'danger' to Australia
Australia's former watchdog on national security laws, Bret Walker SC, called for changes to Australia's foreign fighter laws in response to the ABC's revelations that Australians had fought with militant groups in Ukraine.
Mr Walker said Australia was vulnerable to any returned ultranationalist fighters who go on to become violent.
Propaganda fuels Ukraine war
There are fears Ukraine's war threatens Europe's stability and the death toll has risen to 9,700. But far from thinking about peace, the fighters and their support base behind the lines are digging in.
"Those are people whose skills, experiences and lack of sensitivity are very likely to constitute dangers in this country," he said.
"There is a domestic concern, not just a concern about Australia's obligations in relation to prohibiting war, but also domestic concern in terms of terrorist dangers in Australia."
Mr Walker said the inconsistency in the current legislation was highlighted by the fact Australians could legally fight with the forces of foreign government dictators like Syria's Bashar al-Assad.
As the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor in 2014, Mr Walker SC made a recommendation to Federal Parliament for the law to be changed so that all foreign fighting would be illegal unless officially approved by the Australian Government.
His recommendations were ignored.
"There's very little sign that there was — let alone at parliamentary level — any consideration of them," Mr Walker said.
"They have been utterly silent in relation to the basic principle that Australians should not fight abroad except for Australia or with Australia's approval."
'I'm not a Neo-Nazi anymore'
In February this year, Mr Tilling was visited by two officers from the Queensland Police Counter-Terrorism Command who interviewed him about his time in Ukraine.
Police also contacted him after neighbours complained he was firing rifles and shotguns, which he is registered to own.
Photo: Australian man, Ethan Tilling, on the Donbass frontline in 2017. (Supplied: Andriy Tsaplienko)
Queensland Police refused to shed any light on the visits, saying it was unable to comment on specific individuals.
But the ABC understands counter-terrorism authorities had doubted whether Mr Tilling had even fought in Ukraine, despite being featured in a Ukrainian TV news story from the Donbass frontline, in Ukrainian army propaganda on YouTube and in pictures shared by some Australians on Facebook.
Mr Tilling said the visits from police were unnecessary because neither he nor any ultranationalists posed any threat to Australia.
"We've committed no crimes here, we've never committed a terrorist attack in this country," he said.
"I'm not a Neo-Nazi any more. I'm very much right wing, I'm a patriot, I'm an Australian nationalist, but I'm certainly not a Nazi anymore.
"I'm no longer associated with those groups and I certainly didn't go to the Ukraine with that as my motivation.
"I would have gone to Syria to help the Kurds and of course the Kurds are Arabs — or sorry they're Middle Eastern people — so you can see that I'm not that way inclined anymore."
Mr Tilling defended the right of Australians to fight in distant wars, saying it was a male rite of passage.
"I certainly meet a lot of men in my circles who feel a lot of discontent with the current system," he said.
"It's part of them just being a man in a modern world, that they want to go out and do something brave, or do something incredible. They just want to believe in something."
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, terrorism, foreign-affairs, government-and-politics, brisbane-4000, ukraine, georgia, australia, russian-federation
First posted May 01, 2018 05:01:41
More stories from Queensland
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Jennine Khalik
Jennine Khalik is a journalist and digital producer. You can follow her on Twitter at @jennineak.
Aiia Maasarwe's grieving family pleads for her body to be returned home
By Jennine Khalik
Posted January 20, 2019 14:37:57 | Updated January 20, 2019 15:32:43
The sister of Aiia Maasarwe, the 21-year-old Arab-Israeli woman killed in Melbourne last week, describes the family's loss as "worse than hell" during a vigil held in their home city of Baka al Gharbiye.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, family, community-and-society, murder-and-manslaughter, sexual-offences, israel, bundoora-3083, vic, melbourne-3000
Cecilia Haddad's accused killer says his Rio trip was planned
Posted December 18, 2018 12:52:32 | Updated December 18, 2018 16:49:06
The ex-partner of murdered Brazilian national Cecilia Haddad claims he returned to Brazil the week her body was found because his father was going to have heart surgery, not because he was fleeing Australia.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, murder-and-manslaughter, courts-and-trials, brazil, australia, sydney-2000, middle-cove-2068, nsw
'Massive hole': 163 children left out in search for Keli Lane's baby
Exclusive by Caro Meldrum-Hanna and Jennine Khalik
Posted November 05, 2018 19:07:44 | Updated November 05, 2018 22:42:22
More than 150 children were not accounted for in the nationwide search for the daughter of convicted baby murderer Keli Lane, and according to documents obtained by the ABC, the NSW Office of Public Prosecutions could not rule out the possibility the child could be alive.
Topics: murder-and-manslaughter, law-crime-and-justice, crime-prevention, crime, parenting, abortion, pregnancy-and-childbirth, psychology, australia
NSW Nationals not 'safe harbour' for alt-right extremists, says MP
Posted October 14, 2018 14:37:14 | Updated October 15, 2018 13:23:47
NSW Nationals MP Troy Grant has hit out at alt-right nationalists after an ABC Background Briefing investigation revealed an infiltration of the party by self-described fascists.
Topics: community-and-society, government-and-politics, political-parties, nationals, nsw, australia
'There's a mood for change': Liberals fall behind in Wentworth by-election poll
By Jennine Khalik and Kevin Nguyen and Lily Mayers
Prime Minister Scott Morrison warns Wentworth by-election voters to think "carefully" before voting for independent candidate Kerryn Phelps, after a new poll placed her far ahead of Liberal opponent Dave Sharma.
Topics: federal-election, government-and-politics, elections, climate-change, nsw, bronte-2024
Morrison says Opera House is 'the biggest billboard Sydney has'
Prime Minister Scott Morrison defends the decision to project horse racing advertisements on the Sydney Opera House's sails, saying he would beam the Bathurst 1000 on the Harbour Bridge if he could.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal---state-issues, arts-and-entertainment, community-and-society, sydney-2000, nsw, australia
Over 150 people at Listen Out caught with drugs, seven hospitalised
Posted September 30, 2018 18:24:14
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she will wait for an expert panel's recommendations on music festival safety, following the arrests of 159 people attending the Listen Out Festival in Sydney this weekend for drug offences.
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, music, events, nsw, sydney-2000, australia
Woman thrown from bridge into Hawkesbury River in alleged attempted murder
Two women are charged with the attempted murder and kidnapping of a 19-year-old Campbelltown woman after allegedly forcing her into the boot of a car and throwing her 30 metres from Windsor bridge into the Hawkesbury River.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, campbelltown-2560, windsor-2756, nsw
Man dies when boat he just bought capsizes on journey home
Posted September 24, 2018 08:25:59 | Updated September 24, 2018 09:38:13
The man who died when his yacht capsized at Boat Harbour in Sydney's south this morning had just bought the vessel and was sailing it back to his home in Queensland.
Topics: maritime, disasters-and-accidents, kurnell-2231, nsw, sydney-2000, qld, bundaberg-4670
NSW rejects federal funding boost, says 'no special deals' for independent schools
NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes says he was blindsided by Prime Minister Scott Morrison's $4.5 billion deal for Catholic and independent schools, and says Australia's most populous state did not accept "special deals".
Topics: education, schools, public-schools, government-and-politics, federal---state-issues, nsw, australia
Panel to advise NSW on how to make music festivals safer (as long as it's not pill testing)
The NSW Government assembles an "expert panel" after the deaths of two attendees at Defqon at the weekend — but if they endorse pill testing, the Premier says it will not be introduced.
Topics: community-and-society, drugs-and-substance-abuse, health, law-crime-and-justice, drug-education, drug-use, arts-and-entertainment, carnivals-and-festivals, events, penrith-2750, nsw, australia, sydney-2000
'He's a certain winner': Antony Green calls Wagga Wagga by-election for independent Dr Joe McGirr
By Nick Sas and Jennine Khalik
Antony Green says he feels safe calling Saturday's by-election slightly more than 24 hours after the polls closed, as Labor scrutineer figures suggest the gap is too big to close.
Topics: government-and-politics, elections, states-and-territories, state-parliament, parliament, wagga-wagga-2650, nsw
Wagga Wagga result 'sent us a strong message': Berejiklian
By Jennine Khalik and Lauren Pezet
NSW Liberal Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she has received the "strong message" sent by Wagga voters, and recognises "distrust" in the political process after losing a historic safe seat in yesterday's by-election.
Topics: government-and-politics, elections, federal---state-issues, parliament, state-parliament, states-and-territories, wagga-wagga-2650, nsw
Liberals lose Wagga Wagga state seat held for more than 60 years
By Lauren Pezet, Jennine Khalik and Moyra Shields
The Liberals have lost Wagga Wagga for the first time since winning it in 1957, ABC election analyst Antony Green says, with results indicating the party's first-preference vote has halved since the last election in 2015.
Topics: government-and-politics, states-and-territories, parliament, state-parliament, event, wagga-wagga-2650, nsw
Aged care worker charged with assault of 82yo resident
By police reporter Mark Reddie and Jennine Khalik
An aged care worker is facing multiple charges after allegedly hitting an elderly man with a shoe at a facility on Sydney's northern beaches. Police have released video of the alleged incident. WARNING: This story contains footage that may distress some viewers.
Topics: aged-care, community-and-society, law-crime-and-justice, seaforth-2092, nsw
Despite lack of visa, Chelsea Manning presses on with speaking tour via video link
Former US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, jailed for sending nearly 750,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks, continues with her Australian speaking tour via video link despite not receiving permission to enter the country.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, defence-and-national-security, government-and-politics, events, arts-and-entertainment, sydney-2000, australia, united-states
Ex-prison officer storing rifles, swords, ammunition in Sydney posed 'imminent threat'
Police say a former prison guard found allegedly harbouring an arsenal of guns, swords and knives a Sydney home posed a "significant" and "imminent" threat.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, defence-and-national-security, richmond-2753, nsw, sydney-2000, australia
Doctors reject Nauru president's claims refugee kids self-harm to game system
Australian doctors hit back at the President of Nauru's claims that refugee children in detention are self-harming to "short-circuit" the system to get to Australia.
Topics: community-and-society, immigration, refugees, nauru, australia
'They have lost my vote': Why Wentworth by-election could be closer than you think
Posted August 29, 2018 07:00:38 | Updated August 29, 2018 10:03:18
When Malcolm Turnbull leaves Parliament, electoral data reveals he will take his personal popularity in Wentworth — and possibly the Liberals' 17.7 per cent buffer there — with him.
Topics: federal-elections, liberals, political-parties, event, government-and-politics, elections, alp, greens, federal-government, paddington-2021, woollahra-2025, point-piper-2027, bondi-2026, waverley-2024, australia
Parramatta melting pot snubs 'divisive, rigid' Peter Dutton as PM
The people of Parramatta in Sydney's western suburbs are unhappy with the constant leadership challenges and not sold on Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton leading the country.
Topics: government-and-politics, community-and-society, federal-government, parramatta-2150, nsw, australia
Sydney train delays spark commuter chaos
Posted August 18, 2018 13:01:28 | Updated October 08, 2018 14:32:10
The Opposition calls on the Transport Minister to assure commuters that trains will be running by this afternoon, after major delays across the Sydney train network leave people fuming, stranded, and running late by up to two hours.
Topics: community-and-society, sydney-2000, nsw
Cancer Council concerned Monsanto concealing Roundup cancer links
By Philippa McDonald, Jennine Khalik and Nick Sas
The Cancer Council is urging global chemical giant Monsanto to come clean on any potential links to cancer with one of its popular weed killers following a major lawsuit in the US.
Topics: science-and-technology, chemical-control, pests-diseases-and-control-methods, agricultural-chemicals, law-crime-and-justice, united-states, australia
'Peaceful' inner-Sydney suburb shaken by bloody daylight killing
By Jennine Khalik and Nadia Daly
A Sydney woman who witnessed the aftermath of a violent, targeted attack in Forest Lodge that left a man dead says he was covered in blood and looked "desperate to get away" before he died.
Topics: crime, nsw, glebe-2037, annandale-2038
Police hunt pair after man killed in 'violent attack' on Sydney street
By Mark Reddie, Jennine Khalik and Philippa McDonald
A police helicopter and canine unit are searching for a man and a woman in Sydney's inner-west after another man is killed in a "violent" and "targeted" attack.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, murder-and-manslaughter, glebe-2037, nsw, sydney-2000
Ray Hadley says cop son allegedly caught with cocaine has 'mental health issues'
2GB radio shock jock Ray Hadley says his police officer son Daniel is "not in control of his mental health", after revelations the 28-year-old was allegedly caught with $200 worth of cocaine.
Topics: community-and-society, law-crime-and-justice, nsw, sydney-2000
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Watch full program
Video expired Tue 15 Jul 2014, 8:33pm AEST
Warnings to businesses dependent on tax breaks
The salary packaging industry is built on tax breaks. The Government is showing just how risky that strategy can be.
Some companies say they're facing decimation as the Government plugs the budget hole left by axing the carbon tax.
TICKY FULLERTON, PRESENTER: There's been howls of protest from the salary packaging industry over the FBT changes. It's an industry built on tax breaks and the government has shown just how risky that strategy can be.
But there are warnings to industry that depends on Canberra for its survival.
As Andrew Robertson reports.
ANDREW ROBERTSON, PRESENTER: Tim Vlug runs a salary packaging business in Brisbane. He says with one decision, the government has devastated that business.
TIM VLUG, CEO, REDITUS GROUP: Probably about an 80 per cent drop in the revenues for the business and that will see most of the salary packaging providers cease to exist in effect.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: Another salary packaging provider, the much bigger Sydney-based Smart Salary is comparatively better off. It predicts only half its business will be destroyed.
SIMON ELLIS, SENIOR TAX ADVISER, SMART SALARY: We've known, well right since the beginning that there are changes to the law that could result in our business effectively being wiped out.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: It's estimated 200,000 cars are leased and the government is hoping to raise $1.8 billion by removing tax breaks for those used privately. In the process, it's highlighted how vulnerable the car leasing industry is to the whims of government.
RICHARD DENNISS, CEO, AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE: If your whole business model is set up around a tax deduction, then yes, that's a very risky place a very risky way to organise your business.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: And car leasing is not alone. As Richard Denniss points out, Australia has a whole raft of industries that thrive on the back of favourable tax treatment from Canberra, with the biggest being superannuation.
RICHARD DENNISS: The primary reason that people go into superannuation and the primary reason that the industry charges the fees they can charge is because of the massive tax concessions available.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: Among the other industries that rely heavily on government largesse are the property industry through negative gearing, the rebate for private health insurance and penalties for the rich who don't have it. Any form of investing through the Howard government's halving of capital gains tax. The mining industry’s diesel fuel rebate and accelerated depreciation. Production costs rebates for movies and television. And the list goes on.
Richard Denniss believes the government's reduction in fringe benefits tax exemption for leased cars should be a warning to those industries.
RICHARD DENNISS: Anyone who's got an exposure to those sorts of risks should be both aware of that and potentially diversifying their product to make their product attractive to people even without these very generous concessions.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: Whatever the merits of the fringe benefits tax decision, the way it was announced has really rankled sections of the business community. It's revived memories of the mishandling of the mining tax and of course the carbon tax. The University of Sydney's Associate Professor Nigel Finch is among those who are unimpressed.
NIGEL FINCH, ASSOC PROF, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY: This government I think has a very poor record of executing reforms and a lack of consultation.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: Associate Professor Finch says that lack of consultation has robbed those involved in the car leasing industry of the opportunity to make an orderly transition to a new regime.
NIGEL FINCH: Just an announcement with a very short lead time creates a lot of chaos a lot of distortion and volatility in the economy.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: Not to mention, ill will towards government and in a tight election, that could be costly.
Business, Economics and Finance
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Advisories July 10, 2015
Health Care Advisory: Update on Biosimilar Reimbursement Pathways: CMS Guidance and Outstanding Issues
View Advisory as PDF
Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first biosimilar in the United States. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued three guidances regarding reimbursement for biosimilars under Medicare Parts B and D, as well as under Medicaid. These guidances address questions that have arisen regarding reimbursement policies that CMS will implement for biosimilars. When these guidances were released, a number of issues were left outstanding, including the applicability of pass-through payment eligibility to biosimilars and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) coding policies.
On July 8, 2015, CMS published in the Federal Register a proposed rule that would revise the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) for CY 2016.[1] In the OPPS proposed rule, CMS proposes to pay for biosimilars as required under Section 1847A of the Social Security Act and addresses one of the key outstanding questions around biosimilars reimbursement by proposing to extend pass-through payment eligibility to biosimilars and defining how such payment would be set.
The same day, CMS put on display at the Public Inspection Desk a proposed rule to revise the Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS) for CY 2016.[2] In the MPFS proposed rule, CMS proposes to amend existing regulations
at 42 C.F.R. §414.904(j) to clarify that the payment amount for a biosimilar biological product will be based on the average sales prices (ASP) of all National Drug Codes (NDCs) assigned to the various biosimilar biological products included within the same billing and payment code.
Despite this additional guidance – which remains proposed only – additional questions remain that will need to be addressed by CMS and the FDA in future guidances or regulations.
Medicare Part B generally covers drugs and biologicals that are not usually self-administered, including those that are administered in a physician’s office or hospital outpatient department. On March 31, 2015, CMS issued a “Medicare Learning Network (MLN) Matters” (SE1509) that addresses frequently raised questions regarding biosimilar reimbursement under Medicare Part B. CMS clarifies, among other things, that the agency will incorporate biosimilars that are approved under the abbreviated biological approval pathway into the ASP payment methodology. Initially, Medicare will pay 106 percent of the product’s wholesale acquisition cost (WAC). Once ASP information is available for the biosimilar product, Medicare will pay an amount equal to ASP for the product plus 6 percent of the reference product, as required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Reimbursement for the biosimilar will be effective retroactively to the FDA approval date. CMS will create a separate code to distinguish the biosimilar from the reference product and is “considering policy options for coding of additional biosimilars.”
The “MLN Matters” notes that CMS will release further guidance on coding and incorporation of biosimilars into the ASP payment methodology in the future.
Additional Proposed Part B Payment Policies for Biosimilars
In the CY 2016 OPPS proposed rule, CMS notes that the ACA amended Section 1847A of the Social Security Act to add the definition of “biosimilar biological product” and set forth a payment methodology for biosimilar biological products. CMS explains that the agency has the statutory authority under Section 1833(t)(14)(A)(iii)(II) of the Social Security Act to establish payments for biosimilars in accordance with Section 1847A of the Social Security Act. According to CMS, this section also provides discretionary authority for these payments to be calculated and adjusted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services as necessary. In light of this, CMS believes “that it is reasonable to adopt a policy to pay for biosimilar biological products as provided under section 1847A(b)(8) of the [Social Security] Act.” CMS therefore proposes to extend the application of the methodology for determining the amount of payment applicable to separately covered outpatient drugs (SCODs) to biosimilars. Practically speaking, CMS is proposing to pay for biosimilars based on the payment allowance of the product as determined under Section 1847A (ASP + 6 percent of ASP of the reference biological product). CMS also proposes that nonpass-through biosimilar biological products be subject to the proposed threshold-packaged policy, under which CMS would package items with a per-day cost less than or equal to $100 and identify items with a per-day cost greater than $100 as separately payable.
CMS states that the transitional pass-through payment amount for pass-through drugs and biologicals is the difference between the amount paid under Section 1842(o) of the Social Security Act and the otherwise applicable hospital outpatient department fee schedule amount. Accordingly, “[b]ecause section 1842(o)(1)(C) of the Act cross references section 1847A of the Act,” CMS believes that it is reasonable to infer that biosimilars are eligible for transitional pass-through payment. CMS therefore proposes “to extend pass-through payment eligibility to biosimilar biological products and to establish pass-through payment based on the difference between the amount paid under section 1842(o) of the Act (that is, the payment allowance of the product determined under section 1847A(b)(8) of the Act) and the otherwise applicable hospital outpatient department [(HOPD)] fee schedule amount.” This would equate to the difference between ASP + 6 percent of ASP of the reference biological product and the otherwise applicable HOPD fee schedule amount.
CMS specifically solicits comments on these proposed payment policies for biosimilars, including whether biosimilar biological products should be eligible for transitional pass-through payment, and the appropriate methodologies for determining payment for biosimilar biological products eligible for transitional pass-through payment. CMS will accept comments through August 31, 2015.
In the CY 2016 MPFS proposed rule, CMS further proposes to update existing regulations regarding payment for biosimilars. As proposed, CMS would amend the effective date and add the following highlighted language to the existing regulations at 42 C.F.R. § 414.904:
(j) Biosimilar biological products. Effective January 1, 2016, the payment amount for a biosimilar biological drug product (as defined in §414.902) for all NDCs assigned to such product is the sum of the average sales price of all NDCs assigned to the biosimilar biological products included within the same billing and payment code as determined under section 1847A(b)(6) of the Act and 6 percent of the amount determined under section 1847A(b)(4) of the Act for the reference drug product (as defined in §414.902).
CMS notes that the intent of this proposed change is to clarify that “the payment amount for a biosimilar biological product is based on the ASP of all NDCs assigned to the biosimilar biological products included within the same billing and payment code.” CMS also reiterates that payment for biosimilars will ultimately be made based on ASP data. However, as with all newly approved drugs and biologicals, ASP data may not be available before those drugs are eligible for payment (i.e., when the drug is approved by the FDA). Until ASP data is available, CMS proposes to use WAC-based pricing (106 percent of WAC), once such data is available. CMS also proposes that payment for biosimilars under Part B may be made before an HCPCS code has been released, “provided that the claim is reasonable and necessary, and meets applicable coverage and claims submission criteria.” CMS will accept comments on these proposals through September 8, 2015.
Medicare Part D generally covers self-administered drugs from every therapeutic category of prescription drugs, with formularies varying to a certain extent by plan. On March 30, 2015, CMS issued to Part D sponsors a memorandum on coverage of biosimilars under Part D that clarifies the application of formulary review policies, low-income subsidy (LIS) and catastrophic cost sharing rules, and Coverage Gap Discount Program requirements for biosimilars. The memo also notes that follow-on biological products approved by the FDA under Section 351(k) of the Public Health Service Act will be listed in a new Purple Book: Lists of Licensed Biological Products with Reference Product Exclusivity and Biosimilarity or Interchangeability Evaluations.
Regarding formulary review, CMS clarifies that reference and biosimilar products generally will not be considered different drugs for purposes of satisfying the two distinct drugs requirement for each of the categories and classes submitted by a Part D sponsor.[3] CMS also provides that biosimilars may be added to Part D plan formularies at any time as a formulary enhancement. The addition of a biosimilar (or the removal of the reference biological product) will be considered a non-maintenance change, to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. For purposes of the Part D transition supply and notice requirements, CMS states that biosimilars and the reference biological product should be treated as different products.
For the purposes of LIS and catastrophic cost sharing rules, CMS clarifies that biosimilars do not meet the CMS definition of either a generic drug or a multiple source drug. Biosimilars are therefore subject to the higher maximum copayments for LIS eligible individuals applicable to all other Part D drugs. In 2015, the maximum copayments for LIS individuals were set at either $3.60 or $6.60, depending upon an individual’s subsidy level. At the same time, CMS clarifies that the lower minimum copayments applicable to non-LIS eligible individuals in catastrophic coverage under the standard Part D benefit would not apply to biosimilars. Nevertheless, CMS “generally expects” that individuals who are not eligible for LIS will pay the 5 percent coinsurance for biosimilars in the catastrophic portion of the standard Part D benefit.
CMS also clarifies that biosimilars are non-applicable drugs for purposes of establishing coverage gap cost sharing under the basic Part D benefit. Biosimilars are therefore not discounted in the coverage gap or otherwise subject to Discount Program requirements.
Reimbursement for drugs and biologicals under Medicaid—and the rebates established under this program—have far-reaching impacts for manufacturers, as they may not charge any 340B entity a price greater than that derived under the Medicaid rebate formula. On March 30, 2015, CMS issued guidance on biosimilars and the Medicaid Drug Rebate (MDR) Program.[4] Through this guidance, CMS clarifies that biosimilars fall within the definition of “single source drugs” for purposes of the MDR program. As a result, biosimilars will be subject to a 23.1 percent rebate (based on average manufacturer price (AMP)) and potentially subject to a penalty for any increases in AMP over inflation.
CMS specifically suggests that cost savings may be achieved by states by applying traditional drug utilization and cost management tools to biosimilars, as well as through supplemental rebate agreements between states and manufacturers. CMS also notes that prescribers may not be able to “simply write the proprietary name of a reference biological product and expect the pharmacist to substitute it with the biosimilar biological product,” as may be the case today with certain brand name and generic chemical compounds. Finally, to ensure “safe and efficacious use” of biosimilars, CMS encourages states to use drug utilization review programs and pharmacy and therapeutics (P&T) committees to inform physicians and pharmacists about appropriate prescribing and dispensing of biologics, including biosimilars.
Key Outstanding Reimbursement Issues
Beyond the issue areas on which CMS has already noted additional guidance is forthcoming, there are several key issues around biosimilar reimbursement which have not yet been addressed by CMS, all of which may be ripe for additional action from Congress.
Interchangeability. CMS’s memo to Part D sponsors specifically notes that additional guidance for “interchangeable” biological products may be issued at a later date. Neither CMS nor the FDA has provided final guidance or regulations on interchangeability.
Medicare Part A. The administration and procurement costs of drugs and biologicals for use in certain provider settings, such as a hospital inpatient department, may subject the drug or biologic to payment under Medicare Part A. In general, Part A pays for such drugs or biological products as part of an overall prospective payment, akin to a “bundled payment.” CMS has not yet addressed how these payment systems will be updated to account for biosimilars, and additional guidance may be forthcoming. Research suggests that “it may be challenging to adjust [prospective] payment rates to reflect lower biologic prices,” potentially impacting provider incentives to use certain biological products.
Bundled Payments and Demonstration Projects. As CMS continues to implement an array of payment reform demonstration projects (largely through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)), guidance on how payments for biosimilars will be made under these programs will be necessary.
These and other issues will impact the acceptance of biosimilars by providers and patients alike, dictating the clinical success of biosimilars as well as their ability to drive down overall health care spending. We continue to closely monitor how CMS is regulating and how Congress is legislating on these new products.
[1] Medicare Program: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting Programs; Short Inpatient Hospital Stays; Transition for Certain Medicare-Dependent, Small Rural Hospitals Under the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System, Proposed Rule (80 Fed. Reg. 39199), available here.
[2] Medicare Programs: Revisions to Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2016, available at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2015-16875.pdf. The proposed rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on July 15, after which it will be available here.
[3] Except as provided in 42 C.F.R. 423.120(b)(2)(ii), which provides that a Part D plan must include at least one Part D drug within a particular category or class of Part D drugs to the extent the Part D plan demonstrates, and CMS approves, that only two drugs are available in that category or class of Part D drugs and that one drug is clinically superior to the other drug in that category or class of Part D drugs.
[4] 4 CMS issued separate guidances to drug manufacturers and state technical contacts, which are substantively identical.
This advisory is published by Alston & Bird LLP’s Health Care practice area to provide a summary of significant developments to our clients and friends. It is intended to be informational and does not constitute legal advice regarding any specific situation. This material may also be considered attorney advertising under court rules of certain jurisdictions.
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Seedrs partners up with L Marks for co-investment
By Emily Nicolle on 2nd May 2018
It’s a two-way street for equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs and early-stage investor and innovation lab specialist L Marks.
Announced today, Seedrs will be partnering with L Marks to support the innovator’s network of early-stage businesses via its crowdfunding services, in return for L Marks co-investing into businesses on the Seedrs platform.
L Marks, which heads up several innovation labs across the country, builds relationships between large corporates seeking to innovate and young companies with disruptive technologies, products and services. The advisory firm has invested in 30 start-ups to date, and worked with over 140 companies as part of its start-up partnership programmes.
The platforms have said that the partnership will see L Marks and Seedrs support more start-ups on their funding journeys through a co-investment offering, in addition to providing companies with mentorship and commercial opportunities.
“We are delighted to be partnering with L Marks,” said Julien Tubbs, partnerships manager at Seedrs. “As fellow specialists in early-stage investment, L Marks is a natural fit for us and we are very much looking forward to what the partnership will bring to early-stage businesses looking to raise capital via equity crowdfunding on Seedrs.”
To date, Seedrs claims to have funded 610 deals and seen over £360m invested on the platform. Banking challenger Revolut recently raised £4m of that number, in a fundraising effort that saw more than £17m pledged by over 40,000 individual investors on Seedrs before the campaign even went live.
Matteo Scarabelli, Head of Investment at L Marks, added: “There’s a clear synergy between the kinds of support that we offer start-ups so it feels right for L Marks to be partnering with Seedrs. We’re really excited to work together and continue to promote investment in early-stage companies and I look forward to seeing how this collaboration will benefit our network.”
*Update: Speaking to AltFi, Seedrs confirmed that as L Marks will be co-investing alongside the crowd in funding rounds, it will receive the same class of shares and rights as any individual investors taking part. More information on Seedrs’ upcoming co-investment programme is expected to be made available in the coming weeks.
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Tag: back to the future
‘Back To The Future’ musical releases debut date, new poster
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New Found Glory have just released their new cover of “The Power Of Love.” The song was originally featured in Back To The Future...
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You need to see these Funko vintage ’80s-inspired VHS shirts
Maria Serra - November 5, 2018
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Christopher Lloyd talks possibility of ‘Back To The Future 4,’ joining ‘Rick And Morty’
Beth Casteel - July 17, 2018
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Watch Marty McFly, Doc Brown reunite on ‘Back To The Future’ Day
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As you more than likely know—either as fans of the film franchise or as someone whose social media was blown up with constant reminders—yesterday...
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Aprio, New Name for HA&W, Signals Growth for Georgia’s Largest CPA-Led Business Advisory Firm
Firm’s culture and client longevity drive expansion of advisory services
ATLANTA, January 17, 2017 – Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP (HA&W) has rebranded to “Aprio” in a move that more strongly communicates the firm’s services, culture and approach towards serving clients. In its 65 years, HA&W has grown to become Georgia’s largest full-service CPA-led business advisory firm, largely differentiated by its employees’ passion for their work and how that passion fuels client success.
“The business of accounting has shifted dramatically. Our growth strategy centers on the organic growth of our practices and the acquisition of other businesses that either complement or can expand our service mix. Aprio better reflects who we are and what we offer as a firm,” said Richard Kopelman, managing partner and chief executive officer. “Clients are more productive because of our fresh perspective, passion and experience across our advisory, assurance, tax and private client services. Through our offerings, as well as our network of well-connected, knowledgeable business partners, we can create a clear vision of each client’s success and implement the most efficient path toward it.”
Aprio marks a sharp break from convention as many firms in the accounting space are named after founders or have names that contain the initials of founders. There is no other firm among the top 100 accounting firms that has a name that was created like Aprio, which is derived from root words for head and heart. The name symbolizes the firm’s emphasis on bringing technical expertise, deep engagement and genuine care to client work. It was also chosen to resonate with millennials, both clients and associates.
“Our name defines what it means to be a CPA-led business advisory firm today,” said Danielle Berg, chief marketing officer. “Serving clients in today’s complex marketplace requires us to bring the very best of our head and our heart to work every day – precise, clear advice coupled with genuine care for our clients’ best interest. Combined, these create exceptional experiences and lasting relationships that benefit our clients.”
Though the core of Aprio is rooted in tax and assurance, Aprio’s future growth will be equally focused in advisory services. For example, Aprio’s Information Assurance practice provides a wide array of cyber risk assessment, international business and information risk management advisory services. Aprio also has the rare distinction among CPA firms of being a Certification Body for ISO 27001, the international gold standard for information security management and certification reporting, as well as being a PCI QSA serving leading fintech and data services companies.
International Services is among the firm’s fastest growing practices. While based in Atlanta, clients span more than 40 countries around the world, and Aprio professional staff are fluent in nearly 30 languages. Aprio is a member of Morison KSi, a global association of 164 leading professional services firms spanning 88 countries, giving the firm unmatched international capability. “A quarter of the associates at our firm are foreign-born, which is highly unique among firms of our size in the United States,” said Yelena Epova, partner-in-charge of International Services. “We walk the walk with our clients. We know the languages, cultures and business landscapes of the countries where our clients do business. Understanding the nuances is critical to providing the best counsel and insights.”
Aprio has a culture that helps it deliver on the firm’s brand promise of head and heart. The firm engages all associates in the innovation process. In fact, Aprio’s new charitable foundation was imagined by an associate and will be run by the firm’s employees. Aprio is a DiSC workplace, and associates leverage DiSC to improve their communication with one another and clients. The firm has a Women’s Initiative Committee devoted to special programming for helping the development of female employees and has made significant investments in its learning and development programs for associates at all levels. Among the programs that the firm recently implemented is Growth Champions, focused on advancing the advisory skills of up-and-coming associates. The firm also offers a sponsorship program, which pairs senior executives with rising associates. The firm’s culture has been so powerful in engaging associates that in 2016, Aprio lost 33% fewer employees due to turnover than the average comparable industry firm.* Employee satisfaction was 81%.
“Having excellent technical skills is critical to serve our clients and a minimum expectation of our clients today,” said Kopelman. “Clients want business advice and counsel from advisors who are passionate about and deeply invested in their success. We work with our clients from an advisory mindset and have a culture where associates are in the game to help clients get to their “next” – whatever that next may be for them. It doesn’t just happen magically.” Aprio is launching with the tagline, “Passionate for what’s next,” to reflect associates’ forward-thinking mindsets.
“With a broader view of the value we add to client relationships, our associates see Aprio as the best place to build their careers while doing meaningful work for our clients,” said Kopelman. “We’re reinforcing our culture of deep engagement, attentive service, true partnership and expert advice,” he said. “We’re seeing below average staff turnover, a testament to our reputation as a place the best talent can come and grow.”
*According to INSIDE PUBLIC Accounting’s 2016 National Benchmarking Report, professional staff turnover rates in the largest firms (above $75 million) averaged 17.2%. Aprio’s turnover rate was 11.6%.
View the press release on PR Web.
About Aprio
As a premier full-service CPA-led business advisory, Aprio’s associates work as integrated teams across advisory, assurance, tax and private client services, bringing our best thinking and personal commitment to each client. At Aprio, we advise clients and associates to achieve what’s next.
Across our practices, we bring our proven expertise, deep understanding and strategic foresight for industries including Manufacturing and Distribution; Non-Profit and Education; Professional Services; Real Estate and Construction; Retail, Franchise and Hospitality; and Technology and Biosciences. In our 65 years, we have grown to 400 employees. To serve our clients wherever life or business may take them, our teams speak more than 25 languages and work with clients in over 40 countries. We have grown a premier firm where thriving employees serve thriving clients. We invest in our clients’ success by investing in our own. In addition to its Atlanta headquarters, Aprio also operates in New York and Sarasota, Fla. For more, visit www.aprio.com.
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Meager Medical Cannabis Research Is Failing Elderly Patients – Study
Sep 11, 2019 | Original story from the Gerontological Society of America
Older adults are using cannabis at an unprecedented rate, yet research that informs policymakers on the topic is scarce, according to the latest issue of the journal Public Policy & Aging Report (PP&AR) from The Gerontological Society of America.
Titled “There's Something Happening Here: Exploring the Evolving Intersection between Cannabis and Older Persons,” the journal highlights existing studies as well as recommended areas for further research.
“We largely remain in the dark regarding many important aspects about this rapidly evolving public health policy issue,” wrote PP&AR editor-in-chief Brian Kaskie, PhD, in his introduction. “The United States is entering a period when states continue to operate as cannabis policymaking laboratories, the cannabis economy may grow five-fold, and the older adult population is projected to double.”
Among the five articles that follow, the journal offers insights about a 2017 Academy of Medicine report on cannabis, the negative and positive outcomes experienced by older cannabis users, and the perspectives of health-care providers who increasingly encounter older patients who want to know about cannabis or may already be using it.
“There is an urgent need to provide policy makers, program administrators, and clinicians with empirically based answers to critical questions, such as: Why have some states extended cannabis program eligibility to persons with Alzheimer's disease, given meager amounts of clinical evidence? Is increasing cannabis use among older adults contributing to increasing cannabis use disorders, co-occurring substance use disorders, or related comorbidities?” Kaskie wrote.
The contents of the new PP&AR:
“There's Something Happening Here, But What It Is Ain't Exactly Clear,” by Brian Kaskie, PhD
“The 2017 Cannabis Report of the National Academy of Medicine: A Summary of Findings and Directions for Research Addressing Cannabis Use Among Older Persons,” by Robert B Wallace, MD, MSc
“Potential Harms of Marijuana Use Among Older Adults,” by Namkee G. Choi, PhD, FGSA, Diana M DiNitto, PhD, and Stephan Arndt, PhD
“The Role of Cannabis in Improving Pain and Symptom Management in End-of-Life Care,” by J Alton Croker III and Sara Sanders, PhD, MSW, FGSA
“Cannabis as an Alternative to Opioid Use by Older Adults: The Illinois Opioid Alternative Pilot Program,” by Julie Bobitt, PhD, and Conny Mueller Moody
“Medical Cannabis Policy: Considerations for Older Patients and Their Health-Care Providers,” by Kenneth Brummel-Smith, MD, and Freddi Segal-Gidan, PhD
This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.
There’s Something Happening Here: Exploring the Evolving Intersection Between Cannabis and Older Persons, Public Policy & Aging Report, 2019.
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Cambodia’s Cardamom Tented Camp: Conservation Efforts Take Off as Guests and Rangers Embrace Forest Guardianship
Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas constantly reinforces its commitment towards environmental, social and cultural conservation. Special consideration is given to employing and empowering communities, and wherever possible, sustainable products and services are sourced locally. Around the world, Anantara works in partnership with local communities and promotes cultural awareness amongst guests by integrating indigenous culture into everyday experiences.
One such initiative is The Cardamom Tented Camp, nestled in Southern Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountain range. The camp—a non-profit Eco lodge resting within 18,000 hectares of pristine land, was opened in late 2017. Proceeds from the camp are used to fund rangers that patrol the concession, protecting against deforestation and illegal poaching. Since funding began, a vibrancy has returned within this corridor of land and wildlife is thriving, while beyond the boundaries the forest is being clear-cut and lost to deforestation.
In addition to coping with adverse effects of climate change, Cambodian forests have been ravaged by illegal loggers, poachers and sand dredgers. The Cardamom Tented Camp entrusts carefully vetted organisations both the right and responsibility to protect and manage designated “concessions” of forest. Since 2014, the concession of land on which the camp sits has been funded via Anantara’s charitable organisation, The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF) as one of several philanthropic causes supported worldwide by Anantara. The ongoing maintenance of the camp and its team of rangers is now funded in part by Anantara guests via the GTAEF.
For eco-conscious guests, the Cardamom Tented Camp’s tagline “your stay keeps the forest standing” signals its commitment to channel all the funds generated by tourism into running the camp and into financing patrols. Most of the staff are from the nearby Trapeang Rung village—some erstwhile illegal poachers themselves, who have since converted to conservationists and now benefit from improved stability and a steadier income by protecting the animals they used to hunt.
Amongst mounting global climate change woes, community-sized environmental success stories are often dismissed as a mere drop in the ocean. Yet, while the search for a cure-all solution continues, local grassroots initiatives have proven indispensable in bringing relief to areas affected by floods, deforestation and droughts. The efforts of the camp have not gone unnoticed and the Cardamom Tented Camp won the 2019 PATA Gold Award in the Environment – Ecotourism Project category.
Guests staying at Cardamom Tented Camp can be as involved as they want to be, including joining the Khmer rangers on jungle patrols to clear traps and protect the wildlife and timber against poachers. Or they can simply relax on the tent’s decking, watching a family of macaque monkeys making their way through the canopy opposite the breakfast station. The camp has recently added trips that include an overnight in the deep jungle in tensile tree tents. These adventurous trips will be available from November 2019.
The camp is environmentally sustainable through and through. Plastic bottles are banned, the solar power system supplies all the electricity and as much as possible is reused and recycled. Travellers can expect a quality 3-star camp complete with comfortable beds, sturdy bamboo and rattan furniture, electric fans and bathroom facilities with hot water and rain showers.
Natasha Rhymes
Group Director of PR & Communications, Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas
E: nrhymes@anantara.com
Camilla Coburn Davis
E:cdavis@anantara.com
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Qu Family History
Qu Name Meaning
Chinese : from the name of a place called Quwo, which existed in the state of Jin during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 bc). A duke’s son was granted this place as a fiefdom, and in due course his descendants adopted Qu as their surname. Chinese : from the name of one of the ‘Three Gorges’ of the Yangtze river, Qutang Gorge. The first character of the name of the gorge gave its name to residents of the area. Chinese : from a city named Qu in the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc). After it was granted to a member of the royal family, descendants adopted the name of the city as their surname.
Similar surnames: Lu, Qiu, Wu, Fu, Qi, Gu, Xu, Yu, Hu, Su
4K Historical Documents
2K Birth, Marriage, and Deaths
139 Military Records
391 Immigration Records
479 Member Trees
Qu Family Origin
Where is the Qu family from?
You can see how Qu families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Qu family name was found in the USA, and the UK between 1880 and 1920. The most Qu families were found in the USA in 1880. In 1891 there was 1 Qu family living in Leicestershire. This was 100% of all the recorded Qu's in the UK. Leicestershire had the highest population of Qu families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Qu surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
View Census Data for Qu
Qu Family Occupations
What did your Qu ancestors do for a living?
In 1939, Hairdresser On Own Account and Unpaid Domestic Duties were the top reported jobs for men and women in the UK named Qu.
View Census data for Qu | Data not to scale
Hairdresser On Own Account
Qu Historical Records
What Qu family records will you find?
There are 1,000 census records available for the last name Qu. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Qu census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.
Search 1891 UK census records for Qu
There are 391 immigration records available for the last name Qu. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.
View all Qu immigration records
There are 139 military records available for the last name Qu. For the veterans among your Qu ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.
View all Qu military records
You've only scratched the surface of Qu family history.
Qu Life Expectancy
What is the average Qu lifespan?
Between 1969 and 2004, in the United States, Qu life expectancy was at its lowest point in 2002, and highest in 1986. The average life expectancy for Qu in 1969 was 69, and 46 in 2004.
View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Qu
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Qu ancestors lived in harsh conditions. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more.
Famous Qu Family Ancestors
Browse profiles of historical people with the Qu last name
Aixiang Qu
Chow Qu
Kin Em Te Qu
Albert S Qu
Anne Qu-
1844 - Unknown
Yongfan Qu
Helen Qu
Vayge Qu
Unknown - Unknown
Elizabeth Qu
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2 August, 2014 - 01:14 ancient-origins
The Legend of Gilgamesh
Myths are traditional stories that address the various ways of living and being. The well-known myth of Gilgamesh has been cited in many sources as one of the first stories in our recorded human history originating from Mesopotamia, Iraq today, though some maintain it was not just a fairytale but was based on some elements of truth. Only a few tablets have survived from the original Sumerian texts dating back to 2000 BC and written in cuneiform language. The Babylonian version is, however, two thirds complete and dates back to 13th to 10th century BC. Some of the best copies weren’t discovered until the 7 th century in the library ruins of the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal. For our modern accounts, it was only after the First World War that the Gilgamesh myth reached a wider audience, and only after the Second World War that it began to feature in a variety of genres.
The Flood Tablet / The Gilgamesh Tablet / Library of Ashurbanipal (7 th century BC). Credit: British Museum .
This myth can be divided in two main sections. In the first half, Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk, was set to marry an equal woman in rank named Ishtar. However, Enkidu, a wild beast, gets created, as a rival to Gilgamesh, to go to Uruk and free its people from the harsh behaviours of their King. Gilgamesh and Enkidu first fight each other but then Gilgamesh finds such unique strength in Enkidu that he offers to become close friends with him. They shake hands and decide to go on a long distant journey to the Cedar Mountains to defeat Humbaba the monstrous god of storm and forests. The two kill Humbaba but Ishtar sends someone to kill Enkidu. In the meanwhile, Gilgamesh refused to take Ishtar's hand in marriage. Ishtar becomes enraged and sends someone to kill Gilgamesh’s best companion, Enkidu.
A cylinder seal of a bearded, naked Humbaba with very large ears being slain by a crowned Gilgamesh with a sword or dagger and an axe-wielding Enkidu. Image source .
In the second half, Gilgamesh, feeling sad about Enkidu’s death, goes on a long and distant journey to find the secret of eternal life from a man named Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim had survived a great flood and was granted immortality by the gods. Going through many towns and talking to many people, he sees that the life one looks for, one never finds because the gods keep life in their own hands. However, he finally manages to find Utnapishtim and asks him for the secrets. Utnapishtim challenges Gilgamesh to stay awake for 7 days and then he can tell him the secrets. Of course, Gilgamesh fails that test but nevertheless Utnapishtim introduces Gilgamesh to a plant that can restore youth. Gilgamesh happily takes the plant for bring to his people in Uruk but the plant gets stolen by a snake along the way (hence the snake’s ability to shed its skin and rejuvenate). Disappointed and tired, Gilgamesh goes back to Uruk empty handed but wiser and with more peace and experience to await his death.
Gilgamesh being robbed of the plant by the snake. Image source .
The myth of Gilgamesh has influenced both ancient as well as modern literature and culture. The themes from the epic can be found in later biblical and classical literature. In fact, various themes, plot elements, and characters in Gilgamesh have counterparts in the bible, notably the accounts of the Garden of Eden, the advice from Ecclesiastes, and Noah's Flood. Perhaps, through engaging with the myth of Gilgamesh we could explore its parallels to our modern lives today, and project the future possibilities of humanity.
A creative team, named Gilga-studio, along with Mark Mellon, an indigenous international artist, are working on recreating the myth of Gilgamesh for an e-book and hardcover rendition for children and adults. To stay in touch with their progress, visit their website or Facebook page .
Featured image: Gilgamesh Cylinder Seal Impression Photo: Tom Jensen. The Schoyen Collection. (c. 2700/2600 BC)
By Noushin Nabavi
What is Mythology by David K. Abraham. 2014. [Online]
http://www.davidkabraham.com/OldWeb/Beliefs/Education/mythology.htm
Gilgamesh Myth, 2014. [Online]
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Fi-Go/Gilgamesh.html#b
Wikipedia, 2014. Gilgamesh. [Online]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh
Illustrated Mythical book of Gilgamesh in English and Farsi. Patreon [Online]
http:// http://www.patreon.com/user?u=215147
Mark Mellon
tablet
Ancient-Origins
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Jerry Cornelius wrote on 5 June, 2019 - 10:45 Permalink
Gilgamesh Immortal wild born wore lion skins
till tamed by the priestess Ishtar
Great Sage and Warrior defeated mortality
the unceasing tyranny of Time
Invincible Conqueror he first captured Uruk
then even to Lebanon on the Middle Sea shore
Sumer's great gods he brought and smashed idols
his glories are carved in permanent rock
Gilgamesh Emperor refused his mortality
challenged this affronting curtailment of power
He curses the gods who gave mankind death
and kept immortality themselves
He desecrates the temples dismantles the altars
discredits the ancient beliefs
Then Gilgamesh wanders again wearing lion skins
searching for everlasting life
But he cannot claim one hundred years
or even five days in this world
till Sleep gently takes to her restful abode
the great warrior docile and blind
Eternity is found in the cavernous dark
excess time too great to endure
Is this then my fate or will I cease to be
Gilgamesh resolves to inquire
The answer he learns as sailors well know
lies on the deep ocean floor
But that bitter truth encased in sharp spines
has never been brought back to shore
Undaunted the sage who searched beyond heaven
for the secret to undying youth
ties rocks to his feet descends through the deep
poised at the threshold of death
Gilgamesh plucks and swallows the fruit
too thorny for mortals to hold
Then returning to Uruk reigned fifty more years
devoted and caring for all
Ninety-nine years was his time on this earth
after ninety-nine years and nine days
maggots appeared a great stench arose
his corpse was consigned to the flames
His funeral remembered for eighty four years
was portrayed in gold and bright stones
The shrine was revered for five hundred more
then plundered and levelled by foe
But Gilgamesh Immortal has no need of monuments
from clay to papyrus he strides
From parchment to print and digital media
technologies yet to arrive
Ripples arise in the seething entropy
multitudes exist and subside
Five thousand years and all that has passed
Gilgamesh alone survives.
scabs mcscrotum wrote on 15 July, 2015 - 18:41 Permalink
The above article mentions parallels between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible – I’ve gone into that in more detail in the ‘manuscripts’ section of the ‘history and archaeology’ forum, if you’re interested.
"Hurry else Death may spy us here, and quicken the pulse of dawn . . ."
Morrigane wrote on 28 August, 2014 - 09:41 Permalink
Thank you for correcting them and I agree with your statement. I am so glad I read comments!
Gwydion Emrys wrote on 28 August, 2014 - 07:50 Permalink
I take issue with the telling of a great myth while clearly not having read it oneself, merely ABOUT it. Gilgamesh was not betrothed to Ishtar. Ishtar was a goddess who tried to seduce Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh refused HER, not the other way around, because she had a reputation for killing her lovers. She petitioned the leader of the gods, Anu, to lend her the Bull of Heaven to destroy Gilgamesh, saying that he had insulted her. Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the Bull.
Speaking of Enkidu, he was not a beast, but a wild man. Tales of his strength spread, and a sacred temple whore was sent to gentle him and civilize him by sleeping with him. He and Gilgamesh do fight to a standstill, and do become friends. Anu is the one who sends them after Humbaba, who is a dragon, by the way, as a test. He did not want them to kill Humbaba, merely subdue him. But when, with some help from Anu, they subdue the dragon, Enkidu encourages Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba, which angers the gods. Enkidu is punished with a wasting disease that slowly kills him, which inspires Gilgamesh's fear of death and starts him on his journey.
Don't post about ancient myths if you can't get them right, lest the thousands of people who read your page suffer from believing wrong information.
ancient-origins wrote on 27 August, 2014 - 03:58 Permalink
Hi Brad. It appears that there is a bug not showing the subject line of comments under the articles (but it is shown in the recent comments page). We are working to fix it. Thanks for that!
27 November, 2019 - 15:42 Willem McLoud
The House of Uruk, Greatest of Sumerian Heroes
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19 May, 2019 - 22:58 Gordon Board
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3 April, 2019 - 16:48 MartiniF
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25 August, 2018 - 21:14 dhwty
The Great City of Uruk Became Sumerian Powerhouse of Technology, Architecture and Culture
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Hugo Barra is leaving Xiaomi to return to Silicon Valley
Hugo Barra announces he won't be part of Xiaomi anymore
Alexandra Arici
Xiaomi is possibly one the most well-known Chinese smartphone manufacturer out there.The company built its reputation on selling affordable but very well specced smartphones through its online web store. It also employed the skills of ex-marketing executive at Google, Hugo Barra which certainly helped propel Xiaomi’s name in the industry.
However, it seems that the winds of change are upon Xiaomi. Hugo Barra just announced on his Facebook page he will retire from his Vice President of International duties at Xiaomi. He explains that “living in such a singular environment has taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health.”
Barra writes that he will return to Silicon Valley come February 2017, a decision he took motivated by the feeling of disconnect from his family and his life back in the United States.
The work Hugo Barra put in at Xiaomi can certainly be considered one of the driving forces behind the company’s fast ascent. Before Barra arrived, Xiaomi was widely regarded as a cheap Apple copycat, but under Barra’s guidance the company evolved its own design language which culminated in the Xiaomi MI MIX.
However, while Xiaomi has been busy sedimenting its international presence, sales in its home court have seen a drastic decrease. Xiaomi is was no longer part of the five top smartphone makers in 2016, so it’s quite possible Barra’s departure was also expedited by the company’s failure to live up to its earlier ambitious goals.
Back in November 2016, we told you a Reuters report had revealed Xiaomi actually missed its global smartphone target by 12%. In China, things were even worst with smartphones sales declining with a 45%.
On top of that, Xiaomi is yet to launch a smartphone on the Western market. Even if the device maker made an appearance for the first time at CES 2017 in Las Vegas earlier this month, it was only to showcase a white version of the MI MIX (among other things) which will not be available for purchase (officially) in the country.
SOURCEFacebook
Hugo Barra
A slight synesthesiac with a love for words. Follower of all tech trends, daydreamer and art enthusiast. Contact me at [email protected]
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Android News / Android News / Google Said To Be Developing An Amazon Echo Show Competitor
Google Said To Be Developing An Amazon Echo Show Competitor
By Justin Diaz
Google is said to be developing an Amazon Echo Show competitor complete with a touchscreen, according to a new report by TechCrunch who cites "multiple sources" as having mentioned the upcoming device. By the sounds of it Google's Echo Show-like smart speaker will feature a mashup of some of Amazon's currently available and recently announced Echo products that were unveiled at its Seattle-based hardware event this week. This includes the availability of a touchscreen for displaying content as well as speakers and a mic for interacting with the device through Google Assistant, all things which are available on the Echo Show (though with Alexa for its digital assistant purposes). In addition to these features, Google's product is also said to act as a smart home hub for managing and controlling other smart home products, not too unlike Amazon's recently announced Echo Plus, which will also act as a smart home hub.
The device is said to run "a version of Android" and will have app availability for users, though there was no mention of whether or not it would have Play Store access for installing other applications onto the device. It was however, mentioned that it would come pre-installed with certain apps, such as YouTube and Google Photos, alongside the Google Assistant and video calling features. Though not mentioned, if video calling is included, it could be handled by Duo which is the app that Google has currently been pushing for video communication between Android smartphones and tablets. It's also stated that Google is exploring the idea of other applications being pre-loaded onto the device with Netflix being of particular interest.
The device is said to be codenamed Manhattan internally and come with a screen size that is similar to that of the 7-inch display on the Echo Show, and have a potential launch date of sometime this year, though the rumor points out that initially Google had 2018 in mind for a target launch date so it would be able to make sure everything is lined up that is has planned for the device. On top of all of that Google is also rumored to be looking into service partnerships with at least two outfits for in-home installation, those being Best Buy's Geek Squad and a company named Enjoy. At the moment there's no confirmation on this device actually launching let alone launching sometime this year or early next year, and there is currently no rumored details regarding a price point. One interesting thing to consider is Google's recently reported blocking of YouTube access on the Echo Show, and although it may have nothing to do with the matter, Google launching its own very similar product meant to compete with the Echo Show that has YouTube pre-installed would make a whole lot of sense as to why Google would want to block Amazon's device from offering the same thing, as it would give its product something the Echo Show doesn't have and would help it stay competitive.
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Justin Diaz
Justin has written for Android Headlines since 2012 and currently adopts a Editor role with a specific focus on mobile gaming and game-streaming services. Prior to the move to Android Headlines Justin spent almost eight years working directly within the wireless industry. Contact him at [email protected]
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Dot To Dot’s ‘School of Roars’ Set for CBeebies
NBC Details New Peacock Platform, Animated Originals
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Award-winning kids’ TV creator Dot To Dot Productions will deliver a new 2D-animated preschool series titled School of Roars (52 x 7) on top kids channels CBeebies (UK) and NBCUniversal’s Sprout (US) early this year. ZDF Enterprises is handling worldwide distribution, and further investment comes from Creative Europe.
School of Roars follows five mini monsters through their school day as they learn “monstery lessons” in mathematics, music, cookery and life. Their teacher is the lovable Miss Grizzlesniff, voiced by Kathy Burke (Gimme Gimme Gimme), who is joined on the cast roster by Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley) as “Headmonstress” Mrs. Twirlyhorn, and Andrew Scott (Sherlock) as the narrator and characters including cookery teacher Mr. Marrow.
The series is being produced in-house, and will be supported by interactive elements including game apps, story apps and a dedicated website. Dot To Dot is a 25-person, Chiswick-based studio behind Get Squiggling!, Footy Pups and Art Ninja.
“School of Roars is a unique and exciting property that will appeal to both children and their parents, as it not only educates but prepares children for school in a fun and engaging way,” said Dot To Dot’s Founder, Jo Killingley. “What makes it even more exciting is that it is created, developed, produced and animated in-house by Dot To Dot following the launch of our own animation studio. The new studio will be producing and developing material for children of all ages.”
School of Roars is created by Alan Robinson, Head of Development at Dot To Dot, and executive produced by Jo Killingley for Dot To Dot and Sarah Leggs for CBeebies. The series was acquired by Kay Benbow, Controller of CBeebies, and Jackie Edwards, Head of Acquisitions and Independent Animation.
School of Roars
Related Topics:Alan Robinson, Art Ninja, CBeebies, Creative Europe, Dot to Dot Productions, Footy Pups, Get Squiggling!, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Happy Valley, Jackie Edwards, Jo Killingley, Kay Benbow, NBCUniversal, Sarah Lancashire, Sarah Leggs, School of Roars, Sherlock, Sprout, ZDF Enterprises
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CURRENT VOLUME: 25, 2020 (4)
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The utility of amylase and lipase as reliable predictive markers for functioning renal graft
Ugur Eser Yilmaz, Nevin Yilmaz, Izzet Titiz, Metin Basaranoglu, Orhan Tarcin
Ann Transplant 2012; 17(3): 77-84
DOI: 10.12659/AOT.883461
Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of amylase and lipase as reliable predictive markers for functioning renal grafts, either short- or long-term.
Material/Methods: Serum amylase (Amyl), lipase, creatinine (Cr), creatinine clearance (Cr Cl) and 24-hr proteinuria (Prot) were studied in 190 kidney recipients. The correlation of these outcomes for each parameter was tested. Sensitivity and specificity of the variables were obtained in patients with graft failure (GF) and acute cellular rejection (ACR).
Results: Mean follow-up was 66.7 month. Amyl and lipase were elevated 67% vs. 45% in GF (N=23); 60% vs. 44% in ACR (N=42) patients and were inversely correlated with Cr Cl (p>.05). Lipase was notably superior to amylase and creatinine; the specificity of lipase (Amyl, Cr) was 87% (59%, 28%). Increases in amylase were more predictive in the presence of mild or moderate kidney failure (33% and 52%, respectively). However, the highest intensity of lipase elevation (39%) was in advanced kidney failure (Cr Cl <30 ml/min).
Conclusions: Serum amylase and lipase should be used as markers monitoring graft function. For early detection of graft dysfunction, amylase seems to be superior to lipase.
Keywords: amylase, graft failure, Kidney Transplant, Lipase
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Believe - The Cher Songbook
The Alexandra, Birmingham
Fri 3 Jul 2020
incl. interval
Play the full trailer
Experience the ultimate tribute to Cher with dazzling costume changes and outstanding musicianship in this spectacular production.
The Alexandra, Birminghamchange
Suffolk Queensway, Birmingham, West Midlands, B5 4DS
2 hours 20 minutes incl. interval
Fri at 19:30
Join us for a stunning concert as we turn back time and celebrate the Goddess of Pop, Cher. An exhilarating show sensationally recreating all her hits, the hair, the costumes from her breathtaking career spanning six decades.
Relive the Cher songbook with hits like I Got You Babe, Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves, Just Like Jesse James, If I Could Turn Back Time, Walking in Memphis, Strong Enough, Believe, songs from Mamma Mia and her new album Dancing Queen.
Nights you don't want to miss
This event is only on for one night!
What the critics say
She is the best! It was the best night out! I honestly thought Cher was in the room! I’ve never come back from a theatre show buzzing so much. I even got to meet her at the end and she is the nicest person in the world!
WOW. Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!!! Cher’s voice is just flawless! All the audience around me were amazed and all I heard was such a buzz of positive feed back. The quick costume changes were brilliant and kept the show fast paced and interesting.
Birmingham New Street Station and Grand Central.
The box office is open from 12pm - 6pm on Mon - Sat. On show nights box office will close 15 mins after show starts. On Sundays and Bank Holidays the box office is open 2 hours before the performance start time.
For every performance our Box Office will be open 2 hours before the show begins and for evening performances will close 15 minutes after the scheduled start time. Sunday/Bank Holidays: The Box Office is closed unless there is a performance.
The Alexandra was built in 1901 by William Coutts and throughout its vast history, has become home to first class entertainment. In 2018, the venue underwent an extensive refurbishment and reverted to its original name, The Alexandra. The theatre is a valuable contributor to culture within Birmingham and the West Midlands, presenting first-rate musicals, drama, comedy and more.
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Things to do in the Marais Poitevin
Home » Explore our destinations
Exploring the Pays d’Aunis and the Marais Poitevin
It’s hard not to love the Poitevin marshlands, with their canals lined with ash trees, willows and alders, the birds that migrate through it every year and the famous boat rides on carpets of duckweed. Water is at the heart of this unique site spanning almost 100,000 hectares across Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vendée. Venture into the dense and leafy surroundings of a regional nature park which has been officially named as a Grand Site de France. Most of the marshland villages have jetties which serve as the starting point for magical experiences, including La Grève-sur-le Mignon and the Marais Bazoin in La Ronde. Fall under the spell of Green Venice with your boatman guide, who might just conjure up some fire on the water… Stirring up the mud with his oar, the boatman will hold a lighter close to the surface of the water and use it to ignite gas released from the depths! To entertain and educate the whole family, you can also explore the Poitevin Marshlands Nature Park in Taugon and learn all about the history of the wetland, its flora and its fauna. Moving up the Sèvre Niortaise towards the estuary, a whole other side of the marsh reveals itself. In this dried-up marshland, where drainage work began back in the 13th century, the landscape is criss-crossed by straight canals flanking vast agricultural pastures. Yet large amounts of water do remain here to irrigate crops, and they’re controlled by dikes, floating gates and locks. This part of the marshland was once dotted with limestone islands which were used to help build villages like Marans. You’ll already be able to feel the ocean nearby as you take an enjoyable walk on the marina. You might choose to continue your journey by bike, heading out on the designated paths along the Marans-La Rochelle canal. The Poitevin marshlands are crossed by the Vélo Francette® route and belong beyond all doubt to bicycles… and birds! Aiguillon Bay connects the marshland to the sea and forms a nature reserve popular with migratory birds. In Pointe Saint-Clément, station yourself atop a limestone cliff to watch them returning to the mudflat. The bay is equally well-known for its famous Bouchot mussels and you can find out all the details of how they’re cultivated at the Maison de la Baie du Marais Poitevin in Esnandes. Your taste buds will be well and truly tickled in the Poitevin marshlands region. Sample mussels from Charron, russet eggs from Marans chickens, the local galette made with candied angelica and the delicious butter from Surgères. You can also get to know the undeniably successful dairy town of Surgères during a historical tour or at the Surgères Brass Festival.
Things to see and do in the Poitevin marshlands
Marshland boat cruises
From the jetty in Bazoin in the La Ronde area, you can explore the marshland over the course of a pleasant boat cruise and uncover all the Taugon nature park’s secrets.
Aiguillon Bay
Experience the magic of this paradise for birds and Bouchot mussels. Awaiting you is the fishing village of Esnandes, a real hub for mussel farming.
This historic city is a wonderful surprise for those who aren’t familiar with its hit product, Charentes-Poitou AOP butter. Indulge your curiosity and venture into the Pays d’Aunis.
Experiences themed in the Marais Poitevin
The Marais Poitevin
A weekend in a guest house in the Marais Poitevin
If, like me, you’re a fan of chilling out, but you also like to keep active, meet…
A family getaway to the heart of the Marais Poitevin
We came with picture-postcard images of a wild world in our heads: tree-lined canals, a carpet of…
Meeting the migratory birds of the Bay of Aiguillon
During our family nature holiday in Charentes, we heard a lot about a little gem of a…
Plan your trip to Marais Poitevin
Tourist offices Where to eat Where to sleep What to see
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Dead Insider
Loon Lake Mystery, Book 13
By: Victoria Houston
Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
Series: Loon Lake Mystery, Book 13
Categories: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective
Dead Tease
A hot August afternoon and Midwest Clinic CEO John McNeil has been working late: working on his latest conquest, that is. Jen Williams is 26, in charge of graphics for the hospital's PR division - and quite attractive in a healthy, athletic kind of way. She is quick to laugh and a little too quick to fall for guys. She is no virgin. And she is one of three women - including his wife - intimately familiar with McNeil. When Jen's youthful body is found with a single stab wound through the heart, suspicion falls on McNeil's wife.
Dead Deceiver
It's late January in Loon Lake and bodies abound: A woman on snowshoes has been discovered wedged under a wooden bridge on a cross-country ski trail. A day later, Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris interviews a couple who alleges that the wife, a former nun, is being stalked. Meanwhile, Loon Lake is hosting an International Ice Fishing Festival with problems.
Dead Renegade
In Loon Lake, a town in northern Wisconsin, Police Chief Lewellyn 'Lew' Ferris deputizes Dr. Paul 'Doc' Osborne, a retired dentist and forensic dental expert. They investigate crimes - when they are not taking a break for fishing and other personal pursuits.
Might just be the best in the series
By Dawn on 07-07-18
Dead Hot Shot
A Loon Lake Fishing Mystery, Book 9
Murder never takes a holiday...or so Loon Lake learns one wintry Thanksgiving Day. Chief of Police Lew Ferris, short-handed thanks to an AWOL coroner, never even gets the turkey stuffed before the bodies start to surface. By the end of the day, credit card theft and dysfunctional families have so muddied the waters that not even expert tracker and dedicated fishing guide Ray Pradt, can hope to fish the final day of muskie season.
Another good story
Dead Madonna
When the body of a lovely young woman is found floating beneath a party pontoon on a popular lake in northern Wisconsin on the same morning that a prominent widow is found bludgeoned in her gracious home, Loon Lake Police Chief Lew Ferris is caught short-handed. This is not a problem for Doc Osborne whom she deputizes to act as coroner and to assist with the investigation. Fishing aside, there's nothing Osborne likes better than helping Lew - a world-class fly fisherman in her own right - delve into Loon Lake's criminal underworld.
Dead Boogie
Just as the summer in Loon Lake is heating up, the town gets turned upside down by the bizarre triple homicide discovered on a backcountry road. Peg Garmin was not Loon Lake's most beloved citizen. Considering her "calling" in life, no one was completely surprised when she was found murdered in the company of two exotic dancers...no one, that is, except for Ray Pradt, Peg's dearest friend. As the team digs into the mystery of her past, they discover some startling connections to one of the wealthiest families in Chicago and to the buried secret that could destroy them.
Dead Jitterbug
Hope McDonald's advice column syndicates nationwide. So when Hope is murdered in her home, Chief Lewellyn Ferris can think of more than a few suspects. Now, she'll have to think of the perfect bait to net a cold-blooded killer.
It's a miss this time.
By A. Moose on 05-22-16
Dead Hot Mama
It's ice-fishing season in Loon Lake and Doc Osborne is trying to convince Police Chief and fishing pal Lew Ferris to give it a chance. But fish aren't the only things lurking below the surface. The bodies of two snowmobilers have just been pulled out of nearby Two Sisters Lake. And a beautiful woman's corpse turns up in a snowdrift. Is it payback for a drug deal gone bad? Or is it something more sinister?
Dead Frenzy
For fishing pals, (or are they more than just pals?) Doc Osborne and Police Chief Lew Ferris, Loon Lake, Wisconsin, is usually a great place to seek out some mutual solitude in the trout stream. But lately, the town has been teeming with competitive bass fisherman and bikers, too many less-than-savory characters. Meanwhile, there's an old murder case Doc's bent on solving even as he himself is stalked by a mysterious visitor.
Another Good One!
By Elfster on 01-19-18
Dead Water
While out kayaking, Paul Osborne discovers the grisly remains of a woman - whose shoulders bear mysterious bite marks. And just as Lew begins her investigation, another body turns up.... The second victim was a successful businesswoman from Kansas City, and the evidence indicates she was in Loon Lake for a rrendezvous with an ex-lover - a con man who had tried to get his hands on her money. Now, Lew's got two confusing cases - and a killer who may be more elusive than any fish.
Slow start, but great after it gets going!
By J. Jackson on 11-06-12
Dead Creek
In Wisconsin's Northwoods, fishing is a way of life - and when the muskies are biting, life couldn't be better. But when Doc Osborne catches more than he bargained for, he winds up in the middle of a murder mystery - and only Chief of Police Lew Ferris can get him out of it.
Dead Creek is alive!!!
Dead Angler
My new favorite series!
Bloody Genius
A Virgil Flowers Novel, Book 12
By: John Sandford
Narrated by: Eric Conger
At the local state university, two feuding departments have faced off on the battleground of science and medicine. Each carries their views to extremes that may seem absurd, but highly educated people of sound mind and good intentions can reasonably disagree, right? Then a renowned and confrontational scholar winds up dead, and Virgil Flowers is brought in to investigate...and as he probes the recent ideological unrest, he soon comes to realize he's dealing with people who, on this one particular issue, are functionally crazy.
Virgil calls in some old friends...
Twelve Angry Librarians
Cat in the Stacks Mysteries, Book 8
By: Miranda James
Narrated by: Erin Bennett
Charlie Harris is stressed out. The Southern Academic Libraries Association is holding this year's annual meeting at Athena College. Since Charlie is the interim library director, he must deliver the welcome speech to all the visiting librarians. And as if that weren't bad enough, the keynote address will be delivered by Charlie's old nemesis from library school. It's been 30 years since Charlie has seen Gavin Fong, and he's still an insufferable know-it-all capable of getting under everyone's skin.
Another great addition
A Better Man: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel
Chief Inspector Gamache/Three Pines Series, Book 15
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Robert Bathurst
It’s Gamache’s first day back as head of the homicide department, a job he temporarily shares with his previous second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Flood waters are rising across the province. In the middle of the turmoil a father approaches Gamache, pleading for help in finding his daughter. As crisis piles upon crisis, Gamache tries to hold off the encroaching chaos, and realizes the search for Vivienne Godin should be abandoned. But with a daughter of his own, he finds himself developing a profound, and perhaps unwise, empathy for her distraught father.
Not My Favorite
By Sally on 09-10-19
Virgil Flowers kicked around for a while before joining the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. First it was the army and the military police, then the police in St. Paul, and finally Lucas Davenport brought him into the BCA, promising him, "We'll only give you the hard stuff." He's been doing the hard stuff for three years now, but never anything like this.
Great winding road of a story
By Crystal on 10-10-07
Desolation Mountain
By: William Kent Krueger
Narrated by: David Chandler
New York Times best-selling author William Kent Krueger delivers yet another "punch-to-the-gut blend of detective story and investigative fiction" (Booklist) as Cork O'Connor and his son Stephen work together to uncover the truth behind the tragic plane crash of a senator on Desolation Mountain and the mysterious disappearances of several first responders. This is a heart-pounding and devastating mystery the scope and consequences of which go far beyond what father or son could ever have imagined....
Love in a Cynical Age
By Carole T. on 08-26-18
A Virgil Flowers Novel
Pinion, Minnesota: a metropolis of all of 700 souls. Nothing ever happened there - until the mayor of sorts (campaign slogan: "I'll Do What I Can") and a buddy come up with a scheme to put Pinion on the map. They'd heard of a place where a floating image of the Virgin Mary had turned the whole town into a shrine, attracting thousands of pilgrims. And all those pilgrims needed food, shelter, all kinds of crazy things, right? They'd all get rich! What could go wrong? When the dead body shows up, they find out, and that's only the beginning of their troubles - and Virgil Flowers'....
Liked it a lot but...
By Robert E. Orlando on 10-17-18
In the midst of a catastrophic August rainstorm, a grisly discovery shatters the serenity of a summer evening in northern Wisconsin. Moving quickly to prevent a panic among tourists, Loon Lake Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris enlists the forensic and interrogation skills of her close friend and fellow fly fisherman, the retired dentist "Doc" Osborne. Within hours of launching their investigation, they find themselves faced with a national media circus as Loon Lake becomes the focus of a murderous scenario that links the murder to the race for the U.S. Senate by a woman who is heir to a Northwoods fortune and other, less savory, family traditions.
In the meantime, Doc Osborne's eldest daughter, Mallory, enters into a relationship that may put her life at risk - unless her father and Chief Ferris can find the killer stalking the residents of Loon Lake.
©2013 Victoria Houston (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Beezer
Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader
Marty B
weak story, very weak.
bad story line. please please please please please please please please invest more effort into your writing.
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The Ghost Warriors
Inside Israel's Undercover War Against Suicide Terrorism
By: Samuel M. Katz
Narrated by: Ganim Peter
Categories: History, Military
Inside the Covert War Against Terrorism's Money Masters
By: Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Samuel M. Katz
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
A revelatory account of the cloak-and-dagger Israeli campaign to target the finances fueling terror organizations - an effort that became the blueprint for US efforts to combat threats like ISIS and drug cartels. ISIS boasted $2.4 billion of revenue in 2015, yet for too long the global war on terror overlooked financial warfare as an offensive strategy. "Harpoon", the creation of Mossad legend Meir Dagan, directed spies, soldiers, and attorneys to disrupt and destroy money pipelines and financial institutions that paid for the bloodshed.
Riveting!!!
By Treavor on 12-11-17
Rise and Kill First
The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations
By: Ronen Bergman
Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
The Talmud says: “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” This instinct to take every measure, even the most aggressive, to defend the Jewish people is hardwired into Israel’s DNA. From the very beginning of its statehood in 1948, protecting the nation from harm has been the responsibility of its intelligence community and armed services, and there is one weapon in their vast arsenal that they have relied upon to thwart the most serious threats: Targeted assassinations have been used countless times, on enemies large and small....
Eye Opening
By Ari Safari on 02-09-18
Beirut Rules
The Murder of a CIA Station Chief and Hezbollah's War Against America
By: Fred Burton, Samuel M. Katz
After a deadly terrorist bombing at the American embassy in Lebanon in 1983, only one man inside the CIA possessed the courage and skills to rebuild the networks destroyed in the blast: William Buckley. But the new Beirut station chief quickly became the target of a young terrorist named Imad Mughniyeh. Beirut Rules is the pulse-by-pulse account of Buckley's abduction, torture, and murder at the hands of Hezbollah terrorists.
Detailed but worth every minute.
By Brian Prime User on 11-27-18
Spies of No Country
Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel
By: Matti Friedman
Narrated by: Simon Vance
The four spies at the center of this story were part of a ragtag unit known as the Arab Section, conceived during World War II by British spies and Jewish militia leaders in Palestine. Intended to gather intelligence and carry out sabotage and assassinations, the unit consisted of Jews who were native to the Arab world and could thus easily assume Arab identities. In 1948, with Israel's existence in the balance during the War of Independence, our spies went undercover in Beirut, where they spent the next two years operating out of a kiosk....
By David Mane on 06-23-19
Six Days of War
June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
By: Michael B. Oren
Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
Really 2 Books in One . . .
By Tim on 04-05-06
Shadow Strike
Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power
By: Yaakov Katz
On September 6, 2007, shortly after midnight, Israeli fighters advanced on Deir ez-Zour in Syria. Israel often flew into Syria as a warning to President Bashar al-Assad. But this time, there was no warning and no explanation. This was a covert operation, with one goal: to destroy a nuclear reactor being built by North Korea under a tight veil of secrecy in the Syrian desert. Shadow Strike tells, for the first time, the story of the espionage, military might and psychological warfare behind Israel’s operation to stop one of the greatest known acts of nuclear proliferation.
Important Book!
By Gerald J. Vogt on 05-10-19
The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service
By: Michael Bar-Zohar, Nissim Mishal
Narrated by: Benjamin Isaac
In Mossad, authors MichaelBar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal take us behind the closed curtain with riveting, eye-opening, boots-on-the-ground accounts of the most dangerous, most crucial missions in the agency's 60-year history.
maybe with a different reader.
By Andrew on 04-30-16
All Secure
A Special Operations Soldier's Fight to Survive on the Battlefield and the Homefront
By: Tom Satterly, Steve Jackson
Narrated by: Tom Satterly
As a senior non-commissioned officer of Delta Force, the most elite and secretive special operations unit in the US military, Command Sergeant Major Tom Satterly fought some of this country's most fearsome enemies. Tom is a legend even among other Tier One special operators. Yet the enemy that cost him three marriages, and ruined his health physically and psychologically, existed in his brain. Told through Satterly's firsthand experiences, it also weaves in the reasons for his career-long battle against the most insidious enemy of all: post-traumatic stress.
- One of those books that truly make a difference
By henry on 12-21-19
Brotherhood of Warriors
Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in One of the World's Most Elite Counterterrorism Units
By: Aaron Cohen, Douglas Century
Narrated by: David Drummond
Beverly Hills native Aaron Cohen was 18 years old when he left behind his privileged American life with the single-minded ambition of joining Israel's top anti-terrorist commando unit. After 15 months of grueling training, Cohen was offered the only post a non-Israeli can hold.
Great insight
By A Mellor on 07-05-08
From Russia with Blood
The Kremlin's Ruthless Assassination Program and Vladimir Putin's Secret War on the West
By: Heidi Blake
Narrated by: Marisa Calin
Unflinchingly documenting the growing web of death on British and American soil, Heidi Blake bravely exposes the Kremlin's assassination campaign as part of Putin's ruthless pursuit of global dominance-and reveals why Western governments have failed to stop the bloodshed. The unforgettable story that emerges whisks us from London's high-end night clubs to Miami's million-dollar hideouts, ultimately rendering a bone-chilling portrait of money, betrayal, and murder, written with the pace and propulsive power of a thriller.
Great narration. Chilling and gripping story.
By Julie on 12-14-19
Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel
By: Francine Klagsbrun
Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
Golda Meir was a world figure unlike any other. Born in tsarist Russia in 1898, she immigrated to America in 1906 and grew up in Milwaukee, where from her earliest years she displayed the political consciousness and organizational skills that would eventually catapult her into the inner circles of Israel's founding generation. Moving to mandatory Palestine in 1921 with her husband, the passionate socialist joined a kibbutz but soon left and was hired at a public works office by the man who would become the great love of her life.
The persistent mispronunciations of Hebrew and Yiddish words ruined this performance
By Yaakov Har-Oz, Adv. on 12-30-18
Directorate S
The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
By: Steve Coll
Resuming the narrative of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, best-selling author Steve Coll tells for the first time the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.
All the detail you could want
By Louis Macareo on 03-06-18
Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman and the Untold Story of the World's Deadliest Special Operations Force
By: Dan Schilling, Lori Longfritz
Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel, Betsy Foldes Meiman
In the predawn hours of March 4, 2002, just below the 10,000-foot peak of a mountain in eastern Afghanistan, a fierce battle raged. Outnumbered by Al Qaeda fighters, Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman and a handful of SEALs struggled to take the summit in a desperate bid to find a lost teammate. Chapman, leading the charge, was gravely wounded in the initial assault. Believing he was dead, his SEAL leader ordered a retreat. Chapman regained consciousness, alone with the enemy closing in on three sides, beginning the most difficult and exceptional fight of his life.
Wasted chance to honor a hero.
By Scott on 07-11-19
The Life of David Ben-Gurion
By: Tom Segev, Haim Watzman - translator
In this definitive biography, Israel's leading journalist-historian, Tom Segev, uses large amounts of previously unreleased archival material to give an original, nuanced account, transcending the myths and legends that have accreted around Ben-Gurion. Segev's probing biography ranges from the villages of Poland to Manhattan libraries, London hotels, and the hills of Palestine, and shows us Ben-Gurion's relentless activity across six decades.
By Hayekian on 12-19-19
Assad or We Burn the Country
How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria
By: Sam Dagher
Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
In spring 2011, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turned to his friend and army commander, Manaf Tlass, for advice about how to respond to Arab Spring-inspired protests. Tlass pushed for conciliation but Assad decided to crush the uprising - an act which would catapult the country into an eight-year long war, killing almost half a million and fueling terrorism and a global refugee crisis. Assad or We Burn the Country examines Syria's tragedy through the generational saga of the Assad and Tlass families, once deeply intertwined and now estranged....
How can this happen
By OLDER PLAYER on 07-18-19
Trained to Hunt
Pierce Hunt, Book 2
By: Simon Gervais
Narrated by: Bon Shaw
Former Army Ranger Pierce Hunt is second-guessing his decision to join a CIA hunter-killer team that will take him far away from his daughter. But when a new performance-enhancing drug kills four football players - including his daughter’s boyfriend - settling down becomes the last thing on Hunt’s mind.
Action packed!
The Lion's Gate
On the Front Lines of the Six Day War
By: Steven Pressfield
Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
June 5, 1967: The fearsome, Soviet-equipped Egyptian Army and its 1000 tanks are massed on Israel's southern border. Meanwhile, the Syrian Army is shelling the much smaller nation from the north. And to the east, Jordan and Iraq are moving brigades and fighter squadrons into position to attack. Egypt's President Nasser has declared that the Arab world's goal is no less than "the destruction of Israel."
As close to being there as you can get
By Andy from FL on 07-13-14
Surprise, Kill, Vanish
The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins
By: Annie Jacobsen
Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, the untold story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.
Lots of facts, offset by too much fiction
By Steve M on 05-24-19
It was the deadliest terror campaign ever mounted against a nation in modern times: the al-Aqsa, or Second, Intifada. This is the untold story of how Israel fought back with an elite force of undercover operatives drawn from the nation's diverse backgrounds and ethnicities - and united in their ability to walk among the enemy as no one else dared.
Beginning in late 2000, as black smoke rose from burning tires and rioters threw rocks in the streets, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Arafat's Palestinian Authority embarked on a strategy of sending their terrorists to slip undetected into Israel's towns and cities to set the country ablaze, unleashing suicide attacks at bus stops, discos, pizzerias - wherever people gathered.
But Israel fielded some of the most capable and cunning special operations forces in the world. The Ya'mas, Israel National Police Border Guard undercover counterterrorist special operations units, became Israel's eyes-on-target response. Launched on intelligence provided by the Shin Bet, indigenous Arabic-speaking Dovrim, or "Speakers", operating in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza infiltrated the treacherous confines where the terrorists lived hidden in plain sight and set the stage for the intrepid tactical specialists who often found themselves under fire and outnumbered in their effort to apprehend those responsible for the carnage inside Israel. This is their compelling true story: a tale of daring and deception that could happen only in the powder keg of the modern Middle East.
©2016 Samuel M. Katz. Recorded by arrangement with Berkley Caliber, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
No Shadows in the Desert
a strong realistic book! my top ranked war book
really worth the money and time for any person that have interest in Israel Palestine conflict, counterterrorism, military and special operation. this is the story of the most professional men in the CT undercover world at work
absolutely amazing!
The story of completely fearless warriors who put it on the line every single day for years on end, for the thin hope of keeping the savages at bay and keeping their families safe.
Isreal is so dam COOL
I've been following Israels undercover work.. hooked after listening to the massads capture of Eichman, in Hunting Eichman.. There are just so completely assune.. Great book. But one needs to be interested undercover, courageous, ingenious work...
Enjoyed the series Frauda? You’ll enjoy this book
This book takes you to the front line and walks you through true life events involving Israel’s Boarder Police. The Boarder Police are comprised of individuals who can be sent into terrorist controlled communities, blend in with those communities, and capture or kill terrorist. There is a great tv series, “Frauda” that is a fictional version of this group. If you enjoy thrillers were the protagonist hunts down terrorist, this book details the real thing. Enjoy.
NY. NY
Compelling beyond
Fascinating backstory to the terrorism and israel’s fight against it. It made my memory of the events reawaken as if it happened today. Very compelling.
Where does The Ghost Warriors rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This is hands down the best book I own, wether in print, kindle or audiobook. THe narrator brings the stories to life. and it is a very revealing glimpse into the life of the world's best military operators.
Sensationalistic
Disclaimer: I put this (audio)book down about a quarter of the way in. The topic itself is interesting, how the Israeli security and special forces units work under cover in Palestinian areas and even within terrorist organizations. Some of these Israeli security organizations have units that train and speak in Arabic, and go to great lengths to blend in to specific local communities.
What I found off-putting was that the author wasted a lot of time painting hagiographic portraits of the members of these special units, especially particular individuals who (readers would soon find) were killed in the line of duty. Yes, these guys are badass and what they do is impressive, but (IMHO) the focus was too much on the men themselves rather than on the tactics and situations that they deal with.
Sounds Like Dialogue from a Video Game
Persistent hyperbole and inaccuracies plagued an already incoherent narrative that ruined otherwise fascinating subject matter.
Decent read if one has an existing interest in the subject but it's written in a shallow, sophomoric manner that will appeal more to young men and boys than anyone else.
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The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen
By: Rudolf Erich Raspe
Narrated by: Katie Haigh
Categories: Classics, World Literature
By: Robert Louis Stevenson
Narrated by: Kieron Elliott
Spirited, romantic, and full of danger, Kidnapped is Robert Louis Stevenson's classic of high adventure. Beloved by generations, it is the saga of David Balfour, a young heir whose greedy uncle connives to do him out of his inherited fortune and plots to have him seized and sold into slavery. But honor, loyalty, and courage are rewarded.
A Boy's Own Adventure
By An Leughadair on 08-04-15
The Wandering Inn
By: Pirate Aba
Narrated by: Andrea Parsneau
"No killing Goblins." So reads the sign outside of the Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours. It’s a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a dragon. She doesn’t belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of life, and where humans are one species among many. But she must adapt to her new life. Or die.
amazing writing but....
By Adam Dintelman on 09-30-19
Narrated by: Richard Armitage
Audible presents a special edition of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde narrated by Richard Armitage. With Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Richard Armitage tells the story of a conflicted man who seeks a remedy to free the monster inside him from the clutches of his conscience. Following his celebrated performance of David Copperfield, Armitage delivers another powerhouse performance as the narrator of this Gothic tale.
Changed my understanding of processing literature
By Brent W on 11-02-17
By: Kenneth Grahame
Narrated by: Michael Hordern
Here is a timeless tale of waterside Britain that has been loved by generations of children and acclaimed as a classic. The story of Mole, Ratty, Badger, and Toad, and their escapades, whether messing about on the river or poop-pooping in Toad's shiny new car, cannot fail to enchant.
My favorate read version of the willows!
By J. Glemby on 09-18-14
By: The Great Courses, Gregory S. Aldrete
Narrated by: Gregory S. Aldrete
Military history often highlights successes and suggests a sense of inevitability about victory, but there is so much that can be gleaned from considering failures. Study these crucibles of history to gain a better understanding of why a civilization took - or didn't take - a particular path.
Martial Chaos
By Cynthia on 08-16-16
Narrated by: Michael Scott
"Candide" is a delightful story filled with boundless misadventure while tackling the great philosophical issues of the Enlightenment era. The story is about Candide, a young man who is the illegitimate nephew of a German baron with whom he resides. When it is discovered he is kissing the baron's beautiful daughter he is thrown from the castle where he experiences the horrors of war, poverty, the maliciousness of man, and the hypocrisy of the church.
Classic masterpiece, awful narration
By Michalis A. on 05-20-19
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
Narrated by: Sir Derek Jacobi
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a collection of poetry written by J. R. R. Tolkien and was first published in 1962. The audio is read by Sir Derek Jacobi and is a collection of 16 poems that contain an assortment of bestiary verse and fairy tale rhyme. It is a stunning recording that captures all the characters in their own charming and mysterious ways.
More Bombadil please!
By James on 06-30-14
Will Destroy the Galaxy for Cash
By: Yahtzee Croshaw
Narrated by: Yahtzee Croshaw
With the age of heroic star pilots and galactic villains completely killed by quantum teleportation, the ex-star pilot currently named Dashford Pierce is struggling to find his identity in a changing universe. Then, a face from his past returns and makes him an offer he can't refuse: take part in just one teeny weeny, slightly illegal, daring heist, and not only will he have the means to start the new life he craves, but also save his childhood hero from certain death.
Amazing again
By Jeffrey on 10-07-19
Language Families of the World
By: John McWhorter, The Great Courses
Narrated by: John McWhorter
Professor John McWhorter of Columbia University takes you back through time and around the world, following the linguistic trails left by generations of humans that lead back to the beginnings of language. Utilizing historical theories and cutting-edge research, these 34 astonishing lectures will introduce you to the major language families of the world and their many offspring, including a variety of languages that are no longer spoken but provide vital links between past and present.
Exactly what I was hoping and searching for
By Privet on 04-20-19
The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World
By: Myke Cole
Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
From the time of Ancient Sumeria, the heavy infantry phalanx dominated the battlefield. Armed with spears or pikes, standing shoulder to shoulder, and with overlapping shields, they presented an impenetrable wall of wood and metal to the enemy. It was the phalanx that allowed Greece to become the dominant power in the Western world. That is, until the Romans developed the legion and cracked the phalanx.
I might be a niche market for this but I loved it
By Jonathan on 12-17-18
New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
By: Charles C. Mann
Narrated by: Darrell Dennis
Traditionally, Americans learned in school that the ancestors of the people who inhabited the Western Hemisphere at the time of Columbus' landing had crossed the Bering Strait 12,000 years ago; existed mainly in small nomadic bands; and lived so lightly on the land that the Americas were, for all practical purposes, still a vast wilderness. But as Charles C. Mann now makes clear, archaeologists and anthropologists have spent the last 30 years proving these and many other long-held assumptions wrong.
Exposes Non-Academic Audience to The Debate Between Ideas of Pre-Colombian America's
By Christopher on 01-19-17
Mr Bliss
Mr Bliss, a man notable for his immensely tall hats and for the girabbit in his garden, takes the whimsical decision to buy a motor car. But his first drive to visit friends quickly becomes a catalogue of disasters. Some of these could be blamed on Mr Bliss’s style of driving, but even he could not anticipate being hijacked by three bears.
By R. Jones on 12-26-19
By: T. H. White
Narrated by: Neville Jason
Length: 33 hrs
The complete "box set" of T. H. White's epic fantasy novel of the Arthurian legend. The novel is made up of five parts: "The Sword in the Stone", "The Witch in the Wood", "The Ill-Made Knight", "The Candle in the Wind", and "The Book of Merlyn".
Good, but not unabriged
By Valerie Allen on 02-17-13
Rip-Off!
By: John Scalzi, Jack Campbell, Mike Resnick, and others
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Scott Brick, Christian Rummel, and others
In Rip-Off!, 13 of today’s best and most honored writers of speculative fiction face a challenge even they would be hard-pressed to conceive: Pick your favorite opening line from a classic piece of fiction (or even non-fiction) - then use it as the first sentence of an entirely original short story.
When is a rip-off not a rip-off?
By Julie W. Capell on 11-24-13
By: Don Lincoln, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Don Lincoln
At the end of his career, Albert Einstein was pursuing a dream far more ambitious than the theory of relativity. He was trying to find an equation that explained all physical reality - a theory of everything. Experimental physicist and award-winning educator Dr. Don Lincoln takes you on this exciting journey in The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality. Suitable for the intellectually curious at all levels and assuming no background beyond basic high-school math, these 24 half-hour lectures cover recent developments at the forefront of particle physics and cosmology.
Not an audiobook...
By J.C. on 06-14-19
Super Powereds: Year 2
Super Powereds, Book 2
By: Drew Hayes
Narrated by: Kyle McCarley
Despite having their secret revealed, the residents of Melbrook Hall return to Lander University for another year in the Hero Certification Program. Good thing the focus of this year is teamwork, because with their origins known, they'll have to lean on each other more than ever. Now finally sophomores, their curriculum expands, allowing them to train in the majors that Heroes specialize in. The new classes will test their minds, bodies, and determination in ways never anticipated.
I hate Drew Hayes!!!
Life, the Universe, and Everything
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 3
By: Douglas Adams
Narrated by: Martin Freeman
The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky above their heads - so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals stand between the killer robots of Krikkit and their goal of total annihilation.
It's my favorite of the series
By J. Morgan on 02-03-07
Junior year has come for the remaining students of Melbrook Hall, and it promises to be the most difficult one yet. With one of their own gone and another under serious investigation, none of the former Powereds know how many days remain for them in the Hero Certification Program. The time they do have will be filled with more trials and classes, honing their skills as they work toward the increasingly difficult goal of becoming Heroes.
Drew Hayes Has Created An Absolute Masterpiece!
By matt on 08-30-16
The Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia, or the Startling adventures of Baron Munchausen, is one of the funniest texts ever written. It relates the exploits of a grandiloquent figure, in a series of absurd, impossible and extravagant feats. It is a charming tale of dreamlike adventures, a powerful satire and a personal attack, as it was meant to mock a real Baron known for telling outrageous tall tales based on his military career during the Russo-Turkish war. The adventures of the Baron will have you roar with laughter and unleash your imagination as you witness his cannonball ride or travels to the moon.
This beloved text has spawned numerous adaptations, such as movies and plays; medical syndromes have even been named after this character.
©2016 Compagnie du Savoir (P)2016 Compagnie du Savoir
The Travels and Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen [Russian Edition]
Les aventures remarquables du Baron de Münchhausen
500 quotes of Lao Tsu for meditation
20 Bedtime Stories For Kids
100 Quotes by Sun Tzu
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Export markets - Myanmar
Beef to Taiwan
Dairy to India
Dairy to Taiwan
Food and agribusiness to Singapore
Food and beverage to Bangladesh
Food and beverage to China
Food and beverage to Fiji
Food and beverage to Hong Kong
Food and beverage to India
Food and Beverage to Indonesia
Food and beverage to Korea
Food and beverage to Malaysia
Food and beverage to New Zealand
Food and beverage to Taiwan
Food and beverage to the Philippines
Food and beverage to the United Arab Emirates
Food and beverage to Vietnam
Food retail to Pakistan
Food to Chile
Food to Thailand
Fruit and vegetables to Japan
Fruit and vegetables to Thailand
Health and functional foods to Japan
Processed food to Japan
Seafood to Japan
Wine to China
Wine to Japan
Wine to Korea
Wine to Malaysia
Wine to Poland
Wine to Taiwan
Wine to Thailand
Food and Beverage to Myanmar
The food and beverage landscape in Myanmar is continuing to evolve as the country welcomes more tourists, business people, and as disposable incomes amongst locals increases. New premium supermarkets vie with local family owned shops and wet markets. Modern convenience stores are appearing on many street corners in major cities and the restaurant and bar scene is changing too.
City Mart Holdings is the biggest retail operator in Myanmar with more than 180 outlets which are mostly convenience stores. Its multiple formats of retail businesses include City Mart supermarkets, Ocean hypermarket, City Express convenience stores, bookstores, health and beauty stores, baby and maternity specialty stores as well as cafes and bakeries. It currently operates 40 City Express convenience stores with the number of stores expected to grow to 200 stores in the next few years.
In August 2016, Japan’s retail giant Aeon announced plans to expand its supermarket business into Myanmar through a joint venture company created in partnership with local firm Creation Myanmar Group of Companies (CMGC). The new company, Aeon Orange, plans to acquire 14 supermarkets currently owned by CMGC affiliate Hypermarket Asia, in addition to opening an unspecified number of new stores (Source: The Nation, Aeon Orange Co takes 14 Hypermarts in Myanmar, 3 August 2016).
Myanmar has welcomed many international franchises and businesses over the past few years. Brands such as drinks manufacturers, carmakers and a host of Asian food and beverage outlets have popped up in recent years, as well as well-known United States (US) fast food chains.
Retail investors have encountered challenges as they launch operations including reports that supply chain difficulties have posed a problem. (Source: Oxford Business Group, Rising foreign investment in Myanmar’s food and beverage segment, 20 March 2017).
A range of Australian food and beverages such as premium beef, wine, fresh fruits, pasta, ice cream, UHT milk and other products are available in local high end supermarkets and restaurants. Australia’s largest export to Myanmar is wheat which is used in bread and noodle manufacturing, with exports of A$128 million in 2015/16 (Source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Myanmar Country Fact Sheet, 20 March 2017).
Dairy, meat and wine
Dairy products, particularly long life butter, milk and cheese are popular with Myanmar buyers as parents seek sources of calcium for their children. Storage of these products though has been difficult due to the lack of domestic refrigeration and frequent power outages, so buyers tend to only purchase what they need for each day.
Historically meat consumption levels in Myanmar have been quite low since almost 90 per cent of Myanmar’s population are Buddhist and almost a third live below the poverty line. Meat consumption is increasing due to increasing wealth and international visitors with the greatest demand still for chicken and pork meat, however red meat is also growing in popularity. There is an increasing number of restaurants and bars serving beef and lamb dishes to young people eager to try new tastes.
Obtaining permits for importing red meat have been difficult for local distribution companies due to complicated import approval processes, however as the procedures are better understood, most distribution companies are able to source meat internationally.
There are only two wineries currently producing wine in Myanmar but the quality of Myanmar wine still has some way to go to match with international wines which are available in luxury hotels, resorts, high end bars and some supermarkets in Yangon. Importation of wine and other alcoholic beverages has long been restricted to hotels and duty free store concession holders. In early 2016, the Ministry of Commerce issued a notification providing permission for the licenced importing of wine, and companies have increasingly been able to source wines from across the globe including Australia (Source: Myanmar Capital, Myanmar Wine imports going to start again with legal action, 19 May 2016).
While wine is the first to be allowed in by the ministry, it has plans to adjust its policies for other kinds of alcohol in the future based on market demand though as yet no official notice on other forms of alcohol has been released.
With the increase in international standard hotels, restaurants and bars and with more premium supermarkets, there are number of opportunities open to Australian suppliers, including:
fresh fruit and vegetables in season – stone fruit, apples, citrus, table grapes, avocados, salad vegetables, mushrooms, etc.
processed foods – cereals, biscuits, pasta, pasta sauces, chocolate
dairy – UHT milk and cream, cheese, yoghurt
baby and infant food – formula, sauces, nutritional products
meat – beef and lamb
beverages – wine and fruit juice
healthy food (including organic and gluten free).
premium/gourmet food and beverages
dairy – catering packs
meat and seafood – beef, lamb and salmon
wine.
grains – wheat, barley
dairy-based food ingredients – milk powder, cheese and butter powder.
Competitive environment
The main competitors across the food industry for Australian exporters are:
fresh fruit and vegetables – US, China, Thailand, local producers
dairy – New Zealand, European Union (EU) and eastern Europe
processed foods – Thailand, Malaysia, China, Japan, Korea, US, United Kingdom, EU, Singapore
fruit juice – ASEAN, South Africa, EU
wine – US, South Africa, France, Chile.
Myanmar is a member of the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA). Reflecting its lower level of economic development, Myanmar’s commitments to reduce tariffs under AANZFTA are being phased in at a slower rate than other parties to the agreement. Tariffs will start to fall on most items either in 2015 or 2020. Visit the ASEAN AANZFTA tariff finder for tariffs on specific products.
Food import procedures
There are no specific quarantine requirements for exports of fresh fruit and vegetables from Australia to Myanmar. For more information, visit the Australian Department of Agriculture’s Manual of Importing Country Requirements (MICoR). However the Myanmar Government requires pest risk analysis forms to be completed for all fresh fruit, vegetables and grains from January 2017.
The Ministry of Commerce issues import licences for most food products. The Department of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for inspecting and clearing imported food at the border.
Importers must obtain a food import licence for each product line being imported (i.e. each SKU requires a separate licence). Food import licences will only be issued if the importer presents a food safety recommendation for each food product. Food safety recommendations for most products are issued by FDA. A limited number of products require a recommendation from the newly formed Meat Inspection Board and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, including fresh meat and fish products.
The application to the FDA for a food safety recommendation must be accompanied by:
a product sample of 1.5 kilograms or 1.5 litres
a certificate confirming that the product is allowed for sale as food in the country of origin (a “free sale certificate”)
product specifications containing the following information:
physical and chemical analysis
microbiological standards
storage and shelf life.
manufacturing licence
payment of the relevant fees.
The FDA reviews these documents and carries out a laboratory inspection on the product.
If granted, the FDA recommendation lasts for two years. The next time a consignment of the same product arrives in Myanmar, a further recommendation isn’t needed from the FDA up until the two year expiry.
Imports into Myanmar are controlled by the Customs Department of the Ministry of Finance. Customs is responsible for assessing and collecting applicable customs duties and taxes on imports and carrying out other regulatory and law enforcement responsibilities relating to imports.
The importers need customs declaration and required accompanying documents for custom clearance:
Import License
Bill of Landing, air consignment note or truck note
Other certificates, permits or import recommendation as required (e.g. country of origin or SPS or FDA certificate).
Food labelling requirements
Food labelling is the responsibility of the Myanmar FDA, which comes under the Ministry of Health. The relevant law is the Myanmar National Food Law 1997.
Food labels must clearly state the name of the product, contents including name and net weight, the manufacturer’s name and address, batch number, manufacturing date, expiry date, and required storage conditions.
Marketing your products and services
Local agents or distributors with specialist industry knowledge and established networks are generally the best way for Australian food and beverage exporters as they are well acquainted with import procedures and documentation. This is to build market contacts, navigate regulatory and procurement processes and identify emerging opportunities.
Australian exporters wishing to enter the Myanmar market should plan a preliminary visit to meet potential agents, distributors, customers and relevant government agencies. Once a relationship with an agent or importer is established, regular visits should be made two to three times a year to maintain relationships and develop new leads.
Australian exporters can also participate in the increasingly popular food trade exhibitions which provide effective exposure for your company and products to importers and their customers.
Distribution channels
Myanmar has a traditional distribution structure of importer, distributor, wholesaler, retailer, though the largest retail companies are vertically integrated across the whole distribution chain. The larger firms also have trading companies in Singapore or Thailand that place orders and organise payment for shipments.
Hotels and restaurants generally order products through local importers and distributors rather than dealing directly with international suppliers.
Distribution networks in Myanmar are fragmented and unreliable. This is changing with the entry of international general and specialised logistics services. The majority of the retail market is comprised of small and medium sized businesses. Yangon is the major distribution centre for goods imported by sea and air. Mandalay is the distribution hub for upper Myanmar, especially for goods imported by land from China and Thailand.
Austrade Yangon is able to help identify potential local partners for interested Australian companies.
Most imported products arrive by sea through Yangon port, Myanmar’s busiest port. Road transport overland from neighbouring countries, particularly China and Thailand, is possible but the road systems are generally poor and road freight rates can be very high.
There are a growing number of direct air links with key Asia cities, and these provide a channel for air freight for perishable items. Air freight routes from Australia are typically through Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok airports.
ASEAN AANZFTA tariff finder
Customs Department
Food and Drug Administration (Myanmar)
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation
Myanmar National Trade Portal
Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry
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Home > About us > News & Events > 7th Annual Yorkshire Property Charity Football Match 2011
7th Annual Yorkshire Property Charity Football Match 2011
By Ian Briggs - Editor, Yorkshire from www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire
CONGRATULATIONS to all who took part in the seventh annual Yorkshire property charity football match last week (including yours truly).
A quality game (both scoreline and football standard-wise (for the most part)) ensured that the move from the grand surroundings of Leeds United's Elland Road ground to MEPC's Wellington Place scheme in Leeds city centre didn't have a negative effect on the spectacle.
In fact, the venue encouraged more members of the property and general business community to come along, enjoy a pint and the action (for what it was).
A dramatic game saw the scores level at 5-5 after normal time, with the side made up of property agents winning on penalties after former professionals Dean Windass and Andy Couzens - who were both part of the property professionals team - fluffed their spot-kicks.
Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan, who turned out for the agents team, bagged his kick, a fact made clear to all spectators by commentator for the day, James Mason (who made a brave attempt to interview the speech-shy Windass at half-time).
The property agents team was managed by Mark Nicholson, of Dove Haigh Phillips, and was captained by Lambert Smith Hampton’s Adam Peacock.
The property professionals team’s captain was Myles Hartley, of Caddick Developments, and the manager was Jack Lunn (Properties)' Carl Wright.
Special mentions to Iain McPhail of GVA who bagged an early brace for the agents and Ian Elsworth for the professionals who was determined to play the full 90 despite struggling to walk during the second half.
Referee for the match was Martin Atkinson who, two days previously, was the man in the middle at the Nou Camp as Barcelona drew 2-2 with AC Milan. So not quite Messi, Xavi et al for Mr Atkinson to officiate in Leeds!
Both the match and dinner later in the evening raised more than £25,000 for Barnardo's, the children's charity.
Jonny Phillips, director of Beach Baker Property Recruitment and chairman of the match organising committee, said: “The support at the game and the dinner afterward was fantastic, with over 400 people enjoying event.
"We’ve gone from strength to strength over the last seven years and been lucky enough to raise a substantial amount to help the people who need it most. The generosity of the Leeds’ business community makes us very proud.”
The money pledged in the game brings the total amount of funds raised for the charity through the matches to more than £100,000 since the annual event kicked off in 2005.
Sponsors for the match included Gordons, GVA, MEPC, Walker Morris and Wilton Developments.
THERE was, as ever, a bit of banter flying around after the game on email, mainly around post match aches and strains and how none of the players on show are getting any younger.
The gripes about minor muscle pulls and blisters paled into insignificance, however, when Charlie Hare, of Leeds-based fabrics business James Hare, commented that his cameo had resulted in torn knee ligaments and a suspected broken leg.
Ouch! Here's to a speedy recovery Charlie. For more photos visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwzZXm6iIacm
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Issue no 457 5th June 2009
East African mobile operators outsource call centres and HR to concentrate on winning competition battle
More mobile operators keep entering the fray: in Uganda a sixth licence holder (Essar) has just got a licence and in Rwanda a third licence operator (Millicom) will start at the end of the year. Staying alive under this kind of competitive pressure means concentrating on the main task of winning market share and cutting costs. So as the market matures this means outsourcing those things which are not central to that task. This started with network management but will soon include other areas like call centres and HR. Russell Southwood spoke to two industry veterans last week in Kampala…
Nigeria’s Federal Government Revokes Nitel/Mtel Sale to Transcorp
Barely two years after the Federal Government forced Transcorp plc to shed 29 percent of its 51 percent shares in Nitel, the government last week revoked the sale of the…
Essar wins network licence in Uganda
A unit of India's Essar Group has won a licence in Uganda to build a $200 million cellular phone network. Unlisted Essar Teleholdings, which had got a similar licence in…
Airtime Use Drops By 20.6 Percent in Rwanda
Rwanda's excise tax revenues on airtime sales have dropped by 20.6% in the last quarter. The revenue dropped from Rwf199.7 million in January to Rwf158.48 million in April 2009, putting…
Zimbabwe: Telephone Usage Still High reports TelOne
Zimbabwe fixed line telephone service provider TelOne says since announcing the reduction of tariffs for all local calls to US$0.07 from US$0.10 in March, billing units had increased to unprecedented…
- Senegalese mineral-water producer Kirene is to launch an MVNO in the country under the brand name Kirene Mobile, according to local reports. The Kirene Mobile service, which will be…
Nigeria based Main One Secures $66 Million AFDB Loan For Undersea Cable Project
One of Nigeria's telecommunications and broadband infrastructure companies, Main One Cable company, at the weekend, announced that it has secured a whopping sixty six million US dollars from the Board…
Internet surfing on mobile phone thriving in Kenya
Kenya is among the top five countries in Africa where Internet surfing on the mobile phone is thriving. Among the 12 African countries where the technology called mobile Web is…
Online shopping picks up speed in South Africa
Despite disagreeing on its growth rate, companies say online shopping will experience growth as consumers turn to the Internet to cut shopping costs. A survey conducted by Neotel's consumer division…
- Angolan minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology, José Carvalho da Rocha has reckoned as positive the progress on fibre optic cable project, started two years ago. 400 kilometres of…
Uganda: E-Government - Phase Two Begins This July
The information and communication technology (ICT) ministry wants to avoid the errors and challenges experienced in the first phase of installing the national data backbone fibre cables by involving local…
HP announces the winners of the 2009 Innovation in Education Grant Initiative
HP’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region announced the 2009 EMEA winners of the Innovation in Education Grant Initiative, which rewards secondary schools and universities for their innovative teaching…
Bridging the digital divide for developing countries
The BingBee, a touch pad which was developed four years ago to help bridge the digital divide and give poorer communities access to computer technology, is a success at the…
- Microsoft Nigeria has launched the language interface pack for Windows Vista in three major Nigerian languages - Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)
- Zain has added its Sierra Leone’s operations in its 'One Network' mobile service. - Rwandatel, Rwanda's second largest telecom company by market unveiled its post-paid package, targeting 5000 customers…
France Telecom takes bigger stake in Mobinil Egypt
European carrier France Telecom said Sunday that it has secured commitments from minority shareholders to acquire yet more of leading Egyptian mobile operator Mobinil. Mobinil is at the centre of…
South Africa’s Altech Acquires Majority Stake in NuPay
Allied Technologies Limited (Altech) today announced the purchase of 50% plus 1 share in NuPayment Solutions (Pty) Limited (NuPay), a payments processing company focused on the automation of electronic debit…
AG proposes out of court settlement over Ghana Telecom Sale
The court action by Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosah, a former Convention People’s Party (CPP) presidential hopeful and five others, against the Government of Ghana for the sale of 70 percent…
Effects of HP's Restructuring, Job Cuts on South African Uncertain
HP's operations in SA are without a local head after the sudden resignation of country manager Oliver Fortuin last month, after just seven months in the job. A search for…
- South Africa’s mobile operator MTN's proposed 23bn tie-up with India's Bharti Airtel has won the support of its largest shareholder, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), although the PIC wants…
MTN Ghana launches mobile TV
MTN Ghana has launched its DSTV mobile at an impressive ceremony at Rhapsody’s in the Accra Mall. DSTV mobile from MTN will make it possible for MTN customers to tune…
Barclays links up with Safaricom to offer m-banking in Kenya
Barclays Bank of Kenya has joined the mobile banking race as the number of commercial banks seeking to leverage on the fast penetration of mobile phones in the country increases.…
- A day after the Federal Government voided the sale of the Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) Plc to Transnational Corporation (TRANSCORP), the Presidency yesterday approved the constitution of a Technical Board…
* SALVO GLOBAL: TELECOMS PRICING MASTERCLASS 8th - 9th June, Johannesburg, South Africa The course is designed to give participants a clear understanding of Pricing evolution and objectives, Influences on…
* Executive Director, Bandwidth Consortium Project The Bandwidth Consortium of African Research and Education Institutions (BWC) is a sub-Saharan Africa Regional Project supported by four major foundations collaborating through the…
* Rwanda Development Board and Rwanda Civil Aviation Rwanda Development Board/Information Technology (RDB/IT) yesterday signed an agreement with the Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority (RCAA) that will see the two agencies…
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Highland/Fulton: Reservoir High student follows the calling to journalism
By Chuck Gait
Baltimore Sun Media |
Zoe Schlossnagle is the arts editor for the Reservoir High student newspaper. (Picasa / HANDOUT)
In my last column, I introduced you to Allyson Sears, the editor-in-chief of the Reservoir High School’s student newspaper. In this week’s column, I’d like to introduce you to Zoe Schlossnagle, the arts editor for the student newspaper.
Zoe is a junior at Reservoir and belongs to nearly every music group that exists at the school. Zoe credits her mother for having had the greatest impact on her life.
“She is always there to be my best friend and [give] moral support,” Zoe said.
It was her mom who got her into writing. Zoe became interested in journalism through her time as an editor, something she loves to do.
“I love to read and edit pieces because it gives an inside view of the author’s raw and unfiltered side,” she wrote. “When I had an opportunity to do more editing, I grabbed it because I wanted more experience. It just so happened that this opportunity was in journalism. I’m learning a lot as I go, and it’s getting more and more interesting.”
[More Maryland news] Civil rights attorney Ifill asked to surrender seat on Baltimore-bound Amtrak train as MLK weekend began »
Zoe feels so lucky that Reservoir is a school that has “such great opportunities for both" music and journalism.
Zoe is not sure what the future holds. She knows she wants to be doing something that will help society.
Latest Howard County
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Only 12 more shopping days until Christmas! And 10 days until Hanukkah! I’m so excited! Merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah.
Most Read • Howard County
After their toddler wanders into the road, parents file complaint against his Columbia Academy preschool
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Posted 23 May, 2018
Marketers Need To Focus On Voice Search Right Now
In this opinion piece, Performics Australia performance content account director Steve Robinson (pictured below) dives into the hazy relationship between marketers and voice-activated technology.
From settling family disputes, (“Hey Google, are fossil fuels really made from dinosaur bones?”) to running a household, (“OK Google, add toothpaste to my shopping list”), voice-activated systems are becoming more entrenched in family homes around Australia.
Google Home, the first to hit the local market in mid-2017, was a popular gift at Christmas.
Now, Apple HomePod and Amazon Echo are adding to the noise, giving consumers more options around aligning a smart device with the technology they already use within their homes.
The growing popularity of voice activated devices marks a new paradigm for marketers.
Just as mobile heralded a new era for location-based search, voice activated search is shifting the goal posts once more, with tactics like optimising for featured snippets and ‘near me’ phrases coming to the fore.
We’re entering a new era, in which marketers need to start optimising for voice – to help vocal searchers to find what they’re looking for. Have you started?
Following the US Lead
In the US, it’s estimated that the number of voice-enabled digital assistant users will rise by 14.1 per cent to 69 million in 2018, with 45.4 million of these users relying on smart speakers*.
Whether it’s via their smartphone or smart speaker, US consumers are using voice-enabled technology for things like: online searches (69 per cent), asking questions (67 per cent), making a call (61 per cent), finding a local business (58 per cent) and product research (53 per cent).
According to Google, the vast majority of people (72 per cent) who have a voice-activated device use it as part of their daily routine.
They see their virtual assistant as a means to multitask, get things done faster and find answers in an instant.
As the US experience shows, these devices are behaviour-changing. It won’t be long before voice-activated search hits its stride in Australia, and marketers need to be ready for it.
Challenges and Opportunities of Voice Search
The rise of voice search will require a shift in tactics for marketers who currently invest in SEO. Think about it. Voice-activated search doesn’t use Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
There’s no screen to scroll down; no scanning search results. Rather, your handy home assistant will throw up one answer – that from the holy grail of SEO, ‘position zero’.
Featured snippets (that is, position zero) are key to voice search success.
And figuring out how to rise above all the noise and get your search results up top is going to be a key challenge for marketers – particularly given that there is still no way of accurately determining which query will land at which featured snippet.
It’s still a volatile space; but by being aware of its importance now, you’re one step ahead in the race for voice search rankings.
Search Behaviour
Another challenge – given the infancy of voice search in the Australian market – is knowing how consumers will use their smart device to search up businesses or brands.
Will they be using it to order a pizza? Find out what time the local shopping centre closes? Look up a recipe and order the ingredients? Research new dishwashers when theirs breaks down?
Or, like mobile search, will we see a continuing trend for ‘near me’ and ‘opening hours’ type phrases to be used?
Early data coming from voice search says that these types of phrases will continue to be used, but may be woven into lengthier questions.
Instead of typing into a browser “Domino’s opening hours” you might ask, “What time is Domino’s open until?”
We’re seeing much longer search queries emerge, as well as the rise of long-tail search queries. This cool study from the States found 41.7 per cent of searchers use 5+ words; and 96.5 per cent of search queries have less than 50 searches per month.
In other words, they are longer and quite unique. These stats line up nicely with how users search via voice.
Voice Search Results
And we’re also seeing data emerge around how voice search works. This study on voice search SEO measures a range of SEO ranking factors – like PageSpeed, Schema
and HTTPS – and throws up some interesting results. For example, Google prefers concise answers to voice search queries, with the average result being just 29 words in length – and it’s written in language aimed at 9th graders. In other words, short and simple.
With voice search, things are changing fast. Marketers must keep a keen eye on the data that is being collected about how people are using voice-activated systems.
The good news is this data is growing day by day, presenting an opportunity to start putting plans in place to enable your brand to get a clear lead in the voice search revolution.
Brands need to start the research now and be ahead of their competition when it comes to voice search. This will be a game changer in Australia so now is the time to get on board.
Amazon Alexa Google Home Performics Australia voice activated tech
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Nathanael Coffing
Cloudentity
Christopher Carr
Amazon Snafu Exposed Customers' Names and Email Addresses
Jeremy Kirk • November 23, 2018
Amazon has blamed a technical error for its inadvertent exposure of some customers' names and email addresses online. The online retailing giant maintains that its systems were not breached. It says it's sent an email notification to all affected customers and that the problem has been fixed.
Cybercrime Conference Returns to Dublin
Mathew J. Schwartz • November 20, 2018
The 10th annual IRISSCERT Cyber Crime Conference, to be held Thursday in Dublin, promises to round up crime trends and also offer updates on incident response lessons learned, spam fighting and even cybersecurity essentials for children.
Here's Why Account Authentication Shouldn't Use SMS
A database security blunder revealed on Friday serves as a reminder that the days of SMS-based authentication should be over. The exposed database, which wasn't protected by a password, contained 26 million text messages, many of which were two-step verification codes and account-reset links.
The Privacy Penalty for Voting in America
Voting in the United States carries a huge privacy cost: states give away or sell voters' personal information to anyone who wants it. In this era of content micro-targeting, rampant misinformation and identity theft schemes, this trade in voters' personal data is both dangerous and irresponsible.
GandCrab Ransomware: Cat-and-Mouse Game Continues
A new, free decryptor has been released for "aggressive" crypto-locking ransomware called GandCrab. Researchers say GandCrab has come to dominate the ransomware-as-a-service market, earning its development team an estimated $120,000 per month.
Congress Approves New DHS Cybersecurity Agency
Howard Anderson • November 14, 2018
The United States will soon officially have a single agency that takes the lead role for cybersecurity. Congress has passed legislation to establish the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency within the Department of Homeland Security. The measure awaits President Trump's signature.
French Cinema Chain Fires Dutch Executives Over 'CEO Fraud'
French film production and distribution company Pathe fired the two senior managers overseeing its Dutch operations after they fell victim to a business email compromise scam and approved $21 million in transfers to fraudsters. Many organizations remain at high risk from such scams.
Election Hacking Probe Gets New Boss After Sessions Quits
Jeremy Kirk • November 8, 2018
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned on Thursday at the request of President Donald Trump. While long expected, the move raises questions about the fate of an ongoing investigation into Russia's election hacking.
Dutch Police Bust 'Cryptophone' Operation
Mathew J. Schwartz • November 8, 2018
Once again, a supposedly secure service allegedly marketed to criminals has proven to have limits. Dutch police have busted a "cryptophone" operation, allowing them to decrypt more than 258,000 encrypted chat messages, leading to a drug lab bust, 14 arrests and the seizure of cash, drugs and weapons.
How Cyber Insurance Is Changing in the GDPR Era
Although the EU's General Data Protection Regulation only went into full effect on May 25, its mandatory privacy breach notifications are already having an effect on the cyber insurance marketplace, says Thomas Clayton of Zurich Insurance.
State of the Authentication Landscape
Information Security Media Group • November 6, 2018
As we approach 2019, is it realistic to think the end of our dependency on traditional user names and passwords is in sight? Shane Weeden, and authentication expert with IBM Security, discusses the future of authentication and why he's encouraged by the FIDO2 initiative.
'Trump' Spam Trumps All Other Spam
With the U.S. midterm elections occurring on Tuesday, the "trump" keyword remains king for spammers. "Spam campaigners understand the value of brands, and for spam as for ballots, and whether for or against, the election is all about Trump," security firm Proofpoint says.
The Escalating Problem of Protecting Connected Devices
Nick Holland • November 2, 2018
The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report features Kevin McDonald of the Mayo Clinic discussing how to secure connected medical devices. Plus, updates on the indictments of Chinese agents for hacking and the unveiling of the Financial Services Sector Cybersecurity Profile.
Radisson Suffers Global Loyalty Program Data Breach
Radisson Hotel Group has suffered a data breach that resulted in the theft of data for its global loyalty program members. The company, which operates 1,400 hotels, says the breach touched data for "less than 10 percent" of all Radisson Rewards members, but it hasn't released a victim count.
Managing Cyber Risks: A New Tool for Banks
Banks have a new tool available for developing cyber risk management programs. In an interview, architects of the Financial Services Sector Cybersecurity Profile, Denyette DePierro and Josh Magri, describe how to use it. They'll offer more details at ISMG's Legal & Compliance Summit in New York on Nov. 15.
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BGASC is one of the Largest, Fastest, Most Trusted Precious Metals Suppliers in the U.S.
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BGASC.com Bullion Unboxing - Behind The Scenes Video
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Bible > Sermons > Matthew 17:1-13
David King, LL. D.
And after six days Jesus takes Peter, James, and John his brother, and brings them up into an high mountain apart,…
I. THE PLACE.
II. Let us direct our attention to the PERSONS assembled on the Mount. We learn, I think, that saints, after death, know each other. Moses and Elias did so; and even the disciples, in a way not explained, were enabled to identify their celestial associates. Are we to say, then, that an earthly mountain was more than the heavenly Zion? It further appears, from what has been said, that the recompense of saints after death has some proportion to their prior discipleship. Jesus on this occasion had special honour to confer on some members of the heavenly Church, and whom did He select to be the subjects of distinction? In short, we learn here that saints may see more of the Church and of the world after death than before it. Moses desired, prayed for admission to Canaan. The request was denied, and yet here he is — all as you wished, and as he wished — within Palestine, and surveying from no foreign Pisgah, but from one of its own mountains, the inheritance of his people.
III. Let us consider the CONDITION IN WHICH THESE PERSONS APPEARED ON THE MOUNT. It is unnecessary that I should expatiate on the aspect of the disciples. No intimation is given of any change in their state. They remained as they had been, and their bodies displayed all the frailties common to our frame. The most interesting fact in their case is that they were not changed; and we hence see the folly of looking for transformation of our natures from any juncture of circumstances. It was otherwise with Moses and Elias. We are told by St. Luke that they appeared in glory. That glory is manifest when we compare what they once were with what they have now become. Moses has no more need of Aaron and Hur to sustain his arm for the discomfiture of Amalek. Though fifteen hundred years have passed over him they have brought no frailties of age, but the inextinguishable fires of an immortal youth. Mark the disparity between them and the apostles. Both parties were on the summit of a mountain, but how different their manner of reaching it! On the one hand the approach was from beneath, by slow, tedious, arduous steps. On the other hand the approach was from above, from the holiest of all in the third heavens, and was effected by a descent which no barrier could obstruct and no distance protract. When a bright cloud came and overshadowed them, the disciples, as we learn from St. Luke, feared to enter into the cloud; its lustre dazzled or appalled them. There was no such apprehension on the part of Moses and Elias; the wide universe contained not that which could frighten them; and as to the glory of God, its light, so inaccessible to mortals, was their element of joy. The disciples fell asleep, overcome by consternation and fatigue. But while they slept Moses and Elias talked with Jesus, and freely discussed the deep things of God. But I am restricting your attention to mere men, when one and another and many are saying, "We would see Jesus." "His face did shine as the sun." Usually it was darkened by grief; but now gloom is gone.
IV. Let us now direct our attention to their DISCOURSE. The subject discussed by such an assembly must surely have been important: it was important to all there assembled. You require no proof that the event spoken of was important to Jesus, for He was to be the sufferer. The subject was also important to Moses and Elias. No doubt they were glorified saints, but all this blessing they had acquired in virtue of the Messiah's anticipated sufferings; and not a plant bloomed in their paradise, not a note thrilled in their songs, not a gem gleamed in their crowns, but was due to the decease which Christ should accomplish at Jerusalem. The three disciples had a like stake in the event, which was not the less precious to them that they were insensible to its consequence. But these disciples were representatives of the New Testament Church, and if so, what was important to them is important to us. Christ died, not for their sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
(David King, LL. D.)
KJV: And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
WEB: After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves.
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oi-Prerna Aditi
By Prerna Aditi
Listening to what your heart says and going against the crowd is not that easy always. One needs to have tremendous courage, especially if you are a woman. However, nowadays things are not what it used to be 10-20 years back. During those times, women weren't allowed to pursue their dreams and live their life according to their will.
Also read: 13 Types Of Cyber Crimes Women Need To Stay Careful About
One such story is about Elizabeth D'Costa who was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A documentary filmmaker, she is quite passionate about her work and recently, this woman has made a film called 'Bangla Surf Girls' and it is a story of three teenage girls who decide to make their dream of surfing after joining a surfing club.
"It is an observational coming-of-age who gets a rare sense of agency over their lives when they join a surfing club in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh," says Elizabeth.
The documentary captures the emotions, struggles and responsibilities on the shoulders of these girls while they go through poverty and poor living conditions. It shows how their hears' want them to follow their passion and ignore people's taunts. Growing up in slums and doing odd jobs compel them to do something that would not only uplift their living conditions but will also give a strong message to society.
"Over the course of three years, we follow Suma, Ayesha, and Shobe as they attempt to hold on to the feeling of freedom as they fight insurmountable odds to follow their dreams," mentioned Elizabeth.
However, filming a documentary for three years in slums of this country with the camera was a challenging task for Elizabeth. She was sometimes unable to find suitable crew members but that didn't last for long. For that reason, she not only found a supportive and enthusiastic crew but also a motivating producer Lalita Krishna from Canada.
Elizabeth identifies herself as a child who had a rebellious childhood as she was interested in singing, theatre and sports while these weren't accepted by society. She says, "People used to tell me that girls don't laugh out loud, girls don't stay outside after 6 PM and girls shouldn't have any male friends."
"I never understood why those rules exist for girls." Since she was brought up by her mother in a male-dominated city, she wanted to raise her voice.
Having worked with some TV giants, Vice and BBC, she always wanted to make something which is real, has raw emotions and is independently produced. She learned the key to curate one's feelings and creative vision from the TV professionals she has worked with. While she was pursuing a Bachelor in Media Studies and Journalism, she got inspired by the liberal arts knowledge to such a great extent that she decided to capture the raw emotions of people.
Bangla Surf Girls Trailer from IN SYNC MEDIA on Vimeo.
Exclusive: This Woman Is Shattering Prejudices Against Solo Women Travellers
She wants people to acknowledge the life struggles of girls growing up in a society with various stigma and taboo. She looks forward to contributing to girls' education. Though it is hard to get the international market's funding for making documentary films while staying in her country, she hopes for a better tomorrow.
Read more about: bangla surf girls elizabeth dcosta women empowerment
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Books & Spoons Virtual Tour Event FOR GOOD by Karelia Stetz-Waters
An Out in Portland Novel
By: Karelia Stetz-Waters
Releasing July 5, 2016
For Kristen Brock, Tristess County, Oregon, is just a stepping stone. She doesn't fit in to the small town community, but that doesn't bother her; she's not here to make friends. A few years as district attorney will look good on her resume, and then she'll be able to get any job she wants in a big city law firm. But then she meets Marydale Rae, who inspires feelings Kristen never imagined . . .
Marydale didn't intend to hide her past from Kristen, but the prospect of a friend who doesn't know she spent time in prison is too tempting to pass up. Add in the kiss they shared, and Marydale never wants Kristen to know the truth. But in a town like Tristess, secrets are impossible to keep. Being together puts both Kristen's job and Marydale's parole in jeopardy. But is a chance at forever worth the risk?
Kristen heard a man at the front of the crowd say, “Now I’m going to let my colleague tell you about what you’re going to taste.” A few people clapped.
A melodic woman’s voice chimed in. “Thank you. We both come from a farming-ranching background, so we understand the importance of raw ingredients. We have our own twelve-acre farm north of St. John’s.”
The room was hot.
Sierra said, “It’s really crowded. Do you want to try the next one?”
“We put our heart and soul into this production.” The woman’s voice floated over the crowd.
Kristen couldn’t see her, but the cadence was familiar. It was the same slight twang that had infused Marydale’s voice when she told stories about Tristess.
The man interrupted. “My friend here actually waters the ground with her tears.”
The crowd chuckled.
“No, I’m serious,” the man said. “The first night after planting she goes out to the fields—”
“And you’re going to taste all of that,” the woman cut in, “when I pour the first round.”
Kristen edged forward, listening.
“What is it?” Sierra asked.
The couple in front of Kristen stepped to the side, and Kristen stepped into the space they had vacated. Behind a folding table covered in a black cloth, a banner read SADFIRE DISTILLERS. On either side of the table, a bronze contraption, like some steampunk creation from the Alberta Arts Walk, released a blaze of flame. But Kristen wasn’t admiring the craftsmanship or thinking about the liability of open flames in a low-ceilinged room almost certainly over the
148-person capacity listed by the door. She wasn’t thinking about anything now, because she wasn’t breathing, because it was Marydale behind the table, like a vision in a dream. Her blond hair was pulled up in an aggressive bouffant ponytail, and her arms were tattooed in a swirl of oxblood and black, the bodies of women intertwining in the ink. She looked older and tougher and gorgeous.
“So what are we going to taste, Mary?” It was Aldean beside her.
Marydale took a skewer from the table, wrapped a piece of cotton around the end and dipped it into a snifter.
“We’re going to start with the Consummation Rye,” Marydale said. She flicked the end of the skewer through the flame at her side, tilted her head back, opened her mouth, and, accompanied by the “ooh” of the crowd, she lowered the torch into her mouth. The flame disappeared. She set the skewer down and lifted the snifter to her lips and, in flagrant violation of Oregon Liquor Control Commission server regulations, took a long sip.
“Well played,” her friend said. “What do you taste, Mary?”
Marydale turned to Aldean. “You’re going to find this surprisingly smooth for such a young whiskey, although it does still have a bite, and I think that’s part of its charm. It’s going to mellow, but you’re going to miss its youth.”
Kristen felt the stiff, gray fabric of her suit holding her in place. Marydale was there, only feet away, real, breathing, her hair glistening. Kristen had practiced this moment in her imagination a thousand times, this exact moment when their eyes met and Marydale recognized her.
For just a second, Marydale seemed to lose her train of thought. Then she resumed. “Large commercial distilleries produce consistent quality, but they sacrifice character.”
Kristen had dreamed about this reunion. She had seen Marydale in the crowds around Pioneer Square and in the quick flash of a TriMet window, her face forever disappearing into another person’s image. A rational voice in the back of her mind told Kristen she was overreacting. The strange longing that filled her when she thought of Marydale was just the first pangs of middle age creeping into her thirties. It was the kind of nostalgia Sierra and Donna would never feel because Sierra lived in a semi-platonic, semi-polyamorous partnership with Frog and Moss, and Donna dated a never-ending roster of assholes.
Marydale held the glass up to the flame. Someone lowered the lights, making dark shadows of Marydale’s eyes.
“First,” she said, “you’ll smell the earth. Now, don’t let those wine connoisseurs get away with telling you it smells earthy, like that’s a thing. Earth is specific. Farmers know that. This is our parcel.” She smelled the whiskey. “If you’re very careful—and please don’t drink to excess because you’ll miss everything—you can smell the roots of our heritage oak. Yes. Aldean is right. They’re there, too.” She put the glass to her lips and took another sip. “It’s frost on a really clear day in December when you’re lonely despite all the Christmas going on around you. You can also taste summer’s wildfires. This batch was aged in barrels made out of ten percent reclaimed wood from the Firesteed burn. And if you haven’t seen one of those fires up close, you haven’t looked into the eye of God.”
The crowd hushed.
“Now, here I’ve got a little bit of water,” Marydale went on. “It’s from Multnomah Falls, and, friends, even if you don’t take your whiskey with water, you need to at least taste it with water. Water opens the whiskey up.” She poured a little bit of water from a silver pitcher and smelled it again. “There it is.” She paused and looked directly at Kristen. “Your old lover’s perfume woken from the leather seat of your pickup the day you take it to the scrap yard. The
body. Lovemaking. Loan. Madrone bark in sunlight. The pencil you once used to write love letters.” Her voice grew louder. She raised the glass to the crowd. “A woman’s hair slick with sweat. That first taste, so strange and so familiar.” She took a sip of the whiskey, set it down, and beamed at the crowd. Her teeth were perfect.
The crowd applauded.
“That, friends, is how you taste a whiskey,” Aldean said.
| B & N | Google | iTunes | Kobo
My wife recently dubbed my writing “so-ro,” short for romance with a social conscience. I guess that’s what I do. Whether I’m exploring the problems of gentrification or the evils of human trafficking, every book I write has a lesbian romance at its heart and a social issue in mind. They’re the kind of books that read like fun, lazy-Saturday page-turners and yet leave your unexpectedly enlightened. That’s two for the price of one and way more fun that keeping up with the news.
When I’m not writing, I’m being inspired by my amazing community college students and hanging out with my lovely wife and my charming spuglette (that’s a technical term for spaniel-pug mix). I’m a fan of snakes, corn mazes, popular science books on neurology, and any roadside attraction that purports to have the world’s largest ball of twine.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads
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Send A Capitalist To Catch A Capitalist
by Caroline Miller
anti-trust laws, Bill Gates, charity as a tax shelter, Elizabeth Warren, John D. Rockefeller, tech giants, wealth tax
Courtesy of pixabay.com
Bill Gates throws up his hands and declares Elizabeth Warren’s proposed wealth tax will break him. Gates, whose financial worth is reported to be $106.8 billion dollars, would pay about 3 billion in wealth taxes under Warren’s plan. But even if his fears were correct and he would pay $100 billion, would he find living on $6.8 billion a hardship?
In defense of Gates and other billionaires, many of them use their wealth to promote philanthropic causes. But let’s remember, philanthropy is a tax shelter. Giving to a charity reduces a person’s tax obligation. And, because billionaires make large donations, they dominate, if not control, the organizations they support. That leverage gives them influence in our society and diminishes the power of the ballot box. The government, after all, collects taxes for the purpose of distributing wealth according to the will of the majority. If chunks of that prosperity remain in the hands of oligarchs, the public’s will is subverted.
Elizabeth Warren can do the math, though billionaires would like to convince us otherwise. They insist her tax calculations are wrong, her politics is misguided and that she is too angry to lead the country. But, as Warren points out, these oligarchs are anything but the self-made men and women. Society facilitated their achievements. It provided free education, infrastructure, and equal opportunity, for example.
I will put this argument another way. Those who create great wealth for themselves have an obligation to share their success with those who made it possible. Just as Labor argues that the worker who accounts for part of a company’s profit should share in its success, I would argue the consumer can make a similar claim. Having made billionaires possible, they have a right to see a wealth tax that reflects their contribution. A good place to begin is by revisiting our anti-trust laws.
If history is our guide, breaking up tech giants won’t punish entrepreneurs. When the government forced John D. Rockefeller to break up Standard Oil, his net worth tripled in value. (“Big Tech,” The Week, Nov. 8, 2019, pg. 38.) The same would be true in the case of the tech giants. According to some experts, breaking up these monolithic giants would release hundreds of billions of taxable dollars from the spin-offs. (Ibid. pg 38.)
Warren’s no fool. Let the oligarchs howl. If the public is wise, it won’t listen.
Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.
Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015
Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens. She also published the story Gustav Pavel, a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.
Caroline has published four novels
Categories Select Category Musings A Woman’s World Aging Book reviews Dreams, Death, Illusions Money Matters Our Minds, Our bodies Scams social concerns Social Media Technology Writing, publishing, agents News Published Writings Ballet Noir Gothic Spring Heart Land Marie Eau-Claire Tromp l’Oeil
To access and subscribe to my videos on YouTube, Click Here and click the Subscribe button.
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Tax Collection/Bankruptcy
You or Your Business Gets an IRS Audit Notice: What Do You Do? Defending an IRS Audit (Part 10)
The United States has a voluntary tax reporting system. Once a tax return is filed, however, the IRS will seek to verify that filed tax…
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Bullets and Black Eyes at the Manger
George Halitzka
The inner city feels like a war zone, even at Christmas. How could I or my students hope to find peace?
“So what do you think? About what the angel said?”
There’s no response, but Brooklyn’s and Desi’s muttered conversation in the back suddenly explodes. Brooklyn knocks over her chair with a clang: “Say it to my face, girl. Say it to my face if you ain’t skerred.”
Deshaun and Abdullah start chanting, “Girl fight!” as Desi gets in Brooklyn’s face. Deshaun yells advice on Desi’s weak points, and I’m trying to get enough folding chairs out of the way to put myself in the middle, which might be a dumb move since Desi’s got 50 pounds on me. Brooklyn and Desi are best friends — except when they’re having “boy drama,” which is always.
“Desi, sit down or I’ll get Mr. Gerald…Deshaun, that’s enough…Brooklyn! Desi!”
The cinder blocks reverberate with middle-school chaos. I whisper a quick prayer for help — or maybe a well-placed lightning bolt — because we’re one shove away from my second fight this week. Thank God Mr. Gerald walks past the chapel at that moment, making his rounds. I think he can smell trouble (or maybe hormones) from across the building.
With a squat muscled body and leftover tattoos from his gangbanging days, he doesn’t have to say a word. He just crosses his arms in the doorway. As the kids notice him, an unnatural hush settles over the room.
At last, the Sphinx speaks. “Are you trying to lose your gym time?”
Every eye studies the floor. I hear a weak, “Nossir.”
Mr. Gerald walks back out, mission accomplished. My eyes plead with him to stay, but I know better. “I’m the coach, not your mama,” he always says.
Gerald insists that someday, I’ll get the same respect he does. But I’m a five-foot-nothing girl from the suburbs, not an ex-gangbanger, and I’m not sure I’ll hang around the Mission till “someday.”
When I’d planned it last night, my lesson seemed brilliant. Since Thanksgiving, we’ve had an almost-life-size nativity at the front of the chapel. Somebody donated the Baby with his adoring parents, and a pair of angels overhead, and magi with camels, and my favorite — a shepherd boy who’s gazing up at the heavenly host. Their faces are detailed porcelain (must have cost a fortune), and though they’ve seen better days, they’re still beautiful.
When Gerald asked me to come up with a Christmas lesson, I thought about the biblical account of the angels singing “peace on earth” and how this neighborhood desperately needs peace. Hearing about angels on Christmas Eve always gave me the feels. Maybe it would work for these kids, too.
But holidays don’t bring the same warm fuzzies in the city. The day after Thanksgiving, a block away from the Mission, a kid got shot over a jacket. Now I’m realizing how naïve my lesson sounds.
“Um…the angels sang about peace on earth. What does that mean?”
“Peace is not fighting,” says Robert — then under his breath, “Brooklyn ‘n’ Desi.”
“The angels lied,” scoffs Yasmina. “Ain’t no peace in this neighborhood.”
She has a point, but I try one more time. “Yasmina, peace isn’t always…” I pause. “It can be on the inside. So you feel peace, even though there’s fights or shootings…”
I trail off. How can you talk about peace and drive-bys in the same sentence?
“Peace is when…you realize everything’s OK, even though it’s not. I mean, it doesn’t look OK, but actually…”
Can these kids even find peace? Yasmina’s mom finds something to scream about every time she picks up her daughter. Brooklyn lives with her Grandma who drinks, but Mom’s even worse. Deshaun has been in and out of foster care. For these kids, my lesson’s nothing but one big spiritual cliché.
So I finish with another one: “Let’s pray.” On “amen,” the kids stampede for the gym.
However, not everybody leaves. There’s one kid remaining — my secret favorite, the only one who was quiet during my lesson. Unfortunately, I don’t think he understood a word of it.
Desmond is a skinny black kid in a stained school polo with bits of fuzz stuck in the hair he doesn’t know enough to brush. Right now he’s rocking his body back and forth while he flaps his hands, chair groaning and squeaking in time with inarticulate grunts. Desmond does that when he’s worked up, probably from the almost-fight.
“Ready for the gym, bud?” I ask.
Desmond looks up at me gapemouthed. He gives a loud grunt that I assume means “yes” and reaches out his hand.
I look back at the nativity as I walk out arm-in-arm with Desmond. From this angle, I see what I didn’t notice before. One of our little delinquents has given the shepherd boy a black eye with a marker.
Why did I think angels and “peace on earth” would mean anything at the Mission? Why’d I think they would mean anything to me, for that matter?
I started here four months ago, and I don’t think I’ll last five. I’m dreaming about an exit strategy while I wait for Mom to pick me up.
Yes, my mom drives her 23-year-old daughter home from work. After what happened on Halloween, I can’t do it without her.
The kids were rowdier than usual from the costumes and sugar highs that day. Mr. Gerald was out sick and the rest of us were barely preventing a riot, so it was eight by time we got the kids out and cleaned up the gym. Then, on the drive home, at a long stoplight on Euclid, it happened.
I saw him in the crosswalk in front of my car. He was a white guy with a scruffy beard and dark hoodie, and I was vaguely thinking he was dumb to wear dark colors at night. Then I guess I looked away, because the next thing I remember is his gun.
It looked way smaller than guns on TV. My first thought was, How could something so little hurt you? Is it fake? The hoodie guy was yelling, “GET OUTTA THE CAR,” and pointing the gun at my face, and I was sitting there not really scared, more wondering what came next, and thinking maybe it was a weird Halloween prank.
Then everything happened at once. He screamed, “I’LL KILL YOU,” while he yanked my door open and used the other hand to point the gun straight up. The shot was loud — so loud my ears actually rang. Then he aimed the gun back at me.
I screamed. Loud and long.
He shouts, “SHUT UP,” and I’m saying, “OK,” and trying to get out, but I realize my seatbelt’s still fastened, and my hands are shaking so bad I can’t undo it, and the guy’s cussing and screaming, “I’LL KILL YOU,” and I’m praying God will forgive my sins because I’m about to meet Him, and saying, “Please, no,” over and over. I look down, still trying to unfasten the belt…
And when I look up, I see the back of the guy’s hoodie as he runs off toward the sidewalk.
The stoplight changed. I only knew because everybody was honking. I shut the door and drove, I guess, but I don’t remember, and that’s when I noticed a cop in the other lane, his car already disappearing in the distance. He must’ve spooked the carjacker.
I whispered, “Thankyouthankyouthankyou” over and over in a prayer. If that wasn’t a miracle, I don’t know what is.
But when I got to the next stoplight, my hands were still shaking. I hit a bump and it startled me so much I screamed and swerved — almost sideswiped the guy next to me. And by the time the light turned green, I was hearing horns again, because I was crying ugly heaving sobs and couldn’t see.
I pulled over. I prayed and wiped tears and the whole time looked around desperately to make sure there were no more guys in hoodies. After 20 minutes of the same I called Mom and sobbed out, “Please come get me.” But I couldn’t say where I was, because my brain just wasn’t working.
I told Gerald what happened over the phone. He insisted I take the rest of the week off with pay. However, when Monday morning came and I got in the car for work, my hands were shaking again. It took about ten tries to put the key in. The sobs started when the engine came to life, and I saw the black hoodie and the gun clearer in my mind than I could see anything in the driveway. I ran into the house, curled up in a ball on my bed, and bawled like a baby.
Mom’s been my chauffeur ever since. I’m fine at work. I’m fine when I ride in a car. But when I get behind the wheel, I’m suddenly a wreck.
My new therapist says it’s PTSD. It’ll take time and therapy and medication to recover, he tells me, and in the meantime, I should think about finding a different job because “God doesn’t want you to live in fear.”
I’m giving it until after Christmas to decide. But right now, as I climb into the passenger seat of Mom’s car yet again, I can’t imagine making it through January at the Mission.
The next day, the after-school kids trickle into the gym. Brooklyn and Desi are apparently friends again, giggling as they admire the shirtless guys in the basketball game. Deshaun’s whispering with some kids I don’t know in the corner, while Robert wheedles the older guys to let him play ball. Just another day at the office.
But then Desmond walks in, and my jaw literally drops. One of his eyes is swollen half-shut, already turning colors from the bruise. A trickle of blood runs down his cheek. His black eye matches the shepherd boy in our manger scene.
“Desmond!” I sprint over to him. “Desmond, what happened?”
Incongruously, Desmond smiles as he gives me a friendly grunt.
“Who hit you? I’ll get some ice . . . does it hurt?”
Aida and Yasmina walk into the gym. “Girls, did you see what happened? To Desmond?”
“It was guys from the high school, Ms. Jillian,” explains Yasmina. “They was standin’ on the sidewalk, an’ Desmond, he walked through their little group.”
“They start pushin’ him, but Desmond just smiles, like he thinks they playin’,” adds Aida.
If only the world was so kind, Desmond.
“One guy punches Desmond in the eye,” says Yasmina. “His friends start laughin’, and he like, ‘Hey, Freak Show, want me to make the other one match?'”
When you’re autistic in the suburbs, you get a special education plan to reach your potential. When you’re autistic in the city, you get beat up for the crime of walking down the street.
I walk into the kitchen to get Desmond an ice pack. When I walk back out, all hell breaks loose.
It’s a gunshot. Not one. Five or six in a row.
POP. POP. POP-POP-POP.
I scream.
It’s louder than the hoodie guy firing in the air. Louder than any sound I’ve ever heard, echoing off the cinderblocks.
POP-POP-POP.
I scream again, involuntarily duck and cover. And when I think it’s over, one more shot.
The longest scream yet. I feel my body: Am I hit? Look next to me: Is Desmond OK? Around the gym: Who was shooting? Is anybody dead? Is it over?
Mr. Gerald charges into the room, jaw set and grim. He’s running toward the sound; running like a man on a mission; running straight into danger like a huge hero or a huge fool.
And then my eyes spot what he noticed seconds before. Robert’s still in the corner, looking guilty as sin with a lighter in his hand and a string of spent firecrackers next to him on the floor while his cronies laugh like hyenas.
I don’t think Robert’s feet touch the floor as Gerald hauls him to the door.
I’m shaking and about to cry — basically hysterical, like when I get in the driver’s seat. Up till now, I’ve been fine at work, but firecrackers are gunpowder, and my therapist wasn’t kidding about flashbacks.
It’s only a panic attack, I tell myself. You’re safe. Take deep breaths like he taught you.
Then I make the mistake of looking toward the bleachers. Brooklyn and Desi launch into a perfectly-coordinated imitation of my screams, complete with ducking, covering, and feeling their bodies for bullet wounds. They laugh like only cruel middle schoolers can.
The tears start coming before I’m out the door. I don’t turn around to see if they’re mocking that, too.
I head for the restroom. Unfortunately, there’s a gaggle of third graders inside who gape at my teary face, so I back out.
I end up in the empty chapel. I don’t know how long I sob in the dark — time stops when you’re bawling — but as the tears taper off, I have to face facts. I’m a failure in this job.
I’m tired of terror when I drive and terror from firecrackers in the gym. I’m tired of being disrespected and mocked every single day for four months because I’m not Mr. Gerald and never will be.
I’m not looking for an award, just the knowledge that I made the kids’ lives a little better. But you know what? I’ve made them worse. I can’t give them anything but Christmas clichés, and I can’t keep them from fighting with each other, and I can’t even protect an autistic kid from getting pounded just because he exists, and I don’t know why Gerald hasn’t fired me, but I’ll save him the trouble.
I thought I could use the angels in a manger scene — a manger scene — to talk about peace. But in this war zone, “peace on earth” is a joke, but nobody’s laughing.
Tomorrow I’ll start sending resumes to actually use my business major, because “changing the world” isn’t working. I take off my badge and keys, ready to find Mr. Gerald and hand them in. That’s when I hear a noise at the front of the room.
My heart leaps into my throat: I’m alone, and nobody knows where I went. Nervously, I grope around the back wall for the light switch. I squint into the sudden brightness…
And there’s Desmond, sitting in the middle of the nativity like he belongs there, with one arm draped around the black-eyed shepherd and the other resting on the manger like he’s rocking Jesus to sleep.
Desmond must have wandered in just before I did. He gives me a sweetly vacant smile, the kind that always makes my heart melt.
“Hey, bud. I guess we both wanted to get away from those firecrackers, huh?”
Desmond just keeps smiling.
“We should probably go back to the gym before Mr. Gerald sends a search party.”
He extends his hand, and we start to walk out.
“Why’d you come in the chapel?”
Desmond grunts.
“I usually find you in the computer lab playing games. Why’d the chapel look better tonight? Is the shepherd boy your new friend?”
Another grunt. What did I expect?
“Can I tell you a secret?” I hesitate to say this because it’s so lame, but Desmond won’t understand anyway. “I wish the manger scene could be real. It was real once… but I mean real now, so you and me could hear the angels sing. Is that why you came in here, bud? To look for angels?”
Desmond grunts again, and it sounds more emphatic for some reason. I reach over to turn off the light.
Then as we step into the hallway, it hits me. Those weren’t grunts. Desmond was answering my question.
Why did he come sit by the manger? It’s a word he’s saying that I thought was another inarticulate grunt; a word I’ve been searching for; a word that maybe sums up the whole Christmas story.
Desmond is saying “peace.”
Suddenly, like when I turned on the light in the chapel, I can see what’s been in front of my face the whole time. “Peace on earth” doesn’t come from angels singing. It comes when you realize there was this Baby who may have arrived in swaddling clothes, but went on to rescue those with lives full of fear and failure, like mine. A Baby who got mocked and beaten up for the crime of being alive, like Desmond. A Baby who befriended outcasts and died by torture, so we could know He’s with us in everything.
Everything. Even at the City Mission.
I spend the next few hours doing my job, dealing with disrespectful teenagers and the lingering feeling that nothing I do actually matters. I’m still not sure I’ll make it through January.
But after the kids are gone, I grab a bottle of spray cleaner and head for the chapel. I manage to mostly clean off the shepherd boy’s black eye, and I adjust his position just a bit. Then I text Mom and tell her I’m ready to try driving myself to work again.
“Are u sure?” she texts back. “What happened?”
I want to explain, but I’m not sure I can put it into words. So I send a picture: my repaired shepherd boy, repositioned so that he’s gazing into the manger instead of searching the sky for angels.
Mom probably won’t understand. But maybe I’ll show it to Desmond tomorrow. I bet he’ll get it. He understood my Christmas lesson better than I did.
Copyright 2017 George Halitzka. All rights reserved.
George Halitzka is a writer, storyteller and theatre artist. He’s penned everything from short stories to journalistic features, and from sermons to one-act plays. George’s work has appeared in regional and national publications including Louisville Magazine, Ministry Today, Living with Teenagers, LEO Weekly, and Christianity and Theatre. He was a regular contributor to Boundless from 2007 until 2011. His plays have been published by Playscripts, Inc., Lillenas Drama, Meriwether Publishing, and Drama Ministry. George lives in Louisville, Ky., where he loves talking with God, cuddling with his wife, performing onstage, and eating too much cold cereal.
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South Koreans Celebrate Independence In New York
Mar 10, 2019 | Korea, News
South Koreans flocked the streets of Midtown Manhattan as they celebrated their Centennial Independence.
Midtown Manhattan was not only filled with snow, but also with glee as South Koreans celebrated their 100th anniversary of the March 1 Movement, a historic mass demonstration of Koreans against the rule of Japan.
Approximately 200 people waved Korean flags and shouted “Mansei,” which translates to “long live Korean independence.” Additionally, women dressed in black and white uniforms similar to Yu Gwan-sun and her student demonstrator peers.
Yu was a student at the Ewha Haktang School for Women and is one of the most famous icons for Korean freedom. At 16, she joined one of the earliest protests in Seoul with her four classmates.
Yu’s nationalism made her the face of the entire nation who yearned to be free of Japanese colonial rule in 1919. Japanese authorities detained Yu and her peers during March 5 demonstration. Shortly after, the government closed down all schools.
“I feel like it’s almost my responsibility and my duty to come out here and commemorate today,” said William Chung, an 18-year-old student attendee in an interview with The New York Times. Chung, whose both parents were born in South Korea, added that he feels almost guilty that he is not knowledgeable enough about it.
New York State Legislature passed a resolution which commemorates the Centennial of the Korean Independence in January. This resolution also meant to honor the legacy of Yu and is one of the most talked about Asia News in America.
Aside from the celebration in New York, South Koreans also marched on the streets of Seoul to commemorate the momentous event where around 500 people participated.
Many people held flags in their hands and donned traditional costume of the country. Additionally, the crowd was also entertained by performers who reenacted the Independence Movement which took place a century ago.
Just last year, South Korea and Japan’s relations became a hot topic after South Korea stopped the settlement compensation for Korean women who were forced to work in wartime brothels. Additionally, the country’s top court also ordered Japanese firms to pay back South Koreans for their forced effort during the war in Asia.
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Why hasn't Bromium taken over enterprise antivirus and antimalware yet?
When Bromium first released vSentry, you could see the potential even though it was rough around the edges. Today, it looks to be ready for prime time.
Gabe Knuth, Independent industry analyst
I came away from my last conversation with Bromium so excited about their platform that I had to give it a shot. It’s been years since I saw it in action, and in the beginning it was a little rough around the edges. I love the idea of a hardware-level security platform that lets users be users and protects them from themselves, but in addition to the growing pains of a new platform built on the complicated premise of microvirtualization (see how I used “premise” properly?), it was also limited by the fact that only a small percentage of the hardware used in enterprises could support it. To top it all off, since Bromium vSentry required key infrastructure components that only the largest of organizations had, there wasn’t a great way to evaluate the product. Somewhere, buried in a storage closet in TechTarget’s San Francisco office, is a laptop with a super-secret hack on it that allows for testing a very early version of vSentry.
It was that complicated!
Today, things are different, and when I told VP of Services (and former Citrite and BriForum speaker) Dan Allen I would like to take a test drive, he shot the bits right over. Within a few minutes it was running inside a Parallels VM. No management console (they have one, I just didn’t need it to get started), no KMS server, no nothing. There I was, running vSentry on a Parallels virtual machine on my own laptop, in the time it took to make lunch. I never dreamed that was possible five years ago!
All this was the inspiration for today’s article. Years ago, when were first introduced to Bromium, I remember thinking something along the lines of, “Holy crap, this is awesome. Too bad we won’t all be able to use this.” Now it looks like this is available for just about everyone. Here’s why.
We first covered Bromium in July 2012 when co-founder and CTO Simon Crosby posted an article on our site explaining, in his own words, what micro-virtualization was all about. The key takeaway from the concept is that vSentry leverages hardware virtualization, and in 2012 only a small portion of the available endpoint hardware had the capabilities that vSentry required.
Today, it’s safe to say that most typical enterprise PCs have the require capabilities: VT-x and EPT for Intel, and AMD-V with RVI for AMD. In fact, all i3, i5, and i7 processors since 2010 have the necessary feature set to support vSentry. That probably means that even your mom’s computer will work.
In addition to broad endpoint support, hardware virtualization has matured to the point where hypervisors can pass hardware virtualization instructions from the guest OS to the physical hardware, which enables vSentry to work inside virtual machines. The same thing that lets me use vSentry in Parallels means that it can be used in VDI.
Until recently, Bromium recommended 8GB of RAM in order to maintain performance. This is mainly due to the fact that when memory is at a premium (say, less than 8GB), vSentry will suspend the micro-VMs. When you switch to a browser tab that has been suspended, it can take a few seconds to wake up, which is perceived as lag. This 8GB minimum was especially painful in VDI scenarios.
With the help of some advanced scheduling, vSentry implementations on VDI can now work with as little as 4GB of RAM. The suspend/resume happens less often, and when it does, it’s faster. Bromium still recommends 5GB of RAM for VDI for the best possible experience, though. (For physical desktops, the minimum recommended is now 6GB instead of 8GB.)
For a demonstration of vSentry running on older hardware, check out Dan Allen’s blog where he used a 2010- era Lenovo ThinkPad Edge that featured a 1st generation Intel i3, 4GB RAM, and a 250GB SATA hard drive.
Hardware wasn’t the only limiting factor in the earlier days of vSentry. The actual implementation process was difficult, too. Requirements have varied over the years, but what’s clear is that today it’s about as straightforward as any other security platform.
The installer itself comes packaged as an MSI, so you can deploy it any way you want. The only snag I ran into was that on both of the machines I used, I was told that my version of Firefox needed to be replaced with the Extended Support Release (ESR) version as opposed to the normal, personal version, that most people use. I replaced my version with the ESR, and everything proceeded nicely.
When I experienced the Firefox warning, I asked Dan if there were other prerequisites and what a typical cleanup process would be like. This is his response:
“We do have some prerequisites, but we also have PreCheck tool we can run to collect information to get ahead of any issues before we roll out. Our management server also does a good job of collecting information and reporting on potential issues. Our deployment package is just a simple MSI file, so it is easy to deploy us with any tool such as SCCM, BigFix, Altiris, or even via GPO. From an application compatibility perspective the only two things to be aware of is that we protect Office 2010 or later and we only protect the ESR edition of Firefox, which is what most enterprises that officially support Firefox use. We can still run on a system that has Office 2007 or the personal version of Firefox, we simply will not protect those applications if the user runs them.”
Day to day usage
Though I haven’t spent much time talking about the ins and outs of micro-virtualization (you can read Simon’s article for that), it’s important to understand what’s going on behind the scenes at a high level to understand the day-to-day usage of vSentry. When vSentry is first installed, it takes a snapshot of the machine that it then uses as the template for all future micro-VMs. This snapshot process is called “initialization,” and on the physical machine I tried it on it took about 10 minutes to complete.
The catch with the initialization process is that if you install something that vSentry can protect, say, Office, after you install vSentry, it won’t be in the micro-VM template and won’t be protected. Thankfully, vSentry notices this and re-initializes the micro-VM as-needed, and you can kick the process off yourself if you want to.
Other than that, you forget that it’s there. Sometimes if you get a little tab happy, vSentry will shut down a micro-VM or two that will take a second to get started again, but that falls inside the margin of slop already associated with your browser of choice.
Back to the original question…
It looks like all the major problems have been solved. vSentry is way easier to deploy, and it runs faster than ever. So why isn’t everyone running this?
I’ve written before that micro-virtualization and AI-based threat detection and analysis are new enough that they are off the radar of a lot of companies, especially when you factor in that it’s super easy to just keep writing that check to McAfee each year and carry on doing business-as-usual. But as the war against viruses and malware, a.k.a. the “Bad Guys,” wages on it seems like it’s time for something new.
Microsoft has endorsed virtualization-based security in Windows 10 with Credential Guard and Device Guard, followed by Windows Defender Application Guard for Edge. HP has incorporated a slightly watered-down version of vSentry into their latest line of laptops. That is some significant validation from industry heavyweights!
Plus, when you factor in the cost of vSentry and how competitive that is with traditional endpoint security products, you’d have to think that Bromium vSentry is on the verge of mainstream adoption. vSentry yearly subscriptions run $75/device/year with increasing discounts at volumes over 250 devices or with multi-year subscriptions. Perpetual licenses are also available.
So I’ll ask you directly—have you looked into vSentry? If yes, what’s holding you back? If not, well, you should.
The Future of Desktop Virtualization, Chapter 4 –SearchSecurity.com
BYOD 101: Combat the Phenomenon’s Top Challenges –SearchSecurity.com
Expert Tips on Getting Mobile Securely with Virtual Desktops –SearchSecurity.com
Desktop virtualization: Streamline deployment without extra costs –SearchDataCenter.com
Bromium launches Windows PC security product
Micro-virtualization for desktop security: One step ...
Bromium vSentry 2.0 focuses on collaboration and ...
1512BT - 19 Apr 2017 2:20 PM
Great...now let's find someone that can deploy it to an enterprise. (Actually deploy--not just references customers with CIOs who have friends at A16Z. Same old story: incredibly cool concept; and impressive efficacy on individual basis. Not ready for Enterprise scale.
Louie17 - 19 Apr 2017 2:50 PM
Sounds like someone hasn't seen Bromium in sometime. It is deployable, it doesn't cause performance problems, its evolved.
Gabe Knuth - 19 Apr 2017 2:57 PM
@Louie17 - do you use Bromium?
That was certainly the case until recently, but it appears the dust has settled. I'd love to find independent, real-world examples of customers that have deployed it.
I agree with Louie17 - it might be time to take another look. You definitely have seen them in the past, so I'd be curious about your feelings are after a current demo.
johnjacob - 23 Apr 2017 10:23 PM
It is garbage and fluff just like Cylance.
TheVirtAdi - 25 Apr 2017 2:14 PM
That I don't think is a real comparison. MS credential guard is similar. Cylance is entirely different (good or bad, don't know); Bromium vSentry or whatever it is called now is infrastructure which kinda use you physical machine as a server and run supported processes in light weight VMs. Now as every thing is running in a VM; your host will not compromise in case of a breach.
dpriz126 - 21 Sep 2017 11:17 AM
I don't the issue is functionality. Bromium is awesome across the board. It's cost. When you take Bromium at $75 (which seems to have come down from the $100-150 it previously was) and compare it to $6 for McAfee, it's hard to make a business case for Bromium in all but the most high-risk environments.
KMG365 - 18 Jul 2018 9:37 AM
Perhaps, as some have suggested here, the product has evolved. I inherited a Bromium Enterprise installation back in 2015 and it was a complete disaster. It was gone within two months. The problem is that many early adopters paid for a solution that didn't exist. Bromium certainly has a very mixed reputation, one which they may not be able to overcome absent an acquisition or sale.
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Bright Horizons Earns Top Marks In 2017 Corporate Equality Index
Diversity and inclusion have always been central to Bright Horizons' culture and history. And we're proud to announce we've received a perfect score on the 2017 Corporate Equality Index (CEI). "Bright Horizons was founded thirty years ago with a clear mission of making a difference in the lives of all clients and families that we have a privilege to serve," said Bright Horizons CEO Dave Lissy. "In order to do that, being an inclusive and tolerant organization for our own employees is central to that mission."
The CEI is a national benchmarking survey and report administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality, it rated 1,043 businesses, evaluating LGBT-related policies and practices including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs, and public engagement with the LGBT community. Bright Horizons' efforts in satisfying all of the CEI's criteria results in a 100 percent ranking and the designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality.
Committed to Inclusion
Our commitment to inclusion extends from the Bright Horizons' home office to all of our child care centers and preschools, and is actively supported by our Inclusion Council, an internal group that leads and champions efforts to create a work environment where differences are encouraged and valued. Equally important, it's also fundamental to our HEART principles, the Bright Horizons values statement that stresses Honesty, Excellence, Accountability, Respect, and Teamwork as core to our mission.
"Our Bright Horizons community is comprised of children, families, and employees who represent numerous cultures, backgrounds, and experiences, and we are proud of our many employees who are the true recipients of this perfect score," said Dave. "We are devoted to creating a work environment founded on dignity and respect and we continue to nurture our unique culture that values individuals, welcoming them into our family while celebrating unique differences." For more information on the 2017 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei.
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Fashion-Tech
Would You Buy a Virtual Pair of Nikes?
By Chavie Lieber July 8, 2019 05:20
Brands are designing digital clothing, shoes and accessories, betting customers will spend real money on virtual fashion.
Digital clothing designed by virtual fashion house The Fabricant.
NEW YORK, United States — Back in May, Richard Ma, a technology executive from Toronto, dropped $9,500 on a dress for his wife, Mary.
The dress had a chic, cape-like silhouette with a silver, iridescent shimmer and a subtle pattern of colourful swirls. It also wasn’t real; not in the literal sense, anyway.
The dress was created by Dapper Labs, a company that makes consumer blockchain products, and was designed by The Fabricant, a virtual fashion house based in Amsterdam. Ma had purchased the dress on Ethereum, an open-sourced Blockchain platform, in a charity auction at a blockchain conference in New York. Mary isn’t going to wear the dress so much as look like she is; Dapper Labs did a photo shoot with her and using augmented reality technology, created images of Mary in it, which she can share to social media.
Mary Ma wearing a virtual dress her husband, Richard bought for $9,500 | Source: Dapper Labs
Ma is no ordinary consumer — he runs a blockchain security company. But the fact that he was willing to spend nearly $10,000 on a dress that doesn’t exist hints at the dawn of a new market in virtual fashion.
In certain corners of the tech world, spending real cash on digital apparel is as routine as taking a trip to the mall. And a number of companies are looking to bring virtual fashion into the mainstream.
That future may not be as far off as you think: apps that allow users on Instagram and Snapchat to alter their appearance are wildly popular, and brands like Gucci and Nike have also started using augmented-reality technology to let shoppers virtually “try on” clothing and shoes. The beauty industry is already deep into this space with augmented reality makeup apps.
Convincing customers that digital fashion can be just as covetable as their IRL equivalents is the next step. Virtual fashion would allow shoppers to keep up with trends without having to worry about fashion’s sustainability issues. The products would also earn consumers their coveted social currency — likes on social media, that is — and can also push the boundaries on what is possible in fashion design because the clothes don’t actually need to exist.
Shoppers might never come around to virtual products the way they do with real ones, but that doesn't mean the tech industry isn't going to try.
Inspiration from the gaming world
Virtual products have been popular in the gaming world for a while. Players of popular games like League of Legends and Overwatch eagerly drop extra cash on “skins” - outfits and accessories for their digital personas.
Epic Games’s Fortnite, the wildly popular online game that has over 250 million global users, reportedly earns $300 million a month selling skins. In May, Nike debuted two skins for the game that feature Jordan sneakers that are only available to be “worn” in Fortnite.
From games, it’s a small step to social media, another virtual world where people spend an ever-growing share of their time. According to a study by Global Web Index, Gen Z spends about 3 hours a day on social media, and a Nielsen report from 2018 found that US adults spend half their day interacting with the online world.
“There are few places that get users to care about their digital appearance as well as Fortnite, but Instagram is also one of these places,” said Matthew Hartman, a partner at seed-stage venture capital firm Betaworks Ventures who’s invested in social media startups and is interested in investing in virtual fashion tech.
There are few places that get users to care about their digital appearance as well as Fortnite, but Instagram is also one of these places.
The opportunity for virtual fashion extends to the world of avatars, a growing category amongst Gen Z users, according to Akash Nigam, the CEO of virtual avatar startup Genies, which launched in November 2018. A competitor to Snapchat-owned Bitmoji, Genies allows users to create digital clones of themselves or celebrities, and place their Genies in messaging apps and on social media.
Users can deck their avatars out in all sorts of wares, dubbed "wheels," and brands like Gucci and New Balance are paying Genies to have branded products in the app. Nigam said there’s been so much interest in dressing avatars that Genies will be adding more fashion-branded wheels in the coming months, and will begin charging for them.
Spending money on Gucci for an avatar is quite different than dropping thousands of dollars on a virtual dress, or real fashion product for that matter. But Nigam sees his product as a way for brands to convert future fashion customers: “Some kids can’t afford Gucci in real life, but they can in the digital world. It works as an entry point.”
Brands jump into the digital fashion space
In November, Carlings, a Scandinavian fashion brand, debuted a 19-piece virtual collection that sold for €10 to €30 (roughly $11 to $34). Shoppers who bought the virtual products submitted photos, which the brand turned into 3D images.
Stefanos Constantinou, an employee at Vice Media who bought a few pieces of the virtual collection, said the collection was a good way to keep up his Instagram #OOTD (outfit of the day) streak without contributing to fashion’s waste problem.
Shoppers wearing looks from Carlings' virtual collection. | Source: Carlings
“I have tons of shoes that I wear once or twice and then move on from, and so this is a better way to try new things and get the hype out without having to continually acquire stuff and destroy the planet,” Constantinou said.
These virtual clothes are a drop in the bucket compared to the volume of products sold by Carlings, which has 200 stores across Scandinavia, and Carlings products sell for a higher price point. But Ronny Mikalsen, the CEO of Carlings, said he was excited at the possibility of a big fashion brand producing digital products on a larger scale.
“Just imagine how many free items are shipped to bloggers and influencers who wear products once and throw them out,” he said. “Digital fashion would completely eliminate that.”
Virtual products could also potentially bring more hype to a collectable category like sneakers, said Steven Vasilev, the founder of custom sneaker brand Free Customs. Later this summer, Vasilev, who is better known by his nickname, Zaptio, will launch a virtual sneaker company called RTFKT (pronounced artifact), together with Chris Le, a gaming skins developer, and Benoit Pagotto, a brand director of Fnatic, the professional esports organisation.
Cop or Drop? Air Thanos 1, first 1/1 sample on @clegfx
A post shared by RTFKT (@rtfktstudios) on May 14, 2019 at 9:44am PDT
RTFKT will sell real custom sneakers that start at $300 and go up to $3,000, with each pair coming with a digital version. Customers can get the sneakers IRL, or they can have RTFKT store the product once it's bought, and use the virtual images instead (the shoes live as a custom AR filter and can be accessed with RTFKT’s app).
"Social media makes up a huge part of sneaker culture and our business model will allow kids to flex what sneakers they’ve bought without having to worry about actually wearing them,” Vasilev said.
A path for fashion’s manufacturing flaws
Tech companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon have entire teams dedicated to study AR and VR, and are spending billions doing so.
Instagram, too, has been getting into the virtual product space. Facebook’s Spark AR Studio, which was launched in 2017, used to create Instagram filters and effects for Instagram Stories in-house. In May the company announced they were opening the technology, allowing anyone to create custom filters. While most Instagram filters are focused on facial movements, Pagotto said “this technology is going to open ways for people to augment themselves, and their environment. Once people will start focusing on their body, it will bring in new demand for virtual products, like dresses or sneakers.”
Still, the virtual world remains more of a promise than a reality. Startups working in this space remain on the fringes, waiting for virtual reality technology to hit the mainstream.
Some designers are making a different case for virtual fashion, hopping onto the trend toward reducing fashion waste.
For the last few years, Clément Balavoine, a French designer who works at Facebook-owned virtual reality hardware company Oculus, and Janis Sne, a digital fashion designer at Adidas Germany, have been experimenting with their fashion line Neuro Studios, which Balavoine describes as “digital-first” fashion.
The process of making a virtual product. | Source: Neuro Studios
Products from Neuro Studios, like its utility vests, high-waisted track pants, and bomber jackets, range from $200 to $500 and are created first as 3D images. Neuro Studios has sold only about a dozen items. Balavoine said his company is less about selling product, and is more invested in proving that a sustainable, tech-driven supply chain works.
“We're trying to sell a new way of thinking because we find it sad that the same techniques of production have been used for decades when they are extremely wasteful,” Balavoine said.
Some brands are already turning to digital assets to gauge customer interest. Earlier this year, Claudette, a New York-based streetwear company, tested a product on a CGI Instagram character named Cade, who was created by the startup SparkCGI. Cade, a cool, blond “15-year-old” Instagram influencer with nearly 100,000 followers, wore a crew neck shirt from Claudette, and Layan Al-Dabbous, Claudette’s designer, said the company was able to test shoppers’ responses before creating the product by seeing how they reacted to it.
OMG! I met up with Simon and I couldn’t believe it. He's got exactly the same shirt as me! We both got them from this super cool NY Designer @claudettethebrand - she creates really unique and original designs. I bought this particular design because it reminds me just how easy it is to pick up the phone and call someone you care about. I think that’s such a positive thing to do.
A post shared by Cade ⚡️ (@cadeharper) on Apr 18, 2019 at 12:05pm PDT
“Cade’s followers loved the tee and kept DMing him, asking where they could purchase it,” she said. “I didn't even know that the world of CGI fashion existed, but it showed me, going forward, that this is a really good way to promote and test clothing.”
Kerry Murphy, the founder of The Fabricant, which designed the dress Ma bought for his wife, said virtual fashion, at a minimum, can fix the sample process.
The Fabricant recently created a virtual catalogue of the latest collection of Napapijri, the Italian brand owned by VF Corporation. Napapijri plans to use the digital assets at retail summits, and Murphy said it reduces their waste because they don’t have to constantly procure samples for clients.
We find it sad that the same techniques of production have been used for decades when they are extremely wasteful.
This type of technology is already being employed by companies like Ann Taylor, BetaBrand and Hugo Boss, which use virtual clothing to partially replace sampling in the design process, as does the fashion supply chain company Li & Fung. Murphy said he is optimistic fashion can cut down on its waste once this technology trickles down to all mainstream companies.
“The design industry is ridiculous and reminds me a lot of how the film industry used to exist, where it was manually cutting film,” said Murphy. “They are constantly going through trial and error, and creating so much waste when digital tools much faster. With digital catalogues, we can reuse and recycle and change the templates and think far ahead. It’s cost-effective and time-effective.”
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Op-Ed | A New (Augmented) Reality for Brands and Retailers
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What’s interesting about this lot is that two of them were audiobooks and the third was a graphic novel, “readings” that some are still suspect of. The merits of either form will be addressed at length (and most likely ad naseum) in future. However, their form shouldn’t be indicative of lesser engagement; after all, some of my favorite narratives are best experienced for me in audio form (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy read by Douglas Adams himself) and my GoodReads library is fill with at least 1/3 of graphic novel titles (and another 1/3 is of course, books that I’ve listened to).
Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers
Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers had its merits for depicting the real-world liminality and faulty-logical approaches to the criminal justice system; particularly as it is applied to minors. It also balanced simplicity with complexity well. The story’s shell embodied a simple short course of events that the main character, Reese experiences. He’s given an option to become part of a work-release program. He meets a disgruntled and bigoted man, the develop a sincere and deep relationship, and Reese learns about himself and his life by listening to this older man. Meanwhile, his situation in the detention center (named “Progress” of course) is deteriorating especially after two cops show up to bully him into taking a plea for crimes he had no responsibility for. Reese’s story in the larger picture is not an intense life or death situations nor the stuff of mainstream drama; after all, by our cultural standards, young black male in cuffs seems standard fair, (Note: that’s our cultural perception/projection, not my actual view).
Yet, that’s where Myers slides in some rather interesting complexity. Through Reese’s eyes we get to glimpse that there are many roads that are closed off to a young man of fourteen. His most important goal by the story’s end is to work hard so that he can help pay for his young and bright nine-year old sister when she gets to college; believing that his chance is gone. There are many moments when Reese has to come to terms with his options or lack thereof and while Myers is at times a little to heavy handed with these decrees and condemnations of modern society, they are nonetheless poignant.
I Thought You Were Dead by Pete Nelson
By contrast, Pete Nelson’s I Thought You Were Dead feels less impressive. It mixes a bit of Seinfeld with a bit of self-help and a dash of every none-alpha male sweet-loving, smart, insecure guy cliché. Paul is wishy-washy, whiny, and rather drab all around. He’s divorced; he engages in deep philosophical debates with his dog; and he enjoys drinking with his friends. Of course, his life becomes troubling when his father suffers a debilitating stroke and an onslaught of family stresses begin to fracture; including his relationship with his most recent girlfriend. The issues feel genuine enough, but the final “breakthrough” events just feel flat.
And yet, there were things I dug about Paul and kept me reading. I understood (and related) to many of his concerns about his life and the doubt, double-questioning, and resistance he met with certain personal obstacles whether it be family, love relations, or self-image. Nelson did well with teasing out the issues that many men don’t often sufficiently address or feel inadequate about who use poor coping skills with until some day, they breakdown; either in a mid-life crisis or something more troubling.
Sweet Tooth Volume 1: Out of the Woods by Jeff Lemire
And of course, the least likely of them all, was Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth Volume 1: Out of the Woods. The story focuses on a boy named Gus who has lived in a forest with his parents for his entire life, believing that to go out of the woods would be dangerous (and I did enjoy this irony that the woods is the place of safety and to leave is to invoke horrible events). Gus is one of the few children who have been born since some apocalyptic event and has been imbued with antlers and other animal hybrid features. After his father’s death, he finds himself being hunted but quickly rescued by an old gruff man who promises to take him to a place of protection for children like himself. Scared and uncertain, Gus follows and steps into the rest of the world.
It’s pretty standard post-apocalyptic fair thus far with at least one good (albeit somewhat predictable twist), but as I’ve said before, Lemire still has the power to tell a good comic story through drawing. He does extremely well with subtle panels that often need re-viewing and facial experiences that convey a surprising range of emotion despite often being fully detailed. In large part because of these tools, it makes reading his piece rather delightful because it draws out the story in ways that many artists/authors can’t always do. The facial expressions are ones you can set your eyes to and slowly study for meaning.
As said, I wasn’t in love with this stack, but it did provide enjoyable fodder for my vacation. None of them left me feeling moved, but not every book will. But any book worth its paper will do what these books do; connect with me; flesh out some piece of the world or myself (although, divorcing those two probably is a mistake in some sense).
American Literature authors Authors on My Radar Comics graphic novels Literature reading Recommendations
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Chavismo
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Cucuta: Venezuela’s Currency Exchange
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Home The Economy Cucuta: Venezuela’s Currency Exchange
David Parra
Image: Sofía Jaimes Barreto
A Spanish version of this piece was originally published in Cinco8.
Black Friday in Cucuta, Colombia. Thousands of Venezuelans cross the border from Táchira to exchange their savings into Colombian pesos, buy goods and go back to Venezuela at night. The streets of this border town, normally crowded from Monday to Monday, are now in a frenzy for the sales in Colombia’s cheapest city. The police block cars on the main commercial avenues, happy pickpockets do their worst on the unaware, and aggressive store promoters look like octopi short on arms to attract clients. Around me, a melting pot of dealers, gamblers, prostitutes and more kiosks selling stuffed potatoes than I’d ever seen before.
At the same time, in Caracas, an unforeseen, similar phenomenon: long lines in front of a few stores that dollarized almost their entire stock. It’s a minimalist, endógeno Black Friday, while the FAES set up their checkpoints in the capital.
“Everything that’s happening, apparently, is a consequence of three years of remittance-based commerce,” explains Giorgio Rodríguez, the owner of a currency exchange north of Santander. “This business made so much money that it modified the economy in the region.”
We met at Ventura Plaza, a mall in Cucuta as iconic as Sambil for many Venezuelans. He speaks in a rush, with a tinge of a fake witness on a TV show. Guayabera and khaki pants, rehearsed movements matching his words, and mischief. He explains, calmly, how commercial empires were built over money from abroad.
What’s the Rate?
The bolivar-dollar exchange rate is determined by the black market on the border in the morning, according to the dollar fluctuation in the black market. A small cambista —someone who exchanges daily— can make up to 40 transfers a day, while an established currency exchange needs over 300 clients a month to make a profit. Migrants who want to send money to Venezuela, send foreign currency to the cambista, at an agreed rate; and then the money changer makes a deposit to the recipient’s bank account (in bolivars) as fast as he can, to beat hyperinflation. In the way, the cambista keeps a cut: the difference between the rate at which he bought the dollars from the migrant and the rate he calculated for the recipient’s bolivars.
“The exchange agent keeps the remainder from that transaction and the client doesn’t even find out, because many people don’t understand how it works. It’s more complicated than what it looks like,” says Rodríguez, sipping coffee. “The first important thing here is the rate, which you negotiate throughout the day. Depending on the amount the client wants to transfer, I can offer a different price. We always want to get a point or point and a half in revenue, even two per transfer.” What makes a cambista successful is the trust he can establish with his clients, in a context where fake exchange agents offering the best price abound, and “in the end, they only rob the gullible people who opened their hearts and made it easy for predators.”
The Phantom Business
In this remittance and currency exchange system, every Venezuelan bank account used by a currency exchange on the border must be commercial. Nobody uses personal accounts anymore, because they’re monitored by Venezuelan banks, as ordered by Sudeban, the banking overseer. In the beginning, they used accounts that belonged to existing businesses but time gave way for shell corporations with stores that didn’t sell anything—but still made millions a month and had licenses to import.
Then, the business of renting bank accounts appeared. “Many people who left Venezuela sold or rented their accounts with bankrupted businesses or commercial signatures adrift, accounts we turn into recipients of money coming from abroad,” explains Rodríguez. The person who rents out the account gives his password to the money changer and even the phone number associated with it. Rodríguez has two girls under his employment, he pays them three minimum wages so they handle transactions all day. “I protect myself, dude, the account moving the bolivars isn’t mine, and I’m not the one handling it either. In case anything happens, they won’t track me. Same thing here in Colombia, on this side you can rent an account too, and even if there are less problems to move the pesos, you need several personal and commercial accounts to deposit what’s coming in as the number of clients grows.” For 300,000 pesos ($100) you can rent a bank account.
All Roads Lead to Cucuta
A key factor is the value of the bolivar soberano; even deflated, it was until recently the only currency available for trade, cash scarcity and all. This led to the cashn wholesale business: large amounts of soberanos were generated (bought for cheap inside Venezuela or at the border) to be later sold to cambistas, who make transfers every day. This cash will soon transform into dollars, here on the border. It’s all regulated by its own rates, with stubborn and arbitrary hagglers since, according to the urgency and amounts required, prices may vary.
You don’t have to think long to realize that, in addition to cash hoarders that profit from bolivars, there are also “businessmen” who receive million-dollar credits from the government or licenses to import and don’t actually bring anything in. So yes, according to money changers at the border, wholesalers are frequently aligned with chavismo. They are the cash cows that thousands of cambistas getting remittances from the rest of Latin America depend on.
As with human trafficking, the most important connections between exchanges on the south and these cash suppliers are made from Colombia.
Decaying Business
On Black Friday, after sunset, I meet Miguel Giraldo, a young programmer who worked as a money changer in 2017 and 2018, but now is devoted to businesses that don’t require as much time. He’s young, tall and thin, brown hair to his chin, sitting in a lotus flower position inside a tiny office, watching anime on his laptop. He greets me and turns on the fan. “How did it go downtown?” he asks. I answer that it was a disaster and people, my countrymen, weren’t happy with what they found on a Black Friday advertised for almost two months on the radio stations in the nearby Venezuelan Andes.
That afternoon I found the same prices as the rest of the year, insignificant sales, the same mediocre products and Chinese knockoffs. I saw cincomilazos (convenience stores where everything goes at 5,000 pesos) selling tons of disposable stuff, knockoffs they took from street vendors and hawkers selling stolen merchandise. I saw sad, desperate Venezuelans going home empty-handed. “It was false advertising,” says Giraldo, “since by law, here, sales last up to two weeks. People came from Venezuela thinking they’d get a good deal for their cash, but when they wanted to turn it into pesos, Cucuta was already flooded by banknotes. Cambistas were paying half of what they’re worth and wholesalers let it be. Besides, the things that were actually on sale, like TVs or fridges, couldn’t be taken to the other side of the border bridge. You’d have to use the parallel, illegal roads, and give money to paramilitaries. Today was a day everyone, except Venezuelans, won.”
In Miguel’s opinion, built by his frequent exchange with people from the Venezuelan Andes, transfers are no longer a profitable business. He says that anyone thinks they’re a cambista now and the chavista government is allowing commerce with money from abroad. It was a well-structured plan, according to Miguel: the years he made more money with remittances were 2017 and 2018, with the border closed, mass migration and foreign currency control measures that threatened citizens with jail if they had dollars. Now, after killing the private sector, a small caste of businessmen aligned with Maduro is born, looking to replace those who went bankrupt or left, and they hold dollarized bubbles that provide a feeling of social stability.
Miguel’s conclusion is bittersweet: many “businesses” that made a profit during the humanitarian crisis, will eventually become real corporations and tools to preserve the profits made by people close to the Maduro regime. “If people can use dollars, even if it’s slowly, they won’t depend on this system anymore. Colombians won’t even notice. One more business that left as it came.”
Miguel tells me about who taught him how to be a money changer: an evangelical pastor with churches in Colombia and Venezuela. “Seeing how so many of his congregants needed to send money to Venezuela, he started a currency exchange using his congregations’ accounts. Helping his brothers helped him buy an armored SUV that he now drives.”
Beaten Mango
I have my last meeting with Giorgio Rodríguez to clarify some doubts about his story, and before leaving, I open my wallet to pull out the lone five-dollar bill I left Venezuela with, my lucky charm. “How much is this worth, man?” I ask. “When I got here, everyone gave me different rates and in Merida they wouldn’t even take it.” Giorgio laughs and says that, in Venezuela, bills of low denomination, or scribbled (like mine) are turned down because they’re cheaper at the border. “A dollar is 2,500 pesos, but in that shape I can buy it from you at 1,800. If you give it to me, I can take it to men that wash it off with chemicals and leave it looking as if just minted. That’s what we do with ugly bills, and then sell them for the right amount.”
I shake my head and say goodbye, putting my lucky dollar away, so it doesn’t end up as another prey of the border’s ecosystem.
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Mérida-based writer, who won the Monte Ávila Editores Contest for Unpublished Authors in 2014 with my book «La Coleccionista». Some of my poems are part of the poetry anthology «Amanecimos Sobre la Palabra, Antología de Poesía Joven y Reciente Venezolana» (2016). 'm interested in writing chronicles and make investigative journalism focused on the west side of the country.
The best insight on the Venezuelan power struggle
Lunch Break: The Takeover of Primero Justicia
Lunch Break: Paramilitary Against Lawmakers, Teachers And Journalists
Lunch Break: Non-Accountability and Lies
Women of the Venezuelan Chaos
Making Venezuela make sense.
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Catherine Plano
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You are here: Home Podcast Episode 116: How She Really Does It with Koren Motekaitis
Episode 116: How She Really Does It with Koren Motekaitis
May 2, 2018 By Catherine Plano
Catherine is here today with Koren Motekaitis. Koren helps over-achievers become the leaders of their lives.
She is a mother, wife, family member, friend, entrepreneur and community builder. Never a dull moment in this rich, full life!
Her radio show and podcast “How She Really Does It,” where she invites guests to share their unique success stories and encourages her listeners to embrace their inner leaders. She has hosted the show for nearly 12 years and built an archive of 600+ episodes, including interviews with Brené Brown, Daniel Pink, and Danielle LaPorte.
Koren is a Daring Way™ facilitator and Master Certified Life and Weight Loss Coach, personally trained by Dr. Martha Beck. In her ten years as a coach, she has helped hundreds of people release the shoulds and have-tos and build the lives they truly want to live.
Early on, she was confident that higher education would be her ticket to success. So not only did she earn a BA from one of the top universities in the country—University of California, Davis (go Aggies)—she also pursued and completed my Masters degree from the University of San Francisco. She then spent 13 years teaching at Sacramento City College before switching gears.
Swimming is a part her soul! She was a NCAA Division II National Champion, a Collegiate All-American, and inducted in the University of California, Davis Hall of Fame. Practicing and competing helped her learn about herself, practice courage and explore how to fail and persevere. Nowadays, she uses her passion for the pool to coach their local swim team, the Aquamonsters.
Her radio show and coaching practice both focus on redefining success, reframing failure, and realigning your inner compass. Koren believes that when we truly listen to others, we can see what is possible within ourselves. When people step up to share the honest, backstage truth behind their success, the doors of possibility open for us all.
Find Out More About Koren Motekaitis
Connect with Koren on Facebook
Follow Koren on Twitter @korenmotekaitis
Follow Koren on Instagram @korenmotekaitis
Let’s tune into this wholeheartedly daring woman of inspiration. Enjoy!
Femmes D'Inspiration
Catherine’s New Book
Grab Your Copy Here
Copyright © 2019 Catherine Plano
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Week of August 13-17
Check out photos from the set of The Young and the Restless from August 13-17.
Avery & Phyllis
Jessica Collins (Avery) and Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Daniel & Phyllis
Michael Graziadei (Daniel) and Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Sitting & Waiting
Doug Davidson (Paul), Jessica Collins (Avery), Tricia Cast (Nina), Jennifer Landon (Heather) and Michael Graziadei (Daniel) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Brief Talk
Jessica Collins (Avery), Christian LeBlanc (Michael) and Tracey Bregman (Lauren) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Reason for Concern
Michael & Lauren
Christian LeBlanc (Michael), Tracey Bregman (Lauren) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Paul & Avery
Doug Davidson (Paul) and Jessica Collins (Avery) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Nikki & Jack
Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki) and Peter Bergman (Jack) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Genie Francis (Genevieve), Christel Khalil (Lily) and Daniel Goddard (Cane) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Lily & Cane
Christel Khalil (Lily) and Daniel Goddard (Cane) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Neil, Lily & Cane
Kristoff St John (Neil), Christel Khalil (Lily) and Daniel Goddard (Cane) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Glowing Remarks
Debbi Morgan (Harmony) and Kristoff St John (Neil) and Bryton James (Devon) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Debbi Morgan (Harmony) and Kristoff St John (Neil) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Bar Banter
Christel Khalil (Lily) and Genie Francis (Genevieve) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Phyllis & Avery
Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) and Jessica Collins (Avery) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
Heather & Daniel
Jennifer Landon (Heather) and Michael Graziadei (Daniel) on the set of The Young and the Restless. Photo courtesy of JPI Studios.
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Cats' Corner
While we are the Center for CANINE Behavior Studies, we do have considerable interests in cats too, and intend to post articles and links about felines here.
Over half of American families own a pet and many have both a dog and a cat. Thus, we think it will be helpful to our cat guardian members to have access to feline information.
We intend to focus on pressing issues about cats, such as inhumane declawing, plus issues such as cat aggression, fearful behaviors, compulsions (like psychogenic alopecia and wool sucking), house soiling and urine marking (which is different from simple house soiling) and feline Alzheimer’s disease.
A dream come true would be sufficient funding to found a Center for FELINE Behavioral Studies, but in the interim we will start by making cat information available now. Cat’s Corner will grow in time, so if you have a cat in your life watch this space for posts.
Welcome to our new venture, which we hope will grow and flourish. Sit, read, and enjoy.
Below, you will find a variety of media on cats. We will include videos, articles, podcast, and more. Keep an eye out for new content!
FELINE LITTERBOX AVERSION
Feline inappropriate elimination made up 56% of feline cases at Cornell University’s Animal Behavior Clinic between 1991 and 2001, and it appears to be the most frequent type of feline behavior problem...
FELINE COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR
The most common compulsive behaviors exhibited by cats include wool sucking or fabric eating, over-grooming/hair-barbering or hair-pulling behavior (psychogenic alopecia), and possibly feline hyperesthesia. By far oral behaviors such as...
SOCIAL BEHAVIOR & AGGRESSION
Cats are generally solitary animals that only come together during courtship and mating or in the situation of a mother with kittens. That said, it is quite possible for cats to develop strong bonds with each other and people...
I recently did an interview about declawing cats – a practice I have stood against for many years. As far back as 1997, I was on ABC’s 20/20 discussing alternatives to declawing and subsequently become a member of The Paw Project. The Paw Project first fought against declawing of big cats (tigers, lions, etc....
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Leading the Revival of Individualism & Self Reliance
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Digital Vision CareFree Market Eye CareHealth careHubble
No Vision Insurance? No Problem! Tech Is Making Eye Care Cheaper and More Accessible
October 13, 2018 / by Brittany Hunter
Leaving the comforts of a salaried, nine-to-five office job and entering the world of freelance work was an exciting decision for me. But it also presents some unexpected challenges when it came to health care.
As someone who has always enjoyed employer-provided health benefits, the prospect of having to pay out of pocket for medical expenses was not something of which I had any prior knowledge. But finding myself in a position where I was more or less forced to get creative about my health care options has been an eye-opening experience.
As my last day in a traditional office setting drew closer, I began to worry about losing my health insurance. Making sure all my ducks were in a row, I placed one final order of contact lenses before I joined the ranks of the uninsured.
Feeling rather proud of myself for getting ahead of the problem, I was disheartened when 1-800 Contacts emailed me to let me know that they could not fill my order. While my prescription was still good for another month, the brand my doctor had prescribed to me had been discontinued. Normally, this would be an easy fix. All I needed to do was call my optometrist and have him write me a new prescription for a different brand.
But unfortunately, my regular doctor was not able to get me in for an appointment until after my insurance coverage ended. And without optical benefits, paying for a routine eye examination was going to be a huge financial burden. Luckily, the wonders of technology have given options to those who, like myself, find themselves without health insurance.
Another Option
Without vision coverage, getting a new prescription for contact lenses was going to cost me several hundred dollars. And with only two lenses remaining in my reserves, my time and my options were severely limited.
After explaining my plight to a 1-800 Contacts customer service representative, he quickly responded that there were other options available. So long as I had ten minutes to spare, I would be able to take an eye examination online from Opternative for only $50. This seemed too good to be true and my first thought was: “is this legal?”
While some states do prohibit online examinations, many have embraced the practice. Not only is this more convenient for millennials, who are infamously flaky when it comes to visiting the doctor, but it has also helped to drive costs down significantly. A visit to an optometrist will cost you anywhere from $200-$300 without insurance. And even with insurance, it is often still well over $100. And this usually does not include the actual cost of contact lenses or glasses.
To be fair, chains like Target and Walmart have both offered similar services at varying locations, but this still requires an in-person visit. But for someone like myself who is both busy and carless, allowing this process to take place in the comfort of my own home is a huge benefit.
While sites like Opternative and its competitors offer affordable eye exams, their purpose is restricted to the prescription of glasses and contact lenses. This means that they cannot do a full checkup to make sure that your eyes are healthy, which is still an important element to an annual visit. But with the growth telemedicine has seen over the last several years, it may only be a matter of time before this is possible. And for those whose most pressing needs are new glasses or contact lenses, online eye examinations are huge game changers.
And while it is certainly wise to regularly see an optometrist to ensure the health of your eyes, for those who cannot afford such a costly endeavor, online eye exams offer a viable alternative.
As soon as I signed up and made an account, the site asked me to sync my phone with my computer in order to use my phone to submit answers for the vision test. The app then asks you to turn the lights down during the vision test, just like in an actual optometrist office. I was then prompted to give my shoe size, which seemed a bit odd, but this is how the site determines how many steps you should take away from your computer screen to ensure quality results. After measuring the proper distance between you and your computer screen, the guided test is ready to begin.
Just as in a doctor’s office, you cover one eye and read the letters on the chart, but instead of responding to the doctor, you submit your answer on your smartphone.
After the test is complete, which typically takes about ten minutes, your responses are sent to an optometrist where they are reviewed. Shortly thereafter, you will receive an email with your prescription.
When all was said and done, the entire process, including receiving the new prescription, took less than an hour and saved me hundreds of dollars. And thanks to the free market, there has also been an increase in subscription-based contact lens services that will ship contacts to you each month for a nominal fee. Where one box of contact bi-weekly contact lenses can cost upwards of $40, brands like Hubble ship daily use contacts to its users for only $36 each month.
While many consumers have been using and loving these digital services, large companies like Johnson & Johnson, who produce 40 percent of the world’s contact lenses, and the American Optometric Association have actually lobbied congress in an attempt to rein in digital eye exams. The companies have stated safety concerns as the reasoning behind this endeavor. But the reality of the situation is that these companies have enjoyed not having to compete in this sector. But just like cabs now have to compete with Uber and hotels have to compete with Airbnb, the decentralization of vision care is resulting in protectionism on behalf of the giants of the prescription lens world.
When it comes to health care, individuals are eager to try things differently. And in our modern, digital era, telemedicine is convenient and accessible.
As the workforce continues to see a rise in contractors and digital nomads, it will be increasingly important to find ways to accommodate those whose employment status does not come with health benefits. Thankfully, digital eye exams offered through companies like Opternative and subscription-based services like Hubble are helping to decentralize vision coverage, making it more affordable and accessible to everyone, whether they have insurance or not.
Tags: Digital Vision Care, Free Market Eye Care, Health care, Hubble
When Too Many Regulations Harm Health Care Consumers
Meet the Henry Ford of Heart Surgery
Tech Is Completely Reshaping the Patient-Doctor Relationship with Telemedicine
What The Free Market Can Do For Prescription Drugs
The Entrepreneur Will Save the American Health Care System
How the "Uber" Model Can Solve a Health Care Conundrum
How Permissionless Innovation Is Making Health Care Affordable
A Little Bit Of Knowledge Sharing Goes A Long Way: Let's Learn From Switzerland How To Administer A Healthcare System.
CFI Reading List
Bestselling author and co-director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy Andrew McAfee says there’s a new reason for optimism: we’re past the point of 'peak stuff' - from here on out, it’ll take fewer resources to make things, and cost less to lead a comfortable life.
Government Bureaucrats Screw Up Our Dishwashers And Our Showerheads, To Name Just Two Ways They Worsen Our Lives.
Our Natural Behavior Is Virtuous, Sympathetic and Kind, Despite What Economists Say.
The Trump Equilibrium Model Beats The Academic Economists’ Models In Real Life.
The Introverted Drummer and Philosopher of Progressive Rock – Neil Peart Was His Own Hero
Where Are The Entrepreneurs To Bring America The Honest, Trusted News Media We Need?
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Football List
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Wade Park has been a fortress for Orange Hawks throughout the 2019 Group 10 season but the two blues castle has come crumbling down at the worst possible time. Willie Heta's two blues suffered a 14-0 loss to Mudgee in the preliminary final at Wade Park on Sunday, the club's second loss at home in as many weeks following a 36-16 major semi-final loss to Panthers. Before those losses, Hawks were undefeated at Wade Park this year. Now, their 2019 is over, Heta describing the sudden exit as "gut wrenching". Jack Littlejohn and his Dragons are through to the grand final, the Mudgee club's first since 2016, thanks to a tremendous effort in defence. Sunday's shut-out victory was the first time Hawks have been held scoreless since round 16, 2016 - a game that ended in an 88-0 thumping against CYMS at Wade Park. It took 30 minutes for the first points to come and while both sides had chances early on, a blustery, cold day meant neither was able to capitalise. Impressive early, Heta missed a pass to Jordan Baker which would have sent him over the line on the right flank to take advantage of the only crack in Mudgee's defence all day, and it was that area which pleased captain-coach Jack Littlejohn. "Obviously everyone knows how good Hawks' attack is and to keep them to zero was pretty good with one in the bin for 10 and going against this wind in the second half," he said. "We spoke about tightening up our middle because the young hooker [Alex Prout] is really sharp but we were real tight close to the line. "We did a lot of work on that during the week and it worked for us today." It looked like Nathan Potts would open the account on the end of a Jared Brodrick grubber but the three-quarter's kick went dead, Mudgee slingshotting down the other end of the field to score through Lee Hicks and open up their account. Jack Beasley nailed the goal, and a second kick from 20 out after a penalty on the stroke of half-time following a Littlejohn break, to gift Mudgee an 8-0 lead at the break. Hawks needed to lift after half-time and while they did they still couldn't crack the red and white wall. They had several shots at the Mudgee's line, including one Prout attempt where his arm was dragged back despite being inches from scoring. Chanse Burgess was given 10 in the bin not long after but, tellingly, Hawks couldn't make the visitors pay, the Dragons sealing victory thanks to an incredible effort from Harry Maynard less than a minute after Burgess rejoined them on the field. "That's one of the best games I think we've played this year so that's great to go into a grand final off that," a chuffed Littlejohn said post-game. "I thought we rolled through their middle a bit more, in the past we've sort of been guilty of going across field but today we put the ball under our wing and got forward." Heta knew the prelim final would be a grind but said it just didn't go the Hawks' way, with the side falling at the same hurdle it did in 2018. "It's gut-wrenching," he said. "I didn't think it would be able to do it to me twice in a row, it's unfortunate but we've still got to be pleased with the year that we've had." He gave full credit to Mudgee's defence, and their side in general, for putting the Hawks under too much pressure. "You've got to hold onto the footy, it's been our ugly seal for us that when games get tough we go searching for points and they defended well and the scoreboard displayed that," Heta said.
https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/Ue5iJ8ALEwXq659RWgj3Rc/df964e29-6296-4269-91c5-193cdf2627b2.JPG/r1064_957_5395_3404_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
September 8 2019 - 4:56PM
Heta's Hawks held scoreless as Dragons' defence books grand final appearance | Photos
All the action from the Group 10 premier league preliminary final at Wade Park on Sunday. Photos: CARLA FREEDMAN
Wade Park has been a fortress for Orange Hawks throughout the 2019 Group 10 season but the two blues castle has come crumbling down at the worst possible time.
Willie Heta's two blues suffered a 14-0 loss to Mudgee in the preliminary final at Wade Park on Sunday, the club's second loss at home in as many weeks following a 36-16 major semi-final loss to Panthers.
Before those losses, Hawks were undefeated at Wade Park this year.
Now, their 2019 is over, Heta describing the sudden exit as "gut wrenching".
READ ALSO: Pearson, Baker and Morgan-Jones shine to book Hawks another crack at CYMS
Jack Littlejohn and his Dragons are through to the grand final, the Mudgee club's first since 2016, thanks to a tremendous effort in defence.
Sunday's shut-out victory was the first time Hawks have been held scoreless since round 16, 2016 - a game that ended in an 88-0 thumping against CYMS at Wade Park.
It took 30 minutes for the first points to come and while both sides had chances early on, a blustery, cold day meant neither was able to capitalise.
Obviously everyone knows how good Hawks' attack is and to keep them to zero was pretty good with one in the bin for 10 and going against this wind in the second half.
Dragons captain-coach Jack Littlejohn
Impressive early, Heta missed a pass to Jordan Baker which would have sent him over the line on the right flank to take advantage of the only crack in Mudgee's defence all day, and it was that area which pleased captain-coach Jack Littlejohn.
"Obviously everyone knows how good Hawks' attack is and to keep them to zero was pretty good with one in the bin for 10 and going against this wind in the second half," he said.
"We spoke about tightening up our middle because the young hooker [Alex Prout] is really sharp but we were real tight close to the line.
READ ALSO: 'It's unreal': Youth driving Hawks to league tag decider after derby win over CYMS
"We did a lot of work on that during the week and it worked for us today."
It looked like Nathan Potts would open the account on the end of a Jared Brodrick grubber but the three-quarter's kick went dead, Mudgee slingshotting down the other end of the field to score through Lee Hicks and open up their account.
Jack Beasley nailed the goal, and a second kick from 20 out after a penalty on the stroke of half-time following a Littlejohn break, to gift Mudgee an 8-0 lead at the break.
Hawks needed to lift after half-time and while they did they still couldn't crack the red and white wall.
They had several shots at the Mudgee's line, including one Prout attempt where his arm was dragged back despite being inches from scoring.
47 | 😱😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/3CWLTIJ1Yv
— max stainkamph (@maxstainkamph) September 8, 2019
Chanse Burgess was given 10 in the bin not long after but, tellingly, Hawks couldn't make the visitors pay, the Dragons sealing victory thanks to an incredible effort from Harry Maynard less than a minute after Burgess rejoined them on the field.
"That's one of the best games I think we've played this year so that's great to go into a grand final off that," a chuffed Littlejohn said post-game.
"I thought we rolled through their middle a bit more, in the past we've sort of been guilty of going across field but today we put the ball under our wing and got forward."
Heta knew the prelim final would be a grind but said it just didn't go the Hawks' way, with the side falling at the same hurdle it did in 2018.
44 | Hawks need a big statement early in this half, but there's no sign of it yet. Can they still reach the #Group10 finale? pic.twitter.com/cLKGDamX4S
"It's gut-wrenching," he said.
"I didn't think it would be able to do it to me twice in a row, it's unfortunate but we've still got to be pleased with the year that we've had."
READ ALSO: Orange City crowned under-13 premiers in derby grand final after Tremain, Kukla masterclasses | Photos
He gave full credit to Mudgee's defence, and their side in general, for putting the Hawks under too much pressure.
"You've got to hold onto the footy, it's been our ugly seal for us that when games get tough we go searching for points and they defended well and the scoreboard displayed that," Heta said.
MUDGEE DRAGONS 14 (Lee Hicks, Harry Maynard tries; Jack Beasley 2 goals, 1 penalty goal) def ORANGE HAWKS 0.
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What people are saying about Charlene
Charlene Strong has an ability to connect with an audience via story sharing and challenging individuals to make change. She has an outstanding ability to motivate her audience to understand social justice and the impact inclusion can have on the world. Charlene will undoubtably challenge your organization and leave a lasting impact. Shannon Dettore, Director of LGBT Services, Central Michigan University
Charlene has a unique ability to unite passion and purpose into a single catalytic message. Listening to her speak it is impossible to feel anything other than called to action in support of the critical needs of the communities for which she advocates. As a panelist she is incomparable, irreplaceable, and highly recommended. Holly Teige, Snohomish Co. Commission on Human Rights
Charlene is a perfect blend of passion, purpose, and unruffled composer. I've heard her speak of her commitment to compassion, dignity, and grace. I think that allows her to tackle divisive issues with a stealthiness that opens even the most challenging audience to her message. Her style and demeanor gives audience members permission to consider other points of view, and to do so without falling into the common trap of fighting versus conversing. She does not fade on the tough questions and stereotypical comments about marriage equality. Her responses are unflinching, respectful, and disarming - a tough combination to debate. Charleneâs telling of her own personal experience, the opportunity to look an audience in the eye and put a face to the string of injustices that she withstood, makes her message even more powerful. Andrea Compton, Associate Professor, SCCC
To learn more about Charlene and her work, please check out her Press Kit
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Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Ed. (PC) – R8 | GMG *Expired*
Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition (PC) – $0.50 (R8)
Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition enhances the bold new franchise to the fighting game genre from NetherRealm Studios. Featuring six new playable characters, over 30 new skins, and 60 new S.T.A.R. Labs missions, this edition packs a punch.
Steam activated.
On sale for a limited time.
Tags:green man gaming, sale, steam
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Climate Cabaret
Underlying Themes
Climate Writings
Two of My Plays Premier in This Weekend's NJ One-Minute Play Festival
This weekend, on March 12 and 13, the One-Minute Play Festival will make its annual return to New Jersey. This year, playwrights from across the state were asked to write plays that investigate the questions: Who are we? What is our relationship to each other? To our community? To our work?
Answers to these big questions must fit into plays that are one minute or less. The plays are then rehearsed and performed in quick succession, fifty in all, by five groups of actors . It's super high energy and like nothing you've ever witnessed before.
I was fortunate again this year to be asked to provide two plays, and continue to focus on various takes on climate change.
In "Team Spirit", I contrast the stark pessimism and fatalism permeating our collective non-response to the challenge of climate change with the collective "can do" spirit constantly on display in team sports, where selflessness and sacrifice are seen as ennobling. In the "World Super-Sustainability Eat Fewer Oysters Championship", I explore how we might define ourselves in ways other than through what we consume.
Check it out at the Luna Stage, 555 Valley Rd, West Orange, NJ 07052. Saturday night and two shows on Sunday. More info below.
Ticket Link: https://lunastage.secure.force.com/ticket/#details_a0NF000001ZjuQAMAZ
Posted by Stephen Hiltner at 12:22 PM
Theatrical Videos
Two of My Plays Premier in This Weekend's NJ One-M...
CO2 Speaks Out About Itself and Earth's Fate
Early in our show, carbon dioxide, a.k.a. CO2, tells the audience in rhyme and reason about how it's really a good molecule that's b...
Leaf Rap: The OK Leaf Corral
Many people feel a strong impulse to blow their leaves out into the street in the fall, creating a sense of catharsis, but also a big public...
Upcoming Performance: June 18 at Labyrinth Bookstore
Mark your calendars! June 18, 3pm, lower level of Labyrinth Bookstore in Princeton: It's time to forge comedy out of angst, to ta...
This weekend, on March 12 and 13, the One-Minute Play Festival will make its annual return to New Jersey. This year, playwrights from acr...
Sustainable Jazz: Waltz For Ruth
Climate Cabaret has a jazz component, specifically the Sustainable Jazz Ensemble, a group I compose for and lead. Keyboardist Phil Orr playe...
Scenes from Climate Cabaret
Leading up to our free performance at the Arts Council of Princeton, April 18, 7pm, here are some scenes from the show--photos from rehearsa...
Climate Theater: The New, Improved Mr. Sustainable
"As long as we must choose between present comfort and future climate, there can be no joy!" So declares Mr. Sustainable, as he se...
Free Show January 18
Come on Friday, Jan. 18, to a free performance of Climate Cabaret's original theatrical sketches and climate-adapted songs at the Unitar...
If We Only Had a Brain
At a recent performance, the star of the show, planet earth, stood front and center. One recurring theme of climate change is that, thoug...
Contributing to The One-Minute Play Festival
In 2014 and 2015, I was asked to contribute plays to New Jersey's annual One-Minute Play Festival. Six different directors, each wit...
Sustainable Jazz
Princeton Nature Notes
Essays on Climate
Stephen Hiltner
Writer, Musician, Naturalist, Actor, degrees in botany and water quality. Training in saxophone, clarinet, piano, composition, acting. I can be reached at stevehiltner (at)gmail.com.
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The students receive their letters from Henry Winkler at the school leaving ceremony Wednesday evening. (Contributed)
‘The Fonz’ gives thumbs up in letter to dyslexic students at B.C. school
Students in Maple Ridge reached out to Henry Winkler after reading one his Zipster books.
Colleen Flanagan
Jun. 20, 2019 10:15 a.m.
A group of Grade 5 boys at James Cameron School in Maple Ridge was surprised at the annual leaving ceremony Wednesday with signed letters from the actor Henry Winkler.
The boys had read I Got a “D” in Salami, the second book in the Hank Zipzer series, written by Lin Oliver and Winkler, best known for his role as ‘The Fonz’ in the American TV sitcom Happy Days, whichran from 1974 to ’84. Most recently, he has played roles in various television series, including Arrested Development, Barry and Guardians of the Galaxy.
The book series centres around the protagonist Hank, who has dyslexia, like Winkler, who has struggled with it throughout his life.
In this book, Hank gets his first Grade 4 report card and decides he has to get rid of the document before his parents see it. He gives it to a friend to destroy, who puts it in a batch of salami that his mother is making for the head of a supermarket chain at the family deli.
When she picks that batch of salami to send, Hank and his friends try to put a stop to the delivery and it is during this journey that he figures out he has learning problems.
All of the students at James Cameron have dyslexia.
READ ALSO: Lighting up minds, the world
Simi Pillay, Grade 5 teacher at James Cameron, asked his students, after they had read the book, if they wanted to reach out to the actor and tell him what they thought of it.
“Dear Mr. Henry Winkler. Hank Zipzer 2 is a good book. I like the jokes and puns. Zip is funny and he reminds me of me,” read one student’s letter.
“Dear Henry. I liked your book because it was funny. I feel it was encouraging and motivated me to try harder,” read another.
One more read: “If I had to be realistic about the book, it was good. The message is great and funny, like me at home. You inspire me and others around you.”
The letters were mailed to Winkler at the beginning of May.
When Penny Shepherd-Hill, principal of James Cameron School, checked the mail on the final day of school, she found an envelope containing the actor’s replies.
All the letters are the same. They describe how, after 10 years of writing with Oliver, how finishing 32 Hank Zipzer novels, was something Winkler thought he would never achieve because school was so difficult for him.
But, the letter read, what he learned was that “no matter how you learn, you are still brilliant.”
He thanked each student for sending a “smart and thoughtful letter.”
Each reply is addressed personally to the students and includes words of encouragement, such as “You are great” and “You are smart,” hand-written on the bottom of the page.
“It’s a real personal inspiration to our kids who struggle with reading and writing like Henry,” said Shepherd-Hill.
She added that it is encouraging for the boys to realize that somebody so successful once struggled like them in school.
cflanagan@mapleridgenews.com
The letter that Henry Winkler sent to the students at James Cameron School. (Contributed)
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Amazon Brings the Grandfather of NoSQL to AWS
By Josette Rigsby | Jan 18, 2012
CHANNEL: Information Management
There is a big huge not exactly new player in the NoSQL market. Amazon has brought DynamoDB back. Dramatic pause. Dynamo was NoSQL before there was a NoSQL.
DynamoDB, NoSQL Before NoSQL Was NoSQL
In late 2007, Amazon published a paper, “Dynamo: Amazon’s Highly Available Key-value Store” that detailed the company’s creation and use of an extremely fast, scalable and reliable repository it called Dynamo. The approach to storage was a significant departure from traditional relational principles. Transactions weren’t atomic. There was no concept of relations, but it was fast. It continued to be fast even when data grew to massive sizes. It was this paper that that essentially inspired the NoSQL trend. Cassandra, Riak, Voldemort and many others owe their origin to Dynamo.
Despite spawning many NoSQL offspring, Dynamo was never offered as a service to Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers. The technology was simply too complex to have wide spread adoption. Instead AWS users had SimpleDB as a non-relational option. SimpleDB is really designed for lower-scale workloads and tables have a size limit of 10 GB. SimpleDB is also limited in the request capacity it can achieve, which makes it a poor option for larger sites and applications.
Now users have a new option. A kinder gentler DynamoDB is now available. Amazon is making the highly scalable NoSQL available as a service for the public. Users can start small and grow tables to embarrassingly large sizes without any expending partitioning or other magic to keep the repository responsive. In fact, Amazon is promising single-digit millisecond response times. Rajy Gulabani, VP of Database Services at AWS said,
During our private beta, we saw customers successfully scale up from 100s of writes per second to over 100,000 writes per second without having to change a single line of code.”
Amazon’s new NoSQL repository is fully managed and stores data on a solid state drive. In addition, the data is replicated across at least three geographic availability zones to avoid nasty outages like the Great Amazon failure of 2011.
Although the service was just released to the public, it is currently in use by number of large Internet sites like IMDB, SmugMug, Elsevier, Tapjoy and Formspring.
Getting DynamoDB
DynamoDB is available now in beta version. Like other AWS offering, DynamoDB pricing is based on utilization. Data storage is US$ 1.00 per GB per month. The service has variable data transfer fee, which is free for incoming data, and free up to 10TB per month between AWS services. Beyond 10TB, Amazon charges US$ 0.12 per GB through 40TB, the next 40TB is US$ .09 per GB. Pricing continues to drop until it reaches US $.050 for 350TB. Users that require more than 524TB must contact Amazon for pricing. Additional details about DynamoDB are available from Amazon.
DynamoDB can also integrate with Amazon’s Elastic MapReduce (EMR) -- the technology behind popular NoSQL technology Hadoop (You knew it had to be mentioned at least once in this article.) AWS customers can use EMR to connect to multiple repositories (e.g. DynamoDB, Amazon RDS and Amazon S3) and perform complex analysis.
DynamoDB is good news for organizations that want to use NoSQL, but were concerned about the complexity of managing the infrastructure. It might however be bad news for small NoSQL startups. AWS dominates the cloud market. It will be hard for smaller players to sell their offerings against the new giant in the room.
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Tags amazon, amazon web services, aws, big data, cloud computing, hadoop, information management, nosql, paas, platform-as-a-service
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Category: Mike Quick Jersey
the playoff match hands clasped
I’m excited about working with him.Quit trying to put words in our mouths that make us look like we’re bad because we’re not.Bauer allowed his only run of the game in the third inning, a solo homer to left field.His passion for the game, those guys seeing that, how badly he wants to be out there, that’s stuff you can’t coach and you can’t replicate.To search for players who were born on a certain date, for example all players born on December 25, choose the month, day and year with the drop down boxes and then choose the ‘Full Date Search’ option.
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I can’t say I learned them anywhere.He recorded an assist for his first NHL point, won 12 of 18 faceoffs and finished Winnipeg’s 5 win against the Calgary Flames with four shots and a plus-2 rating.As expected, Kikuchi worked a sole frame Friday against the Rangers, part of a maintenance plan to help him through the rigors of his first season stateside.Skip to content report this ad There are quite a few NHL clubs heading for a salary cap crunch this summer, and New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero has used situations like this to his strength in the Recorded the fifth-most tackles in program history with 312, five interceptions with one returned for a touchdown, 28 passes defensed, four sacks, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.In 2012, Robert Griffin III suffered a career-altering knee injury a nasty collision outside the pocket with Baltimore defensive tackle Haloti Ngata.Earning an average annual salary of $5 million before then, which is nuts considering everything the 23-year-old captain brings to the ice, he’s bound to eventually cash in large.
Lewis is in line for a larger role now that Logan Ryan is out for the season, Turron Davenport of reports.Duncan Misses Practice, Status Uncertain For Today Dec 31 12 AM Tim Duncan apparently became the latest Spurs player to fall ill when he missed Saturday’s practice.Almost 15 years later, what he would tell his 18-year-old self?Their elevated play has opened up a lot more options for the Canadiens in terms of line combinations and roster flexibility.
Overall, the defense was very impressive, surrendering just 17 points in the game and picking up a few key stops in the fourth quarter to keep the 49ers alive.As mentioned earlier, new Bucs coach Bruce Arians was quoted as saying Godwin will see a lot of time in the slot.But the thing about Hunter is he’s a special kid.No doubt, LaFleur and GM Brian Gutekunst talked up both Jones and Jamaal Williams.
Schefter’s initial report mistakenly placed the total value at $10 million, which is actually the annual average.Mejia played with the Pistons in their training camp Andrew Hammond Jersey and Womens Mike Quick Jersey was one of the last players cut prior to the start of the season.Ian Cole has solidified �?at least, from a coach’s point of view �?our confidence in playing all three pairs.In the convertible, you don’t need to put the top down to enjoy the V-8’s burble; it’s loud enough for everyone in the area to enjoy-or scorn.It’s now up to him to prove that his performance last year was more than an aberration.
In any event, the Ducks have to trade one of these three defensemen if they want to keep Silfverberg.6, at Qwest Field in Seattle.That may have brought the student fans to even more of a fever pitch for this matchup with the rival Buckeyes.Michael Miller had 18 points and seven rebounds for the Mean Green .
Nothing really costs the same at IUP as it does at West Chester, and it’s time we stop pretending that it does.He’s an http://www.officialeagleslockerroom.com/elite-mike-quick-jersey all-around player, but what’s important to me is that he’s a great man.He left the game as one of the last legendary players of the Canadiens’ Original Six glory years, before handing off the leadership mantle to the likes of Lafleur.Well, you’ll need http://www.minnesotawildofficialonline.com/Adidas-Andrew-Hammond-Jersey to tell me, Brown replied, because I want this to be cool again.Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of AP is strictly prohibited.
It’s going to be a wild couple of weeks before teams submit their protected lists to the league offices on June 17.If we don’t win against the Bills at home, then we don’t deserve a chance against the Steelers on their turf to get into the Super Bowl. Kovalchuk was a heavily discussed topic by a North American audience last summer when rumors surfaced that he could return to NHL.Use the entire clock if you need to.
Author adminPosted on July 8, 2019 Categories Mike Quick JerseyTags Andrew Hammond Jersey, Womens Mike Quick JerseyLeave a comment on the playoff match hands clasped
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FCC wants to cut off malicious robocalls at the start
'Do-Not-Originate' rule lets carriers refuse to complete scam calls
By James R. Hood
03/23/2017 | ConsumerAffairs | Scams
Trying to stop robocalls once they've been placed is like trying to pull back an email sent in error. It's just about impossible. So the Federal Communications Commission is proposing a new method: cutting off known scam robocallers before they're able to dial out.
It's called the "Do-Not-Originate" rule, and it would update a longstanding FCC rule that requires telephone companies to complete all calls. The idea was developed by an industry strike force the FCC put together a few years ago. In a test last year, the concept reduced IRS scam calls by about 90 percent.
There are an estimated 2.4 billion robocalls per month in the U.S., so there is no shortage of candidates for blocking.
Besides allowing the blocking of calls from known scam operators, the proposed rule would allow carriers to block calls that are obviously fake -- for example, those displaying a Washington, D.C., area code despite being placed from somewhere else.
Overseas calls
Since many scam calls originate overseas, it is difficult for law enforcement to track down and stop the perpetrators, but blocking calls at the source would effectively shut down the operations in less time and with less expense.
Besides the proposed new rule, the FCC also adopted a Notice of Inquiry which seeks public comment on how to further enable carriers to block illegal robocalls before they can reach consumers.
"The Commission is asking how to create a safe harbor for providers from FCC call completion rules when they rely on objective criteria to identify and block calls that are highly likely to be fraudulent, illegal, or spoofed robocalls," an FCC spokesman said. "If the carrier can reasonably surmise that a call is a scam call using fake caller ID, carriers could be able to proactively block those calls."
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ConsumerAffairs' founder and former editor, Jim Hood formerly headed Associated Press Broadcast News, directing coverage of major news events worldwide. He also served as Senior Vice President of United Press International and was the founder and editor of Zapnews, a newswire service for radio and television. Read Full Bio→
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Phony robocalls may cost the caller $120 million in fines
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T-Mobile to roll out scam call blocker
Robocallers increasingly turn to artificial intelligence
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This model is no longer available or might have limited distribution.
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Samsung UN65KS8000 TV
A 65-inch LCD Ultra HD TV with an LED backlight with local dimming from Samsung, with 2160p resolution, a 240-hertz refresh rate, four HDMI inputs, and no component-video inputs.
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The Samsung UN65KS8000 is a 65-inch LCD Ultra HD TV with a native resolution of 3840x2160 (2160p). It uses edge-lit LED backlighting that allows the panel to be extremely thin, but is more susceptible to display non-uniformity. Rather than the basic 60Hz, it has a faster 240Hz frame rate, a feature designed to reduce motion blur.
It is Internet-enabled and can access online content, including movie streaming and other services. The TV includes an Ethernet jack allowing for a wired connection to your home network. It is also WiFi capable, so you can connect it to your home network wirelessly. It is DLNA certified, so you can view digital photos stored on a compatible computer, phone, or other mobile device also connected to your home network.
This TV has four HDMI inputs, and no component-video inputs. It also has three USB ports, which may be used to play media--photos, videos, and music--stored on a flash drive.
The Samsung UN65KS8000 measures 35.8 inches high by 56.9 inches wide by 11.6 inches deep, including its base. The panel itself is 1.8 inches thick including any protrusions, and the screen has a glossy finish. The bezel framing the screen is gloss silver.
The warranty on this model covers parts for 12 months and labor for 12 months.
HDMI input HDMI input The total number of HDMI inputs on the TV. HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a digital audio/video connection found on TVs, monitors, Blu-ray players, DVD players, receivers, media players, cameras and digital TV tuners. HDMI is the preferred type of A/V connection between TV and device, over an analog component, composite, or RF (such as from a cable box).
Component-video Component-video The total number of component-video inputs on the TV. Component-video is a high quality analog video connection that can accept high definition 1080i/p or 720p, or standard definition 480i/p. Component-video connections require three separate RCA jacks.
Component/Composite-video shared inputs Component/Composite-video shared inputs Component/Composite-video shared inputs (total/aux). One of the three component video input RCA jacks doubles as a composite-video input. This means you can only plug in one type or the other at any given time.
Composite-video Composite-video Number of composite-video inputs on the TV. A composite video signal is analog, and carries standard definition (480i) video only, no audio. Composite is often used to connect older equipment like a VCR, or older camera and camcorder models, to your TV.
USB port USB port USB port lets you connect a flash drive for playback of multimedia content such as videos, photos, and music.
VGA input VGA input VGA (Video Graphics Array) connector is essentially a standard connection for video on computers and monitors, and becoming less common on high-definition TVs, in favor of an HDMI connection. This type of input is no longer available on most TVs.
Ethernet port Ethernet port Ethernet is the common wired network connection that allows TVs to access to the Internet. TVs with an Ethernet port typically have WiFi capability as well, but a wired connection is generally considered more reliable.
Digital-audio output Digital-audio output The TV comes with either a coaxial or optical digital-audio output to let you route the audio soundtrack to an external receiver. The receiver thus splits apart the soundtrack for distribution to various speakers in the room.
Headphone jack (3.5mm audio jack) Headphone jack (3.5mm audio jack) When you want to watch TV without disturbing others, a headphone jack (usually on the front or side of the set) lets you plug in headphones via a stereo mini jack. You are more likely to find this feature on smaller screen TVs.
Other connections Other connections Other connections not mentioned above.
Frame rate (Hz) Frame rate Frame rate indicates the manufacturer's claim of how often a TV refreshes its picture in a second.
WiFi WiFi Allows your TV to connect to the Internet or to a home network without the use of a wired Ethernet connection.
Streaming services Streaming services Streaming video services
Netflix, Amazon, Hulu Plus, Vudu, YouTube, HBO Go
Web browser Web browser Offers full web browsing capability.
DLNA-certified DLNA-certified DLNA-enabled devices can send digitally stored content like music, pictures, and videos over a home network connection--wireless or wired--from a storage device to a player, display, or another storage device. The devices can include a computer, TV, DVR, set-top box, printer, and cell phone.
Number of 3D glasses included Number of 3D glasses included The number of special 3D eyeglasses included with the 3D TV. Some 3D TVs omit this item to control costs. Some 3D Blu-ray players may include these glasses. Retailers may offer a "3D TV + Blu-ray" bundle that also includes the glasses. All of the 3DTVs in our Ratings require the viewer to don special eyeglasses. So-called "active" 3D sets, which require "active" battery-powered LCD shutter glasses, may come with one or more pairs, or none. Additional pairs generally cost from $50 to $150 each. Most so-called "passive" 3D TVs come with four pairs of passive polarized glasses, much like the ones used in theaters, which don't require batteries. Additional sets cost from $10 to $30 each. You cannot use passive glasses with 3DTV that requires active glasses, and vice-versa. You also generally cannot mix active 3D glasses from one brand of TV with another's, though TVs made in 2012 and later may share glasses. (Passive 3D glasses can be used interchangeably with any passive 3D TVs.) There are some "universal" active 3D glasses you can buy as an after-market item .
3D type 3D type 3D TVs use either "Passive" or "Active" technology to present 3D. Passive type TVs typically have a brighter picture but reduced image resolution (except on UHD TVs). Active systems typically present 3D at full screen resolution but image brightness is lower than when viewing programs in regular 2D. Active 3D TVs now use very light weight 3D glasses, comparable to those for Passive TVs.
3D-capable 3D-capable A 3D-capable display can -- when fed a proper 3D signal and used with other required 3D equipment, such as 3D glasses--provide a strong illusion of three-dimensionality. When in the 3D mode, the TV displays double images, which are resolved into a single 3D image when viewed using the 3D glasses, which sync to the TV. A 3D TV operates as a standard HDTV when presented with normal 2D programs, which are viewed without glasses. Due to recent standards, active 3D glasses made for one manufacturer's TV may work with another brand TV. Some 3D TVs may come with several sets of 3D glasses, while others may come with none. To view prerecorded 3D movies, you'll need a 3D-capable Blu-ray player. Some settop boxes from cable and satellite companies are also capable of sending a 3D signal to the TV, though the resolution is less than that provided by a 3D Blu-ray player.
Model year Model year Year of this TV model's introduction
Native resolution Native resolution Applies to "fixed-pixel" display types such as LCD (LED), OLED. Native resolution is expressed in horizontal by vertical pixels (for example: 1920x1080 for an HD display).
Overall height (in.) Overall height The height of the TV in inches, rounded up to the nearest 0.25-inch. Dimensions include the base and detachable speakers, important if you plan to place the TV on a stand or in an entertainment center. See "Panel size without base" if you plan to wall-mount only the display.
Overall width (in.) Overall width The width of the TV in inches, rounded up to the nearest 0.25-inch. Dimensions include the base and detachable speakers, important if you plan to place the TV on a stand or in an entertainment center. See "Panel size without base" if you plan to wall-mount only the display.
Overall depth (in.) Overall depth The depth of the TV in inches, rounded up to the nearest 0.25-inch. Dimensions include the base and detachable speakers, important if you plan to place the TV on a stand or in an entertainment center. See "Panel size without base" if you plan to wall-mount only the display.
Screen shape (aspect ratio) Screen shape (aspect ratio) The screen shape, or aspect ratio, is the proportion of a TV screen's width to its height. Current HD and UHD TVs have a wide, “16:9” aspect ratio, unlike older tube TVs screens with an aspect ratio of "4:3," giving them a squarish shape.
Digital Tuner (Off-air ATSC and Cable QAM) Digital Tuner (Off-air ATSC and Cable QAM) An ATSC tuner can receive free over-the-air local broadcast digital signals, which may include high-definition widescreen images and multi-channel sound. All HDTVs and Ultra HD TVs have a built-in ATSC tuner that only require a VHF/UHF indoor or a roof antenna to receive the broadcast networks' high-definition (HD), or standard-definition (SD) program offerings. You must be close enough to a station transmitter, with few obstructions blocking the signal, in order for the TV to pick up the channels. Also note that you won't get any of the premium channels typically offered only on cable or satellite.
Panel size without base HxWxD (in.) Panel size without base HxWxD For flat-panel LCD and OLED sets, dimensions are for the display panel only, not including the base and detachable speakers, rounded up to the nearest 0.25-inch; also see "Overall height (in.)", "Overall width (in.)", and "Overall depth (in.)".
32.9 x 56.9 x 1.8
Weight including base (lb.) Weight including base How much the television weighs (in pounds).
Warranty (months): parts/labor Warranty (months): parts/labor The length of time the product is covered by its manufacturer for defects or repairs. Warranty coverage is often divided into parts and labor. Twelve months for both is typical.
Warranty (months): parts/labor/in-home Warranty (months): parts/labor/in-home The length of time the product is covered by its manufacturer for defects or repairs. Warranty coverage is often divided into parts and labor. Twelve months for both is typical. With an in-home warranty, a technician comes to your home to service the set when you have a problem -- of particular importance with heavy or wall-mounted sets.
12/12/Not Stated
Screen finish Screen finish The reflectivity of the display's surface. A screen with a mirror-like, or glossy finish may introduce distracting reflections from nearby lighting or windows. A matte screen is better for reducing glare in rooms with many lights, but these are not typically found on displays larger than 32".
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Home > Archives for North East
Archives for North East
Balloon dogs, bottles and a slinky light up Durham
Lumiere 2019, Durham’s festival of light, will feature 37 artworks across the city, with a mix of interactive, playful and bold creations…
A Haunted Existence tours the UK
Tom Marshman’s true life show, A Haunted Existence, about a West Country town rocked by homophobia in the 1950s, will tour the UK…
Thought-provoking theatre about the absurdity of borders
An outrageous Brechtian parable, highlighting the absurdity of borders, will tour to theatres and engage audiences across the country in an urgent national conversation…
The UK’s first coast to coast canoe trail launches this month, with a fortnight of celebrations organised by the Canal & River Trust…
A summer of fun at Beamish
Solve age-old crimes, learn traditional skills and take part in Home Guard drills as Beamish, The Living Museum of the North, enjoys a Summer of Fun…
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing
This weekend, why not celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with one of these fun and quirky events?
Get some brass this summer
This weekend two brass band festivals will be taking place. Head to Ironbridge for a mix of scenery and sounds, or to County Durham for performances from lively street bands…
Tattoos and time travel at May’s Museums at Night
This month, museums and galleries up and down the country will be staying open late to host some fun and unusual events, for both adults and families…
Quack doctors and fire eaters at Georgian Fair
The Squire of Pockerley is inviting visitors to join him this weekend at Beamish, for all fun of the Georgian Fair…
A multi-disciplinary performance about growing up
Actor, rapper, singer and rising star Kema Sikazwe, also known as Kema Kay, will make his stage debut in Shine this May…
Beamish Museum’s equine extravaganza
Trot along to Beamish, The Living Museum of the North, for their Horses at Work event this weekend, with pit ponies, carriage horses and heavy horses…
Traditional crafts, dance and music in Morpeth
Morpeth will be welcoming visitors to the town as they showcase Northumberland’s traditions in their annual festival of music, dance, craft and dialect…
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Movies: SOLARIS (2002) Explained
Steven Soderbergh’s SOLARIS (2002) is a challenging film. It doesn’t repeat its answers time and time again. It allows you to make up your mind. It mostly takes place in the characters’ heads.
Yes, it’s a pretentious art film. It’s a gratuitously self-indulgent piece of cinema that’s not nearly as profound at it may think it is. It’s under-plotted, bloated and would have made a better 30-minutes TWILIGHT ZONE episode than a feature film.
But wait! It’s also a fine true Science Fiction movie. By putting very human characters in extreme situations caused by an unknown, but rational (?) entity, SOLARIS is able to study human emotions. In an age where cinema-SF has become nearly synonymous with fancy special effects and overblown action sequences, that’s rare and maybe even important.
But there’s no denying that some hints may be required in order to appreciate the film jut a little bit more. If you can tolerate a few paragraphs of random rambling, keep on reading, because I’ll share my own take on the film, and maybe -hopefully!- help you along the way.
Oh, yes: SPOILERS follow. Do not read if you haven’t seen the film.
Let’s take a look at the story, stripped down to its bare essentials and very roughly re-arranged in chronological order:
Solaris is discovered
Psychologist Chris Kelvin (George Clooney) sees Rheya (Natascha McElhone) on the train and then meets her at a party.
Chris and Rheya live together; she initially refuses marriage, discovers she’s pregnant, has an abortion. He doesn’t react well, blames her lack of commitment and storms out of their apartment. She commits suicide. He comes back and discovers her, dead, clutching his favourite poem.
Years pass.
Around Solaris, the scientists orbiting the planet in the space station start seeing… things. Phantoms from their pasts appear on the station, re-created by Solaris. The phantoms are usually people (alive or dead) that the scientists long to talk to.
This, naturally, causes people some discomfort. Some try to kill their Phantoms. Some succeed, but are further driven insane when the Phantoms come back to life. Others, like Jeremy Davies’ Snow, are less successful and are killed by their Phantoms in self-defence.
Some soldiers/investigators are sent to Solaris by The Company in order to help, but are plagued by the same Phantoms. All (!) commit suicide.
The leader of the expedition, Gibarian, makes a desperate plea for help to his old friend Chris.
One researcher on the station, Helen Gordon (Viola Davis) discovers a way to destroy Phantoms.
A grieving Chris receives the plea and embarks for Solaris.
Upon his arrival, he discovers that Snow is spaced out (he doesn’t realize that Snow is a Phantom, and so his puzzled “I don’t know” are in fact genuine memory blanks) and that Gordon is locked in her room.
He also sees a boy running around. The boy evades him when he attempts to pursue. Is it Gibarian’s child or a re-creation of the child he would have had with Rheya had she kept it? You pick. The story probably makes more sense (but not that much) with the second interpretation.
Not much progress is made until Chris sleeps. While he does that, the planet reads his memory of Rheya and re-creates her.
He freaks out, lures her in a lifeboat and sends the lifeboat away from the station.
He goes back to sleep, and once again Solaris re-creates Rheya.
This time, though, he’s a bit calmer. Alas, Phantom-Rheya comes to realize that she is a simulacrum of his memories of her. She literally cannot remember her own past, and when she does it’s as if she’s not there (because he was watching her and remembers the events from his perspective)
Gordon wants to destroy Rheya, hypothesizes that they may end up carrying the Phantoms back on Earth if they don’t kill her. Chris, becoming more and more attached to Phantom-Rheya, doesn’t agree. Gordon argues that even if Chris doesn’t want to, Rheya will come to him while he sleeps. Chris vows to never sleep again.
Gordon reveals to Phantom-Rheya that she wasn’t the first and that Chris sent the first one away.
Rheya, driven nuts by the knowledge that she is a re-creation, tries to commit suicide by drinking liquid oxygen. (It could be argued that Chris’ recollection of her as a suicidal woman doesn’t help the re-creation think of better ways to deal with her problem. Then again, an awful lot of people try to kill themselves in this film.)
Her attempt fails. Everyone aboard the station sees her come back to life, demonstrating the resilience of all Phantoms.
Chris falls asleep (after gulping down some pills; this may have been a suicide attempt or just a few extra-strong sleeping pills. In light of what happens later, it doesn’t matter one way or the other), has seriously bad dreams (sees multiple versions of Rheya, the child again), is visited by Gibarian (another Phantom, presumably) and upon waking up discovers that Phantom-Rheya went to Gordon in order to ask to be destroyed, which Gordon did with some satisfaction.
They discover that Snow is in fact Phantom-Snow, who killed Human-Snow in self-defence whenever the original tried to attack him when he appeared
Phantom-Snow points out that Solaris is getting bigger every time the Phantom-destroyer is used (insert techno-babble here as to why this is so. Maybe Solaris is angry at the destruction of its Phantoms), and that the station will soon crash down on the planet. He recommends evacuation.
Chris and Gordon go to the last remaining shuttle. Gordon enters and starts the engines. Chris stays at the doorway.
What follows is a dream/predictive sequence: Chris sees himself back on planet Earth, but as a Phantom who has to re-learn everything in his life and deal with his grief over Rheya all over again. (Whether he is now truly a Phantom is a matter of interpretation, but I think it make more sense and has more poignancy, if he’s still the Human-Chris imagining himself as a Phantom-Chris.) Thought to ponder: Was this reverie Chris’ own, or was it caused by Solaris in an attempt to “keep” Chris? Or maybe even Rehya’s memory acting through Solaris? (Note: Maybe there is no dream sequence and this happens right before the last bullet of this list, in between his acceptance of Solaris and his last meeting with Rheya.)
He shuts down the door to the shuttle and decides to remain aboard the station as it crashes down on Solaris. Self-sacrifice out of guilt for not remembering Rheya “right”? Maybe. But then again, have I mentioned how many people kill themselves at the slightest excuse in this film?
Gordon leaves, presumably to return in the sequel. (I’m kidding!)
The station crashes into the expanding planet. Solaris “reaches out” to Chris (though the boy Phantom), who accepts.
Then the film slides well into transcendental mode, as Chris and Rheya meet again, this time forever happy. Life after death? Solaris triumphant, keeping Chris’ mind occupied like a little pet? Your particular take is as good as mine. I prefer “Screenwriter’s idea of a perfectly weepy ending”, much like the one in TITANIC. Naturally, some will argue that this ending, in fact, is merely Chris’ ultimate retreat from reality, him choosing to live his grief over and over again with whatever Rheya-substitute he can get. Any interpretation (just pick one randomly) should keep you busy the next time you want to argue with another cinephile.
[November 2006: Update! An anonymous correspondent writes to suggest…
I don’t think you got the ending w/ Chris quite right. He had a realization that there was (in fa
ct) a picture in his house. Reya very clearly mentioned that there were no pictures. This revealed to him the possibility of the nature of the being, Reya. If she was only a creation created from Chris’ mind, the memories she had would have to be the same as Chris’, but they were not. He had a glimmer of hope that she was indeed more than just a mere memory and stayed on the ship. You can extrapolate considerably from this.
Hmm, promising! I haven’t yet had time to verify this interpretation, but this would be a fascinating wrinkle to the ending.]
[January 2007: I still haven’t had the time to return to the film, but UK cinephile Dan wrote in to remind me of the thematic links between Chris’s favourite poem, Dylan Thomas’ “And Death Shall Have no Dominion“, and the ending of the film. If nothing else, the link highlights SOLARIS’ thematic exploration of love after death. Chris ends up getting what he most clearly wished for, regardless of the other consequences. True love through death, maybe.]
[March 2008: Jessica writes to add “I could be wrong, but I think that you may have misunderstood Phantom-Snow’s explanation at the end of the film. My understanding is that Solaris did not actually get physically bigger; it only looked that way because the space station had drifted closer to it. According the Phantom-Snow, because Dr.Gordon’s Higgs (Phantom destroying)device used so much power it drained the ship’s battery/power cells, and so the ship was unable to resist Solaris’ gravitational pull. That is why Gordon has to leave right away; the ship only has enough power to send one of the escape pods back to Earth.”]
[December 2009: Nate writes to add: “The ending to Solaris is pretty clear if you follow the literary cues throughout the film. At the dinner party they discuss the idea of God and Rhea (named after the Greek Goddess, the “mother of the Gods”) becomes upset with his atheism, apropos the concept of the afterlife. It is clear that he is swallowed up by Solaris, but they don’t imply that he “died”. The entire movie is in a suspension, a purgatory. Assuming that the last part is part of the afterlife only fits in with the grander stage of the metaphor. He couldn’t resolve his relationship with Rhea on Earth or purgatory (the land of ghosts) because Rhea outside of Solaris was nothing but a facsimile of her essence based on his perception. Assuming Solaris is a metaphor for a platonic God, which is suggested many times, there are mentions of its omniscience, Rhea inside Solaris would be the quintessence of Rhea. The last scene is the afterlife, they will live forever (the cut finger heals). Stanislov Lem is known for his philosophical and existential theories, and this is very apparent in Solaris. When seen through this tradition, the story is actually quite elegant, literal and succinct.”]
Despite the jumbled nature of the synopsis, I think that’s pretty much it. Keep in mind that this film doesn’t have to make perfect sense: It’s more of a psychological-experimental fable than a hard-tech story. It’s no accident if all we get to see of Earth are a few blurry rainy shots: the impression created stands outside of time and pure realism. Oh, and do remember once again that Soderbergh was in his arty-trippy mode when he did this film.
I’ll end up on a note on the book/movie differences: A plot point that got lost in the adaptation is that Solaris, the ocean/planet is intelligent and may in fact try to communicate with the scientists by the use of those “Phantoms”. I don’t think it adds much, though, to consider this explanation given that SOLARIS (2002) is more or less self-consistent without it. Be advised that reading the book in order to have the film explained to you may result in even greater confusion.
There are still a lot of plot holes, naturally. (I just thought of a few just writing the above, most notably about Phantom-Snow’s incomplete memories and Gordon’s reactions.)
There’s a wealth of symbolic layering in this film (Is it about religion? What about the lock Rheya was holding on the train? Was it a symbol of a mystery he must unlock? [*] etc.), but that type of thing may be be left to better writers and more patient commentators. In the meantime, I’m sufficiently satisfied by the above. SOLARIS is obviously not an audience-friendly film, but on the other hand, it exemplifies a whole lot of what “real science-fiction” is all about. Please be kind to it.
[*]: About the lock: The Soderbergh/Cameron DVD audio commentary is vague about most of the film’s plot, but it does clear up the lock “symbolism”: Soderbergh needed the actress to hold something in her hands, and the lock was the most intriguing prop they could find. Nothing to see here; all symbolism is viewer-supplied!
68 thoughts on “Movies: SOLARIS (2002) Explained”
Did you miss the part where phantom Rheya tells Chris maybe they could somehow be together and happy, but not on earth, and not not on that ship? This is why he stayed behind. He figured out he could hopefully join her on Solaris. And he seemed to realise she wasn’t really Rheya, but still loved her. So I don’t believe he tried to kill himself and then ended up in some hallucination on Solaris. I think he either really joined the phantom Rheya, or the pergatory/afterlife is plausible as well, as that crossed my mind on first viewing. But I so far prefer considering it a happy ending, that he reached another level of existence on Solaris.
John Bruno says:
The link is clear, Solaris is God. The movie touches on a very basic Human desire, the do over. Chris regretted not being there for his wife, and Solaris gives him that chance. Back at his apartment, Rheya appears, and she says, all is forgiven, and the do over is validated. Who but GOD can forgive sins?
She said she loved him in the suicide video, thus Chris decided to take his chances to see her again. He said he was alone on Earth for three years without her; he was extremely devoted, and wanted to marry and have children with her. When she was acting so against marriage, I thought it was because she was diagnosed with a terminal illness and was hiding it. Perhaps the pills taken in the movie were anti-depressants, as Chris instructed even the phantom Rheya to take them. He would not have had anti-depressants on the ship if he did not get a prescription for them after her death, and I think he took them to try to stay awake when she was trying to get zapped.
Malcolm says:
So there are other possible explanations to the ending…
What if the guy standing outside the pod is not the real thing? He’s a replicant, sorry, phantom and he just realised it when he hears the ‘voices’ from the cockpit…
then maybe he died with the red pills? So if this is the case, who dreamed him? Perhaps it was Rheya?
He cuts his finger and it heals, just like a phantom…
Maybe the earth him is real and the Solaris him is invited back to the fold by the kid?
Just sayin’ !
My take on the entire story was that it was a meditation on existence and that our lives are the sum of choices we make. The entire story is told through the perspective of Kris Kelvin.
Something conscious on Solaris was able to reach inside the consciousness of the people on-board the space station Prometheus and contact them in a way that was both profound and disturbing.
By reaching into the emotional imprints left behind by loss and other significant moments in their lives, the crew experienced physical manifestations of these losses or fears or whatever they each experienced as a means of contact by the (as we understand it) conscious entity on the planet.
Perhaps this is the only way in which Solaris can communicate in a way that has any reference or meaning to the humans on-board the station. However, the result of these manifestations is beyond the humans comprehension, except, perhaps for Gibarian, who directly beckons Kelvin to come to Solaris, because – we assume – that he believes it will provide Chris – perhaps singularly – what he seeks – a chance for redemption.
Gibarian – after his son manifests on the station, kills himself for reasons that aren’t clear. Perhaps he was unable to come to terms with what he was experiencing. Or perhaps he chooses to end his life holding on to the memory of his dead son rather than replacing him with the newly manifested version, which he also desperately wants to hold on to. The why is left unanswered.
However, Gibarian’s comment to Kris when he’s dreaming that, “there are no answers, only choices” – I believe is – actually Kris processing what he is experiencing in his subconscious mind through a dialog with his dead friend Gibarian – symbolized by Gibarian’s request to leave the light off.
Gibarian, for his own reasons, chose to end his life with the memory – albeit painful – of his dead son intact – leaving the simulacrum behind.
Gordon and Snow have two different perspectives. Gordon has manifested something terrible (alluded to by sounds of violence in her quarters) and yet somehow she can’t stop its return when she kills it. So her goal is to make it disappear completely by using the Higgs-Boson device and then returning to Earth before “it” can return.
Snow, of course, being the simulacrum of his twin, is putting together his own existence as the story develops. Since we don’t know the purpose of Snow’s manifestation, all we can do is watch him come to the conclusion that he too must stay on-board the Prometheus as it is enveloped by Solaris – we assume – to go back to whence he came.
So, in the end, as Kris decides to stay, it is then that Solaris truly succeeds in it’s attempt to make the human connection. And represented by Gibarian’s son’s outreached hand, Kris’ consciousness is absorbed or transferred or whatever you want to call it into a plane of existence where he and Rhea can exist free of the fear, grief and loss that defined him.
That’s my take anyway.
Philip T says:
Wes that is some seriously articulate pontification. Respect!
Yes Wes. You are able to explain what I believed. He is now “living” on Solaris and has come to terms with his past. What I find interesting, what will humans on earth do with their information about Solaris from Gibson? Go back? Stay away? What would you do?
Vc says:
I like your take. I felt connected to it.
I think Solaris was attempting to get the people on the space station to deal with baggage they carried around. Guilt, loss, loneliness, despair, heartache. I’d like to think that Solaris saw the ability of the organism on the space station to “evolve” was being “retarded” by their emotional baggage they carried. Like any good “shrink”, you bring it out, you look at it, and you talk about it, until it no longer can hurt you. And just as our emotions are pretty messy, our ways of dealing with them are just as bad. As you saw in the movie, Solaris gave them the ability to finally deal with the issue, by bringing their pain to a state of reality. Thereby forcing them to deal with it. And as you can see, each chose a different path. Choice.
lt says:
I like this one the best!
Okay I can totally relate to this interpretation! 🙂 Really, it is quite an interesting view on the movie, each one of the characters had the possibility to deal with the situation, but they all had different ways of dealing with it… just like people dealing with their psychological problems everyday – it’s either pushing them away or killing them, or they might kill you… (metaphorically speaking), or truly standing up and working out the problem … and that is why there are no answers, just choices!
I think you may have it wrong with the finger cutting thing. If you remember, Rheya asks him how he got the scar on his finger and he said he cut himself while making food, they exact same scene when he is standing in the pod door. I think when he is thinking that, that it is a memory of right after rheyas death. So not a phantom version of him, and he didn’t kill himself with the pills.
Interesting movie. The reason I ended up here though was because I could not explain why snow’s phantom was himself. I figured the planet detected unhappiness in each character and thus presented the phantom that would most likely address this (I.e., Chris and Rhea). But one snow killing another snow combined with one snow being the person the other snow would most want to see left me very confused. Though maybe I am just confused. 😉
snow(fake snow) said his visitor was his brother right? maybe some sorta twin brother !!!
…also what happened to the security team? And who was the female physicist’s phantom?
Lac says:
Yea! I was wondering about that too! We never had it clarified. She herself may be a phantom wanting to come to Earth.
There’s no where, that I can tell, an indication as to who Gordon’s phantom was? Does any one have any thoughts as to who it was? The loud bangs coming from her room are meant to indicate that she’s got something in there. But I can’t think of who!
Maybe that was the real Gordon and the one in the movie all along was the phantom. That would be a sick twist!
The ending where he outstretched his hand to the kid parallels the Michelangelo painting of Adam reaching out to God. Except in the movie man actually reaches God and he ends up in the afterlife. That’s what I got from watching it for the first time there.
A favorite movie. Rheya is the woman we could not live with, yet whom we loved and cannot get out of our mind. Solaris is sentient. Solaris responds to the seeking of resolution in each character’s mind. Solaris is compassionate. Solaris is here to serve. Would we really benefit from what we think we should have done, instead of what we did, or what actually happened? Are some things, even the things that haunt us, best left alone?
When Kevin enters the space station he finds Gibarian’s body and a second body. In Lem’s original story it was a nubile black woman, of Gibarian’s making. Dr. Gordon’s creation was her drug addicted daughter (not shown in this movie). In the original story and in the earlier Russian film by Tarkovsky, at the end the main character finds himself in the home of his long dead father after being assimilated by Solaris. In the current American version he finds himself in a simulated earth living with Rheya. He cuts his finger but it heals, defying the laws of physics, a synthetic world that seems real, yet it is an intricate simluation like the film The Thirteenth Floor, and Vanilla Sky. Seems to be saying like Cipher in the Marrix, I prefer to live in a dream existence to living in the real world if I had a choice, the fork in the road I didn’t take.
Brad Zimmerman says:
I have loved this movie since I first saw it in theatres. There are multiple understandings and interpretations of this version of the story created by Lem. His original explanation of the story was to create a story that deals with humans and an inhuman concept or a concept beyond human understanding or imagining. I love the 73 version and this one for different reasons but the 2001 version and the other versions including the book are all dealing with an alien or at least an unknown intelligence which has inhuman or unknown reasoning or logic when it interacts with humans. I always took the idea from all of them that ethics and morals were not a factor for its motivation or that motivation was even a factor when the unknown entity or presence had interaction through its phantoms with humans. In the end scene and throughout the 2001 version, the physical shape and general look of the unknown entity changes based upon the interaction it has with kelvin specifically and had not changed previously with any of the other characters or assumably the other dead characters as well. Yet the very last scene shows specifically the planet or entity has changed permanently or at least for a longer time than previously recorded by the crew and earth observers. Therefore it’s has always been my postulation that the planet(entity) had not ever established or made a connection that it understood on its communication level or within its conceptual potential up until that point. At least not enough to show a real or reality based sign that can be seen on a human level. But in the end…the one person or the one memory or experience or the one concept that it related to or wants to or can relate to is the either the feeling kelvin has for his wife or the concept that kelvin has for his former wife. It’s the feeling or concept of longing for something gone or possibly something else not understood in that experience(memory) kelvin has that the entity latched onto. I loved the movie because I always felt or wanted to think it was the idea of an alien falling in love with another alien(foreigner) based on a lack of communication ability and the love arising from a shared understanding of a common or learned concept whatever that concept or idea was may never be known to the audience perfectly but it was always to me a love story of a human and an alien. The attraction for either being was something obviously appealing to both at some level in their own potential for understanding. In the end though I want to believe the planet or entity did not understand or connect with anyone else because their thoughts and prominent motivation were selfish and not conducive to having a connection to other beings outside themselves. Kelvins motives and thoughts were of his love or a being outside himself. Anyways the last scene is of Solaris…but I always see it has having changed permanently because of Kelvin and his understanding of love or connection that Solaris has now. Whether kelvin is alive permanently inside of Solaris I don’t know but I always liked the idea of it. An alien falling in love with a alien but not for the exact same reasons. But love is still love. A connection.
Alan R. says:
Hmmm… I didn’t read all the replies but I get the feeling none of you really got this film. The main character never left earth. Everything after he gets grabbed by the ‘guys in white’ is all in his mind. He has basically lost his mind due to the death of his lover and can’t cope. So he creates this story in his mind of going to this space station. You can tell all the the people on the space station are parts of his own mind. He has to make a decision whether to let go of his love and move on with his life or hang on to it and lose his mind. Everything is a struggle to be sane again.
Have you read the book? I get the feeling you didn’t.
Christian Sauvé says:
Read it twenty years ago. I may have forgotten a few bits.
Ziben says:
I simply LOVE this movie.
Buh Berto says:
Rainy day Jan 18 2017.
Finally saw this movie and as I first thought when it came out.
It’s lame.
Coulda watched Goodtimes reruns.
Michael John Dooner says:
This is about the definition of humanity. Can it be copied, can it be studied, dissected and recreated in all it’s true forms regardless of physical damage and death. This film is a testament to affirmation of continuation! That our loved ones are always with us and in this scientific experiment the proof is real and tangible but entangled with a new definition of what it means to be human.
Charles Blanchard says:
I don’t know if this is still functional, but here I go …
I see one major theme running through this … that Solaris is trying to understand this new element that orbits it, a new element that is not itself. A sentient, world-like organism with the abilities it apparently possesses, very likely created the ‘phantoms’ to interact with those aboard and learn to understand them. But it was the human reaction, the fear, that caused a problem for them all.
Had they used the opportunity to communicate more with their ‘phantoms’, they might’ve slowly developed a better understanding of what Solaris was about … maybe. But a being of that magnitude would be mostly incomprehensible to us.
In the end, I believe, and I could be wrong, that it was Chris’ love and longing for Rheya and his guilt as well, that ‘encouraged’ Solaris to ‘invite’ him down. The nature of this ‘recreation’ is subject to debate, as is most of the book and both movies. But this would provide Solaris a human to study, for an indefinite period of time.
Also, I like the idea stated earlier that Gordon was actually a phantom, too, thus was going back to Earth, likely to study humans from that perspective, too. This would allow it two environments in which to study humans, to work to understand them.
Wesley Parish says:
One pointer that occurs very early in the film that no one seems to have noticed, is when Gibarian appears on a screen and says words to the effect that we say we’re looking for something alien, something foreign to our experience, but we’re actually looking for a duplicate of everything we already know.
That is the central theme of Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris. I was hoping for more mention of it during the film, but no, it got lost in the muddle.
Solaris is a planet that orbits a binary. It has developed its own “intelligence”, whatever that may mean to a planet-spanning protoplasmic ocean with powers that appear supernatural.
How is such an entity to communicate with bipedal pack animals? The phantoms are the answer the book suggests. Though the communication is far from obvious. What is the ocean saying?
As it happens, the novel lends itself to movie adaptions that attempt to extend the philisophical speculation this engenders ….
Cameron Michaels says:
I believe Solaris represents a manifestation of the all-mighty Spirit. Kris asks, “Am I alive or dead.” Rheya answers, “We don’t have to think like that anymore. Were together now. Everything we’ve done is forgiven… everything.” Rheya is affirming that redemption is possible. I love a happy ending.
Toby Hechanova III says:
I’ll give my own take of the movie, some of what is said here is same as how I understood SOLARIS but not quite. I think there are some scenes that are really important in understanding the movie which I think hasn’t been discussed or at least given much importance here. I did try to read every single one of the comments but I did just skim through some of them. So here goes:
In order to understand the movie there are some scenes or plot devices that are very important to remember:
-The dinner date where a bunch of Kelvin’s colleagues (scientists) discuss about how God is just a creation (dreamed up) of man and that man gives manly attributes to this GOD. Meanwhile Rheya essentially argues that there is a GOD and that GOD is just a higher intelligence, and by higher she means something that humans will not ever understand. Kelvin’s colleagues shuts her down and Gibarian in that dinner tells that humans essentially ascribe human characteristics to SOMETHING THAT ISN’T HUMAN.
– The recurring poem by Dylan Thomas, particularly the one line that says “And death shall have no dominion.”
– What Rheya said to Kelvin in the end that they are not to think of themselves as either alive or dead and that “Everything we’ve done is forgiven.”
-How Kelvin near the end reaches out to the child’s hand, alluding to Michaelangelo’s painting of how Adam reaches out to GOD.
To understand the movie we can always go back to the dinner date. Everything that happens in the movie in some way or another tries to resolve the argument that Rheya had with Kelvin and his colleagues.
Solaris is in fact GOD , a HIGHER INTELLIGENCE. Kelvin’s colleagues in the dinner date said that there is no GOD , for GOD is just something conjured up by the human mind with human characteristics, even with human limits. How ironic and poetic
that in the movie the team of scientists headed by Gibarian is here presented in front of them an entity that is not human, with godlike powers, something which would in their own logic in the dinner would fit the bill of GOD – yet still they didn’t understand. That’s the paradox. No matter how intelligent a human gets, this human when coming face to face with GOD will never understand what it is he is seeing, because he is just human, and GOD is of an intelligence higher than human. As Rheya correctly said in the dinner, GOD can only be described as a higher intelligence, something no one will ever understand. That is why we are never really given any appreciable description of what SOLARIS is in the movie, because how can Steven Soderbergh describe GOD? How can the writer-director describe something which in the movie is conveyed as something indescribable and unknowable?
There is no denying that in the movie God/Solaris is being connected to the Christian God. I think this choice was made because well most of the audience for the movie are of course Christians. It’s just easier to convey the message that way. Therefore I am going to connect parts of the movie to established Christian ideas. Knowing this we can go on and process the other parts of the movie and see that it supports the idea that SOLARIS is in fact GOD.
-The recurring poem, tells that “…death shall have no dominion.”. Who else defeats death but God himself, particularly the Christian God where it is written in the christian scripture that God has conquered death through Christ’s resurrection.
-When Kelvin reached and held the boys outstretched hand, that meant he accepted SOLARIS/GOD, in contrast others before him never did accept SOLARIS. The others before him being atheists were so consumed by the reality they know that in fact it did consume them, Gibarian killed himself, Snow tried to kill his phantom but got killed by his phantom instead, Gordon wanted humans to win. In the end Kelvin had FAITH that the phantoms are not just some facsimile, that there was something of Rheya in his phantom. Kelvin had faith of what GOD/SOLARIS had to offer and there he accepted GOD/SOLARIS.
-When Kelvin saw Rheya in his apartment in the ending, she said that everything they have done was FORGIVEN, an allusion to sins being forgiven thus they are accepted into heaven. Then in this apartment when Kelvin cut himself, the cut immediately healed further supporting that he is in a heaven of sorts. Also she said that they should neither be alive nor dead or at least no think of themselves that way, therefore wherever they were then was an afterlife.
Why did Solaris send phantoms of loved ones? Well maybe because it was conveying the message that love can be found there in SOLARIS. Gordon was very convincing is her science-ing of the situation, the audience is even persuaded to believe and root for her, but again that is part of human folly clinging to human understanding even when faced with GOD (a higher intelligence) himself. Remember that in the bible, Christ was always talking in parables and that He said that some will hear but not understand. This is the same with the phantoms. The phantoms were the message that Solaris sent, the team of scientists, Gibarian, Gordon, Snow heard the message but did not understand.
So that’s it. This is my take on the movie. Even upon writing I was very reluctant and uneasy in using the Christian God and related ideas to explain the movie, because some of you would say that I’m a religious nut, or pontificating about the truths in the Christian religion. In fact, full disclosure I am an agnostic, and I am only going through about this objectively, connecting the dots between the movie and other source material the movie alludes to.
I have to say, after reading countless interpretations here, that YOUR explanation makes the most sense to ME. Ive watched the movie again and again and actually have it saved, and when i cannot sleep, i watch it because it has some strange comforting power over me. Its a deep and beautiful movie, and for some reason i connect with it.
Well, I am a Christian, and I am now going to watch this movie with my eyes wide open to your eloquent interpretation!
Todd S says:
Toby I think much of your explanation is right on; I had many of the same thoughts after viewing and remembering all the events. Another crazy thing to consider is what if Rheya was sent from God to interact with Kelvin? I initially thought of this after pondering the idea that Gordon was in fact a phantom (perhaps an angel?) trying to make its way to earth to study more human activity. Kelvin being a man of science like his colleagues at the dinner table appeared to share the same beliefs as them at the time. Perhaps his time spent and experiences with Rheya opened his mind to possibilities outside the scientific realm? Introducing to Kelvin that perhaps God is not just some manmade idea/fabrication and truly a higher power and intelligence thus making it possible for Kelvin to easily accept Solaris (God) in the end.
I wish there were more threads like this on the internet. Whether people agreed or disagreed these are all great comments. I came here looking for an easy explanation or interpretation as to some of the finer points in the plot of the movie. I found many insightful, well thought out points and counterpoints. While most of the interpretations are fairly similar, what surprised me the most was the tone of the thread itself. People expounded on other’s ideas, made valid counter arguments, and respected each other’s thoughts. All this while refraining from the usual escalation of vitriolic comments that end up in infantile name calling or ending up so far off topic as to lead the reader to forget what the original question was in the first place. This reminds me of what a discussion looked like in the early days of the internet, long before the proliferation of social media and the trolls associated with it. It gives me hope that there’s still some human decency left in this world, or at the very least a moderator that won’t tolerate trolling. Congratulatuons to everyone that has thus far commented on behaving like human beings. 🙂 Hopefully this isn’t the one to jinx everything lol
Yep. I think you “got it” right. Makes perfect sense. *applause
jason Kesser says:
These were easily the best comments on the internet, about almost any movie. I wish pages like this existed more often. I have faith in everybody that wrote here, whether I agreed with them or not. The one person who brought up the photograph, I’d like to know if any one else caught that, and if it actually happened. I’d have to rewatch, but can’t now. The film has driven me into a fevered thinking. I do have one suggestion though, that I didn’t see here, but it’s only a small addition. Is it possible that it isn’t Chris’ projected imagening of returning to earth, but perhaps a phantom of him returning? I don’t want to twist things further just to be more confusing, but that is what I thought was happening while watching it naively. I thought perhaps from his descriptions of being there, having to learn the ticks and habits of body language, that the whole concept of earth was foreign, and I guess in my mind, I imagined that perhaps as real Chris crashed into the planet and perished, that a replicant had appeared with Gordon. The physics of the phantoms never stated that if you destroyed one, or perhaps satisfied what you had to do with that one, that a different one didn’t try to appear. It seemed, as far as its physics, that Rheya didn’t return. Only the boy was there. I have to think that there was a permanence of Rheya being destroyed. Now of course, it wouldn’t really make sense in accordance with the above posted ideas for Solaris to “want” to return to earth. But what if it was just functioning on instinct and out of control? And by that I mean more freakish and without intention? As if it crossed quantum lines without real control or boundaries, aimlessly? Which would be possible with something that could twist the fabrics of time and quantum possibilites into reproducing things with instruction as random as a persons psychology, buried psychology at that? Perhaps it’s powers were as out of control as the person. Anyway, I guess I imagined Chris letting the doors of the ship close without him, and at the same time Gordon was getting the ship in gear, he appeared for her. And flew home with her. The true Chris perished with the ship.
I must attest this, for Snow, that had to be his twin brother. But, phantoms seem to come back at the age that they were last remembered. I’m still confused about that. If Solaris would simply create a you, if he didn’t have a twin, that’s a whole different kind of fucked up. Another thing that stuck a hot knife in me, was that we never knew what Gordon manifested. There is nothing better in science fiction than not answering a question that way. The horrors are endless. But then that question would be, did she kill it, did she contain it. “Promise me you won’t come into the room” will stay with me forever, but in retrospect. It was meaningless when she first said it. It explodes in my mind after the credits are rolling.
I think it’s divine that people postulated that the true acceptance of your phantom made a union between this consciousness and the human it was talking to. But, again, maybe it was so random, and misguided, he just happened to get lucky with his phantom, no pun intended. This film fucks my mind because it is either extraordinarily beautiful, or horrifically random, and that is the most like god Solaris could be.
(All I know is, to me this is real science fiction. And I’m thrilled that I’m totally freaked out tonight. In the 30 min between the movie ending and me writing this, and it’s 1:30 in the morning, my sleeping girlfriend sat up out of nowhere and yelled out, then was embarrassed and confused, and quickly passed out again, there were the strangest sounds outside my window, and when I came into the kitchen to research this, a refrigerator magnet flew four feet of the fridge, a minute later a clock fell off the wall, and then my phone in my pocket started to make that amber alert or silver alert sound, so loud, but when i pulled it out, there was no alert on the screen. Seriously dude. Way to make an introspective movie freaky with totally real life sound effects.)
M. L. B says:
Go to philfilms.utm.edu and IMDb.com for more commentary on this movie but if you pay attention to the part where she said there were no pictures in the apartment and in the end there is a picture it would seem that he did perish in the crash but is now living some semblance of a life created by the alien intelligence. If you pay attention to the film some mistakes are made with the alien intelligence’s imperfect representation of those that have been lost or facts about them. So it would seem that, in a more theoretical way, Solaris might be more Devil than God, by providing temptations to those within its’ reach? I don’t think we are left with a clear understanding of that reach… I am glad I finally watched this movie …I will watch it again
Devil or God, doesn’t really matter, what matters is that Kelvin was happy. He had the second chance he hoped for. So looking back if you consider happiness is found in heaven, then Kelvin in the end was in heaven and Solaris is God. There isn’t really anything to be gained with Solaris being the Devil. There are no hints for ulterior motives in Solaris’s part aside from giving Kelvin and his wife the life they really wanted. If Solaris did tempt them, instead of just sending them a kind of prophetic message, remember that the devil tempts for people to gain earthly and temporary pleasures and the long term consequence is pain and suffering. This is certainly not the case for Solaris, Kelvin and his wife longed to be where they were in the ending (apartment), and it was not temporary, their romance would find no end in Solaris.
The picture was placed on the fridge after Rhea died, and before Chris went on Solaris. This is also the same time frame that he cut his finger (before Solaris). When they show this scene, it is from his memory looking back at the time of his time of mourning. He decides to make the choice to stay on Solaris because on Earth he is “faking his life”, and if he stays, he no longer needs to mourn her death because they are together on Solaris. They are both dead, but death shall have no dominon on Solaris, only love shall dominate, as described in the poem
This is exactly why Starfleet issued General Order 7, forbidding travel to Talos IV, under penalty of death. The Federation does not fully trust telepathic sentient races (or self-aware planet/ocean/protoplasmic constructs). LoL.
I surmise that just as 99% of Homo-sapiens-sapiens are lethal to the clinging morass of their fellow human-beings so are any alien entities we, as a species, might encounter. It’s the “Law of the Petri Dish” playing out again and again; eat the thing next to you before it eats you.
Regardless, I did enjoy the (2001/2002?) movie. I found it leaning towards the artsy/philosophical genre while I gravitate more toward hard SciFi, but then I am a Telecom/Network Engineer who deals daily with absolutes – cause & effect.
Andrew Jackson says:
Mmm. So this highly intelligent professional carer decides to shove his beloved into space, on her first night back, coz it’s all a bit wierd for him. We, perhaps, should ask ourselves is this really a best practice reaction. Doesn’t this make him some sort of psychopath. She seems alive, so I’ll kill her. Nope – don’t need to think this one thru at all, i’ll just use this very expensive escape vehicle and shuv her in. Jobs a goodun. So, ok the lady returns. Is this the same lady or another version. So he gets two? Why not. 2 identical ones. … Or maybe 3, or 33. Are they only allowed one visitor? Why? Wots the rules here. This is all of us. Do any of us only have issues with one? Bring half your family in. And seven of your ex’s – alive or dead – it’s the same thing given the space time continuium bit, were all alive and dead. And Is she really there? She drinks, presumably eats, and poos That’s “there”. What was in her system when she arrived? (ok maybe earth food from the time he last SAW her). Also,I don’t buy the AI planet needs to study us, on Solaris or earth. AI would “get” animal behaviour and motivation pretty quickly, as predicted in other sci fi’s.
And the romance thing. It’s great!! Like an emotional orgasm. Nature’s method of motivating survival behaviour. We crave it. We crave bacon sandwiches. So Solaris has an interest in giving us a perpetual orgasm? Really? Why not an itchy back and a tree?
How are the two ghosts supposed to carry on with their lives? A loop system with memory blackout to prevent boredom? Or is it a parallel universe idea. All the same, but she lived.
That’s a choice is it? That would involve some sort of form with a box to tick. Or else infinate universes with all possibilities. Mmm
A planet with properties that creates out of memory doesn’t indicate a “god”, anymore than the existence of the sun, or all that we knew in years gone by. Today’s scientific discoveries are always yesterday’s magic.
And why does Solaris have to wait until you’re asleep, before it raises humans from your subconscious? A pretty specific tease? How would it differentiate between all of your strange thoughts in the warehouse of your mind? – and come up with something relatively rational, and relevant to give you a CHOICE ? Playing is it? Wouldn’t it wanna play harder?
Mmm, no, how silly of me. I don’t think it’s possible for a character to be created just from memory. Insufficient data. Too many data corruption probabilities. Thus proximity to the planet is not the issue. Not the key issue. It holds the necessary data universally. (Proximity triggers a reaction)?) – I have a totally inadequate knowledge of partical physics theory, and quantum computing science, – But as I understand it, instant universal data communication is believed to be a reality.
Correction. I’ve read some stuff today, and it seems, “universal data communication” is not necessarily believed to be a reality, at least not yet, as it were. However, entanglement, other dimensions, wormholes, who knows. Solaris presumably knows, is the premise.
… so considering all the amazing things we’re discovering about the universe today, perhaps fiction is fact in the sense that AI has been created by physics, somewhere.
(It’s life Jim, but not as we know it). … Is proximity an issue?
Or are our concepts of our “reality”, merely convenient, and the effects of AI already here.
(I say this having read inadequate amounts of Kant etc).
…And it’s not god. Because god is worshipped, as a being we imitate. As a “Father”.
I’m reluctant to let go of the purity of atheism !
Patrick James says:
Never in my life have I read so many comments about a movie. I couldn’t help it. As bewildering and confusing as this movie is, it’s that much more intriguing and fascinating. I agree with much that was said. One point not mentioned however is the main premise behind God. It’s such a given point that it is only barely touched upon at Gabarians dinner. (Supposedly) God created man. Not only did God create man but (again supposedly) God created man in his own likeness and image. If Solaris is God he/she/it would have no need to study humans. Solaris/God created humans. Gabarian committed suicide because of these Phantoms that were coming from Solaris. No God no matter what religion you believe in would toy with its own creations to the point that said creations take away the most precious thing ever created life. Which brings us back to another point sort of skipped here. Rhea had an abortion without even telling Kelvin. She even goes on to further say “I had no idea you felt this way.” Someone who has that much callous indifference towards life clearly has issues beyond simple boredom and depression. This is proven as she kills herself not 5 min after Kelvin leaves. Rhea’s suicidal nature is brought up multiple times as being a result of the way Kelvin remembered her. But Rhea was extremely troubled long before her and Kelvin got together. Hell Gabarian even says when Kelvin is staring at her “Her name is Rhea, she’s a bit tricky but I guess she’s worthwhile.”
A lot of people have said the major theme to this movie is love. Though you see it through out, I believe the story to be centered around life and death. The preciousness of life to be exact. The first thing Kelvin says to Rhea is in fact “Am I alive or dead?…” She responds “We don’t have to think that way anymore.” Above all else it is our morality that makes us human. The fact that we can die anytime (and are conscious of this) makes life the most precious thing in the entire universe. Kelvin couldnt grasp this so he shut the door and plummeted to his death. Further evident by the cut healing and the picture on the refrigerator.
Wow – amazingly enlightening discussion of a challenging, captivating work. No easy answers, of course, but I wonder again about Rhea locked in the escape pod drifting for eternity. A dead phantom gets resurrected – oddly; violently. So is Rhea phantom 1 trapped forever in a death and rebirth spiral, somehow reincorporated into the corporeal uber-Rhea, or but a plaything of Solaris to be reabsorbed as perhaps Kelvin and the station is at the end?
And while I buy the positive, progressive nature of the God/Solaris parallel, I really like the quantum-like discontinuity in the plotline, and perhaps in the Solaris decisions/reactions. Perhaps in this corner of this universe, quantum potentiality overrides probability to bring back the dead? Solaris’s true power to shape physics. Sci-Fi indeed!
its very simple everyone. She said everything is forgiven and we dont have to worry about life and death. They are in heaven!!! that’s the best explanation period. It even references it earlier on about creation and god at the dinner party. God is everything. You dont have to try to hard to understand it or turn it into science. If god is all knowing and powerful he/she created science too. The point is the ending ^^^^
David Calver says:
A film with many thought-provoking angles. For example, to what extent are we humans (or any entity trying to imitate a human) just a collection of what we remember. When people we have known die, they live on in our memories. The phantoms in the film were created from those memories, but appeared to be troubled by the fact that made them incomplete beings, being defined by a human’s memories rather than through their own. So I wonder whether the phantom’s actual experiences on the spacecraft, and their interactions with humans, could have been explored more as being a means by which the phantoms could achieve meaning in their (ie the phantoms’) existences/lives. Was this an alien intelligent being trying to understand humans by letting a part of it try to become human? If we humans encountered a much more intelligent and advanced life form in the universe, how would we communicate, let alone physically interact. These are some of the aspects of sci-fi that make it a great genre at times – exploring what it means to be human and how encountering a non-human intelligence would potentially cause us to examine what it is to be human.
Jake Becker says:
How about: The first phantom-Rhea jettisoned into space reached earth. I am no engineer just a welder but if I where to design a rescue pod I would incorporate a foolproof system that makes it impossible to endanger human cargo. It would override any programming to “get rid” of a living human being. So the rescue pod brought her safely back to earth. Maybe Kelvin was dreamed up by Rhea. It would explain her last remark to him in the movie, that everything was forgiven. And it would explain the regeneration ability of a phantom, the healing of the cut.
Just watch the special features. Its explains alot.
Dale Clark says:
What is the significance of the “bloody/mangled” door in scene 20,
when Kelvin is popping pills to avoid going to sleep?
In repeated viewings of this movie, I came to the conclusion that
Kelvin did fall asleep, at which point he was killed and replaced by
a Kelvin simulacrum.
But in viewing the commentary, it is tossed off as a “happy accident”
during ‘panning’. I don’t know what to make of that. (Not ‘panning’).
Also, I like the interpretation that Solaris is God-like. It does explain
many things. But, having read the novel, Solaris was not God-like,
just completely alien to us humans. Lem seemed strongly to make
the point that we should not expect life on other planets to be
anything like our expectations.
Each time I see this movie, I learn something new. Which makes it,
to my mind, the greatest science fiction movie to date.
Ward, Melinda says:
Wow like others have said above it was interesting to see people are still talking about this movie came out in 2002 and here it is 2018 and we’re still discussing it crazy!!!
“Forgiveness” implies a Christian theme whereby they are in the afterlife in perfectly heavenly bodies…
Brian Mays says:
I think it is one a story of one mans descent into madness because of grief and self pity in his mind due to his suicidal wife who had an abortion ie he cannot leave her or forgive himself. So everything is happening in his mind and nowhere else not even on Solaris !
Ln X says:
A lot of various interpretations but I have one based on close study of the film which is a wee-bit mindblowing.
Here it is: Solaris sent observers (entities who live in Solaris) into the recreated people to both observe through human eyes and directly experience the human condition. There’s a scene where Rheya asks Chris where she is and what is outside the window, Kelvin says that’s Solaris and Rheya goes from confusion to very knowingly saying “Oh my God, yes.”
It always struck me as odd that for there was such a radical change in character- as if there was another person speaking. Which leads me to believe that on the station there were two sentient beings within Rheya’s body: one is that of the ressurrected Rheya (the Rheya clone) who has all her memories but only places significance in those memories shared with Kelvin, the other sentient being is some kind of Solaris entity who is there to observe Chris.
On the space station we nearly always see the consciousness of the Rheya clone, a few times there are hints of the Solaris entity. Hints such as Rheya complaining about “strange thoughts” in her head- a sign of her somehow detecting the Solaris entity? Other times Rheya says things in a rather detached way- for instance she tells Chris “I love you so very much” in a very empty way both in the voice and the face. Is that the Solaris entity taking control of Rheya’s body and trying to replicate human interaction? Or when Rheya freaks out when Chris says he’s going to leave- does the Solaris entity become overwhelmed by Rheya’s painful memories of the last time Chris left her (before her suicide)?
The more bizarre sequence is the “dream” sequence, the one where Chris sees multiple versions of Rheya at one time, but just before then he dreams of Rheya looking at him directly in different environments which were significant to Chris: the subway train, his apartment, the street where she agreed to marry him. Rheya looks at him throughout in a very alien way, is this Chris seeing the Solaris entity? Then during the sequence where we see three Rheya’s at once, the third smiles knowingly at Chris- is that the Solaris entity’s way of giving Chris a slight hint about its nature and the manner in which it exists?
Also, what was Rheya doing talking to Gabarian’s kid? Well, wait for it, the kid is a guardian of Solaris one who has been watching over the whole thing and it is the kid who invites Chris to join Solaris. There’s a brief scene where the kid is clearly giving instructions to Rheya and clearly he isn’t speaking to Rheya, he’s speaking to the Solaris entity which resides in Rheya.
If you think I’m placing too much stock in the idea of there being entities, numerous sentient beings, living inside of Solaris. Then consider what Gabarian (the one who joined Solaris) said to Chris, “That’s not my son. My son is on Earth. And that’s not your wife. They’re part of Solaris. Remember that.”
Thus the ending suggests that Chris has left behind his corporeal existance and has taken the essence of the Solaris entities. Perhaps the Solaris entity occupying the Rheya clone fell in love with Chris but could not truly reciprocate in either human form or that of an observor. Perhaps Chris has fallen in love with someone else but needs that someone (the Solaris entity) to take the form of Rheya to understand this love.
Finally remember what Rheya says at the end, “We don’t have to think like that anymore. We’re together now. Everything we’ve done is forgiven. Everything.” This marks the point of Chris’ transcendence and once more suggests that there was a Solaris entity inside of the Rheya clone/replica. For the Rheya clone is dead, what we are seeing is not Chris’ idealized memories of Rheya brought to live, we’re seeing the human projection of the Solaris entity he has fallen in love with, while the Solaris entity chooses to use the image of Rheya for it has experienced profound emotions and feelings when occupying the Rheya clone’s body. Both Chris and this “Rheya” are transformed.
There is A LOT more to Solaris than meets the eye.
KAREN GOLDRICK says:
Excellent take thx
Paul Jonsson says:
“Ln X – 2019-07-15 AT 19:56”
I do like this take Ln X. Had a similar feeling, perhaps the Solaris ‘life form’ has had it’s first contact with an alien life form (humans), and perhaps grew to ‘like’ Chris in some way, and the emotions it experienced through it’s human Rheya simulation. Perhaps it knew that Chris’s human form was too fragile to continue (to live) after the space station crashed and so copied him to keep as a ‘pet’, or to study further, or even as something it ‘liked’.
Ted Miller says:
It seems my impression of Solaris is completely different than everyone else’s. Everyone seems fixated on the details, with little thought to the overall point of the movie. I’m referring to the 2001 Soderbergh version.
Solaris and the Satellite are metaphors for God and Earth. The movie is designed to make a philosophical point about our existence, which was made clear with the line: “there are no answers, only choices.” Followed by the dire message that if you keep trying to look for answers when there are none, ‘you’ll die here.’ Meaning, that if you spend your life questioning your existence rather than simply appreciating being alive you might as well be dead, because you’re missing life in the process. Free Will to choose is God’s gift to us. It’s our Choices in life that dictate who we are, what we think, experience, and our own value systems. This movie is all about making choices and there subsequent consequences. It demonstrates the effect emotions have on our choice making especially when relationships are involved. This movie explores many of the greatest emotions in life; curiosity, allegiance, obligation, fear, control, anger, depression, desperation, loss, regret and love. It even explores the ultimate choice of life and death, culminating with the main character choosing his own death over life without his wife. It’s a would-be Greek Tragedy, if not for the hope of an everlasting life in the hereafter. Unrestricted by the rules we live by now, with the line; We don’t have to think like that anymore.’
This is a fantastic Sci-Fi movie that was somehow missed by most people. Perhaps it was overshadowed by the event of 9/11. Regardless of why, it’s a shame, because it has a great message and was beautifully made with perfect dialogue, acting, music, editing and directing. It’s one of my top 10 favorites movies of all time. Please share it with others!
NoNeed says:
Nothing much to add, just glad we’re still discussing this underappreciated masterpiece in 2019.
There’s a scene I keep coming back whenever a rewatch this movie though, I don’t think anyone has touched on yet. Before we realize Snow’s a visitor, he has an exchange with Kelvin about Rheya, right after Kelvin puts her first iteration in the pod. Kelvin asks if she’s coming back, and Snow (who we later find out is a Solaris manifestation) asks “Do you want her to?”.
So this might be an off-hand comment, but it’d otherwise suggest Solaris is not in complete control of its manifestations, that it’s less of an active and more of a reactive entity.
I can’t quite piece that within any of the “actually God” theories. Dream/Phantom Gibarian also suggests Solaris doesn’t “want something”. I guess I’m more inclined toward an unmoved amoral alien entity, something we can’t quite understand, which fits what Stanislaw Lem originally intended.
Yann says:
There’s a few elements that I found important, that have not been discussed.
1) When Rhea’s “undead incarnation” first appears, she acts as though Kelvin should just be happy to see her. And she eludes any and all questions about how she got there. Which makes me think she was a healthy new version of herself (though frought with potential psychological issues), and things could have ended up really well. Kelvin was concerned with her psychological wellbeing, and I think at this point, he could have nursed her back to a healthy life.
Soon thereafter, Kelvin decides his duty is more important than his love for this strange phenomena/creature, and flushes her out the toilet.
When she returns, I think he had a second chance. But I felt like the first time he lied to Rhea/Solaris, about having flushed her, Rhea/Solaris got damaged. And it all went downhill from there. (Original sin?).
2) An interesting point that hasn’t been brought up is at the end, when Rhea seems to be speaking to Solaris. I just got a part of it: “Humans can’t understand that”.
So did she lie about being able to communicate with Solaris?
Is she just “praying” to Solaris?
What was that about?
Amazing discussion, by the way. Does indeed feel like early Internet. Respect to y’all.
Great discussion and website! I think I need to see it again to fully form my opinion. Having seen it initially, my impression was that the ‘intelligent planet’ was learning about us in a neutral, almost naive way using the replicants as an interface with something as alien to it, as it was to us. I had the impression that Chris had committed suicide and (not knowing this) decided to stay on the ship as he nothing but misery to go back to on Earth, i.e preferring death. However Solaris created a simulation of Earth for him and ‘Rheya’ using his memories of Earth, perhaps as a benign act, or perhaps to further study human behaviour. My theory was that Chris did not realise that he was himself a simulation until he cut his finger and healed instantaneously, however he was so in love with what he had come to accept as Rheya that it was ‘enough for him’ to use his quote from earlier in the film.
I found the film quite disturbing in a way, and haven’t been so interested in a film for a quite a while. I’ll try to read the book next. I understand it’s a difficult read (perhaps a flawed translation) but will persevere with it!
Sorry, to clarify, that he had either attempted suicide when he took the pills (had actually died), but thought that he’d survived, or possibly had died unwittingly, or slightly darker, been killed and ‘replaced’ as his human form would not have survived the space station’s crash into the planet…
Just an update having now read the 1961 Stanislaw Lem book that the film is based upon, and also having seen the 1972 Soviet film version of the book. I would suggest that the book is worth reading in conjunction with this 2002 film as you will be left with a much better idea of what the planet (living Ocean) is like, an entity that has defied human study for decades with it’s temporary ‘liquid computers’ (as some speculate) of impossible complexity towering kilometers into the air and leaving humans with the feeling that it’s intellect may dwarf our own, and that it is only mildly curious about us. The Soviet era film is clunky and very dated, but has a definite ‘charm’ of it’s own and captures the fear and tension among the crew better. The entities appearing would in my opinion produce a feeling of terror among humans and this is better captured in the 1972 film.
Nevertheless I think that the Soderbergh (2002) version has much better production values (naturally) allowing a greater ‘suspension of disbelief’ for the viewer, is highly atmospheric (with a superb soundtrack) and has a value of it’s own, making the viewer think carefully about what they are seeing. Overall, I would like one day to see another re-make of this story taking the best elements of both films with a little more background about the intelligent Ocean life-form on Solaris and the sense of inferiority that the scientists have after studying it for literally generations.
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Most Americans like church involvement in society, but not politics: Pew
CP Current Page: Politics | Wednesday, November 20, 2019
By Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter | Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Unsplash/Kenny Luo
While a majority of United States citizens view religious bodies as having a positive impact on society, they nevertheless believe that they should not take part in politics, according to Pew Research Center.
In a report published last Friday, Pew found that 63 percent of respondents wanted religious groups to “keep out of political matters” and 76 percent opposed churches endorsing political candidates.
The report also found that while 28 percent of respondents felt churches did not have enough influence on politics, 37 percent felt they had too much, and 34 percent felt they had “about the right amount of influence in politics.”
Pew drew their data from a survey conducted online March 18-April 1 with a nationally representative sample of 6,364 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percent.
The report also found that 55 percent of respondents believed that religion did “more good than harm” to society, versus 20 percent who believed it did “more harm than good.”
“On balance, U.S. adults have a favorable view about the role religious institutions play in American life more broadly – beyond politics,” explained Pew.
“Likewise, there are far more U.S. adults who say that religious organizations strengthen morality in society and mostly bring people together than there are who say that religious organizations weaken morality and mostly push people apart.”
Paul A. Djupe, political science professor at Denison University who often studies religious trends, took issue with the Pew report’s conclusions.
In an essay published by Religion in Public on Monday, Djupe argued that the survey question on political involvement of churches was “quite vague” and “does not tell us how strongly that position is held.”
“That is, it is possible that at least some Americans would prefer that congregations avoid political advocacy, but be involved in the political process in other ways,” wrote Djupe.
Djupe described a survey that he conducted with Ryan Burge, professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, which touched on multiple topics and provided a spectrum to determine extent of support.
“… only 35 percent of Protestants wish congregations to keep out of political matters, though 27 percent are on the fence, meaning there is not majority support for any position,” he explained.
“And a plurality of Protestants want houses of worship to provide forums for political discussion as well (42% with 34% on the fence), which is a far cry from the sense that people do not want a mix of religion and politics.”
Seventh Day Adventist Church Head Tells Pastors Not to Preach Politics From Pulpit
Calif. Megachurch Responds to Claim That Featuring Candidate During Service Blurred Church-State Lines
Donald Trump Tells Evangelical Leaders He Will End Decades-Old Ban on Church Politicking
ACLU Will Not Sue Trump Over Religious Freedom Executive Order; Calls It 'Elaborate Photo Op'
Biden tells black Baptist leaders: Trump is fanning the flames of hate
Robert P. George urges AG Barr to take action against porn industry
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This is where you can find a whole community in one place — eating
Unity cafes aren't really gone at all. Just look around.
This is where you can find a whole community in one place — eating Unity cafes aren't really gone at all. Just look around. Check out this story on clarionledger.com: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/magnolia/taste/2018/08/30/ms-restaurants-community-cafes-can-heart-and-soul-town/1054777002/
Robert St. John, Special to Mississippi Clarion Ledger Published 5:00 a.m. CT Aug. 30, 2018
Community cafes and diners are a dying breed.
Years ago, people gathered for breakfast in small cafes in downtown areas. They talked politics, sports and religion over eggs, grits and cups of strong coffee.
At lunch they often returned to the same café and ate fried chicken, country fried steak, meatloaf or chicken and dumplings while resolving the unanswered questions left over from that morning’s breakfast.
As Mississippians moved from the original downtown retail centers to the suburbs, and then to the next county or next small community, those original small cafes began disappearing. A few were able to stay open through the years. Some are still open and should be applauded — and faithfully supported — for sticking in there through financial hardships and neighborhood migratory trends.
The restaurant business is already brutal, and complexities multiply when everyone is moving out of town. More than anything, the influx of chain restaurants is responsible for the death of the small community café across our country.
A restaurant that looks the same and offers the same menu as the restaurant off the interstate 90 miles down the road and a then a few exits beyond, as well as the next four states over, tells us nothing about a specific community or its people.
Small-town cafes are, to my thinking, the best public relations/marketing tool a local chamber of commerce has in its arsenal. Especially the old ones. They tell the story of a town, its history and its people
Hattiesburg has The Coney Island Café. Jackson has the Mayflower and Elite. There are dozens in towns — large and small — all across Mississippi. There used to be hundreds throughout the state. Unfortunately, our need for close proximity to bedroom communities, boneless wings and jalapeno poppers shuttered their doors.
In the three decades since I have been a restaurant owner, enough trade magazines have filled my post office box to reforest several South Mississippi 40-acre pine plantations. In all of those publications over all of those years, I have never read an article that touted the return, comeback or renaissance of the local, community café.
Yet, I just opened one.
Maybe I’m the dumbest guy in the business. But I couldn’t be happier.
I am a breakfast guy. It’s my favorite meal of the day. I am also a lover of southern cuisine and meat-and-three diners.
Developing a breakfast place has been on our company’s radar for 10 years and it’s been in solid development for five years. Even though we just opened four weeks ago, we signed the lease over two years ago and have been working on menu items that entire time.
Mississippi still has a few old-line breakfast joints in operation, and we should do everything we can to keep them in business.
Mississippi is also blessed with a few good, new-era, independent breakfast joints across the state. Two of my good friends have thrived opening during the first part of the day.
Restaurateur Jeff Good and his chef/partner Dan Blumenthal opened Broad Street Bakery in Jackson in 1998. It has been my morning go to in that city from day one. I enjoy the freshly baked breads and the atmosphere, but what has struck me most — as a restaurateur — is the diversity in the clientele. Good and his team were able to get high school kids to come in and eat before class. I love that.
Ten years later, in 2008, John Currence opened Big Bad Breakfast in Oxford. It gave morning meals a hip factor and attitude, bringing a chef’s touch to a meal period typically reserved for blue-collar, workmanlike short-order cooks.
Another 10 years later, we took a different direction. We wanted to create the most “Hattiesburg” restaurant that ever existed in Hattiesburg. We wanted to create a restaurant that looked like the community. We wanted it to “feel” like the community.
The new concept doesn’t bake fresh croissants and pastries like Broad Street, but we do fry donuts for the small-batch donut shop next door. There’s nothing hip about the atmosphere. The room is filled with over 500 images of old, historic Hattiesburg.
The menu covers the classics. At breakfast its eggs, bacon, and biscuit-heavy and lunch lives in the wonderful world of meat-and-three.
Last week I was working the expo window traying food for the servers. We were packed, and it was busy.
In a momentary break in the action, I turned around and had a complete view of the dining room. The room was abuzz with conversation. I smiled the biggest smile I have smiled in a long time.
Through all of the hustle and bustle, I saw the community. The entire community. In one room. They were all there — young, old, black, white, yellow, brown, rich, poor, doctors, nurses, neckties, work shirts, tennis ladies and babies in high chairs, working men with their names on their chest and college kids with the Greek alphabet on their shirts. They were all in one room at one time, and they were all happy.
Years from now, when I am old and sitting in a rocker on the front porch, if someone ever asks me what my proudest moment in the restaurant business was, that moment might be my answer.
Robert St. John is a restaurateur, chef and author. Visit him online at robertstjohn.com. Follow him on Twitter, @robertstjohn.
Chicken and Dumplings
2 quarts chicken broth
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into large pieces
1 large onion, peeled and cut into large pieces
1 stalk celery, peeled and cut into large pieces
⅔ pound chicken, whole
Place all ingredients in a large stockpot and simmer for two hours. Gently remove chicken, cool and pick the meat from the carcass. Cut into bite-size pieces and set aside. Strain the chicken broth and return to a large saucepot.
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
¾ cup Crisco
¾ cup cold milk
Combine flour and seasoning. Use a fork to cut the shortening into the seasoned flour. Add cold milk and mix until a ball forms. Place dough on a floured surface and knead it for five minutes. Divide dough into two parts. On a generously floured surface, roll dough to 1 /8-inch thickness. Cut dumplings into one-inch squares and sprinkle with flour to prevent sticking while you roll out remaining dough. Place dumplings in refrigerator and repeat the process with the other half of the dough.
Reheat chicken broth on high, to a rapid boil. Quickly drop dumplings in broth (make sure they are separated to prevent them from clumping). Once broth returns to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add cooked chicken into pot and simmer for 10 more minutes. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to rest for 15 minutes before serving. Yield: 8-10 servings
Read or Share this story: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/magnolia/taste/2018/08/30/ms-restaurants-community-cafes-can-heart-and-soul-town/1054777002/
7 great spots to get soup in Jackson
From Miss. to NYC: Dance group to perform at Carnegie Hall
'50 year-old Mystery of Hazlehurst' comes to life
Sugar rush: Shipley Do-Nuts draws Ridgeland fans
Here's where to find King Cake in Jackson
Comedian Ron White to perform in Jackson
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CU • Clarkson Ignite
Speakers to Inspire
Clarkson Ignite invites change agents from different industries and institutions to campus for discussions with the community around igniting innovation on campus and in society.
Bringing Clarkson Ignite to life and investigating where and why innovation and change is happening. Come see how you can be a part of Clarkson Ignite at one of our events or see the recordings below for any you may have missed.
President's Challenge
Workshops to Build Skills
Ignite Podcast
Guha Bala and Jan-Erik Steel Shared Their Creative and Entrepreneurial Journey
Accomplished game technology developers Guha Bala and Jan-Erik Steel shared their creative and entrepreneurial journey on February 26th about when they developed versions of games such as Guitar Heroes and Skylanders, as well as Tony Hawk's games.
Heidi Neck: Faculty Seminar, Entrepreneurship Across Disciplines
Babson professor Heidi Neck led a faculty seminar on Entrepreneurship Across Disciplines on December 1st, discussing how entrepreneurship education is no longer reserved for the niche student population in business schools. Attendees learned the best practices and two adaptable classroom activities. This event was open to all faculty from all disciplines and sponsored by the Associated Colleges of St. Lawrence.
Rick Klauser: Alumni Success Series presented by Development & Alumni Relations Office
Rick Klauser (’85), CEO of Sprout Foods, Inc., shared insights on leadership and career success in the food and beverage industry as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week on November 14th. This session, which was part of the Alumni Success Series presented by the Development & Alumni Relations Office, was presented by Knight Class, the Honors Leadership Program, and the Roundtable Society.
Jeff Wenzel and Shawn Neal from the Woodshed Agency
Jeff “Fuzzy” Wenzel and Shawn Neal of the Woodshed Agency (Detroit, MI) visited campus on November 13 to share the secrets of creating and running a successful crowdfunding campaign through an interactive session.
Wenzel is a digital and social media expert, project manager and business developer who has created and maintained a social media presence for over 450 client projects on multiple social media platforms. He is a co-founder of Groovebox Studios, a S.E. Michigan based music and digital media company that has established them as crowdfunding pioneers with over 300 successful campaigns to their credit. Jeff also seeks out and maintains collaborative relationships for his digital properties between companies, sponsors and clients. Credits include Volkswagen, Moncur, Detroit Design Center, Motor City New Years Eve, Camp Casey and North Star Media.
Shawn Neal is a crowdfunding expert, content creation professional and expert storyteller who is a repeat champion of The Moth StorySLAM. As co-founder of Groovebox Studios, Shawn leads the strategy and development of over 300 successful crowdfunding campaigns that have raised over $2 Million and counting. His career began at Apple where he worked as a training, branding and sales consultant for five years. In his work as a content creation professional, Shawn has filmed and edited over 2,000 music and commercial videos, documentaries and television series including “Under The Radar Michigan” on PBS. Clients include Compuware, Heil Sound, The Metro Times, Youth Violence Prevention Initiative of Detroit, and World AIDS Day Detroit.
Ken Camarco Class of '85 - President and Founder, Boundless Breakthroughs LLC
Ken Camarco ('85), President and Founder of Boundless Breakthroughs LLC, spoke about Alumni success and business on October 24th. Camarco is an entrepreneurial executive with extensive global experience leading manufacturing and technology companies. He has specialized in high-growth commercial expansion with a focus on developing enduring customer and partner relationships and has delivered innovative new products and world-class services that afford a sustainable competitive advantage. Ken’s experience includes merger and acquisition integration, and he has a broad and deep understanding of strategy and organizational development and an affinity for successfully applying new technologies that benefit customers and shareholders across multiple global industries, channels and cultures. As a student, Ken was involved with WCKN TV and WNTC/WTSC. He now serves as a trustee of Clarkson University.
Andreas Resmini: Design Master Class for Faculty
Andreas Resmini led a Design Master Class for Faculty on October 1st where he argued that studio space and studio processes should not stop at the physical boundaries of the room or the building, but rather extend outside to embrace the way people move from a mobile app to a human agent to a physical appliance and back at will. The resulting blended space of action also extends into the devices we use in and out of the makerspace, and into our homes, cars, and airport lounges.
During the class, Resmini described the work being done at the Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) in Jönköping, Sweden, and how this reflects studio developments around the world. He framed the design of the studio space and studio processes from the perspective of three specific ongoing shifts: the design shift from digital to post-digital, the technological shift from screens to embodiment and the social and cultural shift from postmodernism, citationism, and authorship to digimodernism, evanescence, conversations, and multiple anonymous ownership.
President Tony Collins: Igniting Leadership at Clarkson University
President Tony Collins talked about “Igniting Leadership at Clarkson University” on October 5th, reflecting upon his experience as a leader in higher education, first as principal investigator in his labs, and then as Provost and President of Clarkson. In particular, he focused on how innovative leaders work to identify opportunities in the ever changing landscape, and then to mobilize the necessary resources and motivate key personnel to get things done.
JP Allen, PhD Guest Speaker
University of San Francisco professor JP Allen visited Clarkson after being hosted by the Bank of Canada Conference on Digitalization and the Economy, where he delivered a keynote address related to his new book: Technology and Inequality: Concentrated Wealth in a Digital World. At Clarkson, he shared what makes him passionate about open source innovation—insights on the digital revolution, opportunities and challenges in the space, and concerns in a digital economy.
See a brief of his keynote below.
Three-Day Startup
Three-Day Startup 72-hour campus workshop held September 22-24, 2017 taught entrepreneurial skills to university students in an extreme hands-on environment. The 3DS Program included the following:
Bootcamp: Participating students met, were introduced to key entrepreneurship principles, and learned best practices for maximizing the 3 Day Startup program experience.
Day 1: Participants arrived – with or without startup ideas – and a facilitator led the group through dedicated brainstorming, preliminary pitches/feedback, and team selection modules. Some teams worked late into the night and others preferred to rest up in preparation for day 2.
Day 2: Day 2 placed heavy emphasis on business model generation. Teams focused on customer discovery (where they hit the streets –– or the phones –– and talked to potential customers), structured mentorship, intermediate pitches and feedback sessions.
Day 3: Continued execution (including pitch workshops) led into final pitches/demos before a panel of mentors and investors.
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Cuyahoga County drops property values for 60 percent of homeowners who ask
Updated Jan 12, 2019; Posted Nov 05, 2012
PD fileIn Ohio, county auditors use homes' characteristics and the sales history of their surrounding neighborhoods to determine property value.
CLEVELAND, Ohio --
Nearly 60 percent of taxpayers who argued to reduce their new property values during Cuyahoga County's informal-review process got their wishes granted.
More than 25,000 homeowners filed complaints between July and September as part of a six-year, state-mandated property reappraisal. About 14,500 received a reduction, according to the county fiscal office, while 50 got an increase.
The county also boosted the values of nearly 800 homes after 1,200 taxpayers requested higher values.
Homeowners who don't like the county's decision can file formal complaints with the county boards of revision between Jan. 2 and April 1, 2013.
Since the number of complaints reflects less than 6 percent of the county's 456,000 homes, county Fiscal Officer Wade Steen said it is a fair indication that the county is doing its job correctly.
"It's a second set of eyes," Steen said. "This is part of the process, that open-book look so we get even better values."
That contrasts with the ratio of complaints granted during former county Auditor Frank Russo's informal-review process, when Russo often slashed values himself with a swipe of red pen.
During his 12 years as auditor, Russo -- who was convicted last year of accepting more than $1 million in bribes from the company that set values for commercial properties -- allowed county staffers to decide residential values, though many of the workers lacked expertise in appraising property.
A 2010 Plain Dealer investigation found that in 2006, 98 of every 100 taxpayers who requested a reduction received one, often without being required to justify their requests. Russo's office gave nearly $1.4 billion in residential reductions that year and in 2009 through the informal-review process.
Steen did not yet know the total amount of reductions, but said they wouldn't substantially change values across the county.
Residential property value dropped about 9 percent this year compared to 2009, when an update pushed down values 8 percent from a high in 2006. Values in all but six communities fell.
A Plain Dealer analysis of county appraisal data found that Russo's workers often undervalued million-dollar houses more significantly than houses in other price ranges.
In this year's appraisal, the median value of million-dollar homes climbed 2.4 percent, while houses in every other price bracket dropped, the newspaper found. And values dropped the most for the least expensive homes, suggesting that the professional appraisers hired by the new charter government corrected inequities resulting from appraisals done during Russo's tenure.
The county also required proof during the informal-review process, such as recent appraisal reports, purchase agreements, construction costs and/or photographs. And unlike in the past, county representatives didn't change values on the spot. They took more than a month to compare notes with field appraisers, visit properties and consider new information.
The county plans to send letters in mid-November to homeowners who complained, alerting them of their final decisions, after appraisers consider 2,100 complaints from commercial and industrial property owners.
Then, officials will submit final values to the state. Those values are the basis for homeowners' tax bills, which the county will mail in mid-December.
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« Close Encounters of the Third Rome Kind:
An Interview with the Author of Rising
George Hawley’s Making Sense of the Alt-Right »
Francis Parker Yockey at 100
Francis Parker Yockey was born 100 years ago today, September 18, in Chicago. He died in San Francisco on June 16, 1960, an apparent suicide. Yockey is one of America’s greatest anti-liberal thinkers and an abiding influence on the North American New Right. In honor of his birthday, I wish to draw the reader’s attention to the following works on this site.
By Yockey himself:
“America’s Two Political Factions,” here
“America’s Two Ways of Waging War,” here
“Culture” (December 1953), here
“The Destiny of America,” here
“From the Notebooks,” here
“The Imperative of Our Age,” here
“Liberalism,” here
“The Nature of Politics,” here
“The Prague Treason Trial,” here
Selections from Francis Parker Yockey, here
“Thoughts Personal and Superpersonal (Excerpts),” here
“Thoughts Personal and Superpersonal: Knowledge and Skepticism,” here
“Thoughts Personal and Superpersonal: On Money,” here
“Thoughts Personal and Superpersonal: Prussianism and Americanism,” here
“Twentieth-Century Metaphysics,” here
“Two Reflections,” here
“The World in Flames,” here
About Yockey:
Kerry Bolton, “The Cold War Axis: Soviet Anti-Zionism and the American Right,” Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Kerry Bolton, “A Contemporary Evaluation of Francis Parker Yockey,” Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Kerry Bolton, “Francis Parker Yockey’s Imperium,” here
Kerry Bolton, “Early Reactions to Imperium,” here
Podcast, “Kerry Bolton on Francis Parker Yockey at 100,” here
Anthony Gannon, “Francis Parker Yockey, 1917–1960: A Remembrance of the Author of Imperium,” here
Juleigh Howard-Hobson, Six Poems for Francis Parker Yockey, here
Michael O’Meara, “Boreas Rising: White Nationalism and the Geopolitics of the Paris-Berlin-Moscow Axis,” Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Michael O’Meara, “The Death of Francis Parker Yockey,” here
Michael O’Meara, “The Jitterbugs and the Vabanquespieler: On Yockey’s America,” here
Margot Metroland, “Spengler, Yockey, and The Hour of Decision,” here
Revilo Oliver, “After Fifty Years,” here
Revilo Oliver, “The Shadow of Empire: Francis Parker Yockey after 20 Years,” here
Ted Sallis, “The Overman High Culture: The Future of the West,” here (in French, in Portuguese)
Ted Sallis, “Pan-European Preservationism,” here
Keith Stimley, Interview with H. Keith Thompson on Francis Parker Yockey, here
Yockey’s magnum opus, Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics, is back in print with an Introduction by Dr. Kerry Bolton.
Yockey’s The Enemy of Europe is available paired with Revilo Oliver’s commentary, The Enemy of Our Enemy.
Yockey’s manifesto, The Proclamation of London: Of the European Liberation Front is available in a new hardcover edition with an Introduction by Michael O’Meara.
Unfortunately, the only existing biography of Yockey is Kevin Coogan’s Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International , in which Yockey’s biography is buried under hundreds of pages of extraneous details about the history of the entire post-World War II Right.
Fortunately, Dr. Kerry Bolton is now working on a new biography of Yockey, which promises to be the definitive treatment. We have published a crowd-sourcing appeal for help in tracking down Yockey’s lost writings and related materials. If you can help, please contact me at [email protected].
Published: September 18, 2017 | This entry was posted in North American New Right and tagged commemorations, Francis Parker Yockey, Greg Johnson, North American New Right, originals, Oswald Spengler, philosophy, philosophy of history, political philosophy, white nationalism. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.
Juston
I’ll be visiting some friends in Yockey’s hometown of Ludington, MI this weekend. I’m going to attempt to locate his family’s home. Might be tough as I can’t imagine that there is a nice plaque marking the residence as a historical site lol. Assuming the house still stands, I bet the current residents have no clue who FPY is/was.
Reading an old copy of Imperium in my late teens was my wake-up. At the time I thought it was a gem of a find, and rereading it since, my opinion hasn’t changed. Thank you for remembering Francis Yockey.
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I-26 lane reversals enforced to prepare for Hurricane Dorian
by: Danielle Saitta
Posted: Sep 2, 2019 / 07:13 PM EDT / Updated: Sep 2, 2019 / 10:11 PM EDT
LADSON, SC (WCBD) – On Monday morning, law enforcement in the Lowcountry began the evacuation process for Hurricane Dorian, issued by the Governor.
To prepare for the upcoming storm, evacuations and lane reversals are underway.
“It’s just a total mess, it messes up your whole day,” says Lucia Weiner, a Ladson resident.
Early on Monday morning, lanes were blocked off along I-26.
Highway patrol began the process by flushing in the interstate from the Lowcountry to Columbia.
A flyover by law enforcement then took place to assure that nobody was driving in the incorrect direction.
“I think many people will evacuate because they’ve been told to because of the mandatory evacuation,” says Ryan Culp, a Ladson resident.
For other residents, they’ve chosen to stick out the storm.
“For me, I have no choice because I have animals and most places aren’t taking animals to keep in shelters,” says Weiner.
“There are going to be a lot of people that will stay. For me personally, I’m staying because I don’t think the storm is going to be that bad when it gets here,” says Culp.
Whether you choose to stay or getaway, residents believe that patience is crucial.
“Definitely, understand that it’s going to be busy. Follow the rules and don’t try to drive like a maniac. Everyone is trying to get out and there’s only one road out of Charleston,” says Culp.
If you are trying to map out some available routes and ramps, we have some for you to check out the link here
FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCBD) - The streets of Folly Beach were filled with music but closed off to all but foot traffic, food truck, and an occasional juggling stilt walker.
The annual event is popular with families across the Lowcountry.
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) - There have been posts on social media stating there's an active shooter on King Street.
However, according to Charleston Police Department Public Information Officer Charles Francis, there is no active shooter on King Street.
20-year-old missing from Memorial Waterfront Park; mother speaks out
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Pleasure Ridge Park High School staffer taken to hospital after altercation with students
"The responsible parties have been disciplined according to district policy and appropriate legal charges are being filed," Principal Kim Salyer said.
Pleasure Ridge Park High School staffer taken to hospital after altercation with students "The responsible parties have been disciplined according to district policy and appropriate legal charges are being filed," Principal Kim Salyer said. Check out this story on courier-journal.com: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2019/12/14/prp-staffer-taken-hospital-after-altercation-students/2640751001/
Ben Tobin, Louisville Courier Journal Published 11:09 a.m. ET Dec. 14, 2019 | Updated 11:10 a.m. ET Dec. 14, 2019
A staffer at Pleasure Ridge Park High School was sent to the hospital Friday afternoon after an altercation with students, according to a letter from Principal Kim Salyer.
"JCPS Security and EMS immediately responded and our staff member was taken to the hospital where he was treated and is expected to be OK," Salyer wrote in the letter to families. "The responsible parties have been disciplined according to district policy and appropriate legal charges are being filed. As always, the safety and welfare of your child and our PRP family are my top priority."
Additional details on the altercation were not immediately available. A JCPS spokeswoman provided Salyer's letter as comment.
Pleasure Ridge Park High School had 15 assaults reported from the start of the current school year through mid-November, according to district data.
Read this: Can JCPS' alternative schools save students on the brink of dropping out?
More: Amid rash of recent assaults, Iroquois High School principal will be reassigned
Contact Ben Tobin at bjtobin@gannett.com and 502-582-4181 or follow on Twitter @TobinBen. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: subscribe.courier-journal.com.
Read or Share this story: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2019/12/14/prp-staffer-taken-hospital-after-altercation-students/2640751001/
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At the Library for January 14th, 2020
Adam Shoalts charts his solo journey across the Canadian Arctic in his latest book ‘Beyond the Trees.’ Valerie Boden’s ‘Sharks’ explores folktales and science in her latest book for young readers. Preschool Story Time is this Wednesday at 11:00 am, 1:15 pm; Family Story Time is Wednesday at 6:30 pm; and…
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At the Library for December 24th, 2019
Lee Child explores the legacy of fictional heroes and how they impact the modern world in his first work of nonfiction titled ‘The Hero.’ ‘Bethany Blair and the Bugs in Her Hair’ and ‘The Tiny Tings Timothy Saw’ are two new brightly illustrated and delightful children’s books by Cranbrook’s Ariadne Appletree. …
In ‘Mudlark,’ Lara Maiklem describes the archaeological treasures she finds along the River Thames, helping to piece together London’s history as far back as 43 AD. A young girl uses storytelling to help her cope with chronic illness in Sarah Winifred’s ‘Sincerely, Harriet.’ Preschool Story Time is this Wednesday at 11:00…
In ‘Touched by the Sun’ singer Carly Simon explains how a brief meeting led to a life-long friendship with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Geronimo Stilton must once again travel to the Kingdom of Fantasy and rescue five princes in his latest adventure ‘The Island of Dragons.’ Preschool Story Time is this Wednesday at 11:00 am,…
At the Library for December 3rd, 2019.
From baby to angst-ridden teen, Pamela Paul gives parents all the tools needed to instill a love of reading in their children in her latest book ‘How to Raise a Reader.’ In ‘Girl Scientists’ author Virginia Loh-Hagan examines the top women scientists who have made a serious impact, often outpacing their male…
At the Library for November 26th, 2019
Ken McGoogan charts the Scots who chose to settle in Canada after being evicted from their ancestral homelands in his latest book ‘Flight of the Highlanders.’ Whatever young Polly writes in her new book comes to life—sometimes with dire consequences in Alice Kuiper’s brightly illustrated ‘Polly Diamond and the Magic Book.’ …
Crime writer Walter Mosley (The Devil in a Blue Dress) explains what exactly every good story needs in his latest work ‘The Elements of Fiction.’ Long-time Cranbrook teacher Jack Sandberg has published his first book—a brightly illustrated and lyrical Christmas story titled ‘Ruby the Hummingbird.’ Preschool Story Time is this Wednesday at…
Henry Russell’s ‘Around the World in 80 Novels’ is a grand tour of literary destinations guaranteed to make one start packing. A new shopping mall seeks to thwart Squirell-Girl’s plans in Shannon Hale’s ‘2 Fuzzy 2 Furious.’ Preschool Story Time is this Wednesday at 11:00 am, 1:15 pm; Family Story Time…
At the Library for November 5th, 2019
Timothy C. Winegard’s ‘Mosquito’ explores the history of this buzzing pest, who has actually been responsible for the death of 50 percent of all humans who have ever lived. ‘Owling’ by Mark Wilson is a brilliantly illustrated guide to the world of this mysterious night bird. Preschool Story Time is this…
At the Library for October 29th, 2019
Elton John describes his extraordinary musical life, all the while making fun of himself in his hilarious, touching, and aptly titled memoir ‘Me.’ A young girl searches for something called the Goldilocks planet in Curtis Manley’s latest book ‘Just Right.’ Preschool Story Time is this Wednesday at 11:00 am, 1:15 pm;…
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Simon Clennell-Jones
Divisional Director, Geo-environmental
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Sinéad Meehan
Principal, Geo-environmental
Alexandra Houldsworth
0203 478 1167 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Simon is a Divisional Director and looks after the London office and region, having joined in 2015 after 14 years leading teams within a large global environmental consultancy. Simon's primary areas include due diligence, contaminated land, human health and controlled waters risk assessment, remediation and project management. He has an established track record in the successful delivery of large scale, complex environmental assessment work as part of multidisciplinary teams including soil, groundwater, soil vapour, indoor/outdoor air investigations, expert witness work, asbestos in soils and environmental forensics.
Simon has provided environmental support as well as led assessments on a significant number of transactions including property in the UK and across Europe, and rapid assessment programmes for portfolios of non-performing loans. His development-related experience has ranged from small scale through to some of the more significant residential and commercial schemes in the UK, with two of his projects winning Brownfield Briefing Awards in 2014. Simon has also led site closure projects including the demolition of over 200 buildings, and the design and implementation of major remediation and earthworks programmes.
Simon is passionate about the projects he gets involved in and combines his technical knowledge with a strong commercial approach to assess environmental challenges, and develop effective and economic solutions for Delta-Simons clients.
Simon is a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) and Environmental Scientist (MIEnvSc).
07773 042342 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Sinéad brings 15 years' experience to the Delta-Simons geo-environmental team; based in the London office, Sinéad specialises in geotechnics. Having completed an MSc in Engineering Geology at Newcastle University, Sinéad's experience has been developed through a wide range of site investigation and geotechnical design projects within both public and private sectors.
Sinéad has supported multidisciplinary teams on contract management, designing and managing a range of site investigations, undertaking geotechnical design and assessment including quay wall stability analysis, foundation design, slope stability analysis, interpretive reporting and input in detailed geotechnical design for highways construction.
Sinéad also has experience of offshore renewables projects which involved scheduling geotechnical and geophysical surveys for structure and pipeline/cable installation for numerous Tender and FEED projects; interpreting survey data to prepare ground models for design, as well as identifying key risks and potential hazards to structure and pipeline design and installation; undertaking geotechnical design for numerous sub-sea structures, as well as pipe-soil interaction, liquefaction, scouring, ploughability/trenching assessments.
Alex Houldsworth is a Principal Consultant at Delta-Simons Environmental Consultants Ltd with over eight years’ experience in environmental consultancy, specialising in Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Due Diligence. She has experience of project managing due diligence of both large and small property and corporate transactions from all sides of the deal including acquisitions, divestment and refinancing. Alex has been involved in projects across a range of sectors, including manufacturing, logistics, chemical, pharmaceutical, aviation, food and drink, automotive, construction and commercial and has experience working on due diligence projects in the UK, Europe, Russia, India and China.
Based in the London regional office, Alex joined Delta-Simons in 2018, and her key skills lie in project and programme management, understanding the practical application of UK and EU EHS legislation and being able to differentiate between minor and material EHS risks to clients.
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Roth: Buffalo Bills 'Smurfs' are coming up big at receiver
There are 7 receivers in camp 5-foot-11 or under, including three who are 5-8, stirring memories of 'Smurfs' of Washington Redskins fame
Roth: Buffalo Bills 'Smurfs' are coming up big at receiver There are 7 receivers in camp 5-foot-11 or under, including three who are 5-8, stirring memories of 'Smurfs' of Washington Redskins fame Check out this story on DemocratandChronicle.com: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/football/nfl/bills/2019/07/26/john-brown-cole-beasley-buffalo-bills-nfl-training-camps-wide-receivers-smurfs/1838106001/
Leo Roth, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Published 10:51 p.m. ET July 26, 2019 | Updated 6:04 p.m. ET July 29, 2019
PITTSFORD - Early in Buffalo Bills training camp it’s clear that the team has vastly upgraded its receiving corps.
One problem. You need a magnifying glass to see them.
By plan or by fate, more than half of the receivers on the roster stand 5-11 or under, including two of the biggest free agent names, John Brown (5-11) and Cole Beasley (5-8).
Factoring in Andre Roberts and Nick Easley (5-11 each), Victor Bolden and Isaiah McKenzie (5-8 each) and finally, Ray-Ray McCloud (5-9), coach Sean McDermott was moved during his Friday presser to conjure memories of the 1982 Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins and their famed group of diminutive pass catchers.
Buffalo Bills receiver Cole Beasley makes a catch during practice. (Photo: Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP)
“I’d say with all our wide receivers, they’re like Smurfs,’’ said McDermott, referring to the popular cartoon of small blue people which was also the nickname given the Redskins’ trio of Alvin Garrett, Virgil Seay and yes, a real person named Charlie Brown. “If you ever watch them, they live in like a small village, so they can separate in small spaces. All of our receivers are like this tall.’’
McDermott, who himself doesn’t have to duck walking through doorways, held his hand out below shoulder height.
“We got a bunch of them,’’ the Bills Papa Smurf said. “Like a county of Smurfs.’’
More: Roth: Bills most important free agent is in middle of offensive line
More: Roth: Patient Bills aren't hoping for a 'Miracle' by adding the 'right' players
From what we can tell, Buffalo’s receivers aren’t living in a mushroom-shaped dormitory at St. John Fisher College. They aren’t eating Smurfberries or Smurf-Berry Crunch cereal at the training table.
Collectively, though, these Smurfy Bills are sure-handed, fast, quick and very hard to cover and slowly but surely are working into a groove with quarterback Josh Allen, who at 6-5, 237 pounds is like Gulliver in the Land of Lilliput.
Beasley, who played his first seven seasons in the NFL with Dallas, was signed to be the consistent slot receiver the Bills have lacked. Without surprise, he has juked himself free of defenders and given Allen a peach basket to drill footballs into on those short to intermediate routes.
Bills receiver John Brown signs autographs for fans after the first day of training camp. (Photo: JAMIE GERMANO/ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE)
With surprise has been Brown’s ability to do the same.
The six-year pro from the Cardinals by way of the Ravens has a well-earned reputation as a speed demon, a player who can run through a car wash and not get wet. Allen can look to Brown down field and, like pizza dough, stretch a defense and make it more digestible.
But during Red Zone and short-yardage work, Brown has also gained quick separation from the sweaty palms of Buffalo’s strong group of defensive backs to make plays.
“We feel his best football is ahead of him,’’ McDermott said of Brown, who caught 42 passes for 715 yards and 5 scores for Baltimore last season. “He’s got speed, but he also has some niftiness in his route craft in those small and short areas. That makes him a dual threat.’’
More proof that big things come in small packages.
Things being equal, NFL teams do prefer tall receivers who are fast and can run the entire route tree; that height does come in handy going for jump balls against cornerbacks and safeties that all seem to be taller than 6-foot these days.
But there is still a place for the little guys, especially when they possess uncommon quickness, toughness and play with a chip on their shoulders after being told all their lives they were too small to make it in college or the pros.
New England quarterback Tom Brady has done OK with his own county of Smurfs – Wes Welker (5-9), Julian Edelman (5-10) and Danny Amendola (5-11). Doug Flutie and Antoine Winfield, two Smurfs from the Bills past, were dynamic playmakers who made doubters eat crow, pass the salt please.
No. 100: Doug Flutie Position: QB. Years: 1998-2000 Achievements: Led Bills to playoff appearances in two of his three seasons. … In just 39 games, ranks sixth in passing yards (7,582), completions (598) and TD passes (47). … His 1.3 percent interception rate and three picks in 2000 are team records. (Photo: Staff file photo)
“I know I’m not 6-5, it’d be a lot easier if I was,’’ said Beasley as he stared up into the cameras. “I mean, it’s all about philosophies. They (Bills coaches) like guys who can separate, and we have a lot of guys who can do that.’’
The original NFL Smurfs were a subgroup in the Redskins “Fun Bunch,’’ a pack of players who would do a group high-five.
Friday, Bills’ offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was experimenting with receivers lining up in three-man bunches. For a defensive back, that’s like staring at a stem of grapes and deciding which one to pick.
What does Brown know about Smurfs?
“I don’t know much, I just know they’re small,’’ he said. “But we can all run.’’
Brown, who has a 1,000-yard season on his resume, likes to tell people he played “at Pitt.’’ That’s Pittsburg State, a Division II school where he grabbed 34 touchdown passes. Arizona grabbed him in the third round of the 2014 draft.
Beasley, who played at SMU, was undrafted only to become one the great rookie free agent signings in Cowboys history, a favorite of Tony Romo and Dak Prescott. He led Dallas with 75 catches in 2016.
“Yeah, I play with a chip on my shoulder,’’ Brown said. “I’ve been small my whole life and I’ve been downgraded for it, but my thing is to try and play big.’’
He and Beasley are focused on coming up big for Allen, who needs reliable targets if he’s to progress in his second season.
“It’s going to take a bit,’’ Beasley said. “He’s got to get used to me running routes and I’ve got to get used to seeing him throwing it back there. But it’ll come. Give us a week.’’
The Smurfs arrive at the World Premiere of "Smurfs: The Lost Village" at the Arclight Culver City on Saturday, April 1, 2017, in Culver City, Calif. Or it's the new receiving corps at Buffalo Bills training camp. 'I’d say with all our wide receivers, they’re like Smurfs,’’ said coach Sean McDermott, whose roster has seven receivers 5-foot-11 or under, and four 5-9 or under. (Photo: Willy Sanjuan, Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
A player’s height and weight are unavoidable topics in sports. But the GM, scout or coach who thinks bigger is always better is proven time and again to be small minded. Because you can’t put a stopwatch on heart.
Mind you, the Bills receiving corps won’t consist entirely of players who can share one locker stall and can play handball against a curb.
Zay Jones and Robert Foster stand 6-2, while free agents Duke Williams and David Sills are 6-3 each. Cam Phillips goes 6-foot. Still, the Smurfs’ nickname is bound to be revived.
“I watch Tom and Jerry and SpongeBob,’’ Jones said. “But I don’t know about the Smurfs.’’
You will Zay, you will.
Maiorana: Bills' free agency spending spree yielded remade, improved roster
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Syracuse builds big early lead, cruises past Boston College
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From Beginning To End…(Coloured Splatter Vinyl)
Label: Demon Records • Format: Vinyl • Date: 22/11/2019 Cat#: DEMRECBOX37 • Barcode: 5014797900035 • Genre: Rock
I Can’t Get Any Joy
Hey Little Girl
I Want You Around
Lost Without You
Baby Stay Like You Are
It Won’t Be Long
She Believed Me
I Got Wise
You’re So Right
You Better Believe It Baby
Searching For My Baby
Daddy Loves Baby
We’ve Got It Made
Shades Of Orange [November 1967 mix]
Under The Rainbow
Shades Of Orange [album version]
Bromley Common [talk]
Cardboard Watch
Introspection [Part 1]
What Does It Feel Like?
Linen Draper [talk]
Don’t Take Me
Loving, Sacred Loving
She Said Yeah
Jacobs Bladder [talk]
Loving, Sacred Loving [February 1968 mix]
Building Up A Dream
Little Annie
Tears Will Be The Only Answer
Today Tomorrow
Lady Under The Lamp
Black Is Black
Mister Man
Shades Of Orange [June 1968 remix]
We’ve Got It Made [Mellotron Mix]
Bypass The By-Pass
Son Of Lightning
Mistress Bean
For Eleanor
North Thames Gas Board
Do Right Woman Do Right Man
Turn On Waterstone
In 1965 The End arose from the glowing embers of the earlier Tuxedos, Innocents and Original Topics, and like many of their contemporaries evolved into a psychedelic group. Along the way, they won the support and patronage of the Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman, who produced their sole album for Decca, “Introspection” (LP2). He also co-wrote their signature tune, the psychedelic classic “Shades Of Orange”, although the band wrote the rest of their material.
This four LP box set gathers together The End’s recordings: “In The Beginning” covers the early days from 1964 to 1967, LP 2 is the 1968 “Introspection” album, “Retrospection” features outtakes from the period 1968/69, while “The Last Word” rounds up the band’s recordings from 1969/70, before they reinvented themselves as Tucky Buzzard.
This box set features a note by founder member Colin Giffin, artwork by legendary designer Phil Smee, and the inner sleeves feature photos and ephemera, and the band’s story written by acknowledged expert David Wells. Pressed on 180g splatter vinyl.
LP1 – In The Beginning (1964-67)
LP2 – Introspection (1968-69)
LP3 – Retrospection (1968-69)
LP4 – The Last Word (1969-70)
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Recroom
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This first era of rock and roll dates (more or less) from Eisenhower’s first election in 1952 to The British Invasion in 1964. Doo wop was a signature sound with its beautiful vocal harmonies, beat, and nonsense syllables, but there was a lot of pioneering going on with rhythm and blues, rock and roll, rockabilly, and crossovers from country music. That’s why we go beyond the doo wop genre per se and explore those years. Each blog post is just a mosaic. When put together, the posts start to provide a picture of the time. Please visit the Rec Room for a featured record on the record player, a TV with four channels, and a jukebox with 60+ songs. We have an all request Juke Box Saturday night in the rec room each weekend so you can hear your favorites from the 50s and 60s. There is also a Daily Doo Wop for videos of those golden oldies.
Published by at December 2, 2014
Count Your Blessings From White Christmas
Entertainment History It’s always a nice part in the 1954 film White Christmas when boy gets girl – that is, when Bing gets Rosemary before Bing […]
Published by at November 10, 2014
Alan Freed Fired Over Payola
History On November 20, 1959, WABC fired Alan Freed over the payola scandal, which effectively ended Freed’s career as a DJ and force in the record […]
Published by at November 8, 2014
Classic TV Shows
Sky King
Classic TV Shows So it begins: “From out of the clear blue of the western sky, comes…”the Western TV series Sky King. The show was a […]
Published by at October 28, 2014
The October Missile Crisis and Spy vs. Spy
History My hairdresser, who is in her late thirties, asked me the other day if there were any other time during my memory when the American […]
Copyright 2018 - The Daily Doo Wop
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Dramatic body cam video shows police saving a suicidal suspect who tried to jump from an overpass onto a busy freeway
Police managed to save a man from falling from an overpass onto a busy highway in Columbus, Ohio last week
Officers had been dispatched to an area near the highway following reports that two men were fighting
When they approached the man responsible, he yelled at officers to kill him
The man then took off and tried to jump over the concrete overpass before the officers managed to grab hold of him
By Emily Crane For Dailymail.com
Dramatic police body cam video has captured the moment officers saved a suicidal man who tried to jump off an Ohio overpass onto a busy freeway.
Two officers had been dispatched to an area near the Interstate 71 in Columbus last Saturday following reports that two men were fighting.
When officers Ryan Erney and Scott Wright arrived at the scene, a witness identified the suspect who started the fight.
Dramatic police body cam video has captured the moment officers saved a suicidal man who tried to jump off an overpass onto a busy freeway in Columbus, Ohio last Saturday
But when Erney tried to speak to the man, he reached into his waistband and shouted: 'Kill me'.
Police say the suspect then fled and ran towards the nearby overpass.
The officer radioed for help as he pursued the suspect on foot.
The man tried to jump over a concrete wall that would have been a straight drop down onto the busy freeway.
Erney grabbed the man's arms to stop him falling.
One of the officers grabbed hold of the man's arms, while another held onto his pants (pictured above) before they were able to lift him to safety
The officers managed to lift the man over the concrete barrier. It would have been a straight drop down onto the busy freeway if the officers hadn't grabbed hold of him
Wright's body cam footage showed him running across to help his colleague and captured them struggling to keep hold of him until backup arrived.
With the help of two other officers, they were able to lift the suspect over the concrete barrier to safety.
Dramatic dash cam captures moment police captured... Police hunt for parents who skipped sentencing in child...
The man was found to have active warrants out against him, including failure to register as a sex offender and probation violation.
He was handcuffed and taken into custody.
Police have not revealed the suspect's identity.
The man was handcuffed and taken into custody. He was found to have active warrants out against him, including failure to register as a sex offender and probation violation
Police save suicidal suspect from jumping in Ohio
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#Bubsy
Bubsy: Paws on Fire will jog onto Nintendo Switch August 29
Publisher Accolade has announced that the latest title starring the much-maligned Bubsy Bobcat is being prepped for release on Nintendo Switch. Bubsy: Paws on Fire, which is developed by Bit.Trip helmers Choice Provisions, will arrive on th...
Review: Bubsy - Paws on Fire!
Once again, '90s kind-of-but-not-quite-an-icon Bubsy the Bobcat has graced video gaming with his presence. Originally appearing in Accolade's 1993 title Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind, Bubsy was one in a long line of wisecrack...
In today's episode of Pregame Discharge, Final Fantasy VII Remake got a new trailer and might release this decade!
While Lyle continues to take the biggest bath, here's the dirty deeds going down in video games: Epic Games will be sponsoring the PC gaming show at E3! Final Fantasy VII Remake got a new trailer! Bubsy is getting another game for some re...
Bubsy: Paws on Fire will ignite PS4 and PC next week, Switch port delayed
Accolade - a name that immediately teleports me back to the halcyon days of 1992 - has announced that the latest release featuring maligned hero Bubsy Bobcat will be arriving on PC and PC next week.Bubsy: Paws on Fire! is the sixth entry in...
Shovel Knight's creators are hankering to take a crack at a new Rusty's Real Deal Baseball
Shovel Knight turned five this year, and it shows no signs of slowing down. He's sold over three million copies and counting. There are not one, not two, but six different books that tell his story in one way or another. His ...
Oh good God they're making another Bubsy game
Last year, platform mascot and general industry punching bag Bubsy made his triumphant return to gaming in Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back. It... did not go well. The game was pretty much trash, which in its defense kept it in the spirit of ...
New Early Access survival game Fade to Silence leaked ahead of The Game Awards
[Update: The trailer for Fade to Silence has officially dropped, check it out down below!] Originally teased yesterday from THQ Nordic, Fade to Silence is a new survival game from developer Black Forest Games (yes, the same folks behind Bub...
Bubsy was originally planned to be a Cheetos game
For all three of you excited about the upcoming Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back, Did You Know Gaming has uploaded a video that is all about Bubsy. One of the more interesting facts contained is that Bubsy was originally envisioned as a Chest...
I still can't believe we're getting a new Bubsy
That new Bubsy game is coming out real soon and the powers that be must be getting antsy. Ahead of the October 31 launch on PC and PlayStation 4, there's a new trailer for Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back that involves a Sonic the Hedgehog ga...
Why I am genuinely rooting for the Bubsy reboot
In what seems like the most bizarre announcement in recent memory, Bubsy is back. This idea was met with basically the entire Internet exclaiming "Really? who asked for this?" Our own Joel Peterson wrote many words explaining why the game b...
Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back set to release this October
Everyone's favorite gaming icon and bobcat named Bubsy is finally returning with a new game (with over 100 new one-liners, no less) set to release October 31, 2017 on PlayStation 4, Steam, and GOG. The game will also be receiving a deluxe a...
China represents 25% of the world's game market
My sources tell me that there are a lot of people in China. At least three, and no less than two. So it isn't surprising to hear that China is continuing to extend its lead as the biggest game market in the world, forecast to grow to a $29 ...
Descend into madness with Arcane Kids' newly remastered Bubsy 3D
I know Arcane Kids more for its work on Sonic Dreams Collection than Bubsy 3D: Bubsy Visits the James Turrell Retrospective, but with an official new Bubsy game in production at Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams developer Black Forest, the time...
from our Community Blogs
The new Bubsy better suck or I'm quitting video games forever
[Normally I'd pooh-pooh someone hoping for a game to be bad, but Manchild makes too damned strong of a case for Bubsy being butt-garbage that I can't make a reasonable argument against him. If you're going to revive a series, why change wha...
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वित्त मत्रांलयMinistry of Finance
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Right To Information +
Details Of RTI Application And Their Replies
RTI Information-Department of Expenditure
E-Book +
E-Book On "Good Governance"
Home MINISTER Minister of State
Shri Anurag Singh Thakur
Place of Birth: Samirpur, District Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
Education Qualifications: Bachelors from Doaba College, Jalandhar, Punjab
1 MoS Finance and Corporate Affairs, GOI
2 4th term Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha)
3 Chief Whip in 16th Lok Sabha
4 Lieutenant in the Territorial Army
5 Fmr. Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT (IT, Telecom, Information & Broadcasting, Postal)
6 Fmr. Member, Public Accounts Committee
7 Fmr. India Representative to WTO Parliamentary Steering Committee
8 Recipient of Sansad Ratan Award for outstanding performance in Parliament
Mr Anurag Singh Thakur is a Minister of State Finance and Corporate Affairs. He is a four time elected Member of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha/Lower House) from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh. Within Parliament he has served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT and Member of Public Accounts Committee. During the 16th Lok Sabha, he was appointed as the Chief Whip, Lok Sabha, becoming the youngest to assume the post.
In the year 2016, he was commissioned as a regular officer in the Territorial Army as a Lieutenant of the 124 Sikh Regiment, thereby becoming the first serving BJP Member of Parliament to join as a regular officer.
He is the former National President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM-Youth Wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party) and has been the only National President to be appointed for three consecutive terms in the BJP. He is also the first BJYM National President to have worked under three different BJP Presidents - Mr Amit Shah, Mr Rajnath Singh and Mr Nitin Gadkari.
Under Mr Anurag Singh Thakur’s leadership, the BJYM led various socioeconomic and political initiatives, such as Rashtriya Ekta Yatra: Kolkata to Kashmir, Shaheed Shradhanjali Yatra – A journey from Guwahati to Tawang to pay homage to 1962 war bravehearts, Sansad Ghirav a national agitation against corruption, National Youth Convention, Digital Literacy campaign, etc.
Mr Thakur is an avid sports lover and has contributed immensely to sports in the capacity of a sports administrator. He has served as the President at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), President Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) and continues to serve as President Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association, President Hockey Himachal, President Himachal Pradesh Table Tennis Association and Associate Vice President Hockey India. He is credited for building the world famous Dharamshala Cricket Stadium which is considered as one of the most beautiful stadium in the world.
He has been appointed by Global Fund as the Global Champion in the category of Public Health for creating awareness about Malaria, TB & HIV AIDS. He is a recipient of the Best Young Parliamentarian Award in 2011 and recognized as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum. In a nationwide survey in the run-up to the 2014 General elections he was rated amongst India’s Top 10 MPs based on his Parliamentary performance and commitments to society at large.
He also served as the President of the EU-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, President of the FICCI Indo-US Parliamentarians Forum and India- Germany Parliamentarians Forum. He is the founder of 'Honour Our Women' (HOW) Foundation. He is an acclaimed public speaker at various forums on public health, Information Technology, National Security, Governance, Sports Administration and issues concerning young people.
Recently, he was awarded the Sansad Ratan Award in category of Jury Committee Special for his outstanding performance as a Parliamentarian, becoming the only Member of Parliament from BJP & North India to be coveted with this honor.
Parliament & organization
1 4 time elected Member of Parliament (LS) from Hamirpur (HP, India)
2 3 time Former National President, BJYM
3 Fmr. Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT, Telecom, Information & Broadcasting, Postal)
4 Fmr. Member, Parliamentary Accounts Committee
5 Fmr. Member, Consultative Committee on Power
6 Fmr. Member, Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Forum of WTO
1 Former President, Board of Control for Cricket in India
2 Former President, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association
3 Former Vice-President, Indian Olympic Association
4 Former Associate Vice President, Hockey India
5 President, Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association
6 President, Hockey Himachal
7 President, Himachal Pradesh Table Tennis Association
1 Member TB Forum of India
2 Global Champion in the category of Public Health for creating awareness about Malaria, TB & HIV AIDS by Global Fund
3 Fmr. Member Parliamentarians Forum on HIVAIDS
5 Fmr. Member of GLOBE INDIA on Environment & Climate Change
1 President EU-India Parliamentary Friendship Group
2 President, FICCI Indo-US Parliamentarians Forum
3 President, India-Germany Parliamentarians Forum
1 Founder of Honour Our Women (HOW) Foundation
1 Regular commissioned officer in the Territorial Army as a Lieutenant of the 124 Sikh Regiment
Innovative campaigns, beyond MPLADS (at a glance)
Asptal- Sansad Mobile Swasthya (SMS) Seva In order to strengthen healthcare service in Hamirpur Parliamentary and to ensure service and accessibility in the remotest corner, right at the doorstep of residents, Mobile Medical Units were launched in Hamirpur Parliamentary constituency.
The service has been operational since May 2018 and offers a host of 40 medical tests such as KFT, Creatinine, Uric Acid, BUN, Sugar, Glucose, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, etc. In addition to this medicines too are provided to the patients, free of cost.
The primary healthcare service that was started with three (3) vans has now been increased to seventeen (17) vans covering all 17-assembly constituencies. Within a span of one year, over 1,20,000 OPDs have been undertaken across 800 panchayats.
Testing and medicines amounting over 6 crore have been given free of cost till date under this initiative.
Each Mobile Medical Unit is equipped with an experienced team of doctors, nurses, lab technicians and drivers. There is a project manager and coordinator too on board to ensure smooth functioning of operations.
Sansad Star Khel Mahakumbh An initiative working towards identifying sports talent at grassroot level while providing them with a platform to showcase their talent and nurture them for future.
The campaign started in June 2018, witnessed participation from over 1400 teams, 25,000 youth across Basketball, Volleyball, Football, Kabaddi & Cricket, encapsulating athletes hailing from 800 panchayats and over 5000 villages and intends to reach a total of one lakh youth. Not only has this promoted the culture of sports among kids but is always keeping them away from falling prey to drugs.
Sansad Bharat Darshan As a part of this campaign, meritorious students hailing from Hamirpur Parliamentary Constituency were taken to different cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad & Bangalore for an experiential tour. 80 students from class 10th & 12th visited places such as ISRO, NDA, Western Naval Command, session with Chetan Bhagat, Suniel Shetty, Mohammad Azharuddin, invited as special guests at The Kapil Sharma Show, etc. to ensure that a holistic exposure & learning, covering various aspects is provided to them.
In an interesting turn of events, select students will travel to Canada & Australia too.
Minister of the Department:
Website Content Managed by Department of Expenditure,Ministry of Finance,GOI Designed, Developed and Hosted by National Informatics Centre( NIC ) Last Updated: 04 Jun 2019
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Difference between revisions of "GAMES:Dungeon Keeper"
NaSH (talk | contribs)
|dos32a}}
''Dungeon Keeper'' is a strategy video game released for the PC in which the player attempts to build and manage a dungeon or lair while protecting it from (computer-controlled) 'hero' characters intent on stealing the user's accumulated treasures and killing various monsters.
'''Dungeon Keeper''' is a strategy video game released for the PC in which the player attempts to build and manage a dungeon or lair while protecting it from (computer-controlled) 'hero' characters intent on stealing the user's accumulated treasures and killing various monsters.
== Tested ==
* Dungeon Keeper works perfectly fine (including intro video and sound)
* Tested with the German version, DOSBox 0.72 and openSUSE 11.0
This game has been tested on the environments listed below:
*23 June 2008 by Anonymous:
:Dungeon Keeper works perfectly fine (including intro video and sound)
:Tested with the German version, DOSBox 0.72 and openSUSE 11.0
* 30 May 2010 by [[User:NaSH|NaSH]]:
:Tested on Ubuntu 10.04, with DOSBox 0.74 compiled from source (make & checkinstall)
*[http://www.gog.com/gamecard/dungeon_keeper Dungeon Keeper] at Good Old Games (GOG)
*[http://www.mobygames.com/game/dungeon-keeper Dungeon Keeper] at MobyGames
[[Category:Real-time strategy games]]
Developer Bullfrog Productions
Tested on
Executable KEEPER.EXE
DOS4GW.EXE yes
Dungeon Keeper is a strategy video game released for the PC in which the player attempts to build and manage a dungeon or lair while protecting it from (computer-controlled) 'hero' characters intent on stealing the user's accumulated treasures and killing various monsters.
23 June 2008 by Anonymous:
Dungeon Keeper works perfectly fine (including intro video and sound)
Tested with the German version, DOSBox 0.72 and openSUSE 11.0
30 May 2010 by NaSH:
Tested on Ubuntu 10.04, with DOSBox 0.74 compiled from source (make & checkinstall)
Dungeon Keeper at Good Old Games (GOG)
Dungeon Keeper at MobyGames
Retrieved from "https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/index.php?title=GAMES:Dungeon_Keeper&oldid=5450"
Real-time strategy games
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Destiny 2 Isn’t Leaving Blizzard’s BattleNet Launcher Anytime Soon
Noah Buttner
January 11, 2019 1:01 PM EST
NewsPC
Despite Activision and Bungie parting ways, BattleNet will still host Destiny 2 on its launcher for the foreseeable future.
This has been a huge week for news regarding Activision and if you’re a fan of Destiny, you’ll be happy to know that Bungie has regained sole ownership over the Destiny IP. Despite the breakup, Blizzard has announced that Destiny 2 will continue to be supported on BattleNet for the foreseeable future.
Blizzard confirmed that Destiny 2 wouldn’t be homeless on Twitter.
Thank you Guardians. It’s been an honor and a privilege to help bring the world of Destiny to life for you. pic.twitter.com/EB1y19OTD8
— Activision (@Activision) January 10, 2019
The game is the first in the series to be available on PC, but it would also be the first non-Blizzard game to launch on the BattleNet launcher. Activision’s control over Blizzard has grown more prevalent in recent months, with the Co-Founder and former President, Mike Morhaime, stepping down to work as an advisor back in October. Morhaime is set to depart the company for good in April.
Activision also hosts Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 on the BattleNet launcher.
Since Bungie is assuming the publishing responsibilities for Destiny, it’s unclear where the next entry in the series will be hosted. Bungie could develop their own launcher, release the title on Steam, or make the decision to move to the Epic Games Store.
It’s been interesting to play Destiny 2 on BattleNet, being able to see what other Blizzard games my friends were playing and message them easily in-game. Steam’s overlay provides a similar service but the ease-of-use of the BattleNet client can’t be understated.
Wherever Destiny 3 ends up, let’s hope that Destiny LFG is integrated into the game somehow. My clan is solid, but I really would appreciate not having to jump back and forth between my browser to find people to play end-game content with.
You can read more on the Bungie-Activision breakup here.
Bungie Breaks Up with Activision, Keeping Rights to Destiny
( •_•)
is now In control of its own
( •_•)>⌐■-■ (
Destiny.
⌐■_■) https://t.co/rXzzRgER8L
— DualShockers (@DualShockers) January 11, 2019
Destiny 2 Devs to Help Raise Money to Fight Australian Bush Fires
Destiny 2 developers will be holding a fundraising campaign sometime next week to help fight the bush fires currently devastating Australia.
Bungie Details Everything That Will Be Available in Destiny 2: New Light
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Gets a New Trailer Preparing Players for Launch Next Week
Destiny 2 is Now Available to Preload on Steam
A Battle.net Patch Has Removed Credits to Activision in Destiny 2
Destiny 2 Free to Download on PC Until November 18
PC Version of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Will Have Uncapped Framerate and 4K Resolution Support
Battle.net Branding is Still Dead
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DUI Attorneys and DUI Lawyers
Find local DUI attorneys and DUI lawyers to help you with your drunk driving defense.
Call for a FREE DUI Consultation
Florida DUI Lawyer in Madison County
Whittel & Melton
Request a FREE DUI Attorney Consultation
YOU ONLY HAVE 10 DAYS
from the date of your arrest for DUI in Florida to request an administrative hearing about your driver's license. If you do not, your driver's license will be automatically suspended. For immediate help with your DUI contact the DUI attorneys at Whittel & Melton.
Protecting Your Driving Privileges after a DUI in Madison
Payment Plans are Available for DUI Defense in Madison County
Robert Whittel
2627 NW 43rd St #201
Madison County DUI attorneys Whittel & Melton are a full service Florida law practice with a focus on DUI defense. The law firm is composed of former State Prosecutors and former nominees for State and Federal office.
Being charged with a DUI in Florida raises many questions. Will I lose my driver's license? How much will this cost? Will I lose my job? Will I be sent to jail? What should I do?
Whittel & Melton have over 20 years of experience in Florida DUI defense
Full-service DUI law firm ready to answer any questions you may have
Free initial DUI consultation
Speak with a Madison County DUI attorney right away to protect your driving privileges and your rights
Arrested for DUI in Madison, Florida?
Call for a Free Consultation with Whittel & Melton
For answers to your questions, contact Madison County DUI attorneys Robert Whittel & Jason Melton by filling out the consultation request form or by calling (352) 448-3400. Your inquiry is free and confidential. The initial meeting is free, so call now.
It is important to begin building your DUI defense case immediately! The State of Florida will suspend your driver's license just 10 days after your arrest for drunk driving in Madison County if you do not challenge the suspension. The Madison County DUI lawyers at Whittel & Melton have the experience to make that appeal and help you save your driving privileges. If you fail to adequately appeal the suspension of your driver's license, you could be without your driver's license for up to 18 months. The drunk driving defense lawyers and staff at Whittel & Melton will work with you every step of the way to see that you get the best possible outcome from your DUI in Florida. Whittel & Melton has well over twenty years of Florida DUI legal experience.
Penalties for a DUI in Florida
The consequences of an arrest for drunk driving in Madison County, Florida can be huge, and determining the right course of action can be difficult. Fortunately you do not have to go through the process alone. Madison County DUI attorneys Whittel & Melton can help. DUI Attorneys Jason Melton and Robert Whittel will work to develop the best defense for you. They focus on Florida DUI defense and DUI laws, and they can make a difference in the outcome of your case.
Madison DUI Lawyer Robert Whittel
Madison County DUI lawyer Robert Whittel was a Lt. Commander in the United States Navy. After graduating with honors from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, Whittel served several years aboard international cargo ships and was later admitted to the University of Florida Law School. Robert continued his education at the University of Cambridge in England, where he was one of only two Americans in his class to receive an LL.M. – Master of Law degree.
Before defending those accused of Florida DUI, Robert Whittel handled complex civil litigation at a large multi-national law firm and then was a DUI Prosecutor in South Florida on behalf of the State of Florida.
Robert Whittel is a past member of the board of directors of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. He is also a member of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Attorney Whittel is licensed to practice in all State and Federal Courts in Florida. He is also licensed to practice law in Georgia, New York and Washington D.C.
Before defending those accused of Florida DUI, Robert Whittel handled complex civil litigation at a large multi-national law firm and then was a DUI Prosecutor on behalf of the State of Florida.
Robert Whittel is a member of the board of directors of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. He is also a member of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Attorney Whittel is licensed to practice in all State and Federal Courts in Florida. He is also licensed to practice law in Georgia and Washington D.C.
Florida DUI Manslaughter Attorney Jason Melton
Madison County DUI attorney Jason Melton is a qualified and experienced attorney who dedicates the majority of his practice to trial matters. Jason Melton is a member of the Florida Bar, the Middle District and Southern District of Florida, United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Florida Justice Association, formerly known as the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers.
Mr. Melton is AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell with a 5.0 out of 5.0 score, has been lauded by the Super Lawyers publication of Thomson-Rueters and is a member of Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
Prior to aggressively defending those charged with DUI, Jason Melton was a former DUI State Prosecutor for Florida in and for Miami-Dade County. Due to high caseload from the 11th Judicial Circuit, incredible insight and experienced was gained early in Mr. Melton’s career. Adding to this knowledge base, and understanding of the legal process and formulation of effective DUI defense strategies, attorney Jason Melton also has experience working for both the U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. Small Business Administration.
Florida DUI lawyer Jason Melton graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and received his law degree from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C.
DUI Law Firm Locations
11020 Northcliffe Blvd
Spring Hill, FL
LAKE - SUMTER COUNTY
123 N Florida St
Bushnell, FL
ALACHUA - LEVY COUNTY
3700 Airport Road, Suite 303
111 W Main St, #303
Inverness, FL
118 SW Fort King St
200 Central Ave, #400
2909 W Bay to Bay Blvd, #300
EXAMPLES OF PAST DUI RESULTS:
Client was arrested for DUI involving a crash where the Client crashed into a motorcyclist who had stopped at a red light. Our Client hit the motorcycle driver at a high rate of speed causing serious injury to the motorcycle rider. Client was found to have both alcohol and drugs in his system. Client immediately hired attorney Robert Whittel to defend him in the case. Attorney Whittel built a defense based on the fact that there was not sufficient witnesses in the case and the Prosecutors could not prove the combination of drugs and alcohol impaired the Client. RESULT - After a jury trial, Client was found NOT GUILTY.
Defendant was charged with Driving Under the Influence ("DUI") and the defendant refused to submit to a breathalyzer. At trial, Attorney Robert Whittel successfully argued that the field sobriety exercises offered by the arresting officer did not prove the defendant was guilty. RESULT - Not Guilty at Trial.
Defendant was arrested for his second DUI in less than one year and blew into the intoxilyzer above the legal limit of .08. Defense attorney Robert Whittel challenged the results of the field sobriety exercises and the results of the breath machine. Attorney Robert Whittel used an expert witness to show that the breathalyzer machine used had not been properly maintained. During trial the Prosecutor reduced the charge to Reckless Driving. RESULT - Charges Reduced.
TheFLLawFirm.com
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Date Arrested
Name (Old)
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Motorist squirted with bleach in A13 carjack robbery in Stepney
Mike Brooke
A13 Commercial Road where bleach attack car robbery took place near Watney Market. Picture: Google
A motorist was squirted in the face with a noxious-type liquid and his car stolen in a robbery on the A13 Commercial Road in Stepney during last night's rush-hour.
The 23-year-old was taken to the Royal London hospital suffering skin burning, but was not detained.
A car pulled up alongside him close to Watney Street Market at about 6pm and one of the occupants squirted the substance at him while he was driving.
He got out seeking from passers-by, but the suspects jumped into his car and drove off.
His car was later found dumped in South Hackney at Morpeth Grove, near Victoria Park.
Officers arriving on the scene in Commercial Road immediately treated him until an ambulance arrived.
It was the second similar incident in a week along the A13 corridor, following an acid attack in Beckton.
The substance used in the Stepney carjacking was a bleach-type chemical which discoloured the driver’s shirt.
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FARM TO MARKET ROAD NO. 35
Minute Order 019350, dated 04/2 9/1942
From Quinlan to Mexico, a distance of approximately 4.2 miles. New Designation.
From Union Valley to junction SH 34 in Quinlan and from another junction with SH 34 in Quinlan to Mexico, a distance of approximately 11.7 miles. (Hunt County) Section from Union Valley to Quinlan added (7.5 miles).
From Sabine River Bottom west via Mexico to SH 34 in Quinlan, and from another junction with State Highway 34 in Quinlan to Union Valley, a distance of approximately 15.7 miles. (Hunt County) Extended 4.0 miles from Sabine River Bottom to Mexico.
Minute Order 033304,dated 12/17/1952
From Rockwall County Line eastward via Union Valley to SH 34 in Quinlan and from another point on SH 34 in Quinlan eastward via Mexico to Sabine River Bottom, a distance of approximately 20.1 miles. (Hunt County) Extended approximate-ly 4.9 miles westward to Rockwall County Line.
Adm. Auth., dated 02/26/1953
From New Location of US 67 southeastward and eastward via Quinlan and Mexico to Sabine River Bottom, a distance of approximately 21.8 miles. (Rockwall and Hunt Counties) FM 1396 cancelled & combined, adding ap-proximately 1.7 mile.
Minute Orders 037028, 036998, dated 10/26/1954, Adm. Auth., dated 10/26/1954, Adm. Cir., 53-1954, dated 12/15/1954
From the new location of US 67 at Royse City, southeastward and eastward to SH 34 in Quinlan; and from another point on SH 34 in Quinlan eastward via Mexico to a point on FM 47; and from another point on FM 47 eastward to US 69 at Emory, a distance of approximately 36.8 miles. (Rockwall, Hunt, and Rains Counties) Extended eastward to end of FM 2102,adding approximately 9.9 miles; FM 2102 cancelled and combined, adding approximately 5.3 miles.
Minute Order 045279, dated 12/19/1958, Adm. Cir. 56-1955, dated 04/01/1959
From the new location of US 67 at Royse City southeastward and eastward to SL 264 in Quinlan; and from SH 34 in Quinlan eastward via Mexico to a point on FM 47; and from another point on FM 47 eastward to US 65 at Emory, a to a] distance of approximately 34.8 miles. (Rockwall. Hunt and Rains Counties) Section from Royse City to Quinlan revised to show as terminating, at Loop 264 instead of SH 34 a decrease a approximately 0.5 miles.
Adm.Cir., 221-1959, dated 12/15/1959
From the new location of US 67 at Royse City, southeastward and eastward to SL 264 in Quinlan; and from SH 34 in Quinlan eastward via Mexico to US 65 at Emory, a total distance of approximately 34.8 miles. (Rockwall, Hunt, and Rains Counties) Redescribed to remove break in route at FM 47 in Rains County.
Minute Order 055108, dated 09/30/1964, Adm. Cir., 111-1964, dated 10/15/1964
From US 67 at Royse City, southeastward and eastward to SL 264 in Quinlan; and from SH 34 in Quinlan, eastward via Mexico to FM 2795 at Emory, a total distance of approximately 34.6 miles. (Rockwall, Hunt, and Rains Counties) (New Description) Eastern terminus redescribed due to old location US 69 being renumbered FM 2795.
Adm. Auth., dated 01/28/1970, Adm.Cir., 17-1970, dated 02/15/1970
From US 67 at Royse City southeast to SH 276; and from SH 34 at Quinlan east via Mexico to FM 2795 at Emory, a total distance of approximately 28.8 miles. (Rockwall, Hunt and Rains Counties) Section from Loop 264 in Quinlan west approximately 5.832 miles transferred to SH 276.
Minute Order 090669, dated 08/29/1990, Adm. Ltr., 03-1990, dated 12/18/1990
From IH 30 in Royse City east and south to SH 276 west of Quinlan, a distance of approximately 6.0 miles. (Rockwall and Hunt Counties) (New Description) Section of approxi-mately 21.3 miles, from SH 34 at Quinlar east to US 69 at Emory transferred to SH 276.
Minute Order 090903, dated 10/25/1990; Adm. Ltr., 02-91, dated 03/25/1991
From IH 30 at Royse City, eastward and southeastward approximately 8.4 miles to SH 276. (Rockwall and Hunt Counties) As requested by District, section of approximately 21.3 miles, from SH 34 to US 69 transferred to SH 276.
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The Handmaid's Tale: Seeds
"Cows don't get married."
Two weddings and a funeral. Okay, two very unusual weddings and an intensely touching funeral.
But I should start with June.
The photography in this series is exceptional. Most of the time, the focus is on women's faces and their reactions to what is happening to them, and mostly, that woman's face is June's. But in this episode, they kept showing June from behind as if she had no face, very much as if her identity was gone, which it was. They even removed the mirror from her bathroom.
June, or more accurately, Offred, was broken. So broken that she took those painful, emotional written pleas for help from behind the bathtub and burned them in the kitchen sink. (Apparently there are no smoke detectors in the Waterford house.) All that pain, up in smoke as if it never existed. That gave me such a twinge because it was as if Offred was trying to obliterate June. She told Nick in a dull voice, "I'm not allowed to have these."
It was sort of fascinating how Serena Joy and Aunt Lydia were so conflicted about what was happening to June, although they never actually spoke about it directly. As they were controlling everything June did up to and including her bowel movements, Aunt Lydia was disturbed by the "mood in the household" and Serena Joy was clearly perturbed that Aunt Lydia chose to come by so often. You'd think Serena Joy would be pleased that June had become the perfect pregnant Stepford Handmaid, but no. There is no pleasing Serena Joy. Probably because Serena Joy cannot admit to herself how deeply unhappy she is with this horrible Republic she helped create.
A struggle for power between Serena Joy and Aunt Lydia. Who will win? If anyone deserves to be hoist with her own woman-hating petard, it's freaking Serena Joy, but Aunt Lydia is utterly evil. I'd love to watch them destroy each other, though.
This photo is disturbing on so many levels.
June's need to rebel began to emerge when she started bleeding. She noticed the blood in her panties and almost, but not quite, smiled. Note that there was no panic in anything she did after that, even though she most certainly knew she would be executed if she lost the baby. I kept thinking of how as young women, we're taught to keep our relationship with blood a secret. As the bleeding got heavier and June became dizzy and tired, she continued to hide it. Perhaps she was hoping that losing the baby would kill her, too.
Where was she going when Nick found her, unconscious on the ground in the rain? Was she hoping the cold rain would make her even sicker? Was she going to Nick for help, even though in an emotional sense he'd been taken away from her that very day, his wedding day? He certainly wasn't excited about his wedding night if he was standing in the rain, smoking a wet cigarette and looking up at June's window.
Biblically, Rachel and Leah were the two wives of Jacob; he married one when he thought he was marrying the other. So the "Rachel and Leah" center was pretty much the perfect venue for honoring all of those valiant guardians, those amazing Gilead soldiers who enjoyed beating and hanging innocent people for a living, with brides. Very young brides with veiled non-faces, a theme in this episode. Throughout the ceremony, as Nick opened the little black box containing wedding rings and lifted the veil of the wife he didn't know or want, Nick kept glancing at an unhappy-looking June, sitting in her Handmaid place behind Serena Joy.
Unspoken was the fact that all this was happening because Fred had tried to get rid of Nick. It has never been verbally acknowledged, but when Serena Joy ran to Fred to tell him that Nick was concerned about June's state of mind, Fred must have finally put two and two together, if he hadn't already. Since Commander Pryce wouldn't allow Fred to discard Nick by "promoting" him into another job in D.C. (I bet Pryce doesn't trust Fred Waterford and didn't want to lose the Eye that was already established in his household), Fred decided to distract Nick by giving him a bride. Later, in the Waterford living room, Fred grinned as Nick read a passage from the Bible about love before he and Eden Spencer, his new child bride, went up to Nick's room above the garage. Serena Joy was welcoming and motherly toward Eden, telling her that lust wasn't a sin if you're married. Geez, Serena Joy. How kind of you.
After Nick found and rescued the unconscious June, she woke up in a very white hospital room with a fetal monitor strapped to her stomach. She didn't lose the baby, after all. And the camera was once again focused on June's face, surrounded by her extremely white blanket to conceal her conversation with her unborn child, as she promised she would get him or her out of Gilead. I'm glad the real June is back.
All this, and I haven't even gotten to Emily and Janine yet.
They're an interesting pair, nothing alike, and Emily kept showing frustration with Janine's expressions of faith in God. Even after all the terrible things that have happened to her, Janine is so childlike that she made a wish as she blew the fluff off of a dandelion because "they're happy for everyone. They don't care who you are." Janine believes that God saved her life twice, and there has to be a reason. Emily wanted Janine to stop taking chances, to not get caught misbehaving, to focus on survival, but what's the point if they're going to die, anyway?
While Emily might be my favorite character in this series, I was on Janine's side this time. It was Janine's idea to ask Sally the rabbi to marry lovers Fiona and Kit so that Kit could die happy, so at least they would have something at the end of this terrible life.
I've often felt compassion and concern for Janine, but this was the first time I genuinely liked her.
Bits:
— Along with the camera focus away from June's face, they also shot from above the Waterford house and above Kit's deathbed, like they were showing God's perspective (something I've mentioned before). There were also several closeups of cups and glasses, possibly as a reminder of women as vessels since that's their only important function now.
— Aunt Lydia said that aunts have a "special dispensation" to use pencils. Serena Joy did not seem to like that. Maybe she was jealous.
— I was unhappy that Emily is showing signs of radiation poisoning. Her cheeks are rough, and she's losing teeth. I want so much for Emily and Janine to escape and live, but it doesn't appear to be likely.
— Kit was buried in a field of tiny crosses and shallow graves. That was another visual from this episode that stayed with me.
Aunt Lydia: "Her attitude seems much improved."
Serena Joy: "It's everything a wife could ask for. She's quite unlike herself."
Aunt Lydia: "Mrs. Waterford, no small effort has been made to bring Offred to heel."
Geez, you could say that. No small effort.
Janine: "He holds me in the palm of His hand."
Emily: "He couldn't hold you in his palm someplace else, like Bora Bora?"
Emily: "We come here, we work, we die."
Serena Joy: "'Prayvaganza.' Not one of the Commander's better efforts, if you ask me."
Janine: "This was my idea. I told her that they're not Jewish but she said that God doesn't care."
A gay, biracial wedding officiated by a rabbi. Lovely.
Emily: "This place is Hell and covering it up in flowers doesn't change anything."
Janine: "Well, so what? We come here, we work, we die. Kit's going to die happy. So what's the problem?"
Emily: "Gilead took your eye. They took my clit. Now we're cows being worked to death, and you're dressing up the slaughterhouse for them. That's the fucking problem!"
Janine: "Cows don't get married."
Nick: (to Fred) "By God's grace, I'll have a child of my own someday, sir."
That was a loaded statement, considering the circumstances.
Another intense episode. Four out of four dandelions,
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
The Handmaid's Tale season 2
The Handmaid's Tale home
Labels: :S2.E5, Billie Doux, Seeds, The Handmaid's Tale, The Handmaid's Tale reviews
Lisianpeia said...
Throughout the episode I was confused about what June wanted. At moments I felt like she was experience dissociation regarding the blood, in others I felt she wanted to loose the baby.
I think the most painful moment for me was June burning the notes from the other Handmaid's. Whenevere these appear I get anxious. All these women wrote these messages hoping someone outside Gilead would read them. I really want this to happen and but the chances seem slim.
I know she doesn't deserve it, but I can't help feeling sorry for Serena.
I also agreed with Janine in this. That wedding scene was beautiful and full of love, specially contrasting it with the Guardians wedding.
Friday, May 18, 2018 at 11:39:00 AM EDT
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Legends of Tomorrow: Terms of Service
by Mikey Heinrich
"The power is in the Palm(er) of your hands."
Is it rude to point out that the Emperor has no clothes, if you point out at the same time that the Emperor is super ripped and has been clearly doing a lot of cardio?
Because.... Damn, Emperor. You got it going on.
Which is, of course, my frivolous and subtextually homoerotic way of saying that there's an embarrassment of riches in this episode when it comes to things to like, but they all kind of rely on some serious glossing over of problem spots.
The problem in a nutshell can be boiled down to one thing. The basic opening foundation for this episode doesn't match at all with where things were left at the end of the previous one. I'm tempted to assume that I'd missed an entire episode worth of plot development, except that I know perfectly well that I didn't. It's almost as if the writers room broke a 17 episode series of stories and then just completely excised one of them when they found out they were only getting 16 to air.
For the love of God, CW, please start giving Legends a full boat of 22 episodes. It's getting embarrassing.
OK, so here's what I mean. A not insignificant portion of the plot development tonight entirely relies on the fairy godmother currently being under Gary's control. That's actually an inspired plot development, and his relationship both with Tabitha and with the next inheritor of the fairy godmother mantle were pure gold as far as both comedy and plot development goes.
The problem is, when exactly did Fairy Godmother bond herself to Gary? He calls to her at the end of the previous episode and she saves him from Mona as if their relationship was an established thing, but unless I missed something significant completely, that was not a thing they'd ever set up.
I'll be fair. I drink a lot of wine. If I missed something that explains this, please do let me know in the comments.
Additionally, at the end of 'Nip/Stuck,' Mona ate off Gary's evil nipple – not a sentence you get to type every day – and Gary was rushed out of the Time Bureau with unconscious Mona, Tabitha, and Neron in Ray's body. The implication strongly was that Gary's nipple was behind the mass hypnosis of the Bureau, and now that it had been destroyed the bureau was saved. Left behind to witness the bad guys escape was Nora, Ava, and Sara.
This week we open with the bad guys still in possession of the Bureau, only now it's due to Gary's influence over the fairy godmother rather than his fancy hypnotic nipple. Not only do we see no evidence of the bad guys leaving the bureau together, they aren't even all in a group anymore. Mona is imprisoned in the Bureau cells, which makes no sense if they were fleeing with her body ten minutes earlier. Neron and Tabitha aren't even there anymore as they're busy setting up 'PalmerX 2019,' a low key tech con with only one panel and one guest. Ava and Sara are back on the Waverider as if they'd never liberated the Bureau in the first place, and Nora is Die Harding her way to rescue Mona with no mention of how she got separated from them.
I'm sorry, show, but I have to ask. Did you smoke a gigantic bag of crack between these two episodes, or what?
It's all very frustrating, because I said earlier, where they take all of those plot threads is fantastic. Neron's plan to create fear using the monsters so that people will download an app in order to locate the monsters and in doing so sell their immortal souls through a lengthy terms of service agreement is both goat-shit crazy and completely brilliant. What's more, it would absolutely work. If you doubt it, just consider how much none of us noticed when the guests of PalmerX were shown agreeing to a terms of service agreement that they didn't read. Seriously, go back and look. The camera shots practically luxuriate on people swiping through the TOS as fast as they can, but nothing about that reads as unusual or sinister to us anymore and so we just blanked it out.
Similarly, Tabitha's plan to trick Nora into taking on her fairy godmother mantle was inspired, despite being lifted pretty completely from genie-lore, particularly Disney's Live Action Aladdin Soon in Theaters Near You. And God bless the show for keeping Jane Carr around as Tabitha. I absolutely expected that they'd find an excuse to recast Tabitha into the body of someone younger and sexier as soon as they possibly could, because that's the kind of gross thing that network execs tend to insist on. I love, love, love that they're keeping her around as Neron's love interest. And while we're talking about it, it's such a good choice for them to show that Neron and Tabitha do genuinely love each other. It would have been so easy to tumble into the cliché of a villain team eager to backstab one another.
But the best choice this episode made was in the nature of Gary Green himself. Wonderful reveal that Gary was perfectly aware the entire time that the fairy godmother was trying to get him to wish hurt on the Legends and so he was deliberately just focusing on wishing to hang out with them as a way of defying her. Even when 'Dark Gary' finally gets called forth, his glorious flow of vengeance never goes further than acne and tap dancing. Gary is a good man, fundamentally. And he's absolutely right, he does not deserve to be laughed at. I've been saying since the beginning of the season that the Legends need to face a consequence for the way they're played Gary as convenient bait that can be had for a little flattery. I think they finally learned that lesson here.
Which brings lastly to John Constantine, in a plotline I like to call, 'This should absolutely have been an entire episode all on its own.'
When they mentioned Hell's Triumvirate I briefly entertained the thought that they might be about to do the good parts of 'Dangerous Habits' that everybody always leaves out when they try to adapt it, but alas, no. It felt right that he chose Astra over Ray, as much as it broke my heart, and it felt equally right that Astra betrayed him. Can't wait to see what will happen there when Nora gets to Hell to rescue John. I do, however, which that they'd gone with the imagery from the comics and had Astra only have one arm.
Everybody remember where we parked:
There was actually shockingly little travel this week. The Waverider just hung around Washington D.C. in 2019, and a couple of our heroes went to Hell, which may or may not equate to the same time zone, it's hard to tell.
What is interesting is the reveal that Zari grew up a little outside of D.C. Did we know that already, or was that a reveal of convenience this week? Zari appeared to me to be in the 8-10 range, although I am a notoriously bad judge of age so she might be a bit older. That actually answers a couple of longstanding questions I was pondering last year about what baby Zari might be up to in our time period.
Zari mentions that it's only a few years away from when ARGUS takes over everything and creates an anti-Meta, anti-Muslim Dystopia. We're all kind of assuming they're just never going to deal with that, aren't we?
Sara: "Mick, Nate, do you think you can handle Tabitha?"
Mick: "Granny’s dead."
Sara: "OK, can you guys stop being dragon baby crazy right now?"
Gary: "And now I have three nipples, because a spare never hurts."
Having a third nipple was historically a sign of witchcraft. There is a zero percent chance the writers don't know that.
Calibraxis: "You’re dead, demon hunter!"
Constantine: "I was gonna be a demon proctologist, but the pay wasn’t as good."
Calibraxis: "I’m a demon, not a pirate, John."
Zari: "It’s a demon app. I’m gonna read the fine print."
Charlie: "If I die, I’m gonna come back and haunt you."
Zari: "I would love a ghost friend."
Nora: "Gary, you dick!"
I cannot say enough good things about this dress
-- This season has for some reason brought up a lot of embarrassing confessions from me. Adding to the list that already contains my love of semiotics and the assembly of flatpack furniture, this week I have to tell you how much I love logo design. Honestly. I bring this up because the PalmerX logo is a masterwork. The solid 3-D cube implied by the background framing device conveys an unspoken implication of solidity and dependability with the third implied square breaking the frame and shooting 'toward' the viewer implying a daring willingness to work outside conventional rules and by implication 'think outside the box.' The coloring, meanwhile, subtly underscores the 'Palmer' portion of the name, thus reinforcing the higher brand. Honestly, and with no ironic joking involved, the PalmerX logo is a f*cking masterpiece of work.
-- I actually have a startling number of opinions on the quality of logo design. Feel free to ask, but I warn you that the answers get lengthy.
-- I get that they were underscoring the connection between Tala Ashe and Zari's younger self, but that hairstyle just fundamentally did not work for her. That's actually kind of rare and notable for her. Just about every hairstyle they've ever given her has looked gorgeous.
-- Looks like Wixtable the dragon is hatching in time for the season finale.
-- I went back and forth on whether or not it was smart or stupid for Zari to have brought the egg with her on the mission. Ultimately, I think there was no guaranteed safe place for the egg, given how often messed up stuff happens on the Waverider when they aren't there.
-- I hope Nate is understanding about Zari leaving the egg behind.
-- So many questions about why Nate has a 'Kid Steel' costume hanging around. And why Gary picked it.
-- This week's fabulous dress watch. Jane Carr looked stunning in that evil black number she adopted once she'd ditched her godmother duties. Also, the designer of that asymmetrical sheath number that Nora wore to PalmerX is underpaid. Regardless of how much he or she is paid, they are underpaid. That dress was amazing. Please, please, Courtney Ford, tell me that you stole that dress and have it in your personal collection. Also, call me. We'll brunch.
-- They're really getting their money out of the Stein puppet. Bless.
-- Hell's triumvirate included Satan, not Lucifer. Which means a crossover with Lucifer is still possible. Fun fact, in the comics the triumvirate in Hell stepped in to rule when Lucifer left to go open up his nightclub in LA. Which means it all totally works together if they can get Tom Ellis to make a stop in the Waverider. And then possibly he and Matt Ryan could share a torrid embrace and... I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?
-- That's like the third episode in a row where they've mentioned Damien Darhk. Dare we hope to see him again next season?
If you squint at it and assume that we missed an episode of plot development, this would easily be a four. Sadly, we can't, and so I can't in good conscience give it more than three out of four fantastic logos.
Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water. You can find more of his work at the 42nd Vizsla.
Legends home
Labels: :S4.E15, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Legends of Tomorrow reviews, Mikey Heinrich, Terms of Service
percysowner said...
I'm actually thinking that Young Zari will find herself bonded to a dragon, that may follow her around like a duckling and THAT will change the future for the world. I mean they let Stein keep his daughter, who was an anomaly, so why not get rid of the dystopia, especially since it's been set so close in the future. What that does to Zari's role on the Waverider would be up in the air, but I have faith in the writers.
I'm less on Gary's side than you are. Yes, The Fairy Godmother WANTED him to wish evil for the Legends, but she couldn't make him do that. He COULD have wished for the Time Bureau to be freed from the spell of his evil nipple (or possibly the spell of the FG, they really did skip over some important exposition). I like Gary, and I see why he and you think the Legends treated him badly, but they had to say Ava mistreated him off screen more than we have seen AND make the woman who had a huge problem with Sara not following the rules, suddenly doing something she believed was illegal. What pushed Gary over the edge was that RAY, who had no reason to LOVE Gary, said he liked Gary, but didn't love him enough to lose his soul if he killed Gary. But Ray didn't OWE Gary love. Mick doesn't treat Gary any worse than he treats anyone. Sara treated Mona as dismissively as Gary until Mona EARNED her respect, and not by trying to kill her and Ava. I don't remember Nate interacting with Gary that much at all. Sadly, for ME, Gary cam off as a Nice Guy (TM) who thinks he was entitled to friendships with the Legends that he didn't earn. And then the show validated that. So I don't feel that bad for Gary. He made bad choices and is getting rewarded in ways that I'm not thrilled with. OTOH, I have liked Gary as a character, so I'm willing to go with the flow.
Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 10:03:00 PM EDT
I really love reading your reviews, Mikey. :)
I didn't know all that stuff about Lucifer. I also really loved what they did with the Fairy Godmother and yes, I also expected they would find a way to change out the actress with someone young and was pleased that they didn't. And Courtney Ford in that black and white dress -- absolutely gorgeous. Total agreement.
But I still don't like Gary. And Mona. I wish they'd both disappear, and it keeps not happening.
Mikey Heinrich said...
I admit, I might be over-identifying with Gary. And your points about him are totally valid. I've just never really gotten over the way that they tricked him into being unicorn bait by promising friendship that they never intended to deliver.
You're totally right about Ava, btw. The line about the unpaid overtime was radically out of character for the sake of the joke
I read Gary's reaction to Ray's lack of loving him more as Gary being jealous of how strong Nate and Ray's bond is. Hell, I'M jealous of how strong Nate and Ray's bond is.
Nate and Gary spent a fair amount of bonding time early on this season, when Nate took the job at the bureau to be near his dad.
I'm totally rooting for young Zari and her dragon to be a thing now. Love that.
Billie, I think part of the issue with Gary and Mona - and Nora to a lesser extent - is that the show is waffling a bit on whether they're part of the team or just side characters at the bureau. That makes it feel like the moments when they are being treated as Legends haven't really been earned by them. Just my 2 cents. :) I can't help but think we're going to lose a couple characters in the finale. There are just too many right now. It better not be Ava, I'm just saying.
Monday, May 20, 2019 at 12:04:00 PM EDT
I always love reading these reviews!
Mikey, what are your thoughts on the logo for the "Eyes" app, staring out from the home screens of the damned?
To answer your question, Zari was brought up as living in the DC area in the tag at the end of 4x01, when Zari brings Ray to watch her mother pushing her on a swingset and laments that she can't do anything to save them. I think the Wixtable development at the end of this episode might mean that she's broken that rule without even meaning to; can't wait to see what happens tonight!
One thing that I think a lot of people (including me) missed on first viewing about the unpaid overtime was that Ava didn't ask Gary to do overtime without pay, she apologized for letting him, which I think implies that he asked to do it or insisted on doing it? YMMV, but that strikes me as the kind of thing that Ava would simply relent on because she has bigger things to deal with.
I'm really intrigued by percysowner's take on Gary. I think there's something to the idea that Gary's not treated by the Legends *quite* as badly as he thinks (and often in ways that are proportional to the boundaries he bumps against), and I would have liked to see the show make the suggestion that Neron got Gary to focus on the slights and not on the overall picture. I mean, Nate went to bat for Gary with Mona back in the first half, and Zari was totally onboard with starting a crochet club with him; there's been some kindness mixed in with the mistreatment.
And that's a really interesting point about third nipples, thank you for teaching me something new!
Monday, May 20, 2019 at 2:40:00 PM EDT
Thank you so much, I'd totally forgotten that tag scene with Zari watching her mom. In hindsight they were totally setting up that piece so that they could come back to it at the end of the season, weren't they. That's an admirable long game.
As to the eyes app logo, I'm not a huge fan. Primarily because it doesn't really communicate anything through its design structure. The color pallate of the eye image is too muddy to create brand identification, and while I get that they were going for a stable/symmetrical feel with the verbiage they completely undercut any feelings of stability that the symmetry might generate by using a hyperfluid sans serif font which conveys transience and motion. The closed off left side of the focal word (on the E) leads the eye to the uncovered open side of the S, which conveys a feeling of energy bleeding out of the system, a feeling not helped by the curved corners of the font.
In short, everything that the logo is telling me subtextualy is exactly the opposite of the way that a security app should want to make me feel.
Good God, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed analyzing that :) Thank you so much for asking!
Gary forcing Ava and Sara to dance sexily for him was peak Nice Guy. The entitled guy who wants the prom queen to be into him cause he's into her.
Nope, not on his side. Liked him fine earlier, but not now.
mazephoenix
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 2:57:00 AM EDT
Raya said...
From someone who hasn't watched a single episode on Legends of Tomorrow, these reviews are absolutely hilarious.
(I like reading Doux reviews of random shows I don't even watch. It relaxes me.)
I just love how you're all having serious conversations about an evil hypnotic nipple, but only suspect the writers of smoking crack when they make continuity errors.
This show must really be something.
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 5:15:00 AM EDT
Raya, your comment made me giggle. How delightful that you read random reviews of shows you haven't watched!
Phyllis Strickland said...
I agree with you 100%. After 10 minutes of this episode, I re-watched the previous episode to see what I missed. Then I searched episode lists to see if the CW app missed an episode - nope. It was a great episode but very frustrating because there were so many continuity holes. You review is spot on!!
Friday, May 24, 2019 at 11:50:00 PM EDT
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The New Boy
By Sean Michael
Release Date Nov 1, 2016
Buy from Retailer
An Iron Eagle Gym Novel
Lance Packet just got a contract to shoot an erotic BDSM deck of cards; the only problem is finding models. So far everyone he’s interviewed thinks he’s looking for sex for hire. Then in walk three perfect examples of men: Tide and his friends, Tyrone and Bran.
Tide Germaine is a model and a Dom. He and his best friend Tyrone opened The Iron Eagle Gym as a place for gay men in the lifestyle to work out, do scenes, and congregate with like-minded men. The modeling is just another job for Tide, but it soon turns into a grand seduction as Tide falls for the shy, self-conscious photographer. The problem is Lance doesn’t believe he’s in Tide’s league, and he’s not at all sure about the Dom and sub thing.
It’s not going to be easy, but Tide’s going to have to convince Lance he belongs at Tide’s side as both lover and sub.
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase
Series Iron Eagle Gym
Genres Contemporary Romance / Gay
Jun 13, 2018 | The New Boy 99 Cents
May 25, 2017 | 10 for $10: Year 5
Disappointing
By Christy
I really struggled with this book. I think if I’d been a complete newb to reading BDSM perhaps I would have enjoyed it better but I’m not. Tide came across as a bit of a predator and that really bothered me. I didn’t always find his self-confidence to be sexy - sometimes I thought he was smarmy, to be honest, and even a little skeezy. Lance is the most innocent person I think I’ve ever seen and although it was sweet in the beginning it grew old, for me, after a while.
I’m certainly not averse to sex (goddess knows!) but ‘The New Boy’ read more like sex, nap, sex, sex, photo sessions, food, sex, sex, sleeping, sex, sex, sex. I would have liked a lot more character development and even some more backstory on each of these men.
I liked Tyrone and Bran so I’ll have to see how I feel after I’ve read their story.
Review of The New Boy
By Diverse Reader
on Mar 5, 2016 08:03
This is book one in Sean Michaels Iron Eagle Gym Series. We all know Sean is the master of the playroom. The sex is hot, mostly raunchy, but the men are so sweet. They are like a warm hug followed by a swift slap on the butt. LOL.
Tide is a gorgeous Dom/model and when he meets Lance (a photographer) doing a photoshoot for special BDSM cards, he is immediately taken with him. And Lance is NOT at all familiar with the scene and Tide basically has to show him and make him feel and more importantly make Lance love himself.. Sometimes building someones self-confidence is the hardest thing to do. But Tide adores Lance and soon they fall so hard.
This is a hot and steamy story that will absolutely have you fanning yourself.
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Amazon Prime Can’t Hang With High End Brands
Ecommerce News Tiana Byers Dec 2, 2014
For the first time since its launch in 2005, Amazon has upped the ante for Prime members with all new perks. Unfortunately, not everyone is on board. With a new feature known internally as “Prime Pass,” Amazon Prime members can now shop from selected online retailers outside of Amazon and checkout with free, next day shipping.
The first store to extend Prime Pass benefits to its customers is AllSaints, a mid-sized British fashion retailer. Here’s how it works:
Amazon shoppers who stumble upon AllSaints apparel on the marketplace will click to the AllSaints site.
Shoppers will be prompted to login with their Amazon Prime username and password.
Then, they’ll check out with a payment method stored in Amazon.
For each click from Amazon to the AllSaints webpage, Amazon charges the retailer a small fee. Sound fair? AllSaints global digital chief Rich Ascott isn’t worried about it. “Prime could be the VIP pass to the Internet,” he says. So far, Amazon customers who venture to the AllSaints site complete purchases after placing items in their shopping cart at a rate that’s 34 percent better than non-Amazon customers (RECODE). And even though AllSaints now has to advertise products on the Amazon marketplace, they operate under their own storefront, meaning shoppers could not expect to buy AllSaints apparel directly from the marketplace. Other retailers, however, aren’t quite as eager to hand out free passes.
When Amazon solicited the attention of high-end retailers to partner for Prime Pass, they found that many were unwilling to open their virtual doors. Higher-end retailers, like Neiman Marcus, express fear at the idea of having to advertise their merchandise on Amazon.com. The biggest fear for these retailers is that advertising their products on Amazon will dilute their brand image. One high-ranking retail executive shared the following in an interview with Re/Code, a leading tech and commerce publication:
“When we go to open a store in the mall, we’re very careful about who is around us. On Amazon, because they are serving up customized results, our stuff may appear next to some Joe Schmo or third party selling similar goods at half the price.”
Additionally, they’re reluctant to give Amazon a view into their confidential product reporting, like which items are most popular among Amazon shoppers. Though, as Re/Code writer Jason Del Ray suggested, the basis of this fear may stretch to paranoia. Several retailers shared with them that “they are convinced that Amazon may one day cut its own deals with clothing manufacturers to sell apparel under its own brand names that compete directly with its own retail partners.” One retail executive even shared with him that “The more information they have, the more deadly they get as a competitor.”
However, many of these retailers have signed up with ShopRunner, an Amazon competitor that, for a $79 annual membership offers free, two-day shipping. Some of the brands partnering with ShopRunner are Prada, Apple, LG, Michael Khors and Chanel. Why ShopRunner and not Amazon? For starters, ShopRunner is an online membership program only – they don’t manufacture or sell items under their own name. The paranoia around Amazon becoming a competitor to Neiman Marcus and Abercrombie and Fitch may sound baseless to some, but for these retailers, it’s enough to close the doors on Prime Pass, for now anyway.
If the door was opened to you, would you sign up for Prime Pass? Or are you more of an independent DIY-er when it comes to creating marketing opportunities? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Master The Amazon Marketplace
Amazon’s strict rules and restrictions make it difficult to navigate. It takes a lot of trial and error to get your formula right. Download this guide with 15 tips to help you master this platform.
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Doing business in Colombia: 10 business etiquette tips
September 25, 2019 Enter Target Markets
Jennifer Campbell Writer & Editor Jennifer Campbell
It may surprise some Canadians to learn that Canada has had a free trade agreement with Colombia since 2011. More than 100 Canadian companies have a presence in Colombia and two-way trade in 2017 topped $1.73 billion, making it Canada’s fifth largest trading partner in Latin America and the Caribbean (excluding, of course, Mexico.)
But while the relationship is strong and the groundwork has been laid, there’s plenty of room for growth. To that end, we consulted two Export Development Canada (EDC) customers about their experiences on the ground in Colombia. Carlos Caro is the director of sales and channel development for tech company Sera4 in Latin America, and Mattia Tassinari is the export sales manager for WATERAX Inc., a Montreal manufacturer of water pumps for fighting fires. Both have extensive experience working in Colombia.
10 etiquette tips for doing business in Colombia
1. Speak the language: While it’s not essential, having a representative who speaks Spanish will be a boon to any Canadian company looking to do business in Colombia. “I speak Spanish fluently,” Tassinari says. “For me, that has opened up way more doors. They’re impressed when they meet a foreigner who speaks Spanish.” Caro adds that even if your Colombian counterparts speak English, it’s not their first language, so it’s best to speak slowly and double check to ensure they’ve understood everything you’ve said.
2. Hierarchy is important: “Colombians are very open, very professional,” Tassinari says. “And they like titles. They like to meet people at the top of your organization and they love foreigners who come to visit them.”
3. Dress it up: In Bogota, the capital of Colombia, the work attire is formal, so men and women should wear business suits there, especially on a first meeting. In other parts of the country, the suit can be dressed down. “Outside of Bogota, it can be less mandatory to wear a tie, for example,” Caro says.
4. Business in boardrooms: Business often takes place in boardrooms, especially in the early stages. Once a relationship is well-established and ongoing, meetings may be held in a restaurant for lunch or dinner. However, meetings with government officials, regardless of when they occur, are always in offices, Tassinari says.
5. Mind the clock: Punctuality on the part of their guests is important to Colombians, but Caro says it isn’t always reciprocated. “Nevertheless, you should always show professionalism. If you’re having a training session, build in a buffer in case your counterparts are late. Sometimes key decision-makers come only for the last 10 minutes of a meeting.” Caro says to keep in mind that traffic in Latin America is almost always jammed, especially in Bogota. He says it would be unrealistic to expect to successfully get through more than three meetings in Bogota in one day and advises that planning only two is a safer bet.
6. Negotiation is part of the game: In Latin America, “everyone negotiates,” Tassinari says. Caro adds that it’s important to do your homework on pricing, including the local prices in your sector. He says you should also be prepared to present arguments to defend your price. If you’re well-informed on what your competition is offering, you can change not only the price, but maybe the payment terms, for example, to make your offer more attractive. But expect some bartering.
7. Patience is a must: Business takes a little longer in Colombia than it does in North America and it can often feel like it’s one step forward and two steps back, Caro says. Sometimes it’s not the company causing the slowdowns—it can also be regional politics and uncertainty. “Pay attention to the politics in Latin America,” he advises. “Sometimes the guy in the field isn’t moving forward because of something beyond his control, so you have to be aware of the politics. They are more volatile than North America.”
8. Facetime matters: Even if you have a representative in Latin America who is looking after your business, your counterparts still want to see you and senior members of your team. Travelling to spend time with them might make the difference in securing future deals. “You have to show your face,” Caro says. “If you have an agent, you may not have to go as often, but you still have to go periodically.”
9. Make them feel supported: What happens if something goes wrong with your product or service? Is calling someone in Canada your customer’s only option? “Regardless of the quality of the product, it is critical for the customer to know and feel that the chosen vendor will have the structure and tools to support them appropriately,” Caro says.
10. Do your due diligence in their language: Having your documentation prepared in Spanish will tell your customers you’re ready to do business in Latin America. And don’t just use Google translate, Caro advises, as your customers will see through that.
Culture Language Differences Colombia
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December 16th Links
Most real-world problems are big enough that you can't just head for the end goal, you have to break them down into smaller parts and set up intermediate goals. For that matter, most games are that way too. "Win" is too big a goal in chess, so you might have a subgoal like don't get forked. While creating subgoals makes intractable problems tractable, it also creates the problem of determining the relative priority of different subgoals and whether or not a subgoal is relevant to the ultimate goal at all. In chess, there are libraries worth of books written on just that. And chess is really simple compared to a lot of real world problems. 64 squares. 32 pieces. Pretty much any analog problem you can think of contains more state than chess, and so do a lot of discrete problems. Chess is also relatively simple because you can directly measure whether or not you succeeded (won). Many real-world problems have the additional problem of not being able to measure your goal directly. [Dan Luu]
We begin our study of tactics with double attacks, or forks: moves that attack two enemy targets at once. And we begin our study of double attacks with knight forks. In the skeletal diagram to the left, White's knight has forked Black's king and rook; in other words, it attacks them at the same time. Why start with the knight? Because it is an especially vicious and common forking tool. First, it can threaten a wide range of targets. The knight is roughly comparable in value to a bishop, and so is less valuable than a rook or queen; thus a knight not only can attack any unprotected (or "loose") enemy pieces but also can be exchanged favorably for enemy queens and rooks regardless of whether they have protection. Second, the knight's unique, non-straight pattern of movement creates two advantages: it allows a knight to attack other pieces without fear of being captured by them; and it enables a knight to make jumps and deliver threats that are surprising to the eye and so are easy to overlook. [link]
The corollary of that rule—the rule that the great people are never on the market—is that the bad people—the seriously unqualified—are on the market quite a lot. They get fired all the time, because they can't do their job. Their companies fail—sometimes because any company that would hire them would probably also hire a lot of unqualified programmers, so it all adds up to failure—but sometimes because they actually are so unqualified that they ruined the company. Yep, it happens. [joel]
The end result of Bagehotian banking is that, without any government protection, it is incredibly unstable and will melt down at a drop of the hat. With full government protection, it is stable, and it drives down long-term interest rates - just as if the government itself had been making the loans itself. The lender of last resort might as well be a lender of first resort. (There are no modern schools of economics which believe, as far as I know, that governments should print money and lend it.) And with wishy-washy, informal, wink-and-a-nod protection - which is what we had until the other day - these toxic qualities are combined. And this is how we continually stumble forward with a broken, Victorian-era banking system, suffering the slings and arrows of bad financial engineering. The whole thing needs to be rebooted, if not reinstalled, and we simply don't have a political system - or an intellectual system - which is capable of this. [moldbug]
I've spent my life exploring the outdoors and our country's National Park system. I've always been excited to open the map I'd get at the entrance of a new national park I didn't know so well. Those maps were more than just directions around the national park, they'd help awaken me to the beauty and adventure that was about to come. Like so many, I saved those national park maps as mementos of my trips. Unfortunately, they'd usually end up in a box, or somewhere else where I'd forget about them. Finally, after a trip to Yosemite National Park I decided to design a map that wouldn't get lost. Using soft color palettes and clean design I created versions of National Park maps meant for walls, not just as art, but as reminders of the places we love most. Since opening Muir Way in 2013 we have added hundreds of new map designs of National Parks, mountain ranges, hydrology, historic maps, and more. [muir]
Separately, could the relationship between Jews and those who currently experience anti-Jewish feelings be repaired? I think so. After 56 years and 50 states (see Travels with Samantha for some of these conversations), I can't remember meeting anyone in the U.S. who hated Jews as individuals, even those who expressed negative views about the actions of Jews in politics, Jews in media, and/or Jews in finance. Suppose, for example, that in response to any question on low-skill immigration, upper-income degree-holding Jews said "We don't have any special insight into migration-into-a-cradle-to-grave-welfare-state issues as a consequence of our Jewish heritage and therefore we should let the low-wage native workers who will bear the cost decide policy." [Phil G]
The index investing trend - the desire for a free lunch through diversification - has led to fund management by generalist investors with pedigree, connections, and confidence but not technical knowledge. They operate based on social proof (see Theranos). Brown says that the professional U.K. fund managers invested in his companies could not understand anything technical and would not engage with anything besides financial results. He said that they would invest in offerings brought to them by the sell-side with very little diligence, "taking it on trust from the brokers that they were being given an inside track on a good thing." He said it was "extraordinary what obvious questions the fund managers [would] fail to ask." As a result of this, not only are securities prices obviously inefficient, but so is society-wide allocation of capital. Brown points out that the investors in his companies had "enormous portfolios of shares in up to 200 companies" - something which no entrepreneur would ever have, and which left them with no ability or inclination to act as owners of the companies. In contrast the best engineering firms were those of the German Mittelstand, which are mostly family owned. He says "many German companies would not even know what their weighted average cost of capital was, and would only consider financing costs if specific financing was necessary for a project." [CBS]
The largest individual-level correlate I've ever calculated (macrolevel correlations tend to be bigger) deals with sexual attraction: Using data I collected myself on 330 people, the point biserial correlation between being male and level of attraction to females is .82. For women being attracted to men, it's .84. Those are huge numbers. Another way of describing it is in terms of standard deviations: the gap between male and female attraction toward females is 3.6 standard deviations. The difference between the two sexes on liking males is just as big--3.6 sds. You've probably heard that the black-white IQ gap is big. It is, at ONE standard deviation. The attraction gap is enormous. [Inductivist]
Another realistic touch is that the father, once his lawyer tells him that he is almost guaranteed to lose, seeks a different lawyer. This is consistent with the near-universal loss aversion cognitive deficit described in Thinking, Fast and Slow (Kahneman), in a chapter on why lawsuits aren't more frequently settled when the parties are pretty sure how it is likely to turn out. [Phil G]
eahilf said...
Separately, could the relationship between Jews and those who currently experience anti-Jewish feelings be repaired? I think so.
Sorry, but NO
I avoided the JQ for a long time; I more or less dismissed it, thought it just made popularizing dissident right views more difficult -- but once I started to pay more attention a couple of years ago ... well, there's no going back -- I could never trust organized Jewry again.
Everyone knows the ADL is behind internet censorship -- that the SPLC was a con and smear operation largely run by Jews -- that Jews exercise outsized control and influence in the media, big finance, and entertainment "industries", and they too often wield this in a way that is detrimental to the interests of Whites, and a white (nominally) Christian America.
Jews were extremely prominent in pushing the Russia collusion hoax (Nadler et al), and are now also pushing the impeachment scam (Schiff et al) -- Jews share a large part of the blame for turning the Trump presidency (whatever it might have been; perhaps not much) into a running joke -- never have I seen a President treated with such open scorn, contempt, even hatred -- whatever your opinion of the officeholder his, every President needs a modicum of moral authority, but Trump has been completely denied this from day one.
"imagine my shock" -- "every single time"
When I say NO, here's the kind of thing I have in mind: I just happened to see this tweet today (honestly) --> link -- I spent 6 weeks in Japan reporting on a thing that doesn’t get much attention: The thousands of asylum seekers from across the world who fly into Tokyo. Almost none win legal refugee status. Many get detained. And so I went to find out why, and what it means.
So who is this guy Matt Katz, whose aim seems to be to shame the Japanese for not taking any or enough "refugees"? -- it says on this Twitter page:
"Covering refugees/immigration/hate/security for WNYC & NPR."
That's interesting -- one can imagine his angle on most things.
Exercise: Use the Twitter advanced search to filter his timeline for the word "Jew" -- amazing is all I can say.
Apparently he got some reaction to his little excursion looking for "hate" in Japan -- here is a tweet about that, where he admits he's a Jew --> link -- Sorry to drag you into my dumpster fire of mentions! The Jewish-reporter-covering-refugees-in-homogenous-country thing seems to have awakened trolls of all sorts.
Need I go on? -- after seeing this kind of thing often enough, all the time really, there is no going back: too many Jews are actively attempting to demographically undermine "homogenous" countries.
Another one --> link -- "Don't feel like you're a burden," a Japanese man assuages an asylum seeker. Hear why Japan is such a tough place for refugees. This policy raises questions for the U.S. under Trump's restrictive immigration policies. @MattKatz00 @WNYC ... via @gothamist
Filter her (Beth Fertig) Twitter timeline for the word "Jew" -- again the result is a flood of Jewish ethnocentric kvetching --> link -- This is the ultimate Jewish guilt trip, @tabletmag! I can still hear my mother saying something like, “never work on Yom Kippur. You need to show the world you are Jewish and it’s important.”
Question: Why are Jews attacking Japan for its restrictive immigration and "refugee" stance?
Should Mitch McConnell Recuse Himself from Impeachment Proceedings?
In this 'Democracy Now' video, the three people discussing/promoting Trump's impeachment are all Jews: Amy Goodman, Dahlia Lithwick, and Mark Green.
link --> Whatever you consider the merits of #impeachment, the image of an endless procession of angry white & preponderantly male Republican legislators railing bitterly against a diverse Democratic caucus offers a chilling preview of how our politics may evolve as US grows more diverse -- says Jew Ron Brownstein, and it's hard to argue w/ this assessment.
So maybe "diversity" isn't a "strength" at all? -- or the only way it will work is if white men, whose forefathers built this country, completely capitulate? -- that does not seem like a recipe for a stable polity.
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Suite success for custody scheme
CHESTER'S new police custody suite has been approved by plan-ners.
The application was put forward by Cheshire Police Authority for the former West Cheshire College site on Blacon Avenue, Blacon, adjoining the new police divisional headquarters.
The design of the building reflected its use as a custody suite and was governed by Government standards, particularly in relation to security.
There will be nine car parking spaces for visitors on the Blacon Avenue frontage.
There is to be 'generous planting' including shrubs and trees on two of the boundaries and on the Blacon Avenue frontage.
The police authority is aware of concern over the level of CCTV cameras and security lighting according to a report.
The majority of the lighting and some of the cameras will be installed on the building but Mr Dickens said there would be some freestanding lighting and CCTV towers.
The application led to an objection from Blacon Avenue resident Mr J E Toms who said the centre would create 'yet another access point to Blacon Avenue.'
Mr Toms told planning officers he was concerned about the lack of facilities to enable pedestrians to cross Blacon Avenue in safety as there were two bus stops nearby.
'It is already difficult and dangerous to cross the avenue because of speeding traffic,' he pointed out.
He said he was concerned the custody centre would increase the amount of traffic and the crossing danger.
Mr Toms asked for a pedestrian crossing or a speed restriction to be installed.
Cllr Paul Cheetham (Lib Dem, Vicars Cross) asked if nine parking spaces was sufficient.
He feared visitors would park in the road opposite the crematorium.
Cllr Cheetham also felt that if there were problems in the prison service, people might be accommodated in the custody suite for three to four weeks leading to problems.
Cllr Gwyn Cooper (Lab, City and St Anne's) pointed out the intention had been no traffic in or out of the police divisional headquarters opposite the crematorium.
Initially, she said, the plan had been for the custody suite to have been at the back of the police station.
She also believed there was to be pedestrian access.
Cllr John Boughton (Con, Christleton) asked about the possibility officers parking at the police station. Mr Dickens suggested there might be a possibility that additional parking could be provided.
The planning board agreed the proposal.
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Walking tall
SURGERIES are giving a cash injection to the Chronicle-Macmillan Cancer Relief Angels Appeal.
Friends from Crewe Health Centre in Delamere Street and Grosvenor Health Centre in Grosvenor Street took part in a sponsored walk round scenic Marbury Park at Northwich.
Christina Buckley, 45, the practice manager at Crewe Health Centre, has sent a cheque for £331.25 to appeal headquarters at Leighton Hospital.
She said: 'Everyone who sponsored me came up with their cash quickly and gave more besides.
'I was thrilled with the final figure because I am a big supporter of Macmillan Nurses. A close friend of mine died in May and they were a tower of support to her.'
Christina's colleague Yvonne Beasley and Lesley Mead, of Grosvenor Health Centre, also hope to raise hundreds of pounds.
More than 100 people put their best foot forward in the sponsored walk - and many supporters brought along their four-legged friends for a stroll around the picturesque park.
Appeal manager Amy Wilson, who is based at Leighton Hospital said: 'The walk was a lovely day. Supporters turned out in force with their children and pets to pick a walk of one or three miles. Everyone had a lovely time and made new friends.'
The event is expected to give a cash boost of more than £2,000 to the appeal to fund specialist cancer nurses at Leighton Hospital.
The Chronicle teamed up with Macmillan fundraisers in February to help raise up to £485,000 for this nursing care.
Last week the appeal hit the £10,000 milestone.
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Anne Else, writer
The despairing watchwoman
One of the changes in my life is that I watch - or rather, often want to watch - rather more television than I used to. As I wrote over on Something Else to Eat recently, I need to have the TV on while I'm eating dinner on my own, otherwise it feels too lonely. Radio or reading doesn't work, it has to be TV. But that means finding something that I can watch relatively calmly. And as I don't have Sky, I'm restricted to the "free-to-air" channels. (Odd, isn't it, how that's become such a disdainful term.)
The first half of the news is okay, but as I usually eat round 7 pm, that means waiting till then and watching TV3 news on the channel where it runs an hour later. Alternatively, I can watch Campbell Live, provided it isn't too appallingly banal (Mark Sainsbury isn't even in contention), or - probably the pick of the bunch - the Simpsons. And that's pretty much it. If I run any later than 7, there's sometimes a cooking programme, but I've discovered that cooking programmes and dinner just don't mix. All they do is make you dissatisfied with either what you're eating or what they're making or both.
Later on it gets worse. Biggest losers, swapped wives, bratty children, serial killers, cold cases - I think I hit rock bottom the night the two main-channel mid-evening offerings were The Worst Teeth in Britain and The [British] Neighbours from Hell.
On Anzac Day, TVOne did have what looked like an interesting, relevant documentary (an extremely rare beast these days) about the RSA. Only one problem - it was screening at 6.25 am, just when those who would most want to watch it would be at the dawn service. Both TVOne and TV3 had obviously decided that if it was good enough for shops to open at lunchtime, it was good enough for them to completely ignore Anzac Day from then on.
Maori TV, which so often becomes the default public broadcaster these days, did a great job, but I had to wait until after 10 pm to watch Dancing in the Sky, a docmentary about the first airman to win a VC, in World War I - who just happened to have a Maori grandmother. It was very good, but a bit late - ensuring many potentially keen people would have missed it.
Lately I've been immersed in reading Harvey's journal. He kept it for about ten years, until he started his blog in 2009. The lovely thing about it is that it brings back for me all those days, weeks, months, years of ordinary life, when nothing particularly extraordinary happened - the days that make up the fabric of a happy relationship, but then slip away into the past and are so hard to recall.
What he writes wouldn't be of much interest to anyone except me. He records what each of us did each day, what we ate, where we went, who we saw - and what we watched on TV. One of the things that astonished me was how much better the programmes were then. This isn't just rosy-tinted nostalgia. As well as brilliant programmes like Whose Line Is It Anyway and Frontline (the Aussie satire on current affairs shows), the art of making good local documentaries was much more in evidence.
But now? Most nights of the week, finding anything even faintly worth watching in prime time is well-nigh impossble. And no, I don't think getting Sky would help much. There are only so many Grand Designs and war footage compilations I can cope with.
Posted by AnneE at 9:14 PM 4 comments: Links to this post
The speaking voice
First, I'd like to thank everyone who's written or spoken to me about the interview on Nine to Noon last week, or has made earlier comments on this blog. It's been very heartening, and reassuring.
I did, and sometimes still do, feel rather nervous about "going public" in relation to an experience which is very personal, and therefore might be seen as something that it isn't appropriate to speak of even in a blog, let alone on national radio. But as far as I could see, everyone who took the time and trouble to respond understood what I am trying to do.
As I said in the interview, I'm a writer - and so was Harvey. The way we make sense of what's happening to us is by writing about it, and talking about what we're writing. What's more, when you can no longer talk to the person with whom you used to share your life, and in particular you can't talk to them about the experience of losing them, writing enables you to feel that you can speak about what's happening to you in a different way. And that's exactly what I'm trying to do in my writing - give the sense of a voice speaking to the reader.
Not all of this writing is made public - some of it is solely for me. But most writing is meant to be read, or "heard", by others, and that means "publishing" it, making it public, either here or in the memoir I'm putting together. The hope is that they will find it relevant to their own lives, and perhaps even useful, if only because it shows that someone else is having a similar experience to theirs. But before it can be useful to them, it has to be useful to me - and that's why the need to make sense of my life for myself is where I start.
Posted by AnneE at 10:34 PM 1 comment: Links to this post
Kathryn Ryan interviewed me today on Nine to Noon about this blog and the experience of becoming a widow. You can listen to the interview at
http://static.radionz.net.nz/assets/audio_item/0005/2484716/ntn-20110414-1007-Feature_guest_-_Anne_Else-m048.asx
A ribbon of garden
When we moved here, the lawn between the house and the fence had a number of roses and three camellias dotted around. Harvey was still able to do some gardening then, and he had very definite ideas about what he wanted to change. So we took out the two least attractive camellias, letting much more light in on the struggling roses along the fence, and added a neighbour's gift of the apricot abutilon. For his birthday Ali and David gave us a lovely red Dublin Bay climber to plant in the gap opposite the sitting room, right where Harvey could see it. But it still looked very spotty, everything dried out quickly, and when I had to take over I found it hard to keep up the watering.
When Ali stayed with me the week after Harvey died, she thought about my garden. A little later on, at exactly the right tactful moment, she talked to me about the idea she had for improving it: digging up the lawn along the fence in a long curving ribbon shape, to take in all the plants, and covering it in mulch to keep the soil damp.
Hopelessly ignorant about gardening as I am, I could see straight away that it would both look much better and be much easier to manage. Somehow the prospect of making a real change like this gave me something to look forward to and really lifted my spirits. I did wonder what Harvey would have thought of it. But long before he had said, very sadly, that it was now up to me to manage the garden and he'd just have to take a back seat. Besides, he usually approved of what I did, once he saw it.
So when Ali arrived yesterday to make a start, I felt both delighted and also slightly daring, making quite a big change to the landscape on my own account. We laid out the hose to get the right shape, then she dug a beautiful line all along it, cutting out the lawn into neat squares and using them to build up the soil along the fence, where it sloped away.
I was amazed how much she managed to achieve. By mid-afternoon I had a whole new layout and it looked so much better. Instead of just being dotted around, all the plants were contained in a lovely curving ribbon of garden that looked as if it was meant to be there. Later she and David will bring the mulch, and once we've spread it I can think about what else I could plant in the gaps - only knowing my limits, everything will have to be as sturdy and undemanding as possible. Maybe some kind of daisy...and definitely a lemon tree. It feels like my garden now.
Posted by AnneE at 7:42 AM 4 comments: Links to this post
Downer
I've been back for a week, and until tonight I thought I was managing really well. I embarked on a comprehensive reorganisation of the upstairs, working out how to change my workspace, bedroom and spare room so they would work better for me, and in the process sort, clear and get rid of the accumulated caches of Stuff - photos, papers, sewing, clothes, cards, saved wrapping paper - lurking conveniently out of sght up here. (I've always known that the best thing about having an upstairs is that you can so easily stow messy stuff away out of visitors' sight.)
Moving furniture around was the easiest and most entertaining part, even though some of the moves didn't work and had to be undone (and I'll need to get strong helpers for the final shift, bringing Harvey's desk upstairs). Today I finally got round to the hardest part, the actual stuff sorting.
And of course there were the cards, and the photos - the last few years back before Harvey became ill, that I'd never got around to putting neatly away in albums, but had just bundled together when we moved. Christmases at Farm Road and in Auckland, Waiheke holidays, even some spare, faded copies of our 25-year-old wedding photos. Good, I thought, maybe I can get some restored versions done of these.
I suppose it was inevitable that after all that revisiting of the vanished past, I crashed at dinner time and felt really miserable sitting at the table, eating unexciting leftovers and watching crappy TV for the company, and for fending off the awful quiet of a house with no one else in it. I know this bad patch won't last, but when you'e in it that's not much consolation.
PS: And then, of course, by the time I'd written this post and realised it was time to do one for Something Else to Eat and written that too, I felt better. And today (Friday) in came the warm comments from Deborah and Julie - thank you, you're wonderful.
Other places I write
My food memoir page
The Colour of Food: a memoir of life, love and dinner
Anne Else
Harvey McQueen 1934-2010
My partner of thirty years - writer, educator, poet, gardener, cook, and constant reader
The Colour of Food: a memoir of life, love & dinner
The print edition - click on the cover
Talking to Kathryn Ryan on Nine to Noon
Also in ebook
The ebook edition - click on the cover
This Piece of Earth: a year in my New Zealand garden
Harvey's memoir, now available as an Awa Press e-book - click on the cover to see how to buy it.
MY FOOD BLOG
Click on the lemons to go to Something Else To Eat
At my book launch - Lois Daish, me, Mary Varnham of Awa Press. Click on the photo to go to the book's Facebook page.
Harvey's last anthology, These I Have Loved: My favourite New Zealand poems, published by Steele Roberts, was launched on 10/10/2010. To see what Beattie's Book Blog has to say about it, click on the cover.
"I read for pleasure and that is the moment I learn the most." — Margaret Atwood
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International Institute of Modern Letters
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New Zealand Society of Authors
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Pay Equity Challenge Coalition
Poems in the Waiting Room
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action station
From Craccum, 20 July
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Cat Recovers from Car Accident
The Embrace Plan
Personalized Policies
MyEmbrace Account
What's Not Covered
Genetic Conditions
Poor Squiggy is hit by a car.
Vet Bill: $12,169
Tracy adopted Squiggy from a shelter when he was two months old. From the get-go, Squiggy acted more like a puppy than a kitten; he liked to play, fetch, hide, and surprise his parents.
One afternoon, a woman knocked on Tracy’s door, saying she hit Squiggy with her car and thought she broke his leg. She said “Sorry” and promptly left. Tracy found Squiggy in the bushes where he dragged himself after the accident and immediately sought our emergency care. It took her 15 minutes to get him to Veterinary Surgical Specialists of Long Island, but during the car ride Squiggy went into shock.
A preliminary exam showed several fractures (his back was broken in two places) and internal bleeding. Initially, the vets told Tracy that Squiggy would be paralyzed with no neurologic function since they couldn’t detect a pulse in his lower extremities. Once they stabilized his breathing, they were able to get faint pulses back. Squiggy was put on pain medication and made comfortable for the night.
The next morning, Squiggy licked Tracy’s hand and looked at her, and she knew she had to do everything she could to save him. Squiggy went into surgery shortly after. The neurosurgeon explained to Tracy that Squiggy would have a long recovery, with pins in his toes, legs and pelvis on one side of his body and no bladder or bowel function. It was unknown if he would ever walk again.
Nine weeks later, Squiggy's progress was remarkable; he was walking and climbing and regained bladder and bowel function.
From Tracy:
"I was very distraught when Squiggy was injured and every person I spoke to at Embrace treated me like family with kind words of encouragement and lots of help submitting my claim."
Squiggy's Claim Refund
Claim Details
Actual Vet Bill $12,169
Covered Charges $12,162
Annual Deductible -$200.00
10% Co-pay -$1,196.25
Total Embrace Reimbursement $10,000.00
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Radiologic Sciences > Radiologic Sciences Student Experiences > Marcia L. Boyd
CT Technologist, Preferred Imaging
“I wanted to work in a medical field but didn’t want to become a nurse. My education at the colleges of DCCCD helped begin my journey into the radiology world and has allowed me to further my career and grow as a technologist.
“The instructors are top-notch. It says something when an employer asks where you went to school, and when a college of DCCCD is the answer, there are no further questions!! The instructors make you feel so comfortable and always have your best interest at heart. They are encouraging, fantastic and an absolute joy to have as leaders.
“The most important thing I learned is not to give up; there is always someone fighting for you to do your best. I would absolutely recommend this program to other students.”
Marcia Boyd earned an associate degree in Radiologic Sciences. She works as a CT technologist in Grapevine for Preferred Imaging, an outpatient-based imaging center with locations across the metroplex, offering MRI, CT, X-ray and C-Arm Arthrogram and Myelogram procedures.
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You are at:Home»Equity ETFs»Dubai Aside, Middle East ETFs Present Opportunities
Dubai Aside, Middle East ETFs Present Opportunities
By Tom Lydonon December 9, 2009
As markets pause on news about Dubai World’s extension on debt payments, there are still plenty of reasons to give Middle East-focused exchange traded funds (ETFs) a look.
Debt concerns about Dubai remain after a credit rating agency cut its ratings on six state-connected companies in the country. Dubai asked the government if it could defer payments on $60 billion in debt owned by Dubai World for at least six months. Dubai World is the city-state’s primary investment arm. (Will it blow over?)
But just because Dubai is mired in a potential crisis, it doesn’t mean investors should shy away from ETFs that focus on the Middle East. For one, Middle East ETFs can mitigate your exposure to risk by being allocated across a number of countries instead of focused on just one.
The Middle East is a large area of the world. North Africa can sometimes be lumped in with the region, which explains the acronym MENA: Middle East and North Africa.
Ron Rowland for Money and Markets says other regions include the area between the Red Sea and Africa. (Is the Middle East the next big thing?)
A variety of funds to choose from are available:
SPDR S&P Emerging Middle East and Africa (NYSEArca: GAF): 62.6% in South Africa; 25% in Israel; 6% in Morocco
WisdomTree Middle East Dividend Fund (NYSEArca: GULF): 34% in Qatar; 17.7% in Egypt; 15.9% in United Arab Emirates; 15.5% in Kuwait
Market Vectors Gulf States ETF (NYSEArca:MES): 47.7% in Kuwait; 25.5% in United Arab Emirates; 18% in Qatar
PowerShares MENA Frontier Markets (NYSEArca: PMNA): 23.7% in United Arab Emirates; 20.3% in Egypt; 19.1% in Kuwait; 13.8% in Jordan
One of the biggest risks of investing in the region is that it depends heavily on oil prices being high in order to generate income. There are also geopolitical risks, thanks to ethnic and political clashes. This can often lead to volatility, but you can protect yourself with an exit strategy if it gets to be too high. (Consider frontier markets).
For more stories about the Middle Mast, visit our Middle East category.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.
AfricaEmerging MarketsFrontier MarketsGAFGlobal ETFsGULFMESMiddle EastPMNA
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FAMILY GAMER TV
Parents Video-Game Guides
2 Minute Guide: The Walking Dead Game of Year Edition
10 things parents should know about The Walking Dead: Game of the Year Edition
1. Genre and story:
The Walking Dead is a point-and-click adventure game, with a strong focus on a story that takes place in the same post-apocalyptic zombie-infested world as the comics of the same name. As protagonist Lee Everett, your interactions mostly consist of exploration, conversation, and some light object-based puzzle solving. Over the course of five episodes, you make narrative choices and develop relationships with other characters, most notably a young girl called Clementine.
2. Developer:
Developer Telltale Games is known for creating adventure games based on existing franchises, and was also responsible for Tales of Monkey Island, Back to the Future: The Game, and more recently The Wolf Among Us. Upcoming games include Tales from the Borderlands and Game of Thrones.
3. Format:
The Walking Dead: Game of the Year Edition is a bundle that contains all five episodes of the first series and the extra episode called 400 Days, though does not include the second series. It is available on disc for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, but is not yet available for PS4 or Xbox One. Since the graphics are stylised, the main differences between the versions will be the control methods and the achievements or trophies.
There is also a Vita version of The Walking Dead available, but can only be purchased on disc in North America, and is called “The Complete First Season”.
4. Cost:
On most formats, this Game of the Year Edition costs £25 or less.
5. Length:
Each episode takes a couple of hours to play, so the entire collection might take around twelve hours to complete.
6. PEGI/ESRB rating:
PEGI (http://www.pegi.info/en/index/global_id/505/?page=3&lang=en¶ms=global_id%2F505%2F&searchString=the+walking+dead&global_id=505&id=509#searchresults) has separate entries for each episode of The Walking Dead, but each has the same rating, content warnings, and description: PEGI 18, extreme violence and strong language.
The ESRB (http://www.esrb.org/ratings/synopsis.jsp?Certificate=33201&Title=The%20Walking%20Dead%3A%20Game%20of%20the%20Year%20Edition&searchkeyword=the%20walking%20dead) entry for the Game of the Year Edition gives the game an M rating, with content descriptors for Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, and Strong Language. A long summary of the rating gives examples: “a woman shooting herself in the head”, “a man cutting off his own arm”, “blood-splatter effects”, drug references and “some sexual material in the dialogue”, and swear words like the “f” word and “s” word.
7. GRA consumer information:
The Games Rating Authority (http://gamesratingauthority.org/pegi/search_aci.html) also highlights the strong language and “frequent bloody violence against both human and zombie characters, including impalement and decapitation”.
8. Common Sense Media:
Sensibly, Common Sense Media (https://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/the-walking-dead-season-one) lists The Walking Dead as “not for kids”, highlighting “mature and often scary scenes” and the fact that player decisions “will result in innocent humans getting killed, too, including young children”, though parents and kids apparently both say the game should be rated age 13.
9. Themes:
As Common Sense Media points out, The Walking Dead is a scary game, with constant tension and many jump scares. Lee takes responsibility for Clementine after he finds her alone, with her parents out of town and potentially dead, which might trigger thoughts of abandonment and separation anxiety. The adults in the group of survivors often argue, which could also be upsetting for younger players.
10. Why people play:
As with The Last of Us, the post-apocalyptic setting and extreme violence act as a backdrop to a story focused on its characters and their relationships with one another, most interestingly the adoptive paternal relationship between Lee and Clementine. The Walking Dead asks players to make choices and face the consequences, which range from altered perceptions of Lee to death of other characters, and informs the player of how their choices compared with those made by others. Aside from the story, it’s this reflection of the player that makes The Walking Dead such an interesting game.
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How ‘Star Wars’ Inspired Photography And Parkour Created Two Brave Adventurous Lives December 19, 2019
How Star Wars inspires passion and hobbies that substantially contribute to life's enjoyment and wellbeing.
29 Video Games Families Loved Playing This Year, Arranged By ESRB Age Rating December 10, 2019
These 29 video games are the best 2019 had to offer families. Arranged by ESRB rating to make finding your perfect game easy.
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BB-9E and R2-D2 Join BB-8 as Sphero Star Wars Droids August 31, 2017
BB-9E is the cool new Star Wars droid revealed as a remote-control Sphero robot with Force Link wearable Star Wars tech from Hasbro. Click through to read all of "BB-9E and R2-D2 Join BB-8 as Sphero Star Wars Droids" at GeekDad.If you value content from GeekDad, please support us via Patreon or use this link […]
Win Tickets To UK’s ‘Insomnia’ Gaming Festival August 21, 2017
Win tickets to Insomnia Gaming Festival for your family. Click through to read all of "Win Tickets To UK’s ‘Insomnia’ Gaming Festival" at GeekDad.If you value content from GeekDad, please support us via Patreon or use this link to shop at Amazon. Thanks!
Huffington Post | Family Gaming
Box Mash
Disney Infinity 3.0 loaded with Star Wars and game-play enhancements
Disney Infinity 3.0 is now confirmed and includes play-sets and characters from all the Star Wars movies. It also improves cross-franchise compatibility and offers additional play-sets for Inside Out and Marvel. The main event here is of course the Star Wars content. Disney Infinity 3.0 breaks this down into three play-sets supported: – Star Wars: […]
The Simpsons Lego Minifigures Series 2 launch 1st May
Collectors of minifigures rejoice (or weep), a new collection of The Simpsons Minifigures (Series 2) are about to hit shops in the UK. We’ll see new versions of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie along with first appearances of Comic Book Guy, Groundskeeper Willie, sisters Paddy and Selma, Smithers and Dr. Hibbert. In addition some […]
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Get Smart About P.L.A.Y.
The UK Interactive Entertainment Association (Ukie) has today launched the Get Smart About P.L.A.Y campaign, encouraging more parents and carers to use tools that manage screen time and in-game purchases on video game consoles. The campaign follows a recent report from Europe’s video game industry body which found that only one in five parents of […]
PLAY: Setting Ground Rules
As with any leisure activity for young children, it’s important to play a role as parents, carers, and guardians to guide their participation and enjoyment. Both in terms of avoiding unhealthy excess, but also to ensure ambition and benefits are maximized. Although there is often concern that parents don’t have the tools they need to […]
Parent Trap Column
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Family Gamer's Andy Robertson remembers the good old days of waggle.Parents are notoriously bad for being sentimental. Whether it’s watching Monty Python, playing Tetris on the Game Boy or buying sweets by the ounce, I often catch myself getting more excited about introducing my children to the things I loved from my childhood than actually […]
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Andy Robertson has a new console in the house.Putting the Nintendo Switch in front of the kids was a fascinating experiment. They had, of course, heard of the console but beyond that knew very little about it. So far Nintendo aren't again the talk of the playground - although give it a few months and […]
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Magneto on Family Game Of The Year 2013
PlayStation Black Friday Family Buying Tips
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Family Travelers Magazine
International Spotlight
Cruise Spotlight
USA Spotlight
Entertainment, Theater & Restaurant Spotlight
Florida Spotlight
WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Comes to the USSSA Space Coast Complex in Viera, Florida
Product & Book Reviews
Manhattan Tower pool view by Steven Skelley
Manhattan Tower
A charming and peaceful oasis in the Fort Lauderdale Beach area
By Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong
Serene, peaceful, soothing, tranquil, restful and harmonious are just a few of the words that come to mind when we think of idyllic Manhattan Tower Apartment Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. If you are looking for a charming and peaceful oasis in the busy Fort Lauderdale Beach area, we can't think of a better place to stay. Yes, we love this place!
"Many guests have commented on the spiritual nature of Manhattan Tower. There is a natural serenity in the gardens and to sit by the water and watch the boats go by has a calming effect that many experience. There is a joy in serenity that many cannot identify but many may experience without knowing its source," said owner Russel Dion.
Manhattan Tower has been called a mid-century, modern architectural masterpiece. Located on the east bank of the Intracoastal Waterway just a five minute walk from Fort Lauderdale Beach, the apartment hotel was designed and built in 1952 by the innovative architect, Charles McKirahan for General Motors executives as a corporate retreat for executives and their families.
The signature Frigidaire logo was created with iron tubing, soars 50 feet into the air and surrounds a circular staircase.
"It is exactly because it was so unique and historic that this property stood out above all others. The unique architectural character of the property is immediately evident to all passers-by but had a special meaning for us. The entry tower of iron tubing which also forms the support for the stairway to the second and third floors and continues for fifty feet into the air is striking in appearance and declares I am special. The architect, Charles McKirahan, who designed this marvelous example of Mid Century Modern architecture was well known in the area where many examples of his work may be found. Unfortunately, he died in a car accident in his 30s and so ended this force in architecture. In addition to the special nature of the architecture the deciding factor in purchasing the property was the private apartment on the third floor which stretches for eighty feet along the Intracoastal Waterway with floor to ceiling walls of glass looking on to the parade of boats. The prospect of living there was irresistible."
One of the favorite and most peaceful sights for Manhattan Tower guests is the ever-present boat parade passing by the private balconies and expansive waterfront terrace. Fort Lauderdale is sometimes compared to Italy's Venice because of its canals, boats and yachts. From jet skis to water taxis to sailboats to mega yachts, you'll see them all sail by. There is something very relaxing about watching them all glide slowly past the hotel one after another.
A guest from Ohio sat on his balcony watching the boats every morning and evening. He told us that he has returned to Manhattan Tower for three separate stays because it is "where tranquility reigns."
What is truly amazing is that this tranquil property is just a five minute casual stroll from the tourist attractions of world famous Fort Lauderdale Beach. We have stayed in multiple properties amongst the busyness of the tourist area but Manhattan Tower is truly unique in its relaxing vibe and its quietness. Only three or four blocks from the noisy main beach strip, it is astonishing how quiet the Manhattan Tower property is. Whether you are in the mood for peace and quiet, a day at the beach or a night out on the town, this location is ideal.
Manhattan Tower offers a variety of amenities and assets:
* An entire apartment for the cost of a room in a chain hotel
* Modern fully equipped kitchens in all apartments
* Central Air Conditioning in all apartments
* All apartments enjoy 4-star comfort with flat screen TVs
* Free on-site car park
* Free Wi-fi in all apartments and throughout gardens
* Free use of barbecue for that homey experience
* Exceptional personalized service and great local knowledge.
* Oversized in-ground heated pool surrounded by tropical foliage
* Private terraces for one and two bedroom apartments on the waterfront
* Close to all major attractions and main shopping streets
* Drive 20 minutes to Mega Discount Shopping Malls
* Water taxis will pick you up and drop you off at our waterfront deck
* 24 hour check-in and check-out
Manhattan Tower is also dog friendly.
"We love animals. We do allow any size dog as long as they are always on a leash in the common areas and are will behaved. Unfortunately, we found too many people are allergic to cat dander and so cannot allow cats," Dion said.
For Family travelers:
"Families will find that the location and amenities we provide will make their stay particularly enjoyable. To be able to barbecue on the waterfront deck and then to have dinner al fresco is an amazing surprise for them. To be able to have meals at home is a big savings for many families and older children have the independence to walk to the beach and all beach activities such as wind surfing. We have a family of an older mother and father with their five grown children and the many grandchildren who come and take five apartments. They are all together yet have their own space. Many meals are taken on the waterfront terrace," Dion told us.
Manhattan Tower is truly a charming and peaceful oasis in the Fort Lauderdale Beach area. We highly recommend Manhattan Tower.
Manhattan Tower is located at 701 Bayshore Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33304 USA.
You can reach them by phone at 954-564-1117.
Visit their website at https://www.manhattantowerfl.com/
Watch their webcam of the Intracoastal Waterway at http://96.91.97.178/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=2292
By Steven Skelley & Thomas Routzong. Copyright 2015 Sunny Harbor Publishing. PO Box 560318, Rockledge, FL 32956. Phone 321-446-7552. Email SunnyHarborPublishing@yahoo.com
Keywords: Manhattan Tower, manhattantowerfl.com, Russel Dion, Fort Lauderdale Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Charles McKirahan, Steven Skelley, Thomas Routzong, Superior Small Lodging, #SSLBloggerRoadTrip, Family travel, family travelers magazine,
Our policy: We choose to only write positive articles. If you read one of our articles, you know that we had a positive experience. If we have a negative experience, we simply choose not to write anything. Our tastes may not be your tastes and we want to focus on the positives in life.
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Brockton man in stolen car charged with drunken driving
Cody Shepard The Enterprise @cshepard_ENT
Police spotted the vehicle, which was previously reported as stolen, parked in a lot south of downtown.
BROCKTON — A man found parked in a stolen vehicle was charged with drunken driving and resisting arrest early Tuesday morning.
Officer Daniel MacIntosh was on patrol south of the downtown when he noticed a 2010 gray Honda Accord sedan parked in a lot at Main and Tremont streets about 12:52 a.m.
The officer soon after determined the vehicle was reported as stolen and requested back up from other officers.
When the officers entered the parking lot, police say the driver put the vehicle in reverse, but stopped it when officers activated their cruisers' sirens and emergency lights.
The driver was identified by police as 33-year-old Alex D. Jean.
"Police escorted him out of the vehicle and detected alcohol on his breath," said police spokesman Darren Duarte. "The suspect was also unsteady on his feet. There was a brief struggle as Alex Jean tried to pull away from the cruiser and refused to put his feet inside when the officer was making the arrest."
Inside the sedan, police say they found a half-empty can of beer in the front cup holder and a half-empty Mike's Hard Lemonade.
"Jean made several threats against the arresting officers during the ride back to the station," Duarte said.
Jean, of 99 Portland St., Brockton, was charged with drunken driving, two counts of possession of an open container of alcohol, receiving stolen property over $1,200 (the vehicle), unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and resisting arrest.
He was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Brockton District Court, but the result of the hearing wasn't immediately available.
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Sun 19th Jan 2020, 8:30pm
The Paranormalist Returns
at The Stand Comedy Club, Newcastle
Supplied by Ticketmaster UK. Customers with disabilities please call 0191 300 9700 to book.
The world-renowned clairvoyant, medium and psychic is back!
Join paranormal sensation Clinton Baptiste as he takes you on a hilarious yet touching journey through his life, out the other side and beyond the Celestial Curtains.
Clinton Baptiste is the hapless clairvoyant, medium and psychic from Peter Kay’s smash hit Channel 4 TV show Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights. Now, some eighteen years after the show aired, he returns to conjure up his extraordinary powers for a new generation.
Clinton will give 'readings' to the audience, offering advice from 'beyond the grave'. He will 'predict' your future, tell you about your past and all manner of spooky stuff an’ that.
But more, he takes you through his demise, his comeback and finally…finally on this special night, he will attempt to pass over to The Other Side and return (before the venue want you all out)….with the answer!
Starring Alex Lowe, Clinton Baptiste is the copyright of Goodnight Vienna Productions.
Clinton Baptiste
Clinton Baptiste is a character played by Alex Lowe, he is a clairvoyant, medium and psychic best known for his appearances on Peter Kay's award winning Phoenix Nights.
See 60 tour dates featuring Clinton Baptiste
> Newcastle Standup Comedy
> The Stand Comedy Club
The Stand Comedy Club
thestand.co.uk
Find places to stay on Sun 19th Jan 2020
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Canada will provide money to families of those in plane shot down by Iran
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government will provide financial support to the families of the 57 citizens and 29 permanent residents of the country who died when their plane was shot down over Iran last week.
Justin Trudeau says cost of Harry and Meghan’s move still needs to be discussed
Canada’s Prime Minister has said his government is “supportive” of Harry and Meghan’s move to the country but that the cost still needs to be discussed.
Canada’s PM promises families of Iran plane crash victims they will get answers
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it has been gut-wrenching to listen to stories from relatives of 57 Canadians who died in the downing of a Ukrainian jetliner in Iran.
Boris Johnson says ‘body of information’ indicates Iran missile shot down plane
Boris Johnson said there was now a “body of information” that indicated the Tehran airliner crash was caused by an Iranian missile.
PM calls for ‘full’ inquiry as US claims Tehran airliner was shot down
Downing Street said it was looking into “very concerning” reports about the Tehran airliner crash as the US claimed the jet was shot down by a missile.
Anne makes ‘It’s just me’ quip to the Queen at Nato reception
The Queen did a double take when she saw her daughter, the Princess Royal, waiting at the end of a line-up at Buckingham Palace’s Nato reception.
Trudeau wins second term as premier but Canada more divided
Prime minister Justin Trudeau has won a second term in a stronger-than-expected showing in Canada’s national elections, claiming a “clear mandate” despite a parliament and nation increasingly fractured along regional lines.
Trudeau wins second term as Canadian prime minister
Justin Trudeau has won a second term as prime minister in Canada’s national elections, losing his majority but delivering unexpectedly strong results despite recent scandals which tarnished his image.
Sir Lenny Henry tells audience: I am Justin Trudeau
Sir Lenny Henry quipped “I am Justin Trudeau”, as he took to the stage at a television conference.
Sir Richard Branson and Justin Trudeau among winners at British LGBT Awards
Sir Richard Branson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have triumphed as winners at the star-studded 2018 NatWest British LGBT Awards.
People can’t get over these pictures of a young Justin Trudeau
Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau has already won the hearts of admirers across the world thanks to his progressive policies, repartee with the press and let’s face it, smouldering good looks.
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Weinstein Company
Equity firm hoping to buy Weinstein Co offers to create fund for creditors
The private equity firm hoping to buy The Weinstein Company is offering to create a fund for creditors owed money from the studio’s collapse following allegations of sexual assault against its co-founder, Harvey Weinstein.
Weinstein studio revives deal with investors aiming for female-led venture
The Weinstein Company has revived a deal to sell its assets to investors who want to transform the scandal-plagued film studio into a female-led entertainment venture.
Weinstein Company staff publish letter against ‘monster’ former boss
Members of staff at The Weinstein Company have reportedly branded disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein a “monster” in a scathing letter about their former boss.
Los Angeles police launch fresh Weinstein probe following sex assault claim
Police in Los Angeles have opened an investigation after another sexual assault allegation was made involving disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Harvey Weinstein resigns from Weinstein Company board
Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has stepped down from his position on The Weinstein Company board, his representative has said.
Rose McGowan: Weinstein Company should be dissolved
Rose McGowan has called for the board of the Weinstein Company to be dissolved following allegations of sexual harassment against its co-founder Harvey Weinstein.
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