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Monthly Archives: Jul 2014
Friday Night Tune: CVO – Party Time
As I’m sure everyone has noticed the 2014 Commonwealth Games have kicked off here in Glasgow this week for ten days of running, jumping and grunting. Regardless of whether there is any place in contemporary society for what is really a celebration of Empire, or whether Westminster and Holyrood are using the games to pump voters up ahead of September’s referendum on Scottish Independence, the reality is that it’s all kicked off in the best possible way – 30c temperatures and endless blue skies; weird, slightly See-you-Jimmy opening ceremony and the Scotland team kicking ass in a quiet and unassuming way.
To say that Glasgow has got behind the games is to put it mildly. It might be a cliché but no less true to say that Glasgow loves a party. Any excuse to get jaked is leapt upon with a wild-eyed hunger that cannot be put down to a simple love of the booze. It has probably something to do with the city’s history being so thick with industry. The Exhaustion of backbreaking work (mostly in the shipyards here) is lessened by a good bender of a Friday and Saturday night. And although the shipyards and the rest of the industry are all but gone now, the need for your average Glaswegian to go off on one is still very much alive.
I think it’s this that partly explains Glasgow’s love of House and Techno, and the deeper, groovier elements of both. it’s also good to remember that it’s a hard, working class city but it is also a city of music, of art and of literature. These influences are echoed in the clubs, from Club 69 way out in Paisley (not Glasgow as the natives there will tell you,) to Optimo to whatever is happening at the art school tonight and tomorrow. It’s in the labels too. Numbers may well be as much of London now, but it’s DNA was encoded in Glasgow and Paisley and the vibe of the city is writ large in everything they do as it is with others like All Caps and Clan Destine.
I’ve chosen tonight’s tunes because its seems to sum up Glasgow for me in a myriad of ways. This would have been equally true if I chose something by Underground Resistance or E-Dancer or one of a thousand other tunes from the two big US cities that had such a profound influence on Glasgows music.
I’ve always loved Party Time. I love the whole EP, in fact. It’s Glenn Underground at his best and even though its is now almost twenty years old it still burns with a fierce passion and energy that comes from the pounding tom heavy rhythm and the downward mood of the chords which gives the feel of smiling through tears. It’s tight and potent, as Glasgow a tune as I can think of, and my unofficial theme for the blue skies, the dreadful attire and the games themselves.
PS. I’m going away camping next week, and swimming in the Atlantic, so there probably won’t be any updates. Kind of difficult to get a Wi-Fi signal from the edge of nowhere.
House, Review, Techno
Review: OB Ignitt – I’m Here Now The Arrival (OBONIT Records)
Although Detroit Producer Omar Harper – AKA OB Ignitt – has been making music for over twenty years, it’s only in the last few that he has moved into Dance. His previous genres – spanning Hip Hop, Gospel, Jazz and others – share many of the same genetic markers as House and Techno so it’s no real surprise that his electronic oeuvre is richly textured with soulful colours and touches. His debut, the Oh Jabba Ep, which was released on fellow Detroit Alumnus Omar S’s FXHE label, marked his entry into Techno-land with a record that was deep yet playful, the lead track being a stomping piece of Motor-city music from that place where House and Techno collide whilst being influenced as much by soul and funk as it was by anyone from his city’s more recent History.
For the slightly grandiosely titled I’m Here Now the Arrival, Ignitt has ventured out on his own with a new label, OBONIT Records – an endeavour that, in terms of both artwork and sound, wears the influence of his former boss at FXHE proudly. This is not to suggest that either the music or the label are slavishly following too closely in the footsteps of Omar S; Ignitt is too savvy for that to be the extent of his ambition. Aside from anything else, there is a drive to the music that is different, and a choice of direction that shouldn’t be surprising but actually kind of is.
The brilliantly named Sweaty Dance Floor is a deep and lithe groove that is more than a nod to disco and funk. On a first – and second – listen one might be forgiven for thinking it a simple mover. In fact, there is a tightly woven complexity to it’s parts: multiple lines criss crossing each other above the gloriously insistent drums – sometimes disco, sometimes almost tribal – and the deeper shades at the root of the track. It’s the bass which ties things together: It’s a deep thrum, a potent groove riding beneath the sunshine glimmer of the higher registers. I expect Robert Hood has been pumping this in his DJ sets for some time already. It’s an almost perfect summer tune: energizing in the heat, and always smiling.
Ignitt Techno, despite it’s name, is no four to the floor banger. It’s heritage is much more clearly vintage Detroit Techno than the previous tune. It carries the vibe of Underground Resistance in their more laid back moments; the peels and chimes of synths and organ are pure Mike Banks, book-ended by thunderous claps and the pulse of a dirty, fuzzy bass. Beyond that it works it’s magic in the way – as was always a staple of the very best Detroit Techno – it sidesteps any harshness, relegating any latent aggression into the musical drive where it can work itself deep down into the structure of the tune and push those upper elements higher and higher until they sparkle in the clearer light.
Chocolate City sits at a slight tangent to the other two pieces. It’s a reversal of the formula found elsewhere on the record, taking the funk and disco and gospel as their starting point with Housey trills and smudges here and there instead of the other way around. It has the immediacy of a live session in the furnace of a packed, after hours bar, with the interplay of trebley guitar and keys carving out a path through the vocals and sweaty murk of the background noise. It feels ever so slightly out of place, but that doesn’t stop it from being a great tune, and one that deserves to be here, among the machine carved funk and grooves.
Gear, Uncategorized
Random thoughts on Pioneer’s New Turn Table.
When confirmation came last week of Pioneer’s PLX-1000 Turn Table, the first from a company best known for its extensive and ‘Industry Standard’ range of mixers and CD decks, certain sections of the peanut gallery went predictably mental. A clever move, they said, given the rising sales of vinyl and lack of any real competition in this specific section of the market since Panasonic stopped manufacturing their iconic Technics decks a couple of years ago. It would, the thinking went, lead to clubs across the land embracing real DJs playing real records once again. In one swift move Pioneer have probably sealed their dominance of the booth for the next decade.
They look exactly like you would expect: Like a Technic SL-1200. That is no bad thing of course, (although, lets face it, how different could it have been?) and the feature set is paired down to pure functionality: variable pitch speeds running from 8% through 10% up to 50% and a reset switch give it a slight advantage over Techies, and the removable cables (RCA, grounding and power) are an excellent move as is the concept of a rubber insulated tone arm to isolate and cut out problematic feedback and frequencies. Coupled with a strong magnetic engine, low wow and flutter (although at .1% compared to the .01% of a Technics deck) Pioneer have definitely come up with a nice looking and rather old school bit of kit albeit with a price point of £600 or so (although, at this time, I’m not sure the UK pricing has been confirmed.) Personally, I think I would have liked to see a USB cable in there too. A top quality turn table with a digital interface would have been very interesting, especially considering how many tables are used as part of a DVS system nowadays.
As a way for clubs to replace knackered old kit with something brand new and capable, I can partly understand Pioneers move, but aside of that I can’t help feel a little bit confused about who else is likely to be buying them. The much vaunted rise in vinyl sale is – however welcome – not entirely applicable to those of us primarily listening to electronic music. The bulk of all those new sales are to be found in audiophile, remastered pressings of classic albums and a bunch of contemporary big sellers. That is not to say that there hasn’t been a notable rise in the number of underground labels that deal all but exclusively in vinyl, but the numbers are still tiny in comparison, and the ranks of vinyl only DJs aren’t about to return to the levels of the mid nineties either. People have slowly begun to see advantages to playing with their music on a lap top or a memory stick (even CDs have benefits) and I wonder how willing any of them are going to be to spend £600 on a deck, even if it is just one for ripping vinyl from?
The fact is that on Ebay today you can pick up a second-hand Technics 1200 for £300 and as little as £100. Even taking into account the possibility that the unit will need a service it’s unlikely a pair of them are going to set you back anywhere near as much as a pair of Pio PLX-1000. Of course, One of Pioneers main advantages is it’s marketing and PR machinery, and the desirability that any bit of kit with the logo on it has over a large section in the market. No other company could get away with charging £1500 for a single CDJ 2000 Nexus no matter how good it is. But Pioneer have arrived at this point as Industry Leader, and to do it a time when – unlike in the days of Technics dominance when there really only was once real choice – clubs can furnish their booths with plenty of equipment that does the same job cheaper, better or both is a real achievement. It’s partly down to the gear, but it’s heavily down to the PR machinery too. The logo on the kit has a quality all of its own.
Even saying this stuff, I’ll be more than happy to see people snapping them up for use in clubs and at home. It’s indicative of a different approach to DJing and we should surely be happy to see as many different ways of doing the thing we love as possible. As for myself, I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to get to grips with a pair of CD decks and I realised what it is I really miss about vinyl DJing: The immediacy of it. CD decks there is the hassle of getting your music into the correct format and then onto a memory stick or CD. Even with software like Traktor there is the beat-gridding and all that rigmarole. How much better for creativity to drop a needle onto the wax and just go? Maybe there are a whole bunch of people out there who feel the same way. Maybe Pioneer do to. I guess we’ll find out in August.
Friday Night Tune: Larry Heard versus Marshal Jefferson – Your Mine Vs Destination (Zernell Gillie’s Rework)
The main reason that this weeks Friday Night Tune is so late in coming is that, due to a combination of the energy sapping humidity, exhaustion from a long week at work and having to devote my spare time to something else, I simply couldn’t think of a tune to write about. It happens like that occasionally; your state of mind or some other fundamental changes in a way that renders a piece of music as dry as a piece of gravel and about as interesting.
Still, it forces you to look around and re-evaluate music you haven’t heard in a while. It’s interesting what you find. Your Mind Vs Destination was not one I had really thought about talking about before, and even now I’m not entirely sure what I am going to say about it. It’s a tune that has simply been haunting my subconsciousness for a few weeks. whenever I’ve been having a wee mix, it one of those records that seems to slip into the space at the end of the playing tune without you thinking too much about it and with no more right to be there than a nagging insistence that it should stay.
It certainly has stayed, and not just in my mind. I am unsure of when it was originally released. Or when the original parts were released, in fact. It’s essentially a remix by Chicagoan DJ Zernell Gillie, who has become famous for the edits he releases through his label, Grimy. As a whole, though, it’s representative of an entire all-but-lost era of House and a good reminder that the music released across those famous Chi-town labels and the music that people were dancing too in clubs like the Music Box were not always exactly the same thing. I have no idea where, if anywhere, I originally heard it, but I only became aware of it a couple of years back when I bought a copy of the Gene Hunt Presents – Chicago Dance Tracks compilation that Dutch label Rush Hour Recordings put out a little while back.
The album represents underground Chicago House that was passed between producers and DJs way back in the early days but rarely – if ever – found a proper release. Often they were played in clubs straight from the tape before vanishing into the ether until Hunt dug out a bag of them and went to work in tracking down the release rights.
We should be thankful that he did. The album is a testament to the early underground sound of Chicago. Jacking, Acidic, dark prime quality movers that sound as modern (more so) than anything we’re buying today. It’s a veritable Who’s Who as well, with the likes of Mike Dunn, Virgo 4, Steve Poindexter and other luminaries all covered. This one is no exception.
It’s a dream pairing, really. The influence of Larry Heard and Marshal Jefferson on House music is all but impossible to quantify. I’m not even going to try. I’m not even going to bother about talking about the tune because sometimes, instead of worrying about what you’re going to say, its wiser to stay quiet. Instead, go and soak yourself in one of the deepest, slinkiest pieces of proper deep House you are ever likely to hear, and, when the disco infused sample and the vocal chime into life, just smile and let it wash all over you.
Upcoming Event: Numbers 11th Birthday With Paul Johnson @ Sub Club, Glasgow 18.07.2014
It seems like only yesterday they were celebrating their 10th…Numbers head back to Glasgow’s oldest hole-in-the-ground tomorrow for their 11th birthday celebration featuring none other than the straight up legend, Dance Mania luminary and producer of the immortal Feel My MF Bass, the one and only Paul Johnson. If you don’t know who he is, well, you’re education is B0rked. If you do know then you have zero excuse for not heading down Jamaica Street way for what is going to be a dirty, nasty night of viciously banging house. Number’s own Spencer rounds off the bill .
Tickets are £10 in advance. Doors open at 11 at the Sub Club, 22 Jamaica St; Glasgow, G1 4QD.
It’s going to be hot. Better dress to sweat.
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Album Review: Crooked Shadows
After a 7-year hiatus, Dashboard Confessional returns with their new studio album, Crooked Shadows. Dashboard confessional, originating in Boca Raton, Florida, is an American rock band, fronted by lead singer, Chris Carrabba. Crooked Shadows, the band’s 7th studio album, signifies a new direction for the band as they take a clear step away from their traditional “emo” roots and jump into the pop-music scene. This album cultivates a new, unexpected energy, incorporating a diverse range of sounds from indie-pop, alt-rock and punk influences. Each track is lyrically driven and emotionally dense, underlining the band’s archetypal approach to intimate storytelling.
The album commences with a surge of volume and intensity with the opening track, “We Fight”, paying homage to the band’s previous emo-rock sound. This song is aggressive, coming in hot with electric guitar, heavy drums and wailing vocals. This track expresses a message every kid needs to hear that “somebody cares, somebody knows”, as Carrabba encourages listeners to pick themselves up and “keep digging in”, because things will get better. If you’re unfamiliar with the band, you will not be disappointed by the sound of this track!
The album progresses to “Catch You”, an upbeat hard-hitting love ballad, containing a complex collection of instruments including electric guitar, drums and piano. The interesting hook and catchy lyrics certainly makes this a notable and memorable song. Other tracks like “About us”, “Crooked Shadows” and “Be Alright” share a consistent pop-rock sound, none of which stand out as exceptionally impressive. However, “Belong”, featuring American electronic group Cash Cash, is a bouncy and vivacious song, amalgamating alternative rock with mainstream pop. This unexpected addition to the album contains and audacious beat that is typical of a punchy house-ballad.
The remaining tracks, “Hearts Beat Here”, “Open My Eyes” and “Just What To Say”, are slower and lyrically driven, eliciting ideas of “wishing to be found” and “opening your eyes to the truth”. These softer ballads contain bridges that effectively elevate each song, by embracing triumphant builds and satisfying drops. These songs also feature the talents of Lindsey Stirling and Chrissy Costanza.
Overall, the album is well produced, containing rich sounds, complex instrumentation and a range of controlled vocals. However, that being said, the album does have some discrepancies as songs were so distinct from one another, that they don’t flow together cohesively on this album. Additionally, many of the tracks became fairly repetitive as the song titles were reiterated again and again throughout each chorus. This album definitely veers the band down a new path, as the track list encompasses intimate and soft ballads, along with mainstream pop songs.
If you’re just getting into Dashboard Confessional and want to hear a familiar tune, check out their covers of Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” and The 1975’s “Sex”, as the band executes unique renditions of these widely known songs on their 2017 EP, Covered and Taped.
My recommended tracks are: “Belong”, “We Fight” and “Just What To Say”.
Album reviewCrooked ShadowsDashboard ConfessionalDine Alone Music Inc
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Epic Experiences – Historical Journeys of Epic Proportion Caesar – London to Rome Cro Magnon – Chauvet to Tautavel Conquest of the Moors – Silves to Cordoba Hannibal – Across the Alps Iron Curtain – Berlin to Budapest Māori New Zealand – Auckland to Queenstown Marco Polo – Venice to Athens Samurai – Honshu & Shikoku Island, Japan 3 Islands – Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily Hannibal – Barcelona to Rome (The Epic) Napoleon – Paris to Saint Petersburg Local Experiences – Immersive Adventures With a Local Feel Friuli, Italy and Slovenia – The Road less Travelled L’Eroica & Tuscany Tuscany – Strade Bianche Provence – Les Plus Beaux Villages Puglia – The Best of Southern Italy Custom Experiences – Favourite Adventures Perfect For Groups Mallorca Training Week Mont Ventoux Challenge Provence – Cycling and Yoga Simone’s Sardinia Vietnam – Untouched
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A Ride and Seek Tour
Samurai – Honshu & Shikoku Island, Japan
Overview Highlights Dates & Prices Food & Wine Accommodation History Reading Testimonials Tour Details - Book Now
Samurai Bike Tour Overview
Our Samurai Tour slots perfectly into the Ride and Seek portfolio, as we explore two very distinct parts of Japan and immerse ourselves in its spectacular history, culture and landscape. The first part of the tour explores the enchanting peninsula of Noto and the Japanese Alps. We then travel to the smallest of Japan’s main islands – Shikoku – and truly discover the road less travelled. This tour can be taken on as a single Epic or as one of the two stages.
Our routes follows ancient and meandering roads, which tend to be smooth, narrow and with very little traffic. The first stage explores Noto which offers a smorgasbord of culture and history. From castles and classic gardens to landscapes and towns left mostly unchanged for over 400 years. The Noto peninsular evokes the ancient Samurai warriors of days gone by. The proximity of the Japanese Alps also serves to provide plenty of extra riding for those wishing to challenge themselves beyond the regular routes.
From Honshu (the main island), we then travel to the beautiful island of Shikoku and use Kyoto as our rest day option between tours. On Shikoku, we will cycle through the magnificent Iya Gorge, and tackle Mt Ishizuchi, which is Western Japan’s highest peak at 1982m (6503ft). There are some beautiful and exhilarating descents to enjoy, as we explore the green valleys, passing terraced rice paddies, traditional thatched-roof houses and old villages clinging to the mountainsides. Our tour finishes with the spectacular Shimanami Kaido; a series of suspension bridges that spans the inland sea, and links Shikoku back to Honshu.
Shikoku is also famous for its pilgrimage of the 88-temples associated with the Buddhist priest Kuka, known posthumously as Kobo-Daishi. Modern-day pilgrims, called ‘Henro’ by the locals, still tackle the 1200-kilometre route, many of them sporting the traditional white clothing, sedge hats and kongō-zue walking sticks.
Accommodation will be in a mixture of Western-style hotels and traditional Japanese Inns. These mountain inns may be quite different to anything you have experienced before, with rice-straw mat floors and futon beds that are folded away during the day. Anything they may lack in modern comforts is more than made up for by their charm and authenticity. Some of them have natural hot spring baths, and we think you’ll agree that soaking your muscles with a local beer in hand is the perfect way to end the day.
NOTO DISTANCE & ELEVATION MATRIX
Riding Day Regular route (km) Regular route (miles) Elevation (metres) Elevation (feet) Long route (km) Long route (miles)
2 65 40 330 1080 90 56
5 92 57 650 2135 122 76
SHIKOKU DISTANCES AND ELEVATION MATRIX
2 75 47 1120 3675 84 52
3 110 68 1580 5180 128 80
4 87 54 1250 4100
7 103 64 840 2755 130 81
Team Members on this Tour
Ben Weigl
Ben Weigl - Trip Specialist
Ben has been working in the bike tour industry for over 10 years and has owned tour companies, designed itineraries and guided all over the world in that time. A traveller to the core he calls Adelaide home but is rarely there these days. When he is not designing and running tours for Ride and Seek he’ll be found pack-rafting in some remote part of the world or pursuing his charity efforts with Helping Helmets and Africa Goal. His enthusiasm, professionalism, media skills and general tour expertise make Ben a very valued member of the team.
First cycling memory:
Taking the training wheels of my police car painted bike, complete with flashing light and riding down the laneway behind my house with my brother and his fire engine bike. He became a firefighter, I stuck with the bike.
Favourite bike:
Without sounding too much like a hipster, my father’s old Japanese steel Koga - Miyata that I restored and converted into a single speed. Moved through Melbourne traffic like the wind and completed more compliments from bearded men than I care to mention.
Top climb:
Col Agnel, Hannibal - a magnificent history filled, yet little trafficked gateway to Italy
One thing on your bucket list:
Buy a bush plane and get my pilot's licence
A special skill you bring on tour:
Videography and photography….."Smile"!
Favourite Ride and Seek tour gastronomic experience:
The Artisan gelateria in Alba (the town that smells of Nutella), enjoyed as an extended dessert on Hannibal.
English & German. My French and Spanish are coming on.
Ride and Seek tours you lead:
I've been involved with all of the Epics to date
Dylan Reynolds
Dylan Reynolds - Founder and Trip Specialist
Dylan has been designing and running bike tours since 1997 and it was this experience that provided the bedrock behind the creation of Ride & Seek. Family bike tours were the original inspiration though with the 1988 Land End to John O’Groats trip his first ‘Epic’. He is now based with his family in the shadow of Mont Ventoux where the tour operations are based. Born in Zambia he has travelled extensively and has called Australia, Italy, Spain. England and now France home over the years. An itinerant lifestyle of professional squash, snowboarding and cycling have provided a wonderful passport to explore the world.
Chaperoning my younger sister on the 4km ride to primary school every morning. My Mum would often follow in the car, out of sight, to check we were ok. It was my first experience of guiding!
On tour I really like my Lynskey Sportive. In terms of pure aesthetics I’d go for anything from Look.
Whist I have Mont Ventoux on my doorstep there are a number of climbs in the vicinity that I enjoy more. The Col de Murs in Provence is probably my favourite.
Take the whole family on one of the Epics!
I think I’m a bit of a jack of all trades from a guiding perspective having done it for over 20 years now. After all that time I guess my special skill is to be as passionate about guiding as I was when I first started.
A Fiorentina steak washed down with a fine bottle of Brunello di Montalcino in San Gimignano on our Hannibal tour.
English, French & Italian. I’m determined to improve my Spanish before we embark on a tour program in the Iberian peninsular.
I’ve led all of them to date and I find myself on most of the Epics at least in part.
James Geen
James Geen - Trip Specialist
James has been with Ride and Seek since the start and is one of our most valued guides. A photographer by profession he lives in the Alps with his wife and daughter. During the winter he is kept busy taking photos all over the Alps and then comes on board to guide tours in the summer. Our trip specialist for Provence he has managed to encourage riders from across the ability spectrum up Mont Ventoux. His patience, good humour and natural propensity to guide make him a super popular member of the team with guests and colleagues alike.
Priory Park, Southend, first time without stabilisers with my Dad running alongside holding the saddle
I'm loving my Cotic Rocket at the moment (Steel is Real!)
Colombier, as it's a great winter ski tour too.
Humanitarian photography trip to the Middle East
Random (and often useless) facts, pretty handy with a Pappagallo (repeating verbatim what somebody else is saying) and an english sense of humour.
Not a classic highlight given what it is - pork tripe sausage - but my experience of eating andouillette on our Provence tour will never be forgotten by me or any of those around me!
English, French and 9% Italian (according to Duolingo)
Provence, Hannibal, Eroica, 3 Islands
Samurai Bike Tour Highlights
Explore the ancient Samurai roads and learn about this fascinating period in history.
> Indulge yourself in the natural hot springs that most of our accommodations offer at the end of a day in the saddle.
> Discover the unique tastes of Japanese cuisine that are distinct and varied across the islands.
> Experience the delights of Japanese style inns that offer a very different hotel experience to what you might be used to.
> Visit the enchanting village of Shirakawago that has attained UNESCO status for its gassho-zukuri farmhouses.
> Follow the temple route of the pilgrims in homage to the Buddhist saint, Kobo Daishi on Shikoku Island.
> Wander through the Wajima morning markets which have been operating for over a 1000 years.
> Discover the ancient art of cormorant fishing on the Nagaragawa River in Gifu City.
> Climb the highest mountain in Western Japan – Mt Ishizuchi (1982m I 6502ft)
> Ride at your own pace and choose your level of difficulty through the regular route and extra loops planned for each day.
> Sample the fine beers that the area has to offer. Asahi is the best known but there are plenty of smaller producers that merit a tasting.
> Cycle along Japan’s last pure waterway, the stunning Shimanto River.
> Visit the Kenrokuen gardens and take in the splendour of Kanazawa Castle.
> Traverse the amazing Shimanami Kaido bike-way that links Onomichi with the islands.
Samurai Bike Tour Dates 2020
Cost (Euros)
Samurai Stage 1 – Noto Peninsula & the Alps October 9th October 19th 11 (10 nights) 580 km / 360 miles €4850
Samurai Stage 2 – Shikoku Island October 20th October 30th 11 (10 nights) 682 km / 424 miles €4850
Samurai – The Epic (Noto & Shikoku) October 9th October 30th 22 (21 nights) 1262 km / 784 miles €9350
Samurai Stage 1 – Shikoku Island April 9th April 19th 11 (10 nights) 580 km / 360 miles €4850
Samurai Stage 2 – Noto Peninsula & the Alps April 20th April 30th 11 (10 nights) 682 km / 424 miles €4850
Samurai – The Epic (Shikoku & Noto) April 9th April 30th 22 (21 nights) 1262 km / 784 miles €9350
> Single supplement – Our prices are based on twin/double occupancy. If you wish to have your own room a supplement is applicable.
> Bike hire – We have a range of Merida road bikes available for this tour. All are equipped with full Shimano 105 group sets.
> Deposits – To reserve a place on a stage of this tour you need to pay a deposit of €1000 (or your local currency equivalent). We also accept payment in GB£ and AU$. The final invoice will include any applicable single supplements or bike hire costs.
> Climate – October is known as the calm month in Japan after the September storms. Average temperatures in Shikoku during October are 19°C (high is 24°C and low 13°C). Average rain days in October are 8 which is lower than the preceding 5 months. Shikoku shares its latitude with Morocco, southern California and the Med about 200km south of Sicily which provides a useful point of geographical reference.
Samurai Bike Tour Food and Wine
The name “Shikoku” means “four provinces”, which refers to the island’s four prefectures—Kagawa, Tokushima, Kochi, and Ehime. The mountains created natural barriers that separated the four provinces, keeping them fairly isolated from each other. This allowed each area to develop its own unique food culture.
The Kagawa province, in the North East of the Island, is famous for its Udon noodles, made from the locally-produced flour, and recognisable from its square shape and flat edges. You’ll see these on menus as Sanuki Udon, because the Kagawa prefecture was previously called Sanuki Province.
Tokushima ramen, comes in different shades of dark brown, yellow and white, depending on whether pork, chicken or vegetable broth is used, and whether dark or light soy sauce is used. It is topped with slices of pork ribs, spring onions, and a raw egg that cooks in the hot soup.
Katsuo Tataki is a very popular dish. Fresh Skipjack/Bonito tuna is seared on the outside on a straw fire, then thinly sliced, garnished with ginger, and eaten like sashimi. This is a Shikoku method, and folklore has it that the technique was developed by Sakamoto Ryoma, a 19th century Samurai.
In the Ehime region red snapper (‘Tai’) is caught in the Seto Inland Sea, and incorporated into the popular local dish Tai Meshi, where cooked rice is topped with red snapper sashimi that has been dipped in raw egg yolk mixed with a sweetened sauce.
Because of the warm climate on Shikoku citrus fruits are able to thrive, with mandarins being one of the most successful local crops. They are mainly grown in rows on terraced slopes. Yuzu (with a flavour between grapefruit and lime) is also particularly abundant, and we will see all kinds of yuzu products from fresh yuzu juice to yuzu flavoured nuts.
While there has been increased interest in reviving wine-making in Japan, we will discover other more traditional options on our trip that shouldn’t be ignored. There are over ninety sake breweries across the four provinces, each with their own style, and with many small family-run breweries thriving. Each region of Shikoku has both a mountainous interior and a coastal area, so there are breweries producing richer sake to match the mountain-style food such as game and root vegetable, and others creating a lighter sake to complement the seafood available along the coast.
Beer has been produced in Japan since the 19th century, and there are breweries on Shikoku itself. Aside from the large Asahi brewery, there are also smaller producers, which are often an off-shoot of a sake brewery. As you can imagine many of these beers are a perfect complement to the local food!
Samurai Bike Tour Accommodation
We present a range of accommodation options across this tour, but without doubt, our favourite abodes are the Japanese inns. As with all of our tours we have searched out places that are not only ‘best available’, but also reflect the essence of the area in which we travel. The inns are a wonderful way to immerse yourself in the culture of Japan with their straw mat floors and futon beds. Many of them also offer baths in natural hot springs to soothe those aching muscles at the end of a day on the bike. The traditional cuisine served up in these inns is also a real highlight. Our Shikoku tour has a good mix of traditional inns and more western orientated hotels.
Lost Japan (Alex Kerr) – An enchanting and fascinating insight into Japanese landscape, culture, history and future. Alex Kerr is an American writer who has lived in Japan for over 30 years. This book is an ode to the journey he has experienced from Japanese boardrooms to the hidden valley he now calls home. In part a lament to the loss of the Japan of old, it is still a wonderful celebration of a culture he clearly reveres. Winner of the Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize in 1994, Kerr was the first foreigner to win this prize. We recommend this book as a wonderful way to get an insight into Japanese culture both contemporary and that of the past.
The Way of the 88 Temples: Journeys on the Shikoku Pilgrimage (Robert C. Sibley) – A wonderful account of the author’s travels on the Shikoku pilgrimage. The Henro Michi is one of the oldest and most famous pilgrimage routes in Japan and consists of a circuit of 88 temples on Shikoku. Sibley does a great job of exploring the customs, etiquette and natural surroundings that make this pilgrimage such an amazing experience. The way in which the author incorporates the stories of his fellow pilgrims into the narrative is really well done and adds another level of interest. We will visit a number of these temples on our tour.
Fighting Monks and Burning Mountains (Paul Barach) – A more lighthearted look at the joys of the Shikoku pilgrimage, Barach presents a humorous account of his experience on his 750km trail. Told with a nice mix of humility and charm he charts his journey from underprepared office worker to hardened pilgrim! Fighting Monks and Burning Mountains is a funny and engaging memoir about the consequences of impulsive decisions, and the things you can discover while you’re looking for something else.
Japanese Pilgrimage (Oliver Statler) – An account of walking the Shikoku Pilgrimage, a thousand-mile trek around this fascinating island following the path of the ancient Buddhist master Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi). It is a fascinating story of a spiritual journey that shows the many sides of Japan.
Samurai Bike Tour History
Japan is made up of an incredible 6,852 islands, with Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku being the four ‘main’ islands. Shikoku is the smallest of these, and was only accessible by ferry until 1988, but is now linked via the suspension bridges of the Nishiseto Expressway, also known as the Shimanami Kaido. The name Shikoku means ‘four provinces’ and refers to the old provinces that made up the island: Awa, Tosa, Sanuki, and Iyo. It now consists of four ‘prefectures’: Ehime, Kagawa, Kōchi, and Tokushima.
The history of the samurai in Japan can be traced back to the Heian Period, during which Japan had a type of feudal system, similar to medieval Europe. Wealthy landowners needed warriors to defend their power and wealth. Some samurai were relatives of the landowners, whereas for others it was a purely financial arrangement, but the strict samurai code demanded complete loyalty to one’s master. Over the years the Samurai gained more military and political power, becoming a social class in their own right, and in 1160 the first samurai-led government was established.
The samurai culture was grounded in the concept of ‘bushido’; the way of the warrior. It was a strict code of conduct that valued honour, duty and loyalty. A samurai imbued with bushido spirit, would fight fearlessly for his master, and die honourably rather than surrender in defeat. Interestingly it also included a commitment to self-improvement in unexpected areas such as calligraphy and poetry, as well as combat. The memory and legend of the samurai, and bushido, are woven throughout modern Japanese culture.
Shikoku is also famous for its pilgrimage of the 88-temples associated with the Buddhist priest Kuka, known posthumously as Kobo-Daishi. These 88 temples are scattered across the island; some are just a few kilometres apart, but others are more than 100 kilometres off the main route. The whole route is around 1,400 kilometres and would take 45-60 days if trekking on foot or around 10 days if travelling by car or tour bus. To make it official pilgrims carry a special book that must be stamped at each temple. Completing the pilgrimage is said to rid the soul of the 88 evil desires, as defined in Buddhist doctrine.
Modern-day pilgrims still tackle the 1200-kilometre route, many of them sporting the traditional white clothing, sedge hats and kongō-zue walking sticks. They are known as ‘Henro’ by the locals, and are treated with great respect and hospitality, often receiving free lodging and food.
The Samurai tour was unlike any other riding – remote roads through bamboo forests and hillsides, past Buddhist temples and through small villages. The landscape, food, and culture made for a wonderfully unique trip that exceeded expectations. I highly recommend this trip. Thanks for another great tour!
Emily B – Samurai
A fantastic experience and aside from the spectacular riding, this is a remote destination to a very different culture and that means embracing the differences and challenges with an open mind. Ride & Seek did a great job of making all that work and helping us communicate and appreciate what was on offer. The trip flowed beautifully and the navigation was so well prepared it felt much easier than expected.
Peter H – Samurai
The Samurai tour allows riding through whisper quiet country roads to every cultural experience from traditional country inns to architectural marvels. The Onsen experience, initially a little daunting, becomes a daily highlight. The greatest joy, however, is the countryside itself – truly unique and wonderful.
Laurie T – Samurai
It was a fabulous trip and a wonderful way to experience Japan. Stunning riding and we were so well looked after by the team. They listened carefully when there was a problem and did their best to sort it out.
Vicky I – Samurai
It was a privilege to join the inaugural Samurai tour with Ride and Seek! The riding was as good as I’ve experienced anywhere. We were immersed in pristine beauty, crystal clear rivers and a “back in time” look at rural Japan! I look forward to an expanded tour in the future of other parts of this amazing Island nation.
Jonathan F – Samurai
Exquisite remote riding in pristine surroundings, Samurai, Shinto and Buddhist history, you can’t go wrong with this tour. In true Ride and Seek fashion, every detail accounted for, beautifully organized and run. They have done it again! Thanks R&S for another remarkable experience. This is why I keep riding with you!
Christine C – Samurai
Beautiful countryside with the change of colour Autumn brings, back country roads through Iya Gorge, Yoshino river, over Mt Ishizuchi through remote Shikoku down to the Pacific Ocean before making our way back up to the Shimanto river then over the large suspension bridges that tie Shikoku to mainland Japan. A memorable trip.
Peter R – Samurai
The Samurai Tour was one of my favourite tours of all time. The Japanese people are amazingly friendly, the accommodations surprisingly comfortable, the local food healthy, the hot springs healing, the roads, tunnels and bridges are engineering feats and immaculately maintained and our guides made it all seem easy. Ride and Seek did another terrific job. This tour was a taste of the real Japan, not a made up version.
Sarah R – Samurai
Ancient Samurai roads, sacred Pilgrim routes and an immersion into a unique culture and gastronomy makes Japan the perfect cycling destination. Ride this tour as a single Epic or choose one of the two stages.
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Tour at a Glance
Samurai - Honshu and Shikoku (2019)
Samurai 2020
Length: 22 days / 21 nights
Distance: 1262km I 784 miles
Elevation: 12065m I 39565feet
Dates: October 9 -30 2020aa
Price: €9,350
Grading:
Dates: April 9 - 30 2021aa
Dates: October 9 -30 2020
Dates: April 9 - 30 2021
options: Array ( [1] => overview [2] => highlights [3] => dates [4] => food [5] => accomodation [6] => history [7] => reading [8] => testimonials )
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Tipping Point: Britain, Brexit and Security in the 2020s
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RUSI Members Only
This event is sold out
A discussion with Professor Michael Clarke, Distinguished Fellow, RUSI and Helen Ramscar, Associate Fellow, RUSI, to launch their latest book entitled ‘Tipping Point: Britain, Brexit and Security in the 2020s’.
Britain is facing unprecedented security challenges in the 2020s. The decade to come will not be as favourable as the two past decades. For a country as 'globalised' as Britain, security challenges cover a wide spectrum - from terrorism, international crime and cyber-attack - through to the prospects of war in its own continent or even, again, for its own survival. Brexit has entered these equations and turned them into a political tipping point, from which there is no hiding and no turning back. Britain has many strengths as a power in the world but to address the challenges of the 2020s it must recognise them in a hard-nosed way and deploy them effectively. And soon.
In this wide-ranging discussion, Professor Michael Clarke and Helen Ramscar considered the immediate and long-term security challenges Britain faces, from security and foreign policy to the crisis of liberal democracy, as well as Britain's security capabilities.
Professor Michael Clarke was Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute from 2007 to 2015 when he retired from that role. Until 2001 he was Deputy Vice-Principal and Director for Research Development at King’s College London, where he remains a Visiting Professor of Defence Studies. From 1990 to 2001 he was the founding Director of the Centre for Defence Studies at King’s. He is now a Fellow of King’s College London and of the Universities of Aberystwyth and of Exeter, where he is also Associate Director of the Strategic Studies Institute. He has been a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Defence Committee since 1997, and is also a specialist advisor to Parliament’s Joint Committee on National Security Strategy. He has previously served on the Prime Minister’s National Security Forum and the Chief of Defence Staff’s Strategic Advisory Panel.
Helen Ramscar is an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute. She was previously Director of Development at RUSI (2017-2018). Prior to this, Helen was Executive Assistant to the Director General of RUSI from 2013-2016. Before joining the Institute, she worked at Winfield House for the US Ambassador and Mrs Susman (2009-2013); at Clarence House in the private office of HRH The Prince of Wales (2007-2009); and as a Researcher at the House of Commons (2006-2007). Helen has a BA in History from Durham University; an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from SOAS; and a Diploma in Voluntary Sector Management from Cass Business School.
Professor Michael Clarke and Helen Ramscar will be on hand to sign copies of their latest book, ‘Tipping Point: Britain, Brexit and Security in the 2020s’ (I.B. Tauris: November 2019), which will be on sale.
The discussion is followed by a drinks reception from 1915 to 2000.
This event is open to all RUSI members. To become a member, please click here.
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NEST at Ropetackle Arts Centre
Following the incredible NEST event at Ropetackle that SOLD OUT three sessions, we caught up with Writer and Theatre Maker Anna Beecher and director of the show Rachel Lincoln to ask them a few questions.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?
I’m a writer and theatre maker. I write in many forms including poetry, stories and plays. I am currently finishing up my first novel which will be published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson next year. My collaborator Rachel is a director and performer. She trained at the Lecoq theatre school in Paris, which emphasises physical and visual theatre. Her work includes directing New Views at the National theatre and working as Associate and Staff Director on Ivo Van Hove’s Hedda Gabler (National Theatre and UK and Ireland Tour). The work we make together fuses our two disciplines – I am focused on text and she is focused on movement and visuals. Together we make visual, sensory theatre with text. Think a sequence of poems which you experience in a magical environment of smell, sound, puppetry and movement. Rachel and I have been making theatre together for over ten years. We also, alongside our work in the arts, have both worked as early years practitioners.
How did NEST first come about? What was the initial idea before it started?
Late one night, Rachel and I had the idea of creating a new piece of theatre which drew upon all of the knowledge we had acquired working with children under five. As we chatted, getting increasingly excited, we realised that we wanted to make a show specifically for babies and their parents and carers. We’ve both taught baby sensory classes, and made immersive theatre – a type of theatre which takes audiences into a complete world, engaging their sense of smell, touch and even taste as well as sight and sound. Our vision was a show that enveloped the audience in a beautiful, multi-sensory environment. We spent a few days in Devon, chatting more and exploring ideas, and found ourselves really inspired by nature and the cycles of the seasons. We were then awarded a Creation Space residency at artsdepot in North London, to research and develop the idea. I had worked with a brilliant designer on several other projects, called Kirsty Harris. At this stage we brought her in, to help realise and develop the tactile, visual world of the piece. Throughout we drew upon our experience with babies and their families and did a lot of research, to make sure they would connect with the work. We also had a ‘secret inspiration’ – something we wanted the audience to feel rather than necessarily think about – which was for the show to feel like a spa for the adults, somewhere relaxing where they could escape from the world.
We’d like to know more about the science behind the concept, how does it help development in babies?
Our first goal in creating Nest was to make an environment which felt safe and comfortable for both babies and their parents and carers, because feeling secure is vital for babies to feel confident to engage and explore. The senses are the primary way in which babies start understanding the world around them, through touch, sight, smell, movement, taste and hearing. There’s a huge amount of research that indicates that all of this exploration, far from being random, builds connections within the brain, helping to develop everything from eye-tracking (being able to follow an abject with your eyes as it moves) to fine motor skills to social skills. In Nest, we have attempted to engage multiple senses. There are all sorts of textures to touch, from a mirror to a fluffy grass rug, stimulating and soothing smells like geranium and orange oil and lots of interesting things to look at. When creating the poetry in Nest, I thought a lot about how babies develop language. First, the become interested in sound, tuning into voices, music and other things which they hear. Next, they begin to explore making sounds of their own – babbling and finding out what their voices can do. They begin to recognise their names, the texture of their own language and some words, and the babble begins to contain real speech. This develops into understanding more and more of what is being said to them, and eventually being able to say more and more for themselves. It’s an amazing process. Playful, intriguing sounds, encourage babies to listen and imitate (there’s a reason why we often instinctively speak in a sing-song way to babies) and repetition allows them to process what they are hearing and discover the patterns which make up language. So the poetry in Nest has been designed to work on two levels. I wanted it to be meaningful and engaging for the adults but also sonically exciting for babies – drawing them in on a purely sound level. We had a lot of fun playing with speech rhythms and different cadences. When we brought the sound designer and composer, Max Perryment, into the process, we developed this even further, creating a soundscape which was engaging for babies, full of surprises but soothing and gentle, with a lot of satisfying repetitions.
What can people expect from a NEST experience
Expect to share a lovely a multi-sensory experience with your child. The show takes place in a tent-like structure, which we hope audiences will walk into and feel like they have entered another world, full of lovely textures, colours, sounds and smells. Expect poetry! And expect a giant, glowing egg. An audience member recently described Nest as ‘a beautiful mash up between a baby sensory class and a piece of theatre’ – we loved that.
THU, 21 MAR, Quarterhouse, Folkestone
SUN, 24 MAR, The Lowry, Salford
TUE, 26 MAR, The Woodville, Gravesend
WED, 27 MAR AND THURS, 28TH MAR, Stratford Circus Arts Centre, London
FRI, 29 MAR,Cornerstone Arts Centre, Didcot
For future dates please check www.akintheatre.co.uk
Play The Harmonica – A Beginner’s Workshop
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Hatful of Rain
Hatful of Rain are a Sussex-based trio that have been playing together since 2010. Their music is a blend of …
Ropetackle Film Club presents: Tampopo
Tampopo Billed as Japan’s answer to the Spaghetti Western, Director Juzo Itami grafts a plethora of comic vignettes – whose …
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AR: CDM 4
Chapter 4 – The Mister’s Smile
If anyone had carefully looked at the car Bai Ling leapt over, they would realized it was a luxurious car or a limited edition one!
The driver who almost crashed into Bai Ling still haven’t recovered from the shock. Due to the car braking, the exquisite figure of Bai Ling appeared as if it flew over it.
From the back seat, a pair of extremely gentle like jade eyes followed Bai Ling’s figure and forgot to look at the document in his hands. That 24 or 25 years old young woman also hadn’t anticipated they would almost ran into her. Such foolishness!
The owner of the pair of eyes slightly parted his tender lips and a gentle voice came out from his mouth. Anyone who heard it would feel their mind trembled yet at the same time they would be overcome by a sense of comfort. His gentle eyes were like a starfield as he revealed a dazzling smile.
The uncle who drove the car became somewhat nervous. He hurriedly looked into his rearview mirror and what entered his sight was an angelic face, handsome and gentle, as if it was a work crafted by the Gods. Such face combined with a pair of gentle eyes, that were profound like it held the universe within, and a row of spotlessly white teeth, which were exposed from the smile, made him peerlessly elegant and gave him an aura of noblesse combined with a gentle feeling like the warm of the sun. It made people feel like they were caressed by the spring breeze. The man only appeared to be in his late twenties, around 27 or 28 years old.
“Mister, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Let’s go. We must leave this place before it gets dark!” The voice overflowed with magnetism while retaining the original gentleness. Yet, sorrow could be felt from his tone. “What may come, will come… The spread had already went beyond the scope of our control!”
He spoke as if this was merely an unrelated episode in someone else’s life.
Bai Ling, who stood on the opposite street, seemed as if she sensed something. She looked at her arms and legs. Although she often exercised, this kind of fast reaction time shouldn’t be something she was capable of at this time in her previous life. She should tested it out. It shouldn’t be a meta-ability, right?
The corner of her mouth pursed into a faint smile. It didn’t matter what it was. Isn’t it better to possess more life-saving means? She immediately rushed to her first destination. Her speed was abnormally fast. It was so fast that many people walking to and fro took notice of her.
Since she was so eager to return home, she didn’t paid attention to the stare of a boy chewing a bubble gum while standing on a skateboard on the same intersection. His head was covered with a bandana and wore hip-hop style clothes. He looked completely dumbstruck at this moment. “Shit, man… I didn’t think she had that much agility. Don’t tell me she’s a parkour fanatic?” The light of worship could be seen flashing through his eyes as he followed after her on his skateboard.
Bai Ling knew what she needed to do. First, she have to call her family. Unexpectedly, the call couldn’t connect?
She wiped the sweats on her face and lifted her head to observe the surroundings. She dialed the number once again. In her mind, their walking speed of her surrounding was clearly too slow. It was currently rush hour and regardless of the place, there would be a vast crowd of people and a long queue of cars waiting at the red light. Even if it was the evening, since it was may, the weather had warm up considerably and there were many people roaming around.
When that fateful time arrive, this whole street would be doomed and the number of zombies would grow in fold.
Time was pressing. No matter what, she must take advantage of the chaos during the virus full outbreak to get out of the city!
Bai Ling tightened her fist as she couldn’t maintained her highest speed!
How long did she run? Then, Bai Ling saw a shop that sold bicycles. A light flickered in her eyes as a trace of smile finally peered on her face. She directly ran into the shop.
Five minutes later, between two parked vehicles, she saddled on her bicycle and started to pedal. Same as before, her speed was far from slow, but her brows creased. Why was a 16 or 17 years old teenager boy in clothes decorated by metallic studs following behind her?
Right now, she had not time to care about him. She lowered her head and looked at her cellphone. She was burning with anxiety. Why the batteries had to die at this time?
2 comments on “AR: CDM 4”
Vannie says:
That boy will luckily survive the outbreak because he follewed MC?
lovelycat2017 says:
Wish so
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Nolatet
No Revenge Necessary
Download MP3 | Images | Contact
Everybody knows about New Orleans’ rich musical tradition—but an even more deeply rooted tradition in the Crescent City is one of perpetual reinvention. It’s a city that’s been reborn countless times over the course of its multi-cultural history, a legacy vibrantly reflected in its music.
With the release of their debut album, Dogs, in 2016, the Nolatet – vibraphonist Mike Dillon, pianist Brian Haas, bassist James Singleton and drummer Johnny Vidacovich – added their own new twist to the New Orleans tradition. Now the quartet returns with their much-anticipated follow-up, ‘No Revenge Necessary,’ which takes the music through as many winding turns and colorful pathways as a Second Line parade route.
“‘Dogs’ was beginner’s luck,” says Singleton. “We had just started as a band, and we managed to somehow pull together a cohesive program. To me that small miracle was a good omen for the future.”
That omen proves true in myriad ways on ‘No Revenge Necessary,’ released via Royal Potato Family, which finds the band getting alternately (and often simultaneously) funky and ferocious, playful and profound, high-spirited and movingly solemn, irreverent, iconoclastic, and tapped into the bloodline that flows through the veins of every New Orleans musician.
After criss-crossing the country together touring behind ‘Dogs,’ Haas says, “we can take bigger musical risks in the studio and not fall on our butts. The more you play improvised music with the same line-up the luckier you can get as a band. This new album is WAY rowdier and riskier.” As Dillon adds, “a year of touring and festivals has made this band of unique improvisers stand on an island beyond the normal jazz arms race.”
While ‘Dogs’ was the first time these four came together as a unit, there was plenty of history already shared between them. Singleton and Vidacovich can boast more than four decades of playing together, during which they’ve established themselves as New Orleans’ most revered rhythm section. Dillon and Haas have crossed paths endlessly along the routes of their relentless touring schedules with bands like Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Garage a Trois, Critters Buggin and the Dead Kenny Gs.
“The wealth of music experience amongst ourselves is why Nolatet has its own voice,” says Haas. “After a few years you don’t learn the other person’s music—you learn the other person!”
That knowledge pays off in a sonic portrait like “Lanky, Stanky Maestro,” which Haas wrote in honor of Vidacovich and which evokes an explosive barrage of rakish outbursts from the drummer. Singleton calls it “pure slop/funk/mid-city/spaghetti-eatin’ grease”—and he’d know better than anyone. He continues that the “constant counterpoint conversation (including and especially the kit) is a contemporary flowering of the polyphony present in New Orleans music from 100 ears and years ago. That’s how we are able to reflect the complexities of adult lives with relatively simple materials.”
On the wildly spiraling “Bluebelly,” Singleton tips his hat to the more (post) modern sounds that he was confronted with through bandmate Dillon’s work in Garage a Trois alongside drummer Stanton Moore and saxophonist Skerik. Haas’ tumultuous “Homer and Debbie” was penned as an ode to two of his five dogs, and more expansively about life and death, youth and old age. Dillon’s “Elegant Miss J” commemorates a lost love and the pitfalls that follow when romance meets a life on the road. Landscape was also an inspiration for Haas, who wrote the imposing “Gracemont” under the sway of Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains and the down-home “Pecos Wilderness” while musing on the terrain near his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Then there are the inevitable passions that arise from a world in turmoil and the rebirth that (hopefully) can rise from it, as has happened time and again in New Orleans’ beleaguered past. Singleton’s “Dike Finger” is his response to Hurricane Katrina, erupting in anger and then giving way to optimism and solidarity. Haas’ title track “No Revenge Necessary” casts both a more intimate and a much wider net, sparked by the end of a relationship, but expanding to encompass the divisive times in which we all find ourselves these days.
“For me the over-riding theme moving forward is forgiveness,” Singleton sums up. “Hopefully the strength of the music can serve as a reminder of the possibility of growth and healing through forgiving.”
HI Res Images
© 2018 Cover Art
© 2018 Nolatet
Kevin Calabro
kevin@royalpotatofamily.com
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Rail Associations
Home » News » Comment » Equality. Diversity. Inclusion. This Is Not Altruism.
by Josephine Cordero Sapién
Equality. Diversity. Inclusion. This Is Not Altruism.
On 23 June it is International Women in Engineering Day. HS2 Ltd is one of the companies in rail proactively working towards changing the employment landscape in construction and engineering.
Curzon Street Station visual © HS2 Ltd
At Railtex this year Mark Lomas, Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at HS2, gave a talk entitled ‘The Shape of Things to Come’. This, for me, was the most engaging and thought-provoking moment of the show. He explained why EDI is not altruism and how companies are screening out the workforce they desperately need from the get-go:
Mark Lomas, Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at HS2 © HS2 Ltd
“HS2 is a massive, massive infrastructure programme. So why is diversity important to us? I’m sure you’re familiar with the research that says diverse workforces are more innovative and the McKinsey research that says that private sector companies are more profitable.
In a very short amount of time we’re going to have a lot of people out on site. What we’ve been able to establish through our research, through our new method of embedding diversity into health and safety is: diverse sites are safer.
There are a number of critical reasons why for us, actually, a huge programme like we have presents a massive opportunity.
The first one is that a long-term programme like HS2 enables long-term change.
The first one is that a long-term programme like HS2 enables long-term change. And if we’re honest with ourselves, and we look at construction and the infrastructure industry generally, we’re about twenty years behind the curve in most areas. We look at media, or the efforts around diversity that have gone into banking, financial services etc. and they far outstrip those in construction.
The philosophy behind how we design our EDI work is quite simple. If people have done what they’ve done for the past twenty years and, bluntly, it hasn’t worked, given the time-frame that HS2 has, why would we do the same thing and expect a different result? We might as well approach things a little differently.
And I’ll talk to you about what we’d like to achieve – our goals and our measures of success. We have twenty-odd years from basically a standing start, maybe 2009–12, but if we don’t have the most diverse workforce in leadership in the infrastructure sector by the time we get to the end of the programme I don’t think we’ll have done our jobs properly. We’re well on the way there already. We want to ensure that a much broader base of skills gets into the construction industry and I’ll talk to you about why.
If we don’t have the most diverse workforce in leadership in the infrastructure sector by the time we get to the end of the programme I don’t think we’ll have done our jobs properly.
It’s not a zero-sum game with a programme like HS2 and other investment going on in infrastructure. We actually are losing the talent pool required to make this thing sustainable. So this isn’t about moving one cohort of people out to move another cohort of people in. We just need more people. And it’s a lovely situation to be in and diversity is one of the answers to that problem. It’s not a problem for companies to pick over, it’s the answer to a sustainable sector. At the moment every HS2 major contractor is well over-representing the industry in terms of diversity and inclusion, so what we’re doing so far is working.
This isn’t about moving one cohort of people out to move another cohort of people in.
The next step is really important to me. We have to deliver vastly improved levels of accessibility compared to current rail services.
The HS2 Community Engagement trailer at Birmingham Pride © HS2 Ltd
HS2’s Success Measure for Its EDI Strategy
We can’t get away from the fact that we operate in communities up and down this country. If you were born last year, or 2012–13, in actual fact, by the time the programme finishes, depending on where you live, you could have seen HS2 for the next ten, fifteen years. We’re going to be judged by those communities on how we engage them in the project. And for me that means being able to measure the business opportunities – supply chain opportunities that go into that community. That’s why we measure supplier diversity, SMEs, diverse businesses from across the programme. The programme has spent £20 million already with diverse companies up and down the UK and that will increase as the programme expands.
How we get involved in education, training and deliver employment opportunities – all of those are hugely important. And that’s the story that I’d like to be able to tell at the end of the HS2 programme: number 1 – we had the most diverse workforce in leadership; number 2 – in actual fact we broadened the skill base in construction and infrastructure significantly. You can get on an HS2 train and go around the station in an accessible and inclusive manner. And up and down this country there are communities that have benefitted in terms of education, training, business and employment. That’s the story, that’s the success measure for our EDI strategy.
Sarah Trinder, Lead Geotechnical Engineer © HS2 Ltd
The Skills Shortage in Rail
But this is not altruism. If we look at what’s required to build a project – and at peak level there’ll be well over 30,000 people working on the HS2 programme; at the moment we have around 7,000 people working in the supply chain for the programme – but a quarter of the workforce is due to retire in 2028. That’s a big problem. Now let’s add Brexit to the mix and we don’t know what’s going to happen with that but around 13% of workers on construction sites are migrant labour. Now we’re getting upwards of 40% potential workforce disappearing. So we have to attract new groups into the industry in order to make the industry sustainable and this is where the issue of doing the same thing for the last twenty years gets us into the problems we’re in.
I presume most of you work in the industry so maybe your kids come home and say ‘I want to work in rail!’, but how many people do you know who’ve called you up and said, ‘do you know, my kid came home today and said the number one thing they want to do is work in construction or work in rail or work in infrastructure’. How many proud parents have you had go, ‘oh, so-and-so wants to be a doctor, a lawyer, a financier!’ Anybody heard that conversation ever? Exactly. So this is the problem that we are in.
Number 1: we have an ageing workforce that is going to retire in the next ten years and we’re not replacing them.
The second is, even when we do look at apprenticeships and skills, we are by no means getting to the groups that we need to. One in eight engineering occupations are women and when you look at apprenticeship numbers and conversion rates, it’s still really, really poor. So let’s have a look at why that happens. Why is it that efforts to attract groups into infrastructure and construction tend to fail?
‘The reality is, women just don’t want to work in construction’
Well, about a year and a half ago I was giving a talk and a senior leader in a construction business came up to me and said, ‘I love what you were saying and whatever, but the reality is women just don’t want to work in construction and there’s nothing that you can say that’s going to change that.’ So I thought, let’s have a go at seeing if that’s true.
We did a survey with mumsnet. And we looked at women who had left the sector or were interested in the sector and within two weeks we got over two thousand responses. The number one barrier why people didn’t want to return to the sector or why they left was that working conditions weren’t flexible enough. Now, HS2 is going to build a railway that can be seen from space. And it’s got to be accurate within millimetres. It seems a little silly to say that the best engineers in the UK can’t figure out flexible working.
HS2 is going to build a railway that can be seen from space. And it’s got to be accurate within millimetres. It seems a little silly to say that the best engineers in the UK can’t figure out flexible working.
It doesn’t seem like that’s too difficult. Construction sites work on shifts. And yet we can’t change the industry to accommodate better flexible patterns. Doesn’t make sense. HS2 has already changed both the way we procure consultancy service contracts and the hourly requirements embedded into contracts to enable more flexible working. We have that on-going at the moment.
But it’s industry standard to have contracts that say you cannot get paid if you don’t work at a nominated office, regardless of the agile technology we have. So there’s no point in inviting diverse groups into the industry to screen them out. And then we get to some of the other things that we’ve seen.
Who knows the Spanish word for ‘bridge’? El puente. It’s a masculine word. Who knows the German word for ‘bridge’? Die Brücke. It’s feminine. And researchers asked a thousand Spanish people and a thousand German people to describe the bridge. The Spanish said, ‘strong, sturdy, resilient, copes under pressure’. And the Germans said, ‘sleek, elegant, beautiful, curvy’. All the same kind of words.
Download some job descriptions from your website and have a look at the language in them and then delete everything that’s not an adjective. And what you will get is a personality-related descriptor. ‘Strong, outgoing, ambitious, drive, determined’ – actually very little about objective skills. These sorts of things create an image in the mind of the person looking at the job and the person doing the selection.
Changing Recruitment Strategies
My first day at HS2 when I looked and we were having trouble recruiting community engagement people, I said, let’s have a look at what we’re asking. Number 1 criteria: ‘must be educated to degree level’. In what? Home-baking? Microbiology? What? It’s so broad, it’s meaningless. I thought we wanted people who could talk to the community.
The second: ‘must have experience in the transport or infrastructure sector’. Well if you know anything about the sector, there are only about 13–17% women in the sector, so there went one diverse group, only 6–9% BAME groups, so there went that diverse group. Only 2% disabled people, so there went that diverse group. And yet, we wanted people to talk to the community and nowhere were we assessing them on knowledge of that community. So failing at the first hurdle is something that organisations around the sector are very good at.
If your recruitment website has not been tested for accessibility, it’s not accessible. And therefore you’re cutting out a whole swathe of people who can’t even get to the starting line. And then we get CV-based selection. No research in the world shows that CV-based selection in an objective measure of selection.
DWP sent out over a thousand applications for 3,000 jobs in 2009 and to cut a long story short, if your name was a little different, you had a much lower chance of success. For an English name it was 1 in 9, African or Asian it was 1 in 16. So we have been piloting a type of recruitment called blind auditioning. And that removes CVs and application forms entirely and replaces it with an anonymous test.
When we introduced this form of recruitment, success rates for women in shortlisting jumped 20% minimum. BAME groups by 20% minimum, disabled groups by 15% minimum. Why? Because it is competency and skill-based selection. And we’re testing that. So if you get into the interview room it’s because you’re competent to do the job. I don’t know how many of you have seen on how many CVs in the sector people ‘delivered Crossrail’. But I’ve seen so many CVs saying people ‘delivered Crossrail’ single-handedly, it led me to believe CVs can be embellished somewhat.
If we were looking at it as an engineering problem, you would look at the point of failure and you would change the point of failure. Instead of changing the point of failure, people seem obsessed with trying to change the people.
We also take this approach with our early years. And we’ve replaced CVs and applications with situational judgement testing in a blended assessment centre. And it’s no mistake that our apprenticeship programme is really a diverse group. 35% BAME, 40% women in a sector where, remember, 1 in 8 as a whole is the best that we do. Why? Because you don’t need to chase down people endlessly. There are those who are interested. But once they’re interested, we screen them out.
If we were looking at it as an engineering problem, you would look at the point of failure and you would change the point of failure. Instead of changing the point of failure, people seem obsessed with trying to change the people. And that’s never going to work. It’s not worked for 20 years. It’s a failed approach. You wouldn’t take a failed approach over and over and over again in engineering.
Inclusion by Design
We’ve run over 1,000 experiments this year alone on the platform-train interface and how people independently can get on and off trains. Now, actually, there is really poor data for disabled travellers because it in the main relies on assistance being booked. What happens to the business case for disabled people around the UK and for business based around HS2 stations when the train and station environment is accessible and millions more disabled people can travel around the UK easily and access employment opportunities? Well, let’s have a look at a piece of design [passenger seat information signs]. What happens if you can’t see? Woops. Design failure. Why? Because actually, the people you tested the design with wasn’t broad enough.
That kind of issue we don’t really want to have. That’s why we have a built environment accessibility plan and a customer plan. People all across the UK, with different abilities, disabilities help us test designs. Interestingly enough, in my research I wasn’t able to find one train operating company around the world that has a packaged solution for this simple thing, which is a visually impaired person being able to find their reserved seat on a train. I’d love to know if there is. But I haven’t found one yet.
Why Language Matters
Which then brings us to talking to people in the language that they want to be spoken to. We spent a long time trying to figure out why diversity in construction fails and so we went to the construction site and we talked to operatives and we talked to construction managers, who were very polite but also very rude about diversity. They thought it was all the HR police etc. But in our conversations we did manage to identify that what they cared about was safety. And actually, we’ve come up with a methodology of hiding diversity in health and safety. Both in the languages, the practices and the assurance measures. Which means we’re able to talk effectively with people who are on a construction site about diversity and inclusion.
For example, the safety briefing: in English. Well, if you know how construction sites work, the person who’s best with English for this group translates. In fact, on another high-profile programme there was someone who was killed precisely because of that. They went into the wrong area and were killed. Well actually, that’s about your inclusive health and safety practices. We’ve identified those key risks across construction and with our early works contractors and now our main works contractors we’re putting in a new method of implementing diversity at a construction site level. Early findings are very good but we have much more to do.
Which brings us on to how we engage with communities. We tend to have the ability to make language translations but we also use a form of communication called ‘easy read’. Easy read was designed for people with learning difficulties but in fact it’s a fantastic way of getting across a message really quickly. A picture accompanied by a simple texts which makes the point. And we find that a load of people like to interact with our easy-read communications.
We’re getting more and more sophisticated with how we talk to our communities. We created digital tools which at the touch of a button can tell you everything from internet usage in a local authority area to socio-economic bandings to religious demographic make-up. So our teams can engage with people in the way people need them to be engaged.
Diversity is not political correctness, it is the solution to the talent problem facing our sector.
That’s just a quick tour through why diversity is important to us as a programme. And we can see it happening. Less than 2.5 years into the programme a majority of our Tier 1 contractors have achieved their EDI accreditations. And I firmly believe HS2 will be the first infrastructure programme in the world to have a Tier 1 construction supply chain which is fully EDI-accredited. We’re winning awards for the way we’re inventing new methods of practice.
But this is only the beginning. As the programme expands, we will get more innovation through SMEs, more innovation through understanding. And at the moment all HS2 contracts are outperforming industry averages in terms of diversity and inclusion. But this is just the start for us. We have another 17 years in which to help the industry fundamentally change the way it practises diversity and inclusion. So I’ll leave you with a quote by another Mark: ‘Diversity is not political correctness, it is the solution to the talent problem facing our sector. And it is the shape of things to come.’”
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1865-12-11: Manuel Larios, owner of Rancho Santa Ana, died
Monday, December 11, 1865 – Manuel Larios (b. 1799* in the Pueblo of San Jose de Guadalupe near Mission Santa Clara*) died at 64 [65 or 66*] leaving real estate valued (v.1 p. 87) at $50,000, 5/6th of the Rancho Santa Ana, later (Feb 10, 1866) shown (v.1 p. 90) to be 5.5 leagues at $20,000 with $500 in improvements.
After removing Horace Hawes' 1/10th of 2,441.17 and the 1500 acres he gave to his son (José) Antonio Larios which contained "the place known as the Tres Pinos" which is in his will, from half of 48,822.60 acres which is 24,411.30; his estate at time of death included 20,470.17 acres.
v.1 p. 126.
*Birthdate from "East of the Gabilans" Valley Publishers, c 1976. Marjorie Pierce, p. xii Library of Congress: 76-56566. ISBN: 0-913548-39-1. p. 79
hawes, horace
larios, (josé) antonio
larios, manuel salvador
larios, manuel salvador estate
1865-12-09: Lease of Rancho Santa Ana by Manuel Larios to G. A. Moon, A. S. Bixby, T.F. Bixby
December 9, 1865 – Lease: Manuel Larios to G. A. Moon, A. S. Bixby, T.F. Bixby: of Rancho Santa Ana containing 5.5 leagues of land excepting one tenth, also 1500 acres and other exceptions.
Term: 2 years from 1st January 1866 with the privilege of 3 years more at yearly rent of $1500.
Book A of leases, pp 195
bixby, a.s.
bixby, t.f.
moon, g.a.
on December 9, 1865 at 12:00 am Leave a Comment
1864-04-18: Patent: Combined Rancho Santa Ana y Quien Sabe: Manuel Larios et. al received final signature
April 18, 1864: Patent: Combined Ranch: Manuel Larios et. al received final signature
v.1 p.23
partition of ranchos
rancho quien sabe
rancho santa ana y quien sabe
united states board of land commissioners
on April 18, 1864 at 4:59 pm Leave a Comment
1862-04-17: Manuel Larios Senior deeds to Antonio Larios 1500 acres
Thursday, April 17, 1862: Manuel Larios Senior deeds to Antonio Larios his son for $1.00 and the love and affection for his son: 1500 acres bound: north; creek coming from the Salitralito (SALITRILLO?); west the foot of the high hills to an Arroyo Hondo whose waters flow into the San Benito.
Same land as excepted from that leased to John Searle and John B. Wynn (or Wyman) 3/5/1862 and named therein as Tres Pinos.
Libr. E of Conveyances, p. 227
on April 17, 1862 at 12:00 am Leave a Comment
1860-05-01: President James Buchanan issues patent for Rancho Santa Ana y Quien Sabe
Tuesday, May 1, 1860 – President James Buchanan in Washington issues United States patent for the Rancho Santa Ana y Quien Sabe grant. The patent was issued for the combined ranch — and it described its boundaries — to Manuel Larios et. al (including the heirs of Juan Miguel Anzar: Frederick A. MacDougall, Anatolio Anzar, Juan Francisco Anzar and Policronio Anzar).
The grant was originally issued Monday, April 8, 1839 by Governor of Alta California Juan B. Alvarado to claimants Manuel Larios and Juan Miguel Anzar.
California State Map ID number: MC 4:4-574 Grant number: 237.
Book A Patents p 55-62.
“To all whom these presents shall come: Greeting”
Book 1 pp. 9-23
NOTE FROM THE BOLADO/ARQUES SUIT, V2 P. 253: THAT THE LANDS GRANTED INCLUDE ONLY A PART OF THE LANDS PETITIONED FOR, AND A PART ONLY OF THAT DESCRIBED IN THE DECREE OF THE DISTRICT COURT.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/rancho.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Buchanan
anzar, anatolio del refugio
anzar, juan francisco
anzar, juan miguel estate
anzar, juan miguel heirs
anzar, policronio estolastico de guadalupe (lupe)
bolado/arques lawsuit
buchanan, james - u.s. president
court, u.s. district
macdougall, frederick a.
on May 1, 1860 at 4:15 am Leave a Comment
1857-08-21: Manuel Larios sells 1/10th of Santa Ana to Horace Hawes
Friday, August 21, 1857: Manuel Larios deeds to Horace Hawes for professional services rendered 1/10th of Santa Ana after partition from Anzar; in a square form on San Benito River including "Ranchito de Lenterio."
Book C. p. 179.
see also book F p. 453.
Abstract v.1 p. 37
A survey was never done, so it became an undivided 1/10th of M. Larios's share
Abstract v.1 p 37, v.1 p.125.
Said to be equal to 2,441.17 acres
Abstract v.1 p.126.
Frederick A. MacDougall was a witness.
on August 21, 1857 at 1:57 am Leave a Comment
1857-05-26: Roeding and Lynch mortgage from Manuel L. Larios one 16th of Santa Ana Rancho
May 26, 1857: Roeding and Lynch mortgage from Manuel L. Larios one undivided 16th of Rancho Santa Ana; $500, 3%/month
lynch, francis e.
roeding, frederick
on May 26, 1857 at 1:49 am Leave a Comment
1855-11-09: Lease to Lynch and Roeding of San Francisco by Larios
Friday, November 9, 1855: Lease to Francis E. Lynch & Frederick Roeding of San Francisco by Manuel Larios, Jose Maria Larios, Manuel Larios Jr., Juliana Martina Larios de Soto and Melicia Soto – ???, Garcia (sic: Gracia) de las Mercedes Larios:
Partition of Rancho Santa Anita and Quien Sabe set off and awarded to Larios as recorded in Book A of agreements pp 64.
5 years from 1 Jan 1856 for a yearly rent of $2000 payable half yearly; excepting Hawes/Jones tenth interest.
NOTE: This must have been only part of Rancho Santa Anita, not Quien Sabe.
http://www.fremontica.com/roadside/cnco.htm
larios de soto, (juliana) martina
larios jr., manuel l.
larios, gracia de las mercedes
larios, josé maria
soto, melicia
on November 9, 1855 at 2:10 am Leave a Comment
1854-08-21: Manuel Larios to Horace Hawes: [Unknown Transaction]
August 21, 1854: Manuel Larios to Horace Hawe: [Unknown Transaction].
Book C, P 179
Recorded August 24, 1854.
1853-11-19: Hawes Receives from Larios One Tenth of [Unknown Parcel]
Saturday, November 19, 1853 – Horace Hawes, Lawyer, receives from Don Manuel Larios, for legal help with the land commission for Ranchito de San Antonio near the Pueblo de San Juan Bautista; one tenth (decimo) of the confirmed territory (what territory?) (in Spanish).
Agreements, Book A, p. 54.
NOTE: Did Horace Hawes own 1/10th of the Quien Sabe that he bought from William Carey Jones (which could have actually been 1/20th of the combined Santa Ana y Quien Sabe); and this new 1/10th of Manuel Larios’ Santa Ana (which was also still a part of the combined ranch?)? If so, then he owned 1/10th of the combined Santa Ana y Quien Sabe ranch.
on November 19, 1853 at 10:08 pm Leave a Comment
1852-02-06: Larios and Anzar petition US Land Commissioners for Quien Sabe
Larios and Anzar present joint petition to US Board of Land Commissioners praying confirmation and claiming Quien Sabe of 6 Leagues and Santa Ana of 10 Leagues.
Abstract, v.2 p.252, v.2 p 236
anzar, juan miguel
on February 6, 1852 at 6:40 pm Leave a Comment
1848: Francisco Serrano Surveys Santa Ana y Quien Sabe with Anzar and Larios
Juan Miguel Anzar and Manuel Larios engaged Francisco Serrano as a scrivener to go with them to the Ranchos take notes of boundaries and make partition and both went with him and and pointed out the line which they agreed upon as a dividing line.
This line corresponded exactly with the line described in the instrument hereinafter mentioned (describes line); all returned to the house of the Aromas rancho where Serrano made a rough draft of the agreement, read it to them, they agreed to it and aferwards Serrano reduced it to its present shape (as in complaint) and the instrument was kept by Serrano.
That before going to the Rancho, it was agreed that each should pay to Serrano 1/2 the value of his services.
That neither said anything about payment after they came from the Ranchos, no payment was made and no copy of original document delivered and said original was kept by the said Serrano until three or four years after the death of said Anzar when Larios sent his son to Serrano at the said town of Monterey to obtain the instrument and upon paying Serrano $100 for his services in and about the business, Serrano delivered the document to the son who gave it to his father and it has ever since been in the custody of Manuel Larios and his representatives.
That after the signing of the document and in 1848, the cattle and horses of Juan Miguel Anzar were gathered up and taken on to the Quien Sabe where corrals were built and houses for his servants and the cattle &c. of Larios were gathered up and taken on to the Santa Ana. The cattle of both roaming however over the mountain range at will, but separation was made and cattle marked at certain times.
That the Anzar house on Santa Ana was occupied by Hernandez to whom Anzar had let his cattle on Quien Sabe Rancho for 3 years and afterwards Anzar permitted the house to be occupied by a widow woman, and to this occupation by Anzar and his tenants Larios did not object.
That Larios, during 1st year said premises were occupied, jointly took care of Anzar's cattle upon terms, and at end of year Larios Rodeo'd the cattle and separated Anzar's from his own and sent Anzar's to Quien Sabe pointing out to the Brothers Higuen who took charge of them the dividing line mentioned in said instrument.
That ever since the death of Anzar, the said Rodeo line has been observed.
Dividing Line between Santa Ana and Quien Sabe was supposed to be:
From the creek called Arroyo del Pecacho running along the summit of the mountains or ridge which separated the two places in all the meandering of the said ridge passing by the place called Aguage (watering place?) del Clerigo, leaving in the side of Juan Anzar the place called Llanitos and there turning and running to a point called Puerto del Rosario.
Abstract, v.2 p.230
1840-05-21: Santa Ana y Quien Sabe Grant Approved by Departmental Junta
Thursday, May 21, 1840: The Santa Ana y Quien Sabe grant was approved by Departmental Junta of the Territory of Upper California.
Abstract V2. P. 250, v.2 p.230 v.2 p.230
(for $50.00)
San Benito County: District Court Files – Book N. Page 86 (46-86)
california upper territory departmental junta
1839-04-08: Santa Ana y Quien Sabe granted to Larios and Anzar
Monday, April 8, 1839: Rancho Santa Ana y Quien Sabe was granted to Larios and Anzar by a concession declaring them owners by Governor Juan B. Alvarado, granting them equal shares.
That the extent of said lands granted is not mentioned but reference is made to maps accompanying same sources; traced copies are attached to findings and made a part thereof.
Built ranch houses and corrals. Estanislao Hernandez occupied Anzar house. Anzar and Larios entered into the joint occupation of said lands granted. Each built ranch houses about 200 yards apart also corrals for their cattle on the Santa Ana. Their cattle with their overseers roaming over the whole tract.
Abstract: v2 p.249-250 — v.2 p.230
(for $50.00)? v.1 p.41? —- Dividing Line between Santa Ana and Quien Sabe was supposed to be:
This grant was patented May 1, 1860 to Manuel Larios et. al.
Commission 022, Expediente 127, 48,822.60 Acres, District Court 258.
Pierce, Marjorie. "East of the Gabilans" Valley Publishers, c 1976 Library of Congress: 76-56566. ISBN: 0-913548-39-1. p. 118.
alvarado, juan bautista
on April 8, 1839 at 12:30 am Leave a Comment
1839-03-30: Anzar and Larios request Quien Sabe to be added to their claim
Manuel Larios and Juan Miguel Anzar presented to the prefect of the "1s" District their joint petition in which they recited their former petition on the 29th December 1839 and pray in addition for Quien Sabe.
That neither of said petitioners contained any further description of said Ranchos, than in the petition of the Negretes and none of them make mention of the quantity of land in either or both of said pieces.
Prefect ordered petitions of Anzar and Larios to be attached.
Abstract, v2. p.249
on March 30, 1839 at 12:11 am Leave a Comment
1839-03-20: Prefect reported to Governor that Santa Ana could be granted
Prefect Don José Ramón Estrada reported to Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado that the Santa Ana lands could be granted to petitioners Juan Miguel Anzar and Manuel Larios.
Abstract, v2 p. 249
1839-03-12: Governor referred petition for Santa Ana to prefect.
Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado referred the petition for Santa Ana to prefect Don José Ramón Estrada.
Abstract. v2. P.249
prefect – governmental official during the Mexican Period, subordinate to the governor, who administered a prefectura.
http://www.southwestbooks.org/lgglossary.htm
on March 12, 1839 at 11:23 pm Leave a Comment
1838-12-29: Rancho Santa Ana grant claimed by Manuel Larios & Juan Miguel Anzar
Saturday, December 29, 1838: The Rancho Santa Ana grant first claimed by Manuel Larios & Juan Miguel Anzar; Larios managed Anzar’s properties.
The petition was referred to the Ayuntamiento to which (sic) reported that the lands could be granted.
Abstract: v.2 p. 228?
on December 29, 1838 at 10:42 pm Leave a Comment
1834-12-18: Francisco del Castillo Negrete adds Santa Ana to claim
December 18, 1834, Negrete presented to the political chief of California his petition for Santa Ana. A decree of concession was duly signed by Governor Castro.
The court later found that after this date, “no other further proceedings were had upon said petitions except as hereinafter mentioned in favor of said Negrete, nor was juridicial possession of either of said tracts ever given to either of these, nor were the boundaries of either of said tracts established by any competent authority under the Mexican law, nor were they occupied.
The Negrete (sic) abandoned their claims and the lands were subsequently denounced by Juan Miguel Anzar and Manuel Larios.”
From: U.S. District Court. California, Southern District. Land case 370 SD, page 113; land case map D-1414 (Bancroft Library). Francisco del Castillo Negrete, clmt.
Diseños: (Original hand-drawn maps in the Bancroft Library)
http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb3p3004d4/
bancroft library
land case 370 SD
negrete, francisco del castillo
on December 18, 1834 at 5:46 am Leave a Comment
1799: Manuel Larios born in San José, Alta California (Santa Ana y Quien Sabe Grantee: 1839)
Manuel Larios was born in Pueblo of San Jose de Guadelupe, near Mission Santa Clara.
"East of the Gabilans" Valley Publishers, c 1976. Marjorie Pierce, p. xii
Library of Congress: 76-56566. ISBN: 0-913548-39-1. p. 79
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jose,_California
December 29, 1838, the Rancho Santa Ana grant was first requested by Manuel Larios & Juan Miguel Anzar; Larios managed Anzar's properties. The petition was referred to the Ayuntamiento to which (sic) reported that the lands could be granted.
Monday, April 8, 1839, Ranchos Santa Ana and Quien Sabe were granted to Larios and Anzar by a concession declaring them owners by Governor Juan B. Alvarado, granting them equal shares. Source: Suit: v2 p.249-250
May 1, 1860: US Patent: Pres. James Buchanan in Washington "caused these letters to be made patent" Combined Ranch (stating boundaries): patented to Manuel Larios et. al California State Map ID number: MC 4:4-574 Grant number: 237 book A patents p 55-62
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/SanBenitoRanchos.html
http://www.sjbca.com/graves.html
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Childish Gambino Dethrones Drake For His First Hot 100 #1
by PhillyCustoms May 14, 2018 12:48 pm
This Is America Is #1 On The Billboard Hot 100
Donald Glover‘s “This Is America” is the number one song in the country and has dethroned Drake’s “Nice For What.” The new Childish Gambino track made it’s debut at the beginning of the month on Saturday Night Live. The woke music video directed by Hiro Murai went big viral, amassing over 100 million views in just a week. Not only is the song a hit, but it’s Donald Glover’s first Billboard Hot 100 number one.
Billboard Hot 100: #1(new) This Is America, @donaldglover.
— chart data (@chartdata) May 14, 2018
“This Is America” is Childish Gambino’s first ever #1 single on the Hot 100.
Drake held the number one and number two positions on the Billboard Hot 100 previously. His song “God’s Plan” spent 11 weeks at number one before topping himself with “Nice For What” for 4 weeks.
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Partner Guides
Microsoft Inspire 2019
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Microsoft To Spotlight Windows 10's Consumer Perks Next Month
By Kurt Mackie
Microsoft will showcase Windows 10's consumer features in a live-streamed event from its Redmond, Wash., campus on Jan. 21., the company announced on Thursday.
The event will be led by Microsoft top executives, including CEO Satya Nadella; Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Operating Systems Group; Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of the Operating Systems Group; and Phil Spencer, who heads Microsoft's Xbox product efforts.
People will be able to watch the live webcast via a link that will be posted at the "Blogging Windows" feed.
January Tech Preview
Microsoft has released several builds of Windows 10 since the OS had its debut in October. The builds arrive with new features, as well as fixes. A "January technical preview" consumer version is expected to be Microsoft's next release of Windows 10, according to a report by veteran Microsoft observer Mary Jo Foley. She described this release as being a "consumer version" of Windows 10, citing unnamed sources.
The January technical preview is expected to include a "continuum" Windows 10 feature that changes a machine's behavior for devices that can convert from laptops to tablets, according to Foley. Possibly, it may include integration of Cortana, which is Microsoft's voice-responsive personal assistant application.
Also, Microsoft may start releasing Windows 10 updates on a monthly basis.
Foley's sources told her that Microsoft plans to produce a "mobile SKU" of Window 10 that will work not just on ARM devices, but also on Intel's less powerful x86 chips. She wrote Thursday that this mobile version is alleged to being capable only of running Windows Store Apps (also known as "Metro" apps) and that it will lack a traditional desktop user interface.
Microsoft has been mum on the mobile details of Windows 10 so far. It didn't release a public preview version of Windows 10 for ARM devices back in October. However, company officials have been clear in their communications that Windows 10 will be designed to work across PCs, tablets and smartphones, in various form factors, with plans to eventually supplant Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system. The aim is to allow developers to create so-called "universal apps" that will run across various devices supporting Windows 10.
Windows 10 Roadmap
Some official Microsoft roadmap information about Windows 10 was described this month by Kevin Turner, Microsoft's chief operating officer. He told Credit Suisse Technology Conference attendees that Windows 10 will be "the best enterprise release we've ever done." It will have the best of Windows 7's features, along with security, privacy and data protection enhancements, he said.
Microsoft expects to release Windows 10 by "late summer" or "early fall" 2015, but a so-called "developer preview" of Windows 10 will be available in early summer, according to Turner.
The Windows 10 features that have been announced so far include a revamped Start Menu, an improved Snap capability for running programs side by side and the ability to run Windows Store apps in movable windows. But Microsoft also has talked a lot about the new Windows Store enabled by Windows 10. It will open up management perks for IT pros.
IT pros running Microsoft Azure Active Directory will have access to a Web-based Windows Store portal, allowing them to acquire apps and assign them to end users. Larger organizations will be able to add their own line-of-business apps to the portal by sideloading them, while smaller organizations will be able to create a private section within the Windows Store for their apps.
Organizations will be able to use System Center Configuration Manager, Microsoft Intune or third-party mobile device management solutions to manage apps in the new Windows Store, including options for controlling when updates occur and managing software licenses.
The Windows segment now constitutes the third largest money generator for Microsoft, behind its Office and its enterprise software operations, according to Turner. Microsoft now intends to monetize Windows by selling associated services, Turner said. He added that this particular business model would get explained further in the spring and summer of 2015.
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for the 1105 Enterprise Computing Group.
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Visual Geosciences
July 2008 , Volume 13, Issue 1, pp 37–47 | Cite as
Visualization of time-dependent dynamics of postglacial rebound
Ladislav Hanyk
David A. Yuen
Ctirad Matyska
Jakub Velímský
First Online: 01 July 2008
Postglacial rebound is a major geological process which plays an important role in many areas in the earth sciences. Up to now, most of the images derived from studies of the glacial isostatic adjustment phenomenon have been concerned with surface signatures, such as the uplift and gravity anomalies and not much attention has been paid on the dynamical responses in the mantle. We will make use of the 3D visualization package Amira to depict both the external and internal deformation histories of the transient viscoelastic flow inside the mantle induced by postglacial uplift. Of particularly great interest are the transient displacement fields and shear heating inside the mantle. This same visualization technology can be brought to bear in the future for visualizing tsunami waves in ocean basins excited by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and InSAR images. We have also integrated the visualization results into the Google Earth virtual globe by combining this scheme with the Amira package to provide a better geographical and dynamical context.
Amira package Google earth Postglacial rebound Viscoelastic flow 3D visualization
The online version of this article (doi: 10.1007/s10069-007-0007-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
We thank Ying-chun Liu, Huai Zhang, Ben Kadlec and Xiaoru Yuan for stimulating discussions and Lapo Boschi and Georg Kaufmann for valuable comments. This work has been supported by Research Program MSM0021620860 of the Czech Ministry of Education, NSF’s ITR and CMG programs.
ESM1 (avi 502 kb)
ESM2 (avi 3.05 mb)
Appendix A. Overlays on a virtual globe by means of Google Earth
Since its inception in 2005, Google Earth has become a popular server-client based virtual globe program (http://earth.google.com). Users can directly view the geological features in three-dimensional perspective projections, instead of just over flat maps. With the recent advent of Google Earth, we feel it timely to integrate the postglacial rebound results with this innovation in software engineering, which has many implications for digital map technology and web applications. Postglacial isostasy takes place over specific geographical areas on the globe. Therefore, it is helpful for the reader to be provided with contextual geographical information. In this work we have integrated the visualization results into Google Earth by using the image overlay function provided by Google Earth, which turns out to be very useful.
First, we have prepared data files in the form of a time series of AmiraMesh files with rectilinear coordinates. Then, within Amira, we employed the HeightField module to create appropriate views, which we saved to 2D bitmap images using the Snapshot tool. Unfortunately, Amira does not have the capability to save images with selected colors marked as transparent and the images have to be recoded into the PNG or GIF format in a third-party software, such as ImageMagick (http://www.imagemagick.org), if color transparency is desired. In our case, we made the black-and-white images with the white reserved for the ice coverage and the black marked as transparent. The vector graphics, like PostScript output from Generic Mapping Tools (http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu), cannot be imported into the bitmap-oriented framework of Google Earth and needs to be converted beforehand.
The first image of the series we then imported into Google Earth using its “Add Image Overlay” module, which allows to place the bitmap on the spherical rectangle of the globe determined by the geographical latitudes and longitudes (Fig. 10). Note that there is also available a tool for setting the transparency level of the whole image which may be used to get the topography covered by ice sheets partially visible. Then we set up the “Time-Based Refresh” tool to force the automatic refresh of the overlaid image which we started to replace in parallel with the same frequency by means of a user script. The resulting movie-like effect can be recorded by the “Movie Maker” module or by taking snapshots of the images one by one and converting them into a movie by a third-party software (e.g., VirtualDub, http://www.virtualdub.org).
Google Earth in action: a transparent GIF image with the ice coverage in the last glacial maximum (Peltier 1994) is overlaid on the present-day topography
Movie 1 (Electronic supplementary material) depicts the evolution of the ice coverage in the last 21 kyr as described by the ICE-4G model (Peltier 1994). The maps of the ice coverage prepared by Amira with the transparency of the black color added by ImageMagick are overlaid on the northern hemisphere of Google Earth. The movie is made from 22 JPG files with the resolution 1,000 × 800 pixels and size 170 KB each, with the total movie size of 520 KB after the encoding in VirtualDub with the DivX compression.
A service similar to Google Earth becomes recently available at the Windows Live web page (http://local.live.com). The 3D engine, Microsoft Virtual Earth 3D, is in its Beta version at present and we must wait for its further development.
Appendix B. Visualization on a sphere using Amira
Amira is an advanced modern tool for 4D visualization in both the 3D space and time (http://www.amiravis.com). It is a commercial package available on many platforms, ranging from Linux and Microsoft Windows to Macintosh. The extensive set of easy-to-use features includes data imaging on the Cartesian, curvilinear and finite-element grids, scalar and vector field visualization algorithms, computation of iso-surfaces, direct volume rendering, time series manipulation, creating movies, support for the Tcl scripting language (http://www.tcl.tk), batch programming and remote data processing and remote visualization (see Erlebacher et al. 2006). There is an active research front backing up Amira’s constant advancement in visualization. In contrast, Paraview (Parallel Visualization Application, http://www.paraview.org) is an open-source software, which has been applied, e.g., to 3D visualization of turbulence by Goldstein et al. (2005). Here we describe the steps made by us in visualizing with Amira the time evolution of a deformed Earth described by spherical coordinates, i.e., during preparation of Movies 2–7. The flowchart of the visualization process is given in Fig. 11, a screen dump of Amira running on the MacOs system in Fig. 12.
Flowchart of the visualization process
Screen dump of Amira running on MacOS
The first step is to prepare data files for Amira. These files, called AmiraMesh files, must contain properly formatted headers with details on enclosed physical 3D fields, including the grid size and (integer or real) data type. The spherical body, with which we deal, is best represented by a special kind of AmiraMesh format, which includes a section of all the grid coordinates. We have written a Fortran subroutine for data setup on a hollow shell, which consists of a spherical outer surface, an interior spherical surface (the core-mantle boundary) and up to three interior cuts through the mantle, as apparent from Fig. 13. These configurable hollow shells are advantageous for visualization of fields with an axial symmetry and can also be used for attractive insights into 3D fields. The main benefit of employing the hollow shells is a low memory requirement, which allows us to visualize time processes with a long duration.
A hollow shell with two spherical surfaces and three interior cuts. The low-memory requirement for this object allows to visualize long series of time-dependent data. Here, the shell is deformed in accordance with the horizontal displacement of the toroidal normal mode 2T2
The next key step is the import of the time series of AmiraMesh files into Amira. We tested two techniques, each with its pros and cons. The more straightforward one is based on loading a large number of data files, each representing one time step. The Time module in Amira is automatically launched which allows easy handling data in time and attaching the MovieMaker module. However, the drawback emerges, when the number of data files is too large. The reading speed of a time series first drops, when a few hundred files are loaded, but this decrease can be avoided by turning off Amira’s data cache. (Cached files can be accessed around five times faster then the original data files, as far as the amount of data does not reach the physical memory size or the number of files is a few hundred. The caching management then can result in access times for cached files substantially worse then for non-cached files.) The reading speed drops again when around 1,000 files are read, apparently because of Amira’s implementation of internal file indexing, as it is independent on the total data size. Actually it prevents one from applying this method for visualizing such long time series.
The second technique makes use of the fact that our visualized data are only 2D shells. The unused capacity for the third spatial dimension can be used for the time instead. The whole time series can thus be saved in a single file, which can always be loaded fast. The animation of the coordinate planes along this “temporal dimension” can be performed by the Animate module and actually mimics the time evolution. There is no problem with the synchronization of more AmiraMesh files, because one Time module can master several Animate modules. Unfortunately, this technique is not applicable for all types of AmiraMesh files, namely for the line-segments format used for describing curves. This important file format does not provide a mean for selection of a particular piece of a curve, and curves evolving in time must be imported into Amira by the former technique. We employed the line segments to mimic the ice sheet in Fig. 4.
In both cases, the import speed of data files can be improved by a factor of 3, when the input files are binary. We point out that Amira internally stores all real data in double precision, no matter the precision of data in input files. This is a questionable feature: such a high accuracy might be redundant for visual output intended for a human eye, and even restricting, when the total size of data reaches the amount of available memory.
For most of our movies we employed the HeightField, LineSetView and several auxiliary modules (DisplayTime, DisplayColorMap, Annotation), configurable straightforwardly. The movies made by the Movie Maker module can be saved in the MPEG or AVI formats with low compression only. It is therefore worthwhile to prepare a script for taking a control of the Time module and saving snapshots into bitmap images (JPG, lossless TIFF or EPS). The resulting series of images can be converted into a movie by a third-party software (e.g., VirtualDub, http://www.virtualdub.org).
Beside imaging the spherical shells described by curvilinear coordinates, we also tested the capability of Amira for visualizing objects defined on unstructured grids used in finite element modelling of postglacial rebound. We present increasingly accurate approximations of a sphere by tetrahedral elements in Fig. 14. The finite-element grid generator (Everett 1997) is based on recurrent subdivision of tetrahedra which is started from the initial octahedral approximation of a sphere. The grid is stored in terms of node coordinates and quadruplets of indices pointing at the four vertices of each tetrahedron. This structure can be easily implemented using the binary AmiraMesh format.
Tetrahedral finite-element mesh approximation of a sphere in Amira
A sample of a locally refined tetrahedral mesh for the sake of two-nested-spheres benchmark with analytical results is shown in Fig. 15 (Velimsky et al. 2006).
A tetrahedral mesh of higher complexity with local refinement. The model of two nested spheres is used for benchmark purposes with analytical results
Material parameters, such as viscosity, density, Lamé’s elastic coefficients, and modelled variables, such as displacement, perturbed gravitational potential, and stress tensor components are assigned to nodes and tetrahedra, respectively, in piecewise-linear and piecewise-constant fashion and are stored in the same file. Moreover, we implemented local refinement and arbitrary positioning of radial interfaces. Visualization possibilities for tetrahedral grids in Amira comprise a wide spectrum of techniques including cross-sections, isolines, isosurfaces, streamlines, streamsurfaces and vector arrows.
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© Springer-Verlag 2007
1.Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Department of GeophysicsCharles UniversityPragueCzech Republic
2.Department of Geology and Geophysics and Minnesota Supercomputing InstituteUniversity of MinnesotaMinneapolisUSA
Hanyk, L., Yuen, D.A., Matyska, C. et al. Vis Geosci (2008) 13: 37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10069-007-0007-2
Received 13 December 2006
Revised 21 May 2007
Accepted 23 May 2007
First Online 01 July 2008
Publisher Name Springer Berlin Heidelberg
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JaneArthur
Poetry Prize Winner
The sum of your life
Street signs in a foreign country
that resemble
English obscenities.
Dusk, when your eyes see worse
than they do
The discomfort
of mishearing a stranger
over and over.
An epiphany
followed by the realisation
it’s the same one you had at 16.
A brilliant book
by an attractive woman
who can write about pain.
The prescient act
of staying in bed
on the day of an earthquake.
Situations in which
you look around the room
and see at least two men you’ve slept with.
Financial debt.
A yawn.
The dry flesh of an orange.
Jane Arthur
Wellington poet Jane Arthur is the winner of the Sarah Broom Poetry Prize 2018.
Arthur is a Wellington-based poet with a Masters in Creative Writing from IIML at Victoria University, a Whitireia Polytech Diploma in Publishing and an MA in English from the University of Auckland. She has worked as an editor and bookseller for over 15 years and co-founded The Sapling, a NZ children’s literature website. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals.
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Melania Responds To Ivana Saying She Is The REAL First Lady
I told you about how Ivana (Trump’s first wife, and Eric, Donald Jr., and Ivanka’s mom) went on Good Morning America to push her new book.
During the interview she said she was sort of kind of the “real” first lady, and it was awkward.
Anywhoooooo, Melania responded, and it’s right on target.
President Trump’s Immigration Policies Put American Jobs and Safety First
WASHINGTON, DC: The White House released an outline of President Trump’s immigration principles and priorities. Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01) issued the following statement in support of the President’s agenda:
“Our nation's immigration system is broken and hurting American workers. The immigration agenda proposed by President Trump exemplifies his commitment to securing our borders, improving oversight of who is entering our country, keeping the American people safe, and increasing employment opportunities for Americans. It is imperative that Congress works with the Trump Administration to secure our southern border, penalize unlawful sanctuary cities, and prevent foreign nationals from overstaying their visas, which is the leading cause of illegal immigration in the United States.”
Levi's Wokes
70-year-old woman punched twice in face in New York supermarket, cops say
Cops are looking for two heartless attackers who allegedly socked an elderly woman in the face at a Bronx supermarket because of a misunderstanding on the check-out line, police said on Sunday.
The 70-year-old victim was on line at the Key Food store on Jerome Avenue near West Gun Hill Road in Norwood around 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 28 when she realized she forgot something and told the cashier she needed to quickly grab it.
The woman encouraged the cashier to take other customers in the meantime.
Two men approached the check-out counter just as the woman returned, passed the duo and put the new item down on the conveyor belt, cops said.
The men, assuming that the woman was trying to cut the line, started arguing with the victim before each of them punched her once in the face.
Read more from The New York Post.
EPA moves to repeal Obama’s Clean Power Plan coal regs
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced Monday that the Trump administration is moving to scrap the Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration's signature regulatory program to curb emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Pruitt made the announcement at an event in Hazard, Ky., casting the previous policy as unfair.
“That rule really was about picking winners and losers,” Pruitt said. “The past administration was unapologetic, they were using every bit of power, authority to use the EPA to pick winners and losers on how we pick electricity in this country. That is wrong.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/10/09/epa-moves-to-repeal-obama-s-clean-power-plan-coal-regs.html
500th Person Shot to Death in Chicago This Year
A man shot dead early Friday evening was the 500th person to be killed in city gun violence since the start of the year on a weekend that has left three others wounded in shootings across Chicago.
The city reached 500 shooting homicides about a week later than it did last year, on Sept. 29, 2016, according to data maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times. At this point last year, there had been 511 people shot to death.
Nanny Deep State: Bob Corker Reveals Establishment Effort to Tame Donald Trump’s Agenda
Veteran Republican establishment figure Senator Bob Corker confirmed to the New York Times that the Republican establishment is focused on corralling President Donald Trump and his agenda.
In an interview with reporter Jonathan Martin, Corker said that most Republican senators realized that Trump was a threat to the general world order.
“[They] understand the volatility that we’re dealing with and the tremendous amount of work that it takes by people around him to keep him in the middle of the road,” he said.
After the mild-mannered Senator came unglued on Twitter on Monday, he told the New York Times he was trying to send a message to “the good guys” — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the White House chief of staff, John F. Kelly.
“As long as there are people like that around him who are able to talk him down when he gets spun up, you know, calm him down and continue to work with him before a decision gets made, I think we’ll be fine,” he said.
California Leads Push to Lower Drug Prices
The state passed the nation's most comprehensive law to make drug prices more transparent on Monday. It has also inspired other states to take on the pharmaceutical companies in November.
When California does something, other states pay attention. Not just because it's the most populous state, but also because it's one of the most progressive and has enviably dug itself out of a $26 billion budget hole.
The issue of drug prices doesn't appear to be any different.
On Monday, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed what many say is the nation's most comprehensive law to make drug prices more transparent. It will likely result in similar legislation in other states. And a 2016 California ballot initiative on drug pricing is being replicated on Ohio ballots this coming November.
New Jersey Sues Opioid Maker That Just Settled With Massachusetts
New Jersey on Thursday accused Insys Therapeutics Inc of engaging in a fraudulent scheme to boost sales of a fentanyl-based cancer pain drug, as Massachusetts announced a $500,000 settlement with the drugmaker to resolve similar allegations.
The lawsuit by New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino accused Insys of illegally directing its sales force to push prescriptions of Subsys for a broader range of patients than the opioid drug was approved for, and at higher doses.
The lawsuit, filed in Middlesex County Superior Court, alleged Insys also paid kickbacks, including sham speaker fees to medical practitioners to prescribe Subsys and defrauded insurers into paying for it.
View Full Story From Reuters
California Hepatitis A Outbreak on Verge of Statewide Epidemic
The California hepatitis A outbreak is on the verge of reaching statewide epidemic status, as cases have spread through homeless tent cities from San Diego north to Sacramento.
California health officials have reported that at least 569 people have been infected with the hepatitis A liver disease and 17 have died since a San Diego County outbreak was first identified in November. Cases have migrated north to homeless populations in Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Sacramento over the last 11 months.
Although local and state authorities have tried to underplay the risks and severity of the outbreak, the most recent annual totals for cases of hepatitis A in the United States was1,390 in 2015, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). California only reported 179 cases during the same year.
The highly-contagious hepatitis A outbreak may have taken root because of the City of San Diego’s efforts in the run-up to Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game held at Petco Park in July 2016 to push the homeless, and the rampant drug and prostitution trade among them, out of the downtown tourist venues. Those effort included locking public bathrooms and essentially relocating the homeless to the congested tent city encampments that stretch for blocks east of downtown near freeway onramps.
Sunday NFL slips again as NFL Ratings Continue to Crater
There’s no real nice way of saying this, but people just don’t seem to care about watching the NFL anymore. On a day that saw a Vice President leave his seat in protest, the ratings for Sunday Night Football once again fell below the number for the previous week.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football earned 10.6/18 in metered market results, that fall constitutes a 3% drop from last week’s numbers. That’s especially bad considering that last week featured a good-but-not-great Seahawks team, and an Andrew Luck-less Indianapolis Colts team, that seemed to be missing 38 starters.
By comparison, last Sunday night’s match-up between an undefeated Chiefs team, and an exciting Texans team playing in a large market, should have done significantly better than the Seahawks-Colts. Such a dynamic might suggest an even more scary trend than the NFL wants to admit.
49ers Eric Reid on VP Pence Walking Out of Colts Game: 'This Looks Like a PR Stunt to me...This Is What Systematic Oppression Looks Like'
As the saying goes, “It takes one to know one.” Such a saying might have particular application to 49ers safety Eric Reid, one of Colin Kaepernick’s original anthem-protesting buddies.
On Sunday, Vice President Pence walked out of the Colts-49ers game, after nearly two dozen 49ers players protested during the playing of the national anthem.
Reid, a member of the 49ers, and, one of the first players to join Colin Kaepernick in his protest, had some harsh words for the VP after the game:
Dr. Rick Rigsby- Make An Impact - "Change your life"
Seven-day 'Pioppi diet' plan that helps people reach 100
From starting each day with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to eating eggs for breakfast, this seven-day Pioppi diet plan will extend your life by 10 years.
Pioppi, in southern Italy, has been dubbed the 'world's healthiest village', with its residents frequently living 10 years longer than elsewhere to 100 years old.
Despite bacon and chocolate being a staple of their diet, its inhabitants' love of vegetables, oily fish and nuts is thought to prevent them from developing heart disease or type 2 diabetes.
To adapt the diet of Pioppi, which UNESCO has protected as the home of the Mediterranean diet, into that which suits the average western urban-dweller, cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra and former athlete Donal O’Neill have created the below seven-day meal plan.
Las Vegas shooter may have had undiagnosed mental illness
Almost one week on from the Las Vegas shootings, investigators are now coming around to the idea that killer Stephen Paddock may have have been mentally ill, insiders have revealed.
On Wednesday FBI insiders said investigators believed Paddock may have been in 'mental or physical anguish' based on information given by his girlfriend.
But they didn't believe that his mental situation had deteriorated to the point of planning and executing mass murder.
Now, however, police insiders say that some investigators increasingly believe he was in the grip of a severe mental illness - and that it had been building for at least a year,ABC News reported.
Americans Face a Rising Risk of Dying Alone
Loneliness kills. Life without friends and family is not just dreary but difficult, especially as we get older.
Strong social relationships boost a person’s chances of staying alive by 50 percent, according to a comprehensive 2010 review of 148 studies that followed 309,000 people for an average of 7.5 years. That’s about the same improvement to mortality as the one that comes from quitting smoking.
It’s hard to say whether Americans are lonelier now than in the past. But they’re certainly more independent than ever. Almost half of U.S. adults are now single. Americans are waiting longer to get married, they’re having smaller families, and about half of all marriages still end in divorce.
Town Cats of Ocean City
EPA Chief Calls for Ending Wind Tax Credits to Help Coal Survive
Tax incentives for the wind industry should be eliminated, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt said Monday.
“I would do away with these incentives that we give to the wind industry,” Pruitt said, responding to a question about the effectiveness of renewable energy at an event held at the Kentucky Farm Bureau on Monday. “I’d let them stand on their own and compete against coal and natural gas and other sources."
In a video of the appearance on the farm bureau’s Facebook page, Pruitt said those energy sources should compete in the market "as opposed to being propped up by tax incentives and other types of credits that occur, both in the federal level and state level.”
Baltimore psychologist heads effort to 'warn' about Trump's mental health
Put psychologist John Gartner on a couch and ask him about his childhood and one of the first stories he will recall is about his mom, Diana, and a touchstone moment in the fight for women’s rights.
In 1969, Diana Gartner and other leaders of the relatively new National Organization for Women made a reservation at the Oak Room Bar in New York under the name "Dr. Gartner." The showdown that followed when the women arrived during the establishment’s male-only hours would lead to an early victory for feminism: The storied bar ultimately changed its gender policy.
John Gartner was 10 years old when the incident made headlines.
"It does run in our family to be mavericks,” he said. “Or rebels with a cause."
Salisbury Barrack DUI Arrests for 9/29/2017 to 10/06/2017
Devoron Alexis Collick 23yoa Delmar, MD
Devon J. Gallagher 20yoa Midlothian, VA
Ethan David Molnar 26yoa Willards, MD
Christine L. King 53yoa Delmar, MD
Marc David Gross 44yoa Salisbury, MD
Dylan Alexander Berglund 24yoa Princess Anne, MD
Freddie Harold Vance Jr. 47yoa Pittsville, MD
The Renewed Call for Immigration Enforcement
President Donald Trump sent his 70-point immigration enforcement proposal to Congress Sunday evening. If there were any fears that Trump was caving in to Democrat demands on a DACA deal — and there were — this immigration plan will quickly dispel them. Trump’s enforcement plan is arguably the toughest ever offered by any administration. The fundamental theme running throughout the plan is a renewed focus on the primary problem — closing illegal immigration loopholes.
The plan calls for Congress to comprehensively rewrite immigration laws in order to stiffen security enforcement on both the border and interior (remember, as much as 40% of illegals are visa overstays). The plan also calls for changes to laws to cut the so-called migration chain, as well as funding for building the border wall and the hiring of more deportation agents. In brief, Trump’s proposal is a three-part plan that highlights border security, interior enforcement and merit-based immigration.
A senior White House official stated, “Anything that is done addressing the status of DACA recipients needs to include these three reforms and solve these three problems. If you don’t solve these problems, then you’re not going to have a secure border, you’re not going to have a lawful immigration system and you’re not going to be able to protect American workers.”
Soros, NFL players union lock arms against Trump
Follow the money to find the truth, and in this case, it leads squarely to the doorstep of George Soros and other radical far-left advocacy groups.
And as it turns out, the Colin Kaepernick-inspired national anthem protests may not have been such an organic, grassroots uprising after all.
The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) doesn’t appear to be on the same political page as many of its fans, so its no wonder they would rather keep the lid on the causes it supports.
That lid was popped open on Friday by 2ndVote, a conservative watchdog organization for corporate activism.
The National Football League Players Association has recently financially supported a veritable “who’s who” list of far-left organizations, from Planned Parenthood to organizations protesting the deportation of illegal immigrants, among many others.
One such recipient is none other than the Open Society Foundation, chaired by billionaire George Soros.
The NFLPA has been donating to several far-left and anti-trump causes dating back to at least 2013.
Obama Study Concluded Firearms Used for Self-Defense ‘Important Crime Deterrent
“Self-defense can be an important crime deterrent,” concluded a study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) mandated via executive order by President Barack Obama. The findings also question the effectiveness of gun-control measures.
The $10 million study was commissioned by President Barack Obama as part of 23 executive orders he signed in January of 2013.
The study’s findings include:
Gun-use is the safest of studied “self-protective strategies,”
Suicide accounts for most firearm deaths,
Felons who use guns very seldom obtain their guns by stealing them, and
There is no evidence that gun restrictions reduce gun violence.
“Studies that directly assessed the effect of actual defensive uses of guns (i.e., incidents in which a gun was ‘used’ by the crime victim in the sense of attacking or threatening an offender) have found consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies,” the CDC study, entitled “Priorities For Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence,” states.
Jail time for using wrong gender pronoun
California health care workers who “willfully and repeatedly” decline to use a senior transgender patient's “preferred name or pronouns” could face punishments ranging from a fine to jail time under a newly signed law.
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the legislation last week.
The sponsor, Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener, has argued adamantly that nobody is going to be criminally prosecuted for using the wrong pronoun.
“It’s just more scare tactics by people who oppose all LGBT civil rights and protections,” he said in a statement last month.
But the language seemingly allows for the possibility, however remote.
The bill itself is aimed at protecting transgender and other LGBT individuals in hospitals, retirement homes and assisted living facilities. The bill would ensure those facilities accommodate transgender people and their needs, including letting them decide which gender-specific bathroom they prefer to use.
Christian women gather on the Mall and criticize feminism
One after another, the women who gathered for a prayer rally on the Mall on Monday said that when they decided to travel to Washington for this event, they had in mind another assembly of women in the same place: the Women’s March on the day following the presidential inauguration, which drew massive crowds of protesters in “pussy hats.”
Those women marchers didn’t stand for them, the Christian women said on Monday.
“For years, the feminists lied to us,” Christian author Lisa Bevere shouted from the stage. “They said for us to be powerful as women, we needed to act like men.” The women gathered on the Mall raised their hands in praise.
Damned If You Do...
Twitter drops GOP Rep. Marsha Blackburn's ad for line about Planned Parenthood
A Senate campaign ad by Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn was blocked on Twitter Monday because of a statement she made in the spot about the sale of fetal tissue for medical research.
Blackburn, a Tennessee representative running to fill the retiring Sen. Bob Corker’s seat, said in the ad that she “stopped the sale of baby parts.”
Twitter told Blackburn's campaign in an email obtained by Fox News that the line was “deemed an inflammatory statement that is likely to evoke a strong negative reaction.”
The line, in full, states: “I’m 100% pro-life. I fought Planned Parenthood, and we stopped the sale of baby body parts — thank god.”
The social media platform said it would run Blackburn’s ad if the statement in question were omitted.
ICE Director On CA Becoming Sanctuary State: “No Choice but to Conduct At-Large Arrests”
This past Thursday, California’s Democrat Governor, Jerry Brown, officially signed what is being called the “Sanctuary State Law.” The law limits the ability of California law enforcement officers to interact with Federal immigration authorities in terms of enforcing immigration law. Brown defended the legislation, saying, “These are uncertain times for undocumented Californians and their families, and this bill strikes a balance that will protect public safety, while bringing a measure of comfort to those families who are now living in fear every day.”
California has officially made it clear that federal immigration officers are not welcome in the state, not in courtrooms, or any state government location. Thomas Homan, acting ICE Director, was at an immigration forum in Sacramento, in March, where he was booed and heckled by protesters. His response was to make clear that, “We don’t conduct neighborhood sweeps. We don’t do it. If you think ICE officers don’t have a heart, you don’t get it.”
Pres. Trump To Sign Executive Order Expanding U.S. Health Care Options
President Trump plans to expand health insurance options for Americans who purchase their coverage or receive it through work.
The White House is finalizing the executive order aimed at pooling together individuals, and allowing them to purchase insurance outside state lines.
The order is expected to lower premiums and loosen regulations for those purchasing their own policies.
This comes after Congress has seen multiple failures to pass health care reform legislation in recent months.
The president is likely to sign the order on Thursday.
It remains unclear whether the changes will process in enough time before consumers are faced with higher premiums in 2018.
ESPN Suspends Race-Baiting Fool Jemele Hill For Two Weeks
ESPN anchor Jemele Hill is a race-baiting fool. Let’s review.
✔@jemelehill
Replying to @DonnyParlock and 2 others
Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.
Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period.
Dolphins coach resigns after snorting video surfaces
WARNING: This video includes disturbing content
Miami Dolphins offensive line coach Chris Foerster has resigned, less than 12 hours after a video of him snorting a white powder surfaced online.
“I am resigning from my position with the Miami Dolphins and accept full responsibility for my actions. I want to apologize to the organization and my sole focus is on getting the help that I need with the support of my family and medical professionals,” Foerster said in a statement Monday.
Demonstrators Rally Against NFL National Anthem Protest In Detroit
Demonstrators take to the streets in Detroit, Michigan to rally against NFL player’s protesting during the national anthem.
A group gathered outside Ford Field on Sunday demanding both players and fans stand proudly.
The demonstrators urged players to consider all those who have been killed while fighting for our country before displaying acts of disrespect.
“Free to place it over their heart if they want to and face the flag,” said protest organizer, Brian Pannebecker. “It only takes two minutes to play the national anthem and that’s all we’re asking for out of respect for the veterans, law enforcement officers who have given their lives for this country.”
All Detroit Lions players stood during the national anthem ahead of Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers.
Maryland State Police Investigate Stabbing In Queen Anne’s County
(QUEENSTOWN, Md.) — Maryland State Police are investigating a stabbing that was reported Monday in Queen Anne’s County.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the Centreville Barrack received a 911 emergency call regarding a person who had been stabbed multiple times at a residence in the 100 block of Taylors Road in Queenstown. Investigators then met with the victim, who had been transported to University of Maryland Shore Emergency Center at Queenstown.
The victim, who was being discharged from the hospital, told investigators a male arrived at the residence and demanded someone come out to meet him. The victim went outside and confronted the person, who was described as African-American with shoulder-length dreadlocks.
According to investigators, a physical altercation ensued, at which time the victim was hit several times in the head and mouth and was bit in his upper right arm. The victim said the subject displayed what appeared to be a small pocket knife and began stabbing him on the left side of his upper body.
The victim said that once the fight stopped, the subject sped off in what was described as a black or dark blue two-door vehicle that turned left at the stop sign. Although there were several people in the residence, none of them could provide any assistance with identifying the unknown subject.
Investigators have yet to determine an identification for the person responsible for the stabbing. The investigation will continue.
Mayor On Boardwalk Property: ‘No action will be taken by the town of Ocean City until a final decision is made by the Court of Special Appeal’
OCEAN CITY — While what will likely be a lengthy appeal, it will remain business as usual at an iconic building on the east side of the Boardwalk currently home to a Dumser’s Dairyland ice cream parlor at least until the legal battle over its ownership runs its course.
Ownership of the historic building was called into question last year after a 50-year agreement expired between the town of Ocean City and the heirs of the original owner, Nathan Rapoport, who built the first structure on the site in 1905. After a trial last April, a Worcester County Circuit Court judge issued an opinion essentially ruling in favor of the town of Ocean City. As a result, the Rapoport heirs, now Nathans Associates, were enjoined from any of use of the property after October 31 and would be required to remove or demolish the building before the end of this year.
Nathans Associates have since appealed the Worcester County Circuit Court ruling and that appeal is now making its way through what will likely be a lengthy legal process. In the interim, Nathans Associates late last month filed a motion to stay the enforcement of the Circuit Court’s ruling regarding the deadlines for vacating the premises and ultimately removing or demolishing the structure. That motion was denied, however, Mayor Rick Meehan on Friday issued a statement assuring Nathans Associates, and the public which has become so emotionally attached to the building, that the town will not enforce any of the deadlines imposed by the Circuit Court Judge until the appeals process runs its course.
“We understand there has been a lot of public discussion about the fate of the property that sits on South Atlantic Avenue and is currently home to one of Dumser’s Dairyland Boardwalk locations,” the statement reads. “Although this is a complicated legal matter, we would like to clarify our position on the current appeal.”
A Bad Mood, a Six-Pack, and a Typewriter
This column is on lactation and isn’t going to write a damned word until half-October. People are talking about some Vietnam series by Ken Burns, I think it is .I saw the original, so I’ll pass. But if we want opinions, I’ll contribute from long ago.
Posted on December 13, 1980 by Fred Reed
Harper’s, December, 1980
I begin to weary of the stories about veterans that are now in vogue with the newspapers, the stories that dissect the veteran’s psyche as if prying apart a laboratory frog — patronizing stories written by style-section reporters who know all there is to know about chocolate mousse, ladies’ fashions, and the wonderful desserts that can be made with simple jello. I weary of seeing veterans analyzed and diagnosed and explained by people who share nothing with veterans, by people who, one feels intuitively, would regard it as a harrowing experience to be alone in a backyard. Week after week the mousse authorities tell us what is wrong with the veteran. The veteran is badly in need of adjustment, they say — lacks balance, needs fine tuning to whatever it is in society that one should be attuned to. What we have here, all agree, with omniscience and veiled condescension, is a victim: The press loves a victim. The veteran has bad dreams, say the jello writers, is alienated, may be hostile, doesn’t socialize well — isn’t, to be frank, quite right in the head.
But perhaps it is the veteran’s head to be right or wrong in, and maybe it makes a difference what memories are in the head. For the jello writers the war was a moral fable on Channel Four, a struggle hinging on Nixon and Joan Baez and the inequities of this or that. I can’t be sure. The veterans seem to have missed the war by having been away in Vietnam at the time and do not understand the combat as it raged in the internecine cocktail parties of Georgetown.
Pennsylvania mayor attacked by her son at campaign office, police say
The son of a Pennsylvania mayor was charged with assault last week after he punched and stomped the politician, who says her son is battling an opioid addiction.
Police said the son of York Mayor Kim Bracey attacked her at her campaign office on Sept. 30, the York Daily Record reported.
The reports quoted police as saying Brandon Anderson, 30, of York, was charged with punching his mother in the face, knocking her to the ground, and then stomping on her back, head and face while she was down.
"Like thousands of families, our family is confronting the fact that my adult son is battling an opioid addiction," Bracey said. "No family is immune from this epidemic -- which is why we must do everything in our power to solve it."
She also asked for privacy.
Did FDR REALLY End The Great Depression? Another Case Of Leftist Revisionism!
Trump slams Corker, who calls White House 'adult day care center'
President Trump on Sunday ripped increasingly vocal critic Sen. Bob Corker, saying the Tennessee Republican gutlessly dropped his re-election bid after begging for the Trump endorsement he never received.
“Corker ‘begged’ me to endorse him,” Trump said in a string of tweets. "I said ‘NO’ and he dropped out (said he could not win without my endorsement). He also wanted to be secretary of state, I said ‘NO THANKS.’ ... Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn't have the guts to run!”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/10/08/trump-tweet-fights-with-corker-who-says-white-house-adult-day-care-center.html
VP Mike Pence: ‘America Will Lead In Space Again’
We Cannot Allow Nostril Lashes To Happen
We’ve covered a lot of ridiculous beauty trends here at COTR. I’m talking feather brows, braided brows, wavy brows, squiggle lips, freckle tattoos, and nipple nails.
I know I say this every time, but this one might be the freakiest yet.
Allow me to introduce you to nostril lashes. Yep. Nostril lashes. It’s exactly what it sounds like: Lashes for your nostrils.
It’s confusing. I was under the impression that women DIDN’T want hair coming out of their nostrils. I guess I’m just old fashioned. (For the record, I didn’t find out about this on some random, creepy website. This is featured in an article on ALLURE. As in, a mainstream beauty site.)
Solar Cars Begin Race Across Australian Desert
SYDNEY (Reuters) – The World Solar Challenge began on Sunday with 42 solar cars crossing Australia’s tropical north to its southern shores, a grueling 3,000 km (1,864 mile) race through the outback.
The race from the northern city of Darwin to the southern city of Adelaide is expected to take a week for most cars, with speeds of 90-100 kmh (55-62 mph) powered only by the sun.
The fastest time was achieved by Japan’s Tokai University in 2009, completing the transcontinetal race in only 29 hours and 49 minutes.
Belgian team Punch Powertrain started first on Sunday after recording a trial time of 2:03.8 for 2.97 km (1.78 miles), hitting an average speed of 83.4 kmh (51.5mph).
But reigning 2015 champions Nuon from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands believes it has a good chance of retaining the prize
And So it Continues, Day After Day. What Say You Chief Duncan & Hoppes?
Rep. Scalise Speaks Out In Support Of Responsible Gun Owners
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise weighs in on gun rights in the wake of last week’s deadly shooting in Las Vegas.
The Louisiana representative reaffirmed his support for Americans right to bear arms and said more restrictions are not the answer.
Scalise said the problem is not with law abiding Americans who have guns and opposed restricting the rights of responsible gun owners.
“If you’re going to have a firearm it’s important that you know how to use it and how to protect your family so that it doesn’t get into the wrong hands,” said Scalise. But it’s every day in America you see people use their firearms to protect them against a criminal.”
Scalise says mental illness is often to blame for mass shootings such as the one in Las Vegas, as well as the attack when he was critically injured earlier this year.
Top Executives Ditch Clinton’s Laureate Education Company
Top executives at a company with ties to former President Bill Clinton called Laureate Education are leaving the firm only months after they launched its IPO, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group has learned.
The Baltimore-based company became an issue during the 2016 presidential election campaign when the public learned it paid Clinton nearly $18 million over a period of five years to serve as a consultant and “honorary chancellor.” The firm also faced accusations it operated as a “pay-to-play” company by donating between $1 to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation while receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in government funds.
California - LARGEST INSANE ASYLUM IN THE WORLD
Interesting that the LA Times did this. Lou Dobbs reported this
on CNN and it cost him his job.
The only network we would see this on would be FOX. All the
others are staying away from it.
Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, this should be of great
interest to you!
Just One State - be sure and read the last part... try for 3 times.
This is only one State... If this doesn't open your eyes, nothing will!
From the L.A. Times.
1. 40% of all workers in LA County (10.2 million people) are
working for cash; and not paying taxes.
(Donald Trump was right)
2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal
alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal, whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are
Mexican nationals; they are here illegally.
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are
most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.
8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in LA are Spanish- speaking.
10. In LA County, 5.1 million people speak English; 3..9 million,
speak Spanish.
(There are 10.2 million people, in LA County.)
(All 10 of the above facts were published in the Los Angeles Times)
Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are
on welfare.
Over 70% of the United States' annual population growth, (and over
90% of California, Florida, and New York), results from immigration.
Also, 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.
We are fools for letting this continue..
Send copies of this letter, to at least two other people. 100
would be even better.
This is only one State...If this doesn't open your eyes nothing
will, and you wonder why Nancy Pelosi wants them to become voters!
John Wayne 1970 Variety Show Celebrating America's History
New Sign In Salisbury
Italian Fork
How Dumb Is Your Teacher
Principal fired for trying to smuggle heroin into prison
A once-respected Brooklyn principal has lost a bid to keep her job after admitting she tried to smuggle heroin and other drugs into an upstate prison, The Post has learned.
Sadie Silver, a rising star at PS 28 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, was busted in July 2014 — but continued to collect her city salary, which was $138,000 last year, until March this year.
Silver and a boyfriend were arrested on charges of drug possession, bringing contraband into a prison, and endangering the welfare of a child. Silver brought her daughter to Coxsackie Correctional Facility.
She and her boyfriend were caught with bags of heroin and suboxone, authorities said. They allegedly tried to sneak the drugs to Silver’s son, who was doing time on weapons charges.
▼ October (1577)
Melania Responds To Ivana Saying She Is The REAL F...
President Trump’s Immigration Policies Put America...
70-year-old woman punched twice in face in New Yor...
EPA moves to repeal Obama’s Clean Power Plan coal ...
Nanny Deep State: Bob Corker Reveals Establishment...
New Jersey Sues Opioid Maker That Just Settled Wit...
California Hepatitis A Outbreak on Verge of Statew...
Sunday NFL slips again as NFL Ratings Continue to ...
49ers Eric Reid on VP Pence Walking Out of Colts G...
Dr. Rick Rigsby- Make An Impact - "Change your lif...
Seven-day 'Pioppi diet' plan that helps people rea...
Las Vegas shooter may have had undiagnosed mental ...
EPA Chief Calls for Ending Wind Tax Credits to Hel...
Baltimore psychologist heads effort to 'warn' abou...
Salisbury Barrack DUI Arrests for 9/29/2017 to 10/...
Obama Study Concluded Firearms Used for Self-Defen...
Christian women gather on the Mall and criticize f...
Twitter drops GOP Rep. Marsha Blackburn's ad for l...
ICE Director On CA Becoming Sanctuary State: “No C...
Pres. Trump To Sign Executive Order Expanding U.S....
ESPN Suspends Race-Baiting Fool Jemele Hill For Tw...
Dolphins coach resigns after snorting video surfac...
Demonstrators Rally Against NFL National Anthem Pr...
Maryland State Police Investigate Stabbing In Quee...
Mayor On Boardwalk Property: ‘No action will be ta...
Pennsylvania mayor attacked by her son at campaign...
Did FDR REALLY End The Great Depression? Another C...
Trump slams Corker, who calls White House 'adult d...
And So it Continues, Day After Day. What Say You C...
Rep. Scalise Speaks Out In Support Of Responsible ...
Top Executives Ditch Clinton’s Laureate Education ...
John Wayne 1970 Variety Show Celebrating America's...
Principal fired for trying to smuggle heroin into ...
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Why It's So Hard to Like Rand Paul
The 2016 presidential candidate's commitment to libertarian political philosophy only goes as far as his chosen views allow.
Steve Chapman | 4.9.2015 12:01 AM
(Cspan)
Rand Paul is the Republican son of a longtime Republican House member, but let it never be said that he is not open-minded. In 2013, he confided to Sean Hannity, "I've been kind of disappointed, because honestly there were certain aspects of President Obama that I wanted to like."
I know how he feels. That's how I feel about Rand Paul.
My old friend David Boaz, author of the excellent new book The Libertarian Mind, told NPR that Paul is "the most libertarian major presidential candidate that I can remember seeing." I'm a more moderate libertarian than Boaz—or a squishier one—but my general framework is the same. I have a strong preference for free markets, civil liberties, personal autonomy, limited government and a foreign policy of restraint.
I've voted for several Libertarian presidential candidates. The biggest single influence on my policy views is Milton Friedman. I absorbed Friedrich Hayek and Ayn Rand in college. My columns appear regularly on the website of Reason, the nation's premier libertarian publication.
So I should not be a tough sell for Paul. He sounds pretty libertarian when he says, in reference to the National Security Agency, "the phone records of law-abiding citizens are none of their damn business." He shows a refreshing open-mindedness on criminal justice by envisioning an America where "any law that disproportionately incarcerates people of color is repealed."
He stands out from most Republicans in not making U.S. military intervention the default option. He accuses 2008 presidential nominee John McCain of wanting "15 wars more." He dared to tell a Faith and Freedom Coalition audience, "I can recall no utterance of Jesus in favor of war or any acts of aggression."
But Paul sometimes sounds anything but libertarian. He rejects same-sex marriage, which he attributes to a "moral crisis." He denounced the DREAM Act, which offered citizenship to some young foreigners brought here without authorization as children, as "the Washington elitists' roundabout way of giving amnesty to illegal immigrant students." And sometimes he pushes his libertarian principles too far, as when he took issue with the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Paul rarely fails to balance his commendable pronouncements with lamentable ones. No sooner did he portray Jesus as peace-loving than he accused "liberal elites" of waging "war on Christianity."
In his Tuesday speech announcing his presidential candidacy, he pandered to anti-Muslim sentiment by insisting that "until we name the enemy, we can't win the war. The enemy is radical Islam." But the administration that allegedly declines to properly identify the enemy is the very one that killed Osama bin Laden and thousands of alleged terrorists.
On global warming, Paul resides in the "see no evil" camp, discounting the evidence and opposing EPA regulation of greenhouse gases. He depicted the federal debt as "tripling under Barack Obama's watch." In reality, the gross debt has grown by about 70 percent since he took office, and the publicly held debt has doubled.
Paul's casual regard for facts is an admission that the truth does not adequately vindicate his views. It also reflects a tendency, common to the fervent ideologues, of ignoring evidence that undermines cherished beliefs.
There is nothing wrong with adopting a broad outlook that incorporates certain basic principles for their inherent value or practical utility. Ideology can be a useful framework for making sense of how the world works.
The trouble comes when it hardens into dogma. Wisdom requires a continual willingness to question one's assumptions in light of new information. The alternative is what Karl Rove celebrated when he mocked a White House colleague for being "in what we call the reality-based community," which Rove says is made up of those who imagine that "solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality."
Paul has never given the impression that his convictions are susceptible to refutation. He comes across not as someone whose judicious study of discernible reality led him to his political philosophy, but as someone who first found a political philosophy and then learned only enough to confirm his chosen views.
Some Republican legislators are known for their mastery of policy substance, like Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. Paul is not one of them. In the presidency, wisdom and knowledge are helpful.
As Paul said of Obama, I'd like to be able to like him. But he doesn't make it easy.
NEXT: Indiana's RFRA: Religious Freedom or Freedom to Discriminate?
Steve Chapman is a columnist and editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune.
Rand Paul Election 2016
JulioFranco
April.9.2015 at 12:19 am
Does this author do anything but complain about Rand Paul?
He’s free to go vote for policy masters Mark Kirk, Paul Ryan, and Rob Portman. Not sure why Reason publishes this stuff.
April.9.2015 at 12:03 pm
Chicago Steve probably already has his “Ready for Hillary” bumper sticker on the back of his Prius.
He’s going to vote for Hillary just like he voted for Obama.
Bobarian (sexbot hand model)
April.9.2015 at 2:09 pm
presidential candidate’s commitment to libertarian political philosophy only goes as far as his chosen views allow.
So does everyone elses? WTF does that mean?
He supports some libertarian principles, but he’s not libertarian enough…So, Biden in ’16?
Ed Ucation
Chicago Steve? LOL. I am not familiar with this dude, but is that because is part of Chicago school of economics like Milton Friedman? The guys that believe in the free market except for a free market in the most important economic good, money?
“because he is”
When is Reason gonna add the code for a measly edit button? Seriously, guys.
ThomasD
Oh please, Chapman is going to vote for whoever has the (D) next to their name.
straffinrun
he pandered to anti-Muslim sentiment by insisting that “until we name the enemy, we can’t win the war. The enemy is radical Islam”
Calling radical Islam the enemy means pandering to anti-Muslim sentiment? The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper names (unless that leads to other bigots using that knowledge further their cause, then it’s pandering.)
And it is pandering to people like Chapman that gave us the bizarre euphemism that what we were fighting was “terror” which has been griped about here quite a bit. What words to describe the conflict are not forbidden?
Michael Hihn
April.9.2015 at 1:58 am
David Boaz, … Paul is “the most libertarian major presidential candidate that I can remember seeing.”
Is Boaz too young for Reagan?
1) Major vocal defender of gay equality.
2) Tax policy – largest boom in history.
3) Largest spending cuts in history (Grace Commission, blocked in a GOP Senate)
4) New Federalism, largest government reform in history, close enough to passing that the NY Times and others thought it was a done deal. Fell apart only because states thought they’d get the programs but not the financing.
5) Ignored the Moral Majority leadership, connected directly with Values Voters.
6) Spoke strongly against abortion personally, but ignored pressures to impose his views by law (about as libertarian as it gets).
You think Raegan was libertarian? Thats a pretty good joke.
Beautiful Bean Footage
Yes, 3 legged stool Reagan was libertarian and Rand Paul is an EXTREME SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE RUAH!!1!1! *foams at the mouth*
EndTheGOP
Cameron — Of course Reagan was a Libertarian. Just because he waged a War on Drugs, was anti-abortion and pro-amnesty for illegal immigrants shouldn’t be cause to take his Libertarian credentials from him, ha.
Hihn is off his meds again.
Nancy Reagan’s war on drugs was so libertarian…
That was her astrologer’s fault.
He did not reduce taxes.
He did double the national debt, which had been falling under every president since WW II, including during the Vietnam War.
I remember people in 1989 bragging about catching a 21% mortgage, such a good deal. That was after 8 years of Ronnie.
Your dreams are pretty pathetic.
He did too reduce taxes. Not only did he cut them in real terms, he also indexed the tax tables to inflation so people stopped seeing their taxes raised even though their real income didn’t go up.
And bullshit on the 21% mortgage claim. Interest rates were not high in 1989 or anything approaching 21%. You either had horrible credit or are talking out of your ass. And to the extent they were higher, gee maybe not keeping them at zero and pumping up the housing bubble wasn’t such a bad idea?
Your understanding of history is pathetic and devoid of any connection to reality.
JWatts
What the hell crack are you smoking? Thirty year mortgage rates were close to 20% when Reagan became President. They were under 11% when he left office.
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=NUh
Your memory is pathetic.
pronomian
Yea, and don’t forget his increase of import tariffs and trade restrictions, cut in marginal income tax rates, but he also raised Social Security taxes, increased farm subsidies, federal spending grew from $678 billion to $1.14 trillion, the record for the highest average spending as a percent of GDP over his administration. (Obama may beat him.) And, lets not forget, as it has already been said, his increased gov’t intervention in people’s behavior with his “just say no” war on drugs.
Obama has already beaten him on spending. His first four years set a post-war record.
Oh, you silly Reagan lovers. All you need to ask yourself is this: When Reagan was president, did federal spending increase or decrease?
Shlevin
Actually, it seems to me that being against radical islam is the most pro-Muslim position one could take.
I take it the writer doesn’t quite connect the dots with that one.
^^THIS^
People like Chapman are the ones who hate Muslims. Chapman lives in denial and pretends that Muslims are somehow less than human such that they can’t be expected to adhere to normal standards of morality. Moreover, radical Islam has murdered and enslaved a hell of a lot more Muslims than Westerners. To people like Chapman, Muslims are just animals in a zoo that should live under horrible oppression because that is what they do I guess.
Enough About Palin
For John:
The Myth of the Stay-at-Home Republicans
There were six million fewer voters in 2012 than in 2008, but they weren’t conservatives
http://www.wsj.com/articles/ka…..1427930037
There’s a paywall, but if you plug the following into google, it will provide a link that gets around it:
There’s a hypothesis circulating among Republicans that Mitt Romney lost in 2012 because a large number of previously reliable conservatives who turned out in past elections stayed home. Here’s the problem: It’s not accurate.
Interesting. Thanks. I can’t get passed the paywall. So who were those 6 million if not conservatives?
Gray Ghost
Karl Rove wrote the WSJ article, and I guess he had reprint rights at his site. Article is here, and a telling quote within:
[B]ecause total voter turnout was lower in 2012 than in 2008, there were an estimated 580,000 fewer white evangelical voters, based on David Leip’s Atlas numbers and exit polls. Mr. Romney won 78% of them, compared with Mr. McCain’s 74%. In short, Mr. Romney got around 913,000 more white evangelical votes than did Mr. McCain.
Republicans concerned about voters who failed to show up should look elsewhere. There were approximately 4.9 million fewer self-identified moderates, 1.7 million fewer white Catholics, and 1.2 million fewer women who voted in 2012 than in 2008.
While Mr. Obama carried both moderates and women in 2012, it is likely that those in each group who dropped out of the electorate were unwilling to support Mr. Obama a second time but simply couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Mr. Romney.
It’s a short article; you should read it.
It is a tribute to how poor of a campaign Romney ran and how fanatically devoted to Obama’s re-election the media was that moderate couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Mitt Romney. think about that for a moment.
BigT
John, you are right. With the media it’s all about the skin color – thou shalt not criticize a black person. With the voters Mitt just came off as stiff and boring. A combative Mitt would have been excoriated by the MSM for daring to harshly criticize The First Black Prez (TM).
Bit of a history question on a dying thread but, BigT John, why do you think Romney abandoned his combative style that worked in the first Prez debate? As I remember it, the MSM didn’t have a unified idea on what it meant, or what they should think. I do remember reading a lot of people’s comments to the effect of, ‘Finally,’ and ‘Someone’s showing that Obama’s hopeless when he’s not reading from a teleprompter.’ Etc…
It worked so well, and then he stopped it for the other debates, and I can’t understand why.
R C Dean
If militant Islam is a communicable disease, isn’t it better for the host body to excise the cancer?
Because if you can’t cure someone who is fatally infecting other people, well, the alternatives are much worse for them.
My understanding of RPs specific support of US air-strikes in conjunction with local forces conducting the fighting against ISIS is analogous to providing antibiotics…
Apparently he conflates Islam and radical Islam.
Can’t imagine why.
Old Man With Candy
But the administration that allegedly declines to properly identify the enemy is the very one that killed Osama bin Laden
Yes, Obama was unique in having the moral courage to authorize this. Sheesh. Chapman sometimes challenges Richman in the Most Retarded Reason Writer contest.
Richman at least stands by what he says and is consistent. Chapman’s just wishy washy squishy nothing, not even any principals, just feelz.
It’s hard to like him because he’s a politician. He doesn’t have convictions, he has polling data.
JWW
You keep on wishing for your perfect libertarian candidate that will never win the election.
As for me, I’ll back Mr. Paul.
And meanwhile, Steve will happily vote for the likes of Obama and Hillary while waiting. Come to think of it, is Chapman Bo?
sloopyinTEXAS
Next Reason article:
Rand Paul: Does He Weigh The Same As A Duck?
Yes, yes he does. You start build a wood pile while I go grab matches and lighter fluid…
There are hints of libertarian principles peeping through Paul’s populist arguments. And he prominently accepts Bitcoin on his donation page, right next to PayPal and credit cards. (Which is generally thought to decrease donations, as tested by Mozilla, and probably Wikipedia.)
Perhaps my optimism is misplaced, but it could just be pandering to the republican base thus far. (Which is fine, because words during presidential campaigns are often empty anyway.)
My worry is if he has to pander to the rep base, does that mean his views need to be changed in order to win? If he has to change his views to win will he have to continue to think, and act accordingly, this new way in order to win reelection?
If he held to his beliefs and was a member of the democrat party, would we, as libertarians, not give him the time of day because he is a “democrat?” I just started thinking that maybe the best way for a libertarian to win is to flip sides of the one party coin. There are groups that will vote one side regardless. African americans, hispanics, women, youth, etc., will all benefit from libertarian policies. Maybe switching parties would be the best way to get out the message to these groups.
Im going to be serious about all of the Rand Paul bashing lately and read everybody’s responses. (I’d like to see some of the reason staff reply but I don’t expect it.).
It may be hard to like Rand Paul in a vacuum. But the political landscape is not a vacuum. It exists in a competitive and marginal landscape. And while Rand may be “no true Scotsman” when it comes to certain issues, he’s demonstrably better than anything else the two major parties have put forth in quite some time…since Coolidge probably. Therefore, I cannot help but to question the motives and integrity of the staff that have done nothing but pile on in the last three days. They’ve scrutinized Paul in a way no other major party candidate has experienced on these pages in the several years I’ve read and commented here. They’ve picked apart policies and statements in contorted ways (questioning how much he will stray away from his current statements even…attacking those changes before they ever take place), they’ve used a fine microscope to attack the most minute of details in his platform and they’ve tried to draw defining lines in libertarian philosophy where large gray areas exist (abortion, namely) in order to put Paul on the “wrong” side of that line.
What’s the motivation of reason.com supposed to be? Is it to expand free minds and free markets or is it to get ingrained into the DC social scene?
If it’s the former, you’re doing a lousy job of it. If it’s the latter, congratulations.
Is it to expand free minds and free markets or is it to get ingrained into the DC social scene? …. If it’s the latter, congratulations.
You can’t just invite yourself to swanky metropolitan cocktail parties, you know!
Oh, now you tell us.
$park? the Swifty
Maybe their motivation is to provide their opinions then let you make up your own damn mind.
Lets not forget that Chapman wrote an entire article arguing that Obama was a Libertarian President in many ways. Yet, now he claims that Paul is “faintly” a libertarian. How can you take someone who takes those two positions seriously?
It is like Chapman is out of central casting to prove mine and others’ worst accusations of the Reason staff being progressives pretending to be Libertarians for a paycheck and Reason Libertarianism consisting of pot, government sanctioned ass sex, and Mexicans. I couldn’t make up a caricature of the Beltway Libertarian that would match what Chapman actually is.
Masturbatin' Pete
pot, government sanctioned ass sex, and Mexicans.
I’m with you, sloops.
I can see giving the best candidate for your admittedly fringe position a close scrutiny, but the amount of negative pixels spent on Paul seems vastly disproportionate.
How many articles has Reason run on Hillary’s multiple known felonies with her email server? Compared to how many it has written on Rand Paul’s policy positions on culture war issues that are peripheral at best to the office he seeks?
Maybe I’m just crazy, but it seems to me to lend a bit of journalistic integrity. Maybe the writers at reason.com don’t want to just fall back on “he’s good enough for us”. Just because a guy is close enough doesn’t mean there’s no room for criticism. Plus, much if this stuff is going to come out anyway once the machines crank up to full speed.
The criticism has to MAKE SENSE and be based in reality. Reason is failing at that.
Some of the writers may be, but I don’t think they all are.
It would if the dissenters didn’t always go the same way. The problem isn’t so much that Reason will publish people like Richman and Chapman. It is that they would never publish someone as off the reservation to the right. Only those who are too far left get published. If you are too far to the right, you are not a libertarian.
This is…true, except for Harsyani who is published here like once a year.
Bill Dalasio
I think you’re right. But, I will say, in their defense, there is probably a disconnect between libertarian journalists and libertarian audiences. Specifically, I’m thinking libertarian journalists are much more likely to arrive at libertarianism from the left, while audiences are probably split or even slightly more likely to arrive from the right. As a result, they’re more likely than their audiences to see people on the left as having libertarian beliefs than their audience and more likely to dismiss the libertarianism of people on the right than their audiences.
“…libertarian journalists are much more likely to arrive at libertarianism from the left…”
They arrive at libertarianism by starting at collectivism?
So maybe they all lean more left. So what?
So nothing except that if they are not self aware enough to see that and make some effort to compensate for it, they don’t have much integrity.
I’m not seeing why they need to compensate for anything. Are you incapable of coming up with thoughts of your own? Are you just a blank screen waiting for them to project the ‘right’ answers onto you? It’s funny that a lot of commenters yesterday were making fun of college kids who acted like that.
It’s called ‘diversity’ and it’s needed to avoid an echo chamber that promulgates derp. That’s what Reason is becoming.
I think they do. They claim to be a Libertarian publication, not a left wing publication that leans Libertarian. Moreover, they write about 20 “pox on both houses” articles a week. They clearly pretend to give the Libertarian perspective yet in reality give the Left Libertarian perspective. They are not what they claim to be.
Seeing how you and Cytotoxic are firmly planted on Team Red, maybe they aren’t as off as you think they are.
Cytotoxic are firmly planted on Team Red,
You’re a lying sack of shit. Besides, that’s totally irrelevant. You’re as lame as ever Sparky.
Or maybe we are more attuned to that kind of bias and see it where someone like you who is naturally culturally sympathetic to team blue wouldn’t.
Maybe you’re right. I’ve given up on the government so I don’t really have a dog in the fight. Maybe I do lean more left than right. That is irrelevant to the politics because I’m not an active participant.
That being said, I’d like to think I’m capable of deciding what I do or don’t agree with without flying off the handle.
Well, if so, it suggests that maybe some of their points should be taken with the appropriate grain of salt.
If you’re not doing that with everything you read on the Internet, then you’re doing yourself a disservice.
True. But the exact size of that grain of salt is what you have to make a judgement on.
Enough for a shot of tequila.
“Left” and “Right” in this context are a little misleading, IMO, but I know what you mean and it’s the best we’ve got.
I think the problem is that Reason is already pushing at the “Right” fringe of what they can get away with in their minds. Moving any further right-libertarian would mean they have to live in the same neighborhood with some of those yucky Lew Rockwell yokeltarians. And that’s just not gonna happen.
I suggest they get some Hot Tom Woods action going here. He’d probably be up for it.
Xeones
Or Tom of Finland, perhaps? Although i understand he’s currently busy illustrating the latest collection of Sugarfree’s stories.
Also, reason advertises itself as a Libertarian magazine and Rand is running as a Republican. Why is it necessary to hitch your wagon to a guy who is a bit off on some positions just because he’s right on with others? Do they need to say “Rand Paul is our guy no matter what”?
Rand Paul may express some libertarianish ideas, but he’s still a politician at the end of the day. If you’re not going to keep their feet to the coals at all times, all of them, then you’re doing a disservice to your readers.
Sure. But this is the same magazine that publishes articles about how Obmaa is a Libertarian President. If the Democrats had a left wing version of Paul running, Reason would be tripping over themselves to support him.
Is someone forcing you to read reason? Is there someone in your office right now with a gun to your head? Blink twice if yes, I’ll send help.
Is someone forcing you to read John’s comments? Cripes it’s criticism. I hate TEAM ORANGE.
No. But just because I read it doesn’t make them immune to criticism. In fact, if I didn’t read them, how could I criticize them or say anything at all? Sorry but “no one says you have to like it” is not a substantive defense of Reason here.
You’re right, they aren’t. That’s the point, nobody is. They express their opinions, you express yours. They have just as much responsibility to take your comments to heart as you have to take their articles.
This is a place that took a serious run at pushing the ludicrous-on-its-face “Liberaltarian” thing (which as far as I could tell was just liberalism but with trains that run on time), and employed vigorous wedding-dancer and Journolister David Weigel. Reason can be counted on to pick the low-hanging libertarian fruit (yay pot and rectal intercourse and genetically engineering your kids/exterminating the inconvenient ones) and run for the hills when a big issue of principle comes along (“And sometimes he pushes his libertarian principles too far, as when he took issue with the 1964 Civil Rights Act.”)
The only thing good around here is the comments section.
Harsh, but becoming all too accurate.
Crusty Juggler
You are welcome, Pete.
No, I’m afraid if the Democrats had a left wing version of Rand Paul running, HyR bloggers would find a way to criticize hir too?from the “left”, somehow….
Also, reason advertises itself as a Libertarian magazine…
Libertarian or libertarian? If the latter, the fact that Paul is running as a Republican is beside the point.
If you’re not going to keep their feet to the coals at all times, all of them, then you’re doing a disservice to your readers.
True. The thing is that it’s not necessarily the case that they are keeping everyone’s feet to the coals. If a leftish candidate shows even a glimmer of libertarianism, they’ll give a lot more of a pass to him/her than they would for a rightish candidate that expressed libertarian principles on a regular basis.
I think that is foolish. They should call things as they are and be equally hard or easy on both sides. It drives me crazy how they will give Ron Wyden a pass on being an economic socialist because he is willing to stand up against the NSA but then excoriate Paul because he is not sufficiently gay affirming. If Wyden gets a pass on economic issues, Paul should get one on gay marriage and the Dream act or neither should get a pass at all.
If Wyden gets a pass on economic issues, Paul should get one on gay marriage and the Dream act or neither should get a pass at all.
But, John, economics is hard! 🙂
The thing is, I don’t think it’s necessarily intentional. I think it’s more the case the more “conservative” elements of libertarianism don’t come as naturally to them as the more liberal elements. Thinking of an example, I suspect if pressed, I’m sure most of the writers would acknowledge that mandatory recycling is a violation of individual liberty. The thing is, it just isn’t the sort of thing that comes to their mind when they think of personal liberty.
It is a culture thing Bill. And it drives me crazy. They all are basically urban hipsters and liberals who don’t have retarded economic views. That is fine and all. But they seem incapable of any self awareness or able to make any effort to rise above their blindspots or even realize they have them.
Until the asshole knocks on your door and scolds you for not washing out a peanut butter jar.
We have a winner. And Nick’s pontificating about military spending while ignoring the elephant in the room of personnel costs is another huge peeve.
And since you are aware of that, you can keep that grain of salt you mentioned handy.
If everyone decided that reason.com leans too far left and stopped reading, they would get some data to show that. They might even make some course corrections to address that. As a non-profit organization, they need to go where their donors want them to go. You want something different? Give more money.
You want something different? Give more money.
BAHAHAHAHAHA yes that’s right. Reward organizations that give what you don’t want with more money. You’re stupider with every post.
Everybody all knows you are a dumbfuck and an asshole. Why do you insist on proving it with every post?
On the other hand, you’re not exactly crowning yourself in glory.
Thanks for the rational defense of reason’s recent editorial attacks on Paul, $park?. I understand where you’re coming from but respectfully disagree. If these were fact-based articles, I’d probably agree with you to a certain degree. They’d be right in scrutinizing Paul’s positions and how they aren’t necessarily libertarian. Of course, I’d expect a commensurate degree of writing dedicated to the other candidates of the two major parties. But these are opinion pieces, often based on anticipated policies and shifting positions that frankly don’t exist until they actually happen.
Sorry, but these are instead editorials. Editorials that are so far out of proportion with the number directed at other non-Libertarian candidates that one must suspect a motive. what that motive is, I can’t exactly say. But their actions certainly raise eyebrows when compared to the way they’ve so far approached the candidacy of every other non-Libertarian candidate or presumed candidate.
Besides Cruz and Paul, who has officially announced?
Note the “presumed candidates” I brought up.
We all know they did this same exercise when Ron Paul ran. So they have a track record of faithfully excoriating a Republican that leans libertarian and grant a wide berth on a Democrat that supposedly does (like Obama). Not to mention the disregard for Obama and Hilllary’s overwhelmingly anti-libertarian positions they both took in 08 on a wide range of issues…while beating Paul to death over newsletters he didn’t he write.
Maybe you’re right, like John above. Maybe they’re just a bunch of hipster lefties running a “libertarian” website and magazine. Seems to me there’s a relatively simple market-based solution if you see that as a problem.
And no, I’m not trying to say they are above criticism. I’m trying to say that it’s their property to run as they choose.
But I have more invested in them staying sane and representing libertarian principles in the best possible light than you do. That’s why I’m so vocal.
That’s said somewhat in jest, so take it lightly.
But they’re shifting the goalposts of what libertarianism is or should be. They want us to embrace the people we may disagree with, in many cases so as not to offend progressives since we have much in common with them on social issues.* I’m finding it harder and harder to believe they think libertarianism is a big-tent ideology with them running what appear to be a neverending series of purity tests on one, and only one, politician.
*I used to think we did anyway. I’m starting to think that our agreements with progressives on social issues never existed in the first place. Our beliefs are based on tolerance whereas theirs are based on acceptance. One requires a lot more force to accomplish than I and many others are comfortable with.
No problem with that. I’m just giving you another point of view.
Like someone said above, I generally just come here for the comments. Surprisingly I find the people here some of the most intelligent on the Internet. Walker and 2Chilly are the only writers I know are gonna hit home runs with their articles. Welch, Suderman, and Doherty are in line behind them.
he’s demonstrably better than anything else the two major parties have put forth in quite some time…since Coolidge probably
Just going by “put forth”, I think Goldwater would be a more recent contender.
+1 kick in the ass to Jerry Falwell
The vast majority of Reason articles on Rand Paul have been positive. A couple have been mildly critical and know he’s being persecuted like no other major party candidate? Anyone who thinks Reason hasn’t been 1000x harsher on Obama, Clinton, Cruz, etc. than they have been on Paul is blinded by their support of Paul. Also, Chapman doesn’t even write for Reason, they just publish his articles.
Sloop:
They’ve picked apart policies and statements in contorted ways (questioning how much he will stray away from his current statements even…attacking those changes before they ever take place), they’ve used a fine microscope to attack the most minute of details in his platform and they’ve tried to draw defining lines in libertarian philosophy where large gray areas exist (abortion, namely) in order to put Paul on the “wrong” side of that line.
You might have noticed that they have been getting more comments this week. It’s all about the clicks. They know our hot-button issues and just keep pushing them. That’s why Chapman and Richman are here – a ‘professional’ trolls, if you will.
Chapman and Richman in one day.
Are the Kochs planning to sell Reason to Salon?
Maybe Arriana Huffington opened her checkbook.
Shorter Steve Chapman: I am not really a libertarian, just a liberal. My liberal friends tell me Rand Paul is really a racist republican in disguise, and so I don’t like him.
Apparently , Chapman is to libertarians what David Brooks is to conservatives.
Chapman is to libertarianism what haggis is to fine cuisine.
good summary.
Dark Lord of the Cis
Shorter Chapman. The only things important to libertarians are Pot, Mexicans, and Ass Sex.
You guys think I am kidding when I made that up. And in truth I was. It is however only funny because it contains a kernel of truth. And my God does Chapman live within that kernel.
Most good comedy has a root in truth. That line certainly pegged a lot of the writers here.
“Kernel,” “ass sex”… i got nothin’. Sugarfree, you want to handle this?
This whole argument sounds pretty corny to me.
Also, looking at the Rand Paul articles that have been posted here in the last two days, I get the feeling that the pot, Mexicans, and ass sex meme is gonna come up a lot during the election cycle. So I’m just gonna use an acronym from now on. PMAAS.
From the looks of your acronym, you’re endorsing Double-anal?
Grand Moff Serious Man
I’ve voted for several Libertarian presidential candidates
Does that include bona fide libertarian Bob Barr?
Wasn’t Chapman the “I have always wanted to vote for a black man for President” guy in 2008?
And I will mention it again, Chapman thinks Obama has real Libertarian credentials.
I believe it was Tim Cavanaugh, who after leaving Reason worked for National Review, of all places.
My mistake. But Chapman did publish the infamous “Obama is really a Libertarian President” article. And now he writes this.
He rejects same-sex marriage, which he attributes to a “moral crisis.”
Why this is unlibertarian is an exercise for the reader, I suppose.
He denounced the DREAM Act, which offered citizenship to some young foreigners brought here without authorization as children, as “the Washington elitists’ roundabout way of giving amnesty to illegal immigrant students.”
Is that not a true statement? If not, why not?
Are there no policy arguments against rewarding breaking our immigration laws? Is it unlibertarian to say “Hey, maybe we don’t want to encourage people to send their children to this country unaccompanied” or even “Maybe its not smart to reward people for breaking even bad laws. Maybe we should change the law instead, and then see about giving the changes retroactive effect.”
No, there are no policy arguments if you’re a Reason libertarian. It’s part of the Reason Holy Trinity: “In the name of the Pot, and the Mexicans, and the Ass Sex.”
Richman + Sheldon = Bulk and Skull
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwup4ItqyNQ
Thanks Reason for vindicating my decision not to give you money. You can stop running columns written by morons any time now.
Politics is about choices. You are never going to get a perfect candidate. No candidate or President is ever going to deliver on every issue. Even if they wanted to, they still have to compromise on some things and only have so much political capital to spend. So as a voter you have to choose what issues are most important. Which issues are you willing to live with being neglected or going the other way as a price for getting the ones you think are most important.
Paul is clearly committed to rolling back the surveillance state and starting to do something about the drug war and are various foreign entanglements. Yet, Chapman would not vote for him because he is not committed enough to open borders and gay marriage. Moreover, the next President is unlikely to make any difference on either of those issues. Immigration reform is not getting through Congress and gay marriage is a state issue and up to the courts. Yet Chapman still wouldn’t vote for Paul because he considers social signaling on gay marriage and open borders more important than making real progress on other issues like the drug war.
This. It only makes sense to base your vote on positions that the candidate is actually in some position to put into action.
Gay marriage has assumed an importance to a lot of libertarians that is way beyond any reasonable justification. No matter what you think of the issue, the fact that .5% of the population can’t get a marriage license is pretty far down the list of the injustices going on in this country. We have hundreds of thousands of people rotting in prison for the crime of having the wrong substance or downloading the wrong kind of picture. The NSA can and does listen to anyone’s phone calls and then turns it over to the DEA and FBI with instructions to start criminal investigations and lie about how they got the lead. The list goes on and on. And yet, gay marriage occupies at least 25% of the political oxygen in the Libertarian movement.
Pot, Mexicans, Ass Sex. That’s what matters around here.
I could probably add something about abortion, but I like the ring of this, and I think we understand that “Ass Sex” covers all pelvic issues.
It’s even stupider when you realize that gay marriage is likely to become widely accepted simply due to cultural shift, without any input from politicians. All the more important crap from ending the drug war to spending within our means has much more entrenched opposition and requires fighting for it.
That’s it, I’m coining Masturbatin’ Pete’s Second Law:
“Reason’s enthusiasm in pushing a libertarian principle is directly proportional to its ability to be justified by progressive principles.”
Pretty much. What is even worse than that is that Libertarians often and I think correctly claim that the CRA wasn’t necessary because society and the market given time and the opportunity would have eventually accepted blacks and ended discrimination on its own.
Forget about the substance of either position for a moment. Just think about the optics. What does the juxtaposition of Libertarians’ common views on the CRA and their commitment to gay marriage being mandated by the courts look like to a black person who is not a Libertarian? I am pretty sure it doesn’t exactly help in fighting the Prog smear that Libertarians are all racists.
No State shall … make any … Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts
Insofar as there is a legitimate cause here, this is it. Article I, Section 10 is flagrantly ignored by the states and the federal courts. But it rarely gets talked about.
If it is the case that states are refusing to enforce contracts between gay couples, then I am all for working to end that. That issue however never seems to get talked about.
Oh, it’s not just gay couples and it extends well beyond familial relationships. The courts routinely throw out legal documents in whole or in part and substitute the preferences of judges and legislators in place of the plain language of the document.
For sure. And the place they do it most often is family court. Yet someone giving gays marriage licenses and subjecting them to that kind of judicial oversight is the “pro freedom” position.
SCOTUS is going to decide gheymerge before the election congress up anyway.
*comes
adolphowisner
My Aunty Mackenzie recently got a nearly new blue Toyota Venza by working part time online… website here ????????????? http://www.jobsfish.com
If she’s not making that money by smoking pot on a live webcam while being ass-fucked by a Mexican, then you’re on the wrong forum pal.
Notorious G.K.C.
I looked up Dr. Paul’s “war on Christianity” quote, and, surprise, Chapman ripped it out of context.
There was a throwaway line about liberal elites, but the rest of the speech was about the persecution of Christians, and other dissenters, throughout the world, with a focus on the misbehavior of U.S. allies.
http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyf…..ar-on.aspx
A key theme of the speech: Don’t give foreign aid to regimes which oppress their own people.
OMG how awful!
kimmoberry
I just got paid $6784 working off my laptop this month. And if you think that?s cool, my divorced friend has twin toddlers and made over $9k her first month. It feels so good making so much money when other people have to work for so much less. This is what I do…
http://www.jobs73.com
My issue with this article is:
1. The negatives against Paul are mindless culture war crap. He doesn’t endorse gay marriage? In a few months, that’s not going to matter. Obama didn’t endorse gay marriage, either, until 2012. Speaking of which…
2. Chapman is an asshole who voted for Obama. I defy any libertarian to argue that Obama was closer or even appeared closer to being a libertarian even in 2008 than Paul does. You can’t do it because it’s impossible.
Chapman really is that guy with a bunch of progtard friends who wants to seem enlightened. You can pass in his social circle saying you’re a libertarian, but as long as you don’t actually vote for a Republican like Paul who sends out the wrong social signals. The exact type the right-leaning folks here are so fond of accusing everyone else of being.
I disagree with Paul on a number of issues, but I’m not dumb enough to not support the most libertarian candidate I may see in my lifetime.
earthandweather
You’re clearly very bright but your article isn’t very illuminating. “There is nothing wrong with adopting a broad outlook that incorporates certain basic principles for their inherent value or practical utility…” Nothing wrong”?!? Thanks for so generously letting us know.
You should work on criticizing his principles, such as you find them, and their dogmatic nature will naturally be disclosed. You aren’t going to vote for him…We get it.
TL/DR?
Chapman is “Ready For Hillary!”
“And sometimes he pushes his libertarian principles too far, as when he took issue with the 1964 Civil Rights Act.”
Libertarians: Taking libertarian principles too far.
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!
It didn’t do him much good.
ace_m82
NAP can apparently be taken too far. Good to know that a little aggression is OK.
Well yes – Paul by tempering his principle with reason just might fail to alienate enough voters, thereby preventing the advance of cryptomarxism so dear to the cause of “purists.”
I largely agree with most people here that this article is pretty dumb for reasons already elaborated, but can we please stop pretending like Paul is being persecuted by Reason? He’s had more positive coverage here, even just since his announcement, than any other major party candidate in recent years.
Ya, I don’t actually mind the coverage overall. Or mind that the coverage isn’t lockstep worshipfullness. Still think Chapman’s over the top cosmotarian-ness should be mercilessly mocked.
mconroytx
Based on Chapman’s list of things he dislikes about Rand Paul (Liberal Elites attack on Christianity -true, Opposition to EPA regulation of greenhouse gases i.e. CO2 – good thing, and willingness to be open and up front about the threat of radical Islam – very good thing) I see these as even more reason to support Rand Paul.
I’m fantasizing about how their bloggers would line up on me as candidate. I have run for office several times, nominated by the Libertarian, Conservative, and/or Republican parties. What would they make of my idiosyncratic positions, which, while I believe them to be libertarian, are hard to pigeonhole me as on the “left” or the “right” of the movement?
I’m for legal abortion, but what would they say of my being for legal infanticide? Is that “left-” or “right-deviationist”, or just plain creepy to them?
Same-sex marriage? I’m against it, but also against the silly idea that one could get government “out of marriage”, when it’s a fuckin’ legal question. I guess that would peg me to the “right” side, since my reasoning is traditionalist.
Immigration? I don’t see why there’s any more reason to inspect or reject people crossing national borders than state or city lines. However, as long as there is to be such a regime, I’m for keeping people out of whatever country you’re concerned about on grounds of, and only of, infectious disease or propensity to victimful criminality.
Treatment of criminals? I reject any term of incarcer’n longer than 90 days at a time, but I support the death penalty. “Left-“, “right-“, or just plain-weird-deviationist?
Security cameras & recording? I’ve no problem with them. As long as gov’t owns streets, & you know you’re open to public view there, why shouldn’t the police use the same tech as private security?
BambiB
The “open borders” plank of the rabid libertarians is the least defensible. There are lots of reasons we should not want the detritus of other nations washing over our borders. For the record, MY approach to criminal aliens is to shoot them at the border. For those already here, give them six months to get out, let them apply (at the end of the line) like everyone else. Make negligently hiring a criminal alien punishable by a $1000/day fine. Same with renting them property. “Dreamers” should be deported along with the rest of the criminals. Yes, I know they were brought here by their criminal parents. You know what? If dad had robbed a bank, do you think we’d let the kids keep the money? They’ve been ripping off the American taxpayer for decades. It’s time for them to go.
As for queer “marriage” – I reject that too. But not so much on moral grounds as on the grounds that it’s nonsense. Queer marriage is like Microsoft Tech Support or Airline Food. No… such… thing. We have a perfectly good definition of the word “marriage” and it doesn’t include a goat and a woman, a pig and two men, two queers, or a woman, four wombats and a toilet plunger. That said, queers have been getting shafted by government, and that’s wrong. But the solution isn’t to pervert the definition of “marriage”. The solution is to get government out of the marriage biz.
So for the most part, I find myself in agreement with Paul. More so that you, clearly. And at the end of the day, these are not the MOST burning questions we should be asking (though allowing criminal aliens to overrun our Country is near the top). I’m more concerned with the endless wars, the exploding debt, the heavy hand of taxation, the police state. Instead of picking the Rand Paul nits, why don’t you explore where the other candidates stand on THOSE issues?
One thing I’ve noticed about libertarians… given a field of 10 candidates, 9 of which are 100% anathema to the libertarian platform, and one of whom is 90% “pure”, the idiot libertarians will spend forever and a day examining the impurities of the person who most closely represents what they themselves believe, while giving Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mussolini and Mugabe a free pass .
How stupid can you get?
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M.I. High
M.I. High Season 4
Seen Season
Here's where to watch every episode of M.I. High season 4. Mouseover or tap an episode to see where to stream it. Click or tap the play icon to stream it on the best available service.
Mark Seen
S04 E01
Run, Carrie Run! Jan 4, 2010 The Grand Master steals a despair bomb from M.I.9 and captures Rose, Oscar and Chief Agent Stark. Carrie must put a stop to The Grand Master's evil plan before he plunges the world into eternal despair.
The Bunny Whisperer Jan 4, 2010 A massive crime wave hits. Their friend Maurice Hutchinson gets kidnapped and the spies must secretly find him. But later they find him in an abandond house with the grandmaster. Meanwhile the crimes seem to have some strange evidence... bits of fake fur are getting found at all the crime scenes.
Quakermass Jan 11, 2010 After Britain is shaken by a massive earthquake, the team is contacted by former seismologist Professor Quakermass who discovered that there wasn't just one tremour, but several. Their investigation leads them to Carrie's idol Well Fit Jim, who she claims is innocent.
Don't Cook Now Jan 18, 2010 The team investigate celebrity chef Tommy Blumenheck's restaurant. This where the Head of M.I.9 and financial heads meet to exchange bank code numbers, but each time they do, SKUL somehow intercepts the code and empties each bank's cash reserves. Meanwhile at St. Hope's, the pupils have a protest against their nasty cafeteria food.
Mrs King - License to Spy Jan 18, 2010 Carrie, Rose, Oscar and Frank discover that a memory wipe they performed on Mrs King is about to fail, when she starts to be convinced she is a spy. Frank gives the agents a new mission: monitor Mrs King because if the memory wipe fails, they will be finished in MI9. Oscar comes up with a plan to trick Mrs King into believing that St. Hope's is an MI9 training facility and that all the students are spies. Mrs King meets a supposed SKUL agent, who turns out really is working for SKUL! The agents are not convinced but are eventually proved wrong. Oscar's plan succeeds and by the time Mrs King's memory wipe fails, they have set everything up to make it appear that it was just a dream.
Return of the Mummy Jan 25, 2010 M.I.9 receive an emergency transmission from Oscar's Mum, she reveals that she'a a mole that has been leaking top secret SKUL data for the last two years. Her cover's been blown and the team must break her out, but they believe that it's all a trap.
Dopplegangers Feb 1, 2010 Rose, Carrie and Oscar are caught on CCTV stealing top secret files from M.I.9 HQ. But it wasn't them, merely robots that were made to look like them. Frank believes that they are innocent, but Stark shows no hesitation in pursuing them. After Frank helps them to escape, they discover the truth about who made the robots.
High School Spy Movie Feb 8, 2010 Carrie, Rose, Oscar and Frank discover that a memory wipe they performed on Mrs King is about to fail, when she starts to be convinced she is a spy. Frank gives the agents a new mission: monitor Mrs King because if the memory wipe fails, they will be finished in MI9. Oscar comes up with a plan to trick Mrs King into believing that St. Hope's is an MI9 training facility and that all the students are spies. Mrs King meets a supposed SKUL agent, who turns out really is working for SKUL! The agents are not convinced but are eventually proved wrong. Oscar's plan succeeds and by the time Mrs King's memory wipe fails, they have set everything up to make it appear that it was just a dream.
Black Hole Feb 15, 2010 An expensive golden statue has been stolen from the PM. The team's investigation brings them to Terry Zucker, inventor of the Zucker vacuum cleaners that move around all by themselves. Only his vacuums seem to do a little bit more than just clean up and the team get more than they bargained for when Zucker's new Mega-Zucker accidentally activates, creating a black hole!
Three Spies and a Baby Feb 22, 2010 Britain's cleverest couple, the Steins, are kidnapped by the Grandmaster after they built an immensly difficult to crack firewall for MI9 on the way to a conference, however their baby daughter Grace is still safe. Chief Agent Stark is extremely angry that Rose, Carrie and Oscar allowed the Steins to be kidnapped from under their noses and tells them that as he will be sending out his best agents, they can look after the baby, much to Rose and Carrie's dismay. Oscar however is over the moon and adores Grace as if she were his own sister and is more than willing to look after, to the relief of Carrie and Rose. Oscar discovers that Grace is highly intelligent. While this is happening, the Grandmaster forces the Steins to hack into MI9's computer network, and Rose tells Stark to take the MI9 Mainframe offline, which he reluctantly agrees to do. The Steins are dismayed by this as this means they cannot fulfill the Grandmaster's wishes, nor can they see Grace. Instead, the Grandmaster orders them to make a firewall for SKUL. While this is happening, Rose has an idea and plugs Grace into the computer that the Steins have built, enabling her to hack into SKUL's mainframe. After finding them, Stark furiously tells them that they have disobeyed orders while the Steins gratefully take Grace.
Millionaire Flatley Mar 1, 2010 Mr Flatley is excited when he gets a letter saying that his Great Aunt Jemima has left him a million pounds in her will. Of course, all the students of St. Hope's immediately try to get into Flatley's good books, hoping to get a share of the money. While Flatley is celebrating however he receives a ransom note threatening to blow up the school unless he turns down his share of the money and warning him not to go to the police.The note is taken to HQ where Frank discovers traces of Dugranite on it, a rare but powerful explosive - finding this, they know that whoever sent the note is serious - there is a bomb in the school and Rose finds a DNA sample on the envelope. They are also alarmed to discover that the last delivery of Dugranite was six weeks ago - to SKUL. Flatley is in a state of panic but Frank assures him he will find the bomb and defuse it. Mrs King does not know about the bomb so is annoyed when Flatley tells her, "Frank is my new best friend". Frank then gives Oscar, Carrie and Rose a task: Flatley's other three relatives will be arriving for the reading of the will in Flatley's office and they are to get a sample of DNA from them to compare with that of the bomber - presumably one of them is the bomber and working for SKUL. The other relatives are Jeannette, a posh vicar who's young people's drop-in centre is in danger of closure due to lack of funding, Nozzy, a failing rock star, and Hamish, a Scottish university Chemistry lecturer. However when they compare all three DNA samples, none of them match the bomber's. They are forced to conclude that this means the bomber is someone else, and they continue searching.Rose, however, examines the note and notices that to prevent handwriting analysis, the letters have been cut out of an American newspaper. She does some more research and discovers that one of the relatives, Dwayne, is living in America. He has a certain fondness for kittens and blew up his house in an experiment involving Dugranite! He was now renting a lock-up around the corner, where Rose goes to search for more clues. What she does find are lots of kitten photos and a poster reading SKUL, partly covered by more kitten photos. Rose removes the photos and is shocked to discover that Dwayne doesn't work for the Grandmaster, but for a charity - Save Kittens with Unconditional Love. She is also alarmed to discover a small sample of liquid Dugranite - it had been brought into the school in a vase of flowers. She reports this to Frank, who has been forced into the meeting where the will is being read out by Mrs King, who suspects him of trying to get hold of Flatley's money.Meanwhile Oscar and Carrie find Dwayne in a store cupboard and that he has bugged the meeting. Before the solicitor reads the will, Flatley interrupts much to the annoyance of the solicitor and demands to know which one of his relatives sent him the note about the bomb. It is then revealed that each of the relatives had received a ransom note, threatening Jeannette's church, Nozzy's shed (where he kept his drumkit) and Hamish's lecture theatre. Dwayne listens as the relatives in turn refuse their share of the money, but when Flatley accepts his, he detonates the bomb in despair. When Oscar shouts at him, "You'll blow up this whole school!" he replies sadly, "If SKUL don't get the money, life's not worth livin'." Carrie however tricks him into believing that Flatley kept kittens in the school and that blowing up the school would make Dwayne a kitten killer. He immediately goes to stop the bomb detonation but discovers that he can't. Oscar sends a Morse Code message to Frank by banging on the pipes, and Frank jumps up and throws the vase out of the window, with seconds to spare.The solicitor then announces that because Jeannette, Nozzy and Hamish refused the money, it automatically went to Flatley. He is delighted by this news but his happiness is short-lived when the solicitor takes the million pounds for himself, saying that it was because he had been worked overtime and had his time wasted, leaving Flatley with five pounds, which the other relatives think is hilarious and fall about laughing. Mrs King, however, is furious at this and snatches the five pounds from Mr Flatley, as he owed her five pounds when she lent him some to buy a sandwich. A devastated Flatley runs out of his office into the corridor where the rest of the students are waiting expectantly, and sobs, "I've spent it all ... on a sandwich!" to which everyone responds by giving a sigh of disappointment.
Skuldiggery Mar 8, 2010 Roman remains have been found at St Hope's, an archaeological dig has come to investigate and it is getting worryingly close to HQ. Archaeologists have uncovered remains from the Ninth Legion, who's disappearance was one of the greatest mysteries in the world. But when SKUL are found at the dig site, the team's jobs are at stake. Furthermore, the dig is getting dangerously close to the lift shaft. Our spies must stop the archaeologists from uncovering HQ and put a stop to SKUL using the most deadly bio-weapon in history.
The Octopus Mar 15, 2010 The spies have a vital mission - they must protect a ship carrying the last component required to make a nuclear bomb. Other ships carrying nuclear parts have been raided by pirates and MI9 have intelligence to suggest that this ship will be targeted.The team use Frank's mini-submarine to follow the ship, in an undercover, underwater mission. Meanwhile, Frank is very worried about the team since his cousin Charlton went missing in the same waters some years back and was never found.
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EPA’s environmental performance
Carbon management at EPA
2017–18 highlights
Annual reports and plans
CEO and Governing Board
Chief Environmental Scientist
Environment Protection Amendment Act 2018
General environmental duty
Register your interest in shaping the future of EPA
Subordinate legislation reform
Supporting compliance - general environmental duty
Understanding environment reference standards
EPA’s greenhouse gas inventory
EPA's management of waste
Environmental Management Systems
Sustainable head office
Transport use
Hierarchy of legislation and guidance
Acts administered by EPA
State environment protection policies
Air legislation
Climate change legislation
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Notifiable chemical orders
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Community Reference Group
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Small Business and Manufacturing Reference Group
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Finance contact
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing society today. EPA believes it can also be one of the greatest opportunities. Managing our greenhouse gas emissions is a way we can mitigate the impacts of our own operations and adjust to the impacts of climate change.
In 2005, EPA went carbon neutral and developed a step-by-step continuous improvement framework to manage its own greenhouse gas emissions, known as our Carbon Management Principles.
This was at a time when many organisations were beginning to manage their exposure to climate risks and realise the growing opportunities through developing a strategic carbon management strategy.
It is often difficult to decide how to prioritise actions and to assess which approaches provide the best environmental and financial outcomes. EPA recognised this and decided there was no better way to assist businesses other than to tackle this problem internally and then share the process and the results.
Every year since 2005, EPA has taken the following steps to manage its own carbon footprint and demonstrate best-practice carbon neutrality:
we measure our carbon footprint using the World Resources Institute/World Business Council for Sustainable Development Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard
identify and assess our options using the Carbon Management Principles
assess the reduction and offset options from a financial and environmental perspective
get independent verification of our greenhouse gas inventory and management plan
externally publish (to our website) our emissions, offsets purchased and greenhouse gas inventory management plan.
EPA's Greenhouse inventory management plan is an internal document outlining the process EPA goes through on an annual basis to develop its internal GHG inventory. This document is not intended as a guidance document, but rather a case study which can be used to provide insight into the development of a greenhouse gas inventory.
A carbon offset is a project that indirectly ‘reduces’ GHG emissions at one source by investing in GHG emissions reductions elsewhere. Offset products most typically involve projects that invest in renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation. Offset credits should be purchased from an accredited offset scheme provider.
A range of offset products have emerged to help companies, governments and the community offset their GHG emissions. EPA initially developed a web-based Carbon Offset Guide to give companies an overview of carbon offsets and provide helpful hints to help navigate the marketplace. Although no longer managed by EPA, it continues to provide information on the range of international and Australian offsets, standards and guidance.
Carbon offsets provide EPA with a legitimate means of lowering our residual GHG impact, and are an important final component to becoming carbon neutral. However, before purchasing carbon offsets, EPA conducts appropriate research to ensure that products have been appropriately verified as delivering the environmental outcomes claimed. EPA also does a thorough financial, environmental and social assessment of current carbon offset options. As part of this, EPA looks at the following key considerations when choosing offsets:
double counting
timing of emissions reductions
monitoring and verification
co-benefits.
In 2009, as part of EPA’s commitment to achieving real reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, EPA ran an internal carbon cap and trade scheme between its seven sites. A carbon cap and trade scheme is a model of emissions trading that involves setting a limit, or cap, on the amount of GHG participants can emit. This cap is reduced over time consistent with an overall GHG emissions target.
Whilst alternative options existed for driving GHG emission reductions (such as performance management processes), significant additional benefits were gained through the design and implementation of an internal carbon cap and trade scheme. These included:
engaging all staff in discovering cost-effective ways to reduce our emissions
being able to assist other organisations by learning first-hand about emissions trading and managing the impacts of a price on carbon
enhancing our reputation though an innovative program to reduce our own GHG emissions and demonstrate best practice.
At the beginning of the scheme we anticipated an overall reduction of 3 per cent. The program proved to be significantly more successful, and EPA achieved a 24.5 per cent reduction across emission sources covered by the scheme, and an average of 22 per cent across the sites involved.
In 2005–06, EPA set a target of reducing its GHG emissions by 10 per cent by 2009–10. It exceeded this goal by achieving a 17 per cent reduction.
EPA is now committed to a 15 per cent emissions reduction target by 2015, based on a 2009–10 baseline.
EPA is already set to exceed this target by achieving a 29 per cent reduction in emissions from 2009-10 until 2012-13.
Page last updated on 14 Apr 2014
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The Female Athlete’s Best Kept Secret
On May 16, 2016 By rehabassociates1In Uncategorized
Urinary leakage in female athletes has been a well kept secret that has gotten very little attention. However, recent press regarding leakage during CrossFit workouts has created a flurry of activity on social networking sites. Female CrossFit athletes happily declared that they pee during a workout. A gynecologist offers her medical advice “It’s OK to pee during double- unders!” Peeing during a workout was offered as a badge of honor, a sign of intensity.
During the 2012 Olympics a female weight lifter from Ecuador leaked urine onto the floor during a lift. The story got some play on You Tube, not the kind of press she was hoping for on her Olympic quest. But, she was just the one we saw, the unlucky one who forgot her pad that day. It is almost a certainty that she was not the only elite female athlete that leaked during an event. It is a very common problem in high level (and not so high level) female athletes.
Thyssen et al (2002) surveyed 291 elite female athletes competing in a variety of sports from basketball to ballet, regarding their history of urine loss during participation in their sport or day to day activities. 151 reported leakage of some kind. Of the 151, five discussed it with a medical provider, and only six got pelvic floor training. Only 4.6% actually sought and received treatment.
Several studies, Dockter et al (2007) Figures et al (2008) and Nygaard (1994), have looked at the incidence of urinary incontinence in college and older female elite and casual athletes. These studies consistently showed a 47-49% prevalence of urinary incontinence among these populations. In the college study, Dockter et al also reported the same incidence of incontinence among the control group of non- athletes.
The national average is that 1 in 3 women leak. However, peeing on yourself while working out is not a good thing, and incontinence is NEVER normal. Despite the prevalence, this issue is only recently beginning to be discussed. The message: You can workout and not leak. The proof: There ARE women who do CrossFit and other forms of high level fitness and do not leak.
Incontinence is just one way of identifying a pelvic floor insufficiency. It is a signal that an imbalance in the deep core system exists. The deep core is a closed pressure system; an insufficiency in any component will impact the capacity of the whole. It is generally considered that athletes, especially elite athletes, have good core strength and support, however with this incidence of incontinence, the athletes’ actual core strength must be reconsidered.
Some effort has been made to understand the issue. Kruger et al ( 2007) looked at excursion of the bladder neck with a breath hold. (valsalva) in athletes. The bladder neck of athletes moved through a larger distance as compared to non- athletes. This was hypothesized to be a result of the consistent impact of running, and jumping. The athletes also had a thicker pelvic floor muscle and it was therefore assumed they also had improved capacity to recruit muscles. Perhaps, since they were not incontinent, this muscle thickness balanced the excessive bladder neck excursion. These athletes may not have been incontinent but they did complain of hip, low back or pubic pain? A pelvic floor imbalance in the deep core system can contribute to other issues as well. Pain, joint instability and incontinence are all just signals that the system as a whole needs attention.
What is the take away message from these athletes studies for recreational athletes and fitness enthusiast? The first studies should wake us up to the prevalence of incontinence among females who pursue fitness. The Kruger et al study gives us a window into what happens to pelvic floors that are asked to impact load repetitively, as they would for a committed runner. Add the effect of pregnancy and delivery pelvic floor strength, function, and fascial integrity and the situation could be even more striking in terms of excessive motion, lack of organ support, and added vulnerability to dysfunction.
For these folks out there treating female runners who present with back pain (a common pelvic organ prolapse complaint) or even knee pain due to instability at the hip, the understanding of what is happening at the pelvic floor while they are running or holding their breath during resistance training is critical. The closed pressure system of the deep core may have a fault that must be addressed. We must understand and acknowledge what we can not visualize in females that pursue fitness and sport, especially when evidence suggests weakness in core stabilization that places women at risk for future dysfunction.
A few insightful questions on your intake forms that may help to identify individuals who would benefit from further assessment or referral for physical therapy. Ask your patients any of the following: Do you experience unwanted leaking of urine with exercise or sport? Do you experience leaking of urine with lifting, sneezing, coughing, or laughing? Have you had any pregnancies? How many deliveries, and what type of deliveries? Can you retain a tampon? All of these questions give you some clues as to the capacity of the deep core pressure system as a whole. One other clue, if they complain of hip pain that has not responded to more conservative measures, the pelvic floor may be the culprit.
Thyssen H H, Clevin L, Olesen, Lose G. Urinary incontinence in elite female athletes and dancers. Int Urogyecol J. 2002;13:15-17
Dockter M, Kolstad AM, Martin KA, Schiwal LI. Prevalence of urinary incontinence: a comparative study of collegiate female athletes vs. non -athletic controls. JWHTP. 2007;31:12-17.
Figures CC, Boyle KL, et al. Pelvic floor activity and urinary incontinence in weight bearing female athletes vs. non-athletes. JWHTP. 2008;32:7-11.
Nygaard IE, et al. Urinary incontinence in elite nulliparous athletes. Obstet Gynecol. 1994;84:183-187.
Chronic Constipation
Pokémon Go Stretching
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senschang@senate.michigan.gov
Stephanie Chang
Selfie observation decks, bike rack contest part of Gordie Howe bridge perks
The team building the Gordie Howe International Bridge announced Friday a significant package of community benefits to aid the communities in Windsor and southwest Detroit most impacted by the project.
Among the dozens of pieces, the package includes initiatives for job training and hiring, for using minority and local firms as contractors, and for greening and streetscape improvements in both communities.
And state Sen. Stephanie Chang, a Democrat who represents the Delray district in southwest Detroit where the bridge will land, said in a statement that she was thrilled with the benefits package.
“This marks a crucial milestone in a long journey for the Delray and southwest Detroit communities,” she said. “Today’s announcement is an important testament to the tenacity and perseverance of residents in my district, as well as the strong relationship we have developed over the years with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and the State of Michigan.”
https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/john-gallagher/2019/06/14/gordie-howe-bridge-detroit-windsor/1456743001/
Senator Chang's 2019 End of Year Newsletter Senior Summit Senator Chang on US Steel idling River Rouge plant
Get updates from Stephanie
Privacy Policy 517-373-7346 senschang@senate.michigan.gov
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Expert calls AAJ's confidentiality agreement into question
By Justin Anderson | Feb 14, 2011
von Spakovsky
A legal expert says it's suspicious that the American Association for Justice would impose a confidentiality agreement on members to attend the group's winter convention.
Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow and manager of The Heritage Foundation's Civil Justice Reform Initiative, says the agreement is unusual.
"I am not sure I have ever seen a 'secrecy' agreement at a convention of lawyers," von Spakovsky told Legal Newsline. "I guess they really don't want anyone to know their latest strategies for attacking the business community, health care providers and others whom they view as 'deep pocket' defendants with their latest frivolous lawsuits."
Want to get notified whenever we write about American Association for Justice ?
Sign-up Next time we write about American Association for Justice, we'll email you a link to the story. You may edit your settings or unsubscribe at any time.
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Friends of Scottish PEN
History of Scottish PEN
The PEN Charter
DAY OF THE IMPRISONED WRITER
Scottish Chilling
Defamation Reform
Many Voices
90th Anniversary Touring Exhibition
Writers at Risk
Writers in Exile
Writers for Peace
PENning Magazine
Lesser Wearie Writing Retreat
Surveillance Campaign
To write on behalf of Raif Badawi you can sign our online form letter or contact the Writers at Risk convener Jane Archer at janearcher22@yahoo.co.uk.
Raif Badawi was arrested in 2012 on a charge of “insulting Islam through electronic channels” for his blog and was brought to court on several charges, including apostasy, which would have brought a mandatory death penalty.
In 2013, he was convicted on several charges and sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes. He appealed.
A year after his original conviction, in 2014, his sentence was increased to 10 years in prison, 1000 lashes, and a fine. The flogging was to be carried out over 20 weeks.
The first 50 lashes were administered publicly in a Jeddah square in January, 2015. The second flogging has been postponed more than twelve times, ostensibly for health reasons – Badawi is a diabetic of slim build and is known to have hypertension. His health, not surprisingly, is reported to have worsened since the flogging.
His lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair, is also in prison with a sentence of 15 years.
Human rights activist Samar Badawi, Waleed’s wife and Raif Badawi’s sister, has recently been arrested for allegedly operating his Twitter account.
Ensaf Haidar, Badawi’s wife, and their three children fled to Canada after her life was threatened. At the PEN International Congress in 2015, Ensaf spoke, thanking PEN Quebec for their hospitality, moving a 250-strong conference to tears.
Raif Badawi has a special connection to Scotland as he stayed here in 2007 after previously being out of favour with the Saudi government.
Scottish PEN is the Scottish branch of PEN International campaigning for freedom of expression, oppressed writers, and marginalised linguistic groups.
Scottish PEN is a registered Scottish Charity with the charity number SC008772. Scottish PEN is a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation).
Writer’s Museum,
Lady Stairs House,
EH1 2PA
info@scottishpen.org
Theme: Scottish PEN by Becca Inglis © 2020
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CMBC Alumni attend the Annual Ocean Gala during Capitol Hill Ocean Week
CMBC Alumni attend Ocean Gala Award Ceremony
Dr. Nancy Knowlton, CMBC founding director, was awarded the National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to coral research, science communication and marine science education.
Young professionals whose careers have been shaped by Dr. Knowlton’s efforts span the globe as leaders and influencers, shaping US ocean policy in the halls of Congress and conducting research that combines the natural and social sciences to inform decision making. Pictured here with Drs Jeremy Jackson and Nancy Knowlton are some CMBC alumni who attended the gala. Matt Mulrennan Dr. Miriam Goldstein, Kim McIntyre, Dr. Ayana Johnson, and Shannon Yee.
Our Daily Planet – Heroines of the Week: Two Long Time Ocean Champions
California Sea Grant selects three CMBC alumni
NOAA Sea Grant has announced the finalists for the incoming class of the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellows. Four finalists nominated by California Sea Grant will begin placements in Washington D.C. in February 2020. Three of these finalists are CMBC Alumni.
Congratulations to Jennifer Lee, Kaitlyn Lowder, and Kat Montgomery
This fall, the they will travel to Washington, D.C., to interview with several executive or legislative offices. Following placement, they will begin their fellowship in February 2020
Executive appointments for the 2019 Knauss fellows included placements throughout the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as with Department of the Interior, National Science Foundation, U.S. Navy, and other agencies. Legislative placements included the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (Minority), the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Majority), the Senate Commerce Committee (Majority and Minority), the House Committee on Natural Resources (Minority), and several placements in both majority and minority of offices.
Jennifer, Kaitlyn and Kat will join another 28 alumni who now work in Washington, D.C. Twenty Four of these alumni were Knauss Fellows.
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Winter Rules Changes Focus on Safety
MHSAA News
Posted Tuesday, December 6, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Seasons are underway for teams participating in 12 winter sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments, with a continuing focus on safety highlighting rules changes taking effect with the first days of competition.
Beginning with ice hockey’s first games Nov. 14, six sports started play during the final weeks of November, while the rest will be underway by the end of this week; Wrestling on Dec. 7 and Boys and Girls Skiing on Dec. 10 will be the final winter sports to begin competition.
Basketball, wrestling and ice hockey are among sports with noticeable changes to enhance safety this winter. In basketball, a change has been made to further protect the free-throw shooter from being displaced immediately after attempting a shot. Players occupying marked free-throw lane spaces may enter the lane on the release of the ball but may not touch or cross the free-throw line extended, into the semicircle, until the ball is released and touches the ring or backboard. Other players not occupying marked lane spaces may not have either foot beyond the vertical plane of the free-throw line extended and the 3-point line which is farther from the basket until the ball touches the ring or until the free throw ends. Both are designed to keep the free-throw shooter free from contact and alone in the semicircle directly following the shot attempt.
Also in basketball, non-playing personnel including cheerleaders, media and school supervisors must remain outside the playing area during a timeout 30 seconds or shorter. Non-playing personnel also must remain throughout the game in the areas between the free-throw lines extended and sidelines, to provide a safer environment free of possible collisions for both playing and non-playing personnel.
Officials will be on the lookout in wrestling for a hold that could lead to a competitor being dropped to the mat after a lift without the ability to use his or her arms to break the fall because they are trapped as part of the hold. If a wrestler, from a standing position, is placed in a body lock with one or both arms trapped, the offensive wrestler is required to safely return that defensive wrestler to the mat through a variety of legal moves. Officials will stop the match if a lift is coming or imminent that would result in the defensive wrestler being unable to break his or her fall because of an arm trap.
Hockey contact to the head or neck area will be penalized with multiple levels of severity in 2016-17, depending on the extent and intent of that contact. If contact to the head or neck area is deemed to be direct – that is, with the initial force of the contact occurring to the neck or head area – that contact will be considered a flagrant foul and result in a major penalty or game disqualification. If the contact is deemed indirect – with the initial force of the contact beginning below the neck and progressing upward to the head or neck area – the result will be a minor penalty unless the indirect contact is deemed by officials to be flagrant, which again will result in a major or game disqualification.
Also of note in hockey, all players (excluding goaltenders) must now take a stationary position on all faceoffs before the puck is dropped. By eliminating motion prior to faceoffs, this rule change is designed to also eliminate any possible advantage gained by players previously working for better position.
The 2016-17 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls and Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 18, and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 25. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Districts – March 6, 8 & 10
Regionals – March 13 & 15
Quarterfinals – March 21
Semifinals – March 23-24
Finals – March 25
Districts – Feb. 27, March 1 & 3
Regionals – March 7 & 9
Girls & Boys Bowling
Team Regionals – Feb. 24
Singles Regionals – Feb. 25
Team Finals – March 3
Singles Finals – March 4
Districts – Feb. 17-18
Regionals – Feb. 25
Finals: March 3-4
Regionals – March 4
Team Finals – March 10
Individual Finals – March 11
Pre-Regionals – Feb. 27-March 3
Regional Finals – March 3-4
Quarterfinals – March 7-8
Semifinals – March 9-10
Girls & Boys Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 13-17
Finals – Feb. 27
Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving
U.P. Girls & Boys Finals – Feb. 18
L.P. Boys Diving Regionals – March 2
L.P. Boys Finals – March 10-11
Team Districts – Feb. 8-9
Individual Districts – Feb. 11
Individual Regionals – Feb. 18
Team Quarterfinals – Feb. 24
Team Semifinals & Finals – Feb. 25
Individual Finals – March 2-4
Hoops, Hockey Prep for Playoff Changes By Geoff Kimmerly Second Half editor The introduction of limited seeding at the District level for girls and boys basketball, and a shift in the pos...
Changes Accompany Start of Fall Practice By Geoff Kimmerly Second Half editor An assortment of game rules, preseason policy and postseason tournament changes will greet more than 100,000 hi...
Winter Sees Season Switch, Rules Changes By Geoff Kimmerly Second Half editor A switch in the starts of boys and girls basketball and a number of rules changes in various sports are notable...
Fall Sports Practices Begin Next Week By Geoff Kimmerly Special for Second Half More than 100,000 student-athletes will begin practices next week in nine sports in which the Michigan Hig...
Wrestling Additions Highlight Winter Rules Changes By Geoff Kimmerly Second Half editor The re-definition of the competition area to reward offensive wrestling in the down position is among the most ...
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Group Travel is More Fun!
ann@sjctravel.com
Explore Peru, Argentina & Brazil
Booking Dates
01/19/2020 through 11/30/2021
There are many sides to South America, from the energy of the cities, the beauty of the lansdcapes and the spirit of its people. Discover it all on this trip that winds through the Inca heartlands and jungles of Peru, the enigmatic cities and natural wonders of Argentina and the dynamism of Brazil’s vivacious Rio. See animals, meet locals, traverse trails and marvel at all the contrasts of this very special corner of the world.
Lima – Leader-led walking tour
Cusco – Orientation Walk
Cusco – Chocolate Museum Visit & Hot Chocolate
Sacred Valley – Community visit & lunch
Machu Picchu – Entrance and guided tour
Lake Titicaca – Boat tour & Homestay
Buenos Aires – Orientation walk
Ibera Wetlands – Day tour
Iguazu Falls – Entrance & tour of the Brazilian side of the falls
Iguazu Falls – Entrance & tour of the Argentinian side of the falls
Iguazu Falls – Guarani community visit
Rio de Janeiro – Corcovado, Christ the Redeemer & Farmer’s Market Urban Adventure
Marvel at the mother of all Inca cities, magical Machu Picchu. Enjoy a guided tour of the ruins and free time to explore on your own
Enjoy plenty of time in gorgeous Cusco, the perfect place to launch into further outdoor adventures, or simply relax and take in mountain views
The floating reed islands of Uros on Lake Titicaca are astounding in concept, construction and history. Take a boat tour on the world’s highest navigable lake and stay with a local family there
Discover Buenos Aires, Argentina’s sultry and sensual capital. Tour its best sights, then explore its many corners at your leisure, from the star-studded Recoleta cemetery to the tucked-away milongas (tango halls)
Explore the lush landscapes of the Ibera Wetlands in search of anacondas, otters, howler monkeys and a vast array of colourful birds
With included visits to Iguazu Falls from both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides, you’ll get the most out of this jaw-dropping natural wonder
Finish in Rio de Janeiro, where you’re free to stroll the sands of Copacabana, soar across town on the Sugarloaf Cable Car or delve into the city’s pulsing nightlife
Depart Time: -- - Arrive Time: --
Day 2 Cusco
Day 3 Aguas Calientes
Day 4 Machu Picchu / Cusco
Day 6 Puno
Day 7 Lake Titicaca (Homestay)
Day 9 Buenos Aires
Day 10 Buenos Aires
Day 11 Ituizangó
Day 12 Ibera Wetlands/Ituizangó
Day 13 Foz do Iguazu
Day 14 Iguazu Falls
Day 16 Rio de Janeiro
Buenos Aires is one of the largest cities of Latin America, a major world port, and Argentina’s commercial and social center. Heavily industrialized, he city is one of the world’s leading exporters of processed foods. It was founded in 1536, abandoned, then resettled in 1580, and was the first Latin American city to revolt (1810) against Spanish rule.
Officially independent in 1816, it became the capital of a united Argentina in 1862. It grew into an urban colossus in the late 19th century, when railroads into the agriculturally abundant pampa to the west began to supplement the great inland river transportation system that linked the city with Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil, and immigration from Europe increased. Famous landmarks include the 19th century cathedral, the opera house, and the many beautiful municipal parks.
Lima is on the Pacific coast and was founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro of Spain. It was considered the most important Spanish city in the Americas. Today the downtown area is a bustle of activity, the streets crowded with vendors and peasants who have moved in from the countryside. Lima has many treasures in its historical buildings and museums, especially the Gold Museum.
Rio de Janeiro, (rê´o dâ zhe-nâr´o) city (1990 est. pop. 6,042,000), SE Brazil, capital of Rio de Janeiro state, former capital of Brazil, on Guanabara Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil’s second largest city and principal port, Rio (as it is popularly called) has diverse manufactures and handles much of the nation’s foreign trade. It is predominantly a modern city, with a new airport and subway system. A cosmopolitan city, long the cultural center of Brazil, it is also its greatest tourist
attraction. Rio is celebrated for its pre-Lenten carnival and for its beautiful natural setting within an amphitheater of low mountains. Noted landmarks are Sugar Loaf Mt., which dominates the harbor, and Corcovado peak, with its colossal statue of Jesus. Founded by French Huguenots in 1555, the city was taken by Portugal in the 1560s. It replaced Bahia (now Salvador) as Brazil’s capital in 1763 and was supplanted by Brasília in 1960.
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Speed Force
Tracking the Flash – the Fastest Man Alive
Speed Reading: Super-Friends, Secret Identities, and More
Logan Mo Mott continues his Reviews of Flash vol.2, with issues #3 and #4, introducing the Kilg%re.
Comics Worth Reading reviews the All-New Super-Friends Hour.
CBR talks with Marc Guggenheim about “Character Assassination” in Spider-Man
The Comics Journal reprints an angry letter from Carmine Infantino regarding payments for some use of Black Canary. (via The Beat)
Comics in Crisis discusses the Worst-Kept Secret Identities, including Flash Wally West.
Comic Book Kingdom quotes a scene from Middleman in which the two leads discuss comic books, in particular the Flash.
And a bit off-topic, this list of Geek Gods tries to re-imagine the Greek/Roman pantheon with geek icons of today, with Stan Lee as Zeus, Majel Barret Roddenberry as Hera, Wil Wheaton as Hemes, and so forth.
This entry was posted in Creators, Fun, Round-Ups and tagged Carmine Infantino, Geek, Linkblogging, Marc Guggenheim, Middleman, Super Friends, Wally West on January 31, 2009 by Kelson.
Flash Movie Back From the Dead? Dan Mazeau Rumored on Script
Hot on the heels of Warner Bros. producer Charles Roven telling Sci Fi Wire that the Flash movie is “shrouded in mystery” but not actually dead, IESB reports that Dan Mazeau, writer of the upcoming Jonny Quest film, is writing a script.
IESB spoke with Roven, who would not confirm the news, but did talk about the character:
I was always a big fan of the comics. I was around for… Gosh, this is embarrassing, you know, the last two Flashes. The Flash that was the policeman and Kid Flash, Wally, and his uncle. Those are the two Flashes that I grew with, so I was excited to have the opportunity to try and see if I could actually translate those characters to the screen.
When the Flash movie was originally announced in 2004, David Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) was going to write and direct. He finished the script, but Warner Bros. thought it was too dark, and took him off the project. Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) was brought as the new director early in 2007, then replaced later that year by David Dobkin (Fred Claus), and the movie was re-positioned to spin out of the planned Justice League film.
Of course, all that fell apart, the Justice League film is basically on hold, and now Warner Bros. actually wants dark films. But rather than resurrect Goyer’s script, they’re apparently going back to the drawing board.
My cynical take: The original script probably featured Wally West as he took over from Barry Allen. With DC repositioning Barry Allen as the primary Flash, they probably didn’t want to muddy the waters with his successor.
Read up on the sordid history of the Flash Feature Film.
This entry was posted in Flash News, Media and tagged Dan Mazeau, Movie on January 30, 2009 by Kelson.
Review: Final Crisis #7
This is it. The conclusion to Grant Morrison’s tour-de-force exploration — and dismantling — of the DC Universe. Plagued by delays, DC finally brought in a committee of artists to finish the whole thing just one month after it was originally intended to wrap up.
The word I’d actually go for is bittersweet.
Final Crisis is more ambitious and, in a way, more epic than Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, or Infinite Crisis. They destroyed alternate universes, revised the current universe, or went back in time to adjust the beginning of the universe, but despite the fade-out pages in the middle of Zero Hour, none of those ever gave the impression that it was all over for the good guys, and they were left picking up the pieces.
In this issue we learn just how hard it is to kill a god. We learn what super-heroes do when they can’t save the world by fighting. Multiple plots by multiple characters come together, and we learn just why some characters are in the book in the first place.
The narrative structure has fragmented even further, with some events only getting a panel or two and maybe a caption, much of it told in flashback from the end of all things. I’ve been saying for several months that it’s a 12-issue story chopped down to 7 books, but now I’m beginning to think to really do justice to all the ideas presented, and all the plot threads, you’d have to expand it to at least 24 issues, possibly more.
There’s also a heavy meta-textual emphasis on story, which I suppose I should have expected after reading Superman: Beyond. Thinking about it, this goes back at least as far as Morrison’s run on Animal Man, in which the title character learned that he literally was a comic book character, with writers artists and editors dictating his life. But it also made some parts of the issue feel like I was reading Sandman (more about that later).
It’s only in these last two issues that I really felt like pieces of the story from tie-ins were missing. I didn’t have a problem with the bits of Batman’s story that were told only in “Last Rites,” or the story with Black Lightning and the Tattooed Man from “Submit.” But then I didn’t read either of those, and just took things in stride. I did read “Superman: Beyond,” and while I felt that the yellow submarine and the multiversal Superman mission would have worked fine without that story, the introduction and nature of Mandrakk the Dark Monitor still felt out of place, even after having read the side story. (Interesting: I just realized I’ve actually provided supporting evidence for my Final Crisis Theory of Impenetrability.)
Anyway, at this point I don’t think I can say anymore without revealing too much, so spoilers after the cut. Continue reading →
This entry was posted in Reviews and tagged Final Crisis, Grant Morrison on January 28, 2009 by Kelson.
Mark Waid: Incredible or Irredeemable?
Mark Waid has been in the comics news a lot this week, with two upcoming series.
Newsarama Interviews Mark Waid about his Incredibles comic, launching in March. (Coincidentally, I re-watched the film this weekend, and it definitely holds up.)
Then there’s the website and T-shirts proclaiming that Mark Waid is Evil (a sentiment with which certain *ahem* posters on the DC Message Boards would seem to agree). Robot 6 breaks the news that it’s a promo for a new ongoing series called Irredeemable, about what happens when the world’s greatest super-hero turns into the world’s greatest super-villain.
This has a “Look out, Jimmy! Superman’s turned EVIL!” rating of 10/10.
This entry was posted in Creators, Timely and tagged Incredibles, Irredeemable, Mark Waid on January 28, 2009 by Kelson.
This Week (Jan 28): Final Crisis, JSA
This week, Final Crisis finally concludes!
Final Crisis #7 of 7
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Doug Mahnke & Christian Alamy
Covers by J.G. Jones and Doug Mahnke
The dramatic finale to the epic, seven-part saga of the DC multiverse concludes with an apocalyptic battle for the soul of humanity that must be seen to be believed! Can the heroes of 52 Earths save the multiverse? And is the only way to save it, to change it forever?
On sale January 28 · 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US
Newsarama has a preview of FC #7
Written by Geoff Johns & Alex Ross
Art by Dale Eaglesham & Nathan Massengill
Cover by Alex Ross
“Black Adam and Isis” part 1 and a “Faces of Evil” issue! The new Justice Society regroups just in time to face one of their greatest and most personal enemies … Black Adam! The sorcerer Felix Faust has imprisoned the soul of Isis, Black Adam’s deceased wife. But the Black Marvel just figured that out, and nothing will save Faust from his wrath — nothing except maybe the Justice Society of America. And everybody will be in for a surprise when they discover how Isis has changed since her death at the hands of the Four Horsemen. Will she be a friend to the world … or will she be its destruction?
Other possible Flash appearances: Trinity and Faces of Evil: Kobra (seeing as Kobra was the main villain in Terminal Velocity).
This entry was posted in Out This Week on January 27, 2009 by Kelson.
Upcoming Coolness
Some entertainment stuff I’m looking forward to this year outside of the Flash mythos:
Movies: Coraline
YouTube also has the trailer in HD.
I discovered Sandman late, borrowing the trades from one of my (younger) brother’s friends around 1998 or so, then immediately tracking down my own copies. I lucked out and got a complete set on eBay for something like $70. Since then I’ve devoured most of Neil Gaiman’s work, be it in comics, prose, or movie form. The original novel of Coraline was very good, and it’s been adapted by the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is among my favorite movies…and what I’ve seen of the film suggests that they get it. It’s hard to believe it’s only two weeks away!
Other movies: Oddly enough, I’m only mildly interested in Terminator: Salvation, Transformers 2: Can’t Remember the Subtitle, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (the films have been steadily deteriorating after peaking with #3, IMHO), Star Trek, and Watchmen. I’ll probably see all of them, but none of them have me nearly as excited.
Comics, books, music, etc. after the cut: Continue reading →
This entry was posted in Off-Topic and tagged Cross-Post on January 27, 2009 by Kelson.
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Microsoft’s Cortana Set To Rival Siri and Google Now
Published: Mar 6, 2014 Last Updated: Jan 18, 2019 by Joshua Sophy In Technology Trends 5
Microsoft is set to introduce its own personal digital assistant very soon. “Her” name is Cortana. According to several reports, this service will be added to the Windows Phone 8.1 update in the next month or two.
If its launch is successful, Cortana could become a competitor to Apple’s Siri and even Google Now in the realm of digital assistants. These are services that can answer random questions, maintain your personal and work schedules, and even send you reminders of upcoming meetings or other deadlines.
Microsoft may not be completely sold on the name Cortana, though, according to The Verge. It could change by the time the update is released. Cortana, by the way, is the name of a female character [pictured below] in the video game Halo 5, another Microsoft product.
Microsoft’s new digital assistant will not appear as a female, as she does in the popular game. Instead, an animated circle appears when you request Cortana’s assistance. The circle spins while Cortana is listening to your questions and animates when it’s replying. Microsoft also claims it will develop a personality as its services are used more.
IGN details how Cortana will work. The features are essentially similar to Siri and Google Now. Cortana will use Web searches through Bing to provide answers to your questions. It will be able to be set up to address you as you’d like and it will also be able to be customized to scan emails for contacts and other scheduling information. That data will be stored in a Notebook that can be accessed later by you or Cortana.
Media reports suggest a recent investment in Foursquare by Microsoft indicates that Cortana may use a lot of location-based data to provide more pertinent information to you when you ask a question.
Another feature will be a personal notification system, IGN reports.
Here’s a leaked video supposedly showing Cortana being set up on Windows Phone 8.1:
Small business owners may be unimpressed with the geek factor connected to Microsoft naming a virtual assistant after a video game character. But Cortana could offer many features to rival Siri or Google Now for the dedicated Microsoft user.
Image: Video Still/Wikipedia
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Joshua Sophy
Joshua Sophy is the Assistant Editor for Small Business Trends and the Head of Content Partnerships. A journalist with 20 years of experience in traditional and online media, Joshua got his start in the rough and tumble newspaper business of Pennsylvania's coal region. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and was a beat reporter covering daily news. He eventually founded his own local newspaper, the Pottsville Free Press, covering his hometown. Joshua supervises the day-to-day operations of Small Business Trends' busy editorial department including the editorial calendar and outgoing assignments.
Would this work on my Surface tablet? If so I’d love to give it a try and see if it’s better than Google Now, which I like a lot on my Android phone.
Shawn Hessinger
Josh could probably speak better to this, but our understanding at the moment is that it would be for Windows Phone 8.1 update only. If anyone else has any additional information on this, comments would be welcome. Since information is coming out in dribs and drabs our picture of the service is spotty at best.
Shawn is right in saying that details on how and where Cortana will be implemented are not complete just yet. It is expected to be part of Windows Phone 8.1 but Microsoft hasn’t said how/if Cortana will be available on Surface or even just PCs.
Once more details emerge in the coming days and weeks, I’m sure we’ll be on top of it.
But this is still up for testing, right? If it really rivals Siri and Google Now as you have said, then I am expecting some people to shift to it. That includes me and my family. If it’s better, I may even remove the others.
Pingback: Microsoft's Cortana Assistant is Finally Here, Move Over Siri
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“This means that there is an ongoing need for recruitment in just about any business.”
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Examples of Financial Goals for Small Business
by Devra Gartenstein; Reviewed by Michelle Seidel, B.Sc., LL.B., MBA; Updated March 11, 2019
1 Evaluate an Income Statement as an Effective Financial Tool
2 Financial Business Objectives
3 How Does Profit and Production Cost Affect the Business?
4 Examples of Business Goal-Setting Theory
Small businesses are financial entities that must be fiscally self sustaining to continue operating, at least in the long term. Financial goals for a small business may involve achieving an attractive profit margin or reaching a specific tangible objective such as saving enough money to buy a particular piece of equipment. Whether financial goals are numerical or tangible, they should be specific enough that a business owner can clearly determine whether or not he has achieved them.
Profitability and Revenue
Profitability is the most basic financial goal of every small business. Profitability involves earning more revenue than you spend on operating expenses. Business revenue includes income from sales, interest on investments and rent on business property you own. Operating expenses include payroll, rent, materials, vehicle expense, advertising, utilities, interest payments, licenses and taxes.
Profitability goals for a small business should be sufficient to sustain stakeholders such as owners or shareholders and to enable the business to save money for expansion or capital reserves.
Margins and Percentage of Total Revenue
A profit margin is the percentage of total revenue that exceeds operating expenses. For example, if a business grosses $10,000 and has $7000 in operating expenses, then its profit is $3000, which is 30 percent of its revenue. Standards for profit margins vary by industry.
For example, a typical profit margin for a restaurant is about 2 to 5 percent. Comparing your profit margin to your industry's average is a starting point for setting a profit margin financial goal.
Cash Flow Accounting
Cash flow accounting represents your company's ability to maintain enough operating capital to cover basic expenses. Because of seasonal fluctuations and lags in payment due to billing arrangements, many businesses are unable to cover their cash flow needs strictly out of sales revenue and must secure some form of business financing such as a business line of credit. Cash flow goals may involve setting limits to financing incurred for off-season operations or designating time frames for paying back financing amounts.
Specific Financial Goals
Businesses often have specific tangible objectives that can improve operations and add to their bottom lines. For example, a retail store leasing a space may learn that the building owner plans to eventually sell the building, and the business may establish a goal of buying the property after a designated time. Achieving this financial goal involves developing a clear sense of how much it will cost to make a down payment and pay a mortgage on the building and then creating and strictly maintaining a budget.
Accounting Coach: Cash Flow Statement
Inc.: Profit Margin
Microsoft Office: Profit and Loss Statement
Devra Gartenstein is an omnivore who has published several vegan cookbooks. She has owned and run small food businesses for 30 years.
Gartenstein, Devra. "Examples of Financial Goals for Small Business." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-financial-goals-small-business-60254.html. 11 March 2019.
Gartenstein, Devra. (2019, March 11). Examples of Financial Goals for Small Business. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-financial-goals-small-business-60254.html
Gartenstein, Devra. "Examples of Financial Goals for Small Business" last modified March 11, 2019. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-financial-goals-small-business-60254.html
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History of Diamonds | Cape Town Diamond Museum
THE HISTORY OF DIAMOND MINING AND DIAMONDS IN SOUTH AFRICA. The 1867 discovery of diamonds in the Cape Colony, South Africa, radically modified not only the world's supply of diamonds but also the conception of them.
Mining: winners and losers of 2017 | Statistics South Africa
Mining: winners and losers of 2017. The 2017 Mining Charter published by government in June has seen its fair share of debate, opening intense discussions on the industry's future. . 2 The decreasing importance of gold mining in South Africa (read here). 3 Environment economic accounts compendium, 2017, Table 4.9 (download here).
Dodgy mine mogul's new Zim play | News | Africa | M&G
Dodgy mine mogul's new Zim play . Andrew Groves, with his history of suspect African mining deals, is back on the block, boasting of his links with the new president . South Africa's system .
GB Bearings
GB Bearings (Pty) Ltd has been in operation in South Africa since 1962, having a network of facilities situated in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town. . (South African Mining Preferential Procurement Forum). A copy of our B-BBEE certificate can be downloaded from the Downloads link.
17 South African Coal Mining Industry Statistics, Trends .
The South African coal mining industry is responsible for 28% of the total mineral sales which occur during the average year, which leads the mining sector. Platinum follows in second, with 21% of all sales, followed by gold at 15% of total sales.
Mining in SA - Minerals Council South Africa
Economic activity in modern-day South Africa has been centred on mining activities, their ancillary services and supplies. The country's stock exchange in Johannesburg was established in 1887, a decade after the first diamonds were discovered on the banks of the Orange River, and almost simultaneously with the gold rush on the world-famous Witwatersrand.
NDP to drive radical economic transformation in mining .
The Investing in African Mining Conference showcase is aimed at updating international and local investors of developmental plans for South Africa as part of the events of the Mining Indaba. "We need to implement the NDP effectively to drive radical economic transformation through a diversified mining .
Where to from here southern Africa? | MiningFeeds
Where to from here southern Africa? Feb 16, 2018 . The mining industry in South Africa, and in fact, in Africa, will be driven by junior mining companies, especially in the exploration sector. . of African Rainbow Minerals). Patrice's older sister, and thus Ramaphosa's sister-in-law, Bridgette Radebe, is a mining mogul in her own right .
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South Africa | History, Map, & Facts | Britannica
South Africa is the only country to have produced nuclear weapons and then voluntarily dismantled and destroyed them. On March 24, 1993, South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk informed the country's parliament that South Africa had secretly produced six nuclear devices and had.
South Africa: Mining Records a Drop in Occupational .
7 days ago · South Africa: Mining Records a Drop in Occupational Fatalities. tweet. share. Google+. comment. email. more. The Mineral Resources Department has recorded a 10% decrease in occupational fatalities.
Africa's 50 Richest 2015: South African Tycoons Overtake .
Nov 18, 2015 · Seven members of the 2014 list dropped off, including mining mogul Desmond Sacco of South Africa and telecom tycoon Strive Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe (read more about the dropoffs here).
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Mining deaths decline | SAnews
Minister Zwane said South Africa's mining sector is now comparing favourably in terms of the fatality rates in other countries such as the United States and Canada. . congratulated investigators and prosecutors who worked on the murder case of property mogul, Jason Rohde. The property mogul was convicted for the murder of his wife Susan .
List of companies of South Africa - Wikipedia
South Africa is the southernmost country in Africa. It is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area, and with close to 56 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an upper-middle-income economy, and a newly industrialised country.
The 11 Black Billionaires On The Forbes List In 2018
South African, Mining. Patrice Motsepe is the founder and CEO of African Rainbow Minerals, a listed mining company that owns ferrous and base metals, platinum and coal operations in South Africa. He is also the founder of African Rainbow Capital, an investment firm .
Mining in South Africa - Projects IQ
Gold mining in South Africa. Across the globe, where new discoveries of gold are becoming increasingly rare and in inhospitable locations, South Africa's goldfields still offer excellent opportunities for gold miners, with estimated reserves of 6 000 tons. Gold mining in South Africa accounts for around 10% of global gold production.
Coal is largest revenue generator in South African mining .
He pointed out that mining was the largest contributor to South Africa's foreign exchange earnings with a 40% share and within mining, the coal sector was the largest revenue generator outweighing the gold and platinum mining sectors.
The top ten richest Zimbabweans of 2014 - The South African
The top ten richest Zimbabweans of 2014 Our list of the ten wealthiest Zimbabweans includes telecommunications entrepreneur Strive Masiyiwa, mining and transport mogul Billy Rautenbach and .
South African mining a 'complex business' – UFS Vice .
"With South Africa's gold production accounting for only 4% of global gold production, new investment in this sector is highly unlikely in South Africa." Although the platinum mining .
Jobs At Federal-Mogul In Pinetown, KZN, South Africa .
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Infants don't get their own seat on the plane, they will travel on your lap. South African Airways offers special assistance to make travelling more pleasurable and comfortable for our youngest flyers and their parents. More info
South Africa gold mining: What lies at the bottom of one .
A South African gold mine that goes two miles beneath the Earth's surface holds far more than just precious metals . South African gold mining especially has always been at the center of all .
5 ultra-rich black South Africans - BusinessTech
Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe is a South African mining magnate. He is the founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, which has interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and .
10 Top Business Leaders - Africa
As South Africa's first black mining entrepreneur and president of the country's largest mining chamber, the South African Mining Development Association, Bridgette is a shining example that women power is an unstoppable force.
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Patrice Motsepe launches new investment firm. . Motsepe is a South African mining magnate and founder and executive chairperson of African Rainbow Minerals. . Mining mogul Patrice Motsepe's .
The Total cost of offshore mining for South Africa .
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Mining jobs found in Africa. Get daily mining job alerts. New mining job vacancies on Careermine. Toggle navigation. Jobs . Mining Jobs in Africa. Mining jobs found in Africa. Get daily mining job alerts. New mining job vacancies on Careermine. . Richards Bay, KZN, South Africa February 14. Specialist, Sourcing Hot! Johannesburg, South .
South-African-Mines - Mining Artifacts
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Pizzi and Jardel rue Benfica's Ajax reverse
Ajax left it late to sink Benfica in the Champions League, with Pizzi and Jardel feeling short-changed for their toil at Johan Cruyff Arena.
Dom Farrell
Jardel and Pizzi marshall Hakim Ziyech - Getty Images
Pizzi felt the injury-time heartache suffered by Benfica at Ajax was an unfair reflection on its Champions League efforts in Amsterdam.
The sides looked set to end a pulsating encounter with the deadlock intact, but Ajax right-back Noussair Mazraoui had other ideas, lashing a deflected drive past the helpless Odisseas Vlachodimos in stoppage time.
Ajax is now level with Bayern Munich at the top of Group E, with Benfica four points shy of the qualification places – making the return clash in Portugal in two weeks' time a vital one for Rui Vitoria's men.
READ: Ajax 1 Benfica 0: Last-gasp Mazraoui seals dramatic win
"I think it was an unfair result, conceding a goal in the last play of the game," experienced midfielder Pizzi said, as quoted by UEFA.com.
"We started well, balanced, knowing what we want, facing a very hard opponent, who likes to have the ball. We had chances but unfortunately we didn't score."
Benfica captain Jardel sounded a similarly crestfallen tone. "One goal at the end left us very sad, after all we've done," he said.
ALSO READ: I really missed that winning feeling – Kroos
"I think we played a great match. We had our chances, unfortunately we didn't score. Next, we'll play them at home and we'll work to play another great game and look for the win in Lisbon."
Jardel added: "It was a balanced match. Unfortunately, we conceded in the last minute. If we stay working like this and focused in our goals, we may go through."
Mazraoui was Ajax's hero for the second Champions League game in a row, having netted in a draw away to Bayern Munich.
ALSO READ: Simeone glad to have Costa back for Dortmund clash
"When you score in the 92nd minute, in the expectation that it's probably going to end 0-0, then the whole stadium explodes with joy. That's exactly how we felt too," the defender told reporters.
"I have no explanation of why I've scored two goals of such importance. But, I'd have been equally as happy if Hakim [Ziyech] or Dusan [Tadic] or one of the other forwards had got the goals instead of me."
"Even though it was goalless towards the end of the game I still wanted to get forward. That shows the way we like to play; with attacking full-backs. So, maybe it's not surprising that both myself and Nicolas [Tagliafico] have each scored twice in the Champions League so far."
Swapan Sadhan Bose named president of Mohun Bagan
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Life and Death, Enemies Directly in Front
Feng Yu Heng was extremely shocked and suddenly turned around, reaching out with her small hands to capture them.
But just as she extended her arm, she immediately stopped. She then blankly stared at the person in front of her and said: “Seventh brother.” She then asked: “Why are you here?”
The person that had come was indeed the seventh prince, Xuan Tian Hua, as he raised his index finger and brought it to his lips, gesturing for her to keep quiet. He pulled her over to a small path to the side. After turning left and right countless times, they finally stopped. He pointed forward and quietly said: “Go in from here. Follow the small path and you will find a rockery. That rockery is hollow, and third brother’s secret room is inside. The person you are looking for is most likely in there.”
Feng Yu Heng was still curious, “Seventh brother, why would you be here?”
Xuan Tian Hua helplessly said: “Your hidden guard lost track of you. He did not dare look for Ming’er, so he came to me.”
Feng Yu Heng facepalmed. That damn Ban Zou.
“Then when… when did you find me?” He should not have seen her suddenly appearing, right?
“The moment I called you was the moment I found you.” Xuan Tian Hua slightly raised the corner of his lips as he spoke to her: “I don’t recommend going in. That rockery has plenty of mechanisms, and there are people guarding it on the outside. Even if you suppress the guards, as soon as you press the mechanism to open the door, the people inside will immediately find out. Aside from that door, there is no other entrance.”
Feng Yu Heng furrowed her brow and pondered for a long time before asking: “What about inside? Will there be people guarding the inside?”
Xuan Tian Hua said: “There are no people inside. Third brother never keeps people inside his secret room.”
“That’s good.” She nodded then looked at Xuan Tian Hua: “Seventh brother, do you believe in me?”
He was startled then asked: “You want to go in on your own?”
“Yes.” Feng Yu Heng was extremely resolute, “If seventh brother is not at ease, just wait for me here. When I have finished my business, I will come back here to meet up with you.”
Xuan Tian Hua shook his head, “That’s no good.”
Feng Yu Heng was a little anxious. A great deal of time had passed. If she did not go in now, she feared that they would be coming out after finishing their discussion. Would she not have wasted her time in coming here.
While she was thinking, she came up with an idea and suddenly pointed forward, saying: “Look.”
Xuan Tian Hua subconsciously turned his head, but the instant he turned his head, he felt regret. He reached out to grab Feng Yu Heng, but she still managed to escape his grasp. Quickly turning back around, the girl in front of him had already disappeared.
He knew that Feng Yu Heng knew martial arts; however, he did not know that her qinggong would be good enough to cause Ban Zou to lose track of her. He had even had her in front of him, yet it was still the same result.
Xuan Tian Hua could not help but begin to worry. At the same time, he increased his pace and rushed along the small path.
Unfortunately, he had put forth his best effort to find her, yet he was still unable to find any trace of Feng Yu Heng.
But at this time, Feng Yu Heng had made use of her space to enter the rockery. She would enter her space practically every other step. Moving forward a little bit at a time, she did not dare make a single sound. In fact, she did not even dare breathe. On her 23rd step, she finally heard sound coming from inside.
“He is the current prime minister. Although he has no martial ability, he is the model for all civil servants. Although all scholars respect Yun Lu Academy the most, how many are able to enter Yun Lu Academy? Of the remaining people, however, the majority respect Feng Jin Yuan. During the imperial examination this Spring, more than half of the students will be attributed to him. Tell me, is Feng Jin Yuan important to this prince or not?”
At this time, Xuan Tian Ye’s voice was somber and quiet. Immediately following this, a woman’s voice spoke up: “This one has already married into the Feng family and will naturally ensure that he continues to support you. But would your Highness not forget the promise to Qian Zhou.”
“Eldest princess, do not worry. When the day comes that I, Xuan Tian Ye, ascend to the Emperor’s throne, I will definitely give the three northern-most provinces to Qian Zhou.”
“Good!” Kang Yi’s voice clearly became a little emotional, but she very quickly began to cause a fuss once more, “But I never thought that your Da Shun would have someone as unreasonable as Prince Yu! This time, he extorted me of five million taels of gold. If this were Qian Zhou, This one would definitely ask for his head!”
“Hmph!” Xuan Tian Ye snorted coldly, “Isn’t his temper the result of father Emperor spoiling him! But speaking of, it’s also because your Qian Zhou was incompetent. At that time, this prince used a great deal of time to inquire about his army’s situation, and I expended a great deal of energy to have him sent to the Northwest. But your Qian Zhou’s divine archery group only took care of his legs and face. His life is perfectly intact.”
Kang Yi was a little annoyed: “The enemy was extremely slippery, and that place was Da Shun’s territory. Qian Zhou’s divine archery group had to move in secret. They could not flourish as well as they could in Qian Zhou. Not to mention entering the Northwest, if it were not for Feng Jin Yuan secretly helping and providing documents, perhaps we would not have even been able to enter Da Shun. But speaking about it, it really is a pity. If that Prince Yu really died in the Northwest, there would not have been so many problems. If Prince Yu had no power, that county princess Ji An would also have no support. In such a large capital, wouldn’t Prince Xiang be the one with the most influence.”
Feng Yu Heng did not have the heart to continue listening. Just a few words were enough to cause her blood to boil. An anger welled up in her chest, as it surged like a stormy sea and caused her to feel a little dizzy.
She had already suspected that Xuan Tian Ming being trapped in the mountains of the Northwest was the result of a traitor, and Feng Jin Yuan going to the North to relieve the disaster was aided by the enemy, but those were just guesses. But she never thought that she would clearly hear confirmation of it on this day.
Her hand had already entered her space and pulled out an anesthetic needle; however, when she thought once more, she made use of the last of her reasoning.
If she rushed in to kill Xuan Tian Ye and Kang Yi, she trusted that she could do it, but what would happen after their deaths? Suddenly, a prince and the eldest princess of Qian Zhou would have died without any rhyme or reason. Qian Zhou would definitely become unhappy.
Of the four smaller countries, Qian Zhou and Gu Shu were the biggest problems because one was extremely cold and one was extremely hot. The generals of Da Shun lacked experience in leading battles in such situations. If the enemy truly became unhappy, Da Shun’s three northern-most provinces would be hard to protect. Moreover, her Divine Intent army had not finished its training. At present, the divine archery group of Qian Zhou was a non-trivial threat to Da Shun.
Thinking like this, Feng Yu Heng put down the needle that she held in her hand. Doing her best to calm herself down, she began to backpedal. When she finally left the suffocating cave, she happened to appear behind Xuan Tian Hua.
Xuan Tian Hua managed to feel someone moving behind him almost instantly. Quickly turning around, he immediately saw Feng Yu Heng with a pale complexion, gritting her teeth. Having been given a fright, he reached out and supported her, quietly asking: “What happened? Why is your complexion so poor?” While saying this, he looked to the back and did not notice any movement. “Heng Heng!”
“Seventh brother.” She finally spoke, but her voice was very weary, “Send me home.”
Xuan Tian Hua furrowed his brow and wanted to speak up once more, but the words that reached his lips could not be spoken, instead, changing to: “Alright, seventh brother will send you home.”
Feng Yu Heng did not even know how she left the manor. She only knew that Xuan Tian Hua held her tightly the entire time. Hurriedly rushing along with the use of qinggong, they flipped over a wall. When they finally touched down, they had reached the wall of a courtyard not too far from the main entrance of the Xiang Palace.
She suddenly regained her senses and grabbed Xuan Tian Hua’s sleeve, saying: “Seventh brother, wait a moment.” After saying this, she reached into her sleeve, and after a short while, she actually pulled out a few fireballs.
Xuan Tian Hua could not understand how the fireballs were formed, but he could smell an odd scent. He then saw Feng Yu Heng throw them into the Xiang Palace. Only after throwing ten did she grab his sleeve and say: “Let’s go!”
The two basically fled back to the county princess’ manor. Although Xuan Tian Hua felt that this behavior was too bold, when he saw Feng Yu Heng finally reveal a smile after setting fire to the Xiang Palace, he felt that this fire was very worthwhile.
He did not know when it started, but as long as he saw this girl smile, he felt satisfied.
Xuan Tian Hua only left after personally seeing Feng Yu Heng enter the county princess’ manor; however, he did not know that after that girl entered the county princess’ manor, she immediately turned and went to the small entrance to Liu courtyard.
Nobody knew that the hatred in Feng Yu Heng’s heart burned along with the Xiang Palace!
It turned out that there were two enemies living in the Feng manor!
A ghostly figure floated into Yu Lan courtyard then floated to the bed where Feng Jin Yuan and Han shi lay. Shifting the curtain, a hand rushed to place a chokehold on Feng Jin Yuan’s neck.
However, this hand stopped an inch from its target.
The court’s prime minister and the model for all officials, the Emperor had his own reasons for not doing anything despite knowing of his collaboration with Xuan Tian Ye. Feng Jin Yuan had been a part of the court for 20 years. If she strangled him to death because she had lost her calm, even the Emperor would not pardon her nonsense.
Feng Yu Heng repeated to herself that she must calm down. After a long time, she finally pulled her hand back.
Feng Jin Yuan could not be killed. Kang Yi could not be killed. Xuan Tian Ye also could not be killed. She clearly knew who the enemy was, yet she could not do anything to any of them. How could someone like her endure this sort of agony?
Feng Yu Heng’s lungs were on the verge of exploding with anger!
Like a phantom, she left Yu Lan courtyard, but she did not return to Tong Sheng pavilion. Instead, she staggered out of the manor.
Ban Zou immediately appeared in front of her, grabbed her arm, frankly asking: “Where are you going now?” Then before waiting for Feng Yu Heng to respond, he added: “I will hold on to you like this. Don’t think of running off on your own.”
Feng Yu Heng glanced at him, her gaze causing Ban Zou to tremble and subconsciously let go. Startled, he asked: “I… I won’t hold on to you, so is there any need to glare at me like this?”
She shook her head and pulled Ban Zou, “I am not glaring at you, and I did not want to run off on my own again. It’s just that some of the things that I suspected have now been cleared up; however, I found that even if I knew about it, there’s nothing I can do. Do you know this feeling? Someone took a swing at you with a knife, nearly killing you. Now that you are in front of them, but you can’t kill them. Ban Zou, come with me to the Yu Palace. Let’s go look for Xuan Tian Ming. Have him spar with me or I will end up going crazy.”
Hearing that she wanted to visit the Yu Palace, Ban Zou finally let out a sigh of relief. Without saying another word, he grabbed Feng Yu Heng’s arm and began moving with qinggong.
Along the way, they passed by an intersection that led to the Xiang Palace. Seeing the light from some flames and countless people loudly shouted “Carrying water” his lips curled into a smile, as he lowered his head to ask her: “Did you start that?”
Feng Yu Heng snorted coldly, “It’s nothing more than the corner of the palace. Ban Zou, remember the words I will say today. Sooner or later, I will burn down the entire Xiang Palace! As for that Xuan Tian Ye, I will trap him on a mountain and turn him into a hedgehog with arrows!”
Ban Zou could feel a deep cold coming from Feng Yu Heng’s words. For some reason, he felt that the two things she mentioned could definitely happen. It was as though he could already see the scene of Xuan Tian Ye being pierced by arrows deep in a mountain. It was joyous and relieving.
The two soared over a wall and entered the Yu Palace. Ban Zou did not avoid anything. Upon entering they landed in the middle of the yard. At the same time, countless hidden guards came out of nowhere and surrounded them.
Feng Yu Heng sighed. This was a proper defense, and only this could be considered a palace displaying its power.
“It’s the princess.” Ban Zou only said a few words, but they all saw Feng Yu Heng. For a moment, they were startled before they disappeared back into the shadows, as a voice said: “The Yu Palace is free for princess to move around in!”
Wow, so many things happening…. first, XTH falling for the old trick, how silly! but I can see some feelings that i’d rather not see… (◕︵◕)
And that bastard FJY, do not expect to live another good day for the rest of your life, how dare you be the one who conspired to end with Ming’er’s life… your death will be painful but your life even more!
And that helplessness to take revenge when one’s heart is burning with hatred, our FYH’s has suffered great grievances T_T but we can see that more habits of XTM are rubbing on her since now she’s also an enthusiast arsonist
Let’s see how Ming’er will calm our HengHeng in the next chapter, maybe he’ll be able to spar already using his 2 healed legs?
argh Feng Jin Yuan how much i hate you!!
And thanks for tha chapter Haru!!
“I can see some feelings that i’d rather not see…”
Ugh. Same here. I just feel something painful squeeze my poor fragile heart.
Hopefully we are wrong, and it’s simply something different.. 🙁
Imagine how the Emperor is feeling & has been holding onto his emotions knowing this was going on. Emperor & A-heng both need a hug TT^TT. I feel like even XTM knows, but probably waited on his father’s orders or something.
I’m so glad XTH showed up this time. Tho I know his feelings might be blooming, it’s sad to see them wilt away later on. I hope those feelings are like those for one’s sibling…
iRead4Fun says:
Politics really puts a damper on revenge plans. A-Heng can only bide her time and wait. Well… she and XTM can cripple them financially (and then physically when the time comes) for the moment. Ugh. 😑😤
Thanks for the chapter, Springrain and sponsors! 😁
Let Xuan Tian Yi’s palace burn. Like fiance, like fiancee. Keke!
Xuan Tian Ye, you mean?
Tian Yi is the fourth prince, the ex-fiance of Bu Ni Shang..
Whoops. I don’t know why the emperor gave similar sounding names to the 3rd and 4th princes. My bad. Hehe!
wannawritestuffs says:
This chapter shows how low a human can be. But…. the good side is that Feng Hu Yeng is finally picking up Xuan Tian Ming’s habit of setting people home on fire! Keep up the good work, Heng Heng!
Pffff HAHAHAHA!!! My heart is filled with anger towards those despicable XTY, KY and FJY but please can we take a moment to appreciate how funny it was that XTH fell for that silly trick and also how Heng Heng set fire to the palace. I’m dying!! She’s becoming more and more like Ming’er!
ANIMEMANGA364 says:
Thnks for the chapter😁
Now now, FJY is basically the one who bring in those ‘assassins’ to take XTM. How f**king low he could be? You’re dead Feng Jin Yuan, you are dead. 🔥 🔥 🔥
Dr. Scissor says:
“As for that Xuan Tian Ye, I will trap him on a mountain and turn him into a hedgehog with arrows”
That would be a picturesque death.. I’I will wait patiently to read that beautiful chapter.
Poor A’heng. You want something and it’s right there but you can’t get it. Aiya! What’s a girl gotta do to get some revenge in this place? Well at least one of my predictions came true. 7th was the one who showed. But is a love triangle forming? No! Hua’er stop it immediately! You’re too precious to get your heart broken like this. Pack that shit back in and wait patiently for Xiang Rong to grow up, I beseech thee!!!
Kurai says:
I also wish they would end up together!!! Xiang Rong deserves happiness💗😭😭😭
Tian Hua does too.. 😄
This father doesn’t even know that he is going to have a terrible death from his own daughter.
She ulmost like Ming ‘Er.
I understad Ban Zou, the 9th prince would kill him for losing sight of the princess, i got to read of 7 th!! The poor guy, he always get worried for A-Heng, and also i would turn the tree of them into hedgehogs too!! Thanks for the chapter 😘
Shabra says:
Acting in rage is not her forte. Setting up that fire was a really stupid idea. At last her reasoning was not totally lost.
She should really work on that part or she will need to take pills against high blood pressure before she turns 15, from living at feng family.
Thanks for the entertainment!
Purple lotus flower says:
Way to dig your own grave…. *Snorts coldly
I just feel like playing the song “I don’t wanna set the world on fire”, but i always tought it really said “I just wanna set the world on fire!”
BURN, BURN IT ALLL.
IF qian zhou is cold most of the year, you just have to burn it all xD
I almost feel bad for Ru Jia, she’s a spoiled brat sure… but now there’s absolutely nothing but Death awaiting her after being horribly tortured in front of her mother as just the start of breaking the Eldest Princess. Her end will be even less pleasant then KY I fear.
soulesswarrior says:
Lol, so we knew they were all going to die, but the real question now is how badly will they suffer to death with these new learnings!
Thanks for the chapter Springrain💕
Thanks for the chapter! I feel terrible for her. The villains could have been ended so easily, yet she had to stop. It’s torture! They need a very, very painful death!
mondox41 says:
If the third prince and Kang Yi were killed together in the middle of the night. It would look like they were having an affair, and someone jealous killed them both. Then Feng Jin Yuan would be the primary suspect, and he might be executed. Once A-Heng completes her steel swords, they will not have to worry about a small country. So, what is the problem?
Thank God it was only a part of the Xiang Palace that got burned..
Otherwise, where would poor Princess Xiang live? 😕
Hope she gets away from Xuan Tian Ye’s clutches before the palace burns for real, and Xuan Tian Ye faces his demise..
Ban Zou: Damn!! I’ll be dead! *goes back and forth between Yu Palace and Tian Hua’s palace*
7th Prince! i lost track of Princess on the Way to Xiang Palace. I beg 7th Prince.
Hua’er: (Should I laugh or cry?? is this guy trying to find someone he can die together w/? poor me) Ban Zou,You coming for my help instead to your master… your position in Ming’er’s is leveling down.
Ban Zou: “I will hold on to you like this. Don’t think of running off on your own.”
A-Heng: I only took a glanced granny!! You coming to find 7th brother for help… your life will be in danger in Xuan Tian Ming.
Ban Zou: Mistress, when did you become the combination of 7th Prince and master??
A-heng: *smack ban Zou’s head*
Thank You springrain and co.! yay!
I feel A-heng… that wanting to strangle someone infront of you, but unable to! The best medicine for her is to have Ming’er.
Ban Zou!! oh Ban Zou… when did you start betraying Ming’er?? ahaaahahahah… it just means you really don’t want to be taken away from A-Heng.
Never have I thought the appearance of Hua’er… fufuuu… I feel love in the air…
Ah.. A-Heng, this girl is on fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiire!!
Well, looks like my favourite characters are these hidden guards.. XD
Thanks for the chapters!
make sure those arrows have spikes, hooks, or poison on them. or all three, but make sure he doesnt die too fast
Poison him or something. Still atleast she has everything cleared up
Leave a Reply to otakuandrain Cancel reply
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Missing Element Needed to Discover What Happened to MH370 Revealed by Author
© AP Photo / Joshua Paul
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201907291076399141-missing-element-needed-to-discover-what-happened-to-mh370/
Pondering on the chain of events that led to the plane’s disappearance, the author argued that without learning why the person piloting the airliner performed a certain manoeuvre, one may never find out what fate ultimately befell Flight MH370.
Commenting on the enigmatic disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 in 2014, pilot and author Sylvia Wrigley, who previously compared all the secrecy surrounding this event to Area 51 conspiracy theories, has recently suggested that one particular factor currently makes this mystery "impossible to solve," according to the Daily Star.
During an interview with the newspaper, Wrigley likened the MH370 disappearance mystery to a jigsaw puzzle where "we've put together the four corners and most of the edging".
"If it was a plot, then why hasn't anyone spoken up? If it was suicide, then why take so many risks and go such a long-winded away about it? If it was alien abduction, then why are they so damn incompetent after all these years?" she inquired.
As Wrigley explained, it all comes down to discovering the reason why the pilot turned the airliner around prior to the disappearance, as "the person in control of the aircraft had a reason — get back to the home airport, fulfil the demands of hijackers, disappear from the known route, or something else we haven't thought of."
"My personal belief is that something else went wrong, some other unexpected event which interrupted the course of events. What we need to know, if we are going to unravel this, is the motive behind that first turn", she said. "Without knowing why Captain Shah or someone else turned off course in the first place, we can't make sense of what happened next and why that plan, whatever it was, was interrupted".
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished above the South China Sea while en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur in March 2014, after making a leftward detour and flying toward the Indian Ocean; large-scale search operations launched after the plane’s disappearance have yielded no results.
Amateur MH370 Sleuth Claims Found Note “From Doomed Passenger”
MH370 Pilot Controlled Ill-Fated Flight ‘Until the End’ - Reports
MH370 Hunt: ‘Mysterious’ 89-Kilogram Load Could Be Proof of Stowaway Hijacker Theory
theory, motive, pilot, disappearance, MH370
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Russia's Latest Move in Syria Serves to Reinforce the Diplomatic Track
© REUTERS / Defence Ministry of Russia
by Finian Cunningham
Russian Jets Withdraw From Syria (72)
Finian Cunningham. Sputnik International
https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201603151036334054-russia-syria-forces-pullout/
A sure sign of Russia’s geopolitical strength is that it can, and does, unilaterally set the international agenda. This has been made obvious again in the surprise announcement this week by President Putin to begin withdrawal of Russian military forces from Syria.
It was, recall, Russia’s earlier lightning-fast air operation in Syria at the end of last year that has led to the current diplomatic track – a track that Washington and its allies have had to belatedly conform to. Now this latest move by Russia serves to reinforce the diplomatic track, and once again it has sent Western counterparts into a tailspin.
In announcing military drawdown, Putin made it clear that it was “mission accomplished” in Syria, and that henceforth it is time for diplomacy and peace talks to take over – or at least have a chance. Moscow’s assessment was that its military objectives had been fulfilled. And it’s hard to disagree.
Even Western media acknowledge that Russia’s nearly six-month air operation had “inverted the course of the conflict”, as the Washington Post put it this week.
Of course, what the Western media conveniently omit is that Russia secured the Syrian state from collapse in the face of a criminal foreign-backed insurgency fomented by the US government for the purpose of regime change.
Russia’s air power has, however, enabled Syria to now pursue a solid political path towards a peaceful settlement of the five-year war.
Put it another way, without Russia’s support, the Geneva talks this week would simply not be happening. No doubt the war would be grinding on into its sixth year with horrendous human suffering. Because, despite Western lies and distortions, the fact is that Washington and its allies were fueling a criminal covert war for regime change – until, that is, Putin stepped in and overturned that execrable game.
The latest move by Putin to scale-back military force in Syria makes sense. The Syrian state and its institutions have been stabilized and the Geneva process is underpinned by the central principle of Syrian sovereignty as the ultimate determinant of the country’s political future. The stage is set for dialogue. Whether or not that succeeds is another question.
© Sputnik / Mikhail Klimentyev
US Media Revives Concerns That Putin is Again Outmaneuvering Obama in Syria
Putin’s announcement this week of military withdrawal reportedly blindsided Obama and other Western leaders. As befitting an independent major power, Moscow took the decision based on its own private assessment of the circumstances, without consulting Washington – although Putin did reportedly confer with his Syrian ally on the decision.
Moscow’s reasoning would be too objective and professional to be driven by petty politics. Nonetheless, there is an apposite putdown of Washington in the way that Putin did not inform Obama of the military pullout. Why should he anyway? What is Washington, but a lawless source of conflict and hubris. Russia makes its own mind up and acts accordingly.
Western governments were left “startled” by Putin’s latest move, according to the Guardian.
And not being up to speed with Moscow’s initiative, Western diplomats and media cavorted with catch-up by ruminating on vain speculations to make sense of it all.
Initially, it was reported that Russia was not serious about the announced military pullout, implying that it was an underhand “ruse”.
Then it was speculated, with unseemly haste, that the Russian initiative indicated a “rift” between Moscow and its ally in Damascus. That notion was allegedly due to statements made last weekend by the Syrian government that it would not accept preconditions at negotiations in Geneva, in particular the demand by the US-backed Saudi opposition group for President Assad to stand down.
© Sputnik / Press service of Russian Defense Ministry
UN Aid Agencies Welcome Progress on Syrian Conflict Settlement
The Syrian government’s position of rejecting preconditions is in fact consistent with Russia’s position, which in turn complies with United Nations Resolution 2254 mandating the Geneva diplomatic process. The fate of Assad or the presidency is for the Syrian nation to decide alone, at some future date, without external interference.
Another line of vain speculation was that Putin’s announced military pullout was as a result of pressure from Washington.
As the Washington Post, rather fancifully, opines: “Late last week, the [Obama] administration decided to publicly accuse Moscow of failing to rein in Assad, leading to a string of comments by officials including Secretary of State John F Kerry, who on Sunday called on Putin to take control of Russia’s Syrian ally.”
The Post also posits: “Russian analysts said Putin’s announcement may be intended to press Assad at the talks after saving him on the ground.” There may be at least some truth in that latter claim.
Though, as always, the Americans arrogate grandiose powers. Just like Obama implied recently that it was he who secured the decommissioning of chemical weapons in Syria back in 2013, rather than Putin; and just like idle claims that US airpower has rolled back Daesh terrorists in Syria, instead of Russian airpower, so we are inveigled to believe that it is Washington that has “pressured” Putin to call off military operation in Syria.
Another bit of American vanity is gleaned from listening to John Kerry urging the Geneva peace process along, as if the Americans made this process happen, when as noted above it was Russia.
The truth is that Washington and its allies are so up to their culpable necks in causing Syria’s misery and mayhem, and the Western corporate media is so up its eyes in telling lies about the criminal nature of the covert war, that collectively they don’t know how to react to Russia when it takes the initiative. Dazed and confused, they scramble for futile rationalizations.
Putin’s latest move has confounded again. But it’s really rather straightforward for those who have not been hoodwinked by Western lies over Syria. Russia has used its military power legally to save an allied country from a US-led criminal conspiracy for regime change. A conspiracy which has been instrumented by the use of terrorist proxies.
Russia’s air operation pulled Syria back from the brink of being yet another Western-sponsored failed state, as in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. And now having regained its national footing, Syria has the opportunity to pursue a peaceful resolution. Thanks to Russia. Period.
Western governments and their servile “news” media cannot deal with that reality because it is otherwise indicting of their complicity in Syria’s war and toll of human suffering. Hence, they are obliged to cast around for all sorts of misleading interpretations of the latest Putin move.
Russia does not have to explain, consult or embellish. It has done the right thing all along. And Putin has once again shown more leadership than any other Western counterpart. By far.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do notnecessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.
After Syria, Putin Turns to Russia's Domestic Issues
US Still Committed to Fight Daesh in Syria, Iraq Amid Russia’s Withdrawal
Saudi Backed Opposition in Syria Pushing for Transitional Political Body
UN Inquiry Panel Acknowledges Russia's Commitment to Syrian Peace Process
air operation, withdrawal, Syrian crisis, Daesh, Russian Air and Space Forces, Russian Defense Ministry, Vladimir Putin, Syria, United States, Russia
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Shannon Noll, ‘Unbroken’ review
As his amusing internet trolls will attest, there’s nothing more Aussie than Shannon Noll.
His fifth studio album, and first in seven years, starts: “I want to live, I want to die, under the light of the great southern sky.” Noll – the runner-up in Australian Idol 15 years ago – is like an Aussie version of Bryan Adams, delivering uncomplicated anthems.
And he’s political in his own way. “It’s time to take a stand,” he declares in No B&S, a rallying cry to return to simpler, less politically correct times. “A good time’s not what it used to be – got noise restrictions and fun police.” Jingoistic, sure, but Noll knows how to write a nifty tune.
Performer is out February 2 via Warner.
Read our interview with Shannon Noll.
Keep up with the latest Australian release dates for music.
Buy now at JB Hi-Fi
Posted by Jeff Jenkins | Feb 4, 2018 | ALBUM REVIEWS |
Tags: Album Review, Shannon Noll, Unbroken
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George Michael, ‘Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 / MTV Unplugged’ review
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Our Standwithdignity team is here to answer your questions.
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Home Press Release American Muslim Joint Statement on Crisis in Iraq
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (alternatively translated as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), abbreviated as ISIL or ISIS, is an active Jihadist terrorist group with a mission to establish an illegal unrecognized state in Iraq and Syria under the auspices the Wahhabi movement[1][i]. This week, militants from the terrorist group attacked and overran several Iraqi cities, including one of Iraq’s most populous cities Mosul. The Iraqi military failed resoundingly to combat the terrorists, resulting in a speedy conquest of the cities and the capture of Iraqi police and security forces. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. Representatives of ISIL have stated an intention to attack Karbala and destroy it[1][ii]. In statements released before the attacks, ISIL declared its intention to assassinate Grand Ayatollah Sistani[1][iii].
Recent Timeline
On 5 June 2014, ISIS militants stormed the city of Samarra in Iraq before being ousted from the city by airstrikes from the Iraqi military. On 6 June 2014, ISIL militants carried out multiple attacks in the Iraqi city of Mosul. On 7 June 2014, ISIL militants took over the University of Anbar in Ramadi, Iraq and held 1300 students hostage before being ousted by the Iraqi military. On 9 June 2014, Mosul fell to ISIL control. The militants seized control of government offices, the airport, and police stations. On 11 June 2014, ISIL seized the Turkish consulate in the Iraqi city of Mosul and kidnapped the head of the diplomatic mission and several staff members. ISIL subsequently also seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit.[1][iv]
It is an undeniable reality that Iraq is in a state of crisis, and the international community has a moral responsibility to speak out and act against ISIL whilst demanding peace and safety for the people of Iraq. We, the below signed Shia scholars, community leaders, mosques, faith communities, and activists hereby call for an immediate resolution to the crisis, and the removal of ISIL from the country of Iraq.
We condemn, in the strongest terms, the violent statements and actions of ISIL, and believe that no legitimate cause can ever be accomplished by terrorism, violence against innocents, or through sectarian hatred. We reject the narrative espoused by the leadership of ISIL, and do not accept that this crisis is a war between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Instead, we stand firmly in solidarity with the countless members of the Shia and Sunni Muslim communities who call for a better Iraq. ISIL’s strategy of intimidation, abduction, torture and murder are antithetical to the teachings of Islam, and can never be supported by any rational person.
ISIL’s leadership and members must be brought to justice. The world community must spare no effort in opposing ISIL, and restoring security to the besieged regions of Iraq, and its displaced people.
We, as American Muslims, call for Iraq’s citizenry to be granted safety and security, without the fear of aggression from terrorist elements. We reiterate our support for the peace loving people of Iraq, whether they are Shia, Sunni, or from any other religious, ethnic, or historical community. The rule of law must be preserved in Iraq, and there must be a strong focus on preserving human rights throughout all of Iraq.
Muslims for Peace (MFP)
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Dr. Ali Naqi (Naqvi) Syed (Chicago, IL)
Freemuslim, Islamic Non Violence Organization
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Mainstay Foundation
Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini
Shia Rights Watch (SRW)
Universal Muslim Association of America (UMAA)
Hasan Ali, Director MFP | info@muslims4peace.org
[i] BBC News,. (2014). Profile: Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Retrieved 13 June 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-24179084
[ii] ITV News,. (2014). ISIS urges ‘march to Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf’. Retrieved 13 June 2014, from http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-06-12/isis-urges-march-to-baghdad-karbala-and-najaf/
[iii] Iraq Oil Report,. (2014). ISIL threatens to kill Sistani. Retrieved 13 June 2014, from http://www.iraqoilreport.com/daily-brief/isil-threatens-kill-sistani-12202/
[iv] YouTube,. (2014). UN Security Council Condemns ISIS in Iraq. Retrieved 13 June 2014, from
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Stand with Dignity is a campaign to raise awareness about the state of our lives. What do we stand for? What values would we fight for? How often do we have compassion for others? These are questions we urge you to ask yourself. To stand with dignity is to understand mankind’s worth. While we want to encourage people to learn about Imam Hussain, our goal is to first promote reflection on his message
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Now LIVE – The new winter programme of star-gazing and story-telling events at Arbriachan Forest
£20m project to tackle space weather announced
£20 million of funding to upgrade the UK’s resilience to space weather events has been announced today by the Prime Minister at the UN General Assembly.
Nowhere to hide - Nanosatellite technology drives new frontier in tracking down stolen vehicles
A UK start-up is developing a ground breaking new technology that will make tracking stolen vehicles faster and more reliable.
Water detected on potentially 'habitable' planet for the first time
UK researchers have detected water vapour in the atmosphere of an Earth-like planet with habitable temperatures in a world first, which has been supported by funding from STFC.
New community of scientists aim to improve cancer diagnosis
The STFC Cancer Diagnosis Network+ has been launched today, creating a community of scientists across a variety of disciplines to address challenges in the diagnosis of cancer – one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
How asteroid impacts created running water on Mars
An international team of scientists, co-funded by STFC, believe they have found one answer to how water appeared on the surface of Mars. They have analysed Martian meteorites and discovered unprecedented details about how asteroid impacts can help to create temporary sources of running water on Mars.
STFC experts to contribute to new £55million energy storage research
Scientists and engineers from STFC are to contribute to new £55million research projects aimed at facilitating improvements in cheaper, safer and more efficient batteries for applications including electric cars.
UK scientists aim for more compact and affordable accelerators
Scientists from leading UK research institutions have set out a plan to achieve more powerful and compact accelerators, for the benefit of academia and industry alike.
Beetle scales could hold the key to sustainable white paint
Scientists have used STFC’s ISIS Neutron and Muon Source (ISIS) research facility to investigate how to mimic one of the brightest whites in nature, with the aim of producing more environmentally-friendly paint in the future.
STFC congratulates Professor Ian Munro being made an IOP Honorary Fellow
Professor Ian Munro, one of the pioneers of the Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS) at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire has been made an Honorary Fellow by the Institute of Physics, the highest honour they can bestow.
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creative industries fund nl
latest / news / new grants awarded upstream music x design
New grants awarded Upstream: Music x Design
In the second round of the Upstream: Music x Design grant programme, projects by one-man band Spinvis and techno producer Albert van Abbe received grants. The grant programme focuses on innovative applications of design and technology in pop music. An advisory committee with representatives from both the design field and the pop sector considered all the proposals and managed to keep the selection just within the available budget. The next possibility for submitting an application is 23 October 2019 at the latest. The budget available for this round is € 115,000.
Spinvis in collaboration with International Silence
'Alles Is' is a live electronic music performance by Erik de Jong (Spinvis) and Saartje van Camp in combination with an AR app developed by the designer duo International Silence, Twan Janssen and Johannes Verwoerd. The musicians and makers are examining the current role of digital media in our lives and the way in which digital technology can actually create more connections with each other. While the musicians play and rotate on a circular stage, the AR app allows the audience to see a cloud of texts and images merging around the stage. The music, texts and images will reinforce and question each other during the performance. In autumn 2020, the performance can be seen in various museums and at festivals. Other partners are Ruud op den Kelder (creative software developer), Esther Lutgendorff (production), Excelsior Recordings, Mojo Concerts and Hans Klik.
Johannes Verwoerd had this to say about the project:
'Unlike a regular concert, the AR and live music keep to the same script, complementing and questioning each other in a tension curve that you would expect to see in the theatre rather than on a concert stage. It's an intimate performance using an app about the things in life there isn't an app for.'
Albert van Abbe in collaboration with Ricky van Broekhoven
Sound designer Ricky van Broekhoven and techno producer/musician Albert van Abbe are developing a hybrid musical instrument called 'PhasingWaves', which combines kinetic light sculptures with electronic sounds. The installation consists of a flexible string, at least five metres long, which displays magical spatial forms and patterns through light. By controlling the speed at which the installation moves, synthetic sounds are created. The team is also developing an interface to operate the instrument and to create an interactive live performance with the audience. Van Broekhoven and Van Abbe together with Innovation Space and TU Eindhoven. In addition, industrial designer/researcher Mathias Funk, mechanical engineers from the European Prototyping Centre and audio engineers from the Willem Twee pop venue are also involved in this project.
Ricky van Broekhoven said about the collaboration:
'We noticed that we could join forces very effectively in an iteration of a project that I recently developed with the TU/e. I couldn't explore the musical potential of this installation because I lacked the skills to do so. However, Albert did have the necessary expertise. In addition, our teaming up offers an opportunity to work with parties that have their specializations, such as the Willem Twee studios and E.P.C. This allows us to transcend ourselves.'
the advisory committee's impression
The advisory committee chaired by Jeroen van Erp, consisting of Arjo Klingens, Brian Elstak, Eva van Netten and Klasien van de Zandschulp, is very satisfied with the quality of the selection. Despite the fact that the number of proposals submitted was rather limited, the round had a diversity of project forms and applying parties. The committee's selection also demonstrates the broad spectrum of the grant programme. In both projects, music and design come together in a special, artistic way, creating a new experience and visualization of music and performance.
For the next deadline (23 October 2019), the committee is once again interested in projects in which an interesting application or crossover with technology, design or visual culture is sought. Ideas and concepts can always be discussed by telephone or e-mail with the team behind the Upstream: Music x Design grant programme: Sean Gilis and Ibrahim Alaoui Chrifi.
With Upstream: Music x Design, the Creative Industries Fund NL, together with the Performing Arts Fund NL and Sena, supports innovative artistic formats and collaborations within Dutch pop/urban music. The Upstream: Music x Design grant programme is run by the Creative Industries Fund NL and is intended for projects in which artists work together with designers and makers on new applications of design, visual culture and technology within music. With the help of Upstream, the Funds and Sena aim to broaden and strengthen the music industry in the Netherlands, to come across more strongly internationally and to stimulate crossovers into other disciplines. The annual budget is made available in three application rounds.
Head of grants programmes Joris van Ballegooijen
As of January 7, 2020, Joris van Ballegooijen will start as Head of grants programmes at the Creative Industries Fund NL.
Joris joined the fund in 2012 and has worked on a very solid foundation under the Grant Programme for Digital culture for the past eight years. He was one of the founders of the new Immerse\Interact arrangement that he set up together with the Film Fund. In the new position, Joris will be responsible for the various subsidy schemes at the fund, including the new Four-year Institutional Grant Programme for Creative Industries 2021-2024. Joris succeeds Aline Knip who said goodbye to the fund in January. Sean Gilis succeeds Joris as coordinator of Digital culture, Immerse\Interact and Upstream: Music x Design.
Photo: Stacii Samidin
Six design teams selected for the Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia
Het Nieuwe Instituut and the Creative Industries Fund NL announce the six design teams selected from their open call for the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The open calls aim to promote knowledge and contribute to the development of research in the fields of architecture and urbanism. La Biennale takes place from 23 May to 29 November 2020.
The Dutch pavilion - Who is we?
The Netherlands' official contribution to La Biennale is commissioned by Het Nieuwe Instituut and surrounds the theme 'multispecies urbanism'. In response to chief curator Hashim Sarkis' question, 'How will we live together?', Het Nieuwe Instituut asks in return, 'Who is We?'. Architect/researcher Afaina de Jong and artist/researcher Debra Solomon explore a new urbanism where the starting point of design is the multiplicity and influence of both humans and non-humans, from animals and plants, to soil life and artificial cognitive systems.
In October 2019, Het Nieuwe Instituut and the Creative Industries Fund NL launched an open call for contributions to the public parallel programme of the Dutch pavilion that responded to the theme multispecies urbanism. This programme takes place before, during, and after La Biennale, both in Venice and elsewhere.
selection for the public parallel programme of the Dutch pavilion 2020
Failed Architecture with Stories on Earth. Stories on Earth is an attempt to introduce storytelling and design into the development of a critical model to challenge the current narrative regarding the relation between man and nature.
Bureau LADA with Fisheye. Fisheye - Return of the Eel is a speculative research project into water biodiversity as a model for a 'water-related society' in which humans play a secondary role.
Studio Wild with The Forbidden Garden of Europe. The Forbidden Garden of Europe examines to what extent spatial and social factors influence inclusive ways of living together.
main locations of La Biennale Architettura 2020 - How will we live together?
In addition to the joint call, the Creative Industries Fund NL issued an open call for projects at the main locations of La Biennale, responding to the theme 'How will we live together?'. Within this theme, Sarkis focuses on the five major social themes of today - 'individuals', 'new households', 'emerging communities', 'across borders', and 'one planet'. He invited six groups with Dutch backgrounds to apply to exhibit in one of the main locations, of which three design teams have been selected.
selection development budget main locations
Studio L A with City of Ceramics. City of Ceramics is an installation consisting of a map of Venice on a floor of fragile terrazzo tiles. With each step, cracks appear until, at the end of the Biennale, the map is smashed to pieces, allowing visitors to reflect on their own presence in the city.
Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory (FAST) with Watermelons, Sardines, Crabs, Sands, and other Sediments. This project examines the ecological problems in the Gaza Strip. In an installation consisting of a long dinner table with various objects, the results of the relationship between ecology, culture and politics in Gaza are presented.
Alessandra Covini and Giovanni Bellotti with Variations on a Birdcage. Variations on a Birdcage is an investigation into objects that provide a direct encounter between humans and animals. This results in a playful installation that both people and birds can influence by playing, transforming, cultivating and feeding.
The selection committee consisted of André de Baerdemaeker (ecologist Bureau Stadsnatuur and Natural History Museum Rotterdam), prof. dr. Caroline Nevejan (chief science officer for the city of Amsterdam) and Marieke Berkers (architecture historian and member External Advisory Committee Landscape Architecture & Planning (WUR)).
Het Nieuwe Instituut and the Creative Industries Fund NL join forces to make optimal use of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia as an international platform for current spatial and social issues, acting as a catalyst for an ongoing discussion on the significance of architecture for our way of living together. The aim is to represent a wide range of voices from the Dutch design field in Venice.
Lisa Konno and Simone Post selected for Arita residency
Lisa Konno and Simone Post have been selected for a residency in the Arita ceramics region. The Creative Industries Fund NL received 20 applications for this residency as a result of the Open Call Residency in Arita, Japan 2020.
Lisa Konno would like to investigate the ritual function of tableware and link it to clothing. Traditions and customs create a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging and familiarity. Lisa Konno is inspired by rituals that create a dialogue between clothing, porcelain and food, such as a tea ceremony or Christmas dinner. Based on this, she will design a modern, personal ritual. The focus is on craftsmanship and revaluation.
At Cor Unum, Simone Post is currently working on a study into tactility in ceramics. She utilizes the fluidity of clay. The material is formed in a wet state as if it were a textile, stretching its static boundaries. She will use the resulting language of form as a starting point for her research in Arita, which is based on colour and glaze and the way in which these two react to each other and mix together.
The applications received in response to the open call ranged from highly technical to more Japan-oriented, such as Lisa Konno's project. In her proposal, she clearly explains the differences and similarities between the Dutch and Japanese practices and expresses her curiosity about the Japanese way of working. She is well aware of her own position. Although the intended results have not yet been specifically stated, the committee believes that the starting points and portfolio are well-aligned with each other.
Simone Post's proposal looks at working with shapes, textures, colours and glazes and makes connections with working with textiles, with which she is already familiar. In view of her specific approach and professional perspective, the committee is positive about the significance of her project not only for her own practice but also for Arita. The advisers state that in general they consider exchange to be very important. They like to see proposals that will also benefit Arita and that address experimentation and research within the knowledge and context that Arita offers.
The proposals submitted were assessed on the basis of portfolio, CV and motivation. The advisers evaluated the proposals to gauge how consistently they were conceived and the extent to which they met the criteria of the Subsidy Regulations and this open call. The evaluation took the form of a tender: two proposals were preferred to the other submissions.
about the residency
In July 2019, the Creative Industries Fund NL, together with the Mondriaan Fund, issued the fifth Open Call Residency in Arita, Japan 2020. Arita offers a living and working space for two periods per year, where one designer and one artist can stay at the same time. The aim is to create a valuable exchange between Japanese porcelain producers and Dutch designers and artists. The Open Call Residency in Arita, Japan will be repeated next year.
Selection Open Call Talent Development in International Context
Giuditta Vendrame, Studio Legrand Jäger, Studio Agne and Sophie Hardeman will be collaborating with international partners in the coming period. These four designers were selected from 16 proposals from Dutch designers and makers who responded to the Open Call for Talent Development in International Context. By means of this open call, the Fund is giving designers and makers the opportunity to deepen their practice internationally and to develop it artistically and professionally by collaborating with a foreign partner. The selected projects fulfil an exemplary function for the Dutch creative industry and at the same time enrich our sector with new knowledge.
In her project 'Humid World', Giuditta Vendrame is investigating the notion of borders in water as a designer in residency within the 'At the Border' research programme at A/D/O in New York, USA. Studio Legrand Jäger (photo above) is developing new performative work in collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum in the project 'Internet of Ears: AI-Generated Policy Play'. Sophie Hardeman - Love Harder is researching group behaviour, tolerance, prejudices and stereotypes and brings politically and/or socially ignored topics to the attention during a residency at NAVEL.LA in Los Angeles. Studio Agne is carrying out theoretical and material research into amber waste during a residency at Neuni in Shanghai.
The committee's response to the quality of the proposals submitted was predominantly positive. The proposals in which the exceptional artistic vision, professional development and interaction with the international partner strengthened each other were preferred by the advisers. The social and cultural relevance of the proposals was also taken into account. This open call must involve the exchange of knowledge and the collaboration must not be a commissioned project. All the proposals were evaluated by representatives from digital culture, design and architecture. The committee consisted of maker and KABK teacher Pawel Pokutycki, freelance art and design historian Victoria Anastasyadis and AMO associate Stephan Petermann.
Studio Agne
The committee evaluated the proposals on the basis of six criteria:
the extent to which the designers, makers, critics and/or curators from the creative industry (digital culture, design, architecture) occupy an exemplary and/or distinctive position;
the extent to which the proposed plan contributes to the further artistic and professional development of the maker concerned;
the quality and form of the collaboration;
the extent to which the foreign institution, organization or company concerned has an excellent reputation;
the degree and manner of co-financing by the foreign partner concerned;
the consistency of the proposal in terms of purpose, structure, relevant expertise and audience reach;
the extent to which there are Dutch interests.
The proposals were of varying, but generally good quality, and some were particularly good. The supported designers show that they are aware of the local (international) context in which they are operating. For the selected proposals, there is a good match between the project, the objective and the partner involved. The selection as a whole provides a diverse picture of the possibilities of talent development in an international context.
rejected proposals
The proposals that were not selected fell short on one or more of the criteria. In a number of proposals, the advisers saw that the partners had an excellent reputation, but that the collaboration was not aimed at reciprocity and/or did not contribute to the professional and artistic development of the talent. In some proposals, the makers did not provide sufficient insight, in the details of the plan, into the approach and structure of the project. In a number of cases, the relevance to the discipline within the Dutch creative industry was insufficiently demonstrated or there was sometimes a lack of insight into how knowledge flows back to the Netherlands. In a few cases, the committee assessed the degree of critical reflection or awareness of the local context to be insufficient.
Four-year Institutional Grant Programme for Creative Industries 2021-2024
The Creative Industries Fund NL is providing a new subsidy option for the policy period 2021-2024. Leading Dutch institutions that contribute to the promotion of high quality, development and professionalization of contemporary digital culture, design and architecture and all possible crossovers can apply for a four-year institutional grant. This grant programme will be published on our website in January 2020. You can submit your application from 1 March 2020. The deadline is 7 May 2020. The amount of grant requested is a minimum of € 200,000 per calendar year and a maximum of € 550,000 per calendar year.
design infrastructure
In addition to the Fund's existing grant programmes for cultural institutions, such as the Activities Programmes for one or two years of support, this new four-year institutional grant programme creates an increasing chain of support possibilities for institutions within the creative industries. In this way, the Fund aims to make a resilient and dynamic design infrastructure possible.
From 1 March 2020, the Four-year Institutional Grant Programme for Creative Industries 2021-2024 will be available and you can submit your application using the application form. The subsidy ceiling for this grant programme will also be announced in the spring.
If you prefer to submit an application to the Activities Programme Grant Programme, it is good to know that this grant programme will have one round in 2020 with a deadline of 30 September 2020.
January 2020: Four-year Institutional Grant Programme for Creative Industries published
Between 1 March 2020 and 7 May 2020: Application period for Four-year Institutional Grant Programme for Creative Industries
4 June 2020: On the day that the Council for Culture presents the recommendations for the Basic Cultural Infrastructure, the Fund will inform applicants of the decision within this grant programme.
30 September 2020: Deadline Activities programme Grant Programme
useful to know
If you are considering applying for a four-year institutional grant, please take a look at these frequently asked questions.
'Can you submit an application to both the BIS of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Fund?
Yes, you can, but it cannot be awarded twice. In the event of a positive decision from the Council for Culture within the BIS, this means that the procedure and the advisory process with the Creative Industries Fund NL will be discontinued, even if it concerns two applications for different core activities. Conversely, in the event of a negative decision from the Council for Culture, this advice has no influence on the advisory process with the Fund.
'How does the Fund deal with the different codes?'
We expect all applicants to subscribe to the codes. In addition, with regard to the Fair Practice Code, the Diversity & Inclusion Code and the Culture Governance Code, you also clearly indicate where you stand now, what steps you intend to take between 2021 and 2024 and where you would like to be at the end of that period. You can explain how you deal with the codes in your organization, your programme and with regard to audience reach and communication.
'Can I qualify for the four-year institutional grant and additionally submit an application to another of the Fund's grant programmes?
Institutions receiving a subsidy on the basis of this grant programme are not entitled during the implementation period to any subsidies from the Architecture, Design, Digital Culture, Activities Programme and Festivals grant programmes of the Creative Industries Fund NL.
For more information and advice about which grant programme is best suited to your institution, please contact Anouk Laverge.
The website is only partially translated. For a full version, please check the Dutch website.
Activities Programmes
Multi-Year Programmes
Voucher procedure
The Creative Industries Fund NL is providing a new subsidy option for the policy period 2021-2024. Leading Dutch institutions that contribute to the promotion of high quality, development and professi... more >
Vouchers for participation at SXSW 2020
The next edition of South by Southwest will take place from 13 to 22 March 2020 in Austin, Texas. This festival is known for its varied and cutting-edge programme in the fields of music, technology, f... more >
The deadlines for Creative Industries Fund NL's grant programmes in 2019 have been set. In 2019 there are four application rounds for the Grant Programmes for Architecture and Digital Culture. The Gra... more >
Looking back at Dutch Design Week 2019
Interview Tradition as a making tool | Modular Mobile Parks
The Scene is Here performance programme announced
Two open calls Venice Architecture Biennale 2020
Selection open call Researching Remix
Here is… Bernhard Lenger
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SubGenre:Biographical
Series title:The Innocent Sensualist
Series Number:7
The Naked Beach
The Latest Harry Powers Book in The Innocent Sensualist Series
by Grant Flint
"The Naked Beach" is the final book in the Harry Powers' seven-book series, "The Innocent Sensualist." Half of the 28 chapters have been published in literary quarterlies. The realism of Harry's "adventures" most resembles the sensual portrayals of Henry Miller, Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, and Charles Bukowski: The sinner/saint grandma on the dirty little Nebraska farm during The Great Depression, the harsh humor/tragedy of Basic Training, the two stubborn but passionate virgins, the Lt. Colonel's wife in Holland, Mara, the good-hearted whore, in Rome. innocent orgies in the wild '60's, the dangerous baby sitter, the Preacher Lady and other 53 personal-ad women. And the naked beach.
Grant Flint has been published in Story Quarterly, The Nation, The King’s English, Poetry, Weber, The Courtland Review, The Sun, Slow Trains, Northwind, and 37 other print and online journals. He won the memoir prize in the 2007 "Soul Making Literary Contest," was published in the 2007 "Writer’s Digest Short Story Competition Collection,” and nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize. He has been writing for 60 years, does stand-up comedy, composes jazz on the keyboard, and meets wonderful women in the personal ads. His seven E-books are on Amazon.
Sandhill Stories by Grant Flint
The Soul Scavenger by Grant Flint
Poems For We Who Don't Like Poems by Grant Flint
All the Lovely Freaks by Grant Flint
Orgasms & Giggles by Grant Flint
The Great American Novel, a Memoir by Grant Flint
Waggles by Grant Flint
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Israel Will Block Omar, Tlaib From Entering Israel
UNITED STATES - MARCH 13: Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., right, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., attend a rally with Democrats in the Capitol to introduce the "Equality Act," which will amend existing civil rights legislation... UNITED STATES - MARCH 13: Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., right, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., attend a rally with Democrats in the Capitol to introduce the "Equality Act," which will amend existing civil rights legislation to bar discrimination based on gender identification and sexual orientation on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) MORE LESS
August 15, 2019 8:25 a.m.
Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) will be blocked from entering Israel, according to multiple reports Thursday.
Congressional Democrats were informed Wednesday night that the two would be barred from entering, though it was not immediately clear whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will follow through with it, according to the Washington Post. A senior Israeli official told the Post that the proposal for the upcoming trip — where Omar and Tlaib are expected to visit Israel and Palestinian territories — would likely be blocked in its current form. But the official said if Tlaib, a Palestinian American, requested to visit family on the West Bank it would be “considered favorably.”
An Israeli official confirmed the decision to an Israeli radio station.
“We will not permit someone who negates our right of existence in the world to enter the country,” Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said, according to NBC. “As a matter of principle, this decision is very correct.”
The decision comes just after President Trump tweeted Thursday morning that it would should “great weakness” if the country allowed the two congresswomen to enter, proclaiming Omar and Tlaib both “hate Israel and all Jewish people.”
It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tlaib to visit. They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds. Minnesota and Michigan will have a hard time putting them back in office. They are a disgrace!
According to the New York Times Times, Trump was privately pushing Netanyahu last week to bar the lawmakers’ entry. Trump has spent weeks lobbing racist and Islamophobic insults at the two lawmakers, alongside two other congresswomen of color. Trump and Netanyahu maintain a particularly close relationship, one that was strengthened significantly after Trump agreed to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a strong sticking point for evangelical member of his base. Netanyahu even named a fake town after Trump for his support of Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights.
Netanyahu has received private warnings from Democrats and some pro-Israel groups about the optics of blocking a sitting member of Congress from entering the country.
Israel recently passed a law that blocks foreign supporters of the BDS movement (boycott, divestment, sanctions) from entering Israel. Both Tlaib and Omar are vocal supporters of the movement, which is designed to shed light on Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. The two lawmakers were planning to arrive in the country on Sunday to tour the West Bank with an organization run by Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi.
Given the congresswomen’s views, the visit was expected to highlight the detriments of Israel’s occupation of the region. The pair planned to visit several West Bank cities, East Jerusalem and a controversial holy site. Tlaib planned to stay longer than Omar to visit relatives on the West Bank.
Benjamin NetanyahuIlhan OmarRashida Tlaib
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China Bowls Review – The Louisiana
Bombay Bicycle Club Review + Photoset – SWX
The Downs Festival Review + Photoset
5 September, 2019, 22:00
Wand Review – The Louisiana
Machine Gun Kelly Review + Photoset – SWX
Green Man Festival 2019 Review + Photoset
23 August, 2019, 12:35
The Feed: Soccer Mommy, TORRES, Moaning and more
Ones to Watch 2020: Pet Shimmers
Ones to Watch 2020: Some Bodies
Ones to Watch 2020: Chrissie Huntley
Bad Sleep Festival announce 2020 line-up
Ones to Watch 2020: Talk Show
By: Mercy Sotire
20 April, 2019, 16:40
In: Live
#China Bowls #Holysseus Fly #Punch Records #Review #The Louisiana
After listening to a string of releases and live sessions on YouTube, it’s safe to say that I was more than excited to check out China Bowls’ headline show at The Louisiana. Except this was a headline gig with a twist.
At the beginning of the show China Bowls (real name Lucie Bowles), came out to her intimate audience to explain that she was here performing with four other artists through Punch Records’ ‘Welcome to My City’ UK Tour. Admittedly, I was a bit confused. However, upon further research, I learned that Punch Records is an organisation that focuses on the development of up and coming artists. Their tour takes five artists to London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, and Hull. Each artist headlines an event in their own city and supports the headliner in four other cities to share their music to a range of different audiences. It’s a pretty cool idea and not what I expected. So, I came to see China Bowls but got to listen to four other great unknown acts.
Starting off with London’s very own rapper, writer and director, Fred Fredas. He flowed with ease over a range of downtempo jazzy instrumentals. His lyrics were poetic and full of socially conscious content with Fredas rapping, “I wanna do this for my people.” Next up was Chesqua from Manchester who’s silken voice was accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Emanating authenticity, she encouraged us to sing in a call and response fashion “let it rain” as she replied, “let it pour”. Birmingham-based Vital, brought the energy sky high with his Jamaican island vibes and ridiculously fast flow. Rapping in patois, it was amazing to hear Vital’s range as he bounced from bashment to dancehall and then seamlessly to bashment. Then, Chiedu Okara from Hull performed with a dominating flow and cadence that was unashamed of its Yorkshire descent. His energy was absolutely crazy. At one point, everyone was howling ‘ollie ollie ollie – oi oi oi’ bouncing around playfully as we fed off his dynamism.
Finally, Lucie approached the stage with an aura that juxtaposed perfectly with the raucous vibes of Chiedu. Sonically, her voice almost floats out of her mouth. It’s high and soft yet sometimes undercut with a raspiness. Everything felt incredibly stripped back as she sang with just her guitar, playing it as if it were second nature. Her fingers glided up and down the fretboard as jazz chords radiated through the air. Lucie’s choice in chord progressions serves as the perfect accompaniment for her melodies that bounce up and down jazzy scales. Bowl’s voice has a certain twang as she sings candidly “I will always be this way… I didn’t know you then”. Adding to the intimacy of her set, Lucie brought on a close friend and talented artist, Holysseus Fly, a pianist and singer-songwriter. This again, added another layer of warmth as Holysseus’ harmonies complemented melodies in the song, ‘To Belong’.
This night was an accidental showcase of some of the UK’s finest up and coming artists. China Bowls definitely made her city proud and her performance style was mesmerising. With so much unreleased material, I cannot wait to see what she does next.
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April 30, 2018 April 30, 2018 by rascalfkennedy
‘AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR’ Spoiler Review
From the first moments of Infinity War, you feel heartbreak. You feel anguish, you realize nobody is safe. That at any given in this film… Death may occur. Avengers: Infinity War, truly lives up to the 10-year build-up. Marvel and the Russo Brothers (Captain America: Winter Soldier/Civil War) truly gave us the best Marvel film this far in the franchise. We can even put this film on the properties owned by other studios, and it remains number one. There were so emotions, heartfelt moments, heart-wrenching moments, and surprises… We hope by now, most of you have seen Infinity War, so I bring you the SuperBro Movies spoiler review.
The movie picks up exactly where Thor: Ragnarok left off. If we remember, Thor learned how to hone his powers. He learned that his power comes from within and not from his hammer Mjölnir. He loses his father after already losing his mother. He also finds out he has an evil sister Hela that he has to kill. He also lets Ragnarok aka the Asgardian apocalypse happen. Thor literally loses everything which makes the devastating events of Infinity War that much more hurtful to him.
We remember last seeing Thor, Loki, Heimdall, and Hulk on an Asgardian ship heading towards Earth (maybe). This ship is met by Thanos and the Black Order. We see Hulk fight, Thanos, here. The fight makes you think that hey maybe Hulk can fight Thanos. We soon realize that Hulk is no match for the Mad Titan. We also see the deaths of Heimdall and Loki here.
Heimdall died saving Hulk and using the powers of the Bifröst to send him to Earth (Midgard). Loki died trying to save Thor after handing over the Tesseract. The thing is the Tesseract is what drew Thanos to the Asgardian ship. Loki knew he was the reason for this and sacrifices himself in order to save his brother. They let us know from the beginning that no major character is safe from the hands of the Mad Titan. You get a sense of helplessness and fear. You just have to watch.
The story in the film is very simple. Thanos has seen his entire planet, Titan, fall due to overpopulation. He tried to explain to the leaders of his planet that he had a plan to stop them from dying of starvation. They wouldn’t listen and the planet was destroyed. This led Thanos on his quest to balance the universe. In the comics, we know that it is his obsession with Lady Death that leads him on his warpath, but I feel that this was a much better motivation for him than lust/love.
Thanos’ conquest of the universe has been far and few. He’s decimated Xandar and gotten the Power Stone to start off his battle to balance the universe. He then destroys the Asgardian ship and takes the Tesseract as described above. He then sends his children (The Black Order: Corvus Glaive, Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, and Black Dwarf) to Earth to retrieve the Infinity Stones there. The Stones on Earth are the Mind Stone (Vision) and the Time Stone (Dr. Strange). This is where the teams come into play into play.
The first team we get is Thor, Rocket, and Groot. As we all know Thor has lost Mjölnir in his battle with Hela. He needed a weapon specifically for killing Thanos. So they head for Nidavellir, the planet that Thor’s hammer was forged on. Personally, this is my favorite group in the film. You don’t expect them to get along and the fact that we get the ultimate weapon out of this group is amazing.
The second team we get is Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Star-Lord, Drax, Nebula, and Mantis. This team comes together as the Guardians split up with team one and Peter, Gamora, and Drax goes to Knowhere to grab the real stone. As we know Thanos already has the Power Stone and Tesseract at this point. When they appear on Knowhere, he already has the reality stone too and uses it to trick them into trying to kill him. Gamora is kidnapped by Thanos after a failed attempt to end his run for the stones. Drax and Star-Lord end up running their ship into Ebony Maw’s ship. Doctor Strange, Bruce Banner, Iron Man, and Spider-Man all fight the Black Dwarf and Ebony Maw on Earth. Maw kidnaps Doctor Strange because of the Time Stone. This leads Iron Man and Spider-Man to get on Maw’s ship and try to save Strange. This is where we see Iron Man and Spider-Man’s new suits. The Stark tech is amazing and it fits the new locations in the film.
The way the team forms is after Iron Man and Spider-Man save Doctor Strange and send Maw into space; Drax and Star-Lord come crashing into the ship looking for Gamora. They all end up getting into a bit of a tussle and then they all figure out that they’re the good guys and head to Thanos’ home planet, Titan.
The third team is what I like to call Team Wakanda. Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, Bucky Barnes, Vision, Scarlett Witch, Bruce Banner (Hulkbuster), Black Panther, Okoye, M’Baku, and Shuri. This team forms as Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon help Vision and Scarlett Witch fight Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight as they try to take the Mind Stone. They stop the attempt on Vision’s life and safely get him to Wakanda where they can defend him better with the army of Wakanda ready to help their friends and save the Earth.
These three teams are amazing and all play a huge part in the film. Each scene with each team is amazing and you just want more during the final battle in the film where all three must do what they can to stop Thanos. It is better than the groups are sectioned this way because everybody gets the proper screen time in a film about the villain, Thanos. Thanos plays an amazing villain, and between all the flashbacks and present-day scenes you can truly empathize with him and understand him. He’s doing what he feels needs to be done to save the universe from extinction. He doesn’t want to rule the universe, he wants to balance it and stop things like starvation and famine on all planets. The question is, is his way of saving the world to harsh?
We know the story of Gamora and Thanos. We get to see it in the film full fledge. Thanos arrives on Gamora’s home planet and he slaughters millions of citizens. He takes a liking to the feisty little girl who will not let the guards touch her. Thanos pulls the child, Gamora, to the side and distracts her by showing her a knife. He explains that knife represents balance. He gives it to her and asks her to show him that she can balance it while shielding her from the violence.
Gamora hates her father, but she doesn’t understand why he murdered half of her planet when he explains that the planet is thriving because of his murders, she understands. He destroyed famine and poverty in her planet. He also shows you in so many ways throughout the film that he truly loves Gamora. The stones though, he must get the other three stones. We’ve all speculated the location of the Soul Stone, and Gamora knows where it is located. Of course, she isn’t willing to tell Thanos anything. So, he tortures Nebula to get it out of her. After a very intense torture sequence, Gamora spills the beans, the Soul Stone is located on Vormir.
When they first arrive on Vormir, we see a very familiar face, Red Skull… He is trapped on the planet and cannot leave. He leads people to the Soul Stone, and he takes Thanos and Gamora to the pit. There’s a catch: in order to retrieve the stone, you must sacrifice something or someone you love… Gamora, thinking she has won and Thanos loves nothing cheers and jeers at him… Thanos cries and sobs, not because he has lost, but because he loves Gamora more than anything. Yes, Thanos sacrifices his own daughter in order to finish his plan. He’s willing to lose everything in order to save the universe. This scene is heartbreaking and will leave you teary-eyed or crying. The score, the dialogue, and just the facial emotions are everything in this scene.
Thor, Rocket, and Groot make it to Nidavellir but are met with a very grim discovery. Thanos has already discovered the planet and he has done something terrible. Eitri (Peter Dinklage), has made the Infinity Gauntlet for Thanos but at a price. Thanos has destroyed the planet and killed all the other Dwarves. He also has burned Eitri’s hands so that he cannot make another weapon. Thor needs him and the dying star in order to create the Stormbreaker, the “Thanos killing weapon.” It took a lot of hard work and dedication but Thor vowed that the second time he saw Thanos he would kill him. This was an incredible scene and Thor holding open the dying star to melt the Uru metal was an amazing sequence. It kind of leaves you in awe at how far along he’s come as a God in these films.
The battle on Titan is amazing. Doctor Strange uses the Time Stone to figure out all of the different outcomes. There are 14,000,605 outcomes and only one where the Avengers win. The sequence is insane and the fight is awesome. Thanos arrives and has almost immediately attacked by Iron Man, Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange. Star-Lord is curious about what has happened to Gamora and upon finding out she is dead… He loses his mind. As they are trying to take the Gauntlet and put Thanos to sleep Star-Lord begins attacking him and hitting him causing him to awaken. He then beats them in a pretty epic battle and almost kills Tony Stark. Doctor Strange gives up the Time Stone as a last-ditch effort even after telling Tony that he would let him and Peter die before surrendering the stone to Thanos. Thanos leaves the team bruised and beaten, thus leaving one stone left to attain. This scene was incredible on so many levels. Doctor Strange has clearly reached supreme status. There’s also some real action with Spider-Man saving the crew. My only complaint was some pretty wh CGI in one part of the scene where it totally looks like Tony is just standing in front of a projected image. Other than that, seeing Thanos go to all kinds of lengths to get the stone and the conversation he has with Tony Stark are amazing. Thanos reveals to Tony that he knows who he is and that he’s not the only one cursed with knowledge. He also tells him that he hopes the people of Earth remember him. Kind of leaving you wondering what will happen next.
The battle in Wakanda is also just as amazing. That battle sequence is my favorite for one reason, THOR. The whole thing starts off as everybody protecting Vision. Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, and Black Dwarf all come with ships and a giant army of monsters to slaughter anybody that stands between them and the stone. The battle rages on for minutes and then it seems as though our heroes may fall. Corvus Glaive almost gets the stone from Vision. Scarlett Witch shows just how powerful she truly is. There is so much going on and the monsters begin to overrun Wakanda until BOOM!!!! Thor makes such an incredible entrance and gives the good guys a boost of energy. The problem is Bruce can’t turn into Hulk, so he’s stuck in the Hulkbuster until the monsters rip the suit off almost. Thanos makes his entrance to Wakanda and fights everybody there. He throws Bruce into a rock and leaves him stuck. It looks like Cap may be able to take on Thanos for a minute, but he loses with a right hook. Scarlett Witch must take the stone from Vision’s head. She doesn’t want to kill the man she loves but in order to save humanity, she must. She kills Vision and stops Thanos…. Until we realize Thanos has the Time Stone now. He uses it, goes back to that moment and rips the stone from Vision’s head. He leaves Vision dead and gone. Thor, who has been kicking ass since he got to Wakanda comes down and hits Thanos in the chest… Only for Thanos to utter the words, “Next time aim for the head.” Then *snap* and Thanos has single-handedly destroyed or balanced (depending on whose side you’re on) the universe. He is met by the child Gamora, who asks him how much did it cost him? He replies, “Everything.” We start to see the rest of the deaths like Groot, Bucky, Sam, T’Challa, Wanda, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Star-Lord, and Drax. Thus leaving only the original Avengers alive. The film ends on a beautiful note as Thanos does exactly what he promises after he balances the universe… He finds a beautiful planet and watches the sunrise.
The deaths of the characters after the finger snap all affected us and were hard to watch. Some of the characters had to watch their loved ones die. Captain America had to watch Bucky die, and he doesn’t even know about Sam. Okoye had to watch T’Challa die. Rocket had to watch Groot die. Tony had to watch Peter die. Wanda has to watch Vision die twice. There are so many ways they break your heart in this film that it’s insane. You go in happy and hopeful and leave with heartbreak and despair.
These scenes, sequences, deaths, all of it… Are heartbreaking and shattering. This is what makes this film so amazing. The villain, you can actually understand, the action, comedy, and sadness all weigh each other perfectly. There’s truly never a dull moment in this film and the story is as compelling as any. The writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely did a truly amazing job with such a tall task and Anthony and Joe Russo did one of the best jobs in recent years. This film is the Empire Strikes Back of our generation. This film along with the films before and after it will inspire children for years to come. Hopefully, not only to become filmmakers but storytellers as well. Both were very intricate parts of this epic. There was anguish, there was hurt, there was amazing acting and just everything around this film is awesome. I’m proud that a comic book film such as this exists now. We will wait the arrival of Avengers 4 but in the meantime, we still have to see Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel.
What did you guys think? Have you seen it? If not, have I convinced you to go see it? Tweet us @SuperBroMovies with your thoughts!
– Rascal F. Kennedy
Avengers: Infinity War is currently in theaters
Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the rest of the Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet — the evil Thanos. On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artifacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment.
Posted in Movie ReviewsTagged Avengers Infinity War, MCU, Movie Review, Spoiler
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One thought on “‘AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR’ Spoiler Review”
Good review, RascalFKennedy! I like how you brought up specific points from the movie and used it to explain what you did and didn’t like about the film. I also reviewed Avengers: Infinity War (both spoiler and spoiler-free), so please check it out if you get the chance!
https://18cinemalane.wordpress.com/take-3-movie-reviews/
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Poland GIC 2019
Rules & Criteria
GIC Team
2019 SingularityU Poland Global Impact Challenge
Submit an idea that will positively impact the lives of the people of Poland and beyond
What innovation would you develop to solve a global grand challenge using exponential technology that would impact the lives of a billion people in the next 10 years?
Jakub Swierk
Project: eDrop
In a world of limited water resources, eDrop is providing the smart tool to help people become smarter water users, saving their home budget and what’s more important our global resource!
“We applied to the GIC because we believed our project fits perfectly the mission of the program focusing on impacting the lives of people not only in Poland but globally. Aiming at water scarcity as a global challenge requires a solid and experienced partner with a worldwide network and that is why we chose SU.”
Global Impact Challenges (GICs) are incentive competitions organized by partners in countries around the world to identify innovative startups & solutions using exponential technology to solve the world’s pressing challenges.
The purpose of the SingularityU Poland Global Impact Challenge is to foster innovations and startups that positively impact the lives of people living in Poland and the Central and Eastern Europe region with an ability to scale and impact a billion people worldwide in 10 years.
The challenge is open to citizens and residents in the Central and Eastern Europe region: Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Austria, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria.
What innovation would you develop to solve a global grand challenge (environment, energy, water, food, health, disaster resilience, governance, learning, space, security, prosperity, and shelter) using exponential technology that would impact the lives of a billion people in the next 10 years?
Why host a GIC in Poland?
Poland and the greater Central and Eastern Europe region is one of the most innovative, up-and-coming startup hubs in the world. Central and Eastern Europe demonstrates strong potential to scale and promote innovation value in the European market. For the second year in a row, we are launching the SingularityU Poland Global Impact Challenge to mobilize CEE-based startups that leverage exponential technology to positively impact humanity.
With enormous talent, digital capital, innovative solutions, and entrepreneurial frameworks, Poland and the CEE region are considered by the World Bank as the third best place to launch and develop a startup in the world. The region’s successes on the world stage hope to inspire hundreds of Polish and CEE entrepreneurs to think and scale their startups globally for the greater good.
Apply to this challenge by submitting your innovative idea to improve the standard of living of 100 million+ CEE citizens over the next 3-5 years using exponential technology.
The winner of the SingularityU Poland Global Impact Challenge will win a seat to attend SU’s Global Startup Program free of charge.
The GSP helps future-focused entrepreneurs transform radical ideas into tangible impact on a global scale. It’s a structured, immersive program offering startup-focused educational resources and world-class mentorship from SU’s faculty, staff, and industry experts—in a safe, nurturing environment. The program aims to scale startups into global businesses.
The GSP brings together entrepreneurs from around the world for structured, immersive workshops and intensive fieldwork in multiple locations around the globe, as well as continued access to support and resources via a best-in-class connectivity platform.
The GSP will start by helping to cultivate a new mindset and toolset to overcome the challenges of technological disruption. Next, the program will work with you to accelerate your time to product-market fit, transform your startup from an idea to a venture that can help a billion people (“billion-scale”), and connect you with a global community to catalyze results. In short, GSP is designed to help you create a 10x startup at a global level.
Additionally, as part of InCredibles program created by Sebastian Kulczyk, the winner of the SingularityU Poland Global Impact Challenge 2019 will be able to participate in the following events:
A two-day trip to Google for Startups in London for sessions with mentors and investors (October 29 – 30,)
Participation in the European Conference “Slush” for Startups in Helsinki (November 21 – 22)
Participation in the Masters and Robots Conference, Warsaw, combined with access to the mentoring session with three foreign experts (October 8 – 9)
The 12-Month GSP Journey
3 Weeks of Activate (in person)
Expand into ideation at the billion scale
Dive deep into bleeding-edge exponential technologies
Discover the GGCs, concepts like abundance and 6Ds, and more, while pushing your mind to solve the greatest issues facing our planet
Substantially evolve your communication and storytelling skills
3 Weeks of Accelerate (in person)
Create a clearly differentiated value proposition
Take your vision to prototype through customer validation
Build a valid business plan and product roadmap
Turn your solution from moonshot idea to minimum viable product (MVP)
Develop your go-to-market planning, supported by mentorship and networking
1 Year of Connect (virtually)
Leverage SU digital courses, webinars, virtual meetups, and more
Work with best-in-class faculty, staff, and mentors
Connect with SU’s international Chapters and community
Join global meetups
Find more information on the Global Startup Program here.
Dates and timeline
Applications Open: July 4, 2019
Applications Close: September 20, 2019
Live Pitch Event & Winners Announced: October 7, 2019
Hosted at:
Honorary patrons:
Applicant Criteria
Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
The challenge is open to residents and citizens in Poland and the CEE region
Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Austria, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria.
You must be age 21 or older on the first day of the GSP
You must be fluent in written and spoken English
Your venture is a fully formed entity in seed, idea-stage or scale-up stage and has at least 1-2 full-time co-founders.
You must be able to participate in the entire Global Startup Program prize
Applicants selected as finalists will be interviewed by a panel of judges on October 7, 2019.
We will be really thrilled to find:
SU mission alignment: You have a startup in one of the global grand challenge (GGC) spaces.
Team: Your startup has at least two full-time co-founders.
Experience: You have expertise in an exponential technology and/or a key GGC space.
Time: Your venture is a fully formed entity, and is in the seed-stage or idea-stage.
Traction: You have demonstrated market traction (LOIs, purchase orders, validated trials, sales, etc.).
Eagerness to learn: You’re looking for a substantial shift in mindset and skill set, and are eager to globalize your startup and 10x your impact.
Availability: You’re available to the GSP Activate (three weeks) phase starting in Q1 of 2020, and the SU campus in Mountain View for the Accelerate (three weeks) phase.
The GSP is for startups aligned with global grand challenges (GGCs) that want to 10x their current startup and scale it globally. We’re looking for startups that have experience with exponential technology, some level of demonstrated market traction, and an eagerness to radically level-up their business. Cohorts include founders from different countries, backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, and cultures, and you’ll find gender diversity in cohorts.
We will evaluate submissions using the following criteria:
Degree of the solution’s relevance to the theme of the challenge
The regional relevance in solving the challenge in Poland and the CEE region
Project or Idea leverages exponential technology to solve the problem
Feasibility, viability, and coherence of implementing the idea
Entrepreneurial and innovative potential, with a focus on technological novelty
Impact & compelling need and potential to scale globally
Committed existing team
Summary of accomplishments
An abstract of the project idea
Video (provide url) of the project idea
GIC Organizing Team
Jowita Michalska
CEO, Digital University
SingularityU Warsaw Chapter Ambassador
SingularityU Poland Global Impact Challenge 2019
Paulina Gawryszewska
Head of Executive Learning, Digital University
SingularityU Warsaw Chapter Leadership Team
Magdalena Marchwicka
Head of Programmes & Speaker Relations, Digital University
Sabina W. Siwy
Head of Marketing, Digital University
Global Impact Challenges (GICs) are incentive competitions organized by partners in countries around the world to identify innovative startups & solutions using exponential technology to solve the world’s pressing challenges. The winner of this challenge receives a full sponsorship to attend Singularity University’s 2019 Global Startup Program (GSP).
Do ideas have to be at a certain stage to be submitted?
The GSP is for startups aligned with global grand challenges (GGCs) that want to 10x their current startup and scale it globally. We’re looking for startups that have experience with exponential technology, some level of demonstrated market traction, and an eagerness to radically level-up their business.
Who is the owner of the intellectual property resulting from a GIC?
Intellectual property resulting from a GIC belongs to the applicant(s).
What is the GIC review process?
The selection process is two to three phases depending on the competition. The first phase involves a review of all applications to determine 5-10 finalists, and the second phase involves final judging to select the winner at a pitch event.
Is there an obligation for the GIC winner to work on the winning project during the GSP?
Yes, there is an expectation for winners to continue working on their winning projects.
Who pays for the travel expenses for the winner to come to SU?
The winner is responsible for their own travel expenses to/from SU.
What happens if a GIC winner cannot attend GSP for any reason?
In all cases where a GIC winner cannot attend GSP, the winner forfeits his or her GSP seat to the first runner-up and would then need to reapply for admission in a future year.
For more information, see the Global Solutions Program.
Get in touch with the SingularityU Poland GIC organizers by emailing them at poland@gic.su.org, or contact the Global Impact Challenge team at SU at gic@su.org.
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Arduino and the Texas Instruments SN76489
You may have never heard of the Texas Instruments SN76489, but if you are reading this article, there’s a good chance you have heard it.
The SN76489 is a sound chip which, according to the Wikipedia entry, was used in systems such as:
ColecoVision (and it’s home computer counterpart, the Adam)
Sega Game Gear portable (a clone chip)
Sega Master System (a clone chip)
Tandy 1000 (and the IBM PC jr?)
Texas Instruments TI-99/4A (earlier variation)
…and in arcade games such as:
Mr. Do! and its three sequels.
Time Pilot ’84 (clone chip)
Congo Bongo
…and many more. I am just naming the machines and games I have heard of or seen/played.
Side Note: The Wikipedia entry also claims the Sega Genesis used one, but it had far fancier sound. A quick search shows the Genesis did not use this chip, so other systems may also be incorrect. Ah, Wikipedia…)
This chip is able to produce three tones and one white noise at a time, which sounds an awful lot like the audio capabilities of my first computer, the VIC-20.
The chip has none of the fancy synthesizer features found in other chips, such as the famous Commodore 64 SID chip. The only thing you can do is adjust the volume level of each channel of sound. Clever software uses this to produce bell sounds and other effects. (If Congo Bongo is really using this chip, it’s doing some fancy things to make those bongo sounds!)
Thanks to StrongWare‘s John Strong, I now have one of these chips to experiment with. It is wired up to an Arduino Nano clone. (NOTE: I had issues getting this clone recognized on my Mac, due to it using a different serial chip. I found the solution, and wrote about it earlier this week.)
SN76849 sound chip hooked to an Arduino Nano on a neat 3-D printed platform from StrongWare.
John pointed me to this short tutorial on how to use the chip:
http://danceswithferrets.org/geekblog/?p=93
Using sample code there, I was able to get the device making tones, and then expanded it to play a sequence of tones to make a tune.
The next day I added more code so it could do a multitrack sequence.
I thought it might be fun to share what I have learned the first two days of playing with the device, and share the code I have come up with.
I will do a full article on the chip and how it works (summarizing some overly complex explanations I have been reading), but until then, here is my sample project:
https://github.com/allenhuffman/MusicSequencerTest
It contains routines to poke bytes to the SN76489, plus a work-in-progress multitrack music sequence that currently plays the 2-voice intro music to Pac-Man :)
I’ve been fixing up the comments and squashing some bugs, so check back for the latest. I still have to add real/better support for the “noise” channel, but it works right now for playing simple tunes.
This entry was posted in Arduino, SN76849 on March 6, 2017 by Allen Huffman.
← Arduino Nano serial port not recognized on Mac 10.12 Building a Better BASIC Input, revisited →
31 thoughts on “Arduino and the Texas Instruments SN76489”
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Michiel December 5, 2017 at 3:40 pm
I’m getting a srange hummmmm sound which wont go away. Music is played, with that humm.
The Arduino Nano and SN76489 are connected as on the http://danceswithferrets.org/geekblog/?p=93 page.
I tried your MusicSequencerTest.ino too. It worls fine. The hummm dirves me nuts.
Stuff used;
– Arduino Nano
– 4 Mhz clock osc.
– SN76489AN audio chip.
All help appreciated!
Allen Huffman Post author December 5, 2017 at 3:42 pm
Yeah, it’s noisy. There may be some circuitry that could be added to reduce the hum, or it could just be the cheap part is noisy. Mine has a hum but it’s not too bad unless you turn the volume up.
Michiel December 7, 2017 at 2:56 am
Thanx! It was solved by using adding LM386-chip mini amp from audio out to gnd.
I’ve posted a short demo here –> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yiJwjH7VW8 in my dev update.
shawtyds April 19, 2018 at 5:13 pm
@Michiel, I can answer the question for your Hum :-)
By default when the SN76489 is powered on, it emits a continuous tone on channel 2, to let you know that it’s getting a clock signal and everything started up ay-ok.
Problem is, unless you initialize the chip in a very specific way, it seems to stick around like a bad smell, and is very difficult to get rid of. The reason it’s difficult to get rid of, is because of a bug in the hardware on the chip. I don’t know the exact details of the bug, but I do know it’s there, and how to stop it.
I was a dedicated Acorn BBC Model B dev back in the 80’s/90’s (Still am… ish :-) ) but I was also one of only a handful of people who figured out how to use that hum to force the SN to play back digitized sampled sound on a BBC Model B micro, and as a result was one of the reasons so many games had very primitive sample sounds in them on that machine.
ANYWAY… back to this….
I’m just on uploading all my project files for an arduino setup I put together, to allow me to playback actual BBC Model B music data from a PC, to an SN chip, using an Arduino to control the chip, it’s nothing flash, BUT….. if you look in the arduino code that’s there, you’ll see a function to correctly initialize the chip, and get rid of that annoying hum.
My Project is at:
https://github.com/shawty/sn76489arduino
Iv’e not finished the circuit diagrams yet, I’ll get them done soon, but all the codes there, and as soon as I finish typing this, I’m gonna upload a bunch of sample VGM files containing genuine SN76489 music data too.
@Allen – how about mentioning the BBC Micros A/B/B+/Master/Master 128/Master 512 and Master ET-Turbo too :-) No one who does anything with these wonderful little sound chips ever mentions them, they deserve a bit of the lime light too (Please) :-D
Shawty
(@shawty_ds – on twitter)
Allen Huffman Post author April 19, 2018 at 6:29 pm
I’ll take a look at your code. The BBC machines were never over here in the States, so beyond knowing that “BBC Micro” was a thing from some 80s computer TV show (probably a BBC show actually), I never heard of it until recent internet years. I also learned about the MSX, since it has an extended PLAY command in BASIC that does multi voice an I have a serial controlled sound player I am sorta modeling after that version of Microsoft BASIC.
shawtyds April 20, 2018 at 3:14 am
Ah, that makes sense (The State Side thing) – Yea the BBC Micro was huge over here.
You had 2 groups of children in 80’s geek culture, you had your Sinclair Specrum/Amstrad crowd, they where the one that became the games players of the generation, and ultimately moved onto the Commodore Amiga & the Atari ST etc
Then you had your hardcore geeks that took things apart, build things, and generally abused machines like the BBC Micro (It’s hardware capabilities where immense for the time). The BBC Micro folks where the ones that went on to do careers in computer engineering, robots, communications, electronics all that kind of stuff, and ultimately grew up through the ranks ending with the Acorn Archimedes Series and RiscOS.
Ultimately though we all ended up on the PC Platform in one way or another :-(
If your really interested in this side of the pond, look for a book called “Digital Retro” by “Gordon Laing”, it covers the MSX, The BBC Micro and many, many more machines of the era both sides of the Atlantic.
Ultimately what I want to do with my version of the Arduino player, is to set it up so that it can be used by my BBC Micro emulator, and instead of emulating the sound, can use real hardware to play it.
What I want to do next, is to figure out how to program my Arduino so that it appears to windows as a USB Hid device, then write a driver of some kind for it that can then be detected, rather than depending on comports.
The circuit diagram (When I get it done) is almost identical to the one ‘danceswithferrets’ came up with, and if you need a source for the chips, there’s a number of suppliers here in the UK that seem to still have them available, I get mine from a company called “Electro TV Parts” (They have an eBay page).
MiaM April 20, 2018 at 6:47 am
I’d also recommend the doculemtary Micro Men for anyone interested in UK home computers of the 80’s.
Allen Huffman Post author April 20, 2018 at 7:37 am
It looks like my Radio Shack Color Computer followed a similar paths… over here, the Commodore guys were the gamers, and the CoCo folks go into multitasking OS-9 operating systems and device drivers and such.
Quite likely. I do know the Radio Shack (or it’s UK version which I owned at some point “The Tandy TRS-80” was a reasonably powerfull machine.
I have to confess though, I know very little about US geek culture. :-)
+1 for “The Micro Men”, great film just for watching, even if your not into that kind of thing.
I have a project called SirSound which uses a Microsoft BASIC PLAY command parser and a serial port. I hook it to my CoCo, and using the BASIC command to print to the printer serial port, and can make it play autonomous background music. I’ve done much work on the sequencer and such since I first posted this, so I will have to get a full update posted. I’ve learned much.
shawtyds April 20, 2018 at 10:40 am
Kewl.
Well it’s been a LOOOOOOONG time since I touched anything like that. (I’m a profession software developer by trade by the way) , I’m more used to dealing with multi million line C#, Java and web projects these days, but I’m always happy to take a look at small bits of code here and there and offer my opinion and/or help.
Allen Huffman Post author April 20, 2018 at 10:50 am
I do embedded C programming, so Arduino hardware is not too much smaller than what my day job has me work on :-(
Sweet. Yea i was doing too much software and starting to miss the hardware side of things, thats why I started getting back into arduinos/pi’s etc.
I’ve never been a hardware guy, beyond soldering some serial cables, but I’m getting pretty good at plugging wires into breadboards and hooking things up. Having a blast! Wish I had learned this thirty years ago.
shawtyds April 20, 2018 at 12:35 pm
Thirty years ago, dang that’s almost as long as Iv’e been in the I.T game :-)
My first professional I.T job was in 1988, for a year while I studied one day a week to do a BTEC In computer studies. Then I swanned off and joined the Army for 3 years, did networks, radio, communications all that jazz, came back out circa 1992, wen’t on to university graduated with a 3 part degree in 1995 in CPU Design, Industrial Robotics and Software Engineering practices, wrapped up under an umbrella of “Computing for Industry”
Spent some time doing everything from Game music (Worked on a lot of the 1990’s era Amiga/Atari titles and late 90’s C64 titles) to being a sysadmin building data centers etc, then 4 and a half years in the comms industry working for orange as a radio access networks engineer.
I wrote a large chunk of the radio access software for the (Then new) 3G service they where rolling out in the UK.
Since then Iv’e worked all over the world, 3 of my biggest clients are in the USA, Iv’e had clients in the middle east, europe, australia, these days I’m happy just being a self employed code slinger with my own ltd company.
Keeps me happy, pays the bills and keeps me out of trouble :-)
I wrote my first bit of code however, way back in 1979 on a Sinclair ZX81 with 1k memory :-)
Michiel April 21, 2018 at 2:17 pm
I’ve updated my SN76489 with I2c;
– SN76489
– PCF8574P I2C
– LM358 op amp
– 50k potmeter for volume control
– Arduino Nano as clock generator.
See here –> https://github.com/pappavis/EasyLab-retro-synth-SN76489/blob/master/KiCAD/SN76489%20arduino%20nano%20shield/plaatje/EasyLabMuziek%20editie_SN76489_3d_0.2.png
シークSik (@Sikthehedgehog) May 15, 2018 at 10:59 am
Coming here just to point out something:
It does have it (specifically the same one as the Master System, with its slightly different noise generator), but it’s also coupled together with a YM2612 which is the one doing the fancier sounds. Probably the most iconic use of the SN76489 on the system is when Sonic jumps :P (there’s also the opening of Streets of Rage if you’re looking for music instead of sound effects, and the noise channel was commonly used for hithats in general)
Note: you won’t find any actual SN76489 chip if you look at the board since they integrated it into the same chip as the video hardware.
Allen Huffman Post author May 16, 2018 at 1:12 am
Thanks for this info! When I did some digging. I read it was the Master System chip, and just assumed whoever did that entry didn’t know the difference between those two Sega units.
maniacminer October 26, 2019 at 6:20 pm
On Streets of Rage II, the PSG is used quite a bit. Playing the VGM files and switching off the various output channels, it has quite an effect on the music and some of the digitised speech.
Allen Huffman Post author October 26, 2019 at 6:31 pm
Thanks for sharing this info!
shawtyds May 16, 2018 at 4:39 am
Clears up some confusion for me too. I always wondered, because I actually took a master system apart and could’t find the TI on it.
Michiel June 7, 2018 at 3:50 am
FYI. Updated my SN76489
– Added LM358 OpAmp and volume control.
– Changed shifregister to I2C
TODO;
– Add 3.5mm stereo SRT jack for ouput
– Add onboard Piezzo speaker,
https://github.com/pappavis/EasyLab-retro-synth-SN76489
Michiel July 10, 2018 at 4:10 pm
Latest version 0.7.01 of my SN76489 Arduino shield;
– Now only I2C
– Uses the library https://github.com/maxint-rd/mxUnifiedSN76489
– Onboard LM358 OpAmp with volume control
– Output via 3.5mm audio jack (type PJ-307)
Assmebled ready to use ==> https://github.com/pappavis/EasyLab-retro-synth-SN76489/raw/master/KiCAD/SN76489%20arduino%20nano%20shield/plaatje/EasyLabMuziek%20editie_SN76489_klaar.jpg?raw=true
Allen Huffman Post author June 9, 2019 at 10:56 am
Are these Shields available for purchase, assembled?
Michiel June 11, 2019 at 2:21 am
yes, check my Tindie store pre-assembled.
https://www.tindie.com/products/VliegendeVogel/chiptune-player-arduino-microbit-i2c-with-mml/
Michiel #easylab4kids
shawtyds July 10, 2018 at 5:42 pm
Looking Good :-)
Darth Milium June 9, 2019 at 10:50 am
The genesis did have an SN76489, but also had an OPN2 FM chip. You could use both simultaneously, but few games bothered with the older chip
Was the SN76489 in the Sega Master System?
No. The Sega Master System used a clone and it was added the Video Display Processor (IC5) the chip has audio out on pin 19. Sega’s implementation of the SN76489 is slightly different and that causes problems for people wanting to re-create the same music as the SMS or Genesis.
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The Calata Series – Enforcer’s Legacy
Sue Wilder Writes
Romance with a Paranormal Twist
Using Research to Get Past Writer’s Block
Sue Wilderblog, featured, research, writingparanormal romance, writing techniqueLeave a comment
I love telling stories that sweep around the world to exotic locations. I can indulge my fantasies about travel — an ancestor of mine traveled across the Sahara by car when she was a young woman, unmarried, and I’ve always envied her spirited zest for life. Perhaps that’s why I became a writer. I can invent people I’d like to meet and imagine experiences I’ll never have…like immortal beings and the idea of past lives.
In every story, though, the narrative can stall with the “what now” question, when everything grinds to a halt. Here are a few research tricks that I use to get my plot moving.
Where is the action taking place? Why select this location in the first place? Were you intrigued, or was it convenient? Research again as a tourist. Follow random points of interest. Travel blogs are a great resource — I learned that a certain hotel in Europe was so close to the church, sleep became impossible — because the bells rang every fifteen minutes. And the location for book two in my Calata Series came from a friend on Facebook, who was continuously posting photos.
What talents do your characters need? My heroine needed to fight, but since she’s mortal, she couldn’t be slamming invisible powers against her enemies. But neither did I want her relying on the usual “go-to styles” for my genre. The resulting research improved the story in an entertaining way, explaining a detail in the backstory on the warriors, was well.
Read other genres. Read as research. It’s easier to see the technique in action when reading a genre you don’t love. Explore ways to work with pacing, complications, and ask questions about the pinch points and plot structure. Are you stalled because of a pinch point? A motivation you haven’t fully explained? So much backstory you fell asleep? I’ve made these mistakes and more, and fortunately my intuition halts me before I blunder on with another five thousand words. We call it “writer’s block,” but it’s more like the Muse hiding the recharging cord for your laptop. You have to find it before you can write again.
Research the conventions of your genre. I like to write a genre blend of paranormal romance and action thriller. It’s easy to lose sight of which genre should dominate at points within the story, but readers expect certain emotional cues and satisfactions. If you don’t provide them, the story falls flat. In a recent manuscript, my editor pointed out that two big events had happened off screen and she’d felt disappointed. It was an easy fix, but I should have realized that both scenes were an important convention of the action theme and I’d been so focused on other elements I missed it.
What are the rules of your world? If you are writing paranormal stories, like I am, you get to make the rules, and sometimes just making those rules can be a stumbling block. But do you know how many historically recorded origin myths there are out there? Every culture has their unique world view. You can find plenty of logical explanations for fantastical abilities, so why not borrow a few and use them to move your plot twists along?
Just write. Writing is often a process to get closer to what you want to say. I’m an avid researcher, and I have stacks of yellow legal pads, covered with hand-written notes, character descriptions, sections of dialogue, and notes to remind myself to review notes I made somewhere else. But you can get stuck if you write to too many masters. Take a breath. Go outside at night and write by candlelight. Imagine your story while you’re taking a shower. Talk to your characters in the grocery store (this can earn you a few weird looks), then write until you know know what you want to say, and polish it up later.
Sue Wilder is the pen name for an author living in the Pacific Northwest. She lives with her husband, and a yellow lab named Bella, both of whom listen to every idea without falling asleep. Although, Bella is thirteen-years-old, now, so sometimes it’s hard to tell if she’s listening or sleeping.
The Darkness in Dreams, Calata Series Book One, is due out in 2018.
Posted by Sue Wilder
Sue Wilder lives in the Pacific Northwest. She first discovered the power of story as a child living in California, when she was caught starting a grapefruit war in a neighboring orchard. Through an imaginative explanation, she managed to absolve all her cohorts from guilt, and has since moderated her behavior. She now writes for a more mature adult audience.
Insecurity, and why you shouldn’t resist growth
“There was always a darkness in the dreams…we planned it that way.”
The Darkness in Dreams
How do you search for a single person? And find them lifetime after lifetime?
How do you repair the wreckage that has become your life?
How do you do it when one of you is immortal?
Book 1 in the Enforcer’s Legacy Series
The Fire In Vengeance
The Danger in Justice
The Tears in Midnight
Arsen’s Story – Book 4 in the Enforcer’s Legacy Series
The Memories in Moonlight
Baz’s Story – Book 5 in the Enforcer’s Legacy Series
Charles Bukowski-Beat Poet
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→ www.guardian.co.uk
In the earlier March hearing, US government lawyers had confirmed that, yes, the NDAA does give the president the power to lock up people like journalist Chris Hedges and peaceful activists like myself and other plaintiffs. Government attorneys stated on record that even war correspondents could be locked up indefinitely under the NDAA.
Judge Forrest had ruled for a temporary injunction against an unconstitutional provision in this law, after government attorneys refused to provide assurances to the court that plaintiffs and others would not be indefinitely detained for engaging in first amendment activities. At that time, twice the government has refused to define what it means to be an "associated force", and it claimed the right to refrain from offering any clear definition of this term, or clear boundaries of power under this law.
This past week's hearing was even more terrifying. Government attorneys again, in this hearing, presented no evidence to support their position and brought forth no witnesses. Most incredibly, Obama's attorneys refused to assure the court, when questioned, that the NDAA's section 1021 – the provision that permits reporters and others who have not committed crimes to be detained without trial – has not been applied by the US government anywhere in the world after Judge Forrest's injunction. In other words, they were telling a US federal judge that they could not, or would not, state whether Obama's government had complied with the legal injunction that she had laid down before them.
To this, Judge Forrest responded that if the provision had indeed been applied, the United States government would be in contempt of court.
Tags: constitution big brother police state surveilance USA Security FBI CIA DHS NDAA first amendment indefinite detention law politics Obama
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Aws DevOps Interview Questions – Top 50 Updated For Beginners In 2019
devops interview questions / By Admin
1. What is Amazon Web Services in DevOps?
Answer: AWS provides services that help you practice DevOps at your company and that are built first for use with AWS. These tools automate manual tasks, help teams manage complex environments at scale, and keep engineers in control of the high velocity that is enabled by DevOps.
2. What is the role of AWS in DevOps?
Answer: When asked this question in an interview, get straight to the point by explaining that AWS is a cloud-based service provided by Amazon that ensures scalability through unlimited computing power and storage. AWS empowers IT enterprises to develop and deliver sophisticated products and deploy applications on the cloud. Some of its key services include Amazon CloudFront, Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Relational Database Service, and Amazon Elastic Computer Cloud. Discuss the various cloud platforms and emphasize any big data projects that you have handled in the past using cloud infrastructure.
3. How Is Buffer Used In Amazon Web Services?
Answer: Buffer is used to making the system more resilient to burst of traffic or load by synchronizing different components. The components always receive and process the requests in an unbalanced way. Buffer keeps the balance between different components and makes them work at the same speed to provide faster services.
4. What is an AMI? How do we implement it?
AMI stands for Amazon Machine Image. It is basically a copy of the root file system.
Provides the data required to launch an instance, which means a copy of running an AMI server in the cloud. It’s easy to launch an instance from many different AMIs.
Hardware servers that commodities bios which exactly point the master boot record of the first block on a disk. A disk image is created which can easily fit anywhere physically on a disk. Where Linux can boot from an arbitrary location on the EBS storage network.
5. What is meant by Continuous Integration?
Answer: I will advise you to begin this answer by giving a small definition of Continuous Integration (CI). It is a development practice that requires developers to integrate code into a shared repository several times a day. Each check-in is then verified by an automated build, allowing teams to detect problems early.
I suggest that you explain how you have implemented it in your previous job.
You can refer to the below-given example:
Developers check out code into their private workspaces.
When they are done with it they commit the changes to the shared repository (Version Control Repository).
The CI server monitors the repository and checks out changes when they occur.
The CI server then pulls these changes and builds the system and also runs unit and integration tests.
The CI server will now inform the team of the successful build.
If the build or tests fail, the CI server will alert the team.
The team will try to fix the issue at the earliest opportunity.
This process keeps on repeating.
6. Why do you need a Continuous Integration of Dev & Testing?
Answer: For this answer, you should focus on the need for Continuous Integration. My suggestion would be to mention the below explanation in your answer:
Continuous Integration of Dev and Testing improves the quality of software and reduces the time taken to deliver it, by replacing the traditional practice of testing after completing all development. It allows the Dev team to easily detect and locate problems early because developers need to integrate code into a shared repository several times a day (more frequently). Each check-in is then automatically tested.
7. What is Continuous Testing?
Answer: I will advise you to follow the below-mentioned explanation:
Continuous Testing is the process of executing automated tests as part of the software delivery pipeline to obtain immediate feedback on the business risks associated with the latest build. In this way, each build is tested continuously, allowing Development teams to get fast feedback so that they can prevent those problems from progressing to the next stage of Software delivery life-cycle. This dramatically speeds up a developer’s workflow as there’s no need to manually rebuild the project and re-run all tests after making changes.
8. How Do You Handle Continuous Integration And Continuous Delivery In Aws DevOps?
Answer: The AWS Developer Tools help you securely store and version your application’s source code and automatically build, test, and deploy your application to AWS or your on-premises environment.
Start with AWS Code Pipeline to build a continuous integration or continuous delivery workflow that uses AWS Code Build, AWS Code Deploy, and other tools, or use each service separately. (Aws DevOps Interview Questions)
9. What is AWS CodeBuild in AWS Devops?
Answer: AWS Code Build is a fully managed build service that compiles source code, runs tests, and produces software packages that are ready to deploy. With Code Build, you don’t need to provision, manage, and scale your own build servers. Code Build scales continuously and processes multiple builds concurrently, so your builds are not left waiting in a queue.
10. How is IaC implemented using AWS?
Answer: Start by talking about the age-old mechanisms of writing commands onto script files and testing them in a separate environment before deployment and how this approach is being replaced by IaC. Similar to the codes written for other services, with the help of AWS, IaC allows developers to write, test, and maintain infrastructure entities in a descriptive manner, using formats such as JSON or YAML. This enables easier development and faster deployment of infrastructure changes.
As a DevOps engineer, an in-depth knowledge of processes, tools, and relevant technology are essential. You must also have a holistic understanding of the products, services, and systems in place. If your answers matched the answers we’ve provided above, you’re in great shape for future DevOps interviews. Good luck! If you’re looking for answers to specific DevOps interview questions that aren’t addressed here, ask them in the comments below.
11. Explain whether it is possible to share a single instance of a Memcache between multiple projects?
Answer: Yes, it is possible to share a single instance of Memcache between multiple projects. Memcache is a memory store space, and you can run Memcache on one or more servers. You can also configure your client to speak to a particular set of instances. So, you can run two different Memcache processes on the same host and yet they are completely independent. Unless, if you have partitioned your data, then it becomes necessary to know from which instance to get the data from or to put into.
12. What is AWS CodeStar in AWS DevOps?
Answer: AWS Code Star enables you to quickly develop, build, and deploy applications on AWS. AWS Code Star provides a unified user interface, enabling you to easily manage your software development activities in one place. With AWS CodeStar, you can set up your entire continuous delivery toolchain in minutes, allowing you to start releasing code faster.
13. What is Amazon RDS in AWS DevOps?
Answer: Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud.
14. What is a building project in AWS DevOps?
Answer: A building project is used to define how CodeBuild will run a build. It includes information such as where to get the source code, which builds the environment to use, the build commands to run, and where to store the build output. A build environment is the combination of the operating system, programming language runtime, and tools used by CodeBuild to run a build.
15. Why AWS DevOps Matters?
Answer: Software and the Internet have transformed the world and its industries, from shopping to entertainment to banking. Software no longer merely supports a business; rather it becomes an integral component of every part of a business.
Companies interact with their customers through software delivered as online services or applications and on all sorts of devices. They also use software to increase operational efficiencies by transforming every part of the value chain, such as logistics, communications, and operations. (DevOps Online Training)
In a similar way that physical goods companies transformed how they design, build, and deliver products using industrial automation throughout the 20th century, companies in today’s world must transform how they build and deliver software.
16. Is it possible to scale an Amazon instance vertically? How?
Answer: Yes. This is an incredible characteristic of cloud virtualization and AWS. Spinup is a huge case when compared to the one which you are running. Let up the instance and separate the root EBS volume from this server and remove. Next, stop your live instance, remove its root volume. Note down the distinctive device ID and attach root volume to your new server and start it again. This is the way to scaling vertically in place. (Interview Questions and Answers)
17. How is AWS OpsWorks different than AWS Cloud Formation?
Answer: OpsWorks and Cloud Formation both support application modeling, deployment, configuration, management, and related activities. Both support a wide variety of architectural patterns, from simple web applications to highly complex applications. AWS OpsWorks and AWS Cloud Formation differ in abstraction level and areas of focus.
AWS Cloud Formation is a building block service which enables the customer to manage almost any AWS resource via JSON-based domain-specific language. It provides foundational capabilities for the full breadth of AWS, without prescribing a particular model for development and operations.
Customers define templates and use them to provision and manage AWS resources, operating systems and application code, In contrast, AWS OpsWorks is a higher level service that focuses on providing highly productive and reliable DevOps experiences for IT administrators and ops-minded developers.
To do this, AWS OpsWorks employs a configuration management model based on concepts such as stacks and layers and provides integrated experiences for key activities like deployment, monitoring, auto-scaling, and automation.
Compared to AWS CloudFormation, AWS OpsWorks supports a narrower range of application-oriented AWS resource types including Amazon EC2 instances, Amazon EBS volumes, Elastic IPs, and Amazon CloudWatch metrics.
18. How is AWS Elastic Beanstalk different than AWS OpsWorks?
Answer: AWS Elastic Beanstalk is an application management platform while OpsWorks is a configuration management platform. BeanStalk is an easy to use service which is used for deploying and scaling web applications developed with Java, .Net, PHP, Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go and Docker. Customers upload their code and Elastic Beanstalk automatically handles the deployment. The application will be ready to use without any infrastructure or resource configuration.
19. How do I transfer my existing domain name registration to Amazon Route 53 without disrupting my existing web traffic?
Answer: You will need to get a list of the DNS record data for your domain name first, it is generally available in the form of a “zone file” that you can get from your existing DNS provider. Once you receive the DNS record data, you can use Route 53’s Management Console or simple web-services interface to create a hosted zone that will store your DNS records for your domain name and follow its transfer process. It also includes steps such as updating the nameservers for your domain name to the ones associated with your hosted zone. For completing the process you have to contact the registrar with whom you registered your domain name and follow the transfer process.
20. When should I use a Classic Load Balancer and when should I use an Application load balancer?
Answer: A Classic Load Balancer is ideal for simple load balancing of traffic across multiple EC2 instances, while an Application Load Balancer is ideal for microservices or container-based architectures where there is a need to route traffic to multiple services or load balance across multiple ports on the same EC2 instance.
21. What is the difference between Scalability and Elasticity?
Answer: Scalability is the ability of a system to increase its hardware resources to handle the increase in demand. It can be done by increasing the hardware specifications or increasing the processing nodes.
Elasticity is the ability of a system to handle the increase in the workload by adding additional hardware resources when the demand increases(same as scaling) but also rolling back the scaled resources when the resources are no longer needed. This is particularly helpful in Cloud environments, where a pay per use model is followed.
22. How is Amazon RDS, DynamoDB and Redshift different?
Answer: Amazon RDS is a database management service for relational databases, it manages patching, upgrading, backing up of data, etc. of databases for you without your intervention. RDS is a Db management service for structured data only.
DynamoDB, on the other hand, is a NoSQL database service, NoSQL deals with unstructured data.
Redshift is an entirely different service, it is a data warehouse product and is used in data analysis. (Aws DevOps Interview Questions)
23. If my AWS Direct Connect fails, will I lose my connectivity?
Answer: If a backup AWS Direct connect has been configured, in the event of a failure it will switch over to the second one. It is recommended to enable Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) when configuring your connections to ensure faster detection and failover. On the other hand, if you have configured a backup IPsec VPN connection
instead, all VPC traffic will failover to the backup VPN connection automatically. Traffic to/from public resources such as Amazon S3 will be routed over the Internet.
If you do not have a backup AWS Direct Connect link or an IPsec VPN link, then Amazon VPC traffic will be dropped in the event of a failure.
24. How can you speed up data transfer in Snowball?
Answer: The data transfer can be increased in the following way:
By performing multiple copy operations at one time i.e. if the workstation is powerful enough, you can initiate multiple cp commands each from different terminals, on the same Snowball device.
Copying from multiple workstations to the same snowball.
Transferring large files or by creating a batch of small file, this will reduce the encryption overhead.
Eliminating unnecessary hops i.e. make a setup where the source machine(s) and the snowball are the only machines active
on the switch being used, this can hugely improve performance
25. How does a Cookbook differ from a Recipe in Chef?
Answer: The answer to this is pretty direct. You can simply say, “a Recipe is a collection of Resources, and primarily configures a software package or some piece of infrastructure. A Cookbook groups together Recipes and other information in a way that is more manageable than having just Recipes alone.”
26. Why do we use AWS for DevOps?
Answer: There are many benefits of using AWS for DevOps, they are:
Get Started Fast – Each AWS service is ready to use if you have an AWS account. There is no setup required or software to install.
Fully Managed Services: These services can help you take advantage of AWS resources quicker. You can worry less about setting up, installing, and operating infrastructure on your own. This lets you focus on your core product.
Built for Scale: You can manage a single instance or scale to thousands using AWS services. These services help you make the most of flexible compute resources by simplifying provisioning, configuration, and scaling.
27. What is AWS Lambda in AWS DevOps?
Answer: AWS Lambda lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers. With Lambda, you can run code for virtually any type of application or backend service – all with zero administration. Just upload your code and Lambda takes care of everything required to run and scale your code with high availability.
28. What Are The Benefits Of Aws Code Deploy In Aws DevOps?
Answer: AWS Code Deploy is a service that automates software deployments to a variety of computer services including Amazon EC2, AWS Lambda, and instances running on-premises.
AWS Code Deploy makes it easier for you to rapidly release new features, helps you avoid downtime during application deployment, and handles the complexity of updating your applications.
29. Explain The Function Of An Amazon Ec2 Instance Like Stopping, Starting And Terminating?
Answer: Stopping and Starting an instance: When an instance is stopped, the instance performs a normal shutdown and then transitions to a stopped state. All of its Amazon EBS volumes remain attached, and you can start the instance again at a later time. You are not charged for additional instance hours while the instance is in a stopped state.
Terminating an instance: When an instance is terminated, the instance performs a normal shutdown, then the attached Amazon EBS volumes are deleted unless the volume’s delete OnTermination attribute is set to false. The instance itself is also deleted, and you can’t start the instance again at a later time. Hope it would be very helpful to understand and crack the interview.
30. What is the importance of buffer in Amazon Web Services?
Answer: A buffer will synchronize different components and makes the arrangement additional elastic to a burst of load or traffic. The components are prone to work in an unstable way of receiving and processing the requests. The buffer creates the equilibrium linking various apparatus and crafts them effort at the identical rate to supply more rapid services.
31. What are the components involved in Amazon Web Services?
Answer: There are 4 components involved and areas below.
Amazon S3: With this, one can retrieve the key information which is occupied in creating cloud structural design and amount of produced information also can be stored in this component that is the consequence of the key specified. Amazon EC2: helpful to run a large distributed system on the Hadoop cluster. Automatic parallelization and job scheduling can be achieved by this component. Amazon SQS: this component acts as a mediator between different controllers. Also worn for cushioning requirements those are obtained by the manager of Amazon.Amazon SimpleDB: helps in storing the transitional position log and the errands executed by the consumers.
32. Which automation gears can help with spinup services?
Answer: The API tools can be used for spinup services and also for the written scripts. Those scripts could be coded in Perl, bash or other languages of your preference. There is one more option that is patterned administration and stipulating tools such as a dummy or improved descendant. A tool called Scalr can also be used and finally, we can go with a controlled explanation like a Rightscale.
33. How would you explain the concept of “infrastructure as code” (IaC)?
Answer: It is a good idea to talk about IaC as a concept, which is sometimes referred to as a programmable infrastructure, where infrastructure is perceived in the same way as any other code. Describe how the traditional approach to managing infrastructure is taking a back seat and how manual configurations, obsolete tools, and custom scripts are becoming less reliable. (Company) Next, accentuate the benefits of IaC and how changes to IT infrastructure can be implemented in a faster, safer and easier manner using IaC. Include the other benefits of IaC like applying regular unit testing and integration testing to infrastructure configurations, and maintaining up-to-date infrastructure documentation.
If you have completed a certification on Amazon Web Services (AWS)
34. What are the advantages of DevOps?
Answer: For this answer, you can use your past experience and explain how DevOps helped you in your previous job. If you don’t have any such experience, then you can mention the below advantages.
Technical benefits:
Continuous software delivery
Less complex problems to fix
Faster resolution of problems
Business benefits:
Faster delivery of features
More stable operating environments
More time available to add value (rather than fix/maintain)
35. Which VCS tool you are comfortable with?
Answer: You can just mention the VCS tool that you have worked on like this: “I have worked on Git and one major advantage it has over other VCS tools like SVN is that it is a distributed version control system.”
Distributed VCS tools do not necessarily rely on a central server to store all the versions of a project’s files. Instead, every developer “clones” a copy of a repository and has the full history of the project on their own hard drive.
36. What’s the background of your system?
Answer: Some DevOps jobs require extensive systems knowledge, including server clustering and highly concurrent systems. As a DevOps engineer, you need to analyze system capabilities and implement upgrades for efficiency, scalability, and stability, or resilience. It is recommended that you have a solid knowledge of OSes and supporting technologies, like network security, virtual private networks, and proxy server configuration.
DevOps relies on virtualization for rapid workload provisioning and allocating compute resources to new VMs to support the next rollout, so it is useful to have in-depth knowledge around popular hypervisors. This should ideally include backup, migration, and lifecycle management tactics to protect, optimize and eventually recover computing resources. Some environments may emphasize microservices software development tailored for virtual containers. Operations expertise must include extensive knowledge of systems management tools like Microsoft System Center, Puppet, Nagios and Chef.
such as a card, and the other is typically something memorized, such as a security code.
37. Explain how Memcached should not be used?
Answer: Memcached common misuse is to use it as a data store, and not as a cache Never use Memcached as the only source of the information you need to run your application.
Data should always be available through another source as well Memcached is just a key or value store and cannot perform query over the data or iterate over the contents to extract information.
Memcached does not offer any form of security either in encryption or authentication
38. Explain what is Dogpile effect? How can you prevent this effect?
Answer: Dogpile effect is referred to the event when the cache expires, and websites are hit by the multiple requests made by the client at the same time. This effect can be prevented by using a semaphore lock. In this system when value expires, the first process acquires the lock and starts generating new value.
39. Is continuous delivery related to the dev-ops movement? How so?
Answer: Absolutely. In any organization where there is a separate operations department, and especially where there is an independent QA or testing function, we see that much of the pain in getting software delivered is caused by poor communication between these groups, exacerbated by an underlying cultural divide. Apps are measured according to throughput, and ops are measured according to stability. Testing gets it in the neck from both sides, and like release management, is often a political pawn in the fight between apps and ops. The point of dev-ops is that developers need to learn how to create high-quality, production-ready software, and ops need to learn that Agile techniques are actually powerful tools to enable effective, low-risk change management. Ultimately, we’re all trying to achieve the same thing – creating business value through software – but we need to get better at working together and focusing on this goal rather than trying to optimize our own domains. Unfortunately, many organizations aren’t set up in a way that rewards that kind of thinking. According to Forrester.
40. What is the role of a DevOps engineer?
Answer: There’s no formal career track for becoming a DevOps engineer. They are either developers who get interested in deployment and network operations, or sysadmins who have a passion for scripting and coding, and move into the development side where they can improve the planning of test and deployment.
41. What happens when a build is run in CodeBuild in AWS Devops?
Answer: CodeBuild will create a temporary compute container of the class defined in the building project, load it with the specified runtime environment, download the source code, execute the commands configured in the project, upload the generated artifact to an S3 bucket, and then destroy the compute container. During the build, CodeBuild will stream the build output to the service console and Amazon CloudWatch Logs.
42. How to Adopt an AWS DevOps Model?
Transitioning to DevOps requires a change in culture and mindset. At its simplest, DevOps is about removing the barriers between two traditionally siloed teams, development, and operations.
In some organizations, there may not even be separate development and operations teams; engineers may do both. With DevOps, the two teams work together to optimize both the productivity of developers and the reliability of operations.
They strive to communicate frequently, increase efficiencies, and improve the quality of services they provide to customers. They take full ownership for their services, often beyond where their stated roles or titles have traditionally been scoped by thinking about the end customer’s needs and how they can contribute to solving those needs.
Quality assurance and security teams may also become tightly integrated with these teams. Organizations using a DevOps model, regardless of their organizational structure, have teams that view the entire development and infrastructure lifecycle as part of their responsibilities.
43. Discuss your experience building bridges between IT Ops, QA, and development?
Answer: DevOps is all about effective communication and collaboration. I’ve been able to deal with production issues from the development and operations sides, effectively straddling the two worlds. I’m less interested in finding blame or playing the hero than I am with ensuring that all of the moving parts come together.
44. What Is Amazon Elastic Container Service In Aws DevOps?
Answer: Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) is a highly scalable, high-performance container management service that supports Docker containers and allows you to easily run applications on a managed cluster of Amazon EC2 instances.
45. What is Amazon S3 in AWS DevOps?
Answer: Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is object storage with a simple web service interface to store and retrieve any amount of data from anywhere on the web.
46. Which programming frameworks does CodeBuild support in AWS DevOps?
Answer: Code Build provides pre-configured environments for supported versions of Java, Ruby, Python, Go, Node.js, Android, and Docker. You can also customize your own environment by creating a Docker image and uploading it to the Amazon EC2 Container Registry or the Docker Hub registry. You can then reference this custom image in your build project.
47. What are microservices and why they have an impact on operations?
Answer: Microservices is a product of software architecture and programming practices. Microservices architectures typically produce smaller, but more numerous artifacts that Operations is responsible for regularly deploying and managing. For this reason, microservices have an important impact on Operations. The term that describes the responsibilities of deploying microservices is micro deployments. So, what DevOps is really about is bridging the gap between microservices and micro deployments.
48. Explain how DevOps is helpful to developers?
DevOps brings faster and more frequent release cycles which allow developers to identify and resolve issues immediately as well as implementing new features quickly.
Since DevOps is what makes people do better work by making them wear different hats, Developers who collaborate with Operations will create software that is easier to operate, more reliable, and ultimately better for the business.
49. Mention the key components of AWS?
The key components of AWS are as follows:
Route 53: A DNS (Domain Name SERVER) web-based service platform.
Simple E-mail Service: Sending of E-mail is done by using RESTFUL API call or via regular SMTP (Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol).
Identity and Access Management: Improvised security and Identity management are provided for AWS account.
Simple Storage Device or (S3): It is a huge storage medium, widely used for AWS services.
Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2): Allows on-demand computing resources for hosting applications and essentially useful for unpredictable workloads
Elastic Block Store (EBS): Storage volumes which are being attached to EC2 and allows the data lifespan of a single EC2
Cloud Watch: It is used to monitor AWS resources and it allows administrators to view and collect keys required.
Access is provided so that one can set a notification alarm in case of trouble.
50. What is the AWS Developer Tools?
Answer: The AWS Developer Tools is a set of services designed to enable developers and IT operations professionals practicing DevOps to rapidly and safely deliver software.
Together, these services help you securely store and version control your application’s source code and automatically build, test, and deploy your application to AWS or your on-premises environment. You can use AWS CodePipeline to orchestrate an end-to-end software release workflow using these services and third-party tools or integrate each service independently with your existing tools.
All Devops Interview Questions
Devops linux Interview Questions – Frequently Asked Top 50 For Experienced
Chef And Puppet Interview Questions – The Best 2019 Latest for Updated
AWS Interview Questions for Devops – You Must Prepare In 2019 Latest
Devops Coding Interview Questions Most IMP For Experienced
DevOps Interview Questions and Answers Pdf – 2019 Latest Updated
Devops Training Videos
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Almost: A Series of Discussions
I was invited by The Bohemian Housewife to join The Boho Book Club. Now, I absolutely love a great book so I was 100% in! The book we will be reading this month is Almost by Anne Eliot.
Let me refresh (for some of you it’ll be an introduction) your memory about this book:
“At a freshman party she doesn’t remember, Jess Jordan was almost raped.
…Almost. Very nearly. Not quite. Three years later, Jess has managed to make everyone believe she’s better. Over it. Because she is.
…Almost. Very nearly. Not quite.
Unfortunately, until Jess proves she’s back to normal activities, her parents won’t discuss college. So, she lands a summer internship and strikes a deal with hockey jock, Gray Porter: He gets $8,000. She gets a fake boyfriend and a social life.
Jess has no idea Gray signed on for reasons other than money. She also never expects to fall in love. But Gray’s amazingly hot, holds her hand all the time, and makes her forget that he’s simply doing his job. It’s like having a real boyfriend.
Gray Porter is hiding secrets of his own. About Jess Jordan. About why he’s driven to protect her, why he won’t cash her checks, or deny her anything she asks. “
Enthralling isn’t it? So, each week I will be posting a discussion question as well as my answer and if you are reading along, or have read the book, you can join me!
Week one: What do you think about the contract between Jess and Gray? If you were Gray would you take the deal Jess offered?
I thought the contract was a terrible idea, but I understood why it was done. I was literally reading the book and shaking my head because at every turn in life, there is a point when you see something that is going to end terribly and there’s nothing you can do but shake your head. I understand that Gray would have probably never worked up the nerve to tell Jess his feelings and Jess would have continued to stay in her shell, so I can’t say I hated the idea though it was still a bad idea. If I were Gray, I would definitely had taken the deal. Are you serious? Money and the girl I have had a crush on for ages? Sign me up!
Anne Eliot writes sweet, first-love stories. She was raised in the mountains of Colorado, but says she really learned about life, love and friendships from summers spent with her large, Italian immigrant family in Ontario, Canada. Anne is grateful to have had schools with inspiring teachers and librarians who directed her to worlds she would not have found on her own. To this day, she adores school visits, teaching writing to teens, and is dedicated to making sure kids in need have access to books that will fuel their hopes and dreams. While growing up, Anne hid her own anxieties by hiding and reading book after book. She developed an addiction to first love, first kisses and her favorite: the happy-ever-after story. This is what she writes today. Now she’s a mom of two and happily married to her own first love. Anne works hard to juggle being a wife and parent while writing, but fails at cooking because she is still trying to read book, after book of love stories on the side.
Anne Eliot’s first book, Almost, became a top 100 best selling Kindle book, and was a Readers Choice, Top 12 of 2012 book for Amazon.com at #11, and will be translated and released in Germany and Turkey fall 2013. Her second book, Unmaking Hunter Kennedy, is a also a Kindle, top 100 best selling book in Teen Romance for 2013. She’s hard at work on her third novel, another sweet teen romance releasing fall/winter, 2013. She loves to hear from readers. Please look for her on Facebook or tweet her @yaromance.
What did you think about the first 10 chapters? Have you read ahead?After reading the synopsis, would you like to pick up the book as well?
Ciao Book THOTS!
Boho Book Club September Giveaway
Book Club, Spoilers
Almost, Anne Eliot, Boho Book Club, Book Club, Book Discussion, Spoilers
Cinderella was Never So Deep
When Man Meets Beast
5 thoughts on “Almost: A Series of Discussions”
Alisha Webster says:
Love this! It was so hard to make up my mind on it!
Pingback: Deja Revu September 10, 2017 - The Bohemian Housewife
J. Hooligan @Platypire Reviews says:
I’m waiting for drama to happen because of it. *cackles*
Lol oh the drama was fantastic! It is so much fun when you watch then do thinfs that you KNOW are going to have terrible consequences.
Pingback: Déjà Revu September 11th, 2017 – Celebrity Readers
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Rossleigh
AIM Extra
The AIM NetworkRossleighThe high achievers of the Abbott Government who should keep their Ministries!
The high achievers of the Abbott Government who should keep their Ministries!
Written by: Rossleigh
Image from heraldsun.com.au
Category: Rossleigh
Christopher Pyne, George Brandis, Malcolm Turnbull, Minister For Employment, Minister for women, Tony Abbott
Rossleigh Brisbane
Below is a short list of Ministers – the high achievers – who should keep their positions after the reshuffle.
Minister for Women. OK, let’s start with Mr Abbott himself. As Minister for Women he’s responsible for a number of achievements:
His signature paid parental leave scheme which was so good that we couldn’t afford it.
As he reminded us, removing the carbon tax enabled the women of Australia to use electricity for their ironing instead of warming it on the stove.
Stopping the boats which was good for everyone, even women.
Commenting on the popularity of women when they were working surrounded by men.
Encouraging them to take scholarships in fashion courses.
Minister for Education: Christopher Pyne has also been a high achiever. Recently he announced changes to the Australian Curriculum which promise a greater emphasis on phonics, as well as a greater emphasis on the benefits of Western civilization and Anzac Day. I’m shore u’ll awl agree that fonnix helps stewdents to spel evareethink crektly. Wuns thay spell werds as they sownd, then nowun will complain about bad spelling eny moor. But Pyne has been an achiever from the moment he took over the portfolio proudly boasting that he hadn’t read the Gonski report, giving confidence to all those students who attempt essays without reading their English texts.
The Attorney General: George Brandis, the quiet underachiever. George may have ignored tradition in this portfolio by failing to defend the court system when those “vigilantes” held up a coal mine by resorting to the unfair tactic of using the existing law, but that’s not the only thing he hasn’t done. The list is quite long and, honestly, you’d have more hope of getting through the books in his library, which is another reason to keep him in his current position. Moving his bookshelves again could jeopardise the Budget which is on a path to sustainable surplus sometime after the return of Halley’s comet.
Minister For Employment: He’s hardly been a quiet achiever, not only has he been busy with his portfolio, but he’s had an opinion on same sex marriage and the links between breast cancer and abortions. Of course, you all know that I’m talking about the erudite Eric Abetz. OK, he may be a bit left wing for his uncle Otto and Andrew Bolt but, in case you’ve forgotten, among his achievements are this change to “red tape”:
After streamlining, employers will no longer have to report on:
CEO remuneration
remuneration of casual managers
components of total remuneration
numbers of job applications and interviews, and
requests and approvals for extended parental leave.
And, of course, last but not leased … and certainly not for sale, the man who professed his loyalty to Abbott right to the very end, we have
Treasurer: Joe Hockey has put us on a path to sustainable surplus. Or so the Liberals keep telling us. Considering we were a basket case just two years ago, Joe’s measures have put us back on track in extraordinarily quick time. Particularly when those nasty senators wouldn’t even allow a number of his vital Budget measures. How can a miracle worker like that be dumped?
Apart from that, I suggest that Mr Turnbull should spill all other positions and draw names out of a hat for ministry positions.
Let’s face it, he couldn’t do much worse than Abbott’s attempts at choosing a ministry.
Rossleigh September 19, 2015 at 6:18 pm
Hey, I probably should repost this one:
http://theaimn.com/my-name-is-ozymandias-king-of-kings-look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair/
keerti September 19, 2015 at 7:28 pm
I suspect the egomaniacle wanker will outdo abut (has anyone heard of him in the last day or so?) and make himself minister for everything.
Kaye Lee September 19, 2015 at 7:29 pm
Every time I think of Christopher Pyne being maybe given the defence portfolio this springs into my mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InBXu-iY7cw
stephentardrew September 19, 2015 at 8:50 pm
It amazes me that Labor will not take the bullies by the horn any simply state the budget can never be balanced because it would choke off the money supply. The big bad debt is a myth. Abbott rode the debt to the last election and Labor need a counter attack that challenges orthodoxy. You have to lead not follow. Sustainable surplus rot.
As for Turnbull a weak compromised sellout. He has doomed himself from the start. NBN will come back to bite. Labor should make a lot more of our small Debt to GDP ratio to prove what and absolute lie the L-NP government is. Forget the fear shit about Turnbull just strike out headlong with the facts. Turnbull will only get kudos as a, so called, intelligent conservative if the left, the Labor party and media let him get away with it. It amazes me this fear of Turnbull when he is so vulnerable at so many levels. Give a fool respect and you undermine your position. Damn Labor is full of a lot of unimaginative fools.
Just watch how he oozes with doubt and a lack of confidence while the face plays the authoritative mask of control. He has sold his values out on so many issue he is actually totally vulnerable. Damn the labor party seem to have a complete lack of psychological insight into the motivations and weaknesses of their enemy. If Shorten does not attack hard and consistently now he is lost. Twelve months is not long to set a cohesive well articulated agenda.
Neil of Sydney September 19, 2015 at 8:55 pm
Labor should make a lot more of our small Debt to GDP ratio
Well it is not that small. Australia is a Federation. Federal, State and local govt debt is approx 30% of GDP and could easily double.
Would be really nice if the ALP could pay off some debt for once but i have never seen it Our Federal govt debt is still relatively low because Howard/Costello ran surplus budgets. Our Federal debt would be at 60% of GDP and exploding if Keating had won the 1996 election.
stephentardrew September 19, 2015 at 10:30 pm
Same old mantra Neil have look at the international comparisons or do I have to do that for you.
paul walter September 19, 2015 at 10:34 pm
What a sad tale the list tells..what a despicable group of individuals.
Canning teaches us, no bad deed goes unrewarded.
rossleighbrisbane September 20, 2015 at 7:21 am
Gee, Neil, still talking about Labor and not praising the Liberals for their strong, stable government. Is it that you realise that nobody could support Joe Hockey as Treasurer because of the enormous debts he’s running up?
Peter F September 20, 2015 at 7:34 am
Neil; You admit that “Our Federal govt debt is still relatively low because Howard/Costello ran surplus budgets” but ignore the fact that it has climbed since Hockey became treasurer. How long would you wait before admitting that Hockey was a failure
Terry2 September 20, 2015 at 8:05 am
Not to mention Peter Dutton – whoops sorry about that !
He must have had some naughty photos of Abbott to explain his appointment and disastrous term as Health Minister, quickly followed with an equally disastrous term as Immigration Minister.
A seven percent swing against the Liberals is a great result in Canning, evidently, and candidate Hastie is going to pursue his campaign against the spread of Ice in WA : perhaps he thinks he has been elected to state parliament.
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Kaye Lee September 20, 2015 at 8:22 am
Apparently Mal Brough wants health. All is to be forgotten about Ashbygate it seems.
gangey1959 September 20, 2015 at 10:59 am
Obviously neil (tonyabigbutt) of Sydney is bitter sitting on the backbench when it is obvious he still wants to be king.
When the swap portfolios like the shearers in “The Shearer’s Dream” anyway, “draughting them round like sheep” anyway, why not pull names from a hat. To which address do I send mine ? I’ve got some expertise in a number of areas, and I’m not doing anything productive. I’d be perfect. And I promise not to rort the system.
As long as I don’t have to sit next to ta, or pduddy, or erica, or………
PS Congrats to the people of Canning for the swing against the lnp. It was always going to be tough to oust the lnp. Some leadership and direction from Canberra would have helped.
The ex de facto PM and self-proclaimed highest achiever has decreed she “did the best job in the world and has no regrets”.
After 16 years behind the scenes in federal politics, I think it is time to find my own voice,” she said.
“I gave my all to win from opposition by a vote of the Australian people, the honourable way, rather than a ‘Game of Thrones’ attack,” she said.
Kate M September 20, 2015 at 2:55 pm
Great video Kaye 🙂
Terry2 September 20, 2015 at 3:11 pm
“Ms Credlin told News Corp she is proud of the work she did while in parliament and has no bitterness towards her critics”
So, is Peta saying that she is leaving politics – do we need a bi-election ?
Wait a minute, which seat does she hold ?
I so hate the holier-than-thou crap. “I did it the honourable way” my ass.
The pretention of the woman astounds.
Möbius Ecko September 20, 2015 at 3:46 pm
The MSM at it again, most of all the ABC. Without fail they are reporting the 2PP swing to Labour as 6%, most making that margin as being insignificant and expected because of the death of a sitting member.
First the swing is 6.9%, so why round it nearly a point down?
Second why don’t they mention that nearly 7% is double the average for a swing for a by-election on the death of a sitting member?
Lastly why not mention the primary vote swing to Labor?
Jexpat September 20, 2015 at 3:58 pm
The ABC has become astonishingly untrustworthy (count the times Antony Green has gotten it off the deep end wrong) -to the point of overt liberal bias over the past several elections.
I’ll never forget the time six months ago, when ABC and its commentators were crowing 52% 48% LINP Queensland at 6:00 pm on election day!
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Kommentare deaktiviert für The Surtitle Situation
Diskussionen English
The Surtitle Situation
For several years now, surtitles have featured on a number of the chosen productions at the Theatertreffen – this year three had English surtitles, whilst the French and Kinyarwanda-speaking Hate Radio and the Flemish Before Your Very Eyes necessitate German surtitles, and are both giving an extra performance with English ones as well.
The benefits of surtitles are clear: they open up the doors to international productions and international audiences. Particularly for a festival like the Theatertreffen, which presents an overview of the contemporary German-speaking theatre scene, surtitles could be the key to sharing this insight with audiences from all over the world who want to know what’s going on the inside the heads of these infamous theatre-makers’ heads.
Great, so we’re all agreed: slap on surtitles and quadruple the accessibility of the festival. As it turned out, it’s not quite that easy.
The performance takes place at the Hebbel-am-Ufer theatre in a valley between two sets of audience seating, and the surtitles take the form of a long strip running across the top of the reconstructed radio studio at the bottom of the valley. This means they are positioned very close to the action, and coupled with the fact that there isn’t all that much action anyway, this makes them pretty comfortable to read. From the moment director Milo Rau decided to bring his hyper-realistic “reenactment” from Rwanda to Germany, surtitles became a crucial part of the equation, so you can expect them to be well-integrated in the production. Still, they aren’t without their problems, not least because you can never be silent on the radio. This constant stream of conversation inevitably means that your audience members have to spend most of their time reading, not watching.
Gesäubert/Gier/4.48 Psychose
Performing a translation of a play and supplying the original script in the form of surtitles above the stage is a strange business. There were the practical problems to deal with: if you were seated on the balcony, the English surtitles were hidden behind paper lanterns hanging in the auditorium, so that if you were lucky you could now and then catch the final word in a sentence; if you were in the stalls, the surtitle monitor was so astronomically far above the stage that it was an out-and-out choice between reading and looking at the stage. But what’s more, and perhaps even worse, when the bilingual members of the audience did manage to find some way of keeping an eye on both without getting a migraine or whiplash, they soon realized how lacking the translation being performed was in comparison to Kane’s original text. Even poet Durs Grünbein wasn’t able to reconstruct the venomous rhythms of 4.48 Psychosis – what stuck out a mile, for example, was the way Kane’s short, biting verbs, “wring slash punch slash float flicker flash punch,” above the stage being juxtaposed with the clunky German equivalents showed the latter unable to keep up.
A car crash. A surtitling catastrophe the likes of which I have never seen before. No, the monitor didn’t break after two minutes and start spouting gobbledygook. I almost wish it had. Instead, the whole of the two-hour performance was accompanied by what appeared to be the output of a quick go on Google Translate: copy and paste Ibsen. Punctuation was missing for the first hour, and the translation frequently made no sense (“I am jealous of my name and business”?) or was simply incorrect (“sunshine” instead of “stars,” “boys” instead of “children” – I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not pedantic if two of the “boys” in question are in fact girls).
OK, so not every single word and comma has to be correct for the surtitles to be of use in following the play. But if they’re going to be any use whatsoever, the timing and phrasing of the lines as they appear on the monitor need to make some kind of sense. Instead, the answers were already glowing above the stage before their corresponding questions had even been asked. Different characters’ lines appeared simultaneously, or late, and were indistinguishable from each other.
This was the ultimate example of “slapping on the surtitles” and not giving them a second thought, and it is unacceptable. Surtitling is a complex, time-consuming process; as my experiences at the Theatertreffen show, the translation, timing, spacing, and length of phrasing must all be taken into account, and problems such as dealing with improvisation need careful consideration.
The surtitles were the very model here: clear, correct, well-timed, and not distracting from the kids‘ performances. This probably has a lot to do with the conception of the piece: at the post-show discussion today, Gob Squad members explained that because they knew from the start that surtitles would be needed for performances in Germany and on tour, they looked for ways to truly integrate them. They went on to say that the idea of the off-stage voice of a „director“ figure was partly inspired by the presence of the surtitle monitor, another sort of detached voice.
There’s no simple solution to the translation of performances. But theatres need to become more aware that surtitles are not necessarily always the best option. Even the most skilful surtitling is problematic, adding a new distracting element on stage that can also be intrusive for those who aren’t even trying to read them. At the contemporary theatre festival Neue Stücke aus Europa in Wiesbaden, audiences are supplied with one-ear headsets for many of the non-German-language productions, so they can hear both the actors and an interpreter simultaneously. Some productions simply rely on a thorough synopsis in the programme. Finally, many of the most successfully surtitled productions have taken a big scenic decision and incorporated them into their design, for instance by placing them on more places around the stage, above the heads of the actors who are speaking, or even – as with Before Your Very Eyes – by integrating them into the concept of the production.
Or are we placing too much emphasis on understanding the text? Isn’t there a “language of theatre” that we can all understand? I’ll leave you with a thought from theatre company Cheek by Jowl, who perform their shows to audiences all over the world. They say that watching a play in a language you don’t understand “can be an incredibly liberating experience: instead of concentrating on every word of the text, the audience can allow themselves to be engrossed in the world on stage which should not rely on words alone to communicate its meaning.”
Opening: Gesäubert/Gier/4.48 Psychose
Your Day at TT (4)
Watching the Clock
Theatertreffen Acting Fact-File
THEMA Diskussionen English
SCHLAGWORTE Berliner Festspiele cheek by jowl Ein Volksfeind English surtitles Gob Squad Hate Radio Ibsen Sarah Kane Surtitles Theatertreffen Translation tt12
Miriam Rose Sherwood, geboren 1989 in London, hat 2011 ihr Studium im Fach Germanistik an der Universität Cambridge abgeschlossen. Im Oktober dieses Jahres fängt ihr Master in Theaterwissenschaft am Birkbeck College London zusammen mit RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) an. Inzwischen versucht sie möglichst viel Erfahrung im Theaterbereich zu sammeln. Zur Zeit arbeitet sie als Assistentin am English Theatre Berlin und beim Internationalen Theaterinstitut in Kreuzberg. In ihrer Freizeit studiert sie Fotografie.
http://www.gluehbirnestage.wordpress.com
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Team Woods Adventures
Benjy, Tala, Webley and Aaron kicking it in the Kong
Mainland China (Part 5) – Pandas at Chengdu!
June 1, 2014 UncategorizedTala Woods
Our last stop was Chengdu and was a special request of Webley. She wanted to see panda bears. After doing a bit of research, Benjy found the Bifengxia Panda Center, which is a panda preserve about 2 hours outside of Chengdu. For a mere $100 per person, we could actually pay to volunteer to care for the pandas for a day. The volunteer application was quite extensive and required that we submit a doctor’s note certifying that we were healthy enough to care for pandas. Since I don’t personally know any doctors in Hong Kong (especially one who would certify as to my health status to care for pandas), I had to ask one of my friends in Jacksonville if she could write a letter for each of us. She was kind enough to do so, but said that it was the silliest doctor’s letter she ever had to write: “I hereby certify that Tala A. Woods is medically able to care for panda bears.”
So, what does one do as a volunteer for a day at a panda preserve? We were told that we would clean cages and feed pandas. My sister did some research and discovered that pandas excrete their weight in poop each day. Pandas weigh around 200 pounds, so that’s a lot of poop to scoop! Not to worry, though, we were told that panda poop doesn’t stink. I wasn’t sure if I believed that. My sister started to loudly protest the panda poop scooping tour, but there was no getting out of it.
The Poop Brigade reporting for duty!
We did scoop a lot of poop.
And it’s true that it really doesn’t stink.
We fed them bamboo, which first had to be karate chopped into smaller pieces. That was Benjy’s job.
We also got to feed them panda cake.
And we discovered something about pandas that we didn’t know before. Pandas have opposable thumbs. So instead of just gulping down the panda cake, after it was given to them, the panda would take it out of its mouth and eat it like a candy bar. This made them all the more endearing to me.
After about an hour of eating bamboo and panda cake, the pandas fell asleep with bamboo still lying on their tummies. Two hours later, it was time to feed them… again.
I love pandas….
Especially baby pandas. Aren’t they so cute?
I’m overloading on the panda pix because I’ve had many requests.
These are my favorite pix.
And after all her protesting and complaining about the panda poop scooping, at the end of the day, my sister admitted that THIS was her most favorite part of our trip.
Sailing in the Seychelles
Nancy on Family
Julia Canipelli on Family
David Chang on Family
Kristin on Family
Tim Williams on Siargao
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Maharashtra govt
Maharashtra Govt plans Rs 100 Cr fund for R&D at universities
Maharashtra Govt has given its State Innovation Council complete autonomy and is readying more than Rs 100 Cr to fund R&D activities at its universitiesJochelle Mendonca | ET Bureau | February 15, 2016, 09:47 IST
The Maharashtra government has given its State Innovation Council complete autonomy and is readying a more than Rs 100-crore pool of money to fund R&D activities at its universities, as the state looks to beat neighbouring Karnataka in the innovation stakes.
“We have given the council autonomy but that's just the beginning. We will support the innovation council to help the state lead in innovation explosion,“ said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at the 'Maharashtra Innovates' session during the 'Make in India' conference.
'Make in India' is a central government initiative to boost manufacturing and the Maharashtra government and the Confederation of Indian Industry have put together the week-long summit in Mumbai.
The state government plans to fund its public universities to spur innovation at all levels, a senior bureaucrat in the education department said at the event.
“We are planning to introduce innovation into our university system and are looking to pump in Rs 100 crore into public universities for research and innovation over the next two years. We will use money from RUSA as well,“ said Sanjay Chahande, principal secretary for higher and technical education. RUSA (Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan) is a government programme for higher and secondary education that has earmarked Rs 20 crore for such initiatives.
Chahande said the government was also readying a training programme for teachers at its universities to train them in research methodologies. The state has appointed former director general of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Raghunath Mashelkar as co-chair of the Maharashtra State Innovation Council.
“We do not want jugaad or jugaadu innovation. That implies less focus on safety and aesthetics. We want systematic innovation. It is easy to make high-quality products for the rich and poor quality products for the poor. We need affordable excellence, that's the challenge,“ said Mashelkar.
Tags : Technology, R&D, make in India, Maharashtra govt, Government
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TechBaguette
The adventures of a Silicon Valley native discovering the tech startup scene in Paris, France
Pixmania founders: one to leave France, the other to launch local fund
Posted on August 28, 2012 by Roxanne Varza
From the moment that François Hollande became the President of France earlier this year, the international press has been waiting for entrepreneurs to leave the country. Hollande’s 75% tax rule caused quite an uproar in the French community – and even Will Smith said he found it unpalatable. However, this brilliant excuse for a little France bashing has led quite a few journalists astray, as they casually overlook the fact the entrepreneurs threatening to leave also happened to be raising massive rounds of funding to continue doing business at home (oops). I found all of this to be quite hilarious since I didn’t know a single French entrepreneur that was packing up and leaving the country. Well, until now.
Pixmania cofounder says Au Revoir.
To my knowledge, the first high profile entrepreneur to officially announce that he is leaving the country is Pixmania cofounder Jean-Emile Rosenblum.
I actually first heard the news from Marc Simoncini on Twitter on August 22nd (above).
In an interview with BFM, Rosenblum explained that his decision to leave France is actually not a result of Hollande’s 75% tax – as he is apparently not concerned by it. Instead, he says that he finds the “entrepreneurial climate” in France not to be favorable to business and wealth, and therefore he’s decided to leave. The main example that he addressed in this particular interview was the French wealth tax, or ISF. I’ve reached out to him to see if he’d be willing to provide further details on his decision.
Pixmania turns British.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with Pixmania, the 12 year old company is ranked amongst France’s leading e-commerce success stories with the likes of PriceMinister, Vente-Privée and more. The retail site founded by brothers Jean-Emile and Steve Rosenblum operates in more than 26 countries worldwide. Recently UK’s Dixon’s fully acquired the company – but in an interview with Le Figaro, Jean-Emile revealed that this had been the plan since 2006.
One brother out, the other one in?
But Jean-Emile and his brother have done more than simply create one of France’s leading Internet businesses; in 2008, the duo launched Dot Corp Asset Management and invested in a number of companies, including French Spotify rival Deezer. While Jean-Emile has been very clear about his desire to leave France, his brother Steve has actually been said to be preparing a second fund for Dot Corp. Looks like not everyone is leaving France after all.
Tags: entrepreneurial climate, France, Jean-Emile Rosenblum, PixmaniaCategories: Acquisitions, Business, Entrepreneurs, Environment, Europe, Fiscal Laws, France, Innovation, Internet, Technolgy, Venture Capital
Leave a Reply to Frederic HALLEY (@f_halley) Cancel reply
Published by Roxanne Varza
Silicon Valley native discovering the local tech start-up and entrepreneurial scene in Paris, France. View all posts by Roxanne Varza
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Home/Mobile/Daily Crunch: Adobe launches Photoshop for iPad
Daily Crunch: Adobe launches Photoshop for iPad
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Adobe Photoshop arrives on the iPad
Adobe has released Photoshop for the iPad, making good on an announcement that it made last October.
The tablet version of the popular photo-editing software is free to download, and includes a 30-day free trial. After that it’s $9.99 per month via in-app purchase, or you can get access as part of an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
2. Cortana wants to be your personal executive assistant and read your emails to you, too
At its Ignite conference, Microsoft announced a number of new features that help Cortana to become even more useful in your day-to-day work, all of which fit into the company’s overall vision of AI as a tool that is helpful and augments human intelligence.
3. Apple commits $2.5 billion to address California’s housing crisis and homelessness issues
The investment includes a $1 billion commitment to an affordable housing investment fund, $1 billion toward a first-time homebuyer mortgage assistance fund and $300 million in Apple-owned land that will be made available for affordable housing.
4. A startup just launched red wine to the International Space Station to age for 12 months
The wine isn’t being sent just to help the ISS astronauts relax. Instead, it’s part of an experiment that will study how the aging process for wine is affected by a microgravity, space-based environment.
5. Lemonade gets a nastygram from Deutsche Telekom over its use of magenta, says it will fight
Deutsche Telekom’s German lawyers have sent a letter to AI insurance startup Lemonade, demanding it cease using magenta — a color that appears across Lemonade’s logo and marketing material — globally.
6. Where tech companies should look to expand
Zillow’s Cheryl Young says the company has analyzed data to determine the best markets that provide fertile environments for startups or tech companies looking to put down stakes for their next office.
7. This week’s TechCrunch podcasts
On the latest episode of Equity, Alex and Kate discuss Sam Altman’s investment in Quill, a company that could eventually challenge Slack. And on Original Content, we review the Netflix series “Living with Yourself,” in which Paul Rudd plays two different versions of the same man.
Source of the article – TechCrunch
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New Student/New Member Special - 50% off tuition and/or membership for the 1st year!
Temple Emanuel
New Student Special - 50% Off Tuition for the 1st Year
Arlene Lemieux has been the Director of Education at Temple Emanuel for over 20 years. She graduated from Northeastern University and Worcester State College. She has worked in Special Education at religious institutions for the last 33 years. Arlene was honored as a Keter Torah recipient in 2007 for her contributions and dedication to education in the Jewish community. She has also served as the Spiritual Leader to New Horizons of Marlborough for almost 25 years. Arlene resides in Marlborough with her husband and is a member of Temple Emanuel.
The Temple Emanuel Religious School educates students beginning in kindergarten through grade 8. Our goal is to educate and guide students so they will have the ability to feel comfortable in a synagogue service and feel connected to the larger worldwide Jewish community.
Each grade is a step along the path of discovery, drawing relevance from the prayers and Torah stories that enable the students to personalize their Jewish journey. Our tefilah program provides a comfortable setting where students can gain confidence and skill in leading religious services. Becoming a Bar/Bat Mitzvah is the next level of learning where our students develop the knowledge to implement the responsibilities of a young adult Jew.
Our educational program is geared to meet the needs of each individual and address students' specific learning styles. We are an inclusive community that provides multi-sensory learning opportunities for all. Special needs educators on staff.
A holiday based curriculum
Introduction to Torah/Bible stories
Aleph-Bet/pre-reading skills
Prayer-based curriculum
Torah and Ethics
Learning about Israel
The study of the Holocaust
Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation
Q: Do I have to be a member to enroll my child in the school?
A: A strong connection between the family and the synagogue is best for a child who is in religious school. While we do recommend temple membership, it is not required.
Q: When does school meet?
A: Currently classes meet two Mondays per month from 4-5 pm and two Sundays per month from 10 am - 12 pm
If you are interested in our school, and would like to talk about your child's individual needs, please contact us at (508) 485-7565, or email info@templeemanuelma.org.
A friendly, all-inclusive congregation welcoming Jews and non-Jews at all stages of their Jewish journey.
150 Berlin Road, PO Box 596, Marlborough, MA 01752
Copyright © 2019 Temple Emanuel - All Rights Reserved.
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Coal mine in West Virginia faked safety logs before blast
Helmets and painted crosses sit at the entrance to Massey Energys Upper Big Branch coal mine in Montcoal, W.Va. They represents the 29 coal miners who were killed in an explosion at the mine one year ago. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner, File)
Photo Credit: The Associated Press
Published on June 30, 2011 at 1:26 pm
BEAVER, W.Va. — The owner of the West Virginia coal mine where an explosion killed 29 men last year kept two sets of books on safety conditions — an accurate one for itself and a sanitized one for the government, federal regulators said Wednesday.
Managers at Massey Energy pressured workers at the Upper Big Branch mine to omit safety problems from the official set of reports, said Mine Safety and Health Administration official Kevin Stricklin. Workers told investigators that the company wanted to avoid scrutiny from inspectors and keep coal production running smoothly.
Massey was bought by rival Alpha Natural Resources earlier this month, and the new owner said it is looking into the allegations.
Even before the April 5, 2010, tragedy that was the nation’s deadliest coalfield disaster in four decades, Massey had a poor safety record and a reputation for putting coal profits first. The mine was cited for 600 violations in less than a year and a half before the blast.
In its previous briefings, Mine Safety and Health Administration blamed the explosion on naturally occurring methane gas and coal dust. It said poorly maintained cutting machinery sparked the blast and a malfunctioning water sprayer allowed a flare-up to become an inferno.
“Managers were aware that chronic hazardous conditions were not recorded,” Stricklin said. Testimony from some of the 266 people the administration interviewed “indicated that management pressured examiners to not record hazards” at Upper Big Branch.
So far, one Massey employee has been indicted. Security chief Hughie Stover was charged with lying to the FBI and the administration and obstructing justice by ordering thousands of pages of documents thrown out.
An independent investigation commissioned by former Gov. Joe Manchin accused Massey of allowing highly explosive coal dust and methane gas to accumulate.
No one should have been injured,” Stricklin said, “and definitely no one should have died.”
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JANUARY 2020: EDITOR’S NOTE
Home Life FINALLY EQUAL – The first partners in love and marriage
FINALLY EQUAL – The first partners in love and marriage
Nicole Macedo
Passing the Bill
Late last year, Gibraltar caught up with the world’s more forward thinking nations in allowing love to break down some of the constraints that have been built against it for many centuries. Parliament’s unanimous decision to move a bill allowing for civil marriages to be carried out between same sex couples on the Rock was met with a resounding applause. In the initial stages of the movement, a Command paper was published by the Government requesting public feedback about the idea. Minister for Equality, Samantha Sacramento insisted that they received the largest response ever from any Government Command Paper. She told the House that, ‘marriage is a hugely important institution.’ ‘We believe that opening up marriage to all couples demonstrates society’s respect for all individuals regardless of their sexuality, making our society fairer and more inclusive for all its members.’
The crusade did not come without the expected disapproving scorns from some small facets of the community, but who would have expected otherwise? Isn’t that precisely why gay marriage has been outlawed for so very many centuries? ‘It is important for us to strike the balance which provides equality and respecting individuals’ beliefs,’ Minister Sacramento went on to say as she presented the Bill, ‘The change strengthens the vital institution of marriage and ensures that it remains an essential building block of modern society.’ Marriage is defined as a socially or ritually recognised union between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between them, their children and their in-laws. Interestingly, Wikipedia avoids any connection between marriage and love. With both, the LGBT community and society at large having spent so many years staunchly protesting the cause, the sense of satisfaction and pride surely leans further towards the side of devotion, over convenience in administration. The first two to reap the fruits of many years of arduous labour by the Equality Rights Group were Adrian and Aaron Dignam-Mills who cemented their love for each other on 16th December in front of all of their family and friends.
A move towards equality
Having first met in July 2012, Aaron asked his partner’s hand in marriage in 2013, before even the bill allowing civil partnerships on the Rock was conceived. ‘I work for the Borders & Coastguard Agency so I checked his passport, and that’s how we met,’ Adrian gushes. ‘I was crossing the border and he used to spot me every day and one day he called me over to stamp my passport. From there, we started talking and the rest is history,’ Aaron adds. The two smitten newlyweds live in Irish Town with their dogs, Adrian’s daughter Amy and her cat. ‘We don’t argue, if it feels like we’re moving towards an argument, we’ll just agree to disagree. The best thing we’ve done is open a joint account but keep our separate bank accounts too because that way we can manage our own money and we never argue about it.’
By their engagement, Adrian and Aaron were aware of rumours from the Governmental grapevine about the possibility of civil partnerships being allowed on the Rock. ‘The wedding got put on the backburner at that point and we thought we’d let things carry on as they were.’ In March 2014, Parliament passed the bill for civil partnership in Gibraltar, granting same sex couples many of the rights allowed under marriage, without the formal title. In the past, the Rock has trailed far behind much of the rest of the civilised western world when it comes to gay rights. It wasn’t until 2012 that the age of consent for all sexual activity, regardless of sexuality and gender was equalised at sixteen years old, having previously legally prohibited same sex couple from having sex until they were eighteen. The fight was fronted by the Equality Rights Group and took four years to champion, having faced many technicalities in parliament. Same sex couples were granted adoption and parenting rights in 2014, when civil partnerships came to fruition.
Newlyweds cut the wedding cake
Husband & husband
The couple first set their wedding date for December 2016, in December 2015 unaware that the Marriage Amendment Bill would be approved and put in place by their set date. ‘A couple of days before our civil partnership, we got the call asking us to pop in and do all the paperwork again if we wanted to be the first ones to get married,’ Adrian gushes, ‘in the back of my mind I’d thought we could have our civil partnership here and then get married when we went to the UK. I really wanted to do it at home so I could be with my mum and my daughters and my son. Family is really important to both of us. We flew all of Aaron’s family over specifically for the ceremony. Strangely enough, I have in-laws who actually love me!’
Both followed the ERG’s prolific push for LGBT rights with friends in the midst of the campaign. ‘We knew marriage was coming, we just didn’t know when.’ With warm congratulations from the Chief Minister, Adrian explains that after having dealt with the divorce from his first marriage during his time as a lawyer, it was fitting that Mr. Picardo was now orchestrating his marriage, having been at the head of the Government’s move to pass the Bill. ‘Gibraltar, being so small, it’s natural that we know some of the members of Government. Samanatha Sacramento had warned us that marriage was coming, but she kept it quiet until the end.’
with their best women; Krisanne Pozo and Delyse Crome
At the time of writing this, Adrian and Aaron are the first and only gay couple to be married on the Rock, with their double barrel surname and fresh certificates legally tying them together. I ask them to look back on the service and describe it to me, and both face me and utter the word ‘surreal’ at almost the same time. ‘I’m quite shy, so speaking in public doesn’t come naturally. We usually live our lives quite personally and to ourselves, but to see everyone come together and really dress up and make it that much more special for us, really made it.’ The ceremony was heavily publicised and captured in its entirety by the press, which somehow didn’t faze them. Post-wedding, the news quickly travelled globally, finding its way into the worldwide media. ‘I received calls from Australia and Spain, and we were even in Pink News. I Googled us yesterday and so many results appeared.’ The wedding celebration continued over two days. ‘We went to The Skull bar, the old Cannon Bar, and had everyone over for drinks and food after the ceremony. The main reception, held on the second day, was catered by my sister who owns Nosha’s Healthy Options. Then, we spent two nights on the Sunborn and went off on our honeymoon on the 18th.’ Adrian flew out Aaron’s best friend from home as a surprise guest. ‘It was the best kept secret for the whole thing.’ They specifically chose their friend Austin Viagas to be the registrar for the ceremony, to make the experience even more
Honeymoon in Italy
Having both been previously tied up in former marriages and civil partnerships; they are certainly not new to commitment and strenuous personal input that comes with ‘I do’. I probe them on why they wanted something so serious again after their unsuccessful first experiences. ‘There’s the official side,’ Adrian notes. ‘Now, he’s looked after if anything happens to me. It’s all about fairness, really. You read horrible stories about people being together for thirty years and then someone not being allowed in the room whilst their partner is dying.’ This, they both agree, is a completely different experience for them. So what would be their advice for couples considering marriage? ‘Only do it if you’re ready. We had a long time to mentally prepare for it. The most nerve-wracking part for us was changing the civil partnership papers the day before. If you’re ready, you should be in a position to know that this is what you want and you’re ready to make that lifelong commitment. You have to be sure that this one is going to be the one for the rest of your life.’ Let’s not forget the more romantic reasoning behind their commitment; ‘I’m totally in love with him. Love is waking up in the morning, looking next to you and thinking, “my God, I’m so lucky”. It’s all the little things which you take for granted and you think, “he really knows me”.’
words | Nicole Macedo photos | Ian Dignam
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The Annual Competitive Exhibition 2018 of the Gibraltar Photographic Society will be opened officially by Seamus Byrne, CEO of Gibraltar Cultural Services, on Monday...
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The Best Gnostic Television Ever
by Miguel Conner | Jun 5, 2018 | 1 comment
The revolution will not be televised, but it seems that isn’t the case with Gnosis. And why not? I’ve discussed in the past how the coupling of movies and Gnosticism has provided groundbreaking chronicles — as well as some of today’s chief modern myths like The Matrix.
As above in film, as below in the boob tube, right?
Indeed, the “vast wasteland” has already granted some incredible Gnostic statements that are both artistic and popular. Having said that, we find less Gnosticism in television than in film. Why? Well, to meaningfully sustain a “false reality” narrative for more than two hours is not easy — taking large amounts of poise, imagination, and risk-taking (three characteristics the television industry is not known for).
But Gnostic television is there, as I will show you, and it’s increasingly revolutionary.
I will not be including these series or types of shows:
Lauded series that dealt with Gnosticism but also drew from other wells of Esoterica. Some examples are The X-Files, The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror, and Star Trek (who can forget the episode “The Return of the Archons”?).
Animated or Japanese Anime series like Æon Flux, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Revolutionary Girl Utena (for another dedicated piece).
Newer Gnostic television that I haven’t seen yet, such as Legion or Dark; these will have to wait too.
The Gilmore Girls episode entitled “Nag Hammadi Is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospels.” The reason is that it has absolutely nothing to do with Gnosticism (go figure)!
So before you change the channel, with nary spoilers, here is the list of the best Gnostic television ever:
After more than 50 years since its broadcasting, The Prisoner remains a masterpiece and the ultimate cult show. This deconstruction of the spy genre depicts the fate of Number Six (Patrick McGoohan), a resigned and unnamed British agent who is kidnapped and imprisoned in a faked society called “the Village.”
Then shit gets surreal and then it’s all about the protagonist attempting to escape while at the same time fighting for both his identity and humanity.
Themes sound familiar, Simon Magus?
They certainly do to academics Mark Holwager and Valarie Ziegler. They wrote that The Prisoner “exemplifies the Gnostic myth of descent and return, depicting a hero who refuses to be fully embodied in the hateful world in which he is imprisoned, who insists (contrary to evidence) that he is from a truer world in a higher realm, and who risks everything to return to the beginning and reunite with his genuine self.
Holwager and Ziegler go further and argue how Number Six parallels the Gnostic protagonists found in such texts as The Gospel of Thomas and The Hymn of the Pearl.
The argument involves dissecting memorable scenes of the show, as this dialogue between Number 6 and the demiurgic Number 2:
Number 2: You’re being hostile again. What were you looking at?
Number 6: A light.
Number 2: A star.
Number 6: A boat.
Number 2: An insect.
Number 6: A plane.
Number 2: A flying fish.
Number 6: A man who belongs to my world.
Number 2: This is your world. I am your world. If you insist on living a dream, you may be taken for mad.
Number 6: I like my dream.
Number 2: Then you are mad.
For a deeper analysis of Gnosticism in The Prisoner, I recommend our interview with Ziegler. Beyond its Gnostic pedigree, The Prisoner is the type of breakthrough show that doesn’t come often.
I wouldn’t bother with the 2009 remake, though.
Rebooting Michael Crichton’s (already quasi-Gnostic) 1973 film seemed like an easy road to the Pleroma. But the HBO series is Gnosticism on steroids, an elegant yet visceral journey into places only Philip K. Dick or Cormac McCarthy don’t fear to tread. The show is a perfect, balanced combination of the “desert of the real” Western fare and philosophical sci-fi.
The issues of transhumanism, consciousness, and the nature of reality are deftly handled in the plot of a western-themed park catering to high-paying guests indulging their wildest fantasies. The guests, at first, have no fear of retaliation from the servant “hosts,” advanced androids who gradually awaken to their oppressed state.
I mentioned Westworld being Gnosticism on steroids. As an illustration, in Westworld, the Demiurge is split in three: Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins), Arnold/Bernard (Jeffrey Wright), and Man in Black (Ed Harris). Each of these Yaldi-Baldi agents, in their own way, holds a secret desire to liberate the hosts and bring down the park. This reminds me of a saying by Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel: “The real joy of God is to be defeated by man.”
(It should be mentioned that Harris takes on a third Demiurge role, his first two being in The Truman Show and Snowpiercer. Does his agent work from the Seventh Heaven?).
The main point is that Westworld provides a sophisticated Gnostic Gospel that includes the themes of remembering, liberation, and how little of separation exists between Archon and mortal.
As the article HBO’s Westworld is a Gnostic Parable summarizes:
So it is important that we don’t simply look on as an outsider on the artificial world of Westworld. The parable of Westworld is that we should all ponder Stubbs’ question to Delores: “Have you ever questioned your reality”. It’s a question that can be applied at various levels, from the philosophical/spiritual to science and history, through to the mundane modern worlds of politics and media. We are all living in illusions created and administered by various Demiurges and their Archons. We should do our best to search for knowledge in order that, bit by bit, we might wake to greater realities.
For years, I pushed back on those who told me of the Gnostic elements in Twin Peaks; the companion film Fire Walk with Me notwithstanding. I merely saw the show as magic realism Americana sautéed with Buddhism.
Then came season three, “The Return.”
David Lynch and Mark Frost fully rolled out a grand cosmology and expanded the mythos across both history and space. The occult product we got, to my pleasant surprise, was a Manichaean epic, the culmination being the visionary episode eight.
As with anything Lynch, describing in words what the eye consumes is almost an exercise in futility. But I do like what Robert Price said concerning the latest Twin Peaks in a Facebook post:
Laura is the Fallen Sophia. Cooper is the Redeemed Redeemer. Bob and the other globules vomited forth from the Demiurge are the evil Archons. The Giant is God. The Black Lodge is the material world. When one-armed Mike calls Cooper to “Wake up,” it is “the Call” from the Pleroma to the Redeemer who has forgotten his identity and mission which makes him come to his senses and return to the work of redemption. Remember the moment in Lynch’s Dune when Paul/Mu’abid = Dale) cries out to the heavens, “Father! The sleeper has awakened!”
Doesn’t get more Gnostic than that, Simon, and Lynch and Frost’s television classic is at the end of the day(s) unvarnished Gnosticism.
Or as another writer said:
This powerful sense of duality in David Lynch’s worlds — his willingness to allow even his “good” characters to do (or at least consider) awful things, as well as the faint promise of their redemption — is what makes Twin Peaks easier to understand through the lens of gnostic religion. Gnosis is knowing, and knowing includes an acquaintance with evil, cf. Adam and Eve.
Lynch’s Sethian tendencies, however, shouldn’t be that of a surprise. I argue in another article the Gnostic themes in Mulholland Drive.
Of course, I’m talking about season one.
As with Twin Peaks, the show begins with a girl’s murder and evolves into another Manichean drama: a cosmic fight of good versus evil, with the latter bragging an iron-grip on the cosmos. In the middle of this battle, we have the protagonist Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) — a true Gnostic revealer by his disdain for the material, reliance on mystic intuitions, and warrior-empathy for all that is innocent.
The founder of Manichaeism, Mani, was a passionate follower of Jesus. In True Detective, Rust indeed takes on the qualities of the Christ:
Early in the series, Rust admits to Marty that he focuses on the crucifix during meditation because he wants to understand Jesus’ moment in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he contemplates and then willingly accepts the prospect of his crucifixion. Star Matthew McConaughey’s performance is filled with little bits of body language that set up Rust’s climactic crucifixion by Errol, who taunts Rust with Satanic jibes as he wanders through what looks like an underground forest made of leafless tree limbs, then hoists him up with that knife in the gut as if he were Christ nailed up on a cross.
There is resurrection for Rust, but what makes him a heterodox savior is his Gnosis — an awakening of one’s inner light paired with the realization that the truth also sets one free to face the darkness of existence. As one article explains:
Anyone who digs deep into information, much less secret information – be they marketers or managers, whistleblowers or police detectives – acquires knowledge.
More knowledge opens a gnostic door to another, broader investigation. True Detective bears a cautionary gnostic message about detectives who uncover that growing body of information. Rather than knowledge telescoping the investigator (and viewers) up to ever greater stages of positive enlightenment, knowledge here expands down into ever-enlarged realms of horror.
The horror is the material world (and its rulers), and the misanthrope Rust is there to fight it to the end. But not all is lost. At the end of the season when Archons have been felled, his partner Mary Hart (Woody Harrelson) looks up at the thick Texas nighttime sky and metaphorically claims darkness has overcome the stars. Rust tells him: “Once there was only dark. If you ask me, the light’s winning.”
This Netflix content is based on Rich K. Morgan’s novel, a noir blend of dystopian and cyberpunk genres set over 350 years in the future. Within an atmosphere that nods to Blade Runner, humanity has discovered the secrets to immortality with technology that allows consciousness to be downloaded into a “cortical stack.” These disks are stored in the vertebrae of an individual, storing their consciousness — very often multiple lifetimes of experiences — and can be placed into a new body, a “sleeve,” when the old one passes.
As in any Gnostic tale, we get a protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs (played by bad-asses Joel Kinnaman and Will Yun Lee), who rebels against the existing human paradigm and deciphers the tangled mess that is consciousness. Kovacs even has a tattoo of the Ouroboros on his arm.
Altered Carbon brings forth the marked Gnostic rejection of transhumanism, immortality, and reincarnation. All that matters are transcendence and gaining alchemical powers that make one kinder to others on this prison planet.
As Jeremy Johnson put well in an article:
Altered Carbon is a modern myth of gnostic evolution, with our celestial twins, the Elders, guiding our labored and piece-meal terrestrial incarnation down below in the image of the cyberpunk megacity. In my view, the message of the show is not that we should fear the evils immortality should bring but that with the power of the stone — the elixir of immortality — comes a call to live a life more divine, not less, and that we should not see ourselves as gods but as half-mortal, half-immortal beings learning, however imperfectly, however crudely, to grow their wings.
Altered Carbon is not at the level of the four other television shows mentioned, its aesthetics a bit too gratuitously violent and sexual for my taste, but here’s to season two.
One theme to rule them all
It’s no secret Gnosis that Philip K. Dick — heavily influenced by Gnosticism later in life just as he’s an evident influence on Altered Carbon and Westworld — held two main concerns in his novels: what is reality and what is it to be a human being.
We see in Gnostic television that reality is very negotiable, although the Powers and Principalities usually hold all the cards (or coding).
Yet there is one salient theme across all these shows on it means to be a real human:
Rebellion against any consensus reality.
To be human, according to the ancient Gnostics, was to take the fire from the gods and attempt to burn their systems to the bloody ground. The world order wasn’t going to change, apparently, and stealing the flames of enlightenment often involves hacking a pair of Icarus wings instead of waiting for Prometheus, our true father. But victory tends to occur when the starlight of compassion begins to break through the dark skies of mere being, as Rust alludes to in True Detective.
Put it best, Stephan Holler once explained the Gnostic condition by quoting Leonard Cohen. “There’s a crack in the world. That’s how the light gets in.”
Let’s get cracking, Simon.
Along the same themes, check out this content:
The Most Overlooked Gnostic Movies Ever
The Worst Gnostic Movies Ever
Please help keep this Red Pill Cafeteria open. We are 100% audience supported:
Famous Scientists Who Tapped Into Magic & Imagination to Change the World
Is the Gospel of Philip Gnostic or Christian?
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Breaking the Shells: An Apocalyptic Ritual Drama Analysis of Mother!
All Salvation is Fan Fiction
Hotblack Desiato on April 7, 2019 at 10:44 pm
I would include Netflix’s “The OA”
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The Trench Reynolds Crime Report
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Six Degrees of Dio: David Bowie
Trench Reynolds
I was never a huge fan of David Bowie. In my formative years ‘Let’s Dance’ was played on the radio and MTV ad nauseam. That’s not to say I didn’t recognize how talented of a person he is. With his recent unfortunate passing (fuck cancer again) I thought I’d challenge myself to see if I …
Categories: Entertainment, Trench Report•Tags: David Bowie, music, Ronnie James Dio, six degrees of dio•
Six Degrees of Dio: Motörhead
I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since I’ve done one of these. I’m really bad at doing regularly scheduled features. Anyway with the recent passing of rock god Lemmy I thought it was time to dust off this concept and feature this seminal rock band. I actually didn’t get into Motörhead until the …
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Trench reviews Into the Wild Life by Halestorm
I don’t want to overhype this but Into The Wild Life is the best Halestorm album so far. It is their heaviest album by far and a little more dark than previous albums. Even the ballads are heavy. Now I’m not talking about sacrificing babies in satanic rituals dark but the album has just enough …
Categories: Entertainment, Trench Report•Tags: Halestorm, Into the Wild Life, music, music review•
Six Degrees of Dio: Kesha
Yes, even the queen of trash pop can be connected to the one true metal god. In 2011 the sing-talking Kesha appeared on the Alice Cooper album “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” playing the devil. If you think that she’s not up to Alice Cooper’s level of talent this is what the man himself had to …
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Six Degrees of Dio: Halestorm
If you’ve been following my site for a while you should know by now that one of my current favorite bands is Halestorm. Not only are they the best female fronted bands to come along since Joan Jett and the Blackhearts they’re one of the best pure rock bands to have come around in an …
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Six Degrees of Dio: Foo Fighters
I’m not a huge Foo Fighters fan but I recognize that they are a talented band. I like to think that they are the penance for having to put up with Nirvana. Not to mention that Dave Grohl is possibly one of the coolest men alive. He’s also a great musician and a true student …
Categories: Entertainment, Trench Report•Tags: Foo Fighters, music, Ronnie James Dio, six degrees of dio•
Six Degrees of Dio: Guns N Roses
I just realized I didn’t do a 6DOD post last week. My bad. Anyway this week’s subject is Guns N Roses. While Axl deservedly gets a lot of crap GNR were actually a trendsetting band when they hit first hit the national scene in the late 80s. At the time the genre had grown stale …
Categories: Entertainment, Trench Report•Tags: Guns N Roses, music, Ronnie James Dio, six degrees of dio•
Six Degrees of Dio: Flotsam and Jetsam
I remember when I bought my first Flotsam and Jetsam album. At the time I was a huge fan of Metallica. This was before they became insufferable douchenozzles. Jason Newsted was playing bass for Metallica at the time and prior to that I knew he was in a band called Flotsam and Jetsam. I was …
Categories: Entertainment, Trench Report•Tags: Flotsam and Jetsam, music, Ronnie James Dio, six degrees of dio•
Six Degrees of Dio: Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly is a Celtic punk band that my son (aka Teh Boy) introduced me to a few years ago. Being raised in an Irish upbringing myself I have somewhat of an affinity for Irish music. Flogging Molly combines the two genres very fluidly in my opinion. Now I don’t enjoy a majority of their …
Categories: Entertainment, Trench Report•Tags: Flogging Molly, music, Ronnie James Dio, six degrees of dio•
Six Degrees of Dio: Dio
Hell yeah I’m going to include the band this feature is named after. Why? Because unless you’re a true Dio fan you probably stopped listening somewhere between Sacred Heart and Lock Up the Wolves. If you did you missed some really great work by Dio. From Strange Highways here’s Bring Down The Rain.., From Magica, …
Categories: Entertainment, Trench Report•Tags: Dio, music, Ronnie James Dio, six degrees of dio•
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Author: - October 12, 2019 0 Appeals court rules House should get Trump financial records
The House Oversight Committee had subpoenaed Trump's accounting firm, Mazars USA, for the documents, but the president's legal team argued that their investigation served no legislative objective. Throughout our history, Congress, the President, and the courts have insisted upon maintaining the separation between the legislative and impeachment powers of the House and recognized the gravity and accountability that follow impeachment.
Author: - October 12, 2019 0 'Jesus Shoes' filled with holy water sold out in minutes
According to Fox News , the religiosity of the footwear is further enhanced by the presence of the Bible verse Matthew 14:25, which describes the moment Jesus walked on water. "As a Jew myself, the only thing I knew was that he walked on water, ' Greenberg added, revealing how the concept for the sneaker was first born, while explaining that he was actually responsible for sourcing the holy water from a 'friend in Israel".
Author: - October 12, 2019 0 'Americans sold us out,' Kurds guarding USA base in Syria say
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Hands-On: Modeling stroke brain
The Virtual Brain Node #6 Workshop
Manipulate the default connectome provided with TVB to see how structural lesions effect brain dynamics. In this hands-on session you will insert lesions into the connectome within the TVB graphical user interface. Afterwards the modified connectome will be used for simulations and the resulting activity will be analysed using functional connectivity.
Data science for the win
Data science and reproducibility
Introductory presentation on how data science can help with scientific reproducibility.
Speaker: : Michel Dumontier
A walk through of the mammalian visual system
From the retina to the superior colliculus, the lateral geniculate nucleus into primary visual cortex and beyond, this lecture gives a tour of the mammalian visual system highlighting the Nobel-prize winning discoveries of Hubel & Wiesel.
What is meant by computation?
From Universal Turing Machines to McCulloch-Pitts and Hopfield associative memory networks, this lecture explains what is meant by computation.
Speaker: : Christof Koch
The structure of the neocortex
In an overview of the structure of the mammalian neocortex, this lecture explains how the mammalian cortex is organized in a hierarchy, describing the columnar principle and canonical microcircuits
Cell types and computing in the retina
The retina has 60 different types of neurons. What are their functions? This lecture explores the definition of cell types and their functions in the mammalian retina.
Optical imaging of brains
Optical imaging offers a look inside the working brain. This lecture takes a look at orientation and ocular dominance columns in the visual cortex, and shows how they can be viewed with calcium imaging.
Brain Imaging and Visual Cortex
Functional imaging has led to the discovery of a plethora of visual cortical regions. This lecture introduces functional imaging techniques and their teachings about the visual cortex.
Information Processing in the Brain
This lecture explains these ideas and explores the task of characterizing neuronal response properties using information theory.
Seeing the World in Color
What is color? This lecture explores how color is "made" in the brain and variations of color perception including trichromacy, color blindness in men, tetrachromatic vision in women, and genetic engineering of color perception.
Visual Attention and Consciousness
What is the difference between attention and consciousness? This lecture describes the scientific meaning of consciousness, journeys on the search for neural correlates of visual consciousness, and explores the possibility of consciousness in other beings and even non-biological structures.
Optogenetics or How to Manipulate Neurons with Light
This primer on optogenetics primer discusses how to manipulate neuronal populations with light at millisecond resolution and offers possible applications such as curing the blind and "playing the piano" with cortical neurons.
Introduction to ethical theory
Research, ethics, and societal impact
Neuroethics has been described as containing at least two components - the neuroscience of ethics and the ethics of neuroscience. The first involves neuroscientific theories, research, and neuro-imaging focused on how the brain arrives at moral decisions and actions, which challenge existing descriptive theories of how humans develop moral thinking and make ethical decisions. The second, ethics of neuroscience, involves applying normative theories about what is right, good and fair to ethical questions raised by neuroscientific research and new technologies, such as how to balance the public benefit of “big data” neuroscience while protecting individual privacy and norms of informed consent.
Speaker: : Christine Mitchell
Computer ethics and the HBP
The HBP as an ICT flagship project crucially relies on ICT and will contribute important input into the development of new computing principles and artefacts. Individuals working on the HBP should therefore be aware of the long history of ethical issues discussed in computing. The discourse on ethics and computing can be traced back to Norbert Wiener and the very beginning of digital computing. From the 1970s and 80s it has developed into an active discussion involving academics from various disciplines, professional bodies and industry.
Speaker: : Bernd Stahl
The Ethical Roboticist
Like any transformative technology, intelligent robotics has the potential for huge benefit, but is not without ethical or societal risk. In this lecture, I will explore two questions. Firstly, the increasingly urgent question of the ethical use of robots: are there particular applications of robots that should be proscribed, in eldercare, or surveillance, or war fighting for example? When intelligent autonomous robots make mistakes, as they inevitably will, who should be held to account? Secondly, I will consider the longer-term question of whether intelligent robots themselves could or should be ethical. Seventy years ago Isaac Asimov created his fictional Three Laws of Robotics. Is there now a realistic prospect that we could build a robot that is Three Laws Safe?
Speaker: : Alan Winfield
Responsible Research and the Human Brain Project
In the face of perceived public concerns about technological innovations, leading national and international bodies increasingly argue that there must be ‘dialogue' between policy makers, scientific researchers, civil society organizations and members of the public, to shape the pathways of technology development in a way that meets societal needs and gains public trust. This is not new, of course, and such concerns go back at least to the debates over the development of nuclear technologies and campaigns for social responsibility in science. Major funding bodies in the UK, Europe and elsewhere are now addressing this issue by insisting on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the development of emerging technology. Biotechnologies such as synthetic biology and neurotechnologies have become a particular focus of RRI, partly because of the belief that these are risky technologies involving tinkering with the very building blocks of life, and perhaps even with human nature. With my fellow researchers, I have been involved in trying to develop Responsible Research and Innovation in these technologies for several years.
Speaker: : Nikolas Rose
Scaling up neuroscience – Responsible Research and the big brain projects
In this lecture, I consider some of the key social and ethical issues raised by the ‘big brain projects’ currently under way in Europe, the USA, China, Japan and many other regions. I will draw upon our own experience in the ‘ Foresight Lab’ of the HBP to discuss the ways in which these can usefully be approached from the perspective of responsible research and innovation and the AREA approach - anticipation, reflection, engagement and action. These include data protection, privacy and data governance; the search for ‘neural signatures’ of psychaitric and neurological disorders; ‘dual use’ or the military use of developments initially intended for clinical and civilian purposes; brain-computer interfaces and neural prosthetics; and the use of animals in brain research. Following a brief discussion of the challenges of translation from the lab to the real world, I will conclude by arguing that success in contemporary scientific research and innovation is best assured by openness, collaboration, sharing with fellow researchers; robust systems of data governance involving lay persons; frankness about realities of scientific research and innovation with fellow citizens; realism about complexities of links between researchers, publics and private enterprise; and understanding and engaging with the realities of science today in the real world.
Neuroscience and the problem of dual use
The UK Royal Society in its 2012 study of Neuroscience, conflict and security had as its first recommendation that: “There needs to be fresh effort by the appropriate professional bodies to inculcate the awareness of the dual-use challenge (i.e., knowledge and technologies used for beneficial purposes can also be misused for harmful purposes) among neuroscientists at an early stage of their training.” There can be little doubt that the need to raise awareness of this challenge remains among practicing neuroscientists today. This lecture aims to give an introduction and overview of the dual-use challenge as it applies to neuroscience today and will apply in coming decades.
Speaker: : Malcolm Dando
Ethics in biomedical research and the 3Rs
What is Ethics in biomedical research? In this case the ethics we talk about is how we think we can use animals in biomedical research and what we gain from the experimental setup of experiments. We will talk about “a common set of values” and how 3R engagement can make a difference to experimental procedures and a progress in the positive outcome of experimental procedures and results and scientific papers of the future.
Speaker: : Viveka Hillegaart
(-) Stroke (1)
(-) Workflows (1)
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The Pope and the Ninja.
The author likes to post it at night. Anyway, I manage to finish translate it.
And, one more thing, I don't have any plan in translating another novel now. But even if I want to take a new project, I will take a novel that's not translated yet. To be honest, I have an interest to translate a novel named 転生したら剣でした/I was a sword when I reincarnated (Not sure whether it has been translated or not). Well, it all depends on my time.
The Pope and the Ninja
「And, the Ogre disappeared into the Demons territory. Happy ending」
「It's not happy. After all, the Ogre was not killed」
I told that to the boy in front of me.
I look at his state.
The boy stuffs his mouth with the cake comfortably.
Although the age shows the appearance suitably, the inside should not match the appearance.
After all, this boy is a reincarnated person.
「And so, in your view, was that Ogre a reincarnated person?」
「I don't know. After all, I was attacked before I can talk to it」
The boy who's present name is Sajin, and it's said that he's previous life's name is Kusama Shinobu.
Sajin has a unique skill called 「Ninja」, and it has the ability specialized in information gathering and assassination.
Therefore, I let Sajin to contact the Ogre that's suspected to be a reincarnated person.
The result is negotiation failure.
Rather that that, it's said that it was not even a negotiation.
「I was almost killed. Is that guy really a reincarnated person?」
「I had you to contact it in order to confirm it」
The unique individual Ogre that appeared near the border of the Demons territory and the empire.
The combat ability that far exceeds the ordinary Ogre, the wisdom to set traps to annihilate the adventurers, and above all, the unknown skill that creates Magic Swords.
Even only with those fragmentary information, it can be said that the possibility that the Ogre is a reincarnated person was high.
The reincarnated people have some other inborn unique skills that others don't like Sajin's Ninja skill.
That skill and the ｎ％Ｉ＝Ｗ skill that the effect is still unknown.
These two are the proofs of reincarnated people.
Sajin's existence is large that I noticed the fact.
Sajin was born as the son of my dark side subordinate that I control directly in the Divine Word Religion.
Although it's normal to not appraise unless a certain age is reached for the nobles in other countries, the child born in the dark side are appraised early and the ability is measured regularly.
The Appraisal was used in order to understand the state of the newborn child, and the abnormality of Sajin was discovered at that time.
He was born with a large amount of skill points that's normally impossible.
And, he possessed two skills by birth.
Moreover, both were skills that I had not seen before.
I used the Ruler authority immediately, and confirmed the details of the skill and whether there are other existences that have the similar skill.
As a result, it was confirmed that there were as many as two babies who had the ｎ％Ｉ＝Ｗ skill in my own country other than Sajin.
It might be some kind of fate that one of them was abandoned to the church.
I stationed my subordinate under the direct control in the church, and gave the order to start monitoring and guard.
At the same time, I placed the monitoring and the guard on the another one secretly.
If I think, I might have already sensed some kind of omen at this time.
That changed into conviction when Potimas who's the chief of the Elves came and demanded to hand over the children who have the ｎ％Ｉ＝Ｗ skill.
Saying that the children who have this skill will give a big influence to the world.
The Elves move means that it's that much.
Those guys won't move by slight matter.
When those guys move, that's when the world moves greatly.
The children who have the ｎ％Ｉ＝Ｗ have the value for it.
And, it became clear when Sajin came to be able to talk even though it's baby talk.
Something called the reincarnated people told from Sajin's mouth.
It was a shock.
The humans of a different world are reborn in this world.
Is there such a thing?
What can be thought is the existence of the High Rank Administrator.
The system constructor who's existence is higher than Kokuryuu-sama.
The existence that exists in a far-off place that's only known as the code called D.
The reincarnated people might have been sent into this world by that person's intention.
I can only think that way.
Otherwise, the existence to have inborn skills and skill points is impossible in the system.
If they were born without an intention, that means that an important defect has been generated in the system.
It's impossible if I see Kokuryuu-sama's state that I encountered some time ago.
If such a serious problem had occurred, there's no way that person will leave it.
「Old man, don't go for a trip」
「Oops, sorry. When I think about something, I neglect the surroundings unconsciously」
That was bad.
Was it the talk about the Ogre?
「Whether it's a reincarnated person or not. Anyway, the Ogre will be killed if it's in that condition. The empire's judgment to push it to the Demon is not wrong if it's beyond the human's control」
「I wonder. That Ogre is dangerous. Can that be killed?」
「It seemed that the assault of the two prominent users didn't even kill it in the report. But, it escaped means that it might have been cornered. That means it's not a monster that can't be killed」
However, it's only the fact in the present stage.
The growth rate of the reincarnated people is simply abnormal.
I can understand it well if I see Sajin.
He originally has the unique skills and high skill points by birth, and in addition, because he grows up mentally, he understands quicker than normal child.
Even though he's still a child, he has the ability at the same level as the adult who has accumulated special training.
If he grows up at this rate, he would acquire the power to the extent that normal Humans can't compete with him.
The same thing can be said to the Ogre if it's a reincarnated person.
Moreover, Sajin's growth is no match for the degree of the Ogre's growth.
It has the ability that can escape from the prominent users of the empire at present.
If it's the empire elites, even one person can kill a monster of the danger degree, B class.
That didn't matched with it means that the Ogre's danger degree is at least A class.
When thinking about the growth in the future, it might be dangerous if more time passed.
「If the Demons will kill it, I have nothing to say. If possible, I prefer that it can inflict damage to the Demons before it's subjugated」
「Will it go so conveniently?」
「If it doesn't go well, that time is that time. That's all for the Ogre's matter. Let's process our matter」
「Okay. Enemy-san is hooked to the bait」
「That's good fortune」
「Now, I pray that Ogiwara would do well」
There are two reincarnated people who I protected.
Sajin and the orphan named Yurin.
And, the another one, the boy called Ogiwara Kenichi who's present name is Ugio is placed under observation.
I took contact with this Ugio secretly and instructed the technique of intelligence.
And, he was drove out of the country taking the appearance that the family moved outside the country.
In order to show a chance.
Ugio who was not monitored anymore was kidnapped by the Elves.
Although I bet half that it will fail, apparently, the Elves are obsessed to the reincarnated people.
I can only think that they kidnap him taking the danger into account.
It's convenient for us though.
「I hope that it would go well」
Even though it's to investigate the internal conditions of the Elves, Ugio will have to cross a dangerous bridge.
If something happens, it will worsen the aftertaste a little.
「If it's Ogi, he can handle it flawlessly」
Although I feel relieved to Sajin's light tone, I prayed that the other reincarnated person sneak into the Elves' inside well.
Huh, the pope has a ninja
Nohero Places... 25 October 2015 at 23:51
so he's the contact.
Kyanpufa 25 October 2015 at 23:53
I don't remember someone translating that novel!
judging from how sophia has known dustin is there some collaboration somehow between demon and divine world religion where that ninja has no information about ?
ah sophia know the guy capability so perhaps they do interacting at some point. poor shun just played on the seashores while people warring so hard with a warship in the ocean...
Ninja boy knows about it.
He seemed to know that the spell was fake and wasn't the real thing that destroyed the barrier.
And Sophie and knew his name meaning that she's probably met him
In fact judging by how ninja boy was talking during the elf war either the pope is working with the demons or Ninja boy is at least collaborating with them on his own.
Frolamiz 26 October 2015 at 16:46
I remember Sophia saying "uncle something will handle the matters on the human side", or something alike, and later it was revealed that it was the name of the pope.
It's very likely that there is a collaboration, at least against the elves. And after all he said earlier that if Ariel alone move against humanity, they are doomed. So if you add Sophia, the oni, Gyurigyuri and Shiraori, making him collaborate in the shadows shouldn't be a problem (probably with the condition that humanity won't be totally annihilated).
lol i thought for a moment that the pope was a ninja...
Ninja pope! Lurking within the shadows in the name of god! Spying like a true believer!
@joshuakjx
i think it's better to wait to update one chapters per day that is yesterday chapters so it doesn't make you stay up all night.
INDIHOMO 26 October 2015 at 02:40
agreed, @joshuakjx we're grateful for your work and the time you spent to translate this novel. But you should just take it easy and dont push yourself too hard
libraryrocker 26 October 2015 at 04:29
Yes!!! Sleep is justice!!!
Joshua Kjx 26 October 2015 at 07:25
If it's okay with you, then I will take up the offer. That means there won't be a chapter today.
>Moreover, the degree of the growth is no match for Sajin.
Is it "no match" or "a match"
TUSF 26 October 2015 at 00:20
This^
"no match for" means that it's inferior
"a match for" means that it's pretty much equal.
It would be better to say "Sajin's growth is no match for the degree of the Ogre's growth."
But from the way he was talking it sounds like the opposite. Because while Sajin is already at an adults level the Ogre's growth is already beyond elite.
So it sounds like it should be more like "The degree of growth is too fast even compared to Sajin." or something like that
That's what we're saying. Kyouya's growth outmatches Sajin's, but the translation made it sound like the opposite.
thank for the chapter.
A Random Blogger 26 October 2015 at 00:09
Stay healthy~
Gabs 26 October 2015 at 00:13
And here was me wondering about the ninja. My guess is that he becomes a double agent, like, he goes to the demons territory to oversee the ogre's situation and is captured and goes to their team.
Thanks for the translation!
doesn't seem like it. Shiro's group was actually relying on Dustin to take care of the fallout from Yuugo. That suggest that they may have been collaborating to take down Potimas by that point.
Pun 26 October 2015 at 00:18
xabove 26 October 2015 at 00:19
Thx for chapter
And the new novel isn't being translated
Since you caught up to the author, will you consider picking up another series or will you just stick to this one?
Mufarasu 26 October 2015 at 01:07
Did you even read this chapter?
Sherrynity 26 October 2015 at 00:40
>I prayed that the another reincarnated person sneak into the Elves' inside well.
Oh don't worry. They will.
Moreover, rather than sneaking, it's more like surprise, mothafvcka~!! (Shiraori & Co.)
I think it was actually suppose to be other.
"I prayed that the other reincarnated person sneaks into the elves' inside well."
or something more grammatically appropriate than that. So he's still referring to tortured boy.
GonZ 26 October 2015 at 00:51
*kage bunshin no jutsu*
[ [ [ [ [ Thank you for the chapter! ] ] ] ] ]
Kensei Seraph 26 October 2015 at 01:35
That title for the potential novel sounds really interesting.
it sound interesting so translate it please (I was a sword when I reincarnated )
My legend dates back to the 12th century.
Excalibur. Excalibur. From the united K I am looking for heaven I'm going to California. Excalibur. Excalibur! Excalibur!!
(ﺧ益ﺨ)
I don't want to read about old men who smugly make plans out of sight and such. I can only hope the pope and elf chief get what's coming to them soon.
The pope isn't the bad guy though...
Really? Based on the way the Divine Word religion and the Goddess fought, I'd say the pope IS the bad guy. (Unless there is a mass internal corruption scheme which hasn't been revealed yet).
Lionkingz 26 October 2015 at 03:22
Now I seriously want those two sides to meet (pope and Ariel).
I can see it right in front of me, Ariel's doyagao as she shows off the fact that she has a reincarnated person who has become a god on her side.
So Ogre-boy has been successfully lured into the demon territory. Based on the order of his skill tough he will go back and forth between the demons and humans at least once. What a complicated career...
I think.... it's time to read again from the beginning!!!!!!! WAAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!
Also, I admire the potential for tsukkomi in the sword reincarnation story...
Thanks so much for all your hard work!!!
Emo Cupcake 26 October 2015 at 06:37
The reincarnated as a sword story seems interesting. I can't say I have ever read a story where someone reincarnates as an inanimate object before and I read a lot of reincarnated stories.
karawabi 26 October 2015 at 07:28
Time for us to go on a diet! 1 instead of 3 chapters a day T_T. Though it's a well-deserved break for turb0... I understand if he's not immediately up for another translation marathon like this.
1 chapter per day... Nai wa...
Never heard of that novel you mentioned at the beginning but it sounds like it'd be interesting. Ty for chapter
linnil 26 October 2015 at 14:11
Thanks for the chapter~~~
I guess Sophia will interact with the pope after the oni match~~
Based on the new chapter, I can see it. Nice job breaking it Oni-boy.
Peacefull land, everybody loves somebody, then Oni comes along.
Everything is at peace till oni invasion. Now it's up to ava- a vampire sophia to save the world.
Eh, not D? I thought she is trying to prevent system failure?
Except Oni-boy will meet Sophia only after he already destroyed paradise. What the hell was Gyurie doing... oh yeah, busy destroying the facilities.
May I suggest that you release every other day? That way you will still have a schedule and will not have to stay up late to do each day's chapter. Thank you for all your hard work!
in case you still up i suggest you get to sleep.
Umm, is today's chapter going to be released at all?
If you bothered to read the note at the beginning you'd know that the chapters come out late for him. So most likely no. The translator is currently sleeping.
My bad. I'm a night owl used very late hours.
I get it, and who knows maybe he'll release it in the mornings now?
We've caught up, so it's not like we can do anything else now but wait.
koolkid159 27 October 2015 at 03:19
i would love to see him do a 2 day schedule, where he does one novel one day, then the other the next, if that works out...
I hope this doesn't sound like some sort of shameless plug, but I'm currently working on translating "I was a sword when I reincarnated" and would love to work with you on it.
It's not strictly MTL but I do rely on it quite a bit...
転生しちゃったよ （いや、ごめん）
http://ncode.syosetu.com/n2516bg/
this already have manga but not one translated yet.
Poor shiro-chan :v she was born as a little spider and almost be eaten by her family in a deep-dark dungeon full of monsters while others got a huge amount of skill points and live peacefully...
Eroid 8 November 2016 at 10:43
Like super peaceful life goblin-kun
Between D's whimsy and Early Access, that is where Shiro's luck lies.
Who will win if Sajin vs Tama.
If you need your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend to come crawling back to you on their knees (no matter why you broke up) you got to watch this video
(VIDEO) Have your ex CRAWLING back to you...?
The Divine Word order has a "dark side"
... No one else thought "Sith"? No? Just me? Mm'K.
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Boj, a rare marsupial from the Australian Outback, has moved to Giggly Park, where he lives in an underground burrow with his musical parents, Mimi and Pops. There's always something new for young Boj to discover or a problem for him to solve in his new neighborhood. He uses unique, upside-down and topsy-turvy methods to solve them. Part of Boj's skills involve the ability to fix anything that needs it. He is also able to cheer anyone up through silly games, giggly fun, and hugs.
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Sarah & Duck
Various networks
Sarah is a 7-year-old girl with big eyes and a green hat. She lives with her best friend, a quacky, slightly manic fowl appropriately named Duck. Each episode features the pair setting out on simple but exciting adventures as they explore the world in their own imaginative way. The animated series focuses on the experiences of childhood as seen through Sarah's eyes as she learns new things every day. The show's objectives are to help kids learn about friendship, imagination and problem solving.
Kate & Mim-Mim
Kate and her stuffed toy friends use their imaginations to go on wild adventures.
Tom is a boy with the power of movement magic -- tree fu -- which can transform him into a small-but-mighty superhero. As a superhero, he travels to Treetopolis, an enchanted kingdom -- really a tree in his backyard. It is in that magic place that Tom meets his friends: his sidekick Twigs, an energetic acorn sprite, an eccentric inventor Zigzoo, and others. Tom, Twigs and the gang go on action-filled adventures that usually encounter trouble, disaster or near catastrophe. When things get out of control, Tom relies on viewers to help save the day by performing tree fu moves of their own and passing their magic through the TV screen.
From their "Octopod" home base, a team of undersea explorers is always ready to dive into action to explore new underwater worlds, rescue amazing sea creatures and protect the ocean. The group is led by Captain Barnacles the bear, and also includes Kwazii the kitten, Peso the penguin, Dr. Shellington the sea otter, Dashi the dog, Tweak the bunny, Professor Inkling the octopus and Tunip the `vegimal' (part vegetable, part animal). The animated series, geared toward preschoolers, is based on a book series of the same name.
Poppy Cat
Mischievous Poppy Cat is full of energy and charm and likes to have fun. The young feline tends to get involved in entertaining adventures along the way with her friends, who include speedy Dalmatian Zuzu, sweet bunny Alma, feisty mouse Mo, a wise owl named Owl and Egbert, a badger who is usually the antagonist in the show's stories. The animated program is based on a series of children's books written by Lara Jones.
Animated series about Poppy Cat, based on the books by Lara Jones.
Henry Hugglemonster
Fun-loving 5-year-old Henry Hugglemonster, the middle child in a close-knit monster family, goes on adventures where he learns various life lessons like learning to work in a team and helping others. Joining Henry on his adventures are his parents, Daddo and Momma, and siblings Cobby, Summer and baby Ivor. Each episode features two stories, which usually end with a musical interlude featuring an upbeat, character-driven song. The animated series is based on the "I'm a Happy Hugglewug" series of children's books.
Chloe's Closet
This animated series features the adventures of 4-year-old Chloe with her friends and toys. The group goes on magical adventures in Chloe's closet (hence the show's title). Being a children's show, the episodes aim to teach kids lessons about such topics as friends, cooperation and sharing. Chloe's friends include best friend Jet, Tara, Daniela (nicknamed "Danny"), Riley, Lil and Lil's younger brother, Mac.
Boj on YouTube TV.
Sign up to watch Boj
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Summer Rewind: The Hour
The summer TV schedule isn’t as light as it once was and so it can be harder to squeeze in catch up projects of recent and not so long ago shows you missed. Last year I blasted through Scandal and took a slightly longer route with The Comeback, pairing a current show dominating discussion with one that is often featured on “Canceled Too Soon” lists (The Comeback is making its own comeback much to my delight in November). In a somewhat unplanned decision this has been repeated this year, first with Game of Thrones taking the Scandal position followed by the 2011 BBC 2 series The Hour.
Why I didn’t watch The Hour when it first aired is a bit of a mystery as it has all the elements that I find appealing – great cast, a writer I admire, a 1950s setting, fantastic looking costumes and a spy plot – and it’s even more curious as to why it has taken me so long to get to it. Yesterday I contemplated a Gossip Girl rewatch (I blame Preserve and this incredible Leighton Meester op-ed) and instead decided it was time to start The Hour as the boxset had been sitting on my desk untouched for a week. The length of the show (a total of 12 episodes) as it was pointed out to me on Twitter made the choice a no-brainer. And I’m so glad I did as less than 24 hours later I have finished season 1; it’s love.
Drooling over the costume design and giving out Diane Lockhart broach accessorizing points has occurred throughout these first six episodes and there will be a separate post dedicated to costuming. A more general approach to the first season is how I will be tackling The Hour today and there are some slight spoilers throughout.
It’s 1956 and the world is feeling pretty unstable; the Cold War rages on and there is political unrest across the globe. These larger events are told through a new BBC news program which distills the events of the week into “The Hour.” The Suez Crisis frames much of the first season and just like a current HBO show it uses real events to infuse tension into the story as we see how the characters respond to the big story.
Unlike The Newsroom it doesn’t feel like it is preaching or attempting to teach in a condescending manner. This might have something to do with the time frame as there are only going to be a certain number of viewers who remember the Suez Crisis whereas you can all but guarantee that the BP oil spill or 9/11 are relatively fresh memories for The Newsroom’s audience. One other notable difference is The Hour is created and written by Abi Morgan, whereas Aaron Sorkin is at the helm of The Newsroom; a repeated criticism of Sorkin’s recent project is the treatment of the female characters and while The Hour is set in a time where sexism was far more inherent, it comes across as the more enlightened of the two. Bel still faces comments and assumptions based on her gender, but she’s allowed to make mistakes without looking like an idiot. No they don’t have email in The Hour, but I bet they wouldn’t pull the same stunt as MacKenzie’s “send all” error. Comparison time over.
Getting accurate information when reporting the news is still not an easy task in 2014, even harder in 1956 without the technology that can hinder as much as help in the present day. The phone is one of the most reliable forms they have in The Hour and seeing reels of film getting cut together evokes nostalgic feelings for a form that was in no doubt way more of faff. And yet there is something glorious about seeing the individual frames.
Idealism, cynicism and pragmatism create a constant push/pull between the three leads; while the establishment they work for is dedicated to an impartial position there is still a rigid power system in place that threatens to censor and assert control. Freddie’s tenacity and drive to find the truth has the potential to destroy everything they have all worked towards and there are other sinister operatives at play with a mole in the BBC (*sidenote* thanks to a saturation of moles on 24 I often roll my eyes at this plot point, I did think it was well executed here and fits the cloak and dagger nature of the time period). What drives these characters varies and ambition is far more important to Dominic West’s Hector than the pursuit of truth, for Bel (the fantastic Romola Garai) she wants to keep the job she has worked so hard for and yet she is willing to risk it for the story.
Conflict comes in all forms including romantic entanglements such as the affair between the married Hector – Oona Chaplin plays his high society wife Marnie who knows of his affairs and uses the great tool of denial with a broad fake smile to maintain the facade – and Bel. Affairs can be dangerous and this one between producer and presenter has all the trappings of broken hearts and the potential for ruining careers. Enter Freddie as Bel’s best friend, he stands in the shadows pining for the woman he calls Moneypenny (the first James Bond novel Casino Royale was published in 1953 and a copy sits on Freddie’s desk) and he not so subtly infers his love for her on many occasion quoting E.E. Cummings and stirring up all my shipper feelings. There’s an intimacy between these two that can be summed up by unspoken cigarette sharing and how comfortable they are in each other’s company. Tumblr gif sets I will be coming for you later.
Balancing a variety of stories including wars raging on several continents with tensions on the homefront and tying them together through acts of espionage makes the big story personal; Freddie justified his reckless actions for this reason and his passion for the truth is both dangerous and honorable. There is of course the potential for a character like Freddie to become a “troubled genius who is always right” trope and yet he is grounded thanks to such a strong performance from Ben Whishaw, his relationship/chemistry with Bel and because the writing doesn’t quite go ‘there’ with Freddie. There is some sense of self-awareness even as he nears the edge of the precarious path he is on. How long it will stay like this is unclear at this point and the next six episodes are sitting on my desk just crying out to be watched.
Tags: 1950s, Abi Morgan, Ben Whishaw, Dominic West, Romola Garai, spies, The Hour, The Newsroom
Categories Summer Rewind, The Hour
← God Help the Girl Trailer: “You’re Going to Need a Pop Group”
10 New Yorker TV Posts: From The Hummingbird Theory to Reality TV →
2 Responses to “Summer Rewind: The Hour”
10 New Yorker TV Posts: From The Hummingbird Theory to Reality TV | TV Ate My Wardrobe - July 24, 2014
[…] the same package as The Hour boxset and another show on my catch up list is Enlightened and Emily Nussbaum’s […]
Best of TV Costuming 2014 and The Shows I Finally Watched | TV Ate My Wardrobe - December 29, 2014
[…] Daisies and The Hour are tonally different with one inhabiting a heightened reality with the other being very much […]
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'Princess of Canada:' Royal fans loving rumours that Harry and Meghan might move to Canada
Tori Floyd
Yahoo News Canada 9 January 2020
People around the world were stunned by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s announcement that they would be “stepping down” as senior members of the royal family on Wednesday. In a letter posted to Instagram and on their official website, they explained that they would work to become financially independent, and would be splitting their time between North America and the UK.
The reaction from the UK media and public has been, on the whole, critical of the decision.
People say I'm too critical of Meghan Markle - but she ditched her family, ditched her Dad, ditched most of her old friends, split Harry from William & has now split him from the Royal Family.
I rest my case. pic.twitter.com/xgKLTt2Y0Z
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 8, 2020
British tabloid The Sun nicknamed the situation “Megxit,” which was generating lots of buzz on Twitter on Thursday.
Famed London wax museum Madame Tussaud’s weighed in to the foray by removing Meghan and Prince Harry from the display where they formerly stood next to the Queen and Prince Philip.
The empty space after the figures of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were removed next to Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, at Madame Tussauds in London, Thursday Jan. 9, 2020. Madame Tussauds moved its figures of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex from its Royal Family set to elsewhere in the attraction. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)
But Canadians, for the most part, were much more welcoming of the decision announced by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Both individual Canadians and Canada-affiliated businesses were eager to extend an olive branch to the Sussexes, suggesting that Canada would be an ideal place for them to settle.
Coffee chain Tim Hortons tweeted that if they decided to move to Canada, Meghan and Prince Harry would receive free coffee for life (although they received widespread backlash for offering free coffee to two wealthy people when they have been in an ongoing fight with employees over wages and paid breaks):
No pressure, Meghan and Harry, but if you do choose to move to Canada, free coffee for life. Think about it.
— Tim Hortons (@TimHortons) January 9, 2020
So are Canadian cities going to prepare Amazon-style bids to be the second home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? Hoping they choose #Ottawa. #Canada #cities #princeharry #royals #royalfamily #toronto #vancouver
— Kevin Bourne (@KBTHEBOSS_) January 9, 2020
Meghan - Princess of Canada. I kind of like it. Hopefully the Queen supports the idea! #Megxit #PrincessOfCanada #piersmorgan #makessense #MeghanMarkle #PrinceHarry
— Annu Kuusisto (@Annukuu) January 9, 2020
I have a Very Serious Question re #Megxit. Under what immigration channel would Harry and Meghan actually qualify to immigrate to Canada? Skilled workers? I don't think so. Family sponsorship? Nope. Maybe they would qualify as refugees?
— Ian Young (@ianjamesyoung70) January 10, 2020
SO the Duchess and her husband decide to leave the abusive media in the UK and stand on their own 2 feet and ppl STILL coming for her.I hope H&M get to Canada soon.I'll be there to greet them at the airport with poutine and butter tarts! #megexit #Megxit
— Nadia Ahern (@NadiaAhernVoice) January 9, 2020
Come to canada we have maple syrup (and sometimes we pour it on snow/ice for a treat!) #Megxit pic.twitter.com/cKYFANL0G7
— Good morning George how are you (@BestPinkieFan) January 9, 2020
Multiple publications, including the Daily Mail, TMZ and the Toronto Sun are speculating that Canada could be where Meghan and Prince Harry call home. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Canadian music producer David Foster said that he was the one who set up the couple’s recent stay in North Saanich, B.C., as Meghan is a former classmate of Foster’s wife, Katherine McPhee.
“I don't know what [Meghan and Harry’s] next plans are, but I know that it was reinvigorating for them to spend some downtime,” Foster told the Daily Mail, days before the Sussexes announced their intention to live part-time in North America.
PEOPLE also speculated that Meghan and Prince Harry could choose Toronto, because of Meghan’s history filming the television show Suits in the city, or Vancouver, due to their recent positive stay there.
Lending further substance to the suggestion that Meghan and Prince Harry are moving to Canada is rumour that the couple left their son Archie with friends in Canada while they returned to London after their holiday in B.C. Meghan even returned to Canada amid the royal storm as the Queen ordered staff to find a ‘workable solution’ for the couple’s future.
But Buckingham Palace has dismissed the reports that they’ll be moving to Canada as “speculation.”
#default
Latest 'Black Widow' trailer gives us first glimpse of villain Taskmaster
Britt Ekland does not want a female Bond: 'That's not going to happen'
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Uncharted Lancaster
Lancaster County history discovered through epic adventures.
Bausman’s Hollow Adventure
Climbers Run Adventure
Colemanville Covered Bridge Side Quest
Enola Low-Grade Adventure
Governor Dick Adventure: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Haunted Indian Gold Adventure
Lime Kiln Adventure
Pequea Trolley Adventure
Safe Harbor Adventure
Wind Cave Adventure
Haunted Lancaster
Hiking Safety
September 3, 2019 September 4, 2019 unchartedadam
The Great Indian Treaty of 1744
In June of 1744, scores of Native Americans began to gather outside of Lancaster in a make-shift Indian village. By the middle of the month, the number had swelled to several hundred. Luckily Lancaster’s English and German inhabitants, members of the Six Nations had assembled not to make war but peace.
An unfinished painting of the original Lancaster County Courthouse in modern-day Penn Square.
It was here at Lancaster’s original courthouse, located in the center of what is now Penn Square, that the Great Indian Treaty of 1744 would be negotiated and signed. For two weeks, from June 22 through July 4, colonial leaders from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia met with the brightly painted Indian chieftains of the Six Nations. This important conference had two main purposes: secure Native American land for English settlement and receive a guarantee that the Indians that they would not join with the French in the border war.
Colonial leaders offered trade goods like gunpowder, shot, jewsharps, blankets, guns, shirts, and rum to accomplish these goals. With the assistance of Conrad Weiser as an interpreter, Indian leaders inspected goods, examined crude maps, and made lengthy speeches. Each speech ended in thunderous applause, shouts of “Jo-Hah!” from the Indians, and the exchange of wampum belts.
Indian Treaty Negotiations by Charles X. Carlson
During the conference, families from the Indian village, which had been set up on the edge of town, explored the streets of Lancaster, traded with the settlers at the market house, and held lengthy pow wows around their cooking fires during the summer evenings, discussing the progress of the day’s conference.
Smoke from the cooking-fires along with the smell of bear grease filled the summer air. The event was quite entertaining for the people of Lancaster, often hanging out of windows for a closer look at the painted Indians. Likewise, the Indians checked out the town and the townspeople with equal curiosity as they traded in the shops and at the market. Many townspeople were shocked to see the Indians eat their food with their hands.
Finally, after much drinking of health and a final bonus of rum, Chief Canassetaga was presented with a scarlet coat from the Virginians, and Chief Gachadow received a bold-laced hat from the Maryland commissioners.
Canassatego, chief of the Onondaga nation and prominent diplomat, was the start of the 1744 treaty. He recommended that the colonies adapt a form of government similar to the Iroquois by forming a confederacy. He feared that the colonies lacked a strong coordinated policy to address the military threat of New France. His words were published and read by colonial leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, and influenced the United States Constitution forty years later.
Chief Canassetaga
Canassatego was described as a tall, well-made man with a very full chest, brawny arms, good-natured smile, and liveliness in his speech. He was assassinated in 1750 by pro-French forces.
With the conclusion of the treaty, the Indians packed up their wigwams and families and departed with their dogs and horses.
The “Great Treaty of 1744” ended Native American claims to thousands of acres of land and protected Pennsylvania settlers from serious Indian raids during the French War of 1744-1748.
Old Lancaster: Historic Pennsylvania Community
Treaty of 1744 – A rousing “Jo-Ha!”
Published by unchartedadam
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2015 Michigan Building Code
1202 DEFINITIONS
1203 VENTILATION
1203.2 Ventilation required
1203.2.1 Openings into attic
1203.3 Unvented attic and unvented enclosed rafter assemblies
1203.4 Under-floor ventilation
1203.4.1 Openings for under-floor ventilation
1203.4.2 Exceptions
1203.5 Natural ventilation
1203.5.1 Ventilation area required
1203.5.1.1 Adjoining spaces
1203.5.1.2 Openings below grade
1203.5.2 Contaminants exhausted
1203.5.2.1 Bathrooms
1203.5.3 Openings on yards or courts
1203.6 Other ventilation and exhaust systems
1204 TEMPERATURE CONTROL
1204.1 Equipment and systems
1205 LIGHTING
1205.2 Natural light
1205.2.1 Adjoining spaces
1205.2.2 Exterior openings
1205.3 Artificial light
1205.4 Stairway illumination
1205.4.1 Controls
1205.5 Emergency egress lighting
1206 YARDS OR COURTS
1206.2 Yards
1206.3 Courts
1206.3.1 Court access
1206.3.2 Air intake
1206.3.3 Court drainage
1207 SOUND TRANSMISSION
1207.2 Air-borne sound
1207.3 Structure-borne sound
1208 INTERIOR SPACE DIMENSIONS
1208.1 Minimum room widths
1208.2 Minimum ceiling heights
1208.2.1 Furred ceiling
1208.3 Room area
1208.4 Efficiency dwelling units
1209 ACCESS TO UNOCCUPIED SPACES
1209.1 Crawl spaces
1209.2 Attic spaces
1209.3 Mechanical appliances
1210 TOILET AND BATHROOM REQUIREMENTS
1210.1 Required fixtures
1210.2 Finish materials
1210.2.1 Floors and wall bases
1210.2.2 Walls and partitions
1210.2.3 Showers
1210.2.4 Waterproof joints
1210.3 Privacy
1210.3.1 Water closet compartment
1210.3.2 Urinal partitions
1210.4 Toilet room location
1210.5 Baby changing stations
1210.6 Directional signage
The provisions of this chapter shall govern ventilation, temperature control, lighting, yards and courts, sound transmission, room dimensions, surrounding materials and rodentproofing associated with the interior spaces of buildings.
Section 1202 DEFINITIONS
SUNROOM.
THERMAL ISOLATION.
Section 1203 VENTILATION
Buildings shall be provided with natural ventilation in accordance with Section 1203.4, or mechanical ventilation in accordance with the International Mechanical Code.
Where the air infiltration rate in a dwelling unit is less than 5 air changes per hour when tested with a blower door at a pressure 0.2 inch w.c. (50 Pa) in accordance with Section R402.4.1.2 of the International Energy Conservation Code-Residential Provisions, the dwelling unit shall be ventilated by mechanical means in accordance with Section 403 of the International Mechanical Code. Ambulatory care facilities and Group I-2 occupancies shall be ventilated by mechanical means in accordance with Section 407 of the International Mechanical Code.
Enclosed attics and enclosed rafter spaces formed where ceilings are applied directly to the underside of roof framing members shall have cross ventilation for each separate space by ventilation openings protected against the entrance of rain and snow. Blocking and bridging shall be arranged so as not to interfere with the movement of air. An airspace of not less than 1 inch (25 mm) shall be provided between the insulation and the roof sheathing. The net free ventilating area shall be not less than 1/150 of the area of the space ventilated. Ventilators shall be installed in accordance with manufacturer's installation instructions.
Exception: The net free cross-ventilation area shall be permitted to be reduced to 1/300 provided both of the following conditions are met:
In Climate Zones 6, 7 and 8, a Class I or II vapor retarder is installed on the warm-in-winter side of the ceiling.
At least 40 percent and not more than 50 percent of the required venting area is provided by ventilators located in the upper portion of the attic or rafter space. Upper ventilators shall be located not more than 3 feet (914 mm) below the ridge or highest point of the space, measured vertically, with the balance of the ventilation provided by eave or cornice vents. Where the location of wall or roof framing members conflicts with the installation of upper ventilators, installation more than 3 feet (914 mm) below the ridge or highest point of the space shall be permitted.
Exterior openings into the attic space of any building intended for human occupancy shall be protected to prevent the entry of birds, squirrels, rodents, snakes and other similar creatures. Openings for ventilation having a least dimension of not less than 1/16 inch (1.6 mm) and not more than 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) shall be permitted. Openings for ventilation having a least dimension larger than 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) shall be provided with corrosion-resistant wire cloth screening, hardware cloth, perforated vinyl or similar material with openings having a least dimension of not less than 1/16 inch (1.6 mm) and not more than 1/4 inch (6.4 mm). Where combustion air is obtained from an attic area, it shall be in accordance with Chapter 7 of the International Mechanical Code.
Unvented attics and unvented enclosed roof framing assemblies created by ceilings applied directly to the underside of the roof framing members/rafters and the structural roof sheathing at the top of the roof framing members shall be permitted where all the following conditions are met:
The unvented attic space is completely within the building thermal envelope.
No interior Class I vapor retarders are installed on the ceiling side (attic floor) of the unvented attic assembly or on the ceiling side of the unvented enclosed roof framing assembly.
Where wood shingles or shakes are used, a minimum 1/4-inch (6.4 mm) vented airspace separates the shingles or shakes and the roofing underlayment above the structural sheathing.
In Climate Zones 5, 6, 7 and 8, any air-impermeable insulation shall be a Class II vapor retarder or shall have a Class II vapor retarder coating or covering in direct contact with the underside of the insulation.
Insulation shall be located in accordance with the following:
Item 5.1.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3 or 5.1.4 shall be met, depending on the air permeability of the insulation directly under the structural roof sheathing.
Where only air-impermeable insulation is provided, it shall be applied in direct contact with the underside of the structural roof sheathing.
Where air-permeable insulation is provided inside the building thermal envelope, it shall be installed in accordance with Item 5.1. In addition to the air-permeable insulation installed directly below the structural sheathing, rigid board or sheet insulation shall be installed directly above the structural roof sheathing in accordance with the R values in Table 1203.3 for condensation control.
Where both air-impermeable and air-permeable insulation are provided, the air-impermeable insulation shall be applied in direct contact with the underside of the structural roof sheathing in accordance with Item 5.1.1 and shall be in accordance with the R values in Table 1203.3 for condensation control. The air-permeable insulation shall be installed directly under the air-impermeable insulation.
Alternatively, sufficient rigid board or sheet insulation shall be installed directly above the structural roof sheathing to maintain the monthly average temperature of the underside of the structural roof sheathing above 45°F (7°C). For calculation purposes, an interior air temperature of 68°F (20°C) is assumed and the exterior air temperature is assumed to be the monthly average outside air temperature of the three coldest months.
Where preformed insulation board is used as the air-impermeable insulation layer, it shall be sealed at the perimeter of each individual sheet interior surface to form a continuous layer.
Section 1203.3 does not apply to special use structures or enclosures such as swimming pool enclosures, data processing centers, hospitals or art galleries.
Section 1203.3 does not apply to enclosures in Climate Zones 5 through 8 that are humidified beyond 35 percent during the three coldest months.
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INSULATION FOR CONDENSATION CONTROL
MINIMUM R-VALUE OF AIR-
IMPERMEABLE INSULATIONa
2B and 3B tile roof only 0 (none required)
1, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3C R-5
4C R-10
4A, 4B R-15
5 R-20
Contributes to, but does not supersede, thermal resistance requirements for attic and roof assemblies in Section C402.2.1 of the International Energy Conservation Code.
The space between the bottom of the floor joists and the earth under any building except spaces occupied by basements or cellars shall be provided with ventilation openings through foundation walls or exterior walls. Such openings shall be placed so as to provide cross ventilation of the under-floor space.
The net area of ventilation openings shall be not less than 1 square foot for each 150 square feet (0.67 m2 for each 100 m2) of crawl-space area. Ventilation openings shall be covered for their height and width with any of the following materials, provided that the least dimension of the covering shall be not greater than 1/4 inch (6.4 mm):
Perforated sheet metal plates not less than 0.070 inch (1.8 mm) thick.
Expanded sheet metal plates not less than 0.047 inch (1.2 mm) thick.
Cast-iron grilles or gratings.
Extruded load-bearing vents.
Hardware cloth of 0.035-inch (0.89 mm) wire or heavier.
Corrosion-resistant wire mesh, with the least dimension not greater than 1/8 inch (3.2 mm).
The following are exceptions to Sections 1203.4 and 1203.4.1:
Where warranted by climatic conditions, ventilation openings to the outdoors are not required if ventilation openings to the interior are provided.
The total area of ventilation openings is permitted to be reduced to 1/1,500 of the under-floor area where the ground surface is covered with a Class I vapor retarder material and the required openings are placed so as to provide cross ventilation of the space. The installation of operable louvers shall not be prohibited.
Ventilation openings are not required where continuously operated mechanical ventilation is provided at a rate of 1.0 cubic foot per minute (cfm) for each 50 square feet (1.02 Lis for each 10 m2) of crawlspace floor area and the ground surface is covered with a Class I vapor retarder.
Ventilation openings are not required where the ground surface is covered with a Class I vapor retarder, the perimeter walls are insulated and the space is conditioned in accordance with the International Energy Conservation Code.
For buildings in flood hazard areas as established in Section 1612.3, the openings for under-floor ventilation shall be deemed as meeting the flood opening requirements of ASCE 24 provided that the ventilation openings are designed and installed in accordance with ASCE 24.
Natural ventilation of an occupied space shall be through windows, doors, louvers or other openings to the outdoors. The operating mechanism for such openings shall be provided with ready access so that the openings are readily controllable by the building occupants.
The openable area of the openings to the outdoors shall be not less than 4 percent of the floor area being ventilated.
Where rooms and spaces without openings to the outdoors are ventilated through an adjoining room, the opening to the adjoining room shall be unobstructed and shall have an area of not less than 8 percent of the floor area of the interior room or space, but not less than 25 square feet (2.3 m2). The openable area of the openings to the outdoors shall be based on the total floor area being ventilated.
Exception: Exterior openings required for ventilation shall be permitted to open into a sunroom with thermal isolation or a patio cover provided that the openable area between the sunroom addition or patio cover and the interior room shall have an area of not less than 8 percent of the floor area of the interior room or space, but not less than 20 square feet (1.86 m2). The openable area of the openings to the outdoors shall be based on the total floor area being ventilated.
Where openings below grade provide required natural ventilation, the outside horizontal clear space measured perpendicular to the opening shall be one and one-half times the depth of the opening. The depth of the opening shall be measured from the average adjoining ground level to the bottom of the opening.
Contaminant sources in naturally ventilated spaces shall be removed in accordance with the International Mechanical Code and the International Fire Code.
Rooms containing bathtubs, showers, spas and similar bathing fixtures shall be mechanically ventilated in accordance with the International Mechanical Code.
Where natural ventilation is to be provided by openings onto yards or courts, such yards or courts shall comply with Section 1206.
Ventilation and exhaust systems for occupancies and operations involving flammable or combustible hazards or other contaminant sources as covered in the International Mechanical Code or the International Fire Code shall be provided as required by both codes.
Section 1204 TEMPERATURE CONTROL
Interior spaces intended for human occupancy shall be provided with active or passive space heating systems capable of maintaining an indoor temperature of not less than 68°F (20°C) at a point 3 feet (914 mm) above the floor on the design heating day.
Exceptions: Space heating systems are not required for:
Interior spaces where the primary purpose of the space is not associated with human comfort.
Group F, H, S or U occupancies.
Section 1205 LIGHTING
Every space intended for human occupancy shall be provided with natural light by means of exterior glazed openings in accordance with Section 1205.2 or shall be provided with artificial light in accordance with Section 1205.3. Exterior glazed openings shall open directly onto a public way or onto a yard or court in accordance with Section 1206.
The minimum net glazed area shall be not less than 8 percent of the floor area of the room served.
For the purpose of natural lighting, any room is permitted to be considered as a portion of an adjoining room where one-half of the area of the common wall is open and unobstructed and provides an opening of not less than one-tenth of the floor area of the interior room or 25 square feet (2.32 m2), whichever is greater.
Exception: Openings required for natural light shall be permitted to open into a sunroom with thermal isolation or a patio cover where the common wall provides a glazed area of not less than one-tenth of the floor area of the interior room or 20 square feet (1.86 m2), whichever is greater.
Exterior openings required by Section 1205.2 for natural light shall open directly onto a public way, yard or court, as set forth in Section 1206.
Required exterior openings are permitted to open into a roofed porch where the porch meets all of the following criteria:
Abuts a public way, yard or court.
Has a ceiling height of not less than 7 feet (2134 mm).
Has a longer side at least 65 percent open and unobstructed.
Skylights are not required to open directly onto a public way, yard or court.
Artificial light shall be provided that is adequate to provide an average illumination of 10 footcandles (107 lux) over the area of the room at a height of 30 inches (762 mm) above the floor level.
Stairways within dwelling units and exterior stairways serving a dwelling unit shall have an illumination level on tread runs of not less than 1 footcandle (11 lux). Stairways in other occupancies shall be governed by Chapter 10.
The control for activation of the required stairway lighting shall be in accordance with NFPA 70.
The means of egress shall be illuminated in accordance with Section 1008.1.
Section 1206 YARDS OR COURTS
This section shall apply to yards and courts adjacent to exterior openings that provide natural light or ventilation. Such yards and courts shall be on the same lot as the building.
Yards shall be not less than 3 feet (914 mm) in width for buildings two stories or less above grade plane. For buildings more than two stories above grade plane, the minimum width of the yard shall be increased at the rate of l foot (305 mm) for each additional story. For buildings exceeding 14 stories above grade plane, the required width of the yard shall be computed on the basis of 14 stories above grade plane.
Courts shall be not less than 3 feet (914 mm) in width. Courts having windows opening on opposite sides shall be not less than 6 feet (1829 mm) in width. Courts shall be not less than 10 feet (3048 mm) in length unless bounded on one end by a public way or yard. For buildings more than two stories above grade plane, the court shall be increased 1 foot (305 mm) in width and 2 feet (610 mm) in length for each additional story. For buildings exceeding 14 stories above grade plane, the required dimensions shall be computed on the basis of 14 stories above grade plane.
Access shall be provided to the bottom of courts for cleaning purposes.
Courts more than two stories in height shall be provided with a horizontal air intake at the bottom not less than 10 square feet (0.93 m2) in area and leading to the exterior of the building unless abutting a yard or public way.
The bottom of every court shall be properly graded and drained to a public sewer or other approved disposal system comp lying with the International Plumbing Code.
Section 1207 SOUND TRANSMISSION
This section shall apply to common interior walls, partitions and floor/ceiling assemblies between adjacent dwelling units and sleeping units or between dwelling units and sleeping units and adjacent public areas such as halls, corridors, stairways or service areas.
Walls, partitions and floor/ceiling assemblies separating dwelling units and sleeping units from each other or from public or service areas shall have a sound transmission class of not less than 50, or not less than 45 if field tested, for air-borne noise when tested in accordance with ASTM E90. Penetrations or openings in construction assemblies for piping; electrical devices; recessed cabinets; bathtubs; soffits; or heating, ventilating or exhaust ducts shall be sealed, lined, insulated or otherwise treated to maintain the required ratings. This requirement shall not apply to entrance doors; however, such doors shall be tight fitting to the frame and sill.
The sound transmission class of concrete masonry and clay masonry assemblies shall be calculated in accordance with TMS 0302 or determined through testing in accordance with ASTM E90.
Floor/ceiling assemblies between dwelling units and sleeping units or between a dwelling unit or sleeping unit and a public or service area within the structure shall have an impact insulation class rating of not less than 50, or not less than 45 if field tested, when tested in accordance with ASTM E492.
Section 1208 INTERIOR SPACE DIMENSIONS
Habitable spaces, other than a kitchen, shall be not less than 7 feet (2134 mm) in any plan dimension. Kitchens shall have a clear passageway of not less than 3 feet (914 mm) between counter fronts and appliances or counter fronts and walls.
Occupiable spaces, habitable spaces and corridors shall have a ceiling height of not less than 7 feet 6 inches (2286 mm). Bathrooms, toilet rooms, kitchens, storage rooms and laundry rooms shall have a ceiling height of not less than 7 feet (2134 mm).
In one- and two-family dwellings, beams or girders spaced not less than 4 feet (1219 mm) on center shall be permitted to project not more than 6 inches (152 mm) below the required ceiling height.
If any room in a building has a sloped ceiling, the prescribed ceiling height for the room is required in one-ha lf the area thereof. Any portion of the room measuring less than 5 feet (1524 mm) from the finished floor to the ceiling shall not be included in any computation of the minimum area thereof.
The height of mezzanines and spaces below mezzanines shall be in accordance with Section 505.1.
Corridors contained within a dwelling unit or sleeping unit in a Group R occupancy shall have a ceiling height of not less than 7 feet (2134 mm).
Any room with a furred ceiling shall be required to have the minimum ceiling height in two-thirds of the area thereof, but in no case shall the height of the furred ceiling be less than 7 feet (2134 mm).
Every dwelling unit shall have no fewer than one room that shall have not less than 120 square feet (11.2 m2) of net floor area. Other habitable rooms shall have a net floor area of not less than 70 square feet (6.5 m2).
Exception: Kitchens are not required to be of a minimum floor area.
An efficiency living unit shall conform to the requirements of the code except as modified herein:
The unit shall have a living room of not less than 220 square feet (20.4 m2) of floor area. An additional 100 square feet (9.3 m2) of floor area shall be provided for each occupant of such unit in excess of two.
The unit shall be provided with a separate closet.
The unit shall be provided with a kitchen sink, cooking appliance and refrigeration facilities, each having a clear working space of not less than 30 inches (762 mm) in front. Light and ventilation conforming to this code shall be provided.
The unit shall be provided with a separate bathroom containing a water closet, lavatory and bathtub or shower.
Section 1209 ACCESS TO UNOCCUPIED SPACES
Crawl spaces shall be provided with not fewer than one access opening that shall be not less than 18 inches by 24 inches (457 mm by 610 mm).
An opening not less than 20 inches by 30 inches (559 mm by 762 mm) shall be provided to any attic area having a clear height of over 30 inches (762 mm). Clear headroom of not less than 30 inches (762 mm) shall be provided in the attic space at or above the access opening.
Access to mechanical appliances installed in under-floor areas, in attic spaces and on roofs or elevated structures shall be in accordance with the International Mechanical Code.
Section 1210 TOILET AND BATHROOM REQUIREMENTS
The number and type of plumbing fixtures provided in any occupancy shall comply with the Michigan plumbing code.
R 408.30419
Walls, floors and partitions in toilet and bathrooms shall comply with Sections 1210.2.1 through 1210.2.4.
In other than dwelling units, toilet, bathing and shower room floor finish materials shall have a smooth, hard, nonabsorbent surface. The intersections of such floors with walls shall have a smooth, hard, nonabsorbent vertical base that extends upward onto the walls not less than 4 inches (102 mm).
Walls and partitions within 2 feet (610 mm) of service sinks, urinals and water closets shall have a smooth, hard, nonabsorbent surface, to a height of not less than 4 feet (1219 mm) above the floor, and except for structural elements, the materials used in such walls shall be of a type that is not adversely affected by moisture.
Exception: This section does not apply to the following buildings and spaces:
Dwelling units and sleeping units.
Toilet rooms that are not accessible to the public and that have not more than one water closet.
Accessories such as grab bars, towel bars, paper dispensers and soap dishes, provided on or within walls, shall be installed and sealed to protect structural elements from moisture.
Shower compartments and walls above bathtubs with installed shower heads shall be finished with a smooth, nonabsorbent surface to a height not less than 72 inches (1829 mm) above the drain inlet.
Built-in tubs with showers shall have waterproof joints between the tub and adjacent wall.
[P] 1210.3 Privacy
Privacy at water closets and urinals shall be provided in accordance with Sections 1210.3.1 and 1210.3.2.
[P] 1210.3.1 Water closet compartment
Each water closet utilized by the public or employees shall occupy a separate compartment with walls or partitions and a door enclosing the fixtures to ensure privacy.
Water closet compartments shall not be required in a single-occupant toilet room with a lockable door.
Toilet rooms located in child day care facilities and containing two or more water closets shall be permitted to have one water closet without an enclosing compartment.
This provision is not applicable to toilet areas located within Group I-3 occupancy housing areas.
[P] 1210.3.2 Urinal partitions
Each urinal utilized by the public or employees shall occupy a separate area with walls or partitions to provide privacy. The walls or partitions shall begin at a height not more than 12 inches (305 mm) from and extend not less than 60 inches (1524 mm) above the finished floor surface. The walls or partitions shall extend from the wall surface at each side of the urinal not less than 18 inches (457 mm) or to a point not less than 6 inches (152 mm) beyond the outermost front lip of the urinal measured from the finished backwall surface, whichever is greater.
Urinal partitions shall not be required in a single-occupant or family or assisted-use toilet room with a lockable door.
Toilet rooms located in child day care facilities and containing two or more urinals shall be permitted to have one urinal without partitions.
Toilet rooms shall not open directly into a room used for the preparation of food for service to the public.
A building or structure that has baby changing stations in the women's restrooms shall have baby changing stations in the men's restrooms.
Directional signage indicating the route to the public facilities shall be posted in accordance with section 3107 of the international building code. Signage shall be located in a corridor or aisle at the entrance to the facilities for customers and visitors.
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Eric Christian Olsen, Nicholas D'Agosto, Sarah Roemer, Molly Sims, Philip Baker Hall, John Michael Higgins
Freedom Jones
"Fired Up" Review
Do you really have any doubt what to expect out of "Fired Up?"
Let's see. Hmmmm. Two guys infiltrate a cheerleading camp filled with a couple hundred hottie, hardbody cheerleaders at cheerleading camp.
Anyone see where this is going?
The two guys, Shawn (Nicholas D'Agosto) and Nick (Eric Christian Olsen), are only in it for the hotties when, GASP!, Shawn ends up with a crush on Carly (Sarah Roemer), the squad's leader.
How did you feel about "Bring It On?"
No, wait. Better yet, how did you feel about "Bring It On Again?"
"Fired Up" isn't nearly clever enough or charming enough to reach the heights of Kirsten Dunst's "Bring It On," but screenwriter Freedom Jones actually manages to give "Fired Up" enough wit and humor to keep it watchable despite first-time helmer Will Gluck's formulaic framework.
Of course, it doesn't help that both D'Agosto and Olsen look well over 20 adding a creepiness factor to the entire proceedings no matter how seductive the cheerleaders act along the way.
Despite Gluck's unimaginative direction, a certain creepiness factor and the all too familiar teen sex comedy jokes, "Fired Up" works far more than one might expect and those who have a certain weakness for this type of guilty pleasure film will find more than a few laughs contained within.
In fact, it's almost a shame that Gluck doesn't quite seem to know what he's doing here..."Fired Up" actually flirts with being downright funny and, despite the obvious age issues, Olsen and D'Agosto have a relaxed, mischievous chemistry that brings to mind the "American Pie" films more than it does the "Bring It On" films.
Along with the largely younger cast, "Fired Up" features experienced actors John Michael Higgins and Philip Baker Hall in supporting roles sort of carrying on the Eugene Levy tradition.
It's hard to figure out, then, what went wrong with "Fired Up?"
Is Will Gluck more creative than it seems? Did he perhaps meet studio resistance to adding substance to the film?
Or did Gluck manage to decimate what may have been an inspired and witty script from Freedom Jones?
It's hard to say, really.
The only thing that's sure is that, while it certainly doesn't fire on all cylinders, "Fired Up" is a spirited, raunchy and surprisingly funny flick likely headed to a much longer life on home video after it buzzes through your local cineplex.
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East End teardowns are all the rage
May.May 12, 2011 10:29 AM
David Tepper and a view of the Sagaponack mansion he plans to demolish
This season’s hottest Hamptons real estate trend? Multi-million-dollar teardowns. According to the Post, some of New York’s most deep-pocketed buyers are planning demolitions of some of the East End’s priciest mansions.
One such buyer is hedge fund manager David Tepper, who last May picked up a $43.5 million Sagaponack estate from Joanne Dougherty, the ex-wife of former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, in the Hamptons’ priciest sale of 2010. He’s rented out the home for the summer to billionaire Henry Silverman for $900,000, after which he plans to raze it.
David Walentas is also giving his East End mansion one last hurrah before leveling the property. The Dumbo developer is renting out the $20 million home, on Southampton’s Meadow Lane, for roughly $400,000 this summer before the planned demolition.
And Russian composer Igor Krutoy, the Plaza Hotel’s $48 million man, may have been willing to pay top dollar for a move-in ready apartment in the city, but in Southampton, he’s taking his time and building anew. Krutoy just plunked down $12.85 million for a Gin Lane estate that he and his wife, Olga, plan to demolish so that they can construct a new home in its place.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein was also recently spotted checking out some of the East End’s priciest real estate, including a $38 million property in Wainscott. Whether he’ll hop on the demolition bandwagon remains to be seen. [Post]
David Walentasgoldman sachsigor krutoylloyd blankfeinPlaza HotelTwo Trees Management
Two Trees unveils bold plan for Williamsburg towers, beach
Goldman Sachs will lead Phase II of SoftBank’s WeWork rescue plan
Financier at center of 1MDB fraud case agrees to give up hundreds of millions of dollars
Goldman Sachs refis Art Deco apartment conversion at 70 Pine with $386M loan
Goldman Sachs provides $90M loan to refinance hotel in Williamsburg
Banks see uptick in mortgages, but remain wary ahead of potential Fed interest rate cut
Investors bet on restaurants’ move to
delivery-only
A wave of venture capital is pouring into construction tech sector
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Ukraine SITREP July 17th, 15:55 UTC/Zulu: the complete failure of Poroshenko’s “surprise” (UPDATED)
34516 Views July 17, 2014 162 Comments Blog, SITREPs The Saker
I will begin this SITREP by re-posting the video of the interview made by Ukrainian TV by phone with a solider of the Ukie forces in the so-called “southern cauldron”. Please make sure to press on the ‘cc’ button to get the English subtitles:
Speaking of videos, the I wanted to point out that the video I posted yesterday of what appeared to be Grad systems firing a Ukie forces from inside Russia included the voice of the person filming it who was saying “this is how much fun it is in the city of Gukovo – the Grads are firing” so unless this is all a fancy setup, it appears that it was shot from inside Russia.
This morning Russian TV has shown footage of wounded Ukie soldiers who sought refuge in Russia and who were dispatched to various regional hospitals. So even though the western corporate media and politicians and, of course, the junta in Kiev are remaining completely silent about all this, there is overwhelming evidence that the Ukie forces in the southern cauldron were completely routed resulting in a collapse of the Ukie battle plan.
Poroshenko’s surprise
Do you remember how Poroshenko promised that if the Resistance did not surrender at the end of his truce he would go to ‘plan B’ which would be a big “surprise” for the Resistance? Well, what exactly his surprise plan was supposed to be is now obvious: the Ukies used the week of the so-called ‘truce’ to concentrate practically the entire Ukrainian military along the perimeter of the Resistance frontlines. Then, the Ukies attacked with an overwhelming superiority in numbers in Luganks and Donetsk. The plan was clearly to draw as many Resistance forces away from the southern part of the combat area and to then swiftly move Ukie forces towards the east and northeast along the Russian border to basically surround the Resistance forces and cut them off from their resupply lines from Russia. How in the world the Ukies seriously believed that the Russian GRU would ever fall for that is, frankly, beyond me. I have no facts to back the following assertion up, but having a pretty good idea of how the GRU works, I am absolutely certain that a) the GRU has agents on all levels of the Ukie hierarchy b) that the GRU has recon units everywhere in the combat zone c) that the 6th GRU directorate intercepts every single electronic communication in the eastern Ukraine d) that Russia is using its airborne and space assets to monitor every inch of Banderastan and finally e) that Strelkov and Borodai are working 24/7 with GRU liaison groups. What I saying is that it was pure folly to expect that the planned envelopment movement right along the Russian border would ever take the Resistance forces by surprise. And, of course, it didn’t.
Putin’s “surge”
During the past two weeks or so there were more and more signs that the Resistance forces were suddenly ‘finding’ more and more military equipment, more and more volunteers were coming across the border and that even some very heavy equipment began to literally pop-up ‘here and there’. Of course, the Resistance declared that all these were trophies taken from the Ukies, but never gave any specifics. One more thing also “surged” from Russia: money. In fact, so much money appeared “out of nowhere” that Strelkov and Borodai could announce that they were pay pretty good salaries to those who would join the Resistance forces. The effect was apparently sufficient to delay, and possibly even cancel, the idea of declaring a full mobilization and conscription. It is likely that while the junta and its western allies did have a general sense that these accursed Russkies were up to no good, they probably did not realize the magnitude of this change the main consequence of which was the Strelkov apparently had enough men and resources to repel and attack in both Lugansk and Donetsk while at the same time trapping and destroying the “surprise” force the Ukies sent to envelop the Resistance.
Strelkov’s own surge
But this is not the full story yet. Something else of immense importance happened during the past couple of weeks. There is more and more evidence that a certain number of key people in the Donetsk-Lugansk area were conducting very discrete negotiations with the junta in Kiev to strike some kind of deal. The two figures most cited in this context are the oligarch Rinat Akhmetov (who more or less owned all of Donetsk) and the Mayor of Donetsk Alexander Lukianenko. A third figure possibly implicated to some degree in these behind the scenes negotiations was the chief of Novorussian Security Service and commander of the famous Vostok Battalion Alexander Khodakovsky, though his role, assuming there was one, was either minor or non-committal, as we soon shall see. Finally, there is some pretty good evidence that a toxic mix of Russian oligarchs and Kremlin insiders (those I call the “Atlantic integrationists”) were also in the loop. What their final plan really was we will probably never know (after all, they were busy negotiating it), but some kind of semi-surrender of the Donbass was clearly its key feature. So we could roughly identify two camps on the Russian side:
a) Russian oligarchs, some Kremlin “Atlantic Integrationists”, the Mayor of Donetsk, Khodakovsky and a few Russian intellectuals such as Kurginian.
b) Russian security services, the Kremlin “Eurasian Sovereignists”, Borodai and Strelkov plus a few Russian intellectuals such as Glaziev.
All the plans of the first group completely collapsed when Strelkov, in a surprise move for everybody, suddenly withdrew from Slaviansk and appeared in Donetsk with a large contingent of heavily armed fighters. The Mayor Lukianenko feld to Kiev, Kurginian was given a most hostile “reception” and was almost arrested, as for Khodakovsky, he lost his position of Chief of Security but retained his position as commander of the Vostok battalion. As for the oligarchs in Moscow, they could only watch in abject disgust how Strelkov, Borodai and Antiufeev (respectively in charge of military, political and state security affairs) – all men with strong connection to the Russian secret services – were giving a joint press conference in Donetsk. Clearly, the Russian secret services and Putin’s “Eurasian Sovereignists” have won again: the plans for a surrender were scrapped and those in favor of such plans either replaced or demoted. All the Novorussian forces were brought under a single command (Strelkov) which restored the sacro-saint principle of Russian warfare “единоначалие” or “unity of command”. By the time Poroshenko sprung his “surprise” Strelkov and Putin were fine ready.
The Ukie collapse
I am still unsure about many details, but at this point in time, the tally seems to be as follows: the forces sent to the southern cauldron have been practically wiped out, possibly with some artillery support from across the Russian border. A column of Ukie forces made it to the Lugansk airport, but with huge losses and with no further plan other than to resist as long as possible. For all practical purpose, this force is “out” in an operational sense (even though its mere presence remains a threat to the Resistance which will have to allocate enough forces to contain it). I am most unclear about what exactly happened to the Ukie force which attacked Donetsk. My understanding is that it fought itself into a stalemate against the Resistance and withdrew to regroup and reorganize. So with the exception of the forces sent to the “southern cauldron” the Ukies did okay tactically, but on an operational level the Poroshenko surprise resulted in a complete failure.
The predictable reaction in Kiev and Washington
Though neither Kiev or Washington have admitted their latest defeat, in fact they did not even mention it by a single word, both capitals reacted by doing what they do best: the junta lashed out at the civilian population and engaged in a vicious and systematic artillery strikes campaign against civilian neighborhoods while the USA announced yet a new round of sanctions against Russia. As for the European “great supine protoplasmic invertebrate jellies” (to use the words of Boris Johnson, Mayor of London), after spending a week saying that they were opposed to sanctions, they showed their usual prostitution, obeyed Uncle Sam’s command and also adopted a package of sanctions. When asked about these latest sanctions Putin could not dismiss his contempt for the US Administration:
As for sanctions, they usually have a boomerang effect, and without a doubt will force US-Russian relations into a corner. This is a serious blow to our relationship. And it undermines the long term security interests of the US State and its people. It is regrettable that our partners have chosen to impose new sanctions, but Russia will not close doors to negotiations. We’re open to finding ways out of this situation. I really hope that common sense and the willingness to resolve all issues through peaceful diplomatic means will prevail.
The measures taken by the US administration towards Russia, in my view, contradict the national interests of the United States. This means that, for example, large companies wanting to work in Russia after facing certain restrictions will lose their competitiveness compared with other global energy companies. We gave an opportunity for the largest US company to work in the Arctic shelf. So what, the States does not want it to work there? They are hurting their biggest energy companies. And for what? In order to, after making one mistake, insist on making another? This is, at very least, an unprofessional approach. Sooner or later, such methods of solving international problems will have to change, but the damages will have to be written-off as losses for those doing it. I would like to say that unfortunately, those who plan foreign policy actions in the United States (this is not a recent observation but one pertaining to the last 10-15 years) are conducting an aggressive foreign policy and, in my view, a rather unprofessional one, because whatever they do, there are problems everywhere. Just look: there are problems in Afghanistan; Iraq is falling apart; Libya is falling apart. If General el-Sisi had not taken control in Egypt, Egypt would probably be in turmoil now as well. In Africa, there are problems in many countries. They touched Ukraine, and there are problems there as well.
So while Putin did not overtly call the Obama Administration stupid, he did call it incompetent and unprofessional. The Russian Foreign Ministry also chimed in and added that the USA had imposed new sanctions because:
The events in Ukraine have not developed the way Washington scripted them. The outrageous and groundless desire to blame Russia for the civil war in a neighboring country, which was caused by a deep internal crisis and already resulted in the loss of many lives, proves that the US and its clients in Kiev have failed to pacify the wide public dissent. We’ve said on many occasions that speaking the language of sanctions to Russia is pointless, regardless of their scale. This path won’t lead to any positive outcome. Those who believe in their own exceptionalism and claim the right to dictate their will to the world will be deeply disappointed. If Washington intends to ruin the Russian-American relations, it’s on their conscience, we won’t tolerate blackmail and reserve the right to retaliate.
I personally have no hope at all that all these appeals to common sense and even basic self-interest will have any impact on the US elites which have basically forgotten the subtle art of negotiations and who apparently sincerely believe that they can bully anybody into submission. The problem is that Russia is not in the least afraid of the US or, even less so, of the EU.
Right now, the sanctions are “kinda” working. Some Russian companies have had their stock go down and there are some signs of capital flight – but this is mostly speculative capital. Capital invested in Russia has not – and, really, cannot – move out. Sure, the Hrivna is kept artificially high by western banks, but for how long can they sustain this worthless currency? Even more ridiculously, Standard & Poors managed to, I kid you not, upgrade Ukraine’s credit rating from “negative” to “stable” because of the $17 billion bailout loan from the IMF. Yes, that’s right. There are some folks out there making a terrific salary saying that when a bankrupt country engaged in a civil war get a loan its credit rating becomes better, not worse, if even the borrowed money is used exclusively to fund that civil war and pay the Ukie oligarchs for their “contribution” to the war effort. Amazing…
The Russian response
During his tour of Latin America Putin spoke with the leaders of countries which represent more than half of the population of the planet. He signed a nuclear deal with Argentina, military contracts with Brazil, agreed to forgive 90% of the Cuban debt to Russia and re-open the Lourdes intelligence center on Cuba. So much for “isolating” Russia. But even more importantly is that the BRICS countries, following the example of Chavez’ ALBA bank, agreed to created a common development bank with the equivalent 100 billion dollars in capital. To put things simply, the BRICS are gradually off-loading the dollar reserves while creating their own version of the IMF, but this time with real development, not imperialism, as a goal. The beautiful photo of the 5 BRICS leaders all joining hands and grinning together was a clear message to Obama: you cannot isolate Russia or, for that matter, any of us.
Internally, Russia needs to actively pursue the program of “sovereignization” which Putin mentioned many time while keeping up the struggle with the “Russian 5th column” (also Putin’s choice of words). Sovereignization requires a major systemic restructuring of the Russian economy and industry: more money must be made available at much lower interest rates than now, companies should be, how shall I put it, “convincingly encouraged” to repatriate their money from foreign and off-shore accounts (this can be done by, for example, only allowing companies incorporated in Russia to bid for government contracts), foreign non-western investment must be further encouraged (especially from China) and the Russian industry needs to be actively developed and diversified and the military industry must be made self-sufficient. The goal is not some kind of Russia version of juche, but the gradual disentanglement of the Russian economy from the western (primarily European) one. Asia, Latin America, India, Africa – these are the partners and friends Russia is seeking to develop.
As for the Russian 5th column, it is not so much the overt pseudo-dissidents a la Nemtsov or Kasparov, but some oligarchs and their agents inside the Kremlin whom I call the “Atlantic Integrationists” (Medvedev, of course, but also a good chunk of the current Russian government and Kremlin advisers). The good news on this front is that the US policies towards Russia and the war in the Ukraine are giving Putin and the Russian secret services a perfect opportunity to turn the public opinion against these circles which, in turns, allows Putin to reduce their numbers and influence. Still, while these circles do not currently have the means to take action against him, they still hate Putin who would be well advised to always keep at least an eye over his shoulder as there are still a lot of traitors (what else should they be called?) in the Russian elites. These are, for example, the forces behind the current anti-Strelkov campaign lead by Kurginian and the anti-Putin campaign lead by pseudo-patriots who accuse him of having “sold out Novorussia”. Now that the military tide has been turned, at least provisionally, these pseudo-patriots are taking a time off to recover from the shock and define a new Putin-bashing strategy, but they will be back at it very soon, of that we can be certain. Several well-informed observers have indicated that the next bashing campaign will probably be directed at Strelkov who, in the eyes of these pseudo-patriots, is what the French call an “empêcheur de tourner en rond” which can be very loosely translated as “party pooper“, “spoilsport“, or “killjoy“: he is the man who crashed their behind-the-scenes attempts to make a deal with Akhmetov and the Kiev junta, he is the man with all the power in Novorussia, and he is the man who closely works with their worst enemy: the Russian secret services. His current popularity makes him untouchable at the moment, Kurginian completely failed in his attempts to smear him, but a war is the ideal setting to find a reason to smear a figure like Strelkov and they will definitely come up with something to get to him and, through him, to Putin.
A provisional conclusion of sorts
First, we should not let the recent victories overwhelm us with a premature sense of optimism: this war is very far from over. For one thing it is pretty clear that the Resistance does not currently have the means to go on the counter-offensive and free the rest of Novorussia from Nazi occupation. Second, we can be darn sure that the US/NATO will dramatically increase their military, political and economic support for the junta in Kiev. I would not be in the least surprised if the US decided to send a group of retired US generals to replace the stupid Ukie generals who designed and implemented Poroshenko’s “surprise” plan. Also, the Ukies might regroup and launch another attack, this time (correctly) concentrated on either Donetsk or Lugansk (probably the former). So again, this is very far from being over, in particular because history shows that civil wars are not ended by a peace treaty, but by the victory of one side over another.
Just as I was writing this last sentence I saw a report that a civilian aircraft was shot down by somebody in the vicinity of Donetsk. So who done it? Here are some very preliminary thoughts:
First, the Ukies already did that once when they shot down Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 not deliberately, but out of their typical and total incompetence. Second, the Ukies had just announced that the Russians had shot down a Ukie SU-25 (which Russia denies, but which is quite possible), and I could see some Ukie smart-ass deciding to “retaliate” against a “Russian” aircraft. I don’t see how the Resistance could be involved as it probably does not have the kind of missiles needed to reach a typical civilian airliner flying at a typical cruising speed and altitude. The Russian most definitely do, but they also have a well-integrated air multi-layered defense system which should have immediately identified the aircraft origin and ID even if, say, the transponder was malfunctioning. By the way, this also means that the Russians have the radar track of both the plane and the missile which hit it. My guess is that junta controlled forces did it, probably by mistake, but that this will be hard to prove as all the western “experts” will “cover” for Kiev and blame Moscow, and Moscow will blame Kiev, possibly with the recorded radar tracks, but that the “international expert community” will dismiss that as a “Kremlin orchestrated propaganda ploy” (don’t you love the canned sentences used by the western media?). I sure hope that this was not some kind of screw up by the Russians (this is always possible, as the sad stories of TWA 800 or Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 have shown.
Stay tuned, I will try to continue to keep you posted, and don’t forget the “donation”: button on the left :-)
UPDATE: come to think of it, the Resistance did get its hand on a Ukie base with some Buk missile systems so, alas, we cannot conclude that it *could not* have been them who down the MH17. My first guess is that the Ukies did it, but unfortunately it could have been any actor involved in the war.
Nazi war on Novorussia
Novorussian resistance
Russian options in the Ukraine
the pessimist on July 17, 2014 · at 6:45 pm EST/EDT
Man interviewed on BBC say “normal procedure in this region (including Ukraine) is for black boxes to go to Moscow accident investigation unit”. A very good thing, but the west will have a chance to say some alteration is done there. It was also reported that VP called Obama with information on last transmission of the aircraft. Apparently the handover to Russian air traffic control had not taken place.
We can hope that if Kiev was behind this they did a very bad job of it and will be exposed.
Anonymous on July 17, 2014 · at 6:45 pm EST/EDT
Il Discobolo
The responsability, in Full, to what happened to the Malaysian flight above Ukraine belongs to the Ukraine Air Control.
The Air Controll have the responsability of any aircraft flying in his region. An aircraft is monitored and directed to maintain an assigned course and altitude. It is informed promptly to avoid possible collisions and of adverse weather conditions. Within those duties, there is also to inform of dangerous area to fly over, and also to establish forbidden areas.
For instance, no civil aircraft is flying over Syria, as, in the recent past, above Lybia, and until recently above Irak (now they pass but…).
Why the Ukraine control centers have not closed to civilian flights the skies above Donetsk and Lugansk knowing:
– they are combat areas
– there is military air activity (of their own aviation) opposed by antiarcraft defences
There is no doubt, then, that the primary responsabiliy lies in the Ukraine that failed to assure safe airways to passing aircrafts forbidding dangerous zones.
As a reinforce to what said, Ukraine was/is meddling about air safety above Crimea where there is no risk at all on its skies.
So they (ore their sponsors) know the matter….
Irony apart, perhaps EU accepting santions to Russia would calm down the Empire and let the rest of the World have some Peace. But the real problem is about US dollar, the Empire want us not to abandon it, but they would not stop the printers, so who is at fault?
Nora on July 17, 2014 · at 6:51 pm EST/EDT
Not-We,
I am 100% certain neither you nor any other American have had any problem whatever saying “We” any time our political, economic, military or Olympic “team” did something of which you were proud even though you yourself had nothing whatever to do with it except living here and paying taxes.
Externalizing the control now that things have gone way, way wrong — blaming Liberals, or Conservatives, or The Government — is frankly no more than a way of avoiding personal responsibility. And that’s where most everyone in this country is stuck right now — blaming someone or something else.
But in fact, we’re all in this together and you can’t solve a problem until you really, truly define and take ownership of it. Not one of us non-front-pagers has done a thing to stop this mess in Ukraine, and we haven’t even started to figure out how we might. It’s much, much easier to whine about “The Government” or (even more mysterious) Deep State, bluster about armed revolt and/or blame it on gun nuts, sexual perverts or whoever else lives on the other side of The Great Totebagger-Teabagger Conflict — and perpetuate the problem exactly as Our Lords And Masters have trained us to do.
Yonatan on July 17, 2014 · at 6:52 pm EST/EDT
No the normal route enters Ukraine south of the Poland/Ukraine/Belarus border point and exits Ukraine to cross the south-west half of the Sea of Azov. The route is sometime a little further south taking it over north-east Crimea. It certainly does not cross the eastern Ukraine/Russia land border. On the most northerly of these routes, the the crash point at Torez is still 200 km off route. This is based on actual routes logged by the FlightAware website which records position, direction, speed and altitude information transmitted in real time by the aircraft as a matter of course by all modern normally operational commercial airliners.
FlightRadar24 is another useful flight tracking site. I think its coverage is better than that of FlightAware, but it has been down for some time today. Possibly due to overload by those looking into MH17? Possibly deliberately DDOS’d?
hardcore on July 17, 2014 · at 6:59 pm EST/EDT
@Anonymous 17 July, 2014 18:08
GCHQ literally has the capability to take over any internet resource, and replace it with what appears to be genuine content
No, not GCHQ nor the CIA/NSA nor the FSB nor anybody else, unless…
You are stupid enough to use Cloudflare to “protect” you from DDOS attacks which they do by serving YOUR content from THEIR servers and as such can spoof whatever they want you to “say”!!!
This is why I do not trust ANY site using Cloudflare like rusvesna.su
quote “Only two days back, Snowden revealed GCHQ ability and willingness to use the same psy-op tricks that the British used during WW2 when they regularly took over the Nazi airwaves, and broadcast seemingly genuine Nazi programming.
Today, one must assume that ALL posts on the Internet seemingly linked the resistance of Novorussia to the shooting down of the civilian plane have been placed there by GCHQ agents. This includes seeming statements of ‘guilt’ from named resistance leaders. GCHQ literally has the capability to take over any internet resource, and replace it with what appears to be genuine content. “
england is the centre of evil which msut be sorted out -no pussyfgooting around it .
how long will world go on toelrati ng that pIrate island?
4th June, 2007.
President putin is wrong when he says that russia should or will target the missile on europe if america goes with anti missile defence plan in Europe.
Russia must target (rather than should) the nuclear missiles with multiple war heads against all the cities, towns and big villages( including military instalations) of england because this cold war -like the one before- is being started by england for the benefit of english race only-.it is race war between the english parasite race versus the rest of the world-the sooner the rest of the world realizes that better it is for the world.
look how Germany wes vilified soon after fall of soviet union-look how russia is being vilified immediately after Putin made russia strong.
in fact it was not America but england which asked for ABM againstt Russia. BBc spy journalists were harassing presidential candidate Gore not to go ahead with Florida recount on ground” ally like britian want to conclude AMB deployment in Yorkshire as soon as possible so there should be no delay in govt. formation.in other word accept fraudulent win of bush for sake of england ! “
-such is the evil propaganda of British spies inside america. .
poland is nothing but a proxy for the british bastards.
itis no use targeting Poland -target the main villain which is england and the english race which m ust be annihilated from the face of the world.
quote “What if the target was Putin?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-17/ukraine-rebels-find-black-box-full-mh-17-update
Putin’s plane may have been target of Ukrainian rocket: Interfax
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plane crossed route of crashed Malaysian plane near Warsaw, Interfax reports, citing unidentified person in Russian aviation service.”
I would not be surprised if putin is that stupid to go through polish air space.Russias are that loser not very clever =not able to knwo who their real enemies are.
Mohamed on July 17, 2014 · at 7:14 pm EST/EDT
@ Everybody,
Those who remember Malaysia and IMF.
Mahathir Mohamad the then PM refused IMF to come out of Asian Financial Fewer. His Finance Minister, Anwar Ibrahim was dead against him.
Mahathir Mohamad won without IMF enslavement.
“the way [putin use the words parnters and freinds show how weak he is.”
I presume you adhere to the ‘shoot first, look at hole in foot later’ school of thought.
Putin and Russia want to have normal peaceful trading relations with partners for mutual benefit. The US wants to destroy Russia and maybe the EU too.
Why on earth should Putin do exactly what the US (and you apparently) think he should do so they can run their pre-determined ‘destroy Russia’ play?
The resistance will be consolidating gains despite the false flag. No cease fire will be offered or negotiated. Novorossia will be declared an international terrorist organization by the US. No reason to bring in NATO, US special/black ops will come into the theater in full force. Kiev is on the verge of the next coup, without western intervention.
Interesting, the world has seen one too many false flag, now on the internet, the lifespan of a false flag is less. Burned out by 911 and MH370. This is like a PR op for the US and a temporary reprieve for Kiev, but if the west starts to intervene with heavier military/intelligence support, Russia will match them step for step. The final destination of Novorossia is at a minimum, a heavily armed front line for Russia. If the US really wants to create a mini-Banderastan in Lvov, let them, it will be expensive. Expensive in many ways.
Joe100 on July 17, 2014 · at 7:16 pm EST/EDT
Most interesting report on RT suggesting that Putin’s flight may have been the target http://rt.com/news/173672-malaysia-plane-crash-putin/
Not-We @ 17:26 wrote:
“Please stop writing about “we”!”
Thank you a million times over. As I’ve said to others, if you want to blame yourself for the actions of the U.S. leaders, go ahead. They’ll be glad to let you take the blame. Meanwhile, don’t include me. U.S. psychopaths made their decisions despite my input.
ЛНР: Малайзийский Boeing-777 был сбит украинским самолетом Су-25 (LNR: Malaysian Boeing 777 was shot down by a Ukrainian plane su-25)
http://www.vz.ru/news/2014/7/17/696078.html (trans) http://translate.yandex.net/tr-url/ru-en.ru/www.vz.ru/news/2014/7/17/696078.html
“In the press-service Lugansk people’s Republic stated that the Malaysian Boeing 777 was shot down by a Ukrainian plane su-25.
“The witnesses who observed the flight of passenger aircraft of the Boeing 777, witnessed the attack on him attack aircraft of the air force of Ukraine. After that the passenger plane was split into two parts in the air and fell on DND. After the attack Ukrainian bomber was shot down and fell on LNR in the red Beam. At the moment we are searching for downed aircraft”, – is spoken in the message of the press service, reports the RT…”
Очевидцы: Перед крушением Boeing в небе видели боевой самолет (Eyewitnesses: Before the crash Boeing in the sky saw combat aircraft)
“Eyewitnesses reported that before the catastrophe Malaysian Boeing seen in the sky combat aircraft.
“The plane has launched several missiles, they exploded somewhere in the sky. Immediately after this there was a loud clap or explosion. After a few seconds, we started falling debris,” said local residents, reports RIA “Novosti”.
Now a field near the village with wreckage of the plane, including large. In the yards of the local inhabitants got a lot of small fragments…”
Any definitive confirmation?
“Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov was assassinated Wednesday, two days after he fired hundreds of police in Donetsk for siding with pro-Russian separatists.”
I should have provided the Additional Information with regards to Climate Change, that it is Deforestation which causes Climate Change.
We see this Proven with the Sahara Desert, which used to be a Tropical Rain Forest, with Rain Forest Climate of plenty of Rain , with Many Rivers and Lakes.
The Sahara Rain Forest became the Sahara Desert due to Human Activity of Deforestation, and it now has Desert Climate.
The World needs to use Oil and Gas that does not affect any Forest, rather than Palm Oil Plantations, which are putting the Entire Planet in Danger.
The same is true of Shale Gas, which severely harms the Environment on Man’s only Home, which is this Planet, and this is why the Cleanest Sources of Natural Gas should be used rather than Shale Gas, and the Greatest Danger to Earth’s Environment is Nazi America.
Feng Chsang on July 17, 2014 · at 7:27 pm EST/EDT
(…)where cc button, 17 July, 2014 16:43
The CC button is only visible in the YouTube version!
There the CC-Button is 2th button from the left, and it read CAPTION when you move your mouse over it.
karlof1 on July 17, 2014 · at 7:27 pm EST/EDT
To those asking, atimes.com has been offline since about 9am yesterday morning PST.
IMO, there’s no way any respectable civilian pilot would fly anywhere close to a combat zone’s airspace. The capability to electronically hijack aircraft has existed well before 9/11 and was likely used then and again today.
Why is Malaisia punished? Here is the partial answer
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/05/12/bush-convicted-of-war-crimes-in-absentia/
Haag is still quite about this case………….
Obviously there is another connection with uncle Sam in a way “We will show you that who is the boss here”!
Why above the Ukraine? To make a bigger chaos and create the environment that they must to investigate????Get the foreign investigators on the ground.
The MSM media are giving information just from the Ukie site. Why exactly abow Donetsks, just to give the blame on Russia.Almost everyone is laughing on the daily news the Russia is to blame even that we have a hot weather or flood and similar comments.Just make a Russia be on stage every single day if we want or not.
Some of the avaition experts are questioning why the airplane went on this unussal route? It looks like it was diverted remotely like MH370 and crash the plane on the exact spot. It sounds like a movie, but by using the latest technology is not a big deal to execute the plaine as it was. Very similar stage like 9/11.
Cheney was expecting some big event like 9/11,no surprise here.
Oscar on July 17, 2014 · at 7:30 pm EST/EDT
I read that I am not the only one with problems to log in http://www.atimes.com
This is very worrying. I hope the “masters of the universe” do not block the Saker s blog too. If they do it I do not know what to do.
Varg on July 17, 2014 · at 7:30 pm EST/EDT
Where is the exact point the “hit” happend. When this point is clear the reasons could be narrowed down (the weapons that could hit the aircraft at that point).
The big problem I see is, that ukie didn´t need anti air waepons because the rebels don´t have an airforce.
That is a though spot to get out argument wise. The rebels are now on full media defensive. In germany some experts have called for more actions. The pressure to act against russia rises.
The question is what could russia do to release the pressure ?
Let’s for the moment assume the worst, that the Resistance dunnit. This whole thing still smells worse than a four-day-old fish.
We have three identical planes, one that disappeared completely, one known to have been sitting on an Israeli tarmac and one that a) used a dramatically-different flight path that makes no sense given its destination, b) was seen being escorted into a war zone c) from which all flights have been officially banned and then d) also disappeared from the radar.
Do we even know for sure this was a real flight, with real people on board?
Диспетчер из Борисполя: Перед крушением Boeing сопровождали два истребителя
(Manager from Borispol: Before the crash Boeing was accompanied by two fighter)
“Before the plane crash Malaysian Boeing was accompanied by two fighter, said espanoly the air traffic controller working at Kiev airport “Borispol”.
A message he left in his microblog.”
https://twitter.com/spainbuca
(trans)
“Carlos. @ spainbuca · 44m
Airspace is closed over demolition for fear
✈ Carlos. @ spainbuca · 46m
Closes airspace
The fighters flew about 777, up to 3 minutes before disappearing from the radar, just 3 minutes
Days ago I said here, kiev military wanted to rise against the current president, this may be a way to timoshenko orders
Military ukraine confirm that he was, but still does not know where the order came
Interior Minister if he knew that the fighters were in the area, the defense minister not.
✈ Carlos. @ spainbuca · 1h
Here the military commanders who manage and support to other military orders, could be, but no, the pro-Russian
In radar this all collected, for unbelievers, brought down by kiev, here we know and military air traffic control also
At 7:00 minutes the demolition was notified later the tower was taken with our foreign staff still here q
Just disappear aircraft B 777 Malaysia Airlines kiev military authority informed us of the demolition, as you know?
Yes kiev authorities want to tell the truth, I picked this 2 fighters flew very close minutes before, not shooting down a fighter
The plane flew B 777 escorted by two fighter ukraine until minutes before disappearing from the radar,”
Considerably off yesterday’s path
Yesterday it went over the Azov Sea:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS17/history/20140716/1000Z/EHAM/WMKK
See KLM yesterday between those two airports, even further south
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/KLM809/history/20140716/1850Z/EHAM/WMKK
Path today:
Dear Saker
I have mentioned a couple of days ago in your blog that there was a possibility that the American could shoot Putin’s airplane.
There is record, but one must search.
Now, we don’t know the truth but for sure the next time could be V.V.P.
In that case the Americans will be Scot-free.
Croat and Russophile
“No cease fire will be offered or negotiated”
Boroday have offered 2-3 ceasfire, so investigation at crash site could be done.
rob on July 17, 2014 · at 7:45 pm EST/EDT
El avión B 777 voló escoltado por 2 cazas de ukraine hasta minutos antes, de desaparecer de los radares, Translated from Spanish by Bing B 777 aircraft flew escorted by 2 fighters from ukraine until minutes before disappearing from radar,
burack on July 17, 2014 · at 7:46 pm EST/EDT
And Kiev freaks are now calling for NATO to intervene because of this plane. If this is not false flag operation by Kiev nazis then I don’t know what it is.
El avión B 777 voló escoltado por 2 cazas de ukraine hasta minutos antes, de desaparecer de los radares,
Translated from Spanish by Bing
B 777 aircraft flew escorted by 2 fighters from ukraine until minutes before disappearing from radar,
Robert Nelson on July 17, 2014 · at 7:55 pm EST/EDT
Absolutely brilliant synopsis
Obama and Sec’y of Perpetual War Kerry are Kindergarteners compared to Putin
Sanctions might be a blessing in dis guise to get the vampire capitalists out.
Hopefully Putin will use energy contacts to divide the US Oilygarchs like Exxon to go against American foreign policy. Obama is a lame duck, they could rope a dope him until 2016
Before I came here I remember Putin saying, “once you abandon Russia, we will never let you back in”
Irregardless of the BRICS bank Russia is #1 energy producer in the world.
Too big to avoid if you want to see the long term. Since fracking is at most a ten years windfall for the US and LNG is a pipe dream (ha ha – pun intended)
Winter is coming (Game of Thrones anyone?)
http://www.atimes, 17:26
Yes also in the Netherlands
Does anyone else’s propaganda-detector go off when looking at some of these pix at the scene?
http://en.ria.ru/photolents/20140717/190991301_9/Malaysia-Airlines-Boeing-Crashes-in-Ukraine.html
They’re just too perfectly-staged — note the cross, for gosh sakes. And if this thing were pre-planned (regardless of who shot it down, it’s still dodgy as hell), of course a big part of the planning would be pictures designed to have as strong an emotional impact as possible. Otoh, those flight instructions sitting there remind me of nothing so much as Mohamed Atta’s Miraculous Floating Wallet…
maybe some more light on crash: https://twitter.com/spainbuca
Spainbuca, the Spanish flight controller at Kiev Boryspil reports 2 fighters close to MH17 before it was shot down/exploded.
Irrespective of what happened to MH17, the following questions need to be asked.
Was the air traffic control tower blown up? If so, by whom and when?
Why was the aircraft so far off route?
Why was it allowed into airspace closed at least 3 days ago by the Ukrainians?
Why did the Ukrainians not warn the aircraft it was off route?
Did the Ukrainians intercept the aircraft using these two fighters?
Did these aircraft shoot down MH17 hoping to blame Russia (directly or indirectly)?
Larchmonter445 on July 17, 2014 · at 8:22 pm EST/EDT
Believe little of what is being published of this event.
With the black boxes in the hands of Russia (militia) the truth off the flight will come out.
Meanwhile, hope there is no ceasefire.
This is the lifesaver thrown to the Army of Ukies getting destroyed.
For whoever needed word on Avakov being assassinated, he’s not dead or wounded and the story was a fabrication, like the two paratroopers in Russia.
Lots of fairy tales in the air over Ukraine.
What is interesting is less than two hours before this tragedy of the airliner, in the exact same area, another Ukie transport plane was shot down and the militia bragged about it on social media.
So what’s going on? Did they shoot another transport? Was it before this plane went down?
There’s a value to trusted truth telling and the militia needs a reliable source outlet or it will get played all over the Internet.
I’ve been examining a video of the transport crash black smoke. It looks quite different from the black smoke after fireball of airliner video crashing to earth.
But it’s all tealeaves in a wet clump.
Listened for four hours to RT. They are ridiculous.
Better to see the military moves, because in the end, that’s what matters. Militia has to stay on the grinder and destroy the Ukies day and night.
So the aircraft was 200 km off route, flying in airspace closed by the Ukrainians because of the threat of missile strikes, escorted through most of the route by Ukraine military aircraft, only for them to leave well before the end of the closed airspace. It all sounds like a pre-meditated setup to blame the destruction on the militia.
Was the aircraft shot down by an air-to-air or ground-to-air missile? Both types would be within the capabilities of the Ukies. Only the latter is even a possibility for the militia.
This scenario of deliberate setup resulting in the death of innocent people is sufficiently cynical and vile that it is a shoe-in for the CIA and its proxies.
vancouver mark on July 17, 2014 · at 8:26 pm EST/EDT
Believers be ready, be strong and be right with God.
We come close.
atimes.com down for me too! maybe server issue? Mayb not!
Nora; the crash photos are real; Federalist soldiers all over the place giving horrible accounts of body parts strewn about. No doubt it happened, but who pulled the trigger is the question…seemngly Kyiv!+
Veritas on July 17, 2014 · at 8:40 pm EST/EDT
As mentioned at the end of my last post about keeping an eye on Israel:
http://rt.com/news/173700-netanyuahu-ground-operation-gaza/
They have now been ordered to start ground operations…..
Larchmonter445…thanks! Call me Nardami
Nora said…17 July, 2014 20:00
They’re just too perfectly-staged — note the cross, for gosh sakes.”
The “cross” is a telephone pole. The crash site is definitely not “staged”, but the shooting down certainly was. The propaganda response from the ZPC’s fascists has all the pre-planned hallmarks of the rest of their false flags.
One thing that probably went wrong for them was the crash site is not in territory the banderivtsy occupy. It’s fairly certain they also wanted to control the crash site and get a hold of the black boxes so they could spin further evidence of Putin’s Hitlerian evilness.
zero hedge appears to be down. The front page is there but the articles and the comment sections cannot be accessed. Also the comments on the guardian site are getting deleted almost instantaneously.
The hysteria is building up. The pentagon analysts are claiming that it was Surface-To-Air Missile. The false, prepared in advance “evidence” against Russia and the rebels will be offered to the clueless, gullible TV consumers of the west and the NATO will march “united” once again. I’m sure Russian analysts saw it coming.
The blame game is on. German language media and (probably hired) posters are full of “proofs” that the seps have shot down the airliner, offering evidence like this screenshot:
http://p5.focus.de/img/incoming/origs3999434/5143569524-w467-h462-o-q75-p5/screenshot.png
Unfortunately I don’t speak russian and can’t understand what it says. The magazine/poster says, that strelkov had admitted, even boasted, at vk to bringing down the airplane…. can someone look into this, please ?! Thanks, Andreas, Vienna
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17/putin-us-sanctions_n_5594722.html
There was NO MH17 flight! There is only one direct flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and it’s number is MH5631/KL0809, not MH17. It departs at 20:50 CET and does NOT fly on Thursdays. Please check on klm.com or other malaysiaairlines.com.
This is a psychological operation (psyop). The intent is to create a justification for direct NATO involvement in the Ukraine civil war.
The wreckage may be part of the MH370 plane that supposedly went missing and was redirected to Diego Garcia.
Why on earth would the Federalists or Russia commit such an unnecessary act
The desperation of the Fascist collapse and the sanctions make Ukraine a more likely false flag desperate attempt to attach this to Putin to squelch his successful charm offensive
Makes mo sense they things were progressing
Plus forcing reluctant business entities to abide by the sanctions
Read up on the Lusitania. This smells similar.
I don’t believe in coincidences regarding Malaysia Airlines either.
Remember the US deep state does what it wants, Obama is a mostly powerless figurehead.
To clear up some confusion the Ukranian airspace was closed only up to 10,000 m. Above that it was allowed for airliners to fly.
European air traffic policy decided that it would cost too much fuel to completely close Ukranian airspace.
Also the US asked that airplanes
completely avoid Crimea, for “technical” reasons having to do with unclear air traffic control jurisdiction (Kiev vs Moscow) due to unrecognized national status.
Covered here (shameless plug to my blog):
http://spreadanidea.wordpress.com/2014/07/17/malaysia-downed-airliner-background-info-theguardian-com/
Carmel by the Sea on July 17, 2014 · at 9:07 pm EST/EDT
Yonatan said to “Ananymous”:
Well said Yonatan!
HEAR ! HEAR!
Sayed Hasan on July 17, 2014 · at 9:14 pm EST/EDT
I saw in many places, along with this blog, that Russia reopened their intelligence facilities in Cuba. But I’m reading from Putin that they didn’t :
http://eng.news.kremlin.ru/news/22683
And another question: there have been reports that we are returning to Lourdes. Is that true?
VLADIMIR PUTIN: Not, it is not. We did not discuss this. […]
REMARK: Thank you. Too bad about Lourdes, though.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: No, it is not too bad. We are capable of resolving our defence issues without this component. We shut down this centre on agreement with our Cuban friends, and we have no plans to resume its activities.”
Any definitive assessment ?
Lumpy Gravy on July 17, 2014 · at 9:16 pm EST/EDT
1) Earlier this evening I read this on RT …
A source in Russia’s federal air traffic agency Rosaviatsia has said that three days ago Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council closed the airspace over eastern Ukraine because of the so-called “anti-terrorist operation” that Kiev conducts in the region.
Earlier a representative of Donetsk People’s Republic said that civil aviation planes could not fly over Donetsk and Lugansk regions. He added that all necessary traffic control and navigation equipment was damaged.
… which, if true, means that no civilian airliners should have been using this route for the past three days. Is there any evidence that international airlines have received and obeyed the Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council decree? And if so, what was it that led MH17 astray? An oversight? Deliberate ‘exposure’?
2) Some have suggested the Boeing 777 could have been mistaken for an Antonov transporter of Ukrainian air force. But I don’t think is a credible explanation. First of all, what would an Antonov transporter do at such an altitude over the supposed target area? And secondly, given the altitude, the speed and the direction the plane was heading, where was it going to land? Shakhty? Nah, this doesn’t make any sense at all.
If it turns out the Boeing 777 was downed by a missile from the ground then I think there’s a possibility that this was done deliberately and knowingly to serve some nefarious political ends … and who would have an interest in this?
Andrew on July 17, 2014 · at 9:19 pm EST/EDT
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2696389/That-blast-look-smoke-Sick-boast-laughing-rebels-saw-MH17-hit-missile-hours-leader-boasted-We-warned-not-fly-sky.html
To show the depths of western media depravity in their lies, this Daily Mail article claims Strelkov personally shot down the plane (ridiculous on its face) and then bragged about it on twitter (he doesn’t have a Twitter acount).
re: plane down. Yes, I had trouble accessing atimesonline today also. Yep, got to watch the use of “we” and remember “not in my name” when the intelligence cabal running foreign policy does this or that atrocity to protect “us”.
Putin called Obama today. You can be sure that this part of the Ukraine has been watched closely and that the intelligence service of Russia knows exactly what happened to that plane.
Anyway, Putin called for a truce and talks as he has been doing for weeks. Obama did not say much. Looks like CIA got caught with its britches down because they are dealing with incompetent operatives.
https://twitter.com/spainbuca/status/489878810066972672
Military command here (control tower) confirm that the missile is from the Ukranian Armed Forces.
The way they took over the control tower within minutes, knowing already all the details, made us realize it was they who’d done it
The expression of the military who arrived later, asking But what have you done? did not leave room for doubt
The corruption is such that the military who arrived first accompanied by foreigners went as far as asking us to give their version
Our reply was: these radars don’t register the shooting of any missile. Military radars do. There were no more doubts.
The military report indicates where the missile came from. Saying this is not known is false
Daniel Rich on July 17, 2014 · at 9:23 pm EST/EDT
Only 1 question comes to mind; cui bono
Saker said: “Right now, the sanctions are “kinda” working.”
Wall Street Journal, July 3 2014
Even With Sanctions, U.S. Sales to Russia Hit New High
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/07/03/even-with-sanctions-u-s-sales-to-russia-hit-new-high/
“U.S. efforts to penalize Russia for its actions in Ukraine appear to have done little to stem exports of U.S. goods to the country.” Sanctions Impact? U.S. exports to Russia hit a record high in May, despite Washington levying sanctions against the country”
Saker said:
“Even more ridiculously, Standard & Poors managed to, I kid you not, upgrade Ukraine’s credit rating from “negative” to “stable” because of the $17 billion bailout loan from the IMF.”
IMHO Standard & Poors Rating Services had to upgrade Ukraine and play nice, – like ignore the material facts:
Recall after they downgraded the U.S.A; got sued for $5 billion [supposedly over inflating rating for mortgage bonds] and are fighting /”willing to reopen discussions with the Justice Department to settle the case”…. http://online.wsj.com/articles/s-p-ratings-shifts-its-stance-on-a-crisis-related-suit-1405467753
And according to Reuters, (July 15, 2014) they have offered up to $1 billion to settle: http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/16/mcgrawhill-sandp-lawsuit-idINL4N0PR08O20140716
Malaysia AirLines Flight MH17 crashes or shot down?
Pray for the souls taken.
If reported by Itar-Tass is true that Kiev closed the airspace over Donbass to commercial traffic 3 days ago, it is incomprehensible no one in Netherlands got the Memo.
Commercial Flights Impossible in Ukraine’s east as infrastructure destroyed
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/741192
DONETSK, July 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Civil flights in the air space of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions cannot be performed as the relevant communications infrastructure was destroyed there, a source from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) told ITAR-TASS on Thursday.
“Kiev operates all air traffic control services and it is unclear how this plane (the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 that crashed in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border Thursday night. — ITAR-TASS) could appear in the area,” he said.
Anon Mongoose
Andreas:
Strelkov is busy running a rebellion, not playing on social media like the worthless American President or Ukie MIA Arsehole Avakov. The vKontakte page Strelkov-Info is run by private enthusiasts as a news gathering source.
East Ukraine must have the most vigilated air space in the world. My guess: US and Russia know exactly what happened. Who’s benefiting? Only Kiev.. Russia should be very fast airing who and how downed this plane
Потерпевший крушение “Боинг” отклонился от курса (The crashed Boeing strayed)
http://lifenews.ru/news/136841 (trans) http://translate.yandex.net/tr-url/ru-en.ru/lifenews.ru/news/136841
“For an unknown reason the pilots decided to change the direction of flight over Ukraine.
Malaysian Boeing 777” deviated from the course of tens of kilometers just before they fell near the border of Ukraine and Russia. Three days ago the same flight Amsterdam – Kuala Lumpur flew over Eastern Ukraine on a special air corridor for civil aviation.
Modern programs available to everyone, allow you to track the movement of civilian flights. Any user could see strange circumstance: July 14, flight MAS 17 flying across the Donetsk oblast is far to the South.
July 15, were again recorded only a slight deviation from the normal trajectory in the sky over India. And on Wednesday the plane was flying, as usual, through Germany, Poland and for Ukraine a lot further South than on the day of the disaster.
on July 17, as shown by the tracker flights, the aircraft first flew through areas of active hostilities. Respondents LifeNews experts claim that any such modification of the route to be agreed with the Supervisory authority. In Ukraine it is called “Aeromeh”. In this Department have not commented on the disaster, which killed hundreds of people…”
The video shows the flight paths used on 14, 15, 16 & 17 July. One can see that the 17 July route was a huge departure of the others. Obviously, it was to bring the aircraft over Novorossia to be shot down by banderivtsy forces. Likely the actual shooting down was American or Israeli commanded and run.
Lena North on July 17, 2014 · at 9:34 pm EST/EDT
internet sleuthing….
http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fvoicesevas.ru%2Fnews%2Fyugo-vostok%2F2961-sbityy-malayziyskiy-boing-777-post-obnovlyaetsya.html
Comment about the flight pattern of MH 17 in the previous days – was different. Odd indeed.
Has anyone also looked at the flight pattern of the Indian Airlines that was in the same area. Was this any different to previous ones?
http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/my/en/site/mh17.html
Friday, July 18, 04:15 AM SGT +0800 Statement by Prime Minister Najib Razak: Malaysian Airlines flight 17
Yesterday evening, I was informed of the terrible and deeply shocking news that a Malaysia Airlines jet went down in eastern Ukraine.
Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that the jet was Malaysia Airlines flight 17, which was on a scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
The flight departed Amsterdam at 12.15pm, local time. It was scheduled to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 6.10 am, local, Malaysian time.
The aircraft was a Boeing 777-200.
The aircraft’s flight route was declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
And International Air Transportation Association has stated that the airspace the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions.
Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that the aircraft did not make a distress call.
The flight was carrying a total number of 295 people – comprising 280 passengers and 15 crew members.
Malaysia Airlines is in the process of notifying the next-of-kin of the passengers and crew. All possible care will be provided to the next-of-kin.
The Government of Malaysia is dispatching a special flight to Kiev, carrying a Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team, as well as a medical team.
According to information provided by Kiev Air Traffic Control, the location of the plane’s emergency locator beacon is 48 degrees 7 minutes and 23 seconds North; and 38 degrees 31 minutes and 33 seconds East.
The Ukrainian authorities believe that the plane was shot down.
At this early stage, however, Malaysia is unable to verify the cause of this tragedy.
But we must – and we will – find out precisely what happened to this flight.
No stone can be left unturned.
If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice.
Emergency operations centres have been established. In the last few hours, Malaysian officials have been in constant contact with their counterparts in Ukraine and elsewhere.
And I will be speaking to a number of world leaders over the coming hours.
I have had several conversations with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
I have also spoken to the President of Ukraine. He has pledged that there will be a full, thorough and independent investigation, and Malaysian officials will be invited to take part.
The Ukrainian president also confirmed that his government will negotiate with rebels in the east of the country, in order to establish a humanitarian corridor to the crash site.
Just now, I received a call from President Obama.
He and I both agreed that the investigation must not be hindered in anyway.
An international team must have full access to the crash site.
And no one should interfere with the area, or move any debris, including the black box.
This is a tragic day, in what has already been a tragic year, for Malaysia.
As we work to understand what happened, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those onboard the flight.
I cannot imagine what they must be going through at this painful time.
The flight’s passengers and crew came from many different countries.
But today, regardless of nationality, we are all united in grief.
The transmitter location is just north of a swale in a farm field 1000 ft. directly west of the main street through the village of Krasny Luch on the same bearing. The location is around 9 miles northwest of the center of Torez.
Nabil2020 on July 17, 2014 · at 9:38 pm EST/EDT
This airplane downing stinks the false flag.
As proof, all my posts stating false flag get censored on the UK Newspaper The Guardian, this is a rule of thumb that it is what I state it is, a false flag, to internationalise the Ukraine conflict and blame Russia.
Maybe worse, even a Putin assassination attempt.
It is very easy for AWACS to hijack the radio comunications from control tower, and divert the airplane over the territory where they would have prepared the ambush. Don´t forget AWACS has been patrolling the sky over Poland for a couple of months already. The imagination of CIA has no limits.
according to Carlos, 2 Ukie fighters (cazas voleros) were on the airliner’s tail up to 3 minutes before it went down. his civil radar cannot detect missles but he seems sure missle(s) were fired (from the fighters)./..lots of displeasure amongst miltary with Porky..they prefer Timoshenko…and a coup is underway. Nardami
One thing nobody has brought up [as far as I know] is the fact that international flights have at least 1 [armed with small caliber pistol] ‘Air Marshall’ on board. So, what did this person do when MAS flight 370 veered off course [08 – 03 – 2014]?
FYI, there’s an alternative way to get into the cockpit.
if there was even a remote chance of attack on putins plane then it tells how much bolder the evil anglos empire has become in last few years. could they have dared to think about doing this to even a junior misnter of brezhnev let aloen to brezhnev?
that tells how much honour and respect Russai haS LSOT BY BEING TOO CONCILAITARTY TO TYHE ANGLOS PIRATES. WHEN PUTIN KNEW 3 YEARS AGO EVEN BEFORE ELCTIUON HOW MUCH ANGLOS WERE PLOTTING AGASINT HIMA ND RUSSIA THEN WHAT MEASURES HAS PUTIN TAKEN EXCERPT TO bootlick the anglos?has he strenghtend the armed forces as rapidly as he should have-. what about bulava missiles? for example. putin wasted last 2 years just trying to justify himelf to his anglo enemies.
Video of AN 26 getting shot down by AA cannon fire.
Hence the confusion and the bragging …. which has been picked up the US as a guilt for shooting down the airliner..
ProPeace on July 17, 2014 · at 9:54 pm EST/EDT
So 3 hypotheses are probable: 1. Kiev’s fighters (spainbuca) 2. Kiev’s BUKs 3. The dissappeared MH370 rigged with explosives and blown up remotely.
Cryptome warned about global “war in July” starting I believe…
Anonymous on July 17, 2014 · at 10:05 pm EST/EDT
Thanks for your help. I know that Strelkov is a busy man and that he has no time posting on “facebook”.
But from your answer I conclude that you think, that the vk account is “legitimate” (no psyop).
The novorussians seem to have denied that they possess Buks and were able do down an airplane flying at this height (which would obviously be a lie and german language media reports are harping on it…) Andreas
Carmel by the Sea on July 17, 2014 · at 10:06 pm EST/EDT
https://twitter.com/spainbuca/
“Mandos militares aquí (ATC) torre de control, confirman que el misil es del ejercito de Ukraine”.
Commanding military here ( ATC) tower of control, confirms that the missile is from the army of
“Militares confirman que fue ukraine, pero se sigue sin saber de donde vino la orden”
Military confirms that it was from Ukraine, but it continues without knowing from where the order came”.
Nora on July 17, 2014 · at 10:16 pm EST/EDT
The quality and framing of those photographs look very professional to me — how many pix have you seen from anywhere in the Donbass since this war started that were so well done? And yes, I know it’s a telephone pole but the angle from which that picture was taken is redolent of Golgotha. If you take away the content, it’s actually a beautiful picture. There were plenty of other angles but only a pro would know how to do that, or particularly care enough to bother; anyone else would just be taking snapshots. Don’t you think it’s a bit odd that someone with that kind of skill just happened to be nearby at precisely the right time? And how many black boxes were there? Meanwhile Anonymous 21:01 is claiming there was no MH 17 flight and seems to have some pretty good data backing up that claim…
It’s some kind of black-op and quite clear neither Russia nor Novorossiya had any reason to do so. In fact, if I had a magic wand I’d create well-armed individual babysitters for each one of all those people running around there now “inspecting” etc. etc. Cui bono indeed.
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Archive for the ‘Monday Night Football’ category
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MNF Preview: Dolphins WR Brandon Marshall wants to get ejected in Second Quarter against Rex Ryan’s Jets
Via ESPN:
(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images North America)
Miami Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall says he has been playing with his emotions in check and plans to show more passion Monday night against the New York Jets, with a goal of getting kicked out of the game in the second quarter.
When asked if he was joking, Marshall said no.
“I’m not joking. I’m serious,” Marshall told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “They’re going to fine me. It’s probably going to be like a $50,000 fine. But that quarter and a half that I’m out there, I’m going to play like a monster.
“I might get in a fight with Bart Scott. (Antonio) Cromartie, we pretty much matured our relationship and grew a little bit. We used to fight in Denver and San Diego. If that happens, it happens, so we’ll see.”
In July, Marshall disclosed he was diagnosed earlier this year with borderline personality disorder. On Thursday, he said he hasn’t played with enough emotion in the first four games for the Dolphins, who are winless.
“Obviously, Brandon was 50 percent kidding,” Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. “I know one thing about that guy: He’s not going to do anything to hurt this football team. I know the people in that locker room are important to him, and this guy has worked really hard.”
Marshall said he might get into a fight or a shoving match against the Jets, or bang the ball off his head.
Marshall has 22 catches this year but is tied for third in the NFL with five drops.
…This is probably the best news that came out this weekend. Everyone around the nation needs to watch this game tonight to see if Brandon Marshall is true to his word and picks a fight with the Jets. He is probably one of the most open spoken receivers in the league and says what he wants and when he wants. To be honest, he hasn’t been that good of a player since going to Miami so why is he acting like this when the team is 0-5? My guess is he wants the Dolphins in the news and he wants to be on a new team in the near future. Hey, look at what LeGarrette Blount did in Oregon against Boise St. in the opening game two seasons ago. He’s now a superstar in Tampa Bay. Maybe Marshall wants to follow in his footsteps…
Categories: Monday Night Football, New York Jets, NFL
Tags: Antonio Cromartie, Bart Scott, Brandon Marshall, ESPN, Miami Dolphins, Monday Night Football, New York Jets, Rex Ryan, Tony Soprano
Arizona Cardinals are a mess and it starts with the QB
The Arizona Cardinals are a huge mess. After losing 6 in a row and starting the season at 3-2, they have been nothing but ridiculous. They have switched Quarterbacks week in and week out, defeat the defending Super Bowl champs, and have had seriously no offense or defense since week 5. So why so hot and cold? Well let me just say this is no surprise.
It all started with the Quarterback play. They find out that their key to success the past few years, Kurt Warner will be retiring and will not be playing football again. This opened the door for Matt Leinart. Matt was 7-10 in starts for the Cardinals and was looking to create and new image for this new Cardinals team who lost so many players besides Warner. What happened was Whisenhunt and Leinart were not on the same page and he gets released after the preseason. He did have good preseason numbers it was just that he wore out his welcome in Arizona. He then has signed a contract with the Houston Texans and has rode the bench the whole season.
They then signed Derek Anderson in the offseason to try to revitalize his career on the Cardinals with his big arm and big play abilities after being released from the Browns. He comes into the team and has been nothing but inconsistent and turnover prone. He has had 7 TD’s and 9 INT’s with 24 sacks and a QB rating of 68.2. He has been a mess and his explosion to the press on Monday when his team lost to the 49ers doesn’t make his situation better.
When Anderson was not working out, Whisenhunt went to the undrafted Free Agent rookie from BYU, Max Hall, to try to save the season and bring the team to more consistency. Well what happened was he had only 1 TD and 4 costly INT that lead to his destruction. Not to mention, he suffered a concussion and a few head shots against the Saints and the Seahawks. The organization loves his energy, emotion, and passion for the game but with a weak arm and poor decision-making it is hard to be able to stay in the league this long. He still sits as the 2nd string QB for the remainder of the season.
Now that the Cardinals have tried out two quarterbacks, they should try out a third right? They have rookie, John Skelton from Fordham University but they decide to not even try him out. Ken Whisenhunt thinks the kid is a year away from being productive and from playing in the system. Skelton had a fantastic first preseason game against the Texans where he completing five of six passes for 84 yards, leading Arizona to two late touchdowns as the Cardinals defeated the Houston Texans, 19-16, in Glendale. Instead they leave him inactive and sitting on the bench (VIDEO BELOW).
Now to the Solution. With all of this happening so far this year and five games left, who does Coach Whisenhunt turn to? He turns to Derek Anderson who embarrassed himself and the team on Monday night.
I just ask the question, ARE YOU SERIOUS??? This move makes no sense. Including the statement made by Coach today,
As hard as it is to say, I have seen Derek in here working his tail off,” Whisenhunt said. “He’s in here every morning. He’s committed to trying to get better. I have seen improvement over the last few weeks. I think he gives us the best chance to win right now.”
As hard as it is to say for you? Are you serious Coach? He needs to be gone! You are playing for 2011 and not for 2010. Stop playing a guy who will not be in your system next year and play the kids who will be in your system for years to come.
But that’s not only what Coach Whisenhunt said this week. He spoke about the fans wanting to see 5th round draft pick John Skelton play in the coming weeks and he says,
“He’s a young guy, hasn’t gotten a lot of reps, and you run the risk of damaging a young player when you put him there to play,” the coach said. “I have very high hopes for John and his future. His time is going to come. I can’t say that won’t happen at some point this year, but right now I don’t think it’s the direction you want to go.”
Coach, do you understand that the only way to get better in the league is to actually play the game. Are you saying you are going to hurt John if he doesn’t play? That is ridiculous. Let me give you a few examples of guys coming in and succeeding. Does Tom Brady, Chad Pennington, Joe Flacco, Kerry Collins, or even a guy like Tyler Thigpen ring a bell? These guys came from the bottom of their bench and have succeeded into successful wins or even leading their teams to the playoffs. You have to give the kid a chance.
I read that John Skelton is going to be better than Joe Flacco during the NFL Draft. When I read that and I have seen John play since he was freshman and Fordham, I knew this kid was the real deal. He has great arm strength, accuracy, pocket awareness, and can read the defense well. But they don’t want to play the kid. It is upsetting cause I know John and have watched him play and I know that he would succeed from the gecko. I understand that Coach wants to preserve the talent and the ability of John to keep him at the top of his game, but if he never plays, how can he get better? If Derek Anderson plays the rest of the season, the Cardinals team will be losing respect, fans, and they will be losing talent that can be produced on the field like Larry Fitzgerald. But hey, “They are who we thought they were.”
http://www.nfl.com/videos/arizona-cardinals/09000d5d819c1eb6/Max-Komar-36-yard-catch
Categories: Fordham, Monday Night Football, NFL
Tags: Arizona Cardinals, John Skelton, Ken Whisenhunt, Kurt Warner, Matt Leinart, Max Hall, Monday Night Football
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Categories: College Football, Darrelle Revis, Marquette, MLB, Monday Night Football, NBA, New York Jets, NFL, Playoffs, Radio Show
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Video:Monday Night Football Preview
Here is a video preview of the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field tonight:
Categories: Monday Night Football, NFL, Uncategorized
Tags: Aaron Rodgers, Chicago Bears, Clay Matthews, Donnie Dwyer, Green Bay Packers, Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Mike Martz, Monday Night Football
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The hot summer that had transformed itself into the colours of fall had lingered on into warm, lazy days of Indian Summer. It had been over ten years since the lodge on Long Lake had been restored and Janet and Robbie Williams had settled down to operate their studio and the College of Film and Animation and raise their family. There were three homes on Long Lake now, the lodge, the small cottage that Janet had owned and that was used by David and Elizabeth Potts and another cottage that Dawn and Aliki had built some summers ago after their wedding. It was about that cottage that Janet was thinking when the phone rang.
Janet picked up the phone on the second ring. “Hello.”
“Hi Janet, it’s Brian-the-long-suffering. I need to speak to T-Rob.”
Janet smiled. Brian worked as Robbie Williams’ right hand man in her large and highly successful movie production company. He was a notable film director and producer in his own right but even after nineteen years of working for the company, he lived in awe of Robbie’s legendary temper and creative genius.
Janet looked out the window to the view of her wife’s tush as she leaned under the hood of the 1956 Buick that she was rebuilding. “She’s sort of up to her hips in work at the moment, Brian. Can I give her a message and have her phone you back later?”
A moan came from the other end of the phone. “It’s rubbing off! You are aiding and abetting an AWOL creative genius. I know what she is doing, she is working on that damn car. That is all she can think about these days”
“It’s Sunday, Brian. Even creative geniuses get a day off now and again,” Janet laughed.
“It’s not the weekend here in Australia. It’s Monday and I have big Monday problems on the film set.” Janet could hear the crackle of wrapping as Brain unrolled his stomach tablets. When Brain started eating digestive pills like candy it meant he really did need to speak to T-Rob.
Janet sighed. Robbie and she never seemed to have time together anymore. There was always something and at the moment Robbie was pretty annoyed with her. “Hold on, Brian. I’ll get her.” Janet put the phone down and headed out of the huge, log home that once had been her great grandfather’s and that Robbie had bought and restored for them. She hoped this did not mean that Robbie was going to have to fly to Australia. There was such a lot going on at the moment. There were some issues that she and Robbie really needed to work through and the family was all coming up for Thanksgiving. Plans had to be worked out for Mac’s wedding to Stewart Farton in the spring.
Robbie was deep in thought as she worked on the old car’s engine. The thoughts had nothing to do with the carburettor that she was trying to remove. They were about her interpersonal relations. This time of year was always bad. This was when she and Ryan had fought and Ryan had walked out, but it was particularly bad this year because Janet didn’t trust her anymore.
Robbie started and her head smashed against the raised hood of the car. “Shit!”she muttered, and emerged rubbing the sore spot at the back of her head.
Janet smiled and shook her head but then stood on her tip-toes and kissed Robbie’s cheek. “You okay?”
Robbie smiled. “Yeah. I was thinking and didn’t realize you were there.”
Janet gave her partner a quick hug and immediately felt Robbie stiffen. She tried not to let it bother her. Okay, she had been wrong to have arranged the surgery while Robbie was away filming but she had been hurt and jealous and had handled things badly. Robbie just had to understand that this procedure was so very important to her and her emotional healing. “Brian’s on the phone. It sounds like he has a serious production problem.”
Robbie nodded, dropped a quick kiss on Janet’s forehead and headed over to the house with long strides as she wiped the grease from her hands on a rag. When Janet came in, she found Robbie sitting at her desk in her office, glasses on the end of her nose reading the fax material that was coming through from Australia. Janet left her alone. When Robbie focussed on a problem it was with the same intensity that she did everything in her life. She would not wish to be disturbed.
It was a good time to head over the College of Film and Drama of which she was the director and see to a bit of paper work herself. First, however, she headed down to the lake to let their daughter, Rebecca, know where she was going.
Reb was in the process of trying to train Dufus how to follow a scent. A few years before their old dog Rufus had passed away, he had managed to corner Walt and Mary Higgins’ prize Golden Retriever and do the act. The Higgins were still trying to get over the shock of this violation of their full bred animal. The injection of prize winning genes seemed to have no effect whatsoever on the results. The three puppies looked exactly like Rufus – big, orange, hairy, and ugly with a crooked tail. David and Elizabeth had taken one, Aliki and Dawn another, and Dufus had stayed to replace his dad Rufus.
“Reb, Honey, I am just popping over to the school to do some paper work. Obbie is on to phone to Brian. Could you let her know where I am?
The beautiful sixteen year old looked up with a flash of a smile that melted hearts. “Sure Mom. I think Dufus has the idea now.”
Janet looked down. Reb was holding a sweater covered in mud and dog slobber that looked a lot like Robbie’s. “Is that…”
Reb cut her mother off quickly before she could get going. “Obbie said I could use it. I thought I’d better practice with Obbie’s stuff first because she is the one who always goes missing.”
It was said as a joke but Janet could see the worry in her daughter’s eye. Being a family of both wealth and fame had not been easy. They had gone through some dark times together. She pulled her daughter in for a hug and kissed her head. “You are quite right and I love you for thinking of it. Does Dufus have as good a nose as Rufus did?”
Reb looked at the big, hairy animal sitting obediently at her side. “I think so. He picks up a scent and gets on a trail easily enough but if a squirrel crosses his path we’ve had it. Dufus hates squirrels.”
Janet smiled and gave her daughter another hug before heading up the path that would lead behind the house to where a large garage housed their vehicles. She drove down the road with a smile on her face. They might have their problems but generally life was pretty good.
Major Ryan Williams pulled her jeep into the driveway about a half hour later and sat looking around the corner of the house to the lake. The teen with the dog was Reb she realized with a jolt to her guts. Ten years and everything had changed. She swung out of the old vehicle in one smooth motion and headed down to where her sister stood working with Dufus. She’d kept in touch, of course, through letters and email, but she hadn’t really seen the her sister in years. The school pictures she got periodically were just some stranger. Reb was frozen in Ryan’s mind as a strong willed, rebellious six year old.
The dog growled dangerously and took two quick steps towards Ryan. Ryan stopped.
“Stay,” Reb commanded and looked up at the tall, stern soldier on the path above her. “Can I help y….Ryan?! Ryan!” The teen ran up the hill and jumped into her sister’s arms as she used to when she was six.
Ryan held her close trying to hide the emotion she was feeling. “Hi kid. I’ve missed you.”
Reb was crying. “Ryan, I can’t believe it is you! I have missed you so much! I knew you’d come home someday. I just knew it!”
Ryan stiffened with tension and stepped back a little from her sister. Gently, she wiped a few tears away from the teen’s face with her finger. “I don’t know how long I can stay,”she cautioned. “Aah, I don’t know if I am going to be welcome.”
Reb put her hands on her slim hips. “Of course you are welcome, Ryan! You’re part of our family. Obbie frets all the time about you not being here. She loves you, Ryan.”
Ryan nodded with a smile that reflected insecurity. Her eyes were dark and filled with pain. She tried to sound nonchalant. “So who is here? Aaah, are the Pateases here yet?”
Reb looked up with sharp, penetrating eyes. “Oh shit. You’ve come back because Mac is getting married, haven’t you?” Ryan didn’t say anything. Her jaw locked in a determined line. “Ryan, you can’t!”
Eyes the colour of ice met Reb’s. “Watch me.”
“Oh boy, this is going to be another one of those Williams’ things that the tabloids love to write about.” Reb sighed in frustration, waving her arms in the air dramatically.
Ryan couldn’t help herself, she smiled. “So who is here?”
“Just Obbie at the moment.” She saw Ryan stiffen and went on. “Mom is at the college. She’ll be back in an hour or so. Obbie’s on the phone with Brian so that is good for a couple of hours of yelling. Come on, I’ll sneak you into the house and we’ll figure out someway of letting them know you are here.”
Janet cleared her desk of a few items of paperwork that had been on her mind and then headed back to the house. She was anxious to know whether the problem that Brain was having with production on location in Australia would become a problem for them all. Deep in thought, she almost bumped into her daughter who was standing in the doorway positively squirming with excitement.
“Shhhhh! Mom, you are never going to guess who is here!” Reb stage-whispered.
“Who?” Janet asked, already visualizing an evening with Robbie in a temper and some poor house guest cringing in the corner as she was pulled into the kitchen by her daughter.
An officer stood up as she entered. “Hello, Aunt Janet.”
Janet stopped dead. Her mouth opened, closed, opened again and nothing came out. Then she simply gave up and ran to her adopted daughter and held on tight, crying.
Ryan was embarrassed, feeling emotional and flustered. She tried to cover up with a joke. “Hell, so far everyone who has seen me has cried.”
Reb pulled some tissues from a box on the counter and handed them to her mom and then stood close at her big sister’s side. “Ryan is a major and she just got her doctorate in physics like Aunt Elizabeth.”
Janet stepped back and dabbed at her eyes as she gave Ryan a look over. “You could have told us. All those letters from all over the world. We had no idea what you were up to in the military.” Ryan smiled but said nothing. Her work over the years had been classified information. “Does your Mom know you are here?”
Ryan shook her head and smiled at her kid sister. “From what we can make out she’s having a conference call with Brian and some others. Things must be working out because she hasn’t sworn or yelled now in several minutes.”
Janet rolled her eyes. “You wait here.”
Janet walked into Robbie’s office and found her partner pacing back and forth barking instructions at poor Brian and his assistants. Much to Robbie’s surprise, Janet reached up and placed two fingers over her lover’s mouth. “Brian? This is Janet. Listen, love, we have a guest and I need Robbie right away. Do you think you can manage without my wife?”
“Sure, sure, no problem, Janet,” Brian babbled in relief. T-Rob has spent five minutes solving the problem and an hour and a half yelling about it.
Janet hung up and looked at Robbie. Robbie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow in question. Janet touched her partner’s arm reassuringly. “Ryan’s in the kitchen,” she said softly. Robbie swayed, blinked, gasped and made a beeline for the door. Janet followed at a more reasonable pace.
Robbie came around the corner and into the kitchen so quickly that Ryan instinctively felt under attack and stepped in front of her little sister. The two Williams stood looking at each other. They had different colouring but the same bone structure and build. There was no doubt they were mother and daughter. Reb gave her stubborn sister a gentle push from behind. Ryan stepped over to Robbie. “I’m home, Mom.”
Robbie wrapped her daughter into her arms and held onto her silently. So many emotions were running through her body that she felt light headed. Quietly, Janet signalled to Reb from the doorway and they left Robbie and Ryan alone holding each other.
“I’m sorry Mom.” Ryan’s voice was rough with emotion. ” I felt I had to prove something to you. I was wrong. Can you forgive me?”
Robbie held on even tighter. “Yeah, you were wrong but you were a kid and I was the adult. I acted like a horse’s ass. I’m sorry too.”
“You going to let me go?” Ryan asked, laughing nervously.
“No, you might be a dream and I don’t want to lose you.”
Ryan hadn’t come home for this. She hadn’t thought it possible that they could mend any bridges. It had just happened when she saw her mom again. Now that it had, Ryan felt an incredible need to protect her mom and make sure she was never hurt again. “You are never going to lose me, Mom. I…I’m your daughter.”
Robbie forced herself to step back and give Ryan some room. “Yes, you are and I’m proud of you.”
Devilment sparkled in Ryan’s eyes for a second like it used to when she was a teen. “You don’t know much about me.”
Robbie reached out despite herself and touched Ryan’s cheek. “I don’t need to. You are my daughter. I love you and I know what sort of person you are. Whatever you have done with your life, it would be what is right and honourable.”
Ryan smiled and swallowed hard. The tears slowly ran down her face despite her fight for control. “Thanks Mom.”
Robbie wiped away her own tears and tried to pull herself together. “Sit down. Have you eaten? No? I’ll make you something…”
Ryan laughed. “No way! I want to live to see tomorrow. No one in this family willingly eats your cooking. How about I make something and you see to brewing some coffee?”
Robbie looked stubborn. “I can cook.”
Ryan pulled her in for a hug. “No, you can open a can and burn toast.”
Robbie laughed. “Okay, you get something then. Look at you. You’re all grown up. Captain?”
“Major, bran new.”
“That’s good, Ryan. Are you going to be a career soldier then?”
“Five more years. I just got my doctorate, Mom, in astrophysics.”
Robbie sank with shock onto a kitchen chair. “You’re a physicist?”
“Yes, and I think a reasonably good one.” Ryan smiled, pleased that her mother was clearly over whelmed with her achievement. Her mom looked far away like she was in shock.
“A scientist. I always wanted to be a scientist,” Robbie mumbled.
Ryan came up behind where her mom sat and bent to wrap her arms around her mother. She whispered softly, “I know, Mom. You’d have been a good one too but you had me instead.”
Robbie kissed the strong hand resting on her shoulder. “No regrets there. You were the best thing to come out of my youth.”
When Reb stuck her head in a half hour later she found the two of them munching subs and drinking bottled beer.
“Can I have some?” she asked, bouncing in and taking a seat beside her sister.
“Sub, yes, beer no,” Ryan laughed, and handed her sister half her sandwich.
Reb pulled a face at her but took the sandwich eagerly anyway. “I’ll probably choke to death with nothing to wash this down with,” she warned.
Robbie got up. “I’ll pour you some milk. Ryan, could you make a few more of these? I’ll go get Janet.”
“Sure, Mom.” Ryan turned and tipped Reb from her chair. “Come on teen-slug give me a hand.”
Reb gave her a playful punch. “Hey, who are you calling a, teen-slug, starched-shorts!”
Robbie left them pushing and shoving their way to the fridge and went to find Janet. She needed to see Janet. Ryan was home. She found her in their bedroom folding laundry and tackled her to their bed, giving her a big hug and kiss, forgetting in her happiness for a moment that things had been a bit awkward between them recently. “She’s wonderful,” Robbie stated less than modestly.
“Yes, she is,” Janet agreed, smiling about as broadly as it was humanly possible to do.
“Come and have lunch with us.”
“I didn’t want to disturb you. I thought you and Ryan would have things to talk about.”
Robbie bounced up and pulled Janet to her feet. “Hey, we are both her mother. We want you there. We are a family. Reb already snuck back in. I think she has glued herself to her sister.”
Janet laughed and wrapped an arm around her lover as they headed out of their bedroom. “That little monkey. I told her to give you two some time alone.”
Aliki sat on the edge of her chair in the livingroom of their Toronto house trying with some difficulty to have a sensitive talk with her grown adopted daughter, MacKenzie. “Aaaah, I know, Stewart’s parents are not very comfortable about your parents being two gay women. I….I don’t have to give you away, Mac. I mean, I could just sit with your mom and we could ask your Uncle David to give you away.”
Aliki swallowed. She had been really proud to be asked to stand in as Mac’s father, replacing her brother who had killed himself when Mac was only a child. But yesterday, she had accidentally over heard Mac arguing with Stewart on the phone about it. After a night of tossing and turning she had decided to broach the topic with Mac. She wished she could ask her partner and Mac’s other adopted mother, Dawn, what to do but Dawn was away on a speaking tour and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.
Mac looked up in surprise and then blushed deeply as she realized that Aliki knew that Stewart’s family were ashamed and embarrassed of her family. “Aliki, I’m going to tell you what I told Stewart. I am neither ashamed nor uncomfortable about the fact that my aunt and my parents are lesbians. I am sorry that caused his homophobic family problems but nothing would make me deny my family who love me. Not even him.”
Aliki squirmed and felt the red creeping up her face. “Aah, he is going to be your husband. You know, he has to come first in your life. I…I mean, we’ll understand that.”
Dark, Salish, First Nations’ eyes flashed. “I wouldn’t. As well as being proud of my gay parents, I am also mixed race. You and Mom have raised me to be proud of my Salish heritage. Where do I draw the line with Stewart’s family? Do I say, you don’t have to accept my parents for what they are but you do have to accept what I am? I don’t think so. What I am bringing to Stewart’s family is a little social tolerance and a wider view of this world’s variations. They can accept that or stick it up their asses.”
Aliki laughed. “Damn, I’m glad we raised you to be a lady!”
Mac flushed. “Well, it’s true.” Flustered, she resorted to the language of her youth when the trauma of seeing her father’s death had left her unable to speak for many years. She signed, I love you, to Aliki.
Aliki signed back, I love you too. For a while they sat quietly, enjoying the comfort of the bond of love they enjoyed as family. Then Aliki pulled her courage together and broached the other issue that was on her mind.
She started hesitantly. “Aaah, Stewart seems nice. He’s got some good goals and will be a responsible partner.”
Mac nodded. “Yes.”
“Sensible , level-headed guy.”
Aliki waved her hands in frustration. She was no good at subtlety. “Don’t you find him as boring as grass growing?” she asked bluntly.
Mac snorted. “Oh God, yes!”
Aliki looked at her in confusion. “Then why the hell are you marrying him?”
Mac suddenly went sober and looked at her hands for a minute while she organized her thoughts. “Some years ago, I met my soul mate, Aliki. There is no doubt in my mind about that, but it didn’t work out between us. Sometimes it just doesn’t.” The young woman shrugged her shoulders sadly. “Stewart is a good friend. He is responsible, caring, and he loves me. He knows how I feel and he can live with that. He’ll provide me with companionship and children and we’ll be happy enough.”
The scientist looked at her daughter with shocked and worried eyes. She wished desperately that Dawn was here to handle this one. She was way out of her depth. “I don’t want you settling for second best. You tell me who this soul mate is and I’ll go fetch him,” she growled.
“You can’t do that!” Mac laughed coming over to sit on the arm of the chair and give her aunt and adopted mother a hug. “You can’t make someone love you. Besides, it is not a he, it is a she.”
Aliki swirled around and looked at her daughter with blue eyes wide with shock. “You have never dated a girl! It’s always been guys. How could this have been going on without me knowing?”
Mac shrugged. “I never wanted another woman. I…It just wouldn’t have felt right.”
Aliki was near the free babble stage by now. “You and this woman, you’ve…” She made some gestures of frustration when the words failed her and then jumped instead into another trail of thought. ” I mean have you with men? No wait!! I don’t want to know!” Aliki leaned back and tried to gather her thoughts, wiping the sweat that had appeared on her upper lip away with her hand. “Oh boy.”
Mac chuckled at Aliki’s distress. She was a wonderful person and Mac adored her but Aliki was awfully straight for a lesbian. “No, I didn’t sleep with her and no, I haven’t with any guys either. Well, you know we’ve…”
“Don’t tell me! Don’t tell me!” Aliki ordered in a panic, getting up and retreating to the other side of the room.
Mac slid from the arm of the big, over- stuffed chair into the seat that Aliki had just vacated. It was still warm and there was a lingering scent of spice that was very much Aliki. It felt like a secure hug. She smiled at her mom but said nothing. Her parents were intelligent and wise and she had been expecting this question. It was easier with Aliki who always had trouble expressing personal issues well. Her other mom would have asked disturbing and thought- provoking questions and that would have been much harder.
Aliki pulled herself together and tried again. “Warning bells are going off in my head here, Mac. It seems to me that staying single would be better than marrying someone you don’t love.”
Mac saw the pain in the older woman’s eyes and got up immediately and came over to hug her gently. “But I do love Stewart. He is a fine man. I might not love him with the intensity and passion that I loved another but I do care very much for him.”
The Williams clan had stayed up late talking, freely at times as family do, and awkwardly at other times because they were strangers after ten years. Finally, Reb went to sleep with her head against her sister’s shoulder and they all decided to call it a night. Sleep did not come easily though to the three adults. Ryan lay in her old room that still reflected the interests of her teenage mind and pondered the bridge that had been crossed in coming home. It was one she never thought could ever exist again. It was strangely comforting on one hand and rather unnerving on another.
Robbie tried sleeping but tossed and turned until Janet turned on the light and handed her partner a script. “Read and don’t think about Ryan. That’s an order.”
Robbie had smiled sheepishly and taken the script, settling down and letting Janet use her for a pillow while she focussed without understanding on the pages. The sun was rising when she finally went to sleep, her head resting next to her lover’s.
Ryan woke to find Reb snuggled in beside her. She scrunched up her eyes and mumbled cheekily, “Go away, you are not my type.”
Reb laughed and gave her big sister a playful nudge. “Actually, I’m into males. Ian Fraser to be exact. I’m a black sheep bouncing along the family rainbow.
Ryan pulled herself up to lean against her headboard and gave her face a rub. Then she pulled a face. “Males! Ugh! Pervert!”
The two of them laughed. Then Reb sobered. “I shouldn’t laugh. This is serious, Ryan.”
Ryan went still and anger clouded her eyes. “How serious?”
Reb rolled her eyes. “We are NOT sleeping together, Ryan! I’m talking about the family. Having a family that glows rainbow colours in the dark is hard enough to explain. Try explaining that one of my moms has been arrested for murder and is not only my mom but my aunt, that my other mom is a Williams because she married both my father and my aunt, that my other aunt has won the Nobel Prize in Physics but can’t drive a car, and that my sister wears army boots! How am I going to explain all that to Ian Fraser?”
Ryan smiled. “We are a bit eccentric.”
“Eccentric!?” Reb spluttered. “We are the only people I know who have their own page each month in the Tabloids. The spring edition had Obbie running away with her co-star and Mom threatening to reveal all in a feature movie if she didn’t come home.”
Ryan laughed. “Knowing what I do about Obbie’s early life that would be some block buster.”
“My point exactly!” Reb finished, flopping dramatically back on a pillow. “I love you all dearly but Ripley’s Believe It Or Not has nothing, I repeat, nothing on you lot!”
“So do Obbie and Aunt Janet know you are seeing this guy?”
“Sort of. They know I’ve met him a few times at the riding stables. He wants to take me to the Fall dance and that means bringing him home. The last guy I brought here went home crying because Obbie was standing on the porch railing rehearsing a scene from Galaxy Wars using a tree branch as a laser sword and Mom was trying to wash Rufus in tomato juice in a tub because he’d said hello to a skunk. Billy thought it was alien blood and ran most of the way home. He still avoids me and that was in the third grade!”
Ryan smiled at her sister who lay sprawled at the end of the bed. “Tough one, kid. Maybe you could tell him that the insanity is not genetic but a curse brought on us by aliens after the Galactic Wars.”
Reb pulled a face. “Big help you are! And now I suppose you are really going to mess up my life by causing a scene about Mac’s engagement to Stewart Farton.”
Ryan looked shocked. “No scene. Mac is just not going to marry him.”
Reb wrapped an arm over her eyes and moaned pathetically. “I’ll have to resign myself to being an old maid or join a convent and dedicate my life to God!”
“God wouldn’t have you,” Ryan laughed unsympathetically. “You are a little rotter.” She slid from the bed wearing only her undies and a t-shirt and stepped into a pair of sweat pants. “Come on, I need coffee before I can solve the problems of the world.”
“Holy shit! It’s a Willy Jeep!” The words penetrated Janet’s sleep just enough for her to register that her Olive was up and active. There was no doubt about it, the Williams family were just like olives, really wonderful once you got used to them – but they took a lot of getting used to. She heard the pounding of feet as her lover ran down the hall and the slam of the screen door as she headed outside. Janet smiled and slipped deeper into sleep.
Reb stood at the kitchen counter pouring Ryan and herself a second cup of coffee and looking at Obbie sitting in Ryan’s jeep pretending she was driving through a minefield. Various vooms and kabooms drifted through the window. “Your mom has found your jeep. She’s behind the wheel and seems to be having a fantasy that might lead to an orgasm.”
Ryan got up from the breakfast nook and came over to have a look. “You know you are far too worldly for a sixteen year old.” She looked out the window. “Okay, so you might be right. I’d better get out there before she ruins my seat covers.”
Reb smiled. Ryan just wanted to be with her mom. “Whatever you do, don’t give Obbie the keys to the jeep. Mom will never forgive you!” The warning came too late. Ryan was already gone.
Janet sighed and let the dream of a sleep-in fade as she opened her eyes to see her indignant younger daughter standing at the end of the bed. “The creeps drove off and left me here!”
“Forgive them, Reb. It was the jeep. Obbie and Ryan are beyond human reason once they see a collector car.”
Reb sighed. “Well, it will give us a chance to have a mother and daughter talk about the older man in my life while they are gone. Here, I brought you a mug of coffee to help you wake up.”
Janet was already awake, however. The phrase, older man in my life, had brought her to a sitting position and full alert. “Older Man?” she inquired, in a tone she hoped sounded calm and reasonable.
Reb gave her mom a look and then climbed on the end of the bed to sit cross-legged. “Mother, I am very mature for my age. How many sixteen year olds do you know who have visited their mom in prison, been kidnapped, and survived a firestorm? And those are only the highlights of my life.”
Janet was not to be side tracked. “Who is this older man?” she asked, annoyed to see the shake of her hand as she took a sip of her coffee.
“Ian Fraser. He is eighteen. He is working up here for the year with the forestry services. At the moment he is planting trees. You remember, I met him at the stables. His parents immigrated from Scotland five years ago. Ian just finished his first year of university at Guelph. He wants to be a vet too but he has to earn some money to finish his undergraduate degree.”
“Eighteen!”
“That’s only two years difference!” Reb protested.
“There is a significant gap between being sixteen and eighteen years at this age.” Janet sighed, feeling her stomach tie in a knot.
Reb frowned. “I know, I know. I have just heard the lecture from my sister.” Her voice changed to sound just like Ryan’s as she mimicked her sister’s words. “Reb, the difference between sixteen and eighteen is the difference between virginity and carnal knowledge.”
Janet held up her hand. “Stop. I don’t even want to go there. The difference between sixteen and eighteen is jail. Keep that firmly in your mind. Well, that and your Obbie will skin him alive if he does anything he shouldn’t. Now tell me all about this fellow.”
Reb smiled and relaxed. Her mom was going to be cool about it.
The jeep motored along the highway with Ryan and Robbie sitting side by side, grins on their faces as the wind whipped their hair about.
“She’s a 1943 Willy MB with a four cylinder L-head and side valves and a three speed syncromesh transmission. She’s built like a little tank with heavy steel channel sides with five cross members and one K member. Her grille is made from welded flat iron bar,” Ryan explained, yelling over the wind. “You can tell she is a 1943 Willy MB by the small headlamps inside the grille, the two pane windshield and because the spare wheel and jerry can is located on the back panel.” Ryan looked around happily at the familiar territory of her childhood as her mother drove. “Slow down and turn off here to the right.”
Robbie slowed and pulled into an overgrown logging trail that cut a slash through a secondary growth forest. They bumped along slowly, enjoying testing the old vehicle’s ability. Some twenty minutes later, they came into a clearing filled with tall grasses and milkweed. Robbie killed the engine and Ryan swung out, looking around with pleasure.
“This was Lover’s Lane when I was a kid. But I used to come here and look around for artifacts. It was a lumber camp at the turn of the century but over there,” Ryan pointed towards a rocky outcrop, “There is an old mine shaft or something. They must have been looking for nickel or gold, I should think.”
Robbie nodded, feeling strangely shy and at a loss for words around her grown daughter. There were so many things that she needed to ask, to resolve between the two of them. “I never meant to force you to leave.”
Ryan turned to look at her mom. “You didn’t. Oh yeah, I was pissed about you getting all upset about me joining the armed forces, but that was just window dressing.” She pulled a length of grass free and stuck it in her mouth enjoying the bitter- grain taste.
Robbie looked at her hands on the wheel. “So why then? Why did you leave?”
Ryan swung back into the jeep and nervously played with the edge of the window frame. “I had to prove that I could do it on my own. That I didn’t need you.” Robbie felt she had been hit. She swallowed hard and blinked back tears. Ryan continued unaware of how much that statement had hurt. “I loved being with you, Aunt Janet, and Reb. But there was still a part in me that was so angry that you hadn’t been there when I was a kid. I guess I felt that if I allowed you to pay my way that I would never know for sure if I would have been a failure if you hadn’t always been there to bail me out of my problems.”
Ryan felt a tightening in her chest. Spilling her guts was harder than she thought. “Even before I knew who my mom was, you were always sending down your people to take care of me and get me out of trouble. I was a royal fuck-up but you and Aunt Janet brought me home anyway. I was so afraid that I would fail and you would send me away.”
Tears rolled slowly down Ryan’s face. Robbie reached out and took her daughter’s hand, kissing it softly. “You meant the world to me. I would have never sent you away. I was very proud of you.”
Ryan nodded. “I knew that on an intellectual level but emotionally there was this little, hurt kid trying to prove she wasn’t a failure and deserved your love.”
Robbie turned with tears in her eye. “Ryan…”
“Mom it’s okay. It wasn’t anything you did or didn’t do for me. It was something I needed to do for myself. I made a mess of my childhood by being bitter and angry and lashing out at authority in anyway I could. You and Aunt Janet gave me unconditional love and I realized that the problem wasn’t the system putting me down but my attitude restricting my opportunities and future.”
Ryan’s mouth settled in to a confident, determined line so like her mom’s. “So I needed to try again. All by myself, to be the success I should have been all a long. That’s why I joined the armed forces. To prove myself. I wasn’t running away from home, Mom. I just wanted to walk through your door again, this time as a success.”
Robbie nodded but no words came out. She buried her face in her hands for a few seconds and tried to get her emotions sorted out. She needed to do it right this time; needed to understand things from Ryan’s point of view as well as her own. “I…I think I understand. I….I have missed you very much. I love you Ryan and I am very proud of what you have achieved – on your own.”
Ryan smiled broadly. “Thanks, Mom. I love you too.”
That was about all the emotion and sensitivity that the two of them could handle. Robbie wisely tried to lighten the conversation. “So, Mac and her family will be here tomorrow. I imagine you two will have a lot of catching up to do. Are you going to be able to come back for her wedding in the spring?”
Ryan’s hands tightened into balls. “That’s the other reason I am here. There isn’t going to be any damn wedding in the spring!”
Aliki had picked up Dawn at the airport the next day and they had enjoyed a pleasant evening as a family. Mac had cooked a special meal and the three of them had talked and laughed as Dawn related some of the experiences she’d had while promoting her latest publication. Now she and Aliki were alone in their room and instead of the passion they usually shared when they had been separated for a time, Aliki paced and fidgeted about.
Dawn looked up from the book she was reading. “You want to tell me what is on your mind, Lover?”
Aliki nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I think you should ask Mac to delay her wedding.”
“I don’t think she should marry Stewart. She is in love with somebody else.”
Dawn smiled sadly and took her partner’s hand. “Yes, I know.”
“You do?! Do you know it is a woman?”
“How come everyone knows this but me! Who? I’m going to wring her damn neck for hurting my little girl.”
Dawn leaned forward and gave her partner a hug. “She has always been in love with Ryan Williams.”
“What?! They’re cousins damn it! I’m going to have that Ryan’s head on a platter. What the hell was she doing corrupting Mac? What did she do with our daughter?”
Dawn reached up and put her hand gently over Aliki’s mouth. “She did nothing and that was the whole problem. Ryan was never anything more than a good friend and then she went away.”
“This is Robbie’s fault. If that damn sister of mine hadn’t argued with Ryan…”
Dawn flopped back against the pillows in frustration. She’d had enough. “Aliki, shut up. You are ranting and making no sense at all.”
Aliki’s mouth snapped shut but she looked at Dawn with cold, blue eyes snapping with anger. “Now listen to me. You can’t make Ryan love Mac. Nor can you ask me to try to have Mac delay the wedding. I am not comfortable with Mac’s decision either but it is her decision and we need to give her support and understanding.”
Aliki looked rebellious and sounded sulky when she spoke. “I only want her to have the depth of love that we have.”
Dawn smiled and sat up to hug the woman she loved. “I know, Aliki.”
David leaned across the car seat and made sure his wife’s, safety belt was done up. “Now don’t fuss David. I have done up my belt carefully.” Lizzy smiled at him.
David blushed. “I just know you are inclined to have your thoughts on other things and forget all about putting your belt on.”
Elizabeth smiled softly. “Is Quasar hastened into his car harness okay?”
David looked back at the big, orange dog that took up most of the back seat. “Yes, he’s fine.”
“I am looking forwarded to spending a few days with Robbie and the family. Imagine little Mac getting married this spring. Doesn’t it make you feel old?”
“It does. There will be a new generation coming along soon, Lizzy. You know, not that I am a judge of these things,” David said, as he started the engine and pulled out of their underground parking spot, “but I always thought that Mac and Ryan made a rather nice couple.”
“I have to admit that I too suspected that would have been the case but I suppose it was totally illogical of us to assume Mac would be a lesbian just because Ryan is,” Elizabeth reasoned.
David frowned. He knew that Robbie had not been happy about Ryan leaving years ago. “Does Robbie hear much from Ryan?”
Elizabeth sighed. “Just some brief emails once a week and a letter or card a few times a year. She seems to have travelled quite a bit with the military. She never tells Robbie much, and of course, you know Robbie, she just gives Ryan the basics in return. Janet gets so frustrated with those two. Janet writes long newsy letters to Ryan, I understand. And Reb writes to her sister as well. I know Robbie has invited Ryan home on many occasions but Ryan always has a reason why she can’t come.”
“It is a damn shame.”
Elizabeth tried to look relaxed as David merged onto the freeway that would take them north. “Yes, it is. Ryan, you know, has a brilliant mind. She would have made an excellent mathematician. I was very disappointed when she enlisted. I had high hopes for her in a field related to my own.”
David nodded and reached out briefly to pat his wife’s leg. The world of academics dealing with string theory and the possible origins of the universe itself was a small, prestigious group. There were few who could understand the mathematics or grasp even on a lower level the complexities of a possible all-encompassing energy theory. It would have been nice for his Nobel Prize winning wife to have had someone in the family she could talk to about these things.
“I wonder if Ryan keeps her violin up. She could have made a career in music too. She is a Williams all right, multi-talented.”
“Janet says she does.” But Elizabeth had started to jot down neat rows of equations on a pad of yellow paper in her lap. David let their conversation lapse, knowing that it was Elizabeth’s practice to work on her own research in the quiet of the afternoons. Instead, he gave his full attention to his driving. He too was looking forward to being back in the small northern town of Bartlett that had been his home for many years. He hadn’t seen his brother who now ran the local grocery store since Christmas. Their family had grown and they all had separate interests that kept them apart. He was glad that it had become a family tradition to gather each spring and fall for a few days together.
Ian and Reb sat hand in hand on the bench in the back room of Potts Grocery Store and listened to David’s brother Ted spin his tale. He’d had to go and serve a customer and had only just returned, wiping his hands on his white apron as he came in. “Now you were asking about the old mine up where the lumber camp used to be. I don’t know how much truth you can put into it but the old folks used to say that a meteorite struck there years ago and melted the ground around about. My great Papa and your mom’s granddaddy, Rebecca, used to brag how they saw a river of gold. ‘Course, no one took them very seriously. They were both good story tellers, if you know what I mean, especially ifin they’d had a few Johnny Walkers as a way of limbering their throats.”
Reb snuggled closer to Ian who was trying his best to look manly. “Do you think that really is a gold mine, Ted?”
Ted considered this for a second. The emerging whiskers on his chin made a rasping noise as he ran his finger over them. “I don’t figure as there could be. I’m thinking any number of people must have checked it out while they were lumbering up there at the turn of the century. And I’m sure others with the gold itch have had a look since. No, I figure it’s just an old tale. Not many people know about it now. How did you to come to hear of it?”
“Ryan told me.”
Ted looked both surprised and delighted. This was a good piece of gossip by the sound of it. “Ryan? Have you heard from Ryan then?”
Reb nodded. “She’s here. She arrived yesterday. She is out with Obbie in her jeep at the moment so Mom sent me in to pick up the groceries.”
Ted beamed. This was good gossip that would have people popping into his store all weekend once the word got out. “Well, I’ll be tarred and feathered, Ryan Williams back home again. That girl used to play a mean fiddle at the firefighter’s ball and George Drouillard said she would have made a fine firefighter like her mom. Not much you Williams are afraid of by all accounts.”
Ian beamed down at his girlfriend. “We’d better be getting the groceries in the truck, Rebel. Then we’ll have time to catch lunch at Maria’s before you have to head back home.”
Ian held the door for Reb and they took seats in a quiet corner of the café. Maria waved from behind the counter and Reb smiled and waved back. The Williams family had frequented Maria’s since they had first come to town and Maria looked on them as extended family. Having a famous actress and her family drop in for lunch occasionally was very good for business too.
Once they had their order, Ian broached the topic that had been on his mind. “When can I meet your family?”
Reb nervously played with her napkin. “Aah, well, soon. Actually, they will all be here this long weekend. It is sort of a tradition for the clan to gather.”
Ian smiled. “It might be a good time to meet them then.”
“Well, I don’t know.”
The young man’s frustration showed on his face. “Rebel, you said you couldn’t come to the Thanksgiving dance at the hall unless your Mom had met me and said it was okay. How is that ever going to happen if I am not allowed to see your family?”
Reb pulled a face. She was going to have to tell him. “It’s just, well, they are a bit…unorthodox.”
Ian got a suspicious look on his face. Clear, intelligent, grey eyes met hers. “How so?”
This was it. Reb sighed. “My mother is married to the actor/director Robbie Williams. Yes, they are a lesbian couple. My big sister is a genius. I am not exaggerating, she really is. She is a major in the armed forces. She has just come home after ten years. Oh, and she also has a doctorate in physics and plays the violin beautifully. My aunt is Dr. Elizabeth Williams the woman who won the Nobel Prize for her work on naked singularities. My uncle owns the grocery store and Ted is his brother. My father was the racing driver Billy-the-Kid. He was killed on the track when I was two. And my grandfather was the local gambler. Other than that we are perfectly normal family. Oh, I forgot my other aunts. They are a gay couple as well. One is Dawn Freeman the writer and her partner is a forensic anthropologist and an RCMP officer.”
Ian said nothing. He blinked. Blinked again. Then asked cautiously, “You are joking, right?”
Reb felt her hackles going up. “Wrong.”
Ian looked stunned and a little weary as if he suspected that he was being lied to. “You are telling me that THE Robbie Williams is ONE of your mothers and that THE Billy-the-Kid was your father…and you have an aunt who won the Nobel Prize on Physics…and half of your family are lesbians?”
Reb gritted her teeth. “Yes.”
The young man considered the truth of this. “I had heard that Robbie Williams had a place up this way near the Film College. So you’re rich?”
Reb felt her anger mounting as each of the standard response came out. Why couldn’t anyone just accept her and her family as just people like everyone else? “I’m not. Certainly my family is.”
Ian looked up and saw the tension and emotion in Reb’s eyes. Okay, this was going to be really, really freaky but it was Reb’s family. “Aah, my dad won a bowling championship once,” he joked. Reb laughed and Ian joined in. The tension was broken.
“So you think you can handle this?” Reb asked, feeling some of the tension leaving her body.
Ian frowned and took a bite of his Club House sandwich, chewing it slowly while he tried to come to terms with all of this. He answered honestly. “I don’t know, Reb. They sound awfully – different, and rather intimidating. But I think I should be given the chance to try.”
Reb nodded, her face set in cautious lines. “I’m very proud of my crazy family, Ian. I don’t want them hurt and I won’t have them judged. I have no time for gay and lesbian bashers.”
Again Ian took his time in deciding how to respond. “To be truthful, Reb, I have always felt I was pretty liberal about such things. I have always maintained a live and let live attitude. I can’t say I understand why one would be interested in the same sex but I figure it is none of my business. I have to tell you though, I have never mixed socially with anyone who is a gay or lesbian or at least if I socialized with any I wasn’t aware of it. So I have no idea how I’ll react. I can promise you one thing though, I won’t make a scene or anything.”
Reb looked out the window for a second and regained her composure. This was not easy. She wondered if she would stay with Ian or if she would have to go through this conversation over and over again through her life. She shook her head. “Believe me, if you don’t make a scene you will be one of the few people there that doesn’t.”
Robbie turned off the light and gave Janet a kiss on the cheek before rolling on her side away from her partner. Janet frowned; enough was enough. “Robbie, turn the light back on we need to talk.”
“I’m tired,” came a pathetic moan from deep under the covers.
Janet snorted, “No you’re not. You are a coward. Come out, you big suck.”
There was a thrashing and mumbling in the dark and the light snapped on. Robbie sat with her back against the headboard, arms crossed and looking grumpy.
“We need to talk about my breast surgery…”
“I don’t want to talk about it!” Robbie slipped down under the covers, panic written all over her face.
Janet sighed and looked at the mound of bed sheets and shook her head. This was the woman who had won academy awards and ran a film empire. She gave the mound a poke. “I regret to inform you that the problem with my breasts is not going away so you will just have to face it.”
The mound didn’t move. Janet’s face hardened into troubled lines. She was just about to make a cutting remark when she heard a sob. “Robbie? Lover, what’s the matter?” Janet slid down and wrapped her partner closely in her arms. “Robbie speak to me.”
“I didn’t want you to have that surgery. I didn’t want to go to the hospital again and see you in pain. It was awful. It never bothered me that you’d had to have a mastectomy. Why did you do that? When I got the call I just freaked…I love you damn it!”
For a while, Janet held her complex partner tight and tried to sort out what was going on inside her. When she spoke it was quietly, tenderly, trying to make her partner understand why. “I know you never wanted me to have the corrective surgery, Sweetheart. I know that you really had a hard time with me going through the cancer treatment. Sometimes it is just as hard on the care givers as it is on the victim. I understand that. But do you think my being seriously ill so early in our relationship made you a little over protective?”
Robbie considered this. She didn’t want to have this discussion but Janet was helping to make it easier. Still her answer came out between sobs. “Yes. You are the best thing that has happened in my life. I can’t bear the thought of losing you. Sometimes I have nightmares…I don’t mean to be over protective.”
“I know, lover. It is understandable that you would feel that way because you went through a really traumatic time with me just when we our love to each other was developing. I have some emotional issues too from that time, Robbie. Do you want me to tell you about them?”
There was a moment’s hesitation while Robbie fought her demons, then she rolled over and pulled herself up into a sitting position. She pulled a tissue from the box beside the bed and wiped away the tears. Then she pulled Janet into a hug. “Okay, I want to hear what you have to say.”
Janet got comfortably nestled inside her lover’s arms. “It’s not about appearances, Robbie. You have been wonderful about that. I still get a little insecure but you have been nothing but a pillar of strength. Robbie, cancer is like a violation of self. You don’t want it inside you taking over and growing in your organs. Even though I won that battle and have gone ten years, there is still that fear deep inside that it’s there and I might have to go through that horror again.”
Robbie pulled Janet closer into her arms as if to shield her from her memories and dropped a kiss on her wife’s head. Janet snuggled closer. “Sure having a mastectomy was hard on the ego. And having to wear a prostheses is so uncomfortable and awkward. But it is so much more than that, Robbie. Every time I change, or have a shower, or have to stop to fit the damn prosthesis into place, I am reminded that I had cancer and that it could come back again. It was more than a loss of a breast, it was a continual reminder of what the cancer did to me – what it still could do to me. I needed to have the surgery so I could be whole again. Not on the outside but on the inside. I had to show the cancer that I could recover completely, that it was never going to leave its mark on me. Can you understand that, Lover?”
“If it was that important to you, I would have understood. You didn’t have to have to arrange it while I was away filming,” Robbie muttered in a voice laced with hurt.
Janet kissed the strong, capable hand that rested on her shoulder. “I was wrong. It was a really immature thing to do. I…I was jealous.”
Robbie’s head shot up in surprise and she looked down at Janet with eyes wide with shock. “What?!”
“You were acting again and with Colette Cummings. The two of you have such chemistry – passion. And she has nice breasts.”
Robbie was flabbergasted. “I only took the part because my other leading lady was too banged up from her car accident to act. Time is money and I couldn’t find anyone else suitable for the part on such short notice. You know I don’t want to act.”
Janet blushed. “I know, Robbie.”
Another thought suddenly hit Robbie like a sucker punch. “You don’t think I had an affair with Cummings do you!”
Janet wiggled with embarrassment. “No, not on an intellectual level, but I guess emotionally – I mean, I am married to one of THE Willams and it happens to be the one that has been voted most sexy woman of the decade not to mention your list of conquests before you met me…I can’t explain it…I know you wouldn’t cheat on me…I just felt so insecure seeing you act with another woman on screen.”
Robbie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was bad enough that Janet didn’t trust her to be at her side while she was having her reconstruction surgery but she didn’t even trust her to be faithful “You don’t trust me!”
Janet pulled away and rolled from their bed in frustration. She paced around their room in irritation on the edge of tears. “Damn it, Robbie, listen to what I am telling you. I am insecure. You would be too if you had a disease that could kill you before you could see your kids grow up or have the life you want to have with your partner. Yes, I acted childishly in accepting a surgery date while you were away. It was stupid and unfair and I regret it. I owe you an apology but damn it I needed this breast reconstruction. I need to remove the sign of what the disease did to me. I need my confidence back that I am a healthy, whole woman. I need to be able to look in a mirror and see me not the effects of cancer. Please Robbie, I need you to understand this!”
Robbie slipped from the bed and took Janet in her arms. “I’m sorry. I was so caught up in my own issues I didn’t listen. You’ve been trying to tell me all along but I was afraid of you being in the hospital again and I just wouldn’t look past that.” Shaking with emotion Robbie kissed Janet’s head. “I let you down and that allowed the mistrust to grow.”
Janet kissed her lover’s neck softly. “I never believed that you would cheat on me Robbie. I was just- jealous. I’m sorry.”
Robbie nodded. When the call had come from Janet telling her that she would be having surgery in the morning, Robbie had dropped everything and chartered a jet to get her back to Canada immediately. She had arrived shortly after Janet had been taken back to her room from Recovery. Janet had been in pain those first few days and Robbie had been near sick with worry. She know intellectually that there was very little danger in the process but emotionally she just couldn’t deal with Janet being back in the hospital and having to go to doctor appointments. It brought those terrible days when they were fighting the cancer back again in a rush of emotion. Everything that was good in Robbie’s life had come because of Janet. She couldn’t imagine life without her partner.
For a few minutes they just held each other, glad that they had cleared the air of a few of the issues. Janet waited until she felt Robbie relax in her arms and then asked, “I want to show you what they have done.”
Robbie nodded but the look on her face was so tragic and pale that Janet almost laughed. She bit her lip and busied herself slipping out of her sleep shirt. You had to tread softly with Robbie when it was her emotional side she was revealing. For all her bluster, joking, and tempers, Robbie was an unbelievably emotionally fragile person. Robbie trusted Janet with her soul and Janet did her best to protect it at all costs.
To Robbie’s relief there wasn’t much to see. The old scar of Janet’s mastectomy ran around the base of where her breast had been to up under her arm. She had been fortunate in that her skin had remained healthy and there had not been too much scar tissue to remove before placing the expander into place. The expander, Janet explained, was placed under the pectoral muscle after the scar tissue had been removed. The expander had a small tube and a fill ball with a metal backing placed under the skin below the implant. Each week or so, Janet had to go into the hospital and have 60 ccs of saline injected into the implant through this small ball. The implant already had 250 cc of solution in it when it had been put in place and Janet thought she would need about twice that to be a B cup.
Robbie swallowed and ignored the cold sweat down her back that made her shiver. This was what Janet needed and wanted and that was all that really mattered. If Robbie had not made such a fuss about it every time the subject had come up over the last ten years probably Janet wouldn’t have felt she had to accept a date for the day surgery while Robbie was out of town. Gently and nervously, Robbie reached out to caress the swelling that would be Janet’s new breast. Her hand barely touched Janet’s skin before it withdrew. “What if it pops or something?”
Janet laughed. “It won’t. It is quite durable.”
Robbie nodded. “Okay, okay, aahh, is there anything else?”
Janet knew there were all sorts of things yet to discuss including the surgery that would be coming up in a few months to remove the expander and replace it with a saline implant. Her other breast too would be reshaped to match her implant. But Robbie had handled about as much as she could. Although she was trying to put on a brave front, she was pale and shaky and cold to touch. “There is one more thing.”
“What?” Robbie asked with eyes big with fear.
Janet leaned over and kissed her partner softly, wrapping her arms around her lover’s neck. “Make love to me,”she whispered, as she nibbled at the soft, warm underside of Robbie’s throat.
Robbie whimpered with need. “Are you sure it’s safe with the expander in there?”
“I do,” Robbie whispered, pulling the woman she loved down on to their bed and moving over her. Her mouth sought Janet’s breast as one hand slipped Janet’s sleeping shorts down off her petite figure. “You are so beautiful and I never get enough of being this close, this intimate with you. You are my passion, my desire and my home,” Robbie whispered, as she slipped into the warm, wet folds of Janet’s being.
The Pateases had arrived at their cottage about noon the next day and once settled, they had piled back into their van and headed around the lake to the Williams’ home. It was Aliki who noted the jeep parked by the garage and walked over to look at it.
“Most be one of Robbie’s new toys,” Dawn stated, as she and Mac busied themselves pulling Thanksgiving baking out of the back of their van.
Aliki came over to help. “I don’t think so,” she said thoughtfully, and cast a sideways look at her daughter. She changed the subject then and grumbled, “How much did you guys bring?”
“Don’t you give me any of that, Doctor Aliki Alberta Pateas. Most of this is your baking. We’ve got enough pies here to feed all of Bartlett.”
Aliki blushed. She liked cooking and when she was occupied with a problem she tended to cook more. At the moment, she was worried about Mac and she had cooked up a storm the last few days.
“I’m sure Uncle David will show up with boxes of treats too. We’ll be so fat after this holiday they’ll be able to roll us down the 400 highway back to Toronto,” Mac laughed. The laugh stopped suddenly and Aliki and Dawn turned to see Ryan standing behind them.
It was Dawn who recovered first. “Ryan! Oh Ryan, it is so good to see you, Sweetheart!” Dawn stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the tall, lanky figure. Ryan hugged her back. She had always felt close to the Pateas clan.
When Dawn released Ryan, Aliki extended her hand, a cautious smile on her face and then, forgetting her concerns, she drew Ryan in for a hug too. “I am glad you are here.”
Mac stood totally still, shock and uncertainty written all over her face. Ryan had gone from a cute devil-may-care teen to a beautiful, confident woman. Even in her old blue jeans and military sweat shirt, Ryan reeked or raw strength and sexuality. This was not going to be good.
It was Ryan who walked over to her, taking the bags from her hands and placing them back in the van. She looked down at Mac with that crooked, sexy smile that had always sent arrows of need deep into Mac’s being. “Hi.”
“Hi” Mac answered, with a nervous smile.
Dawn grabbed Aliki’s arm and pulled her reluctant partner towards the house quickly. “Leave them alone,”she whispered.
Ryan and Mac stood there, looking at each other, eyes sending messages that neither one of them could find the words to express. Finally, Ryan took the last step closer and wrapped Mac in her arms. Her head bent and she captured the smaller women’s lips with her own. It was not a kiss of welcome. It was a kiss of passion, need, and ownership. Mac gasped and Ryan’s tongue entered her being, curling, caressing with her own. When finally the kiss ended, they were both shaken, clinging to each other for support.
“This can’t be happening,” Mac groaned, clinging to Ryan’s shirt. “Not now. Not after all these years.”
Ryan lifted her head from Mac’s hair and kissed a soft, warm ear. “I love you.”
Mac pulled away instantly. “Don’t talk like that! A…and don’t kiss me like that again. I….I’m in love with Stewart. You know that. We’re going to be married this spring.”
Ryan stood legs apart and arms folded. “No, you are not.”
Mac’s eyes flashed and her jaw clenched in anger. She reached for the bags that Ryan had taken from her and placed in the van. “Oh yes, I am!” With a toss of her hair, she went to walk past the tall, arrogant woman.
Ryan reached out and grabbed her arm in a strong grip. She leaned close. “You didn’t kiss me like you were in love with Stewy Fart-on.”
Dawn pulled her arm free and glared at Ryan with contempt. “His name is Stewart FarTON. I am marrying him and you can just go fuck yourself, Ryan Williams!” She stormed off and Ryan watched with eyes filled with hurt and worry.
After the initial family greetings, Aliki pulled her half sister, Robbie, into the back hall for a talk. “What’s Ryan doing here?”
Robbie’s face hardened. “She’s come home. She doesn’t have to give any reason for being here. I’m her mother and this is her home.”
Aliki was not to be sidetracked. “Is she here because Mac is planning to get married? Because if she is I don’t want your daughter fucking with my kid’s head and messing things up for her.”
Robbie couldn’t quite make eye contact with her sister, no matter how good an actor she was. She tried evasion. “I think we should let them sort it out for themselves.”
Immediately Aliki’s suspicions were confirmed. “She is, isn’t she. She’s here to cause trouble. Mac is engaged and Ryan needs to back off. If she really cared for Mac she wouldn’t have gone away.”
Two mothers protecting their own is never a good thing. The famous Williams’ temper rose to a boiling point in Robbie as Aliki dared to lecture her on good, moral behaviour. “Don’t you go down that road, you damn hypocrite. Who was kissing my wife while I was in prison, damn you?!”
Aliki snorted in frustration and met Robbie’s stare with equally cold eyes. “I didn’t know you then and I barely knew Janet. It was a kiss, a mistake, and past history and you know it. Don’t you fling that crap at me. It is not fair to Janet.”
Robbie, stiff with anger, felt her hands ball into fists. “Don’t you tell me…”
Both women started and turned to see Janet looking at them with worried and annoyed eyes. It was Aliki who first recovered. “Nothing. We were just discussing Ryan being home. I’d better go see what my family is up to.” Janet watched Aliki walk off, her body language tense and hostile. Her intelligent green eyes swung back to Robbie. Robbie squirmed. The eyes narrowed. “Well?”
“She wanted to know why Ryan is here. She thinks Ryan is going to mess things up for Mac and Stewart.”
Janet folded her arms and looked at her partner. “And is she?”
Robbie felt the heat of embarrassment and frustration creeping up her neck. “Yes. She doesn’t want Mac marrying him.”
Janet nodded. “And you told Aliki what?”
Robbie now blushed a deep red. She didn’t want Janet to know that she had brought up the night when Aliki, who had been supporting Janet and using her police skills to help prove Robbie innocent of murder, had made a play for Janet. “We argued. I told her to let the kids sort it out for themselves.”
Janet looked at Robbie thoughtfully for a few seconds. She had heard her name mentioned and she was worried as to why. Better not to push she concluded and moved forward to hug her partner close. There was no hesitation this time. Robbie returned the hug with need. Janet snuggled close. “I know we haven’t seen eye to eye this last few months but you do know I love you, don’t you, Robbie?”
“Yeah, I know you do, Lover.”
“Good. And you and Aliki stay out of the kids’ problems.”
“I didn’t start it!” Robbie protested, leaning back in Janet’s arms to see her face better.
Janet reached up and kissed her partner’s lips. “Good, and now it is finished.”
While Dawn and Mac were sorting things out in the kitchen, Reb gathered her courage and tackled Janet. “Mom?”
“Mmm?” Janet replied, her head inside the freezer as she looked for some ice cream.
“Looks like there is going to be a good size gathering of the clan tonight. Ahhh, Ian has asked me to the Community Centre Dance and I didn’t want to say yes until you had a chance to meet him. So I was wondering if I could phone him and invite him for dinner tonight.”
Janet crawled out of the freezer, ice-cream in hand, and smiled at her daughter. She hoped her nervousness did not show in her voice. Reb dating both pleased and scared the hell out of her. “Yes, of course you can, Sweetie. Aah, better warn him about your Obbie.”
Reb smiled with relief. Her mom was one cool lady. “I already have. And mom, don’t call me Sweetie while he is here, okay?”
Janet tried to look serious. “Okay, Rebecca.”
Reb nodded and then went in search of her big sister. She found her outside, throwing a stick for Dufus. “Mom said I can bring Ian to dinner.”
“Great, kid,” her sister replied without much interest. Her mind was on deeper, darker thoughts.
“Ryan, don’t pick a fight and don’t wear army boots okay?”
Ryan looked at her little sister in surprise. “I know how to behave! And I don’t clump around in army boots.”
Reb smiled, gave her sister a hug and went to find Obbie. This was the one that was going to be tricky. Obbie was in her study looking stormy and preoccupied. Most people would be reluctant to disturb T-Rob when she had that look on her face but not Reb. She went in and flopped into a chair.
Robbie looked up over her glasses. “You can’t have an advance on your allowance or the keys to the car.”
Reb smiled. “We are not in negotiation here. I have already won. Mom said I could invite Ian to dinner.”
Robbie went still and her expressive eyes flashed. “I think that is a good idea. I think I should meet this guy and talk to him. His name has come up once too often around here.”
Reb rolled her eyes. “Ian Fraser has asked me to the Thanksgiving Dance and I’m bringing him to dinner so you guys can meet him.”
Robbie felt her stomach twist into a knot. Reb had a date. She remembered Ryan’s first date and “The Talk”. The memory still made her break out in a sweat. “Aah, Reb, aah…”
Reb held up her hand. “Don’t say it! Promise me you will be good and not give him the third degree or insist on a blood test before he kisses me again.”
“Again?!”
“Obbie!”
Robbie crossed her arms and looked at her younger daughter with stubborn defiance written all over her face. Reb quickly went on. “Obbie, he is a real gentleman. He has taken a year off and is up here working with Forestry to earn money for university. At the moment, he is planting trees in the burnt-out areas. He wants to be a vet too. Please give him a chance. No rehearsing science fiction scripts on the railing and banishing a stick around threatening to slice him through, and no kissing mom in front of him.”
“You do hold a grudge. That unfortunate incident was years ago. And why can’t I kiss your mom? He does know that we are gay, doesn’t he?”
Reb ran her long, graceful fingers through her hair in frustration. “Obbie, the world knows about my famous family. I’d just rather he get used to you all – slowly. Just behave, please!”
Obbie rubbed her temple. A headache was coming on. So far this holiday gathering was not off to a great start. “If your mom has okayed it then I will be all charm and grace,”she promised and smiled weakly.
Reb got up and came around the desk to give her other mom a kiss on the cheek. “Just don’t scare him off. Meeting this family is hard enough without any of you acting more weird than you already are.”
Robbie waited until Reb had disappeared and then made a bee line to find Janet. She was with Dawn in the kitchen, Mac having been sent to cut some fall leaves for the table centrepiece.
“Who is this guy Reb is inviting?”
Janet looked up to see her partner in the doorway. “He’s an older man.”
Janet shrugged unhappily. “He’s eighteen and just finished his first year at Guelph University.”
“And you said she could go to the dance with this guy?! She’s just a kid.”
Janet turned from preparing the roast and looked at Robbie with annoyance. “Reb will be seventeen in a few months, Robbie. And I don’t think forbidding her from going to the dance is a good idea. We’ll set some guide lines and curfews and trust Reb to be responsible. As she often points out to us, my Olive, she is the only sane one in the family.”
“No teen is sane. They are not genetically programmed to act normal,” protested Robbie, flopping down on a kitchen chair and watching Dawn shell peas. Quick as lightening her hand shot out and scooped a few from the bowl to eat.
Dawn raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She didn’t want to get caught up in this discussion. She remembered vividly when Mac had started to date. She had practically had to hold Aliki down from tailing Mac and her date and she had a sneaky suspicion that Aliki had run police checks on some of them. The two sisters were very much alike in many ways.
“I don’t like it,” Robbie grumbled.
Janet came over and kissed Robbie’s head. “Olive, don’t judge all suitors by your wild behaviour at that age. If you had your way neither of our girls would have had a chance to date until they were thirty.”
Robbie eyed the bowl of peas gloomily and Dawn, feeling sorry for her, pushed the bowl closer. “Thirty is a good age to start dating.” She smiled, picking out a few more of the tender, sweet peas to eat.
Ryan had watched Mac from a distance. She had loved Mac since she was a kid. She just hadn’t been ready to make any sort of commitment. She had needed time and space to prove herself and she still needed time to finish her last goal before she was prepared to think about raising a family with someone.
The trouble was she wanted that someone to be Mac and it didn’t look like Mac was prepared to wait. Then there was this Stewy Fart-on. Was Mac really in love with him? Was she straight? Ryan’s jaw set in a determined line. One thing for sure was she meant to find out one way or the other.
By seven everything was in place for a nice family meal. The table was set for ten and sparkled in the candle and fireplace light with silver and glass. Most of the family were on the porch watching the last rays of light settle on the lake with before dinner drinks. Mac had disappeared into the kitchen on the excuse of checking on things as she was not feeling very sociable and Reb had gone to pick up Ian for what Robbie was calling the family inquisition.
After a few minutes, Ryan quietly slipped out too and followed Mac to the kitchen. She stood in the door way watching Mac fed Dufus a piece of turkey. “Just as spoilt as Rufus was, eh?”
Mac looked up in surprise then forced herself to relax. “Dufus isn’t too bad. Reb has a way with animals. Our Mopy, Dufus sister, was well trained by Aliki but she’s a terribly dumb animal, much to Aliki’s disgust. She’s so sweet though. Now the spoilt one of the litter is Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle David’s Quasar. That animal has no idea it is a dog. They have raised it as a spoilt child.
Ryan smiled, glad that Mac was not going to hold a grudge about the fight they’d had earlier. “I’d like a dog but it is just not possible at the moment.”
Mac nodded. “So now you have your doctorate what is the next step?”
Ryan looked over her shoulder to make sure no one had followed them. She had to pick her time carefully in telling her moms what she planned next. It was one of the reasons she had come home. There would be no keeping this quiet. “I am in the Canadian Space Program. I am training now for a shuttle flight and stay at the space station to do some research in two years’ time.”
Mac looked up with startled eyes, making eye contact with Ryan for the first time. Ryan could see the pride there but also the fear. “How long will you be gone? I mean, up there?”
“Probably three months.”
Mac smiled and nervously ran her hand through her hair. “I guess a dog isn’t a good idea. Another Williams about to make a name for herself, huh?” The laugh showed her nervousness as she turned to busy herself pouring the creamed peas into a china dish to place on a warming tray on the kitchen table. Elizabeth and David had arrived from their cottage about half an hour ago and Reb should be back any minute with Ian. Then they would eat.
“Mac, I am on leave for a month. I want to spend some time with you. You can’t deny that there was at one time something there between us. I think we need to be sure. I won’t push you…”
“Won’t push me!” Mac snorted, turning around with the bowl in her hand. “I have a month to fall in love with you and then you are going to take off to parts unknown to prepare for a trip into space, but no pressure here. Just fall in love with you and then step aside so you can get on with your life.”
“That was NOT what I meant!” Ryan hissed.
“It was just what you meant. Face it, Ryan, you are not capable of a meaningful relationship. It is all about proving yourself.”
Ryan felt her temper rising. Somehow Mac seemed to always get under her skin. She couldn’t think rationally when the woman was around. “Who made you the fucking wise woman on the mountain? You don’t know what I am capable of in terms of a relationship. I can tell you one thing for sure, I’ll give you a life of more passion and fun than Stewy Fart-on will ever be able to provide.”
Blue eyes sparkled with ice-fire as Mac ground her teeth in anger. “I told you not to call him that!”
It is not wise to bait a Williams. They can never let a challenge lie and Ryan was no exception. “What? Stewy Fart-on? That’s his name isn’t it?” The creamed peas came back at Ryan as fast as the words had left her mouth and she stood there in shock, dripping in the hot white sauce and peas.
There was a moment of shocked silence and then Ryan reached for Mac with lightening reflexes. She had meant simply to wash Mac’s face with the sauce that dripped down her but Mac danced away and slipped on the now pea and sauce splattered floor, fell, and crashed into the kitchen table that held two large warming trays laden with food. Things shifted and rattled and a plate of turkey went flying along with a bowl of roasted potatoes. Ryan went to help Mac who by now was so angry and embarrassed that she swatted Ryan away.
Janet walked in at that point with Dufus at her heel to see what had happened. “Okay, that is enough. You two are not tracking right.”
Dufus, who was on overload with the wonderful smells, had been nearly bouncing with excitement. The word “tracking”was all the excuse the dog needed. It was the command word that Reb used with him. With a bark of glee, the big dog leaped forwarded into the kitchen mess, sending the already wobbly table flying. Dishes crashed in all directions. The family came running in from the verandah.
Robbie was the first to arrive and saw the tea towel that Mac had dropped carelessly close to the burner smolder and flare. She hopped across the room and stamped it out. A cloud of smoke spread out and hung at shoulder level in the room. Meanwhile, Janet had tried to pull Dufus away and had slipped and fallen. Aliki, arriving next, had helped her up out of the mess and was holding her until she was sure she was alright. Robbie, who had been busy with the tea towel, turned to see Aliki holding Janet and in three steps was across the room. She pulled Janet away and sucker-punched Aliki with ten years of smoldering anger. Aliki, caught off guard, went sprawling, landing on Dufus, who in surprise snapped at Ryan. Ryan gave a howl of pain.
Elizabeth stopped in the doorway with David behind her. “Oh dear. David stop the family fighting while I let Dufus outside, “she ordered, totally confident that her David would sort things out. She carefully navigated around the debris to Dufus and grabbed the beast by the collar. David for his part, was wading through the smoke trying his best to separate the various warring fractions and calm everyone one down. Mac and Ryan were on the floor yelling at each other while Mac tried to stop the bleeding where Ryan had been nipped on the wrist. Janet was yelling at Robbie and trying to stop her from taking another swat at her sister. Dawn was helping Aliki up and trying to stop her from going after Robbie, and Dufus, having got over the shock of being landed on, was wolfing down slices of turkey before he had to give in to Elizabeth’s pull on his collar.
The door opened and Reb and Ian entered. Everyone froze and looked in their direction. There was a moment’s awkward silence. Then Reb said quietly, “Ian, this is my family – not necessarily on one of their better days. We don’t usually eat this informally.” At that point the smoke detector activated the kitchen sprinkler system, soaking everyone.
David had taken charge. The sprinkler system was turned off and the window opened to air the place and Dawn, Janet and Elizabeth were sent to get dry clothes for the family from the other houses. Ryan and Robbie, who could clean up and change at the house, were sent to do so and once Ryan’s wrist had been bandaged to cover the minor injury, they were ordered outside to chop enough wood for the next two years. Reb and Ian were dispatched to get enough pizza for ten and Aliki and Mac were left to help David clean up the mess.
“I didn’t mean to wreck everything,” Mac muttered. “I’m sorry.”
Aliki shovelled food onto a dustpan with a spatula. “I still don’t know what the hell happened. I think we really messed things up for Reb.”
David was busy picking up broken crockery and dropping it into a box. “I am not sure but I rather suspect that Reb enjoys complaining about the crazy nature of her family.” He looked with dismay into the box. “It is a shame it is the good set of serving dishes. I hate to see waste.”
Mac sniffled as she mopped the counters dry with a rag. “It’s just that Ryan won’t leave me alone. I am so confused!”
Aliki left what she was doing and came over and took her daughter in her arms. “Hey, don’t try to solve the issues before you have time to sort out your feelings.”
“What would you do, Aliki?” Mac asked, holding onto her aunt and adopted mom with need.
Aliki thought back to the discussions she’d had with Dawn and paraphrased as best she could. “I guess I’d have to decide what was more important: an unconventional and sometimes difficult life with someone I felt was my soul mate or a comfortable, secure life with someone I respected and loved because he loved me.”
Mac moaned in frustration. “I thought I had everything worked out.”
Aliki looked surprised. “Did you? It has been my experience that love is almost impossible to work out even after years of marriage. It is a totally irrational element that coexists in what is generally a very rational and conservative society.”
Mac giggled. “You sound like an anthropologist.”
Aliki laughed. “No, just a woman who has made all the mistakes in the book on her way to finding a wonderful partner and love. Look, Mac, Ryan is here. Don’t cut off your feelings because you feel you have made a commitment to someone else. Leave the door open and know for sure what you want, then you will have no regrets no matter what your decision is.”
“I feel I would be betraying Stewart if I did that”
Aliki considered this. “In a way, I guess, but better that than you marry him and then discover that your unhappiness is going to spread and destroy all of you. You don’t want to go through your life with a “what if”. You want to take your vows having no doubts that you are doing the right thing. Now come on, we have to get this mess cleaned up before the pizza arrives.”
Ryan stacked the wood as her mom chopped the cords into kindling. “We’re in big trouble,”she sighed.
“No, you are in trouble. I’m as good as dead.”
“Is Aunt Janet that mad at you for suckering Aliki?”
The axe shattered the wood with about twice as much force as was necessary. “She did mention something about me completely humiliating her before she stormed from the room.”
Ryan smiled unsympathetically. “You’re right, you’re dead. You won’t get any until you are too old to care.”
Robbie shot her daughter a dirty look. “Thanks. I knew I could count on you for understanding. So what is going on with you and Mac?”
Ryan sat down on the wood pile with a groan. “I am getting nowhere. The truth of the matter is Stewy…Stewart holds all the cards. He’s got a good job, he’s responsible and reliable, and he can provide her with children.” For a minute neither one of them spoke. Children were always a touchy issue in a lesbian relationship. “All I can offer her is my love and a promise that someday I’ll settle down in some sort of research job.”
Robbie tossed the split wood to Ryan, who caught it easily and placed it on the stack beside her. “You’re an officer, don’t you qualify for housing?”
“Yeah, but it isn’t as easy as that.” It was time to be completely honest with her mom. “I’m in the Canadian Space Program. I’m training for a mission that will be flown in two years’ time. I’ll be travelling back and forth between here and the United States training and then my mission will entail me staying at the space station for about three months.”
Robbie put the axe down and looked at her daughter. The silence was filled by the hammering of a woodpecker on a far off tree and the gentle lap of the lake at the shore. “You had this planned right from when you went away to university didn’t you?”
Ryan squirmed with guilt. “Pretty much.”
Robbie nodded. “I’m proud of you.” She went back to chopping the wood. She was proud of Ryan. Proud and scared of what the kid had planned but there was no way she was going to discourage her daughter in any way.
Ryan beamed. “Thanks.”
“Does Mac know this?”
The gloom returned to Ryan’s eyes. “I told her in the kitchen.”
Robbie tossed the pieces of kindling one by one and Ryan caught them, again placing them on the growing pile. “Is that why you got anointed with the creamed peas?”
“That started the argument. She feels I’m just taking a brief holiday from my life to fuck up hers and then I’ll be off again.”
Robbie frowned. “I can see why she would think that way. So why did she throw the peas at you?”
Ryan slipped from the wood pile and dusted off her blue jeans. “For calling her fiancé Stewy Fart-on.”
Robbie chuckled. “Dumb move kid.”
“So I discovered.”
As they drove, Janet had been venting about Robbie’s temper, her fear of Janet’s breast reconstruction surgery, and her ridiculous jealousy. She finally wore down as they arrived at her former home and now Elizabeth and David’s cottage. “I’m really sorry about going on and I feel terrible about Robbie hitting Aliki, Dawn.”
Dawn smiled and patted Janet’s knee. “It looked good on Aliki. The only thing hurt was her ego. Those two are so damn competitive. Don’t worry about it, Janet. There is no harm done. They are very close and love each other very much. They are just too pig-headed to admit it.”
Elizabeth blinked several times, still feeling rather dazed by the turn of events. “I don’t think I have ever witnessed a brawl before. Isn’t it amazing how quickly they can erupt. Thank heaven David was there. He is so good and can turn his hand to anything.”
Janet and Dawn looked at each other and tried not to smile. Dawn turned off the engine and opened her door. “I don’t know if that could really be classified as a brawl, Lizzy, more of a food fight.”
Elizabeth got out and nodded her understanding and Janet slid out after her. “It was another Olive event,”she sighed, “And my Olive is going to be paying big time for it.”
Reb drove and Ian sat beside her in shock. “What do you suppose happened back there?” he finally asked.
Reb shrugged. “Hard to say, no doubt we’ll hear the whole story over pizza, that is if you still want to have dinner with us.” She had asked casually but to be truthful she was pretty worried about how Ian was going to take this.
Ian laughed. “And miss the next exciting instalment? Not on your life!”
Reb frowned. “Ian, aahh, the family does not like publicity, at least not that kind. We are private people although you wouldn’t know that by the press coverage. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about today.”
Ian looked at his girlfriend in surprise. “I wouldn’t gossip about your family, Reb. I haven’t even told my parents who you are. I have to admit it was a bit of a shock to discover that you are one of THE Williams. To be truthful I am not sure what you see in me.”
Reb took her eyes off the road for a second to flash him a smile. “Well, for one thing I’ve known you over two months now and you haven’t started a food fight yet.”
They laughed and some of the tension vanished. “So who were all those people?”
“Hmmm, lets see. The one wearing the creamed peas was my sister Doctor and Major Ryan Williams. The one bandaging her wrist calling her names was my cousin, MacKenzie. Her mom, the author Dawn Freeman, was the one holding onto the woman with the black eye. That’s her partner, Doctor and Inspector Aliki Pateas of the RCMP. The tall angry one, I am afraid to admit, is my mother the actor-director Robbie Williams, and the woman wearing the smashed potatoes on her back side trying to talk some sense into her is my other mom, Janet Williams. She’s the president of the Bartlett School of Film and Animation. The woman battling with the dog over the remains of the turkey was my aunt, Doctor Elizabeth Williams, the physicist, and the man trying his best to bring order to the chaos is my Uncle David. He’s married to my Aunt Elizabeth.”
“Ugly dog.”
“Yeah, but a great tracker if there are no squirrels about.”
“An amazing family.”
“They’re all nuts.”
“That too.”
By ten o’clock, the kitchen had been cleaned, everyone had showered and changed into clean clothes and Thanksgiving pizza had been eaten. Ian had survived Robbie’s third degree and seemed to have got a temporary Good Housekeeping seal of approval. He had formally asked Janet if he could take Reb to the dance and she had agreed on the understanding that he have her home by eleven. Most of them were now lounging in various places in the livingroom in front of the huge stone fireplace catching up on family news.
Robbie had followed Aliki into the kitchen on the pretense of getting more beer. ” Aaah, I shouldn’t have hit you. Is your eye okay?”
Aliki pulled some cold beer from the wine and beer cooler that Robbie had in the pantry. “Yeah, it’s okay. So what the hell is the matter with you?”
Robbie blushed. “Janet and I…well, we haven’t seen eye to eye on this breast reconstruction thing. She doesn’t trust me. She doesn’t think I understand.”
Aliki twisted the top off a bottle and handed it to her sister then opened one for herself. “Do you understand?”
“I understand why she feels she needs to go through this process – I guess. I just can’t handle it very well. If anything happened to Janet…” Robbie swallowed and couldn’t go on.
Aliki frowned. “Dawn and I have been in a similar situation. My work can be dangerous and as you know I’ve been hurt and Dawn and Mac have been in danger more than once.”
Robbie nodded. This was an understatement. There had been a number of close calls for all of them. She remembered vividly sitting with Dawn while Aliki’s life balanced on a thread and dealing with Aliki’s breakdown after. “Yeah, I know.”
Aliki blushed, still embarrassed about her emotional breakdown even after ten years. “Dawn and Mac came to terms with the danger much more quickly than me. I felt I had to go it alone and protect my family at all costs. I was wrong. You want to protect the ones you love but you also have to give them room to take chances and do what they feel is right. This partnership thing, I’ve discovered, is all about love and commitment without boundaries or ownership.”
Robbie ran her hand through her hair. “Janet and I haven’t talked about it yet but I know there is more surgery to come. I don’t know how I am going to get through it.”
“Is there any real danger?”
“No, not really. It’s just that I can’t stand the hospital. Knowing Janet is vulnerable again…” Tears welled up in Robbie’s eyes and she wiped them away with annoyance.
Aliki came over and wrapped an arm around her sister. The fear of cancer had always been there for them right from the start of their relationship and that must be hard. “Janet’s going to be fine. You gotta believe that just like I have to believe that my family will be able to handle any danger that my job might bring their way. There are enough problems that we all have to face without looking for more.”
Robbie swallowed hard and then revealed a big part of her soul to Aliki. “Janet made my life work. Before her I was so unhappy. I can’t go it alone again.”
Aliki felt for her sister and pulled her in for a quick hug. “First, that is not going to happen. Janet is well and strong and will out live you for sure considering the way you abused your body in your wild days,”she teased. “Second, you are not alone anymore. You have family and we are all here to get you through the rough times. Now come on, people are waiting for their drinks. And Robbie?”
“Hit me again and I’ll knock your block off.”
Ryan had stayed on the edge of the group talking quietly with Elizabeth about her research until David had come to get his wife to show her how much Dufus had grown compared to their beloved Quasar. Then she had just sat quietly in the shadows, enjoying being near her family again but feeling embarrassed about ruining the Thanksgiving dinner.
After a while Mac came over and sat near her. “Hi.”
Mac wasn’t sure how to approach this. “Did you really come back because I got engaged?”
Ryan looked away but nodded. “The time was right. I’d achieved what I felt I had to achieve to prove myself and I knew I had to tell my family about the mission before they heard it on the news. I knew you’d all be here…the time was just right. I’d put it off because I didn’t know what sort of a reaction I would get coming home after all this time. But knowing you were engaged…I just had to know.”
Mac couldn’t look at Ryan. She stared over at her family. “I have always loved you, Ryan. I think of you as my soul mate but you went away and you were gone for so long.”
Ryan’s voice sounded hurt and bitter. “I wrote and emailed you all the time!”
Mac snorted. “About work, not love. And I could read between the lines; you had some relationships.”
Ryan blushed. “Nothing serious.” She swallowed hard. It was none of her business but it was eating at her and she needed to know. “Are you sleeping with him?”
“No. I haven’t slept with anyone.”
They sat in silence after that and after a while Mac reached out and took Ryan’s hand. Their fingers intertwined but neither of them said anything or went any farther.
Reb was sitting on the couch with Ian, a jealous Dufus wedged between them on the rug. “Uncle David, we were talking to Ted about the old mine shaft down lover’s lane. Do you know anything about it?” Robbie shot Ian a murderous look and Reb quickly went on. “I haven’t been there but Ryan told me about it.”
It was Janet who answered. “Oh God, not the old mine shaft again!”
David chuckled. “Go on, Janet, you are in a better position to tell them.”
Janet rolled her eyes. “Reb as you know your great grandfather was a gambler. He and Ted, that was David’s grandfather, were good buddies and the town con men. Whenever they were down on their luck they would spread the rumour about a meteorite hitting up there and the river running gold after. Then they would sell shares in the mine. There must be hundreds of people with shares in that worthless mine.”
“So what sort of a mine is it?” Reb persisted.
Janet shrugged. “Granddad always said it was an Algonquian First Nations’ site.”
Mac looked up with sudden interest. “We have to go.”
“I’m in,” Dawn said, having had an interest in First Nations’ folk lore and particularly an interest in the Salish because her adopted daughter, MacKenzie’s natural mother had been a Salish woman.
“Caves, cool, I’m game.” Robbie beamed, always ready for an adventure.
Mac looked at Ryan who smiled and nodded. “We’re in on the expedition.”
“I have tomorrow off. If you are going then I’d sure like to go along,” Ian said a little nervously.
“Oh course you are welcome, Ian,” Robbie said smiling, and saw Reb beam with delight.
David made things easy for Elizabeth. “Well, you lot enjoy. Lizzy has a paper she needs to be working on and I plan on doing some repairs around the cottage. Pop by on your way out tomorrow and I’ll have a picnic lunch for you to take and we’ll see that there is a dinner for you when you get back.”
“Thanks, David. Could you take Dufus and Moppy for the day as well?” Aliki asked.
“No problem. Quasar will enjoy the company.”
The only one who looked worried was Janet. She didn’t say anything but she wasn’t sure about the mine at all. Her granddaddy had always said it was haunted. Not that she believed in any of that stuff but childhood beliefs can often haunt an adult.
It was late at night and the family members had drifted back to their various homes. Ian had left earlier right on eleven to show he could be a responsible and trustworthy date for Reb. He had liked Reb’s family although he was in a bit of a daze about spending an evening with so many famous and rich people. He thought about his parent’s modest little subdivision bungalow. It would nearly fit inside the Williams’ livingroom and kitchen. His dad worked as a floor manager in a small plastics factory and his mom had a job as a secretary in a school. What would it be like to take Reb home to meet his family?
It had been kind of weird too to be in a room that was mostly filled with lesbian women. He found, however, that in a very short time he had just forgotten about it. Who people were sleeping with was really not such a big deal as people made it out to be. He wondered how his family would react. He knew his parents were pretty liberal minded but they were of the generation that often confused bigotry for righteousness.
Mac had stayed on after her parents had left and she and Ryan had gone for a walk down to the lake. The night was clear and the stars hung close and brightly reflected in the still water. The air was fresh and crisp and Ryan hesitantly put her arm around Mac to share body heat as they sat on the wood bench by the dock.
“Wouldn’t being gay ruin your chances at getting a place on a shuttle flight? I mean, I would think NASA is very careful of its public image,” Mac asked.
Ryan squirmed with embarrassment. “I have to stay pretty much in the closet publicly. But there has been speculation in the tabloids over the years about my orientation. I just don’t deny or confirm the rumours. It is hard to have a private life when you are a Williams. People are watching to see if I can live up to the name.”
“Does that bother you?”
“I don’t know if bother is the right word. I am driven by a need to prove myself for many reasons, you know that.” Ryan wanted to be honest but she also needed some breathing space. She wasn’t used to heart to heart talks. She changed the subject. “How is the Master’s Degree going?”
Mac understood and let the conversation take a new turn. “Well. I’m just about finished my thesis on how Greek mythology has shaped our modern concept of the super hero. I hope to have my degree by the spring.”
“Marriage was the next thing on the list,” Mac stated and felt Ryan stiffen. “Then I think I want to write like my Mom. I’ve already had a few short stories published in magazines.”
Ryan got up and walked to the end of the dock to stare at the heavens. Someday soon she would be up there, free floating on the edge of the universe. It was something she had wanted since she was a child. She turned to look at Mac. “If it would make a difference, I will drop out of the Space Program and ask mom to lend me the money to buy out my commission.”
Mac looked up in shock. “I would never ask that of you, Ryan. I know how much it means to you to reach your goals your own way.”
Steady green eyes looked into blue. “I know you wouldn’t ask. I am offering to do so because there is nothing in this world more important to me than winning your love.”
Mac stood up and walked over to Ryan, hugging her close. “You have always had my love, Ryan. Always. I am just not sure that is enough. I am not sure if this is just another Williams who has to win at all costs and will lose interest once she does. I’m not sure if you really do love me.”
Ryan swallowed hard. “How do I prove to you then that I love you?”
“I don’t know. I’m pretty confused at the moment, Ryan. You coming back has really turned my world upside down.”
Mac leaned her head against Ryan’s chest and could feel her strong heart beating steadily. It felt right in Ryan’s arms, far more so than when she was being held by Stewart. She wasn’t sure that she and Ryan could ever make something work between them. She knew one thing for sure now, she wasn’t going to marry Stewart because if only for tonight she wanted to know what it was like to have Ryan make love to her. She wanted Ryan to be the one, not Stewart.
“Ryan?”
“Mmmm?”
“Make a fire in the boathouse fireplace and then make love to me, please.”
Ryan wanted it to be perfect. Mac was giving her a wonderful gift and she meant to show her just how much she was loved. Ryan got a good fire going and while she waited for the chill and dampness to leave the room she lit some candles, turned on some soft music and closed the bolt on the door so they couldn’t be disturbed. She was as nervous as if this was her first time.
Mac was nervous too. She watched Ryan move about the room with hungry but also embarrassed eyes. She had often dreamed of this moment but now it was here it was so real, so intense it was scary as hell. The room above the boathouse was large and beautifully decorated with a small bar, and comfy, overstuffed furniture. Sliding doors led onto a small balcony and beyond the lake and stars blended into one.
Ryan came over with two glasses of wine and they sat close looking out at the night in silence as they drank. Then Ryan put down her glass and stood, offering MacKenzie her hand. Mac rose and Ryan took her into her arms and swayed against her to the sound of the music. Mac’s hands ran up the front of Ryan’s shirt and wrapped around her neck, her fingers gently playing with the hair at the nape of Ryan’s neck. She felt her soldier shiver with desire and decided that she liked very much that she could get that reaction from Ryan. She could feel herself wet with need.
They moved well together, bodies close and movements intimate. Finally, Ryan stopped and stepped back. She did not speak but instead used American Sign, Mac’s first language. She signed confidently and Mac blinked back the tears that Ryan would have learned and maintained this skill for her.
“I have loved you from the moment you came into my life. I have waited for the day when we were each old enough and ready to share this very special moment. You are beautiful down to the centre of your soul. I know in my heart that you are the one that I am meant to be with.” Then much to Mac’s surprise, Ryan dropped to one knee and signed. “I do not want you to answer yet because I know you need time but I need you to know before we go any farther. I love you. Will you marry me?”
Before Mac could react, she stood and gently pulled Mac close again, dancing slowly to the smouldering music. Mac cried a little, then nestled into Ryan’s arms. This was a gentle, loving Ryan that she had never really seen before. She dropped kisses on Ryan’s neck. Ryan looked down at her and her head lowered. The kiss was fire spreading passion to the wet, warm folds of her being. She was swollen and ready to the point where the need was a hurt.
Ryan was in no better shape. With trembling hands she undressed Mac slowly and her trim, golden form standing in the firelight made Ryan squirm with desire. She stepped back, reluctantly breaking contact and slowly removed her own clothes and heard the gasp of pleasure as Mac’s hungry eyes looked at her well toned and lean form.
Ryan stepped close again and the touch of their naked bodies together made them both moan with need. Dancing now as they explored each other with touches and kisses, Ryan was very aware of Mac’s excitement wet on her thigh. She couldn’t stand it any longer and stooped and picked Mac up into her arms, carrying her to the day bed. Her body lowered between the spread legs of the woman she loved and she felt the warm moisture of wet hair against her belly. “I love you. I want to make love to you. Is that still okay?” she whispered.
For an answer, Mac wrapped her legs around Ryan and reached up to capture her mouth with her own. She heard Ryan’s soft growl of need as their tongues explored – entering each other’s being, foreshadowing what was to come.
Ryan’s voice came softly as she slowly let Mac get used to the touches, the feel, and the scent of her. She nuzzled at Mac’s ear and the soft underside of her throat.”There is always a faint scent of mountain herbs to your hair. I remember your youthful body and how it used to turn me on but those memories did not prepare me for the beauty of the woman you have become.” Ryan’s lips kissed small breasts, teasing the hard nipples with her tongue and letting her hands stroke and fondle soft, warm flesh.
“Oh Ryan,” Mac moaned, bucking with need under the hard lean form.
Ryan’s hands stayed on Mac’s breasts but her head lowered, dropping kisses on a tight stomach and using her tongue to tease Mac’s navel. “I am going to make you mine, lover. I’m going to enter you slowly and gently and do everything I can to make you feel all the love that I have for you. You excite me. Your soul lies gently with mine. This is right.” As she whispered soft words of love and comfort Ryan slid down Mac’s body and enjoyed for the first time the feel and taste of Mac’s sex.
Her tongue caressed a swollen bud of desire and slipped between moist, hot lips to taste Mac’s need. She felt the petite woman shudder with want and slowly she started to slip her two fingers into warm velvet. When she felt resistance she stopped and gave Mac pleasure with the rhythmic movement of her hand.
“Mac?” she asked.
“Take me. Take me,”came the soft answering moan.
Ryan pushed through and sensed Mac’s pain, holding her close until it passed. Then she moved within her again. Slowly, gently, in the rhythm of love, she built the tension between them, whispering words of passion and need into the most intimate places of Mac’s being. With a cry, Mac grabbed Ryan tight and went over the top in a long shudder of release. Ryan remained in her, feeling the contraction of her muscles around her fingers as the aftershocks still coursed through her lover’s being. “I love you. I have always loved you and I always will,” Ryan whispered and kissed the wet, warm sex of the only lover she ever really wanted.
They lay like that for sometime and then slowly, reluctantly Ryan withdrew from the warm centre of Mac’s being. “You okay?” she asked, softly.
Mac looked at Ryan, now her lover. “I am a whole new person and I feel wonderful.” She reached up and kissed Ryan’s lips tasting herself there. The thought of where those lips had been just a short time ago rocketed sensations low into her being. “You are amazing.”
Gently, Mac slipped down underneath Ryan’s form, kissing and sucking on hard nipples and feeling her lover’s hard muscles contract as she kissed along her abdomen. Then she was where she wanted to be. She wrapped her arms around her lover’s thighs and buried her face in Ryan’s sex. Ryan on hands and knees bucked with want as Mac’s ate at her. Then fingers were pushed into her being and Ryan rode them as her lover enjoyed her sex. With a cry of release Ryan sat up contracting around fingers deep inside her. She was kneeing now over Mac’s breasts her passion wetting Mac’s hard nipples. With one last shudder she collapsed beside Mac totally spent.
Much to Aliki’s surprise she woke to the smell of fresh brewed coffee. It wasn’t often that she wasn’t the first one up in the morning. Blurry eyed, she slipped into sweats and ran a comb through her hair before heading into the kitchen. Mac met her in the doorway and gave her a big hug and then poured her a mug of coffee. “You were so right, Aliki. Thank you.”
Aliki smiled not sure what she was right about but glad that Mac was happier this morning.
“Good. ‘Bout what?” she mumbled sleepily, taking a sip of the morning brew.
“Sleeping with Ryan.”
Aliki choked and Mac rushed to pat her on her back. “What!?” Aliki managed to squeak out between gasps.
“I just got home. I stayed with Ryan last night.”
Aliki held up a hand and bounced about the kitchen in a near panic. “I never told you to do that!”
Mac laughed. “Mom said you wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
“Your mother knows! You didn’t tell her I told you to sleep with Ryan did you!” Horror was written all over Aliki’s face at the thought of having to explain this one to her partner. “Because I didn’t!”
Mac considered this. She was enjoying seeing her usually composed Mom in a state of total panic. “Well, not in so many words,”she conceded. “But you did tell me to be sure.”
Aliki sank to a chair feel weak and shaky. “Are you okay?”
Mac smiled gently and came over and wrapped her arms around Aliki. She’d teased enough. “It was the most wonderful moment of my life. I love her very much and if it hadn’t been for you I would have been too stubborn and hurt to see that.”
Aliki’s hands came up to pat Mac’s. “That’s the way it should be. So where do you go from here?”
Mac sat down and pulled her own mug of coffee over. “That’s a tough one. Ryan has asked me to marry her. I haven’t answered yet. I think I owe it to Stewart to end that relationship before I make any decisions with Ryan. I’m not sure whether Ryan and I are ready for a permanent commitment.”
“Aah, how did your Mom take all this?” Aliki asked weakly, still in a state of shock.
Dawn came in then with Moppy on a leash and their old cat Sally-slurp following along behind. “I told MacKenzie that I was very relieved to have her following her heart instead of settling for conformity.”
Moppy ran forward and stuck her big orange head under Aliki’s arm demanding attention and almost knocking Aliki’s mug of coffee over. “Dumb dog,” Aliki muttered affectionately, scratching the dog’s floppy ear. Sally-slurp jumped up and curled contentedly in Mac’s lap.
Dawn came over and kissed Aliki’s head and then joined them at the table. “You need to go wash up, Aliki. Ryan is coming over at eight to talk to us.”
The look on Aliki’s face was priceless but neither woman laughed until after Aliki had hurried off to shower. Mac’s eyes looked thoughtful. “I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment if I thought I could have the relationship you have with Aliki.”
Dawn tried to be diplomatic. “Ryan has a brilliant mind, she’s talented, and a hard worker, and I am sure she loves you.”
Mac’s sighed. “Oh she is all that alright, but she is also quick tempered, moody, driven, and totally confident that what she wants is right.”
Dawn chuckled. “She is a Williams. But Janet seems to be able to handle Robbie with no problem.”
Mac played with her now empty cup. “That’s because Aunt Obbie believes that without Janet she would totally fuck-up. I don’t have that leverage over Ryan. I’m going to have to live in the background while Ryan trains and flies off into space.”
Dawn’s eyes widened in mock shock. “Then more fool you! If Ryan is getting on with her goals then so should you. A commitment to someone does not mean that you can’t have a life of your own. Ryan has five years to serve, you use those five years to make something of yourself. If you think you can make something work with Ryan it had better be an equal partnership or you will soon get to hate her.”
Exactly at eight Ryan drove into the yard. Mac went out to meet her and they kissed holding each other close. Dawn watched from the window. It seemed so right and natural and yet she knew the decision to live an alternative life style was not an easy one. Still in Ryan’s arm’s Mac looked relaxed and happy. In Stewart’s arms, she had always looked like an unhappy, little girl clinging to her big brother.
Aliki came up beside Dawn. “I never told her to sleep with Ryan,”she protested.
Dawn smiled. “I know, Sweetheart. You just gave her the push she needed to take a chance on love.”
Aliki frowned. “What if it doesn’t work out?”
“Then it doesn’t. No what ifs, isn’t that what you told her?”
Aliki nodded.
They sat down in the morning room and waited for their daughter and Ryan. Dawn’s heart went out to the two of them when they walked in looking so happy and holding hands. Ryan clearly had raided her mom’s wardrobe for the occasion. She was wearing pressed black dress pants and a brushed cotton grey dress shirt.
“Good morning,” Ryan said formally, not able to hide her smile behind her formal manner. “I asked Mac if I could come here this morning because I wanted to tell you that I love your daughter and that I have asked her to consider marrying me. I hope you would feel comfortable in giving your blessing.”
“Oh course we would, Ryan,” Dawn said smiling before Aliki could say anything. “We want Mac to be happy. Come and sit down.
“We like you very much, Ryan. I think what we are going to ask is that you give Mac time to work things out. She is engaged to someone else as you know.” Ryan looked stormy and her hand tightened around Mac’s. “Mac needs time to be sure and to settle things in a way that will be kind and fair.”
Ryan nodded. “I understand.”
Aliki looked at Ryan with new respect. Ryan had grown up and the woman had control and better understanding of others. She had lost her chippy attitude. “You have to accept whatever decision Mac makes, Ryan,” Aliki warned.
Ryan looked up with calm, sincere eyes. “I could never accept that I am not the one for Mac. I have always known in my soul that we were meant to be, but I give you my word that I will respect Mac’s decision.”
Aliki smiled and reached out and squeezed Ryan’s shoulder. She liked the woman. She liked the old fashioned way she had come and asked for their approval. Stewart had not done that. He had merely announced that he had given Mac a ring and that they were engaged as if Aliki and Dawn should be thrilled.
Mac smiled. The approval of her parents was important to her. She thought of the discussions she’d had with Stewart about the awkwardness of her parents being lesbians and smiled. There wasn’t really any need for awkwardness, that was just the outer trappings of bigotry. Today felt so much better.
It was time to let Ryan off the hot seat Dawn decided. “Well, if we are all meeting at ten to go explore the cave then we’d better get a move on.” Ryan went home to change, and the Pateas family quickly got ready.
When Ryan walked into the morning room of her parent’s house three pairs of Williams’ eyes looked up at her filled with curiosity. “You are wearing my clothes,” Robbie observed with a raise to her eyebrow.
Ryan nodded and licked her lips. This was harder than talking to the Pateas clan and that had been hard enough. “I went to ask for Mac’s hand in marriage,” she admitted.
Everyone looked at her in stunned silence. “Mac has stopped throwing dinner at you and has agreed to marry you?” Reb asked in exaggerated disbelief.
Ryan blushed. “Not exactly. I have asked Mac to marry me and we’ve – expressed our love to each other. Mac has things to work out yet. I…I’m trying not to push her.”
Janet smiled. “Don’t you think asking for her parent’s approval is pushing it a bit?”
Ryan shifted from one foot to the other. She knew she was glowing red with embarrassment. Her family was not making it easy. “I…I just wanted to do things right.”
Reb giggled. “Did you get down on your knees or did you just wear creamed peas?”
“Funny kid. Your turn will come.”
Janet looked at the clock. ” You’d better go change. Ian will be here soon and then we’ll need to head over to the Potts.”
With relief Ryan made her escape and headed off to change. A few minutes later, a soft tap came at her door. It was her mom. The two women looked at each other and then Robbie took her daughter in her arms. “You are quite the woman. I am so happy for you. I couldn’t think of a better daughter-in-law to have.”
“Thanks mom. She hasn’t said yes yet though.”
“She will. She couldn’t find anyone who would love or care for her better than you would.”
“I gotta tell you that was the scariest thing I have ever done.”
Robbie chuckled and let go of her daughter. “Understood. Been there, done that.” Her face went serious. “This is your home. You remember that and you and Mac are always welcome here. We will support you in anyway we can. Now hurry up. Ian is here and we are about ready to go.”
With the three dogs running around the Potts backyard and David’s picnic lunch stored in two knapsacks, the family headed off in the Pateas van and Ryan’s jeep to explore the mine. They bumped slowly down Lover’s Lane and came out in the clearing. Everyone piled out and there was a good deal of joking about Ian being the only male in the group. With smirks and knowing looks, the women all passed him their knapsacks, canteens, ropes, and other equipment until he was nearly buried in the stuff.
Ian took it all in his stride and spreading his legs and folding his arms he laughed. “Hey, you can’t all be femmes there have to be at least a few dykes amongst you. Besides, I am more into swinging from vines and pounding on my chest than lifting and bearing.” He wouldn’t have believed a few days ago that he could have said something like that to Reb’s parents but the family had quickly put him at ease and were so open and natural about their relationships that in a very short time he simply had accepted a different world view.
“Wouldn’t you know, ladies, we gotta help the guy,” Robbie laughed, and everyone came and picked up their stuff for the expedition.
The mine shaft went straight down about twenty feet and then seemed to tunnel out north from there. One by one they each rappelled down the rocky sides until they were crowded in at the base. Robbie and Janet led the way down the tunnel of rock. It was about two metres wide and four high and seemed to be more of a natural fissure in the rock than a man made tunnel although here and there they could see that it had been widened. The roof above their heads was sometimes rock and other times just a mass of roots and dirt. In places pencil-thin beams of sunlight penetrated the gloom.
Behind Robbie and Janet came Reb and Ian, then Aliki and Dawn and at the back were Ryan and Mac. Slowly, they followed the fault along for fifty metres or so. “This must have been open to the sky back a hundred years ago,” Aliki commented.
Janet moved her light over the rock walls on either side of them. “It’s certainly no mine.”
“Maybe it’s a sink hole that washes out through this fissure,” Ian suggested.
Reb laughed. “Or that is where great-granddad’s meteorite hit.”
Dawn flashed her flashlight across the pebble and rock floor. “Look!” To their amazement, the uneven path shone with bits of gold.
“Wow!” Reb whispered.
Janet laughed. “Fools gold. Pyrite. So this was the river of gold. I wonder how many people got suckered in by those two old coots tale of riches.”
Ian looked around carefully. “You can see a water line here on the rock. I’m thinking maybe a stream runs through here in the spring with the winter run off. That is probably what washes out the mineral deposits.”
Janet sighed. “One thing is for sure, too many people got suckered with dreams of gold. I see light up ahead.” They moved on but several of them picked up some of the pyrite as a souvenir.
Dawn looked at Aliki and winked. Years ago her uncle had found gold in the Swan Hills of Alberta. The nuggets he had panned had made Dawn rich. They didn’t talk about it though. First, because they did not want the beauty of the area destroyed by miners and second, because Aliki was a little sensitive about the fact that she drew a very middle class salary for her work as a forensic anthropologist while many of the other members of her family, including her partner, were very rich. Dawn gave her partner a hug. There wasn’t enough gold in the world to replace the one she loved.
They had to take off their packs and wedge sideways to get through the long thin crack in the rock that sloped on about a forty-five degree angle. Squeezing out one by one, they found themselves on a small grassy ridge. In front of them, the cliff dropped off sharply to join hills of tall pines that undulated to the shores of Lake Superior way below. The view was simply beautiful. A hundred metres behind them the cliff rose again ten or fifteen metres to a ridge of pines reaching for the sky.
“Awesome place!” Reb concluded and they all agreed.
The cliff that rose behind them was not made of the granite rock that they had found the fault line in but appeared to be made of layers of sand stone and shale. “An old shore line or lake bottom that got lifted up at some time,” Ryan suggested, based on her one geology course at university years ago. “It is certainly lift and fold geological action. See how the stratification isn’t horizontal but is on almost a forty-five degree angle and look, are they mine shafts?”
The others looked where Ryan was pointing. They could see the normally horizontal layers of rock were on a sharp angle and that ten or fifteen dark spots on the cliff face indicated the entrance to caves or tunnels.
“Yes!”laughed Robbie, nearly bouncing with glee. “Ladies and token male, pick your cave and let the fun begin!”
They spent several hours checking out the low caves and tunnels, for some of them proved to be natural while others had been mined. Then they stopped for lunch. The conversation was the usual banter of Williams’ wit. Mac, however, was quieter than usual. Ryan kept glancing at her wondering what she was thinking and hoping against hope that Mac was not going to turn her down. As soon as the picnic was over and couples started to break up to tackle the higher caves, Ryan whispered into Mac’s ear. “I love you. Please don’t leave me.”
Mac looked up, startled to see the worry in Ryan’s eyes. “Ryan…I’m sorry…I wasn’t thinking about us.”
Ryan’s face crumbled into misery. “Oh.”
“No silly, I was thinking about the shaman cave.”
“What shaman cave?”
“Ryan! Aunt Janet’s granddad’s shaman cave.”
Ryan snorted. “By all accounts, my great granddad wouldn’t have known the truth if it was squeaking under his foot!”
Mac laughed and took Ryan’s arm. “I know he could tell a good story but it seems to me there is always a grain of truth in what the old guy said. There was a hole in the ground. It’s just that it was a sink hole not a meteor crater. There was a river of gold, but it’s pyrite. So I figure there is a First Nation site too – of some sort.”
Ryan rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, you have to find it.”
“Of course. If it is a place of the ancestors, a sacred place, then I want to see it”
Ryan opened her mouth to say something then saw the intensity of the conviction in Mac’s face and thought better of it. Learning about and respecting Mac’s mixed heritage was something she was going to have to do. “Okay. Where are we going to look?”
Mac looked out over the panoramic view of Lake Superior far below. “I’m going over the cliff.”
“No you’re not!”
Mac looked at her. Ryan squirmed as warring emotions argued it out in her head. When she spoke it sounded peevish. “I suppose you are going to tell me the Salish are natural climbers from living on the edge of the Rockies for thousands of years.”
“No. I’m going to remind you I have my advanced certificate in rock climbing,” stated Mac pointedly. “I am qualified to instruct and I have paramedic training.”
Ryan felt the embarrassment climbing up her face. “Sorry.” She hesitated and then went on. “I might need some instruction.”
Devilment flashed in Mac’s eyes. “In rock climbing or tact?”
Ryan laughed. “Can we start this conversation again. “You think the Shaman cave is over the cliff, why?”
“Because it would show courage to get there and that is important.” Mac moved over to the edge carefully and dropped down on her stomach to look over the side. The vertigo hit with force and she felt like she was sliding off the edge. Then she felt Ryan’s strong capable hands on her legs.
“Thanks Ryan.” Mac gave herself a few seconds to get used to the drop under her and then scanned the cliff face. It didn’t take long to find the spot. She could still see the faint traces of red ochre of pictographs. “We are going to need a rope.”
Reb and Ian had followed Dawn and Aliki up a rock chimney. Backs against the one rock face and feet braced against the other, they wiggled crab style up about twenty feet to a large, relatively flat ledge. The old wood supports not far inside the mouth showed that this cave had been mined and fairly extensively. Carefully, checking for cracks every so often, they moved deeper into the cave. It went in nearly twenty metres in a fairly straight line. Here and there they could see chippings along the side or cold drill bores where the miners had taken samples or had planned to branch off in other directions.
Reb found an iron hammer chisel and farther on Dawn found a rusty old oil lantern. Having come to the end without any further discoveries they made their way back down.
Janet and Robbie had chosen a cave farther along than the others but it turned out to be only a short passage. On the way down, however, Robbie pointed out a dark, low recess almost completely covered by bushes some distance away from the other caves. They had traversed the rock face carefully making their way over to the spot. The opening was several metres wide but less than a metre high so they had crawled in on their bellies side by side.
“Watch your plastic balloon thingy,” Robbie cautioned.
Janet rolled her eyes although in the sudden darkness Robbie couldn’t see. “What is the point, Robbie Williams, of getting breast reconstruction if you are going to keep reminding me I have an implant.”
“Sorry…but be careful.”
Janet gave her lover a poke. When Robbie decided to worry about something she gave it the same intensity that she did everything else. Janet moved her flashlight beam around in a slow arc. The cave was large inside, about the size of a standard livingroom. The two women crawled forward and stood up. The blackness seemed to fight back the light from their torches. Cutting the darkness in slices, they could see that the cave had been used over the years as a shelter. Smoke blackened rock and bits of charred wood marked several old fire pits. On the far side the rock rose sharply. Here someone had used charcoal to express their discouragement on the rocky wall. ‘No gold, No money, No luck. Haunted. Moran 1898.’
They circled the cave carefully but there was nothing else to see until Robbie discovered that a narrow crevice high on the far side led into another chamber. She crawled up and stuck her arm and head through so she could look around.
“It’s another chamber, Janet. Come see.”
Janet crawled up and Robbie moved aside so her partner could have a look. “It looks about the same size as this one. Lower though. It looks like quite a drop.”
“About five feet and then a steep bank down to the cave floor. I think we can do it. Do you want to try?”
Robbie slipped through feet first and got herself balanced on the steep embankment. “You’ll have to be careful, Janet. It’s slippy and muddy.”
“Okay.” Janet wiggled through, being careful of her implant although she certainly was not about to admit that to Robbie. She felt Robbie guiding her legs down to the ground. The mud oozed around her boots. “Uck!”
“It looks like sediment must wash from the upper cave down into here. Careful going down.” Robbie had barely got the words out of her mouth when the ground beneath them started to crumble and slide. Their feet slipped out from under them and they went skidding down the hill in a avalanche of mud and stone.
Janet landed on her back and had the time and sense to tuck her arms over her chest and cover her face. Still, she took an awful pounding on the way down and from her shoulders down, she was deeply buried in debris. Robbie was not so lucky. She tumbled and bounced to the bottom in a wall of mud and rock and was buried.
Mac and Ryan had rappelled down the cliff face and then edged along a narrow shelf to the mouth of the cave. It was not deep, only four or five metres but Ryan could stand upright inside. On the walls were pictographs and pictoglyphs made by the First Nations hundreds of years before.
“Do you know what they say?” Ryan asked, her voice almost a whisper. The simple cave had a presence about it. A feeling of sacredness. Ryan felt very much an intruder.
“No not really. This culture is very different from my own. I could guess at some of the uses and meanings. This is a very sacred place. These female figure pictoglyphs or carvings on the floor with the hole dug in the pelvic area are fertility cult symbols.” Ryan looked shocked. “No, it’s not what you think. The hole might have been used for semen but it was more likely used for an offering of corn, tobacco, or sweet grass. It helped ensure the health and wealth of the tribe.”
Ryan nodded but said nothing. This was not her world and she had much to learn. “See here. The old fire pit has a ring of granite rock but there are also more porous sandstone rocks inside the ring. I suspect that this is a dream house. The cave front would be covered with a hide and these porous stones would be soaked and placed on hot embers to create a steam bath. The people would fast and clean their bodies and souls to enter into a dream like state to be in tune with the spirit world.”
Ryan, squatting on her heels at the entrance of the cave, looked out at the magnificent view far below. A canopy of trees in golds and reds dotted with the deep green of evergreens ran in a wide arc framing the great lake that sparkled in the autumn sunlight until it mixed with the blue of the sky. Inland a high cliff formed a necklace that separated the trees below from the craggy hills behind. It was clean, pristine and beautiful wilderness. “I don’t know how you couldn’t feel close to the spirit of the land here.”
Mac smiled. Ryan was trying to understand and that pleased her. “Over here the red and black ochre paintings or pictographs are easier to read. The dots represent days and the wiggly line water. So it was a four day trip over water to here. The circle means fire and this triangle shape an island. So they camped on an island somewhere near by. Probably that one out there,” Mac pointed.
Ryan looked at the symbols on the walls with new interest. “That is fascinating. So the First Nations really did have a written language.”
“Not so much a language as universal symbols for communication. Before the Europeans arrived, the First Nations had trading links from coast to coast and right down into Mexico. A lot of the lighter colours have faded away. They used white, yellow, red and black to represent the four directions.”
Mac looked suddenly sad. “I think the place has been violated by people who should never have been here. I’d like to do a purification rite from my own people. Would that upset you, Ryan?”
Ryan looked out over the panorama. She had no god and yet up here, with the breeze gently caressing her face, she could believe if only for a little while. “You do whatever you have to do to put things in balance again. Any little bit towards peace and harmony has to be good.”
She sat at the mouth of the cave, her back to Mac, giving her soul mate the privacy to perform the rituals that would give her and this place peace. She could hear Mac’s soft voice chanting softly in her Salish tongue and after a while she could smell sweet grass burning. Mac always carried sweet grass usually braided into a thin bracelet or woven into a hair band. She always wore her spirit bag too but this she never opened nor revealed what was inside. Ryan knew it would carry the symbols of her totem – her spirit.
After a while, the chanting stopped and Mac came and sat beside Ryan. “I am glad you came, Ryan.” Glad – Ryan’s gut crunched. Glad was not a word you used about someone you loved. If Mac noticed the tightening of Ryan’s jaw she didn’t react but kept on with what she had to say. “You made me realize that I would be endangering who I am in marrying Stewart. It would have been an awful mistake.”
“I wouldn’t stop you from being who you wanted to be.”
Mac looked out over the spectacular view with eyes darkened with worry. “I don’t know, Ryan. You are a Williams and whether you are willing to admit it or not that means you will steam ahead through life using your intelligence and talent to achieve whatever you want. I don’t see how I fit into that picture.”
“I am not asking you to fit into my picture. I just want to form a composite.”
Mac laughed and leaned over to kiss Ryan’s cheek. “You are impossible. Come on, we’d better be heading back. The others will be wondering what happened to us.”
Reb and Ian had continued to explore caves looking for Robbie and Janet while Aliki and Dawn had called it a day and had climbed down to the small meadow once again. They packed things up and made sure the site left no trace of them having been there and then lay down in the grass to cloud gaze.
“Ian seems nice,” Aliki stated after a while.
“Were you looking forward to having a son-in-law, Aliki?”
The scientist considered this in her logical, analytical manner. “Not Stewart. He’s a stuffed shirt. Having a son-in-law would have been alright. I’m used to males having grown up in a house with a dad and three brothers.” She went silent for a bit and then continued. “It would have been easier for Mac if she had not been a lesbian. You know what I mean.”
Dawn turned around so her head rested on Aliki’s strong, lean chest. “To be truthful, I am not sure what I think. Ryan and Mac are meant to be together but I am not sure that Mac is strong enough to stand up to Ryan. I don’t want to see her losing who she is. I mean, she was prepared to live a lie with Stewart. I don’t think you can ever really be happy if you are forced to be someone you are not by your partner. I’m glad she is going to end her engagement to Stewart. I am worried about her not being strong enough to handle Ryan. You bunch are all…well, olives!”
Aliki tugged gently on a piece of Dawn’s hair that she had been curling around her finger. “Hey! I’m not a Williams!”
Dawn snorted. “You all share the same blood and believe me you are an olive!”
“Is there anything we can do to help Mac?”
“No. And that’s the hardest thing about being a parent. You do your best to train them to be strong, compassionate and intelligent people and then you have to stand on the side lines and watch your kids play in their own game of life.”
Aliki thought about this for sometime as she sky watched. “I wish I had those years back so I could tell Mac what was ahead and prepare her better.”
Dawn laughed. “You and every parent on the globe.”
It was a few minutes later when Reb and Ian showed up looking worried. “I can’t find Obbie and Mom. Ian and I have looked everywhere.”
Dawn, who had got up at the sound of running feet, put her hand on Reb’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. Ryan and Mac are not back either. I imagine they are all together.” But when a short time later, Ryan and Mac arrived having, they said, gone climbing on the main cliff face, the others started to get worried too.
“Isn’t that typical of my sister to get herself lost,” muttered Aliki, scanning the cliff. “What cave were they going to explore?”
The group spent the next hour retracing their steps and calling for Janet and Robbie. As the sun had shifted off the face of the cliff the shadows had moved and changed, making it harder to find the caves. They gathered at the base of the cliff once again. Aliki looking at her watch with concern. It was nearing four o’clock. They did not have more than three hours of sunlight left.
“Reb, you and Ian head back up to the truck and telephone George Drouillard to call out the fire department. We are going to need more people. Meanwhile, we’ll start over and check the caves once again.”
Reb nodded grimly and headed off with Ian at her heels. The others watched them go, fear now eating at their guts. It was Dawn who shook them from their shock. “Come on. They would be back by now for sure. Something has happened. We need to find them before it gets dark.”
Once again the four climbed up to the caves, calling Robbie and Janet’s names and checking each cave carefully. Mac could feel Ryan’s fear like a cold mist that made them both shudder. Ryan was devoted to Janet and had easily accepted her as her other mother. Her relationship with her biological mother was far more difficult. But for all the problems Robbie and Ryan had with their mother-daughter relationship there was no doubt that Ryan adored her mother. Part of the problem had always been Ryan’s near pathological need to prove to her mother that she was worthy of being Robbie’s daughter. Mac reached out and rubbed Ryan’s back. “It’s going to be okay, Ryan.”
The response was choked with emotion. “It’s always okay but one of these times it isn’t going to be. They’ve gotta understand they’re getting older and can’t keep taking chances.”
Janet smiled. “They are risk takers just like you are but they are not irresponsible. You can be sure they would take every precaution and that they know what they are doing.” Ryan nodded, too emotional to respond. Why had she stayed away so long?
Dawn and Aliki stood at the mouth of a cave that they had just checked trying to decide where to go next. Aliki’s eyes darkened. This was so like her sister to get herself lost. It never occurred to Aliki for a minute that this might be Janet’s fault. Janet was the reliable, sensible one of the pair. Just like Dawn kept her on an even keel. Aliki looked down and pulled Dawn to her dropping a kiss on her partner’s head. “I’m lucky to have you. Let’s try that cave over there.”
“I’m with you,” Dawn replied, giving her worried partner a reassuring hug.
Reb and Ian had hurried along the rocky fissure back to the vehicles where telephone communication could be established. She flipped up her phone and pressed George Drouillard’s number. For many years George had been the fire chief but a few years ago he had stepped down and her mother had been voted in as chief. George though was still second in command. “Mr. Drouillard. It’s Rebecca. My moms are missing up at the old mine down Lover’s Lane. We came out to explore the caves and they didn’t come back. It’s getting late and we don’t have much sunlight left to look for them. Thanks. Okay. Could you stop at my Aunt Elizabeth’s and Uncle David’s and pick up Dufus. He knows how to track Obbie.”
Reb flipped the cell phone off and bit her lip in worry. “We are to stay here and wait for the guys so we can lead them to where the others are,” she explained.
Ian nodded not knowing what to do or say. Things like this didn’t happen in his family but he got the feeling in Reb’s this was not unusual. “Is there anything I can do?” He put his arm around Reb’s shoulder but feeling her restless energy and nervousness he gave her a brief reassuring squeeze and let go again.
“No. We’ll just have to wait. Dufus will find them. I hope.” She put the her cell phone away and wrapping her arms around herself she paced back and forth. Ian leaned against Ryan’s jeep and waited.
George called a 911 immediately and cursed his way into his rescue gear. Janet was one of them. Her family went back to the first pioneers who had settled in the Bartlett area.
The arrival of Robbie Williams in Bartlett had been a shock but also a blessing. Her companies and support had taken a small, northern community that was struggling to get by and made it a viable concern. Many of the citizens’ lives had been improved because of the Williams’ corporation.
Not that it had been an easy transition. Having an openly lesbian couple in town was to say the least awkward. George had come to accept the relationship as had the others who worked with Robbie on the volunteer fire department. She had become one of the guys and Janet and Robbie’s daughters, Ryan and Reb, had both been accepted as members of the team. It took some getting used to though having women doing men’s work. But he figured that you had to move with the times or be left behind.
There were those in town that were being left behind. You were either for the Williams or against them and that had certainly split the community. Still over all, people had warmed to her especially as she had sorta married in what with living with Janet Williams and Robbie’s sister marrying David Potts.
He headed out of his small motors shop as firefighters were starting to arrive, pulling their cars and trucks into any available space. One of the arrivals was David Potts leading Dufus on a leash. Those firefighter volunteers who lived close would ride in the truck or follow behind while those farther away would meet them at the site. George pulled open the doors on the new shed to reveal the emergency rescue vehicle that Robbie and Janet had given to the town a number of years back to help with the medical emergencies that were on the rise. More and more city folks had bought in the area and built homes or cottages, swelling the small town’s population. He knew that the Williams were also part owners in the new medical clinic that had been built in town. That was the good side of them. The down side was a lot of time and energy seemed to be spent in rescuing that family from one thing or another.
“Come on boys, we gotta rescue Robbie and Janet again. They got themselves lost up at the old caves looking for the river of gold, I suspect. You know how damn curious that family is.”
The others laughed but still took the situation seriously. Within minutes, they were on their way.
Janet had somehow spun around as she had skidded down with the debris. So when her forward movement had finally stopped she was facing head down buried up to the shoulders in mud and rock with her legs higher than her head. She tried to move her feet and discovered that other than wiggling her toes inside her boots, she was pinned tightly by the debris. The blood running to her head and the total darkness around her made her feel disoriented and kind of sick. “Robbie!” No answer. “Robbie?”
With effort, Janet managed to free one arm and then worked to get the other one out. It was slow and difficult work. Each small movement caused loose rocks and stones to rain down on her face and she was afraid of being buried alive. Still she knew she had to take the chance and hurry because if Robbie was buried she would not have long.
The cold and pain crept into Janet’s body along with fear. She could hear herself whimpering as she worked to free her other arm. The flashlight she knew was on a cord around her wrist. She was hoping it had survived and stayed on her wrist and that she could use it to locate Robbie.
Suddenly, there was a glare of light in her face that was blinding. She closed her eyes against the pain and watched the red and orange swirl across her vision as she wiggled the rest of her arm free and grasped the torch. Stones and dirt bounced around her but she was beyond fear now and just working mindlessly to free herself.
Finally the arm and flashlight broke free of the dirt and with a cry of relief Janet fumbled to get a good grip on the torch. “Robbie?” She tried to control her panic as she forced herself to move the beam in a slow arc of the room. The beam quivered reflecting her shock and nervous tension.
Nothing. “Robbie!”
Then there, she had seen something out the corner of her eye. She moved the beam back. Only a few feet ahead of her, she could see the dirty tangle of a few strands of hair sticking out of the mud. Robbie was buried.
Janet reached out as far as she could and could not quite reach the dark locks. She sobbed in frustration and fought against her imprisonment. Over and over she reached but she was just that little bit too far away. She wiggled and strained and suddenly something gave. Rock and mud slid forward and she fought in a panic to stay on top. When it settled once more, she again focussed her flashlight where Robbie lay buried. By some miracle or blessing of the gods, she had slipped farther down but on an angle that brought her within a few centimetres of her partner. There was no time to be either careful or gentle. She wrapped her hand in the hair and pulled for all she was worth. Mud and stones shifted and ran farther down the hill and Robbie’s head and shoulders, grey with mud, came clear of the muck. “Robbie?”
Janet cleared the mud as best she could from Robbie’s nose and mouth. Her partner was not breathing. Fear gripped Janet’s insides. Twisting her head and shoulders at a painful angle, she started mouth to mouth.
He was standing there his back to her, his hands rhythmically washing his near naked body with the smoke from a bundle of sweet grass. Robbie could hear his low chant. The deep rumble of his voice, although soft, seemed to fill the chamber. She forced air through a narrow opening getting only enough to keep her going. Perhaps it was the smoke that made it so hard to breathe.
The sweet grass was pushed into the hole that was part of the carved female figure on the rock floor. Not a rape but a coupling of the man and nature. At first, she had thought him a monster. He wore a carved wood mask over his face, the nose twisted and the eyes large circles of luminescence like the inside of a clam shell. The mask was red and from it hung long black hair that mixed with the man’s own.
She tried to let the poisonous gases in her lungs leak out the way she had managed to pull the air in. It was so hard. Every cell in her body was screaming for her to suck more air in. She could hear the gurgle of her own choked breathing – a death rattle. The man had a rattle now too. He had picked it up after he had placed the burning sweet grass in place. The rattle was made from a turtle shell and was tied with leather to a wood handle worn smooth and shiny from use.
The sound it made was a sharp, pulsating beat, like the labourious beat of her heart. Would her own heart stop when the beat of the rattle ceased? Her eyes were blurry. Perhaps this was because of lack of oxygen or maybe it was the blue, sweet smoke that hung in a cloud around the figure. The smoke swirled around the man as he now danced, the slow hopping step in soft moccasins making a shhh, shhh sound. Shhh, don’t talk. Shhh, don’t breathe. Shhh, sleep.
Robbie’s eyes closed but the ache in her throat wouldn’t let her sleep. She gasped again, drawing in a painful, thin stream of life. Not yet. She wasn’t ready yet. She needed to see what the man would do. He danced on and on, the rattle and his chant a cold wind through dried branches. Shhh, shhh. His tawny skin shone with sweat and Robbie could see now that he had painted patterns on his body in red, black, yellow and white. He disappeared into the smoke, reappeared in parts and broke up again as if drifting out in all directions on the wind. He wasn’t really there Robbie knew. He was dead. She could only see him because she was half dead too. Most of her was now cold but a small, warm hand still clung to her arm. Just one spot of colour and warmth holding her back. She forced the carbon dioxide out and then gasped and gurgled down more oxygen, giving herself another minute of life.
The man stopped suddenly and threw his hands into the air with a cry of anger. Then he turned suddenly and for the first time Robbie stared directly into the face of Broken Nose, one of the many False Face spirits of the woods. She choked on fear.
The rattle was now the blunt end of a stone club. The man walked towards her. She had disturbed a sacred place. Ruined the magic. She could no longer get her breath. Far away she could her someone sobbing. “Breathe Robbie! P..Please. Breathe.”
George Drouillard and the volunteers of the Bartlett Fire Department arrived in a convoy of bouncing trucks and cars down the rutted trail. They pulled up in a fan shaped pattern in the long grass. Car doors slammed as the fire fighters got out and unloaded equipment. George walked over to where Reb and Ian stood. “Haven’t been here since I was courting my wife forty odd years ago.”
David opened the back door of the truck and Dufus bounded out, a large, orange mass of excitement. Some of the men started getting backpacks of equipment on while others unlashed a ladder to place in the pit. David brought a rope and harness over and left Reb to get the massive Dufus into the contraption. A few of the men had already headed down into the sink hole with rescue equipment by the time Reb and Ian walked the dog over to the pit.
Reb took hold of her pet’s massive head. “Dufus, you are not going to like this part but we have to find Obbie so don’t be a big suck about it. Come.” That said, she stepped on the ladder and she and Ian lifted the whimpering but docile dog over the side. Careful hands lowered the beast down beside Reb as the girl talked reassuringly to the animal as it was lowered.
Ian followed Reb down the ladder. Everyone seemed so calm and matter of fact about rescuing the two missing women that Ian was starting to suspect that, as startling as it might seem, days like this must occur quite regularly in Reb’s life.
Reb was just getting the shaking Dufus out of his harness as Ian stepped off the ladder. “Dufus, track Obbie,”she commanded and the dog gave a bark and wagged his crooked tail with delight as he sniffed the ground with mighty snorts and slobbering jowls. Dufus picked up the trail quickly and happily bounded down the tunnel with Reb and Ian in hot pursuit.
They emerged at the other end a few minutes larger to see Dufus running around the grassy meadow following Robbie’s trail, ears flapping with each bound. They ran over to where Aliki, Dawn, Ryan and Mac stood looking worried and talking to the firefighters who had arrived ahead of them.
“Where are they?” Reb asked.
Dawn looked uncomfortable. “We have checked all the caves and can’t find them. We were just discussing widening the search in case they got lost in the woods.”
Reb’s face hardened into determined lines. For a second, she looked very much like a Williams. “Dufus, track Obbie.”
The dog looked up from sniffing the knapsacks that contained the remainder of lunch and took off towards the cliffs. The others followed behind. Narrow, crumbling footpaths ran in zigzags across the cliff face. In some spots, Ryan and Mac, following right behind Dufus, had to help the whimpering dog from one level to the other while Reb spoke soft encouragement to her pet.
Twice the dog back tracked and then, picking up the scent in a new direction, the animal headed cautiously down an embankment and onto a thin trail that led away from the caves to the other side of the cliff. In a minute, Dufus had disappeared behind some bushes. The others followed as best they could. Ryan and Mac moved ahead, both having had practice in traversing rough terrain, while the others moved more cautiously in crab-like movements through the loose, sliding gravel.
Pushing the bushes aside, Ryan and Mac could now see the low entrance to the cave. Side by side, the two of them slid in. Dufus was barking excitedly at the far end of the cave but for a second the two, blinded by the sudden dark, stood still, fumbling for their flashlights.
“Help! Hurry. Please hurry!” Janet’s voice came to them from somewhere far off, muffled by the rock but still edged with the strength of fear. They hurried over and slid up the rock slope to look inside.
Janet blinked like an owl in the beams of their searching lights. Blinded, she scrunched her eyes closed and yelled out her concern. “Robbie can’t breathe right. I can’t get whatever is blocking her throat out. We’re trapped under debris. Hurry!”
“I’m coming,” Ryan stated and started to move forward and then she forced herself to stop. “Hang on. Mac has climbing and EMT training, she’ll be down in a second.” Ryan turned and moved aside. “Save my mom,”she stated.
Mac nodded and headed in. An arm grabbed her. “Be careful.”
“I will. I have a lot to live for.”
Mac slipped over the side and Ryan lowered her down the rock face until her boots sunk into the loose debris. Slowly and carefully, so as not to trigger another slide, Mac edged her way down the slope to where Janet and Robbie were buried.
“She wasn’t breathing when I pulled her free of the mud. I did mouth to mouth as best I could and she is breathing now but not well. Her lips are blue,” Janet explained, trying not to show her panic in her voice. Her heart was pounding with worry and she wanted to yell at Mac to go faster but instead she stuck to the basic information. “She can’t speak and she is only semi-conscious.”
Mac did one quick sweep of her flashlight around to make sure the bank was holding and then turned her light on her Aunt Robbie. The woman was grey and her lips blue. When she took a weak breath it was more of a gurgle. Mac forced Robbie’s mouth open wide and shone a light in. She could see the grey sides of a rock down her throat. There was no time to be polite or even careful. She pulled off her leather climbing gloves and stuck her fingers down Robbie’s throat. Robbie gagged and struggled. Mac got her one finger to the side of the stone and flipped up. The stone dislodged but did not come out. Mac pulled her hand back to use the flashlight to have another look. Robbie was hacking with the dry heaves and Mac did her best to keep her head to the side. Suddenly, Robbie gagged loudly and stone, mud, and vomit sprewed out of her aunt’s mouth in all directions.
Janet lay back into a more comfortable position and closed her eyes against the harsh light. She prayed for her partner. While her ears followed every step that Mac was taking to help her Obbie. Janet’s fingers tightened on Robbie’s arm, refusing to let go of the woman she loved.
“What’s happening?” Ryan asked, her voice tight but controlled. Mac could hear that there were others there now too.
“Obbie was sick,” she minimized, as she cleared the vomit from her aunt’s mouth with her fingers. Was she breathing? Yes, a gasp, more vomit, another breath, deeper this time. “She had a stone caught in the back of her throat. She is breathing now but with some discomfort and difficulty. Oxygen would be good.”
“I’m on it.” Ryan turned to look at the others. “We need oxygen. Mac can handle this. It’s pretty unstable in there and we don’t want to take any chances of burying them.” The oxygen was passed up to Ryan as she talked by a worried crew of fire fighters who were very fond and proud of their actor- chief and her partner. Ryan tied the tank to the line and lowered it down to Mac, who had carefully climbed up the bank a bit to get it. The soldier gritted her teeth and fought her natural instinct and training to take action and let her lover handle the situation. There was no doubt Mac knew what she was doing. She watched from above keeping a light on the three of them so that Mac would have her hands free to provide assistance.
Reb knelt, her face buried in Dufus’s furry neck at her sister’s side. “You are the man, Dufus,” she kept repeating softly, tears of relief in her voice.
Ryan reached over and gave her little sister’s shoulder a squeeze. “Thanks to your training. I’m really proud to be your sister, Reb. Don’t you worry. Mac will handle things.”
False Face moved towards her. Not like in a movie but in freeze- frame, disappearing in the smoke and reappearing closer. The axe was raised. Robbie would have cried out but a cold hand had covered her mouth. She couldn’t breathe. She was choking and fought with all the strength she had left. The ice fingers dug down deep in her soul and death spread roots through her being. The axe dropped. Through the blackness there was a soft female chant. A different language, Robbie thought, but couldn’t be sure. Cold rills of terror retreated from her being and warmth bubbled up like a spring. She threw up, vomiting out the evil- the death. She gasped and air heavy with the taste of damp earth entered her burning lungs. She was alive. “Janet?” she croaked.
“I’m here. Hang on, Obbie. We are going to be okay.” Tears of relief stained Janet’s face. That had been as scary as hell.
In the end, it was Ryan and Mac who slowly and carefully dug Robbie and then Janet out. Each was strapped to a back board and lifted carefully up to the chamber above. Then Ryan and Mac had climbed out, more relieved than they would like to admit to escape the unstable lower chamber.
Janet insisted that she was alright other than some bruising but George and the boys said they needed the practice anyhow and insisted on taking her out on the backboard to the medical clinic. Robbie had not yet regained consciousness but she was moving and reacting and seemed to be breathing with the help of the oxygen.
Back at the sinkhole, David and the other firefighters careful raised each of the two women up in metal cradles while Aliki and Dawn on the ladder kept the cradles steady and stopped them from hitting against the side of the sinkhole. Reb and Ian saw to Dufus who was not as willing the second time to be hauled through the air on a rope.
Once everyone was up and Janet and Robbie had been carefully packed in the back of the truck, Ryan and Reb, by mutual consent, had piled into the emergency vehicle with the other fire fighters and with lights flashing had set off to the clinic. The others stayed behind to pack up the equipment and head back to the lodge to wait for news.
A few hours later, having phoned the lodge to let them know that Janet and Robbie were going to be all right, Ryan sat with her arm around her kid sister on a black couch in the waiting room of the clinic. “You okay, kid?”
Rebecca shrugged. “I’m used to it. I was raised on adrenalin rushes evoked from family moments of terror and near panic. I hear other families associate their moms with common place things like cookies and milk. Hard to believe if you ask me.”
Ryan chuckled. “We did get cookies and milk.”
Reb rolled her eyes. “Yeah, after the crisis was over. Do you remember the time you nearly drowned me in the firestorm?”
Ryan tugged a piece of her sister’s hair. “You are not still holding a grudge, are you?”
“Oh course, I am,” she joked. ” I wonder if Ian will still be taking me to the dance at the hall?”
Ryan lifted her arm from the back on the seat and stood up and stretched. “Not much to him if a little thing like a couple of Williams nearly being buried alive bothers him.”
Reb smiled. “Good point.”
Reb picked up a magazine to read and Ryan paced around the small room. For a few minutes there was silence except for the soldier’s soft tread.
The door opened and Mac stuck her head in. “Hi, any other news?”
“The doctor said they both look in good shape but he won’t release them until he is sure mom’s breathing is okay. He said you did a great job. The stone lodged in her throat probably saved her because it stopped her from getting dirt on her lungs.”
“Good. Ryan, I need to talk to you. Can you step out here for a minute?”
Ryan suddenly became aware of the serious frown and Mac’s worried eyes. Her heart contracted. “Sure. Back in a minute, Reb.”
Out in the hall, Mac gave Ryan a tender hug. “We put the news on when we got back to the house, Lover. The Columbia broke up on re-entry. There are no survivors.”
Mac felt Ryan’s body jerk with the shock then still. “No, there wouldn’t be.” She pulled Mac to her and held on to the small woman, needing her quiet strength and warmth.
“You go on home so you can follow the reports as they come in. I’ll stay here and bring Reb and your moms home when they are released.”
Ryan nodded into soft, fragrant hair. “Thanks. I love you.”
Mac held her close for a second before stepping back. ” I love you too. Now go. I’ll handle things here.”
Reb looked up in surprise as Mac came in the door and her thoughtful, intelligent eyes followed her cousin as she crossed the room and sat down beside her. “What’s up?”
“The shuttle broke up on re-entry. Everyone’s dead. I sent Ryan home so she could watch the bulletins on TV.”
“Oh no. Did Ryan know them?”
“I don’t know, Reb. I imagine though she identifies pretty strongly with those who have gone before.”
Reb nodded then sighed and rolled her eyes. “Another family member I have to worry about.”
Mac smiled. “I’ll be around to help. Would you feel more comfortable if Ryan wasn’t in the space program?”
“Yes, but I’m proud of her. This is something she has always wanted to do. I want it for her.”
“Think you could train Dufus to wear a space suit and track along orbits?”
Reb laughed at the ridiculous thought of a big, shaggy dog face looking out through a space helmet. “Well, they have had dogs in space before but not quite as big as Dufus. He’d need a booster rocket for sure.”
Janet, tired and sore, sat beside Robbie’s bed holding her hand. Robbie, looking worn out and a bit dirty still around the edges, looked up at her. “I’ve been thinking.”
“That is always dangerous. Please tell me it does not involve having to get out of this chair. Every muscle and bone in my body is on strike.”
Robbie’s beautiful and expressive eyes clouded with distress. “I’m sorry for dragging you in there.”
A reassuring hand squeezed hers. “Hey, we were having fun together. Good adventures, even Saturday afternoon ones, always have an element of risk.”
“That’s what I need to talk to you about.”
Janet looked at her partner and saw the determined, serious set of her jaw. “Okay. I’m listening.”
“It’s this breast thing.”
Janet rolled her eyes.
“No, wait, give me a chance. The other day you made me realize that this was important to you. Important enough that you were willing to go it alone if I wasn’t going to support you.”
Janet opened her mouth to object but Robbie raised a hand and placed two fingers gently against her lips. “Shhh, I’m only warming up. I went along because you wanted it. But I wasn’t overjoyed about the whole idea. I know it is a small risk but I didn’t want you back in hospital. I really hate you being in hospital.”
“I know, lover,” Janet said sympathetically.
Robbie squirmed a little bit. “Anyway, today it was brought home to me that you can’t protect the one you love from life. That life happens and there are no guarantees. I wasn’t protecting you, I was letting my insecurities limit you. I’m sorry. We both could have died today.”
Janet smiled. “Yeah, but we didn’t.”
Robbie smiled. Janet was about as special a partner as anyone could have. Robbie took Janet’s hand in her own. “So how about you tell me what else they have to do to you.”
Janet looked up in surprise. “Sure you are up to it?”
“Yup, I am. I want to know so I can help out anyway I can.”
Janet got comfortable, laying her head down on Robbie’s bed, pleased to see Robbie was back to a normal colour and breathing without a rasp. “Once the extender has stretched the muscle to the right size it will be removed and a permanent implant will be put in.”
“Is that process painful?”
“Not really. When the solution is first put in it is a bit uncomfortable and the muscle feels tight but it loosens in a few days. ” Janet giggled. “The worst part is it sometimes itches in there. I have to move it around a bit to get some comfort.”
“Ahhh, too much information!” joked Robbie.
“Once they put the permanent implant in place, then they build a new nipple. They usually use part of the ear lobe to do that although there are other methods. I think I can afford to lose a bit of my ear lobes.”
Robbie looked at Janet’s ears with clinical interest. “How much will they take?”
“Just a little. You won’t even notice much. The last bit of surgery will be to lift and tuck my real breast so that they match and look perky and young again.”
Robbie wiggled her eyebrows. “Perky is good.”
“I’ll have a scar around the base of the breast and also vertically up to the nibble but it will soon fade,” Janet finished.
Robbie nodded and grinned wolfishly. ” I guess I can handle this.”
Janet laughed. ” Robbie! You are so bad!”
Ryan sat alone on the couch. She’d been there for several hours watching the video of Columbia over and over – focussed on any update. From time to time the others joined her and then wandered off again to see to other responsibilities.
“You need to talk to her, Elizabeth,” David stated quietly as he rinsed a plate and put it in the drainer.
Dr. Elizabeth Williams picked it up and dried it while she considered. “I really have no experience with children. I am not sure what I could say, David.”
David wiped his hands on his apron and turned to look at his wife. When he spoke his voice was gentle but firm. “Lizzy, she is not a child. She is a young astrophysicist and by all accounts a good one. She is also your niece and has looked up to you all her life. Her mothers are not here. No one is more qualified to talk to her now than you are.”
Elizabeth looked worried but she nodded. “I suppose you are right. I can always count on you, David, to see things clearly. I’ll leave you with the rest of the dishes then and go and have a talk with Ryan.”
David smiled and his wife gave him an affectionate kiss as she went by. Elizabeth squared her shoulders and walked down the hall slowly trying to work out what to say. She quietly entered the media room and took a seat on the couch beside Ryan. “Has there been anymore news?”
“No not really. Nothing concrete.”
“I’m sorry Ryan.”
The younger woman nodded and swallowed hard. “It’s hard. They were good people. Some of the best. Their loss and that of the craft will set back the program so much. You know it can happen but when you are training surrounded by such brilliant and talented people you start to feel invincible. Then something like this happens and you realize that for all our technological knowledge, we are still flying by the seat of our pants.”
“Ryan, I can’t say that I have ever had the desire to be an explorer or adventurer but I understand why they risk their lives to push our frontiers a little farther. I like to think in my own way I have expanded the world’s understanding and experience if only with pencil and paper. Most people are content being surrounded by the familiar and the known. There are a few of us who are blessed with the ability to see a small part of the beauty that is, for want of a better word, God’s hand in the universe. There is no greater honour or responsibility than to be one of those rare few who will take us closer to understanding.
“Don’t give up your dream, Ryan. Don’t grieve for those who have been lost doing what they loved best. Instead, honour them in a special place in your soul and step up to take their place. Of all the billions of living things on this planet we are the only ones that look up and wish on the stars. Use your talents and your intelligence, Ryan, to make all our dreams come true.”
Ryan blinked back tears and looked at the aunt she loved and admired so very much. “What if Mac doesn’t understand?”
Elizabeth frowned. “Of course she will. She loves what you are. Loving someone is wanting and supporting your partner to reach for the stars. There are no boundaries with true love, that is why it always has been and always will be the most beautiful and most daring of adventures.”
Ryan smiled and leaned over to drop a kiss on her aunt’s cheek. She might have said something but just then the noise of the arrival home of the others from the clinic interrupted the moment. They both got up and hurried out to the family room, glad of a reason to end the sensitive talk.
Aliki and Dawn had volunteered to drive Ian back to the make-shift trailer park of forestry trailers that provided a mess and barracks for the summer workers. Ian sat in the back trying to come to terms with the experiences he’d had in the last twenty-four hours. “Do you think Reb’s moms will be okay?”
Dawn smiled. “Yes, they will be fine. They are a lucky pair though. It could have been much worse.”
Ian nodded. “I’ll say.”
Aliki frowned and glanced in the rear-view mirror at Ian. “The family would appreciate it if you didn’t talk too much about the incident or grant reporters an interview. Publicity is a necessary evil for my sister but we do like to pick and chose what we throw to the ravenous dogs at the door.”
Aliki’s words were off hand enough but the tone made it clear it was not a request. Ian took the hint. “Yes, Inspector.”
Dawn wiggled her eyebrows at Aliki at the title and was amused to see the red of embarrassment climbing up her lover’s neck.
Ian, however, was preoccupied with his own thoughts. “Reb is amazing with animals, isn’t she? I mean Dufus doesn’t just follow commands, he seems to know what Reb wants.”
Aliki nodded. “She’s got a way with animals. She’ll make a good vet.”
“Nothing like this happens in my family. I mean, I was never involved in a food fight even at school. It would never happen at home. And the only time we had a family emergency was when dad broke his wrist skiing down the bunny hill at the conservation area.”
Dawn laughed and turned to look at Ian. “Amazing as it seems after the last twenty-four hours, the family can manage to go for months on end without creating a sensation or scandal. You haven’t necessarily seen us at our best.”
Ian nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.” Aliki gave Dawn a poke at this title to get even for the face Dawn had pulled at the use of the word Inspector. Dawn chose to ignore it. Ian, unaware of the silent communication, was still talking. “Do you think it would be alright to tell my parents I met you all? We don’t know any rich or famous people and I’ve met a whole bushel of them this weekend.”
Aliki snorted. As a scientist and police officer, she was neither rich or famous. Dawn laughed. “The rich and famous are no different from anyone else. They are just fortunate to have more opportunities. Sure, I think it would be okay to tell your parents you met Reb’s family. Just be careful what you say and make sure they understand we value our privacy.”
Aliki pulled up in front of the forestry complex but kept the engine running. Although she wouldn’t admit it, she was anxious to get back and make sure Robbie and Janet were okay.
Ian opened the door and started to get out. Then he hesitated. “Would you let Reb know that I’ll phone tomorrow and see if it is okay for her to go to the dance?”
“We’ll do that. Thanks for your help today, Ian,” Dawn smiled. “Good Night.”
They waited until Ian had unlocked the door of the barracks trailer and then headed back to the lodge.
When Aliki and Dawn returned they found that the others had just got back from the clinic and David was already bustling around getting them comfortable on opposite ends of the couch and promising sandwiches, tea and homemade pie as soon as possible. Dufus, the hero of the day, was give loads of attention and extra dog biscuits and Reb smiled with pride. Everyone did their part and once enough food and tea had been consumed to fortify even the most ravenous of appetites they all settled down to sort through the events.
Dawn sat on the floor by her partner, they’re backs against the couch that Robbie and Janet shared. “Reb, Ian wanted us to tell you he’ll phone tomorrow to make arrangements about going to the dance.”
Reb’s expressive eyes sparkled with excitement as she carried refills of tea in for her moms. “Yeah? You mean I still have a boyfriend after a weekend exposed to you lot? Wow! This guy’s a keeper. He’s got nerves of steel and no common sense at all. He should be running for the hills.”
Janet took her mug with thanks and gave her daughter a playful swat. “To hear you talk you’d think we were the worst parents in the world. It is amazing that any of your friends have the nerve to come here at all.”
Reb handed the second cup to her Obbie and smiled. “I make them draw lots to see who has to come and be exposed to you. It’s called Williams’ Roulette in town. I try to be caring though. I don’t make the ones that are still under intense therapy from their last visit draw.”
Robbie snorted. “Funny! See if this household throws any more parties for your motley crew of friends.” The parties at the lodge for Reb’s teen friends had become something of a tradition enjoyed by all.
Reb dropped a kiss on Obbie’s head. “I take it all back then, because I’d really like a graduation party before we all head off to university.”
“Mercenary!” grumbled Obbie.
“Takes one to know one,” laughed Janet before taking a sip of tea.
Obbie frowned. “I gotta tell you guys this weird dream I had while I was out of it in the cave.”
Mac smiled and interrupted. “False Face came to you wearing the red mask. The sacred place had been violated. He was caught one foot still among his people and the other on the path that leads to the spirit world. This made him angry.”
Robbie’s mouth dropped open and everyone turned to look at Mac. Although none of them yet knew Robbie’s story, they could tell that Mac knew what Robbie was going to say before she had said it by the startled look on the actor’s face.
Robbie swallowed and her eyes locked with Mac’s. “He was going to hit me with an club but then he reached his hand down my throat and tried to rip out my insides.”
“He wanted your soul. He needed a way to the other side.”
Robbie looked truly uncomfortable. “Shit! I don’t believe in stuff like that.”
Mac smiled from where she sat beside Ryan. “That’s okay. There was a stone stuck in your air pipe and I put my fingers down your throat to dislodge it. That made you throw up.”
Janet looked at Mac with curious eyes. “I saw you do that. Is that what really happened?”
“Yes, that is one of the things that happened. While the rest of you were up on the ridge, Ryan and I went over the cliff and found a spirit cave. It has some amazing pictographs and pictoglyphs. It is an excellent site but I think it had been entered by people who did not respect the ways of the people.”
“Did you make things right?” Dawn asked, as she gently rubbed Aliki’s leg. Her partner still had pain from a terrible beating she had taken some years before.
“Yes. I did a purification ceremony. I think everything should be alright now.”
Reb gave herself a shake. “Oh boy! Freak me out! I’m sure glad Ian wasn’t here to hear this. He’d go screaming into the night.”
Everyone laughed and the tension was broken. Yet, somehow, they all felt in their own way that something out of balance had been made right again. The party broke up sometime later. David and Elizabeth headed back to their cabin, Aliki and Dawn took the boat over to theirs and Ryan and Mac discreetly disappeared to walk hand in hand down to the boathouse.
Satisfied that Ian would be taking her to the community centre dance, Reb headed off to bed with her faithful hero at her side. “Don’t you worry, Dufus, Ian said he doesn’t mind that you sleep at the end of the bed.”
Robbie’s eyes got big. “She’s joking, right?”
Janet rolled her eyes. “I hope so.”
Robbie gave the leg that was wedged down beside her thigh a squeeze and looked into the gentle, green eyes of her lover at the other end of the couch. “You saved my life…again.”
“You’re worth keeping around for a bit yet,” teased Janet.
“I would make passionate love to you but every muscle in my body has seized up and I think I am going to need help just getting off this couch to go to bed.”
Janet laughed. “You are such a romantic.”
“No regrets?”
“None. You?”
Robbie slowly and stiffly got off the couch and offered her hand to her partner and lover. “None. My life began with you and each passing season makes me deeper in love with you.”
Janet stood and kissed Robbie’s fingers that were wrapped around her own hand. “They have been seasons of love. Seasons of joy. Come to bed, my Olive. It’s late.”
There was no awkwardness this night. Mac went willingly to Ryan’s arms as soon as she had locked the door. The kiss was long, demanding and needy. It was only after several minutes that they parted long enough to get a fire going and pour two glasses of wine. They lay together by the fire snuggled into a pile of pillows.
Mac reached out and stroked Ryan’s tense jaw. “Are you okay, Lover?”
Ryan put down her drink and blue eyes the colour of ice fire turned to look at her. “No, I’m not. My moms could have died today, some of the best people in my program have, and all I can think of is how will those two events influence my chances with you.”
Mac lay back on the pillows and stared at the ceiling. She needed to organize her own feelings before she spoke and she couldn’t do that with Ryan’s intense and intelligent eyes watching the play of emotions cross her own. “I’ve spent sometime doing some thinking myself over the last twenty-four hours. When that news flash came across the screen, the castle of dreams I was building came tumbling down. I empathized so strongly with the partners and family who were waiting for the shuttle to land and in a split second lost everything. The cold hand of death touching so near made me physically shiver. I thought that could be me in a few years. That could be your flight.”
Ryan said nothing. She rolled over in one smooth movement and was on her feet pacing. She needed to move, to do something, anything rather than listen to her heart being rejected. “I told you. If it is too hard, I’ll leave the space program.”
Mac slipped forward and poked at the fire watching the patterns change and the colours intensify with the heat. “A number of years ago, I went to the hospital with my mom to see Aliki. I hadn’t been allowed to go for the first week because she had been in intensive care. She had been beaten so badly I wouldn’t have recognized her. I knew mom and Aliki had argued bitterly about Aliki’s decision to go undercover. That decision had almost cost her life and it did cause her to have a breakdown. She was a very long time recovering. It almost destroyed our family and my mom. I never heard my mom say a thing about it ever again. She just put her heart and soul into making Aliki better.”
Ryan looked with miserable eyes at the small figure curled close to the fire for warmth. “I know it was a bad time.”
Mac nodded. “Yes it was. Today, I saw the fear in Aunt Janet’s eyes as I worked to help Aunt Robbie. But I saw something else there. The same look I saw in my mom’s eyes as she sat by Aliki’s bed. It was courage. Not the courage to be brave but the courage to let go and let their partners be the very special people they are.”
Mac tossed her stick on the fire and turned to look at Ryan standing tall and proud just on the edge of the ring of light. That’s who Ryan was. A person who would always be stepping from the safety of the known into the unknown. “I want you in the space program if that is what you want. And if I lose you it will be to a great cause that you believed in.”
Ryan felt dizzy and realized it was because she had been holding her breath. She breathed in raggedly and came to sit beside Mac. “I learned something today as well. I learned that I have in you someone who is my equal in everyway. Who I can trust with the things and people who are the most dear to me. You saved Mom’s life. I am not sure I could have. Thank you.”
Mac blushed and turned to look at the fire. In profile Ryan could see her Salish heritage and her quiet strength. “I need to finish my degree, Ryan. That is important to me. I think I might want to go on and do my doctorate as well. I want to be a writer like my mom but I don’t want to write as she does about the tension between humans and the environment. That is not me. I want to write about the bond that is never far away between us and the spirit of the universe. I want to write about how we have only lost our way.”
“Like the spirit in the cave.”
“Yes, like the spirit in the cave. That reality is very different from your hard-nosed science.”
“Is it? I was talking to Aunt Bethy tonight. You know what she told me? She said that most people are content being surrounded by the familiar and the known. But there are a few who are blessed with the ability to see a little part of the beauty that is God’s hand in the universe. She said there is no greater honour or responsibility than to be one of those few who will take us closer to understanding. I think we are after the same thing. We are just searching in very different ways.”
Mac looked up into eyes filled with life and passion. “I love you Ryan. Will you marry me?”
Ryan felt herself smiling like an idiot. “Yes”
Mac smiled impishly as she moved closer to kiss the woman she knew was her soul mate. “I’ll ask your parents for your hand in marriage first thing in the morning.”
Ryan pulled Mac into her arms as she lay back on the cushions. “You are likely to find them still in their pj’s.”
“That’s okay. We are all family.”
In the cave, a soft chant mixed with the night wind and whispered to the land. “We are the first people. Our ancestors walk your forests and paddled your lakes. Their souls and hearts free. We are the people of the last age, who have stood as angry witnesses to your taking. We start at last on our journey to the home of our ancestors. We are the first people, the spirit of the land. You are one with us. This season, all seasons – forever.”
Catch up with Williams family in Wine, Women and Good Food
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Category: IRS
Baltimore mayor resigns amid kickback scandal – State’s accountant: Book-selling arrangements ‘brazen, cartoonish corruption’
By DAVID McFADDEN, Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) 05/02 — Baltimore’s mayor resigned under pressure Thursday amid a flurry of investigations into whether she arranged bulk sales of her self-published children’s books to disguise hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks.
FBI, IRS agents search Baltimore mayor’s homes and City Hall offices – Mayor sold $800,000 of her own books in questionable transactions
By DAVID McFADDEN, Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) 04/25 — Federal agents raided the homes and City Hall offices of Baltimore’s embattled mayor on Thursday amid dramatically widening investigations to determine whether she used bulk sales of her obscure self-published children’s books to disguise kickbacks.
Trump replaces high court’s swing vote with conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
By CATHERINE LUCEY, ZEKE MILLER and MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) 07/10 — President Donald Trump chose Brett Kavanaugh, a solidly conservative, politically connected judge,
IRS strikes back as agents make big dent in identity theft
STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) 03/09 — The IRS strikes back: The tax agency reports that the number of identity theft victims plummeted last year after agents struggled for years to combat what has become a multibillion-dollar industry.
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How to stop (some) acetals hydrolysing.
Henry Rzepa
Derek Lowe has a recent post entitled " Another Funny-Looking Structure Comes Through". He cites a recent medchem article[1] in which the following acetal sub-structure appears in a promising drug candidate (blue component below). His point is that orally taken drugs have to survive acid (green below) encountered in the stomach, and acetals are famously sensitive to hydrolysis (red below). But if X=NH 2, compound "G-5555" is apparently stable to acids.[1] So I pose the question here; why? This reminded me of some work we did a few years ago on herbicides containing such an acetal substructure, where one diastereoisomer was very unstable to hydrolysis (and hence did not have the lifetime required of a herbicide) whereas the other diastereomer was far less labile and hence more suitable.[2],[3] Crystal structures (below) revealed that the two C-O bond lengths of the labile form were very unequal in length (Δ0.043Å), whereas the stable form had two equal C-O lengths (1.408Å, Δ=0.0Å).
A search of the Cambridge structure database (CSD) surprisingly reveals no hits for molecules containing the (blue) substructure in which X=NH 2, but there is one example[4],[5] of an orthoformate in which the group equivalent to X is protonated as Me 2NH+. For this example, all three C-O lengths are shorter than even the hydrolytically stable herbicide above (1.405, 1.402, 1.396Å). The distribution for 6-ring acetals in general shows hot-spots at ~1.415Å and 1.43Å (but sadly it is not possible to e.g. use this database to correlate these lengths with the aqueous stability of the entries). Is this tentative further evidence that a group X = NH 2 positioned as above in an acetal can inhibit its hydrolysis? Time for calculations. A model (X=R=H) for the hydrolysis was constructed as above in which proton transfer from an acid (ethanoic) is achieved via a cyclic 8-ring transition state and which includes a continuum solvent field as ωB97XD/6-311G(d,p)/SCRF=water and one explicit water in the proton relay. The IRC looks thus: This shows that the first event is protonation of an oxygen, closely followed by cleavage of the associated C-O bond, and ending with deprotonation of the erstwhile water molecule. The value of ΔG ‡298 is 38.2 kcal/mol (38.4 in relative total energy). Although rather high for a facile thermal reaction (perhaps the 8-ring TS is a bit too strained; possibly adding a second active water molecule to form a 10-ring might lead to a lower barrier?), we are more interested in the effect upon this barrier of group X (Table below).
Introduction of X=NH 3+.Cl - into an (equatorial) position which is antiperiplanar to the C-O bonds of the acetal produces a modified IRC profile. The barrier measured at a point IRC = -10 is ~41 kcal/mol, which is noticeably higher than for X=H. In fact the final barrier is even higher, since the reactant goes on to form a hydrogen bond between the water molecule and the Cl -, an extra stabilisation not present with X=H (and so not really appropriate to include in the comparison). Placing the X=NH 3+.Cl - into an (axial) position which is not antiperiplanar to the C-O bonds shows a lower barrier compared to the equatorial isomer. This difference can also be illustrated by the NBO localised orbital energies of the two reactants. With X=NH 3+.Cl - axial, the lone pair on the oxygen being protonated by the acid has an energy of -0.464 au, whereas the equatorial equivalent is a "less reactive" -0.471 au (a difference in energy of 4.4 kcal/mol, which is VERY approximately related to the effects being discussed). I conclude that the inhibition of acetal solvolysis is induced by the presence of an electron withdrawing group X, via antiperiplanar effects on the basicity of the acetal oxygen. In moderately low pH, X=NH 2 is likely to be fully protonated; in this state, X=NH 3+.Cl - is an even better electron withdrawing group. The effect is also much stronger if X = equatorial. So one can predict here that if the alternate stereoisomer with X = axial were to be synthesised, it would hydrolyse more quickly. Other groups (X=F, CN etc) would probably show similar behaviour. ‡
‡ I have added two further entries, X=CF 3 and X=SF 5 in the table above, showing the latter to be more effective at inhibiting hydrolysis.
This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
C.O. Ndubaku, J.J. Crawford, J. Drobnick, I. Aliagas, D. Campbell, P. Dong, L.M. Dornan, S. Duron, J. Epler, L. Gazzard, C.E. Heise, K.P. Hoeflich, D. Jakubiak, H. La, W. Lee, B. Lin, J.P. Lyssikatos, J. Maksimoska, R. Marmorstein, L.J. Murray, T. O'Brien, A. Oh, S. Ramaswamy, W. Wang, X. Zhao, Y. Zhong, E. Blackwood, and J. Rudolph, " Design of Selective PAK1 Inhibitor G-5555: Improving Properties by Employing an Unorthodox Low-p K a Polar Moiety ", ACS Med. Chem. Lett., vol. 6, pp. 1241-1246, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.5b00398
P. Camilleri, D. Munro, K. Weaver, D.J. Williams, H.S. Rzepa, and A.M.Z. Slawin, "Isoxazolinyldioxepins. Part 1. Structure?reactivity studies of the hydrolysis of oxazolinyldioxepin derivatives", J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 2, pp. 1265, 1989. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/P29890001265
Beckmann, C.., Jones, P.G.., and Kirby, A.J.., "CCDC 209989: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination", 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.5517/CC71HVL
C. Beckmann, P.G. Jones, and A.J. Kirby, " N,N,N ′, N ′-Tetramethylstreptamine 2,4,6-orthoformate hydrochloride ", Acta Cryst E, vol. 59, pp. o566-o568, 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S1600536803006287
Henry S Rzepa., "C 6 H 14 O 5", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.14469/ch/191581
Henry S. Rzepa., "Gaussian Job Archive for C6H14O5", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1599751
Henry S Rzepa., "C 6 H 15 N 1 O 5", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.14469/ch/191582
Henry S Rzepa., "C6H15NO5", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.14469/ch/191586
Henry S Rzepa., "C 6 H 16 Cl 1 N 1 O 5", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.14469/ch/191584
Henry S Rzepa., "C6H16ClNO5", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.14469/ch/191588
Henry S. Rzepa., "Gaussian Job Archive for C6H16ClNO5", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1601891
Henry S Rzepa., "C 7 H 13 F 3 O 5", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.14469/ch/191592
Henry S. Rzepa., "Gaussian Job Archive for C7H13F3O5", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1603088
Henry S Rzepa., "C 6 H 13 F 5 O 5 S 1", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.14469/ch/191595
Henry S. Rzepa., "Gaussian Job Archive for C6H13F5O5S", 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1603420
This article and its reviews are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and redistribution in any medium, provided that the original author and source are credited.
Henry Rzepa, How to stop (some) acetals hydrolysing., The Winnower 7:e145586.67265 (2016). DOI: 10.15200/winn.145586.67265
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10.15200/winn.145586.67265
http://www.ch.imperial.ac.uk/rzepa/blog/?p=14740
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Gray Davis Quotes
We believe you will not have to pay more than the current rate structure proposes - which is, for 50 percent of the public, nothing; for another 25 percent, only a 10 percent increase; and for the remaining 25 percent, a 34 percent increase.
Quotes by author Gray Davis
Duke came to us. They volunteered to come to us and made a number of suggestions to some people on my staff. I don't know how I would characterize them, but there have been some discussions going back and forth between Duke and members of my staff.
numberspeople
I'm doing my part, building plants at a record rate, having historic conservation levels. The only people not doing their part is the federal government that is siding with the energy companies against the interests of the people of California.
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Meanwhile, people have to join us and fight back against the federal government that has dropped the ball, that is in bed with these energy companies, that wants them to make more money than they've made before.
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There are so many scenarios here. We tried to prepare for the worst summer in 40 years and build assumptions based on that. We're preparing for the worst, but we're hoping for the best. And I've told people the end is in sight.
builduppeopletheend
Here is my general approach to the energy companies. You have already charged the utilities a 50 percent credit penalty for the power they were buying from you. You're charging us a penalty. You're not going to get two bites of the apple here.
Now, in the space of a year, we've spent 450 percent more for power than we did the year before, and bought essentially the same amount of power. This year, that number's likely to go up. That can't go on forever and have us continue to be the economic engine for America.
numberspower
So it was flawed in that it didn't require California to have a first claim on the power plants. It deregulated part of the market, but not all of the market.
We started focusing on this in earnest late summer and early fall. I can build more power plants. In the 12 years before us, not a single plant of major consequence was built.
builduppower
We'll have a public power authority, which will also have the ability to build power or finance power. And more importantly, we'll have more power than our economy provides. All of that will give us leverage we don't have today.
abilitybuildupfinancepowerthepublic
Well, there's no question that the law passed in 1996 was flawed. It deregulated the wholesale market, meaning the price that the utilities had to pay energy companies for power, but not the retail market.
Well, we're trying to patch and fix and put a cast on a broken system here. You can call it what you want, but we'll continue to purchase power in a private market.
powersystem
Why? Because we're very well down this process as it is - flawed as it is - and we're counting on getting more power plants on line by the end of 2003 so we have a surplus of power.
powertheend
We're going to march on Washington with a host of Republicans, Democrats, business leaders, legislators.
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There's no question that California, in the last three or four years, has been privileged to add disproportionately to the economic growth of America, and to contribute to its technological productivity.
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Release #1
A Glimpse From Your Gals! ~Podcast
Listen at Mevio or iTunes…
We know there was a lotta luck involved with us getting invited to interview Stephenie Meyer, and we felt privileged to take your questions and get answers! Kassie and I (Kallie) want to send a sincere Texan “Thank Y’all!” to Stephenie Meyer, and the phenomenal women she surrounds herself with! We also could not have done this without the other sites involved, TwilightSource.com (Matt & Elysa), TwiFans.com (Kim & Alison), LetterstoTwilight.com (Bekah & Nikki).
We are waiting to release all the ‘GOODS’, but definitely have some teasers for you! You can listen to this week’s show to get some juicy bits, as well as read below to get an idea of a few of the questions WE asked! We were able to spend 4 HOURS talking to Stephenie (Yes, I feel comfy with the first-name-basis) and have loads to dish out… just remember we will be serving them in bite-sized portions!
First Course… COOLEST MOMENT OF THE DAY!
In the final few minutes of our time with Stephenie, she graciously signed some of our books. When I (Kallie) told Stephenie that I would have a completed set of all of her books autographed she told me that I was the FIRST PERSON IN THE WORLD to have them ALL autographed!
*Note: Matt (Twilight Source) jumped right behind me so he could be second! LOL!
BREE TANNER TEASERS:
What is the timeline for when Victoria created Riley, Diego and Fred?
When the Volturi went to visit Victoria, did Jane see Bree and Diego in the tree watching?
What exactly happened to Diego?
What quality did Fred has have a human that allowed him to repel others as a vampire?
Did Jane have an ulterior motive for killing Bree?
Don’t worry… There is a whole lot more to come…
The music on our podcast this week is Ordinary Girl by Helen Austin.
We were amazed going through the interview with Stephenie Meyer, and wanted to bring you an answer to one of the MOST asked questions… The very first thing Stephenie addressed was Midnight Sun, and now you can hear it all straight from her!
Click below to listen here,
Midnight Sun Clip
Or listen at Mevio or iTunes…
If for some reason you would rather read the interview…
Meghan: What we’ll do is just start here, you’ll do one question and keep going around…
Letters to Twilight: No pressure!
(Laughing)
Meghan: So alright, go for it!
Stephenie: Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Do you all have your tape recorders on?
All: (Nodding and saying yes!)
Stephenie: First question, because we are going to deal with this right now, is Midnight Sun! Right? So we don’t have to…
All: (Lot’s of blabbering…)
Stephenie: I know that’s what everyone cares about. I also know that the right answer would be for me to say “Oh yah, it’s done! And it’ll be out next month!” But that’s not true. It’s also not true that I’ve got a ton of work done on it, and that’s what I’m working on. What’s true is that I’m really burned out on vampires. And, I don’t want to write it badly. So I want to wait until I’m excited about the material again, and I’m excited about Edward, and that it’s something that’s motivating. You know, when a story is keeping me up at night, and I’m waking up at 4 am in the morning and thinking ‘Yes! That is what is what should happen in this moment!’ Then that is when I can write with happiness! So, right now it feels like homework… it really does. And when things feel like homework they go very, very slowly for me. So it’s still not a “It’s not gonna happen!” I want to do it when I can do it right. You know, I have my share of human stubbornness, and I have to tell you, it’s a little bit hard when people are like “This is the only thing you can do, and it’s the only thing we care about!” And, you’re kind of like a three year old, you want to be like “I’m gonna do what I wanna do!” Yah. “You’re not the boss of me!” So my mom has backed off a little bit. Actually, I was at The Fray concert, and I was hanging out with the guys backstage. They’re really cool, and I was talking to Isaac about it. He was like, “I really want you to do that!” And I was like “Oh my gosh! Come on!” You know I can’t get away from it anywhere. And, we talked about stubbornness and reverse psychology. I have this great thing he signed for me, it says “To Stephenie, Don’t work on that stupid book! Nobody wants it anyway!” I have it by my computer. That really is the right direction to go with me, because I’m like “Huh! Maybe I should do it! I’ll show you!” Psychology! Anyway, that’s Midnight Sun! so, that should disappoint everyone!
Twilight Series Theories: I don’t think so!
Stephenie: Ok! so now we’re done! (Laughing) So, I’ll see you guys later!
All: (Laughing)
Letters to Twilight: That’s totally understandable.
Twilight Series Theories: I would rather wait.
Twilight Source: We’re not reading it until it’s done.
Twilight Series Theories: I haven’t read it!
Letters to Twilight: You haven’t!
Stephenie: The people I worry about are the haters. You know, that like to talk about what a horrible writer I am and all that stuff. When I do write it they’re going to say “Oh, this was worse than the first half because now she did it badly!” No matter what I do it’s going to be that way. There’s a mental block there. You know what people are going to say, so I have wait until it’s just me and the book again. Then I can feel excited about it! You know, sometimes I’ll sit and think about the car chase, that we don’t get to see from Bella’s perspective. I have that one completely mapped out in my head. That one wouldn’t be hard to get down. Stuff like that, it gets exciting. Cars. Ya know! The first car he steals I have picked out, and then the second one. It get’s messy! It’s gonna be great! You have to get excited about things! But, that’s Midnight Sun!
Twilight Series Theories: Check!
Fan Fiction Q&A
Tonight we bring you a bit about FAN-FICTION from our Stephenie Meyer Fan Junket! This question was brought to the table byTwifans.com, and we had so much fun hearing what Stephenie thinks about the subject…
Twifans: What do you think of Twilight fan-fiction?
SM: Fan-fiction has become kind of a mixed thing for me. like in the beginning I hadn’t heard of it and there were some that were…I couldn’t read the ones that had the characters IN character. It freaked me out. um, but I liked. there was one about Harry Potter and Twilight that was hilarious. And then there was one that was about a girl who was starring as Bella in the movie and that was funny. And uh, I hear so many people arguing about fan-fiction. This one and that one. It seems like they are not as much fun anymore. I don’t know.
Twifans: Well, we’re having lots of fun with it
Twifans: People pour out so much energy and talent into them
Twifans: Some of them are really good
SM: It makes me frustrated. I’m like…go write your own story. Put them out there and get them published. That’s what you should be doing. You should be working on your own book right now.
Twifans: Some people could just change the names and they could be books
Twifans: The ones I like to read are the ones that aren’t anything like the book. I like the ones where Edward is a banker or Edward is in the mafia
SM: (talking more about fanfics) As long as the writers of it, move on from it. I think it’s sad to spend so much energy on something you can’t own. And that makes me a little bit sad because all these talented kids should be, ya know, get your story out from under the bed and get it out there.
Twifans: Well if you won’t write it, we have to have something.
Twifans: The ones that I love are the ones that are so good, they could be a novel, if they would just change the names, because it’s nothing like the plot.
SM: That means it’s their own story and maybe they want to have a venue to try their stories out and that’s something too. Yeah, but you do have to kind of have to worry. The whole Midnight Sun….mess, came about because, when you first get started, you really want people to read your book & give you feedback and no one’s ever gonna care, like you don’t have to worry about leaks. That’s such a crazy idea. With MS you know, I had a readers group and we all read each other’s stuff and that’s very normal. I saw a lot of feedback, like “she shouldn’t be giving her stuff out”, but 10 years ago before anybody knew that had ever read Twilight, did you ever think anyone was gonna care or look for this crap? Absolutely not. As a writer, that’s how you work. You show your stuff, you get feedback from people, and you learn from it and I think that the fan fiction can do that in a nice way. Ya, know? You least you get to hear some people’s thoughts. Also, but there is a lot of negativity online. If your faced isn’t attached, when you’re in person with someone, I think it’s pretty hard to be like, “I hate you” (laughs). I worry about feedback evolution. Like if we all are all mean on the internet is that going to cross over into real life? Are we going to lose that common courtesy because online it’s completely gone? If you have a writer’s group and you are talking about your work, people are at least going to have some courtesy like “well, this part maybe didn’t work for me” not their not going to be like “you’re the biggest loser in the world” which is what they’re gonna get online and that might discourage some writers that are really good. And shouldn’t be that discouraged.
SM: Breaking Down was actually a project for a while. There was a while where you get burned out, we came up with an alternate Breaking Dawn called Breaking Down (laughs). It was awesome! Complete spiraling downward & destruction in Bella Swans life & everyone around her. Charlie became a meth addict.
Group: Oh My God!
SM: It starts out with Bella on the same cliff, right. Except this time she’s taking her life & she’s going back over like everything that has happened to get to this point. It all kinda got started because there was trouble & Alice and Jacob….I forget how it works…..Jacob killed Alice.
Group: Wow! (gasps)
SM: No, no…It was BREAKING DOWN
Group: (collective oh’s and laughs of understanding)
SM: So Alice is dead and Jacob is horrified because this is Bella’s fault, and he like…backhands Bella and disappears he’s gone. Alice is dead. So Bella is in the hospital on heavy pain meds which is how Charlie got addicted. She ends up marrying Mike. So she’s stuck with Mike and it’s very depressing and then he leaves her for Eric Yorkie.
(Someone tells SM not to tell anymore)
SM: Oh AND….Lauren Mallory wins America’s Next Top Model. And Charlie ends up getting killed by drug dealers, and I think her mom dies of a heart attack. So she ends up being nothing so she’s gonna kill herself then says “this is stupid, I’m not going to kill myself. I’m gonna rebound, I’m gonna forge a new life. She turns around, trips and falls over the edge. There were so many expectations for Breaking Dawn. if this doesn’t happen, I’m going to hate it and then the exact opposite, if the exact opposite doesn’t happen I’m going to hate it. I’m like I’m going to write something that everybody hates (group laughs) and then I wanted to leak it. It was going to be great. We had a lot of fun, when ya know, coming up with these horrific ideas. You know the thing is that Billy Burke would kill Charlie on drugs. He’d be so good at it.
Meghan chimes in helping Stephenie remember all the gory details of ‘Breaking Down.’ Let me just say I am dying to read this hysterical story from Stephenie! The two of them have really talked this story out. It seems to be a running inside joke between the two friends.
* Thanks to TwiFans.com for transcribing this portion of the interview!
Favorite Flashback
On this Fan Junket Friday we are excited to bring you Stephenie Meyer’s thoughts about the flashbacks in Eclipse! The following is a transcript of the Q&A, but we soon hope to add the audio!
TST(Kallie): Ok, I have a question… It is movie related… In Eclipse we get a lot of background for Rosalie, Jasper and the Quileutes. Which I love, love, love! it’s my favorite part of reading the book, and getting to know the characters. So which of the backgrounds are you most excited, or have you been most excited to played out on film?
SM: I found Jasper’s really exciting.
TST(Kallie): That’s what I’m most excited about!
SM: I think that having read them… Well, when I was writing them I really liked the Quileute background.
TST(Kallie): I love the Quileutes, and so for me, I was so excited to see the third wife and all that. But because reading Bree (The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner) I am so excited to see Jackson’s background being played out.
SM: They’re short in the movie, becasue they have to be. That’s always the heartbreak of them. The biology scene… it kills you because you want to see Rob and Kristen do that.
LT: It’ll just be five hours long!
SM: Yah! So it was hard to have them shortened down. I think that Nikki Reed will surprise you in her section, she does so great!
TST(Kassie): I’m excited about that!
TS(Matt): She does so great!
Everyone: Arguing about spoilers! NO SPOILERS!
SM: She really did!
TF(Kim): She looked amazing!
SM: She looked good! The period piece was really fun! They did have to shorten that down, and there were things I was sad to loose. Again, hope for the DVD extras! I’m always looking forward to those. But Jackson as a human was awesome!
Everyone: We want to see it!
SM: And, I know there are issues with his hair… right!?!
Everyone: Laughing!
SM: I hear these things! I love his hair in this one. When he is human, and his hair in the practice fight… He had a mohawk for this because he just did Airbender. I always pictured Jasper with a little bit longer hair. I like it when it’s messy. When they try to smooth it, it kind of loses it for me, but I liked this one. It’s a little longer. We were really excited the first time we saw the wig pictures… We were like, “Oh! Nice!” You know, it’s different right? But that happens because they’re all people and, you know, they’re getting older. Vampires don’t do that, but they’re human.
Everyone: Yah!
TST: Awesome!
Leg Hitches, Freaky Fred, Edward and More…
Kallie is ripping Stephenie’s head off (with Twifans help)! We were acting out the final ‘Bree-Beheading’ scene… and there were NO stunt doubles! LOL!
Leg hitching, Freak Fred, Edward, Bree and Jane… It’s a lot to cover, and we are only getting started folks! Enjoy this transcription… or click to listen!
Fan Junket Clip
Stephenie: Okay, so let’s move on!
Letters to Twilight: Alright, so we are going to start off a little funny. So, there is this game that people play and you get three names and it is called, “Eff, Kill, Marry”. We are going to do the “Eclipse” version called “Hunt, Leg-Hitch, Imprint”. So, we are going to give you three names and you are going to choose which one.
Stephenie: Okay, okay.
Letters to Twilight: So, lets start out with the Holy Trinity of Edward, Jacob and Bella.
Stephenie: No, see I can’t.
Stephenie: …because no matter what I say, I am screwed. That’s why, and I love all the kids. They are great. So, I would have to say Imprint for all of them.
Twilight Series Theories: Aw.
Twilight Source: That’s sweet.
Stephenie: Isn’t that a cool answer?
Letters to Twilight: It is.
Stephenie: I feel so shut down right now. (laughs)
Letters to Twilight: Well, could we do “Bree Tanner” characters? Diego, Fred and Riley.
Stephenie: Well, you know that’s hard too. The obvious choice would be to hunt Riley after you read the book. But now that Xavier has played him…
Letters to Twilight: Oh we don’t care who plays him.
Stephenie: You would have to hunt Riley. You see, when he starts out, he is not a bad person when she first finds him. But, she makes him into a really bad person. I guess I would have to leg hitch Diego, and Imprint with Fred because I love Fred.
Twilight Series Theories: Yes. That was the biggest response we got from the fans.
Stephenie: And, you see Fred was such an accidental character. I love accidental characters. I knew that she was going to have, kind of, a romance there. But, he just came out of the blue. It was so interesting. Although, it killed me when the Spanish publisher put out a little synopsis of the story that was really badly translated and not only did they say that it was Riley who had a talent, but the talent was smell related. And I was like, “Oh my gosh!” I was horrified! I said “No, no that’s wrong”. Then I was worried that people were gonna read about Fred and in their heads think it was a smell thing. And I thought, “No”.
Letters to Twilight: No, we didn’t think that at all.
Twifans: No.
Twilight Source: Freaky Fred’s power is that he gives off that repulsion. How do you come up with the powers for vampires? What is in the water in Arizona ?
Twilight Source: I really want to know because we were talking about this a lot and we were thinking.
Stephenie: Well, anytime you start doing a fantasy, it slowly starts to shift away all the rules. And anyone you read, do you read Jasper Fforde? Go read Jasper Fforde! I am reading “Shades of Grey” right now. His imagination is unreal. But I think that when you take away the boundaries you start thinking that way. Fred is actually not that too far off. He is really related to what Jasper can do. He has an ability to affect how your body feels. And his is very specific. It is kind of like the difference between Jane and Kate. He has one thing he can do, whereas Jasper has the whole range.
Twilight Source: I never thought of it that way.
Stephenie: It is really related to that classification of talent.
Twilight Series Theories: Okay, so that leads into this question perfectly.
Stephenie: Excellent.
Twilight Series Theories: What is it about his human characteristics or his trait that caused him to have that ability when he is a vampire?
Stephenie: I see it as Fred’s backstory. He is in college, a little bit older like Riley and I see him as being – he is beautiful now because that is what happens, but him as being kind of a science nerd. Sort of quiet and sort of not liking other people’s attention. And of course when you live in a room full of newborns, that’s gonna be an even stronger need. So him, having that need to not be seen manifested in that way. And of course that makes him kind of cool.
Twilight Series Theories: Well, it is weird because he has got this ability to make people feel so repelled that they are nauseated. I think that is where they got the smell thing from.
Stephenie: I think so, but for me it was like completely a feeling in your gut. It wasn’t really a mental thing, more like a visceral and really, really potent. When you have to learn fast when you are in a group like that and so he is in an elevated learning program and he gets good really quickly. And, he is really, really smart. I liked to think about the newborns and what it would be like to be so unable to focus and all the time all you can think about is this driving need that you have and you are barely human. But if you can stop and slow down, you are able to think and you are really bright actually and he is able to do that on his own which makes him unique and special.
Twilight Series Theories: Thanks!
Twifans: This is one of those questions if you had pictured in your mind or maybe you thought of this beyond your mind but does Edward ever go to find Fred?
Stephenie: If I were to go ahead with it, he would definitely come up again. After his character sort of warmed he would fit into a rightly place. I don’t see Edward actively seeking him out. Having the knowledge he had gotten from Bree he realizes that Fred probably wouldn’t appreciate that pretty much, but I do see them crossing paths. I was really relieved in a way, I didn’t see anybody surviving. And so as Fred started developing it was really a relief to let someone survive and for someone you care about.
Twilight Series Theories: I just loved the introduction to the book that you did say “I was writing this and I did have a hard time that I made this decision before…” That helped me through.
Stephenie: By the end, you know, when I first started out I didn’t even think about it, I was thinking “this will be cool” it was all about the mechanics of it. And then when you start like “I have to kill her”. On set it was crazy because Jodelle is teeny. She is this little – actually she looked a little younger even though she is fifteen. My Bree in the book was grown up looking because she had a hard life but Jodelle did a really good job. They cut a scene of hers where I really think she captured her. I hope it makes it on the DVD. But, then you have Daniel Cudmore, who is – you can’t even tell in the movies but he is a monster!
Twilight Series Theories: And beautiful. (laughs)
Stephenie: He is so properly proportionate so that if you took a normal six-foot person and you blew them up. He is just so big. I remember the first time I met him I asked him like an idiot “How tall are you?”
Stephenie: The first time I met him, he was in the full Volturi garb with his eyes. It was impressive. So he was coming over to rip up the little girl and the difference between them was really – it made me sad. And you watch it all day because you shoot the scene in fourteen different ways all day long so they keep killing her over and over again.
Twilight Source: You know, I was saying this to Matt before and I feel like the fact that Bree’s life, how tragic it is in the fact that she dies, is a really juxtaposition to the series that we see from Bella’s perspective. Because, you always hear Edward saying, “This is a really tough life and this is not something that you want to be”.
Stephenie: And no one ever believes him.
Twilight Source: Exactly! Because you see it from Bella’s perspective of the Cullens are beautiful. But, Bree shows that he is right in a lot of ways. It was obviously tragic to see her die, I fell in love with her too. But you see that Edward’s perspective is vindicated in a lot of ways.
Stephenie: And you get to see Jasper as he hadn’t been, as good at what he does.
Twilight Source: Exactly.
Stephenie: When you are created for a reason that has nothing to do with your well being and serving someone else’s purpose and how used they are, they have no idea and are doomed from the start, it is just really sad.
Twilight Source: Which is why I just love the scene where Jasper and Bree, towards the end, where it is really intense because obviously it is coming full circle for Jasper in a lot of ways.
Stephenie: It was more focused on Edward and her connection. Which when I was writing it the first time it was all Bella and you are in that mode and you are so oblivious to a lot of things but when the line was really – it was really cool – I was writing it through and I had realized “hey Edward is gonna know everything she is thinking” so how are we going to do this? And his line was starting to play in to everything. That final line, I was getting chills.
Twilight Series Theories: I was too!
Twilight Source: Who was he talking to!?
Stephenie: He was talking to both of them. When I wrote it for Bella it was absolutely him talking to her, but then when I wrote this one, I thought “he was talking to Bree. Oh my gosh”, and when he was trying to save her I could feel his – so much more than when it was just “don’t do this horrible thing”, but then he was really trying to save her specifically and knew what a good person she was and I was just like “Aw”. And he couldn’t do anything. Stupid Jane!
Twilight Series Theories: Stupid Jane!
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner ~ Part 1
This week we are very excited to bring you another chunk from our interview with Stephenie Meyer! We are bringing you some juicy details about The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner, and how it ties to The Twilight Saga. So enjoy!
Q: So we really want to know, I mean this is like kind of 2 part and it’s totally unrelated but also related, where in the world Fred and Diego’s names came from? Were they old boyfriends, was it a gardener?
SM: No, I don’t tend to name people after boyfriends. It’s safer that way. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a character named ‘Dave’, cause I dated so many ‘Daves’! I’m surprised I didn’t end up married to a ‘Dave’ ‘cause that was sort of a pattern. Um, so I avoided that. And you don’t want people to be like: “Oh, that’s me.” You know? I mean come on. So, no, with Diego, I wanted a specific character. I had a real vision of him and what he looked like, what his ethnicity was and I love the name Diego. It’s sexy! So there was that. Fred, it was all about the alliteration. I wanted to have some kind of nickname for him. And so you know ‘Freaky Fred’ it worked really well that way. And then there was a bit of Scooby-Doo in that because you know Freddy? The blonde hair, the tall and the broad shoulders and kind of goofy and everything? And so there was this…I mean, he’s not…the character isn’t like that, but like the outer [appearance]: the blonde, the broad shoulders, everything. I was like “Yeah, you know ‘Fred’.”
?: I pictured him as like really big. Kind of overweight guy.
(Chatter about how they all pictured Fred)
SM: No. He should be, in his vampire form, quite good-looking.
?: Yeah, I literally just [pictured him] like a big guy who took up a couch.
(chatter)
SM: And for them that could’ve been him, because they’re just so unaware of him besides just “Ew!”
?: Right, maybe that’s why. That’s funny how that worked.
Elysa from Twilight Source: Bree and Diego. They seem, I dunno, they seem very tame in a lot of ways obviously in comparison to the rest of their group. How was it that they were capable of, I mean, human emotions in a lot of ways: compassion for each other, love for each other? And they were newborns, so that was really interesting to see.
SM: With the newborns it’s all about layers, because they haven’t lost. And you see that with Bella, all of those human emotions are there very strong. But as a newborn it’s so just overshadowed by being thirsty all the time and also, kind of this frenetic energy. Um, and you know, have you ever been so thirsty you couldn’t think about anything else? You know, I kind of thought about that and yeah, I live in Arizona I know what that’s like! Multiply it by a billion! You know where it’s just distracting you all the time. You know you try and think about something. But the other emotions are there, and I think when you kind of have a moment to be quiet; in the basement you don’t have that. And Bree, one thing that kind of counts in her favor is she is the smallest of the newborns, and so for her there’s no chance that she can’t get involved with those fights and everything. In self-preservation she, you know, figured the Fred thing out and saved herself. She really can’t get into all the squabbles ‘cause the anger and…It’s like teenage boys when they really hit that moment where they wanna just kill everybody…to have that all the time. I have a 13-year-old boy…
SM: I had three brothers too and it was funny that they were super sweet and then there’d be those moments where they get so angry. I remember the oldest of my younger brothers was unloading the dishwasher and someone said something to tick him off, and he took a cup in his hand was just like (Grrrr…) and punching holes in walls! And I was like: “Wow!” Matt’s like: “I never did that!” You were a nice teenager and your mother loves you.
(laughter/chatter)
SM: She [Bree] kind of had to stay away from that energy also. And then Diego’s been around for awhile. He’s starting to reach the cool-off period. Like things are starting to not make sense to him, and Riley can’t distract him as easily because these questions are unanswered. And when you stop and look at them they’re really big questions but they just never do. And you can also train newborns, which you know Victoria’s picked up, so that they have automatic responses. She’s done that with the daylight, and made it so ‘Fire! Fire! Fire!’ that they can’t…they don’t think about it. He’s done that with the routine all along so that they have a certain thing that’s easiest for them to follow and Diego’s got to the point where [he questions]: “Why am I doing this?” And he sort of pulls Bree out of it too because she doesn’t think about it very long but when she’s talking to him then she starts realizing: “Wait a minute…What is this?” They just don’t think about it till then.
Elysa: Bree Tanner made me realize actually just how pertinent the term ‘newborn’ actually is because I felt like you see so much how environment really shapes their behavior.
SM: Absolutely.
Elysa: I think in a lot of ways, at least toward the beginning of the series, you kind of assume that when you’re a newborn there’s absolutely no choice. You’re going to turn out a certain way no matter what. But we see with Bella and then with Bree a little bit, like you were just saying, that environment can make all the difference in the world.
SM: Well, you have Bella who’s like braced for it. She knows it’s coming, and one of the hard things about writing from her perspective is she’s very unique but then that’s the only viewpoint you get of being newborn or anything: “Oh, that wasn’t so hard!” And it is hard! But she just has so much preparation and a really strong willpower that helps quite a bit. And with Bree you have someone who… I mean generally you wake up as a vampire, right, and people say, “Hey, you’re a vampire.” Their behaviors are going to say, “Well, I can’t help that, you know. I’m a vampire…and people taste so good!”
SM: It was funny [because] my editor had a question for me she’s like: “Wouldn’t Bree stop and think about all these people she’s killing? Wouldn’t she feel some…she’s a good person. Wouldn’t she feel some pity?” And I was like: “No! No!”
Kallie: I love how you explained it in the book, too; how they smelled it [blood] or they saw their prey and they changed. Like they were crouching, and they were ready to pounce. You know, like it wasn’t even that they had a choice…it just was like a reaction.
SM: Very animalistic. You know and when someone tells you, “Okay, you’re special now and this is what you do, and this is who you hunt and don’t think about it.” You don’t think about it.
Kallie: It made Jasper’s reaction in New Moon so much more like “Oh, okay that makes sense then.”
SM: Poor Jasper, he’s not very good at the diet. Which we can all understand right?
Kassie (?): Alright, we wanna know kind of the timeline for when you created Diego, or when Diego, Riley and Fred were created as vampires.
SM: Um, you know Riley showed up in Eclipse. You know he was one of those characters that starts out as a tool without having much person to him, but then as you write about him. But then it was hard not being able to see much of him. That final scene with Edward, I felt much more pity for him than I did when I was writing Bree because here you have this guy who comes into it and he’s been lied to and manipulated more than anyone else. I mean the newborns have been manipulated, but not the way he’s been. And he’s been lied to more than anyone and Victoria is his whole life, and to have her dismiss him the way that she does. He has that moment where he could survive if he listened to Edward. And when Edward says, “I don’t want to kill you. You can walk away from this”, and he doesn’t. He makes the wrong choice which is hard. So he evolved then. Bree was just an example of a newborn when I was working with her in Eclipse, and then when I started with [?] being like,…Well actually it was Rebecca then. Rebecca saying, “What was going on?” I had to re-tailor the story to have more clues about what’s happening and she really wanted to know: “Tell me what happens in Seattle.” And so then I was looking at it, and that’s when you start getting the stories. Once the stories start you kind of have to write them down. So Diego formed really quickly. Originally the opening scenes started out with the Spider-Man theme song because it was just him skittering on the walls and sort of this crazy bizarre thing. And I knew she [Bree] needed someone to talk to and she needed somebody sane. So Diego showed up really quickly as somebody who’s outside of the newborn madness already and sort of already past that. Fred was a little bit later where I was thinking you know here you have this little girl who’s been thrown into this setup. How does she survive? And she wasn’t talented, but you know I figured if there was somebody else who was. It all kind of came together really easily and organically.
Kallie: Was Riley created while James was still alive?
SM: No, very quickly after his death.
Kallie: ‘Cause of their being so mature for newborns, I was just kind of curious about that…
SM: Victoria, you never see it from her perspective but some of the things about her character is she is so non-confrentational. She doesn’t take people on face-to-face because that’s not…she’s a survivor.
Matt: She’s evasive.
SM: Yeah, she’s the behind the scenes manipulator. You know James was always kind of the front guy, right? She let him lead the way, and she let him you know…And she was crazy about James but she let him take the danger for her ‘cause that’s who she is! Um, and so she felt very alone. You know, she’s lost this guy. Laurent’s run off and kind of gone off with the enemy as far as she knows and she picked Riley, he was big and strong and she felt like: “I need someone to stand in between me and everyone else.” And then you know she starts coming with ways to use him, and so he was really early in. You know, I love what Bryce has done with her. I love Rachelle and she had a great, strong, feral kind of Victoria. Um, but and I don’t know if this will be out there when the companion comes out: Bryce was the first choice.
SM: And she was pregnant and the whole bit, and so we always loved her and she comes in and makes Victoria the manipulator again. The ‘Victoria’ now isn’t the one who’s gonna stand up there like she’s ready for a fight. She’s the one who’s gonna be like: “You go fight them and I’ll be the one left standing.” And she does the voice, like the really sweet voice! Agh! She kills. She kills. And when you watch her do the manipulation thing and you see how it would work.
Matt: Her eyes are so big too. They’re like this angelic, hypnotic look when she’s telling Riley…
SM: Her face is insane, oh my gosh! Every time I watch it with the eyes, you’re like: “How does a human face do that?!” She’s gorgeous, and so nice like really, really fun. When she came in it was hard for her because you know everybody was freaking out over Rachelle and she was so sweet about it. When the whole mess went down with the scheduling she said, “Look, I’m not gonna do this unless… You know, I’m not cutting in on anybody.” She was really great about it. Very lovely.
Thanks go to *STEPHANIE* for transcribing this week! You are AWESOME!
Continued… Part 2
*Thanks go to Twilight Source for transcribing this week!
*Thanks to Twifans, and Sam for getting the audio approved!
*Thanks to Letters to Twilight for the fun new game!
All photographs are owned by Stephenie Meyer and there may be no copying or other exploitation of such photographs without the express prior written permission of Stephenie Meyer, c/o Jodi Reamerjreamer@writershouse.com
All Photos: Julie Adamson
8 Comments to “Stephenie Meyer Fan Junket 2010”
Twilight Sisters » Stephenie Meyer Fanjunket says:
[…] Source: TwilightSeriesTheories […]
Twilight Sisters » Stephenie Meyer Fanjunket, Part 2 says:
Stephenie Meyer: Volturi – Das Böse ist nicht immer hässlich » Stephenie, Meyer, Sache, Vampire, Monster, Volturi » Twilight-Fieber - Die Twilight Bücher und Twilight Film says:
[…] twilightseriestheories.com könnt ihr euch die bisher veröffentlichten englischen Artikel zu diesem Interview mit Stephenie […]
Stephenie Meyers private Twilight Eclipse Pressekonferenz: Twilight ist überall » Leute, Aber, Menge, Stephenie, Dinge, Twilight » Twilight-Fieber - Die Twilight Bücher und Twilight Film says:
[…] die sie ausgelost hatte. Wir hatten euch bereits davon berichtet. Eine der teilnehmenden Fanseiten, twilightseriestheories.com, hat alle Teile des Treffens auf ihrer Seite […]
Twilight Lexicon » Victoria says:
[…] a special talent for self-preservation and survival. She was a master manipulator and very evasive (SM interview #6 TST) Victoria continued to patrol the area near Forks in the hopes of ambushing Bella. While Bella was […]
Twilight Lexicon » Riley says:
[…] History: Victoria turned Riley into a vampire shortly after James’ death (SM interview #6 with TST). Riley was devoted to Victoria and worked hard to “hunt the dregs. Take the humans that no one […]
jing ae jang says:
what would be the next after breaking dawn?
sweet thats awesome i wil always love and look up to you stephenie<33333333
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Battlefield V Closed Alpha Impressions: Sounds Great, Plays Great, Even in An Early State
Ed McGlone
Published on June 29, 2018 Ed McGlone
Home » Features » Battlefield V Closed Alpha Impressions: Sounds Great, Plays Great, Even in An Early State
Even in its riskiest ventures, like Battlefield: Hardline, the series has more or less been consistently satisfying to fans with varying degrees of excellence. Battlefield V returns to the series roots much like Call of Duty did last year. It’s the first time that World War II is going to be seen in the 3.0 version of the Frostbite game engine. An engine that has a spotty history with non-Battlefield games, but looks fine as all hell when running Battlefield, that’s for sure.
The build we’re playing is in closed alpha, meaning that there is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to ironing out bugs, glitches, strange visuals, optimization etc. So it’s unfair really to hold any of that against Battlefield V until a more complete version of the game is presented. That said, in spite of that reality, the game really did run great for the most part.
Let’s just get the buggy stuff out of the way quick though since you’re probably curious. Squads didn’t work properly all of the time, which, in the new Grand Operations mode where cooperation and squad spawning is crucial, was a downer in terms of competitive balance. When I died I’d occasionally fuse into the ground, and get a glitchy looking environment until I re-spawned. Some players were complaining about getting frozen at the deploy screen, but that never happened to me. There were times when the frame rate dropped a bit, but nothing too bad in my experience playing.
It doesn’t really matter because again, this stuff will be ironed out. I was more interested in how the game ran, sounded, and looked. All of that checks out so far. Battlefield V will be one of the most visually impressive games this year, certainly among shooters. Even without finishing touches that will inevitably occur before the game is fully released, the game already looks fantastic. Narvik is a great choice for a battlefield, as it sports beaches, mountains, and snow, all of which combine to give it a very unique and pretty aesthetic.
The basic gameplay is all there. In this closed alpha build, we only had access to the tried and true versions of the new specializations that are being added for Battlefield V. If you’ve played Battlefield 1 at all in the last few years, you’ll be extremely comfortable and familiar with how all of the four basic archetypes play. Scouts snipe and, well, scout. Medics heal and revive, etc.
Really, what impressed me the most was the sound. Even in closed alpha, everything just sounds so “authentic” (at least from a Hollywood perspective). Bullets whizzing by, planes flying overhead, gruesome calls for help from downed teammates and enemies, the scripted banter that takes place between you and nearby squad mmebers – all of it builds up an incredibly immersive experience that begs to be played with a high quality headset.
All in all, I’m not worried that Battlefield V is going to turn out anything less than “good.” Whether the series elevates itself, and builds on the excellent Battlefield 1, is going to be determined by the new stuff that we can’t play yet, such as the additional specializations of the four basic classes, and the new battle royale mode. But, at the bare minimum, we’re getting more Battlefield, and there’s no complaints from me there.
Related Topics:Battlefield V
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58th GRAMMY AwardsLila DownsLa Santa CeciliaGaby MorenoAlejandro SanzJulieta VenegasCarlos VivesNatalia LafourcadeNelly FurtadoChiquis RiveraBest of The Grammy AwardsBest of 2015 in American MusicLatin Grammy Awards 2015SXSW 2017Grammy Awards 2018
Alexis Puentes (born 1974),[1] better known by his stage name Alex Cuba, is a Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter who sings in Spanish and English. He has won two Juno Awards for World Music Album of the Year: in 2006 for Humo de Tabaco, and in 2008 for his second album, Agua del Pozo. In 2010 he won the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist. His 2015 album, Healer, earned him a Latin Grammy Award for Best Singer-Songwriter Album and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Latin Pop Album.
River of Nations
River of Nations is a song by musical artist Alex Cuba, released on August 18, 2017.
Lo Único Constante
Lo Único Constante is an album by musical artist Alex Cuba, released on April 7, 2017.
Todas las Cabezas Están Locas / Dans la Folie de L'Amour
Todas las Cabezas Están Locas / Dans la Folie de L'Amour is an album by musical artist Alex Cuba, released on February 17, 2017.
Todas las Cabezas Están Locas / Dans la Folie de L'Amour is a song by musical artist Alex Cuba, released on February 17, 2017.
Photos - Alex Cuba123
People Recently Photographed with Alex Cuba2
Popular Albums8
Album Appearances & References11
Popular Songs7
Collaborators & Influencers9
Awards & Nominations10
You May Also Be Interested In13
Spotify - Albums & Singles16
Spotify - Appears On12
Spotify - Top Tracks10
News Articles12
Alex Cuba defines his own latin sound
– November 1, 2017
Quite possibly the best artist to come out of Canada in the world music genre, singer-songwriter Alex Cuba wows music fans everywhere he performs. Based in Smithers, B.C., by way of Artemisa, Cuba, the 43-year-old entertainer has become a fan favourite ...
A distinctive style separates Alex Cuba from the crowd
Quite possibly the best artist to come out of Canada in the World-genre, singer/songwriter Alex Cuba wows music fans everywhere he performs. Based in Smithers, B.C., by way of Artemisa, Cuba, the 43-year-old entertainer, born Alexis Puentes, has become a ...
Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars Win 3 Grammys Apiece at Premiere Ceremony
Shakira’s “El Dorado” rose as the Best Latin Pop Album amid other works by Alex Cuba, Juanes and Natalia Lafourcade. Residente, from the band Calle 13, took home the Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album Award with his homonymous work ...
Gaga, Cardi B. among stars wearing white roses for Grammys
Alex Cuba arrives at the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) NEW YORK – Stars, including Lady Gaga and Kelly Clarkson, turned out on the Grammys red carpet Sunday ...
Shakira’s “El Dorado” Named Best Latin Pop Album At Grammy Awards
The first Latin award was for Best Latin Pop Album. Shakira’s “El Dorado” was named the victor. Shakira’s album beat out Alex Cuba’s “Lo Único Constante,” Juanes’ “Mis Planes Son Amarte,” La Santa Cecilia’s “Amar y Vivir (En Vivo ...
California Sounds: Watch videos by L.A. Grammy nominees Randy Newman, Aimee Mann, Tyler the Creator and more
The group is nominated alongside fellow winners Shakira, Juanes and Natalia Lafourcade, as well as thrice-nominated singer Alex Cuba. Aimee Mann, “Mental Illness” (SuperEgo). The Recording Academy nominated Mann’s wonderfully depressing album in the ...
White roses top fashion statement on Grammys red carpet
Alex Cuba arrives at the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Many women also went for black, both edgy and chic.
Who Will Win Grammy Latin Categories? Billboard Editors Debate
Not to mention Natalia Lafourcade, a Grammy darling, and Alex Cuba and La Santa Cecilia who both have very fine releases. But in a year of no huge Latin albums, I’m placing my bets on Shakira’s El Dorado, which had massive singles on the charts and ...
The Canadian 2018 Grammy Nominees Have A Lot To Be Proud Of
Other artists nominated for the 2018 Grammys are Leonard Cohen for Best Rock Performance for "You Want It Darker," and Best American Roots Performance for "Steer Your Way." Sarah McLachlan, Alex Cuba, Shawn Everett, and Matt Maher are also nominees.
Kendrick Lamar set to open Grammy Awards with U2 and Dave Chappelle
Other Canadian nominees include Michael Bublé, Alex Cuba, Arcade Fire, Shawn Everett, Matt Maher, Justin Bieber, Alessia Cara, The Weeknd, Daniel Caesar and Toronto recording engineer Charles Moniz, who has three nominations for his work on Bruno Mars ...
Acclaimed Canadian Artist David Myles Releases New Album 'Real Love'
His embrace of varied styles and tastes has resulted in numerous collaborations-most recently, with hip hop star Classified, Grammy Award-winner Alex Cuba and Quebec's Jean Francois Brault. His collaboration with Classified, "Inner Ninja," netted a Juno ...
Cuban roots inspire essential songs for acclaimed Canadian singer
Not Alex Cuba. “It’s just who I am,” he admits. “In the beginning, there were a couple of times I felt almost embarrassed by writing positive music because most people want to feel their misery, and if that works for them, like a therapy ...
Affiliated Locations2
Alex Cuba http://www.alexcuba.com/
Alex Cuba https://www.facebook.com/AlexCubaMusic
Alex ✰ Cuba (@iamalexcuba) • Instagram photos and videos https://instagram.com/iamalexcuba
Alex Cuba (@AlexCuba) | Twitter https://twitter.com/AlexCuba
alexcuba.com
"Adonis Puentes and Voice of Cuba Orchestra bring their music to PEI"
"Grammys 2018: See the Complete List of Nominees"
"La lista completa de nominados a los Latin Grammy 2015"
Events featuring Alex Cuba4
58th GRAMMY Awards
Latin Grammy Awards 2015
Guides featuring Alex Cuba1
Best of 2015 in American Music
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Femminist Reflections on My Spritual Sabbatical pt 3
December 31, 2015 December 31, 2015 / aarongoggans
Headed Towards the Light: An Itinerant Cartographers Unfinished Guide to the Poetics of the Movement for Black Lives.
My thoughts coalesce in long walks.
I take long, slow and steady strolls throughout the city examining the network of disparate thoughts that float through my mind. Each step makes a critical connection. Each street corner reminds me of another data point. My mind elongates in tandem with my strides, expanding to compute a thousand daily concerns and musing.
Over the past month I have walked through several valleys of understanding. I’ve taken a really long and hard look at how I’ve been operating over the past year. At first, it was difficult even to focus on it all. Every action, speech, rally and interaction with police was blurred together in one side splitting mental imprint of stress, anxiety, hope, rage and fear.
As I strolled through city blocks in DC and Brooklyn, I unpacked these dense imprints to examine the impact this year had on me. As I unpacked them, I could feel myself decompress and a weight slowly begin to lift off my shoulders. Unencumbered by these chains of constant anxiety I saw a bit of my former self start to return.
I began to remember how much I enjoy playing the dozens with friends and family. I remembered how calm I used to feel before the hurricane of constant organizing. I began to be able to appreciate, for the first time in a long time, how truly wonderful, amazing and beyond my wildest dreams this past year had been.
Despite the pain and agony of constantly reacting to another death, another sign that we are not meant to survive this system, I realized that I have been blessed with a wonderful, radical and radically supportive community. I have been blessed with an increased faith in my abilities and decreased need to prove my worth. I have been blessed with a spiritual awareness of the world and my place in it. I have become more acquainted with my internal power and more comfortable standing in it.
With each step, I was able to gain more and more of this perspective and more and more weight fell off my shoulders. Yet something has been missing. There has been an almost indiscernible feeling of internal lacking, of waiting from something to enter my life and complete my sabbatical.
I realize that I’ve been waiting, somewhat foolishly, for my old self to return. Yet the more I reflect, the more I realize that he no longer exists. Part of him grew up over the past two years and part of him was buried in Baltimore. In his place is n older, more patient, more jaded and more self-aware blend of echoes of my father and the person I was as a kid.
Walking is one of the few things that can slow the torrent of coupled thoughts that often race through my mind. It is one of the few forms of meditation that brings me to the particular sort of calm in which I feel the most myself. It is a reflective, active calm like the mind of an athlete ready to jump. Even though the blood begins to rush into my hands in anticipation, unlike an athlete, my movements are entirely metaphoric.
It is perhaps ironic then that after my walks I could not describe to you much of what I saw nor could I give you directions to where I went. I have no mind for mundane details. I remember only the slight details a painter might use to accent a work or the descending notes a composer uses to let you know the piece was ending. I tend to only remember the details useful for storytelling.
It might then be even more ironic that I have come to think of myself as a verbal cartographer. I cannot, for the life of me, tell you how to get from point A to B but I could describe, illustratively and in exquisite detail what the journey will feel like. I could point out to you, if you were interested, the history of significant ruins you might encounter along the way. I would end each map with a key explaining why the journey is so viscerally important. Yet I’m very bad at directing folks to where I feel they should go because it assumes a specific singular destination.
I think this is why I prefer poetry to prose.
It’s easier.
A rarity of words,
Increases impact.
Like a lover,
leaving the ring on the counter,
in lieu papers;
communicating more in questions begged,
than answers given.
I have, over the past year, developed more interest in complicating journeys than prescribing destinations. Perhaps it’s fatigue. Perhaps it’s uncertainty. Perhaps it’s a begrudging humility. Likely it’s all three. Either way, I’m more interested in poetry than prose.
“I speak here of poetry as a revelatory distillation of experience, not the sterile word play that, too often, the white fathers distorted the word poetry to mean–in order to cover a desperate wish for imagination without insight.”
Lorde, Audre. “Poetry Is Not a Luxury.” Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches.
In another life I would have been a cartographer.
I can see myself devouring the latest missives from the “new world.” Immediately incorporating them in my maps. The outlines of coasts getting more and more accurate as times goes on. The descriptions of the people and culture getting more vivid and useful.
But the edges of the map, of the known world, would always be illustrated with the myths I felt to be true. The gryphons of the cold wintery north, dragons of the distance east, the giants that laid waste to the northern desserts. Over time we will discover the eagles, the alligators, the massive blue whales and giant squids that looked like krakens and myth will turn into science and we will pretend that we understand the world.
These are the many tensions in my soul. The observed and the felt. The diagram and the dreamscape. Different understandings fueled by a desire to know and explore, driven by the most ardent curiosity. A deep sense of the world in its totality but lack of understanding.
Of it’s beauty.
Its wonder.
It’s terror.
It’s Poetics.
Dialectical, symmetrically assembled choreography of masses, forces and networks of consciousness that I feel a deep, ethereal connection to.
I will forever be in debt to writers like Audre Lorde and Octavia Butler and Adrienne Maree Brown and Alexis Pauline Gumbs for giving me language to explore and illustrate the edges of the map. I will be in debt to thinkers and spiritualists like Erika Totten and Omolara Williams McCallister for reminding me that there are many levels and kinds of understanding and multiple dimensions on which to know a thing. It is debt shared by all the Black Queer Feminist in my life whose power and energy inspire me, especially my sisters who taught me how to dream.
This is all to say, after a month long spiritual sabbatical, I wish to share with you a map of the edge of my understanding. I wish to illustrate, in the best medium I have available to me [poetics], the uncharted territory that my movement family and I have been exploring in the past year in the Movement for Black Lives.
A Unfinished Map Towards Liberation:
The topography is vigorous,
A land of dynamic forces.
Energies that are both waves and particles:
ideas,
impulses,
neurons firing in our brains
and chemical reactions to historical, economic, existential and social stimulants.
There are forces of beauty and wonder,
forces of oppression and human limitation.
There is bondage and emancipation.
Growth and decay.
Blossoming and withering.
These forces etch themselves unto the landscape of human experience, craving systems of opposition, obstacles to forward paths and valleys of understanding.
The west side of the map is our past: clouded in the fog of war, myth and dogma.
In the middle lies our present: dense, humid and warming.
Towards the east is our unknowable future: shrouded in mystery and wrapped in anticipation.
To the north is the observable world of facts and figures and
in the south lies the equally true world of dreams, feelings, imaginations, the science of living and other knowings.
Liberation lies to the SE of our present location.
“The man who knows something knows that he knows nothing at all.” Erykah Badu – On and On
As we travel towards liberation, we must ensure we are equipped for the journey. It is a rough road for the ill-prepared. We could not climb the mountains of true understanding without collecting the theory and analysis of the north and weaving them into the dreams and internal knowings of the south. Unfortunately, our species is not yet equipped to walk a straight path towards liberation. It will be meandering journey of starts and stutters.
On the frayed edges of the map are the metaphysical oceans where the forces of the land coalesce and pool. The rocky bays that connect these rivers of forces to the oceans of power filter out the impurities of domination, hierarchy, and inequity. Still, the depths of these oceans are dangerous to the unpracticed swimmer. The call of God is a siren to the unlearned ear, pulling you into these jagged rocks and in these oceans lay a terrifyingly transformative power.
Notes on the oceans of power:
From my travels in the south, I learned to bottle my dreams so that I can access this power. I see my sisters access it at protests. I drink from it nightly and feel it overwhelm me when I speak truth to the world. I sense is flow through me as my mind flows unto the page.
I intuit that this emotional energy, this transformative power, has the capacity to shatter this land.
I can access it at any time.
Sometimes, when I allow myself to access this power, shutting down highways, testifying in the Wilson building as knowledge coalesces effortlessly in my mind and flows freely from my lips; I think that the power is right when it suggests that I should break the world.
I am terrified, infatuated and addicted to this embodied power.
My movement family and I access this power together.
Collectively we both heighten it and hold it accountable.
I believe that this power is our salvation.
I have recognized this power as my birthright.
I have invited you, before I was even aware of what it was, to drink from my dreams and stand in this power with me.
“I see protest as a genuine means of encouraging someone to feel the inconsistencies, the horror of the lives we are living. Social protest is saying that we do not have to live this way. If we feel deeply, and we encourage ourselves and others to feel deeply, we will find the germ of our answers to bring about change. Because once we recognize what it is we are feeling, once we recognize we can feel deeply, love deeply, can feel joy, then we will demand that all parts of our lives produce that kind of joy. And when they do not, we will ask, “Why don’t they?” And it is the asking that will lead us inevitably toward change.
So the question of social protest and art is inseparable for me. I can’t say it is an either-or proposition. Art for art’s sake doesn’t really exist for me. What I saw was wrong, and I had to speak up. I loved poetry, and I loved words. But what was beautiful had to serve the purpose of changing my life, or I would have died. If I cannot air this pain and alter it, I will surely die of it. That’s the beginning of social protest.”
“Audre Lorde.” Black Women Writers at Work. Ed. Claudia Tate. NY: Continuum, 1983. 100-16.
The Movement for Black Lives is not asking for special treatment for Black people. Nor are we only asking for our needs to finally be meet after centuries of erasure or myths of pathology.
Rather, activists are returning from the edges of the known world, pointing out the holes in the dominate logics and inviting the world to stand with us in the light that shines through. We are shouting to you that this light is proof that this world is under ground, buried beneath a capitalist system of dominance maintained by patriarchy and white supremacy.
The movement for Black Lives is reminding all of us that we need to head SE towards liberation.
Years of being underground, submerged in this system, has dimmed many of our faculties while studying our surroundings [even in dimness] has brightened others. Yet all told, we have lived only in the north for far too long. We have become stagnant in our civilizations, forgotten our migratory nature and carved out pieces of the earth.
As if we could own it.
As if it didn’t own us.
We have lost much of the accumulated wisdom of the south. We have forgotten about how to be, to live in harmony with our selves, to seek to learn from the world without destroying it.
The M4BL is asserting that the particular position of Black people [especially Working Class Black Queer Women] in the system and the history invasions that forced us to flee periodically to the south gives us the second sight to help guide humanity out of the darkness and into the light.
We are giving you fair warning before we drag this whole system, amid its suffocating totality, into the above ground world we have been forced out of and almost forgotten.
We do not believe that when we return to the light we will return to a previous way of life. We are futurist not primitivists. We have chosen to be Diasporic Cosmonauts not earthly refugees. What is past is prologue, it needn’t be destiny nor our chosen destination. We believe that once in the light we must still journey east towards liberation, onwards to a new world that is better than we have ever experienced or can currently imagine.
The Movement for Black Lives believes in the fundamental ability of our imaginations and dreams to store and share transformative power. The power that we need to overcome the totality of capitalism and logics of dominance. The same power we will need to climb the mountains of true understanding.
We, beautifully flawed humans that can neither tolerate a world order that, in thinking we are worthy of its oppression, is beneath us nor wait idly by as it consumes itself, are headed towards the lands filled with the glorious black light of the power contained in the ocean of human imagination. We will not merely content ourselves to observe the effects of its absence.
Ours is a long march of trials, falters, tribulations, celebrations and lessons.
We are unlearning that all struggle must be painful and that all pain is wasteful. We are relearning the elation of change, the euphoria of spiritual endorphins that comes from exercising new muscles of self-determination.
Our wanderings in the south have taught us to embody old stories in new ways. We have become updaters and remixers not needless iconoclasts. We are Christ like in our imperfect divinity and utilizing of love, Mohammedan in our submission to the divine and commitment to study and like Moses we lead the captive, sometimes too content to settle near the lands of the pharaoh, on the long march to emancipation.
We are workers building class consciousness and harnessing the science of revolution in a new economy. Mothers who are also teachers and nurses smashing the patriarchy and midwives birthing a gender fluid world. We are the Ebony skinned neo-abolitionists delivering the supersedants to zion. We are anarchist fighting against the alienation of our transformative power. All while being queer as fuck and refusing to let these histories, texts or identities define us.
If this way of being destroys your idols it is collateral damages of a fluid world in motion.
Notes on the Underground Landscape:
“Alienation is the gap between desire and what is socially valued, between our potential to transform the world and the theft and parasitic use of that power by capital and the state.” Anonymous
Capitalism became total, and blotted out the sun, when it began selling us deficits instead of just commodities. We now have a culture of deficits and inflated spiritual debts. We are too ugly. Too Black. Too poor. Too femme. Too foreign. Or too queer to fit in. We must work, buy, sell and scrape to get closer to an unattainable able-bodied, symmetric, fit, white, wealthy, male ideal citizen.
What we have is a global system of perverted forces that create false scarcities and deficits before providing draining resources we are told will solve them. It is as if we are desert people living in a glorious oasis but being sold salt water and taught that to live is to hydrate.
The long buried truth is that the vocation of all humans is to live fully and in communion with their needs and shared desires. We are the intellectually nomadic bards of our own histories and songs, living well in order to share our stories with each other. The fullness to which we aspire is a facet of our species’ current and progressing social and economic development which in turn shapes our desires.
Yet we are told that in order to live we must work and observe and buy.
We are told what we must do in order to be.
The options given to us in the cold calculating north, these shadow life vocations, constantly place us under the control of others but out of relationship with ourselves and each other. Most revolutionary ethos in the west merely seek to change the ruling class without changeling the idea of ruling. Others merely put forth hollow and solitary images of individual self-determination.
Our journeys southland, to our dreams, have taught us that instead we must reframe our whole realm of living. We must stop wasting our spiritual energy tweaking the details of our alienation from our true vocation–cultivating a land we were never meant to settle in–so that we no longer have any opinions on its totality.
“In a caricature of antagonisms, power urges everyone to be for or against Brigitte Bardot, the nouveau roman, the 4-horse Citroën, spaghetti, mescal, miniskirts, the UN, the classics, nationalization, thermonuclear war and hitchhiking. Everyone is asked their opinion about every detail in order to prevent them from having one about the totality.” Basic Banalities — Raoul Vaneigem
Yet our goal cannot be as narrow as ending capitalism. This map leads to liberation, not merely away from our past. While this global society serves our bosses more than us and they exhibit more control over it, the system does not really serve them either. The same way that proximity to power is not power, having the system geared towards you does not mean it fulfills you. It does not allow the wealthy to fulfill their full vocation. Their true vocation is not power. Yet their options are limited by their determined gaze at their feet on our backs.
They are merely favored captives chained by their fathers and forced to stare at shadows of the forms on the walls of the cave; convinced that it’s not prison because they have box seats. The same gaslights they use to tell us that America is not a prison because we have cable in here.
The same can be said of emotionally stunted men and emotionally fragile whites too chained to their positions above those they oppress to run freely and gaily southeasterly towards their true vocations.
This does not absolve them [or us] of their [or our] complicity, it merely goes to show us that switching positions with them or raising everyone to their standard [as if this would even be possible without destroying the very system that enshrines and maintains that standard] is not a solution.
Reform is not revolution.
Equity is not liberation.
Notes on the Roads to Liberation[s]:
There is no one path to Liberation. The straight course from our current position to liberation is perilous and we are not equipped to take it.
We must use the analysis of the north to identify the systems of oppression that alienate us from our true vocation. We must use the dream materials of the south to dismantle them and create space for our evolving work that approaches authentic fulfilling human vocation. We must synthesis the techniques of the north and south to heal ourselves and our communities in order to clear our collective imaginations of the miasma of oppression and fog of trauma that clouds our vision. We must work together to build a new world aligned with our new vision in the shell of the old world we are dismantling. All of this must happen at once.
Yet this work does not happen in a vacuum. In order to work collectively we must address the systems of oppression; white supremacy, patriarchy and xenophobia, which has thwarted journeys in the past. This path is hard and healing will consistently be needed. The way forward is dark and we will need our theory to guide the way, our historical experience and the wisdom of our ancestries will guide us through forks in the road. We must develop spiritual practices and spiritual farms [beloved communities] that will feed us as we crawl through the darkness headed towards the light.
This is the unfinished map of the Movement for Black Lives. It is for this vision we are dragging our society kicking and screaming through the darkness and into the light. We may stumble, we may falter, we may get lost but we are committed to our task.
We fight even for those you would not fight for us. We fight even for those who would stand against us. While powerful, we are not large enough to hold this society on our backs without dropping or fragmenting parts. We cannot hold enough of it in our consciousness to ensure that precious parts of it are not forgotten. So those of you who share these visions, dreams and analyses must carry your load of the world with us.
Only collective liberation is strong enough to carry all of society into the light without tearing it asunder.
Only collective liberation can provide enough guidance to show us the way to the light, without it we can only fight against the darkness unsure if we are headed up or down.
Only collective liberation can plant the spiritual fruits complex enough to feed the army of sojourners needed to bring this society into the light. And only in the light and we build the true world.
Only in the light can we see and be our true selves.
So I invite you to drink from this cup of dreams, to stand in this power with me.
Together we shall create a revolutionary communal praxis able to wield our new analytical dreamscapes through story and song, organizing and building, through destruction and creation and ultimately: rebirth.
Capitalism, Essays and Creative Non-Fiction, Essays On Identity, Journal Entries, Narratives, Poetry, Race and Ethnicity, Social Justice, Womanism and Feminism
#blacklivesmatter, Audre Lorde, Black, Black Queer Feminism, Dreams, Feminism, growth, maps, Movements, Octavia Butler, Organizing, peace, poetry, Race, reflections
← Feminist Reflections on My Spiritual Sabbatical pt2
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Marco Polo’s Film Music Discoveries
Posted on 2015/04/09 by Neil Hobkirk in Films, Music Reviews, Recordings // 0 Comments
Album review by Neil Hobkirk
We all have favourite film music. Whether absorbed during a movie or savoured separately as an isolated score, the music serves mnemonically, encapsulating dramatic action as we perceive it and summoning it back to mind afterwards. Among my own favourite film scores: Michael Kamen’s The Dead Zone (1983); Mark Isham’s Afterglow (1997); Ennio Morricone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968); Angelo Badalamenti’s The Comfort of Strangers (1990); and Bruno Nicolai’s Eugenie…the story of her journey into perversion (1970). The movie biz calls drama-specific segments of music “cues,” and whenever I listen to these scores on record they indeed furnish memory prompts that unlock distinct moments from the silver screen—or plasma display or computer monitor. When accessed afterwards by ear, cinematic moments unfold once more in the mind’s eye.
But film music can prove memorable in its own right, without experience of the actual movie. Some otherwise unheard scores have become personal favourites once they’ve shown up in film music series: Delos’ Shostakovich Film Series, for example, or Chandos Movies. Complete film music albums from both labels can be streamed on the mammoth Naxos Music Library, which of course also makes accessible Naxos’ own Film Music Classics releases.
Before there was Naxos, there was Marco Polo, a sister label established five years earlier in 1982 to showcase obscure late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century classical music. As more and more labels recorded formerly rare repertoire for release on CD, however, Marco Polo’s unique remit steadily eroded. By now many of Marco Polo’s “discoveries” have resurfaced on Naxos, benefiting from its broader purview and lower price point. And as for those Marco Polos not yet rereleased as Naxos CDs—you can dial them up easily as a Naxos Music Library subscriber.
A recent Marco Polo addition to the Naxos Film Music Classics series couples two scores by Sir Malcolm Arnold: The Roots of Heaven and David Copperfield (Naxos 8.573366). Released on Marco Polo in 2001, the disc reemerged just last month. One month later, Naxos this week announced the newest addition: Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s score The Adventures of Robin Hood, a 2003 Marco Polo poised for reissue next month (Naxos 8.573369). (Of all the Film Music Classics titles I’ve enjoyed, I consider another Korngold album the jewel in the crown: a two-CD recording of The Sea Hawk coupled with the score for Deception, released as Naxos 8.570110-11. Sparklingly recorded and exuberantly performed, this Naxos original from 2007 furnishes spectacular, swashbuckling evidence of Korngold’s influential film scoring technique.) Through the Music Library you can already stream the Marco Polo version of Robin Hood, but I haven’t heard it yet. First I’ll let the thunder from the Arnold disc die down in my ears.
Really Roots of Heaven is the thunderous one; by comparison the Copperfield score sounds subdued. In the booklet synopsis Roots (1958) comes off as a high-minded potboiler—a John Huston-helmed Hollywood tale of one man’s quest to protect elephants from poaching. As in his Fourth Symphony two years later, Arnold really puts the percussion section to work, animating the African setting with marimbas, maracas, tom-toms and celesta. The cue “Fort Lamy” matches the percussive exotica with a snake-charming oboe. Arnold has arranged the orchestra to convey vast spaces, and the “Main Title” cue unfolds breezily as though surveying the plains of Africa from above. Braying brass impart a sense of freewheeling adventure.
Throughout the score recur two notably memorable motifs: a romantic string theme evoking the female character Minna, and a thunderous pile-up of tympani and low brass summoning the elephants themselves. Score restorer John Morgan has included Arnold’s “The Great Elephants,” which is the fullest iteration of this colossally impactful motif but did not make the movie. Conducting the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Morgan’s musical partner William Stromberg honours The Roots of Heaven’s wide variety of mood and colour.
Leaning heavily on recurrence of a single theme, David Copperfield (1969) comes across as less varied and less ear-catching. The melancholic string-heavy signature of the protagonist drapes a veil of gloom over most every cue, with only “Mr. Micawber” and “Mr. Micawber Exposes Heep” emerging into daylight thanks to the flighty clarinet pattern announcing an impecunious yet optimistic secondary character. The last of Malcolm Arnold’s 125 or so film scores, Copperfield too is lovingly restored and conducted by the Morgan/Stromberg team.
A Film Music Classics release from last year, Naxos 8.573389 couples Aram Khachaturian’s Battle of Stalingrad and Othello suites, originally issued on Marco Polo in 1993. In his booklet notes Adriano, the mononymous conductor behind this recording, compares Stalingrad (1949) to Shostakovich’s The Fall of Berlin score from the same year (edited and conducted by Adriano for Naxos Film Music Classics 8.570238). But this concert suite, derived from the score for a two-part patriotic epic, also stirs aural memories of battle music in Shostakovich’s Symphonies No. 7 “Leningrad” (1941), No. 11 “The Year 1905” (1957) and No. 12 “The Year 1917” (1961)—not to mention the Armenian composer’s own bombastic Second Symphony (check out Neeme Järvi’s spectacular Chandos account, CHAN 8945, streamable on Naxos Music Library).
The Battle of Stalingrad suite opens and closes with a noble Russian folk melody; otherwise it’s dominated by martial music enacting the Germans’ steamrolling assault and the Soviets’ stubborn resistance. Encouraged by xylophone and applauded by cymbal crashes, the German incursion sounds vividly horrific. Throughout the music an agitated snare drum controls tension between attack and retreat. There do occur quiet stretches echoing Shostakovich’s war-torn Eighth Symphony (1943), but the mood remains vividly nightmarish as cor anglais and clarinets creep across a seabed of icy strings.
As a suite, Khachaturian’s Stalingrad coheres marvellously; his incidental music for Othello (1956), less well. The complete printed film score was unavailable, Adriano explains, so several cues are missing from the recording. Nonetheless this eleven-part suite yields many splendours, among them Viktor Simcisko’s silvery solo violin in the opening and closing moments. Another soloist, soprano Jana Valaskova, sounds gloriously full-throated and earthy pouring forth the wordless melody to “Desdemona’s Arioso.” More wordless vocalizing comes from the Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, who grace the stately “Finale” cue. Equally splendid are the depth-sounding low brass who, in the score’s most dramatic moments, mimic the moody Moor’s descent into dark wells of emotion.
Typical of the Film Music Classics in sound quality, this disc accords the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra more than satisfactory sonics, conveying considerable breadth and dynamic range without quite falling into demonstration class. Also typical of the series, Adriano’s notes are comprehensive and closely detailed. Naxos Music Library affords recourse to full notes online—in this case a welcome alternative to my CD booklet’s microscopic print.
Even better notes accompany a 1995 Marco Polo disc devoted to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ film scores (Marco Polo 8.223665). Penned by Lewis Foreman, author of a superb biography
of composer Arnold Bax, they outline the propagandistic wartime origins of much of the music. Both main works here, the film music suites Coastal Command (1942) and Story of a Flemish Farm (1943), partake of equal parts light and shade.
The tempestuous “U Boat Alert” section of Coastal Command, a dramatized documentary about seaplane patrols, looks back to the blunt, bludgeoning force of Vaughan Williams’ Fourth Symphony (1935). “Dawn Patrol,” on the other hand, inhabits the serene heights of his Fifth (1943), composed in the same period as these two film scores. This cue achieves an otherworldly calm through gently terraced string progressions. Following directly, “Battle of the Beauforts” reverts to bellicose mood, with piccolo piercing and low brass brutal.
Performed like this album’s other works by the RTE Concert Orchestra, Dublin under Andrew Penny—who also conducted Malcolm Arnold’s nine symphonies for Naxos—Story of a Flemish Farm is likewise varied. In “The Dead Man’s Kit” tremolando strings sound fingered like worry beads, summoning an agitated vastness. This hushed, icy, awestruck music points ahead to the frigid world of Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia antartica (1952), a direct outgrowth of his most famous film score Scott of the Antarctic (1948). And the wayward solo violin in “Dawn in the Barn / The Parting of the Lovers” harks back to that rapturous pastoral soundscape The Lark Ascending (1921). Elsewhere the suite dispenses strains of sturdy triumphalism, fitting for this yarn about a valiant repatriation of regimental colours.
Philip Sainton’s Moby Dick is another significant film score discovery (Marco Polo 8.225050) but, like the Vaughan Williams disc, has yet to be reissued physically by Naxos. In the 1990s, two outstanding Chandos albums introduced me to Sainton’s music (on separate discs since reissued as a two-CD set). Twenty years later, logged in to the Music Library, I’m finally hearing his only film music. Not nearly so well known as fellow English composers Arnold, Vaughan Williams and William Walton, Sainton somehow got hired to score John Huston’s 1956 Melville adaptation, screenwritten by Ray Bradbury. He had zero experience composing for the screen.
The Marco Polo recording immediately establishes Sainton’s aptitude. The “Main Title” hits hard with Waltonian wallops, heard subsequently whenever the vengeful Captain Ahab appears. This initial section likewise launches a billowing string theme that recurs during untroubled stretches in the Pequod’s voyage. The most uplifting cue comes with the crew’s first whale sighting, where whooping horns and impetuous tympani mimic the boats eagerly setting forth. But even during the more uplifting passages, ominous signals portend troubled waters ahead. During “Departure / At Sea” and “Journey Continues,” for instance, bleakly isolated piano notes counterpoint the Pequod’s surging progress. And cues tailored to the rageful mammal himself—“Moby Dick Appears” and “The Great White Whale”—are aggressively eventful, massing brass, tympani and piccolo to alarming effect.
For this recording, love has been lavished on the presentation of Sainton’s music. Bill Whitaker’s notes are fascinatingly detailed and are complemented by further notes from John Morgan, Ray Bradbury and Philip Sainton’s daughter, as well as a radio talk by the composer himself. John Morgan and William T Stromberg’s restoration of the complete score presents over an hour of music, none of it filler. (As founders of Tribute Film Classics, Morgan and Stromberg have in fact made it their mission to preserve and record complete movie scores.) And under Stromberg’s direction, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra navigates Sainton’s predominantly rough waters with brash confidence.
The four Marco Polo albums explored so far feature personal favourite composers’ scores for films I’ve never seen and likely never shall. The final disc I’ll highlight inverts this formula: The Bergman Suites (Marco Polo 8.223682) presents music from a personal favourite director’s films, by a composer whose work I don’t otherwise know. Performed by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra under Adriano and released in 1998, this is a further Marco Polo disc awaiting physical rerelease on Naxos. The music is Erik Nordgren’s; the films, Ingmar Bergman’s.
The focus here falls principally on 1950s scores. Unfortunately Nordgren’s best-known Bergman music, for The Seventh Seal (1957), is absent; according to Adriano’s booklet notes, the printed score could not be found. But music from the celebrated Wild Strawberries (1957) shows up, arranged as a three-part suite. “Emotions” starts with harp, then blossoms into a melancholy string theme padded sparingly with woodwinds and brass. “Memories” and “Dreams” are likewise sparsely scored, with the latter’s haunted atmosphere sustained by vibraphone, horns and harp. Wild Strawberries‘ music, accompaniment to an old man’s disillusioning journey into his own past, sounds more bitter than sweet. “Swindle and Deceit,” main music for The Face (a.k.a. The Magician; 1958), is even more minimally scored for harp and two guitars, with input from tympani and percussion. An enormous gong crash introduces a four-note tympani pattern while harsh guitar interjections and rattlesnake percussion point ahead to Morricone’s spaghetti western scores.
Music for Women’s Waiting (1952) consists of a theme and five variations. Harp opens the romantic main theme, which the strings state fully then share with other instruments throughout the suite. Like most of the Bergman Suites music, “Women’s Waiting” is delicately scored for chamber orchestra, individual players more often than not spotlit. The suite drawn from Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) is strings- and harp-heavy; in fact, “Dangerous Wine” is wholly a harp duet where one player restates slowly and deliberately the soaring string theme from the opening section, “Chaste Love.” Bergman required that incidental music inhabit his films sparingly, and Nordgren’s treats even big, potentially “Hollywood” melodies in understated fashion.
If forced to favour one film music disc for desert island use, I’d pick Walton’s 1944 Henry V as recorded for Chandos in 1990, where Sir Neville Marriner conducts a concert suite incorporating spoken word excerpts (CHAN 8892). With stirring, stentorian contributions from Christopher Plummer and red-blooded virtuosity from Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, this album constitutes a true sonic spectacle. But these five Marco Polo/Naxos recordings are pretty spectacular in their own right; Sainton’s revelatory Moby Dick in particular would be a wise choice for any island.
Aram Khachaturian
Erik Nordgren
Naxos Film Music Classics
Philip Sainton
Another convert to the Naxos Music Library
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Info Parking & Getting Here
Warrawong Plaza is pleased to offer our valued customers FREE undercover and rooftop parking.
Access to our car parks is available via the via King St, Cowper St and Northcliffe Drive entrances.
For extra convenience, VIP parking is also available on the rooftop for $3 per day. Best access to VIP and rooftop carpark is via the ramp off Cowper Street.
Best parking for Hoyts is off the Northcliffe Drive entrance, in the undercover car park. Just follow the signs for Hoyts.
With over 1650 car parking spots in our centre, including disabled and parents with prams spots conveniently located near all entrances, we strive to offer you the most convenient shopping experience.
Warrawong Plaza is conveniently located in the heart of Warrawong.
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Why building a diverse team in your kitchen is important
One might expect the food on a college campus to be mostly quick-service chains and dreary dining halls. But on the campus of the University at Albany in Albany, New York, one will find homemade pastries and authentic Latin, Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines.
hen Sodexo Executive Chef Jude Jerome, who oversees the University’s kitchens, was tasked with developing a new restaurant concept on campus, he knew exactly what to do. “It was requested by popular demand from the students they wanted authentic Caribbean cuisine,” says Jerome, who is originally from Haiti. “So off I went with my expertise to build a team on campus with various backgrounds and come up with a concept that would touch several different islands from Haiti, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cuba.”
The team Jerome assembled created a pan-Caribbean restaurant called Calypso. But the harder part was next: The students arrived. “After a full academic year, Calypso became one of the most popular concepts on campus and was the most authentic. It goes to show anything is possible with good culinary foundation,” he says. “The flavors of Calypso are part of me. They are my heritage and my first memories. It is what I first learned and loved.”
Sizzle spoke with Jerome about the challenges of creating Calypso and why it’s important to have a diverse team when creating authentic experiences.
Tell us a little about your background.
I was born in Haiti, and was raised in a small community during a time of national reform. I grew up with a strong sense of public service and appreciation of hard work. My mother was a prominent chef in the community and she was my strongest influence as I grew up. She taught me passion, skill, and how food and service can put a smile on a face.
I immigrated to Miami in 1984 to follow my dream. My professional culinary career started by working as an apprentice for great chefs such as Chef Walter Kopp, Chef Ramesh Pillai and most notably Chef Alain Dumas. In 1994, after honing my skills in the kitchens and restaurants in Miami, I Moved to Albany, NY for my first Sous Chef position at The Desmond Hotel with highly acclaimed Chef Mike St. John. I stayed on at the Desmond Hotel for 21 years.
In 2014, I became the Executive Chef at the University of Albany. In this position, I was able to use my skills to influence the catering, retail and dining operations at one of the largest Universities in New York.
What’s your job like?
I currently oversee 21 different food service concepts including our high end catering and concessions business. I manage staff, train cooks and write recipes and menus for our operations on campus. We provide meals for over 12,000 per day in a multi-unit, 94,000-square-foot campus center. I enjoy working with staff, especially when I can influence them to work hard and teach them authentic recipes. But perhaps my favorite part of my job is when I can interact with students, and influence the lives of those passionate like me.
What experience creating restaurant concepts did you have before creating Calypso?
My hotel and restaurant experience in Miami taught me the service skills and planning skills to organize my thoughts. In 2001 I went back to Haiti to help establish and manage one of the country’s largest catering companies. Working alongside friends, family and industry co-workers, I was able to perfect authentic recipes, and learn more about how to keep food authentic and true while providing for large quantities of people. I took classic recipes and was able to apply them to large scale equipment at the university to provide for the large number of patrons.
My love of my homeland kept me focused on authenticity. I still travel back a few times a year to visit family, help the community and local businesses. My visits always give me an inspiration and sense of gratitude.
What did the university give you to start with? Was the space already outfitted with the kitchen you needed to make Caribbean-style food?
The space was already there so as far as the physical location is concerned, all I had to do was map out what equipment we needed to fit our menu. The biggest challenge was sourcing the proper ingredients.
There was a design director who had mapped out the space and worked with architects to give the service space a genuine look and feel. This was a new space and completely designed with Calypso in mind, so we were able to mold it to fit. The budget was tight, and we spend most of it on serviceware and a few pieces of equipment. I knew if the flavors were right, then everything else would be secondary.
I focused on mapping and zoning the space, writing the prep lists and designing the menu boards. I also helped design the logo and uniforms which is bright orange and soothing ocean blue.
Why was it important to you to have people with various backgrounds on this project?
When cooking ethnic food it is very important to find the origin of food, to understand why we want to provide this food and to see if there will need to be any substitutions. And if so, what can be substituted? We recruited cooks with different Latin and Caribbean backgrounds. We had cooks from Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Cuba helping brainstorm ideas. Many of the techniques are similar, but there is a nice mix of regional flavors and specialties. That is why every item is so popular. We really nailed the flavors and ingredients. Everyone bring something to the table. It is my job to convert it into foodservice standard, by keeping the flavor authentic and the food safe.
How long did it take you to develop? What was the most challenging part?
It took about nine months to a year. The most challenging part was to get the right ingredients and to convince the school that this will work, and to help the administration understand exactly what Calypso is and should be. These are authentic flavors on which many of our students are raised.
On a college campus, we always try to make it so the students who are away from home can feel like they are at home. Food is that connection for me and at Calypso. There was a certain perception of what Caribbean food was until we were able to show the students authenticity and what the real Island flavors are. Then we took the time to explain to them the different layers of flavors and the complexity of the different techniques used to prepare each dish. So many little details are the markers of success.
What is your favorite thing on the menu at Calypso? Why?
It’s a close race between our oxtails and our Escovitch fish. Our oxtail recipes are a combination of different regional favorites. We offer a traditional Jamaican style and a Dominican version. We exploit the versatility of the oxtail, combine flavors and ingredients and serve two different dishes with different flavor profiles that are equally as good. We have found that with oxtail, the delicate flavors, the buttery softness and the rich broths are equally enjoyed no matter where you are from!
For the Escovitch fish, we decided to take this traditional dish, add some modern flavors and offer the patrons a familiar style fried white fish. It transformed this classic Island meal into something appetizing, friendly and un-intimidating that everyone could try and enjoy. The presentation is recognizable and the flavors are true to their roots.
Why do you think it’s important to have authentic and varied cuisine available to students on campuses?
With the popularization of the Food Network and other television programs, the students are more willing to try different cuisine, and many times, almost demanding more options of food to create memories.
We recognize that young adults are moving into a new phase when arriving at a university. Here at the University at Albany, they enter during a time of exploration and learning. This time in their life is a perfect time for them to try diverse foods and have new experiences.
We also know that this is a time when they are making new friends and acquaintances. We also recognize that there is a sense of pride and enthusiasm with where they came from and their cultures. It differentiates them from their friends. Not only do students want to learn, but they want to teach as well. Teaching their friends about their culture is a natural bond for friendships. We see this as an opportunity to bridge these crossroads with food. It allows the experience to be one of learning, teaching — all with a sense of comfort.
Anything else our readers should know about what you do?
Cooking is never complete. Recipes are never complete. What is great about authentic cuisine is that is can continue to reinvent itself. It allows the generations to come together but also to show growth as new generations come along. Much like music and arts, food is a common bond for all cultures. We love providing what we know to the young scholars and inspiration to our future generations.
Jocelyn Tolbert
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by Jodi Helmer • Recipe courtesy of Andrew Garrett, executive chef and founder of NW Elixirs In honor of International Hot and Spicy Food Day...
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Home / News in Brief / Norment admitted ‘seeing’ lobbyist, letter shows
Norment admitted ‘seeing’ lobbyist, letter shows
By: Peter Vieth April 3, 2015
In a response to an ethics complaint, state Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr. disclosed a prior personal relationship with a registered lobbyist, according to The Virginian-Pilot, which obtained a copy of Norment’s 2013 letter.
Norment’s letter was in response to allegations of improper conduct filed with the Virginia State Bar by a former client, who included copies of certain Norment emails and texts.
It was not clear how Norment’s personal communications fell into the hands of the former client, but the client used them to try leverage relief from his criminal conviction. The client’s action led to a prison sentence for extortion.
Norment’s letter to bar prosecutors acknowledged “inappropriate personal communication” with two of the client’s female friends, as well as his relationship with the lobbyist, whose name was not disclosed by the newspaper.
Norment said in the 2013 letter that his marriage was strained at the time of his indiscretions but had since strengthened.
The former client, Christopher Burruss, was sentenced April 1 to two years in prison for extortion. Norment had represented him on traffic charges in New Kent County.
With his case on appeal in 2013, Burruss submitted to the VSB “several embarrassing e-mail and text messages” between Norment and three women, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a news release. The release referred to Norment as “T.N.”
“Also included were affidavits from two women detailing some of their interactions with T.N. before and after the New Kent County criminal case. These e-mails, text messages, and affidavits later served as the basis for Burruss’ extortionate threats against T.N.,” the U.S. attorney’s news release said.
Threatening to publicize that information, Burruss had demanded Norment refund his fees and write a statement saying he had mishandled the criminal case.
Norment turned the client’s messages over to federal authorities.
4:58 pm Fri, April 3, 2015 Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Peter Vieth
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Ocean Pollution: The Dirty Facts
Written by Melissa Denchak. Article provided by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Read the original story here.
Covering more than 70 percent of our planet, oceans are among the earth’s most valuable natural resources. They govern the weather, clean the air, help feed the world, and provide a living for millions. They also are home to most of the life on earth, from microscopic algae to the blue whale, the largest animal on the planet. Yet we’re bombarding them with pollution. By their very nature—with all streams flowing to rivers, all rivers leading to the sea—the oceans are the end point for so much of the pollution we produce on land, however far from the coasts we may be. And from dangerous carbon emissions to choking plastic to leaking oil to constant noise, the types of ocean pollution humans generate are vast. As a result, collectively, our impact on the seas is degrading their health at an alarming rate. Here are some ocean pollution facts that everyone on our blue planet ought to know.
When we burn fossil fuels, we don’t pollute just the air but the oceans, too. Indeed, today’s seas absorb as much as a quarter of all man-made carbon emissions, which changes the pH of surface waters and leads to acidification. This problem is rapidly worsening—oceans are now acidifying faster than they have in some 300 million years. It’s estimated that by the end of this century, if we keep pace with our current emissions practices, the surface waters of the ocean could be nearly 150 percent more acidic than they are now.
So what happens when the ocean’s chemistry is knocked out of whack? Marine ecosystems—and the coastal economies that depend on them—go out of whack, too. Take reefs and shellfish, for starters. To build their shells and skeletons, creatures like mussels, clams, coral, and oysters require calcium carbonate (the same compound found in chalk and limestone). But the ocean’s carbonate levels go down when acidity levels rise, threatening the survival of these animals. Bivalves are at the bottom of the food chain, so these effects ripple up to many fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. More-acidic waters also contribute to the bleaching of coral reefs and make it harder for some types of fish to sense predators and for others to hunt prey.
Meanwhile, ocean acidification threatens us land-dwellers, too. The billion-dollar American shellfish industry is the economic backbone of myriad coastal communities, from Louisianato Maine to Maryland. Already, declining harvests linked to more-acidic waters are estimated to have cost the Pacific Northwest’s oyster industry nearly $110 million and 3,200 jobs.
Trash In The Ocean
The majority of the garbage that enters the ocean each year is plastic—and here to stay. That’s because unlike other trash, the single-use grocery bags, water bottles, drinking straws, and yogurt containers, among eight million metric tons of the plastic items we toss (instead of recycle), won’t biodegrade. Instead, they can persist in the environment for a millennium, polluting our beaches, entangling marine life, and getting ingested by fish and seabirds.
Where does all this debris originate? While some is dumped directly into the seas, an estimated 80 percent of marine litter makes its way there gradually from land-based sources―including those far inland―via storm drains, sewers, and other routes. (An excellent reason why we should all reduce plastic pollution, no matter where we live.) Oil from boats, airplanes, cars, trucks, and even lawn mowers is also swimming in ocean waters. Chemical discharges from factories, raw sewage overflow from water treatment systems, and stormwater and agricultural runoff add other forms of marine-poisoning pollutants to the toxic brew.
Ocean Noise
The ocean is far from a “silent world.” Sound waves travel farther and faster in the sea’s dark depths than they do in the air, and many marine mammals like whales and dolphins, in addition to fish and other sea creatures, rely on communication by sound to find food, mate, and navigate. But an increasing barrage of human-generated ocean noise pollution is altering the underwater acoustic landscape, harming—and even killing—marine species worldwide.
Anngu Chen/EyeEm
Consider the incessant din of the roughly 60,000 commercial tanker and container ships that ply the seas at any given time. The underwater racket that results creates a kind of “smog” that reaches nearly every corner of the ocean and shrinks the sensory range of marine wildlife. High-intensity sonar used by the U.S. Navy for testing and training causes some of the same effects—and has been linked to mass whale strandings, too.
Meanwhile, in the hunt for offshore oil and gas, ships equipped with high-powered air gunsfire compressed air into the water every 10 to 12 seconds for weeks to months on end. Traveling as far as 2,500 miles, these deafening seismic blasts disrupt foraging, mating, and other vital behaviors of endangered whales (and may ultimately push some, such as the North Atlantic right whale, to extinction). The blasts lead some commercial fish species to abandon their habitat—a direct hit on coastal economies dependent on catch rates; they also injure and kill marine invertebrates, including scallops, crabs, and squid.
In addition to noise pollution, the oil and gas industry’s routine operations emit toxic by-products, release high levels of greenhouse gases, and lead to thousands of spills in U.S. waters annually. That oil can linger for decades and do irreversible damage to delicate marine ecosystems. Take the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, from which oil still remains, or the BP Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling disaster in 2010, which spread millions of gallons of oil throughout the Gulf of Mexico. But even smaller spills pollute the ocean (and the air) with long-lasting impacts. Even the most advanced cleanup efforts remove only a fraction of the oil, and sometimes they use hazardous technologies. Chemical dispersants used in the largest spill response efforts—1.8 million gallons were released into the Gulf after the BP disaster—are dangerous pollutants themselves.
Ocean Pollution And You
The fate of our seas is not only up to the government or industry. Our individual, daily actions matter, too. You can start by reducing water pollution and runoff at home, being more mindful of your plastic consumption, or organizing a cleanup of your local waterway. You can also support the work of NRDC and other environmental advocacy groups as well as other businesses and organizations that work to preserve our coasts and waters.
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Review – Livewire #11 (Valiant Entertainment)
Edward Wendt
Livewire #11
Writing - 8.5/10
Art - 8.5/10
Overall - 8.5/10
Writer: Vita Ayala
Penciler: Tana Ford
Cover Art: Stacey Lee
Publisher: Valiant Entertainment
Maturity Rating: Teen
Livewire must recover the public’s trust in her actions after setting off a deadly blackout. Some are out to debase her character while others are just out for revenge. She battles both in a ballroom while dressed to impress.
It’s Party Time in Livewire #11
The “Big Two” publishers have a dominant control of superheroes in the publishing industry, but this doesn’t always work in their favor. For instance, there is occasionally a story about the public turning on beloved heroes. These stories don’t usually work, as it is such a departure from the overall themes built across all of the titles. Among the smaller publishers, there are not as many superheroes, but those that have them get to explore these topics in greater clarity. After all, would residents of a city be happy to have a hero there? Or might they be a little disturbed at the violence that the heroes tend to bring along? Livewire #11 looks at this topic, with many treating the titular character as a dangerous terrorist after her previous actions during the blackout.
Livewire #11 (Valiant Entertainment) cover A by Stacey Lee
This is not a new storyline for a superhero comic, but it works better here because this is Valiant and not Marvel or DC. The writer, Vita Ayala, handles this story with a level of responsibility. She almost seems as though she is aware of this dynamic. The story, thus, plays out as real as it could in real life, assuming superheroes really existed. The politicians are portrayed in a realistic light as well. None of them necessarily want to do good, except for their own careers. This means that their approach to Livewire is not about where they stand on her actions, but about how that can benefit them. In all, the writing of this issue was pretty strong, despite devolving into some action later in the issue.
This is a rarer case in comics where the cover mostly delivers inside the book as well. The penciler, Tana Ford, must have had a bit more fun with the setting of the formal party, as the hero is given a red dress to wear throughout. This is a departure from her costume, and thus must have made for some challenges to draw. The overall appearance works, though, and the action sequences are well-captured as well. A good team effort in Livewire #11 from the artists, including the cover artist.
The story in Livewire #11 ends up working and relatively well because of the mature handling of the story. There have been many cases of heroes put under scrutiny in the past, but it seems to fit better here than elsewhere. Livewire holds herself together pretty well under this duress, even as others are trying to manipulate her. It also helps that Valiant has a smaller footprint in superhero stories than other companies. It is hard to imagine the public turning on the Flash or the Fantastic Four. As a result, it seems a bit more real here. This works out to tell a better story, and the strong showing from the art team solidifies it all.
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Tagscomic book reviews comic books comics Kelly Fitzpatrick Livewire Livewire #11 Saida Temofonte Stacey Lee Tana Ford Valiant Entertainment Vita Ayala
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Boss IMs my private email account at work
My boss sent me an email today asking me to keep my IM chat open while I'm at work. My boss supervises me from another city, so I understand why the request was made. This way, my boss can quickly communicate with me without having to call or send an email.
The problem is that the IM system is my private email, and I don't want my contacts to know that I'm online. They will waste time sending me messages when I don't have time/am uninterested in responding. Also, there are certain people in my contact list that I don't ever want to talk to again, and I don't want them to know that I'm online. For these reasons, I haven't used my IM chatbox in years.
How do I explain to my boss that I don't want to use my private IM system? I considered changing my IM name, but my boss already knows what my current IM name is, and I feel like it would be awkward to explain that I have a past history with stalkers and that I'm panicked about using IM now.
management email work-time technology
Is there a reason for not having a work email account linked to IMs that would be a simple solution? – JB King Jan 15 '15 at 17:57
Keep 'em separate, keep 'em safe. Possible duplicate? How can I deal with inappropriate content appearing on my Twitter feed at work? – Reinstate Monica Jan 15 '15 at 19:41
Why not just create a new account for work and use that? – IDrinkandIKnowThings Jan 17 '15 at 4:00
Some comments removed. Please use The Workplace Chat or create a The Workplace Meta discussion around this question if you believe it to be on or off-topic. Thank you. – jmort253 Jan 17 '15 at 18:15
once your boss knows your "private" IM, it's not private anymore lol – Oleg Mikheev Jan 18 '15 at 6:38
That should be easy. Open up a new account to use at work and tell your boss that having your private account open at work reduces your productivity because of the private messages that your friends are sending to your personal account. Give him your new account name to chat with you while you are at work.
nvoigtnvoigt
First and foremost try the KISS (marine slang) approach. – Mindwin Jan 16 '15 at 12:15
Yup, not complicated. At my office we use Skype as our primary IM tool; part of the onboarding process is to request that employees create a separate Skype account for work use. While we do not require it, ~95% of our employees do so -- this allows them to keep their work and private lives separate; just as it reduces productivity to be receiving private IMs at work, it can interfere with one's private life to be receiving work IMs off work hours. There's really no good reason NOT to do this. – Doktor J Jan 16 '15 at 15:19
Perhaps you should avoid the words "reduce my productivity". You should say instead: "I would prefer to have a dedicated work account so only fellow professionals will contact me during working hours." – user1833028 Jan 18 '15 at 6:02
@user1833028 Why? If "I prefer" something, the result is that my boss is doing me a favor with the new account. If it reduces my productivity, I'm doing my boss a favor opening a new account. I'd rather use a wording where it's clear that I do this for the company, not the other way round. – nvoigt Jan 18 '15 at 11:02
@user1833028 "Iron Beast" or not, having your IM ding takes up time. When it dings, you don't know if it's work or personal related, so you have to check to make sure. If it's personal, you just wasted time. Even more, you should reply to your personal contact that you're busy and can't talk - to prevent them from wasting more time (which itself wastes time). All that reduces your productivity regardless of how dedicated or capable you are. – Doc Jan 19 '15 at 4:18
I see three choices here:
You can explain to your manager that if he wants the ability to IM you, your employer will have to set up their own IM accounts. It is probably not appropriate for your employer to expect you to use your own personal resources for your job.
If you don't care about that and/or don't want to have that conversation:
Simply set up a new IM account. Then send an email to your boss telling him that you've changed your IM screenname, and give him the new screen name. There's no need to tell him why. If he asks, the explanation in nvoigt's answer is a good one, or you can simply tell him that you wanted a new screen name. You certainly don't need to explain anything involving a past history with stalkers. If this problem is not currently interfering with your job, then it is absolutely none of his business.
If you want to keep your old account, most IM systems have features that allow you to hide the fact that you're online and also have features that block certain users from interacting with you or seeing if you're online. If you don't want to hear from some of these people ever again, simply block them. Then you can set your status to "away" while your at work, and tell your boss to ignore the "away" setting during the work day.
djohnson10djohnson10
+1 for "not appropriate for your employer to expect you to use your own personal resources". This can create issues for the employer organization, at least in the US. – David Jan 16 '15 at 13:49
While #1 is solid advice in most of these situations, it could come across as oddly recalcitrant when the resource in question is free. Some IM services also have policies against making non-corporate (i.e. free) accounts for other people. – Lilienthal♦ Jan 16 '15 at 18:00
EDIT: djohnson has already mentioned what I've said below about the away status but I'll say it anyways to re-iterate.
If you don't want to set up a new account, you could set your status to being 'Away' and write "At the office" in your personal message so your friends know not to bother you during that time. Also explain to your boss that he can still message you whilst you're on Away status and you'll specifically let him know if you're going to actually be away from your messenger, in a meeting for example.
Also, why do you have people on your list that you don't want to talk to anymore? You should remove these people from your list so they're not an issue for you.
RyguyRyguy
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged management email work-time technology or ask your own question.
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The $15 Minimum Wage Is Turning Hard Workers Into Black Market Lawbreakers
Posted by Oren Garnes December 6, 2019 in Articles
If the car wash workers can organize, any
workers can organize. In 2015 demonstrators including union leaders
and elected officials blocked traffic and were arrested in front
of a small car wash in Brooklyn. It was an empowering moment. These workers were willing to stand out there
to fight for their rights and for basic human dignity. I mean that’s something that you take with
you for the rest of your life. And you have the ability to make change by
coming together and when you do that, sometimes you find that
you’ve got some friends on your side. In the past six years industries like car
washes that employ low skilled workers have been the target of lawsuits for alleged
underpayment of wages. And they both engage in rampant labor law
violations. An ambitious unionization drive. Let’s hear it then! And a successful campaign to raise the minimum
wage in New York to 15 dollars per hour. We’re gonna lead the way, the nation’s going
to watch us and we’re gonna raise up this state. But here’s what really happened. Instead of helping New York’s low wage workers the movement is destroying their jobs it’s pushed some car washes to replace their
employees with machines and others to close down. Increasingly, workers have no choice but to
ply their trade out of illegal vans parked on the street. Because the minimum wage has made it illegal
for anyone to hire them at the going rate. At the same time, businesses that have chosen
to automate are benefitting. Thank you so much for $15 dollars an hour,
the best thing that could happen to us. Because outlawing cheap labor makes it harder for new competitors to undercut
them on price and service. This is an in depth look at the real world
consequences when politicians interfere with a complex
industry that they don’t understand enabled by media coverage that rarely questions
their simplistic tale of exploited workers in need of protection. Protect against who? The car wash campaign serves as a model for
what might be possible. In 2012 a coalition of progressive groups
led by the national retail workers union launched an ambitious campaign to transform
New York City’s car wash industry. The genesis of the campaign came out of the
realization that you had an industry which was really just a breeding ground for
terrible conditions hottest days of the year and the coldest days
of the year these workers are outside, working 60-70 hours
a week and sometimes more and not even getting payed the minimum wage. I think workers felt that they didn’t have
many choices and they really had no one that they could
turn to. And we felt that we could have a real impact
on the industry. But the truth is that almost from day one nothing about the car wash campaign has gone
as planned. For starters, it turns out that most workers
don’t want thelp from organized labor. After 6 years organizers have unionized 11
businesses or about 4% of the city’s car washes. Two of them have since closed down and the
union withdrew at three more because of a lack of support from the workers. There are just 6 unionized shops remaining, or about 2% of the city’s registered car washes. Ervin Par is an immigrant from Guatemala who
works at Main Street Car Wash in Queens one of the city’s six remaining unionized
shops. Organizers have held two strikes at this location
in the past few years. And the New York Times has covered allegations
of worker mistreatment here. Now Main Street could become the fourth car
wash where the workers pressured the union to withdraw. Protect against who? At this particular time we represent the workers
there and we certainly hope that we’ll be able to
continue to do that. With the unionization drive floundering, the movement’s leaders shifted their focus
to getting the city and state to mandate change. The most significant government intervention
championed by the union was an increase in the minimum wage to $15
per hour. New York is the progressive capitol of the
nation. We fight for fairness, we fight for justice. This move is upending the industry, but not
in the way activists intended. We’ve heard over the years from employers
repeatedly that any time that we’ve made changes within
the industry that either they’d all automate or the industry
would suffer massive shutdowns. We haven’t seen that happen to date. In reality, that’s exactly what’s happening. The $15 dollar minimum wage is driving many
New York car washes to replace men with machines. Such as at this large operation in Queens
that installed a new arch for hosing down vehicles which will replace about 4 workers. Like many of the city’s car washes, this one
was designed at a time when manual labor cost less than installing and maintaining machinery. Labor was cheap, yeah, real cheap. Amir Malki is a second generation car wash
builder. When he started in the industry in the 1980s operators all over the city were actually
dismantling machinery because rag, hose and brush wielding men did
a better job for less. Today, it’s reversing. Labor’s expensive and we need the proper equipment
to clean so we don’t have to use extra men. It’s not just renovations, new fully automated car washes are opening
up such as this state of the art outfit near
JFK airport with electronic gates, a self serve vacuum
and a single manager on site making sure everything is running smoothly. Car wash owners are choosing to automate even
though it entails substantial risk. Take Best Auto Spa in Brooklyn, one of the
city’s premiere handwashes. Drawing clients who care deeply about the
appearance of their cars and are willing to pay more for the human
touch. The $15 minimum wage means that this business
model is simply no longer viable. So Best Auto Spa is transforming from the
equivalent of an artisanal bistro to becoming just another fast food joint. Two years ago the owner installed $2000 worth
of equipment which allowed him to lay off 8 workers. Now he’s facing another policy change that
would further increase his labor costs. Employers are currently allowed to attribute
a portion of the tips earned by their workers towards meeting the minimum wage requirement. New York State is seriously considering a
proposal to eliminate the so called tip credit. If that happens come January, The owner of Vegas Auto Spa says he’ll have
no choice but to give all these employees the pink slip
and go fully automated. Then you have MM Wonder Bar, Church Avenue, you have new fully automated places opening
up like City Car Wash express on Northern Boulevard
and Staten Island, I could go on. What is your take on these examples, that I think do actually show a major trend
towards automation. I get it if you go into a car wash and the
owner has said ‘I’ve automated because of what’s going on
here.’ that it makes you think that it’s like, you
know, part of a much broader story. I’m not saying it isn’t the case, I’m justsaying that it’s like that might not necessarily be the case. It’s true that not every car wash owner is
willing to take on the risk and expense of automation and there’s another option: exit the business and relinquish their land
for more profitable uses. Which has also been happening at many New
York car washes. Several car washes were closed after their
owners were sued for paying off the books and not complying with labor regulations. We will continue to keep an eye on these businesses to ensure that they don’t stray from the path
of righteous business practices. A lawsuit contributed to closing of this car
wash in Woodside Queens, to this one in Harlem and to this one in upper
Manhattan. At each of these locations, dozens of low
wage jobs disappeared. Are workers really better off when the car
wash that they worked for closes down? Yeah, I don’t agree with your assessment that these car washes are closing as a result
of wage and hour lawsuits. That might not necessarily be the case that may be how it’s being characterized to
you. Another unintended consequence is that for business owners who choose to
stick it out and automate the $15 minimum wage actually protects them
from competition by making it harder for new car washes to
open up. Solely from being a businessman the increase
in the minimum wage makes my business so much easier. The best thing that could happen to me and
I think to the industry. Jack Belinsky is the manager of a new car
wash in Queens. It opened last year at the site of yet another
labor heavy operation that closed following a wage and hour lawsuit. The new owner converted it to a fully automated
exterior-only car wash. Meaning customers are left to vacuum the interiors
of their own vehicles. Cause we used to do the same thing with 25
people, now I’m doing it with 2. By making cheap labor illegal, the $15 minimum wage made it possible for
Belinsky to downgrade his service. Before, if I go exterior then my competition
says ‘ah, he went exterior and I’m still full service,
I’ll take all his customers.’ That never gave me a chance to go exterior, right now everybody is forced to go exterior
because of this crazy law and the minimum wage $15 an hour. Now everybody, it evened out the field. The $15 minimum wage amounts to government
prohibition of low wage work. And yet just making something illegal, won’t stop able bodied men with few alternatives from meeting a market demand for their services. These workers have few options and little
power, they live in the shadows. The irony is that progressives have pushed
car wash workers further into the shadows. Since legitimate car washes can no longer
hire them workers are going to the streets where it’s all cash, no taxes, no unions,
no worker’s comp, no insurance and certainly no wage floors. Fausto, who asked to be identified by his
first name only, is an illegal car wash worker. He’s part of a three man operation washing
cars on the curb out of a van for about $15 a pop. He’s lived in the US for 19 years and still sends a portion of his earnings back to the Dominican Republic to help support his wife and children. How the hell can you, how can I compete? Because of these guys, their paying cash,
you understand? They’re not paying the proper taxes, FICA,
insurance, but I am. And now the established car washes, left with
no choice but to install expensive machines and plaster their walls with operating licenses are the ones clamoring for the government
to enforce the minimum wage. ‘We worry for the workers, look at the rules
that we make.’ But if those rules are not enforced, those
laws are toothless. They only destroy the good guy that tries
to follow all the rules and has to compete with the bad guy that breaks
all the rules. Some of these guys working out of these vans
don’t have other employment options are you sure that it would be in their best
interest to shut them down? Yeah I actually, I do and I’m going to be
very blunt about that. You can always make the argument that you
can allow some people to skirt the law some people to skirt regulations that are
meant to protect workers in an effort to give people work opportunities. That’s a devil’s bargain. Or maybe the real devil’s bargain is championing
a set of policies that sound good at a rally but that in the real world jeopardize the
livelihood of the working poor. Which brings us back to Vegas Auto Spa, the Brooklyn car wash that progressive activists
made an example of back in 2015. Shortly after the car wash unionized, the
owner started planning his exit strategy. Two years later he found a buyer who kept
it running for one more year. Today Vegas Auto Spa is shuttered and the ripple effects of the entire movement
have been to destabilize an industry. Pushing the men and women who worked in it
even deeper into the shadows.
$15 minimum wage and automation Car Wash Campaign Car Wash Industry Car Washes David Mertz libertarian Main Street Car Wash Make the Road New York Minimum wage New York Communities for Change Reason magazine reason.com reason.tv reasontv Retail Wholesale Department Store Union RWDSU Stuart Appelbaum that the
About the Author: Oren Garnes
Culvea Solvere says:
What it's really doing is pruning the businesses that malpractice labor abuse!
Let's be real about it. It's necessary because the so called deregulated "free market" is going to just get worse, eventually there will be nothing but the black market, homeless, no middle class etc!
You have a choice, become unionized or lose everything. Those are your choices, don't listen to libertarians, they are GOP light, they are far right!
These are lies. How do I know? They tested these theories before they began the protests, they learned that because of late stage predatory capitalism, and the rampant misuse of power over the national interest rates, and the mispending of SS money on the MIC, the market would continue to become more expensive while the pay rate of everyone not regulated would go down.
They also lie about businesses closing down, the only businesses that closed down were those who didn't give a shit about their workers or their families.
Additionally, the government proved that the raising of prices on everything would continue due to this kind of deregulated capitalism because of endless housing bubbles and endless bailouts and endless speculation market bubbles. Yeah you read that right, we just had the 9th bailout 2019 of the banks by you the taxpayer all because of the establishment democrats and the GOP republicans!
I Got Zucced says:
The same people who are screeching with lack of jobs
Momma Knows Bestest says:
Protecting against who.
Scott Shaffer says:
When the dems get there hands on anything they destroy it .
cloverlief says:
While there is bias on both side there are 2 points here.
1. Unions don't push this out of the kindnessof their heart. They want more money. It's all about the dues so that guy being interviewed can get his payday.
2. Automation as wages go up is real. In my area where they do have $15/hr. Walmart near me has 0 cashier's, it has all been converted to self checkout. McDonald's, Taco Bell, etc have reduced to 1 support cashier and a set of kiosks or mobile ordering discounts.
An entry level tech worker (not coder) used to start at $16/hr, now they are $25+/hr.
Most stores and service areas are not running on half staff.
There are 2 automated carwashes, no hand washed (except 1 place that does it for fine cars at $80-100).
It's just the trend
No one held a gun to these car wash employees' heads and forced them to work at a car wash. Don't like the job? Quit. Get an education, learn to speak English, and get a better job. Just paying these people $15/hr does not increase their productivity or job quality. If I owned a car wash and had to pay these degenerates $15/hr I would either fire 33% of them, automate their jobs, or simply refuse to pay the minimum wage. All minimum wage does is cause inflation and job losses.
Ken Xiong says:
More liberal minded laws that drive businesses out and people out of work.
Antonio Jay says:
Idk I’m always looking to achieve and move forward. No matter the pay you should always take pride in what you do and work your ass off. You will never be noticed doing the bare minimum to mediocre work. Most ppl that complain are average workers who just do enough to not get fired then cry when they don’t get the big raise and or promotion. I’ll take low pay but never settle for less tha I know I deserve and if I can’t progress where I’m at, I make moves and find work elsewhere but only take the job if it can match or pay me more
alnot01 says:
The USA should enact a UBI of $6500/person/year, a flat tax on value added of 33%, with payroll taxes credited in full against the flat tax. The minimum wage should then be reduced to $4/hour, net of all taxes.
TinononiT says:
C say pwayday ?? fucking died
coolbeans 2016 says:
Seattle did the $15/hr few years back… effectively killing off over 35% of all full-time jobs in a job environment that is upwards of 80% service industry… Every "feel good", "liberal policy", effectively destroys what it halfheartedly plans to fix!!!
Realize your elected leaders have one job, from local all the way up, to provide protection… protection & basic gov services… NOT to meddle in what was once a free market!
Well, since I take it he's in America, though you wouldn't realize it since he either cannot, or refuses to speak English… is probably an illegal alien as well…. THAT IS ALSO A DRIVING PART IN LOW WAGES…… don't believe it? YOU ARE AN IDIOT!!!!!!
Nilo Cantonjos says:
politicians in new york are the dumbest creatures walking on the earth right now.
Stay away from Union.
L Warner says:
I use 6.00 auto carwash when I get lazy.
SmllSlvrBck88 says:
This is all democrat garbage? they’d all still have jobs if they would just been ok with they have. It would of been better to get better jobs elsewhere ??
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Lori Loughlin & Her Husband Plead Not Guilty In College Admissions Scam
posted by Lauren Crawford - Apr 15, 2019
Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are gearing up for a fight.
On Monday (April 15), the former Fuller House star and her fashion designer husband entered a not guilty plea to each charge against them in the college admissions scandal.
The two are among dozens of wealthy parents accused of scamming elite colleges and universities to get their children in. Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid $500,000 to make it look like their daughter had been a rower so that she could be accepted into the University of Southern California. They were initially arrested on a felony charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. However, last week, the Department of Justice charged them with an additional felony count of money laundering, so they are now facing up to 20 years behind bars for each charge.
While several other indicted parents have also entered not-guilty pleas, actress Felicity Huffman, and 12 other wealthy parents, plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud as part of the college admissions scandal last Monday (April 8).
"I am pleading guilty to the charge brought against me by the United States Attorney's Office," Huffman said in a statement. "I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions."
"I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community," the statement continued. "I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly. My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her. This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life. My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty."
Huffman admitted to paying $15,000 to a fake charity associated with Rick Singer, the facilitator of the college scam, "to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of her oldest daughter," read her indictment.
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Catalogs of Manuscripts at Individual Repositories
Catalog of a Walt Whitman Literary Manuscript in the John Hay Papers, John Hay Library, Brown University
Original records created by the Special Collections Division of Brown University Library; revised and expanded by the Walt Whitman Archive and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. Encoded Archival Description completed with the assistance of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Title: Walt Whitman Literary Manuscript in the John Hay Papers, John Hay Library, Brown University
Collection Number: Ms.Hay
Creator: Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
Repository: John Hay Library Special Collections
This catalog was created from records created by the staff of Brown University Library, and obtained by the Walt Whitman Archive. The original papers and catalogue records are held at John Hay Library, Brown University.
The John Hay collection documents the life of John Milton Hay (1838-1905), Brown Class of 1858, and consists of two major components: A collection of approximately 2000 books and Hay's personal papers, comprising over 9,100 items. These include correspondence, diaries, manuscript poems, galley proofs, and personal letterpress copy books. Only the Walt Whitman poetry manuscript is described in this catalog.
Biographical Information:
For additional biographical information, see "Walt Whitman," by Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price, and the chronology of Whitman's Life.
Subjects: Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892; Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892--Manuscripts; Poets, American--19th century
Whitman Archive Title: O Captain! my Captain!
Whitman Archive ID: brn.00001
Series: Series 2. Correspondence
Repository Title: Whitman, Walt to Hay, John
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View images: 1
Content: A signed, dated, handwritten copy of "O Captain! My Captain!," which was published first in 1865. The manuscript was recopied by Whitman, without changes from the version published in 1881, at the request of John Hay, who wrote Whitman in 1887 to request an autograph copy of the poem. The manuscript is stored with a cover letter from Whitman to Hay, which requests payment of $22. A letter from Hay to Whitman dated March 12, 1887, acknowledges receipt of the manuscript and sends a check for thirty dollars in payment. An image of the manuscript's verso is currently unavailable.
Restrictions on Original Materials: Please consult with repository.
Preferred Citation: To identify this catalog as a source, see the Archive's "Conditions of Use" page.
Repository Contact Information:
John Hay Library
20 Prospect Street / Box A
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The business of death
Caracas, Venezuela Carlos Garcia Rawlins
A strange image: a smiling employee at a coffin factory in Caracas takes a photograph of a colleague lying inside one of the caskets.
If workers like them have become somewhat desensitised to death, it perhaps reflects the sheer volume of violence around them. Venezuela has one of the world’s highest levels of homicides and Caracas’s murder rate is over 100 per 100,000 residents, according to a monitoring group.
23 Nov 2012 . CARACAS, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Both Venezuela’s official national rate of 39 deaths per 100,000 people in 2013 and a tally of double that from monitoring group the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (OVV) make Venezuela an international leader in homicides, vying with gang-plagued nations such as Honduras and El Salvador.
By comparison, the United States' current rate is about 4.7 deaths per 100,000.
Undertakers like Jhonny Aguilar (pictured above, right) have lots to do.
"Mondays are the busiest. They kill more people at the weekends," said Aguilar, describing his work matter-of-factly as he picked up bodies from a morgue to wash and dress.
A decades-old problem in Venezuela, armed robberies, kidnappings and murders climbed during the 1999-2013 rule of President Hugo Chavez, despite his anti-poverty programs.
Critics blame a corrupt and broken judicial system, from the local police station up to the Supreme Court. "Chavistas" point to the influence of "capitalist evils" such as drug trafficking and violent U.S. TV shows.
Whatever the causes, the deaths have fuelled a plethora of businesses purveying to death, from casket manufacturers to tomb-chisellers, flower-sellers, grave diggers and permit-handlers.
In the midst of this violence, reactions to death can be unusual. Here, relatives of a shooting victim smoke marijuana and cry over his coffin, after forcing the hearse on a detour to their neighbourhood as a tribute to the diseased before the burial.
Gravediggers in Caracas’ Southern Cemetery tell of attacks on mourners by gunmen from the surrounding slums, drug-fuelled parties at tombs, and night-time desecrations of graves to steal bones for animistic rituals.
8 Dec 2012 . CARACAS, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Despite ever-growing demand for their services, the funeral businesses in Caracas face many problems.
They complain of a lack of respect for the dead, with many mourners drinking, partying and joking around coffins. Undertakers say fights, and even some fatal shootings, have occurred on their premises during wakes.
Then there's Venezuela's tough economic realities. The government wants to cap prices for funeral services and shortages of products from marble to screws are widespread.
"Venezuela was a paradise when I arrived," says Laudelino Morales (pictured above), a 76-year-old Spanish immigrant who has spent half a century chiselling tomb-stones, in his dust-covered workshop round the corner from the Southern Cemetery.
"Now it's a No. 1 disaster."
Police officers inspect the body of a dead shooting victim on a street in Caracas.
A man kisses his relative, who died in a shooting, at a morgue in the city.
Embalmer’s instruments are seen on a tray at an undertaker's morgue.
28 Jan 2014 . CARACAS, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Atilio Gonzalez, who has worked as a priest at the Southern Cemetery in Caracas for the last 24 years, talks with the relative of a crime victim before the victim’s burial.
7 Jan 2013 . CARACAS, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Ponciano Capote makes a flower arrangement at an undertaker’s flower shop.
27 Dec 2013 . CARACAS, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
A worker digs a grave in the East Cemetery in Caracas.
Relatives of a crime victim carry his coffin during his funeral ceremony.
Relatives of a crime victim cry over his coffin and smoke a marijuana joint after forcing the hearse to make a detour to their neighbourhood.
Relatives of the dead man follow the hearse on motorcycles after forcing it to drive to their neighbourhood.
Priest Atilio Gonzalez says a prayer during a burial ceremony at the Southern Cemetery.
Relatives of a shooting victim cry over his coffin during his funeral ceremony.
Police officers fire their guns in tribute during the burial of a comrade who was shot dead.
18 Jul 2013 . CARACAS, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
A worker closes the oven during a man’s cremation.
A worker grinds the remains of a cremated body.
A worker carries the remains of a person who was cremated.
A picture of a crime victim is seen at a tombstone factory near the Southern Cemetery in Caracas.
"We went past alcoholics, between mausoleums destroyed by vandals, over scruffy plants, garbage and desecrated tombs from which bones had been stolen."
Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters Photographer
As a photographer I’ve been present at many funerals and I’ve often found myself, in one way or another, surrounded by death and all that it entails.
One of the more gruesome things that I have witnessed is the sight of a victim of violence being embalmed.
The pungent odours of formaldehyde and decomposition, and the way that they make your eyes itch, are nothing compared to the moment when the embalmer methodically removes the seal that closed the head-to-belly incision following the autopsy.
He then places the organs inside a bag, stuffs the abdomen with newspaper, and sews it up again before placing it in a coffin. This was the process I saw performed on a person who died several days earlier from multiple gunshot wounds.
When I begin a new photo story, it fascinates me to think about what new places it will take me to, what new experiences I will live, what new people I will meet, and to what new limits I will be pushed.
In this case, the story brought me much closer to the problem of everyday violence in Venezuela. But my project also had a different focus – I looked at the industries that are thriving due to the rise in violent deaths over the last few years.
One thing I can’t get out of my head is that the assumption that most killings happen in conflict zones is totally wrong. According to the World Health Organisation, the number of violent deaths caused by homicides is far greater than the numbers directly caused by war.
As Venezuelans we are accustomed to all the bloody statistics of “common violence”. The Venezuelan Violence Observatory, a monitoring group, says that the homicide rate has risen from around 19 per 100,000 in 1998 to around 79 last year, with no arrests in 90 percent of cases. Official statistics are lower, but even they show the murder rate doubling since 1999.
It’s become the norm for us to be close to the top of the list of the world’s most violent countries. And those statistics exist without Venezuela having a reputation for drug gangs or cartels, as is the case with Mexico and Colombia.
Even if they are not directly involved as victims or perpetrators, many people are connected to this violence though their everyday jobs. One such person is the priest Atilio Gonzalez, who told me about some of his experiences after 24 years of working at the city’s public Southern Cemetery. “I’ve lived here and seen everything,” he said.
After lunch we walked through the graveyard. We went past alcoholics, between mausoleums destroyed by vandals, over scruffy plants, garbage and desecrated tombs from which bones had been stolen, and on to a burial site where he had been asked to perform the religious ceremony.
Another person I met whose job relates to death was a 76-year-old called Laudelino. Full of energy, Laudelino works in tattered clothes that are completely covered by white dust from the tombstones that he carves. With chisel in hand, he engraved a stone for a 20-year-old man as he told me how more dead people have passed through his hands than through anyone else’s.
It was not easy to get access to the subjects of this story. It took me over a year of meetings and conversations to gain the trust of individuals and negotiate with or simply accept the response of people who said no.
Probably the most difficult thing was finding families who would allow me to photograph during the wakes and funerals of their relatives who had been killed by violence. Some of these were ceremonies with many mourners paying tribute to the deceased.
I was at one such wake when suddenly everything turned into a whirlwind as I was pushed onto the back of the motorcycle of one of the victim’s buddies, a gang leader who had spent the entire night drinking. As soon as we left the mortuary he drove the bike up to the window of the hearse and forced it to drive to a low-income neighbourhood called 23 de Enero (23rd of January).
That was just the beginning of an afternoon filled with tense moments during which many bikers blocked the streets ahead to allow the funeral procession to pass. From time to time they would also stop the hearse and do bike acrobatics around it in tribute to their friend.
The cars blasted music loud enough to stop the mourners’ tears. When the procession reached the victim’s home, they lowered the coffin and carried it to a marijuana patch in the backyard, and opened the lid to continue their tribute as many cried.
The most shocking thing for me was perhaps not the experience itself – it was hearing and understanding that they knew who had killed the victim, and that they were planning revenge. It was the perfect formula for an infinite spiral of violence.
Covering this story, I had the feeling that life on Venezuela’s streets is held cheaper every day, but the business of death is increasingly profitable. And it will continue to be as long as the so-called “common violence” becomes ever more common.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Times of crisis
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What would you save first?
Held in the desert
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Manhunt for wildcat miners
Off to a head start
Portrait of a protest
In a spiral of violence
2020 Olympics - voices from Fukushima
Nights with the Bangkok protesters
Sicily's migrant soccer squad
In the slums of Islamabad
A protest diet
Sochi's Olympic opening ceremony
A taste for music
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DoD releases 2020 CONUS COLA rates
By Defense.gov, Department of Defense / Published December 30, 2019
WASHINGTON (AFNS) --
The Defense Department released Dec. 20 the 2020 Continental United States Cost of Living Allowance rates, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2020. In 2020, the total number of service members receiving CONUS COLA will decline by 2,600.
Approximately $20.2 million will be paid to approximately 12,300 service members stationed CONUS in 2020 – $1.9 million less than last year. Approximately 3,800 members will now receive CONUS COLA; 3,300 will see an increase in their CONUS COLA payments; 4,100 members will see a decrease; 6,400 members will no longer receive CONUS COLA; and 1,100 will see no change.
CONUS COLA is a taxable, supplemental allowance designed to help offset higher prices in the highest cost locations in CONUS that exceed the costs in an average CONUS location. Rates can increase, decrease or remain the same, depending on the non-housing prices in a duty location as compared to non-housing prices in an average CONUS location.
By law, a contractor provides cost data from each military housing area for the following categories: transportation, goods and services, federal income taxes, sales taxes and miscellaneous expenses. Data is adjusted to account for the amount of Basic Allowance for Subsistence, an allowance meant to offset the costs for a member's meals and for cost savings gained from shopping at commissaries and exchanges.
This information is compared to the same cost data for average CONUS, which serves as a benchmark. The resulting ratio is called an index. By law, a CONUS COLA rate is only prescribed when the index meets a threshold of 108%, meaning the costs for non-housing types of goods and services in a particular location are at least 8% more expensive than average CONUS. An index in excess of 108% would qualify for CONUS COLA (e.g., a location that is 10% more expensive would qualify for a 2% COLA index).
This year, eight MHAs will now receive an index; two will receive a CONUS COLA index increase; four will receive a decrease; eight will no longer receive CONUS COLA; and two MHAs will remain unchanged.
For non-MHA areas (non-metropolitan counties), 30 counties will now receive an index; one county has no change; and three will lose CONUS COLA.
MHAs with the highest CONUS COLA rates:
Oakland, Calif. 6%
San Francisco, Calif. 6%
Staten Island, N.Y 6%
MHA with the largest increase in CONUS COLA:
Saint Joseph, Mo. 0% to 2%
MHA with the largest decrease in CONUS COLA:
Detroit, Mich. 3% to 0%
Willow Grove, Pa. 3% to 0%
The total amount of CONUS COLA a service member receives varies based on geographic duty location, rank, years of service and dependency status. Payments per CONUS COLA point range from $32 to $60 per month for members with dependents, and $22 to $45 per month for members without dependents. Service members can calculate their CONUS COLA rate at http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/conusCalc.cfm.
Additional information about COLA can be found on the Defense Travel Management Office website at http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/conus.cfm.
AFWN USAF AF Air Force Department of Defense DOD Cost of Living Allowance COLA 2019 CONUS COLA Continental United States CONUS supplemental allowance Basic Allowance for Subsistence military housing area Defense Travel Management
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HomeSportsReintroducing Newcastle United’s 6ft South African teenage striker who is back from injury
Reintroducing Newcastle United’s 6ft South African teenage striker who is back from injury
Newcastle United hot prospect Tyrique Bartlett has made his eagerly-anticipated return from injury as he looks to get his career back on track.
The striker – who is the son of former Charlton Athletic star Shaun Bartlett – made brilliant progress last season after winning a call-up to train with Rafa Benitez’s first-team squad at Benton following some impressive performances for the Under-23s.
But the South African’s fortunes were dented after twisting his foot awkwardly in the turf in a moment that ruled him out for a large chunk of the season.
Bartlett went under the knife to repair the damage and on a chilly March night last week – in front of a crowd of just 235 fans – he stepped back into action against Aston Villa reserves.
It may not have been in front of a full house at St James’ Park and a 3-0 defeat made for painful viewing, but for 6ft striker Bartlett it meant the world as he came on to a ripple of applause from United’s hardcore fans at Whitley Park.
His coach Ben Dawson told the Chronicle: “He has missed a lot of football. It will take him a lot of time to get back and get used to the pace of things.
“We changed the shape when he went on to get him some support.
“He won flick ons when others couldn’t bring the ball done and there will be more to come from him when he’s 100%.
“He had an ankle injury. He got his studs stuck in the ground and had a bad twist.
“After seeing consultants he made the decision to have the operation.
“It will be better for him longer term.
“When people are recovering from those types of injuries you want to make people are 100% before throwing him back in.
“It will be a gradual reintroduction for him.”
Newcastle U23 player Tyrique Bartlett smiles as he eats his plate of pasta
(Image: Newcastle Utd via Getty Images)
Bartlett signed from Pretoria Youth Development’s set-up in 2017 and the son of South Africa legend Shaun admitted he found life tough on Tyneside after making a big move from his home country.
He said last season: “At first it was really tough, getting used to everything like the culture and the way they train.
“They way they condition themselves here is really different as well.
“Right now I’m getting used to being a real professional footballer.
“Before I was playing football but studying as well, now it’s just football, football.
“I feel like I’ve adjusted well and I’m hoping to take my opportunity whenever it’s given.
“The game is very quick and more physical as well, but I feel like I’ve done well.
“I’m really excited for what the future holds.
“When the head coach is wanting to see your progress or whether you can be used either now or going forward, that’s when we get to go into the first team .”
As ever Benitez has found time to encourage young Bartlett, who said: “He (Benitez) has been really good.
“We haven’t spoken that much, but when we do, it’s all encouragement and advice.
“Even from the other players. When I came in I expected things to be a little bit hostile, but they were all very welcoming.
“If you do something wrong they’ll get on your back, but as long you work hard then they love it.”
Tyrique Bartlett drains pasta during cookery lessons at St James’ Park
Fans in England will remember his dad Shaun from his six years at Charlton Athletic between 2000 and 2006 – not least when he beat Shay Given during a good win for the Addicks at the Valley.
Bartlett won Premier League goal of the year in 2000/2001 after scoring a wonderful volley against Leicester City.
But Tyrique insists he has never had any pressure on his shoulders from his father.
He said: “From an early age, my dad never put pressure on me.
“He told me to go out there and make a name for myself.
“The pressure mostly came from myself because I saw what he did in his playing days, so I was hard on myself than he was on me.
“All I can say is I will not put any limits for myself because the sky is the limit and there’s nothing I can’t accomplish right now if I just stay focused, work hard and show my dedication and keep on learning from the people around me, whether it’s small things or big things – we can always learn from other people.
“The main goal for me is to play in the English Premier League.”
Source link : https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/reintroducing-newcastle-uniteds-6ft-south-15991624
Tags:sport
Nigeria: Inconclusive Election – Bauchi Gov Abubakar Meets Buhari, Vows to Challenge INEC
Côte d’Ivoire-18 Montagnes : ce que Dominique Ouattara a fait pour les femmes de l’ouest
Uganda: All or Nothing for Canons, City Oilers in Decisive Game Seven
England in South Africa: Joe Root takes four wickets in Port Elizabeth
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Do More Good
Produce More Good
Evan Kidera
@evankidera
If anyone has redefined contemporary street food in San Francisco, it’s longtime pals Evan Kidera and Gil Payumo’s Señor Sisig fusion food truck. With their special twist on a Filipino happy hour dish, sisig, Señor Sisig took the portability of their favorite Mexican taqueria dishes with the popularity of sisig. Though sisig is traditionally made from parts of the pig’s head, Señor Sisig’s more palatable version uses the meatier pork shoulder. Though Gil and Evan met in high school in Daly City, California, and followed their own respective paths, Evan receiving his MBA at San Francisco State and Gil graduating from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Academy, entrepreneurship and food runs deep in both of their families’ bloodlines. It was only a matter of time before their shared love of Filipino food would turn into a fusion rolling restaurant, with Chef Gil at the grill and Evan at the wheel.
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Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust
What we’re fundraising for
What your donations do
Cambridge woman leaves money for £400,000 ward refurbishment at Addenbrooke’s in her will
See all our opportunities
Patients using a renal ward at Addenbrooke’s are to benefit from a more colourful and relaxed approach to hospital life thanks to a legacy from a Cambridge woman.
All I want for Christmas is… Whether you have an innovative idea, thoughts around service improvement, grand designs to improve your ward or clinic environment or are seeking investment for a research project, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) could help!
Celebrity Hunted fugitive hides out at Addenbrooke’s
Celebrity chef, Jean-Christophe Novelli, who is currently appearing as a fugitive on the run on Channel 4’s Celebrity Hunted for Stand Up To Cancer, stopped off at Addenbrooke’s during one of the episodes, shining a light on the hospital where his son was treated for neuroblastoma two years ago.
First of two new emergency children’s ambulance services for the East of England funded thanks to donations
Chariots of Fire race achieves children’s ambulance halfway funding mark
Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust are over halfway to raising enough to fund an Emergency Children's Ambulance thanks to the recent Chariots of Fire event.
Addenbrooke’s liver transplant appeal success gives precious hope to many
Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) has reached its £250,000 liver transplant appeal target thanks to the generous support of incredible donors.
Get fundraising updates by email
In memory of a loved one
Donate by post or phone
Donate on the ward/clinic
Leave a gift in a will
Do something to raise money
Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust
Box 126, Addenbrooke’s Hospital
Hills Road, Cambridge
CB2 0QQ
Call us during office hours on
hello@act4addenbrookes.org.uk
© 2019 Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust
Grants & funding for CUH staff
Website by Itineris
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How to Prove Value as Advertisers ‘Take Back Control’
S4 Capital chief Sir Martin Sorrell says that ‘every single client is looking at in-housing’
By Ronan Shields
Sir Martin Sorrell, S4 Capital executive chairman, was speaking at the ATS London conference.
Sean T. Smith for Adweek
The ‘in-housing’ debate, where brands ditch their agencies and bring those capabilities (whether media buying, creative or programmatic) under their roofs, has raged throughout the media industry over the last decade, ever since the potential to automate online ad spend promised marketing departments the ability to make serious savings on their media budgets.
Those in favor point out the historic high margins that media agencies—whose traditional value proposition was predicated on their bulk buying power—have charged, while detractors highlight the expertise such companies have amassed. And in the era of ad tech, the industry’s major holding groups were quick to amass programmatic know-how.
Industry sources often recount tales of grandiose in-housing projects abandoned mid-way as marketing departments gradually realize the execution and maintenance of such a vision is harder than it sounds.
However, according to Martin Sorrell, executive chairman of S4 Capital and the poster child of the contemporary holding group model, “every single client, without exception, is now looking at in-housing.”
The former WPP CEO spoke earlier this week at the annual ATS London conference, where leading ad-tech figures gather to debate the issues of the day. Here, he outlined his vision of a marketing services company that’s fit for the contemporary era.
S4 Capital is being constructed around the tenets of “faster, better, cheaper”—he spoke extensively with Adweek on this model earlier in the year—with the underlying rationale being marketers’ desire to “take back control,” he explained.
At its core, this movement is driven by marketers’ desire to have sole control of their first-party data. Historic instances of misuse of client data, such as agencies licensing it to third parties without prior consent, plus the ever-increasing power of platforms such as Amazon and Google has spurred many to contemplate in-housing aspects of their media operations.
“There’s tremendous pressure, and they’re looking at the best way of doing things, and fundamentally, this ‘take back control’ thing is really powerful,” Sorrell told attendees.
He went on to say, “From the pitches we’ve been involved in during the last three months or so, clients are experimenting more than I’ve ever seen before in the four decades or so that I’ve been involved in the business. There’s a degree of confidence now than there wasn’t a few years ago.”
Digital butlers
The formation of S4 Capital has involved the acquisition of programmatic talent, principally through the acquisition of MightyHive with the company’s competency in operating both the Amazon and Google ad stacks, leading many to describe such outfits as a “service layer.”
Per Sorrell, advertisers now demand expertise on said platforms, as this is where audiences spend the majority of their time—and where the richest pools of intelligible market data can be found.
When quizzed on S4’s status as a “butler”—i.e. servicing clients on third-party platforms such as the Amazon Advertising platform, as opposed to using bulk-buying power to negotiate preferential media prices—from the audience, Sorrell noted that scale is not the asset is used to be.
Simply put, “the butler has to be much more flexible as to what he or she is doing.” Sorrell then compared S4 Capital’s lightweight (but agile) infrastructure to the comparatively mammoth overheads of the legacy holding groups.
In-housing is not without challenges
However, in a separate discussion at the conference, panelists pointed out ‘in-housing’ is not the binary scenario the term would first suggest, i.e. dispensing with their media agencies to cut cost on their media budgets.
Anoo Mehmi, global digital content strategist at GSK, said bringing 100% of media-buying in-house would be “ideal,” but the reality of embarking on a “digital journey” is difficult given the scale of the task involved with procuring technology and the talent to use it.
https://adweek.it/307qGlA
Ronan Shields
@ronan_shields
Ronan Shields is a reporter for Adweek, focusing on ad-tech.
The 6 Marketing Trends That Will Drive Innovation in 2020
Account Director - US Sales
Network N
Director of Strategy (client-centric)
WCCB Charlotte Chief Meteorologist
WCCB-TV
Marketing Technology, Group Marketing Manager
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Donald Trump: 'I would bomb the s---- " out of ISIS
By Leada Gore | lgore@al.com
Donald Trump rally in Mobile Ala., on August 21, 2015
Donald Trump speaks in front of thousands of supporters at a rally at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., on August 21, 2015. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)
(Sharon Steinmann)
Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump said this week his administration would take back militant-controlled oil fields in the Middle East and "bomb the (expletive deleted) out of ISIS."
At both an Iowa political rally and a CNN interview, Trump said the secret to dismantling the ultra-violent militants known as ISIS or ISIL is to cut off their funding sources.
"ISIS is making a tremendous amount of money because they have certain oil camps, certain areas of oil that they took away," Trump said. "They have some in Syria, some in Iraq. I would bomb the (expletive deleted) out of 'em. I would just bomb those suckers. That's right. I'd blow up the pipes. ... I'd blow up every single inch. There would be nothing left.
"And you know what, you'll get Exxon to come in there and in two months, you ever see these guys, how good they are, the great oil companies? They'll rebuild that sucker, brand new -- it'll be beautiful."
Trump's comments drew loud applause from the Iowa crowd.
Trump later told CNN's Anderson Cooper he would support the use of U.S. troops to protect the oil fields. His preference, however, would to have no troops involved in the volatile region.
"I would love not to be over there," Trump said. "That's not our fight -- that's other people's fights."
Trump's comments came before the Friday attacks in Paris that claimed more than 120 lives. Officials are investigating the alleged terror link to the deadly attacks. Shortly after the events in Paris, Trump tweeted out his condolences to the French people:
My prayers are with the victims and hostages in the horrible Paris attacks. May God be with you all.
You can see Trump's Iowa comments below. The video contains language some may find offensive.
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Limousine service operator charged in crash that killed 20
By MICHAEL HILL and JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press
COBLESKILL, N.Y. (AP) — A limousine service operator was charged Wednesday with criminally negligent homicide in a crash that killed 20 people, while police continued investigating what caused the wreck and whether anyone else will face charges.
Nauman Hussain, 28, showed little emotion as he was arraigned Wednesday evening in an Albany-area court, and he ignored shouted questions from reporters as he left after posting $150,000 bond. A judge had entered a not guilty plea for him.
Earlier, his lawyer said that Hussain wasn’t guilty and that police were rushing to judgment in investigating Saturday’s stretch limo wreck .
But State Police Superintendent George Beach said Hussain hired a driver who shouldn’t have been behind the wheel of such a car, and the vehicle shouldn’t have been driven after state inspectors deemed it “unserviceable” last month.
“The sole responsibility for that motor vehicle being on the road on Saturday rests with Nauman Hussain,” Beach said, though he noted that investigators continue looking into whether anyone else should be held accountable in the crash.
Hussain’s car was packed with luggage when he was stopped Wednesday on a highway near Albany, Schoharie County District Attorney Susan Mallery said.
Hussain’s lawyer, Lee Kindlon, said his client felt unsafe at home because he’d gotten threats.
The company, Prestige Limousine, has come under intense scrutiny since a 19-seater limo ran a stop sign and plowed into a parked SUV at the bottom of a long hill Saturday. The impact killed two pedestrians and 18 people in the limo, which was taking a group to a birthday bash.
Kindlon said his client handled only marketing duties and phone calls, while his father ran the company, though police called Hussain its operator.
“My client is not guilty,” Kindlon said. “The police jumped the gun in charging him with any crime.”
Under New York law, criminally negligent homicide involves not perceiving a substantial, unjustifiable risk that leads to someone’s death. It’s punishable by up to four years in prison.
Charged with a single count involving all 20 victims, Hussain spoke in a clear, firm voice as he gave brief answers to the judge’s questions about his finances and living arrangements. He turned twice to nod at relatives in the courtroom audience.
Hussain has had a brush with authorities before. State police accused him and his brother of claiming each other’s names after a 2014 traffic stop, which happened while the brother was driving without a valid license.
Their father, Prestige Limousine owner Shahed Hussain, also has a history with law enforcement — as a government informant in terror plot investigations after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Saturday’s crash appeared to be the nation’s deadliest traffic accident since a bus full of Texas nursing home patients caught fire while fleeing 2005’s Hurricane Rita, killing 23.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that the limo driver didn’t have the required commercial license, and that Prestige Limousine “had no business putting a failed vehicle on the road.”
The limo had been written up Sept. 4 for code violations, including a problem with the antilock brakes’ malfunction indicator system.
A sticker was placed on the vehicle declaring it “unserviceable,” state Department of Transportation spokesman Joseph Morrissey said.
It was the latest in a series of inspection knocks for the Gansevoort, New York-based company. Four of its limos were cited this year with a total of 22 maintenance violations, though none was deemed critical.
Kindlon told CBS News on Tuesday the “safety issues had been addressed and corrected,” saying many were minor. But Morrissey said any assertion that the limo involved in the crash had been cleared for service was “categorically false.”
Kindlon said he didn’t think the infractions contributed to the crash. He suggested the driver, who died in the crash, might have misjudged his momentum on the hill.
The T-intersection at the bottom was a known danger spot, Kindlon noted. It was rebuilt after a deadly 2008 wreck, but there have since been other accidents at the junction.
“I think, frankly, the Department of Transportation and the state of New York is doing a great job in saying, ‘Look over there! It’s not our fault!'” Kindlon said.
The limo’s driver, Scott Lisinicchia, had been told he didn’t have the proper license to drive it during an Aug. 25 traffic stop, state police said Wednesday. They said a trooper issued violations, advised that Lisinicchia couldn’t drive the limo and “took steps to ensure that the vehicle was taken off the road.”
The Times Union of Albany first reported about the traffic stop.
Lisinicchia’s family, meanwhile, said he was unwittingly put in an unsafe vehicle.
Kim Lisinicchia told CBS in an interview broadcast Wednesday that her husband repeatedly said he wouldn’t drive the car the way it was. But then “he trusted in what the limo company said, that the cars were all right,” she said.
She said her husband was an excellent, veteran driver with over 20 years of experience in tractor-trailers and was in fine health.
“I feel for these victims,” the widow said. “I am in no way trying to make it seem like it’s about me or my husband. I just want my husband to be vindicated. I have to stand for him, ’cause nobody else will.”
Peltz reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Esch contributed from Latham, New York.
US Navy veteran arrested in Utah in suspicious mailings
Previous PostFBI says man planned to bomb National Mall on Election DayNext PostUS increases pressure on Saudis over writer’s disappearance
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Businesses Could Earn Tax Credits For Hiring Veterans
Amanda Wall
New legislation aims to assist unemployed veterans.
Senator Vincent Gregory, a Democrat from Southfield, has proposed legislation to award businesses up to $4,000 in tax credits to hire unemployed veterans.
According to the Associated Press, The Hire MI Heros Act has bipartisan support and will be introduced as legislation soon.
Gregory is a Vietnam veteran and he is the lead sponsor of the bill. He said "both veterans and small businesses win," in a recent press release about the proposed bill.
The new legislation would allow companies who hire an unemployed veteran to claim 25 percent of their salary up to $4,000.
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An epic love story about three generations of love and betrayal, and how the sins of the past continue to haunt two families whose lives are destined to be intertwined.
Carissa's rich adoptive mother, Adelina, was cheated on by her husband Bernardo, who fathered Marietta with another woman. Carissa and Marietta are best friends despite the rift between their parents. However, a falling out ensues when both fall in love with Nicolas, a handsome mysterious stranger.
Carissa becomes pregnant with Nicola's child. Feeling betrayed, Marietta sabotages their relationship then gets herself pregnant with the child of a man she doesn't love.
When they give birth on the same day, Marietta discovers that her son is sick. She strictly switches her son with Carissa's daughter, knowing that he will be better off with the rich family.
Marietta's son Francis grows up in wealth as Carissa's son, while Carissa's daughter Sarah grows up in slums as Marietta's child. Life is tough for Sarah, but she finds comfort and strength in her older brother, Leonel, Marietta's firstborn.
Sarah and Francis eventually fall in love and their families' history of betrayal is pushed to the core. Leonel complicates the picture when his brotherly affection for Sarah turns romantic once her and Francis' true identities are revealed.
as Sarah Beltran-Dela Vega
Enrique Gil
as Francisco Dela Vega
Echong Dee
as Leonel Bernardo Beltran
Julia Montes as Sarah Beltran-Dela Vega
Enrique Gil as Francisco Dela Vega
Echong Dee as Leonel Bernardo Beltran
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Ivy Contractors Pty Ltd
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Ivy Contractors Pty Ltd (Ivy Contractors) and its sole director Brent Cameron Callan-Kerkenezov (Kerkenezov).
ANZ Roofing Pty Ltd
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from ANZ Roofing Pty Ltd (ANZ Roofing) and one of its directors, Mark Lee Burtenshaw (Burtenshaw).
Undertaking given by ANZ Terminals Pty Ltd and Hyperion Investments Australia Pty Ltd
On 14 November 2019, the ACCC accepted an undertaking (the Undertaking) given by Terminals Pty Limited (Terminals) and Hyperion Investments Australia Pty Ltd (Hyperion) pursuant to s 87B of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) in connection with Terminals’ proposed acquisition of 100% of the shares in GrainCorp Liquid Terminals Australia Pty Ltd (the Proposed Acquisition).
Brookfield/GIC Undertaking
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Brookfield Infrastructure Group (Australia) Pty Ltd and DJP XX LLC pursuant to s 87B of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) in relation to Brookfield’s proposed acquisition of Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
ZeniMax Media Inc, ZeniMax Europe Limited and ZeniMax Australia Pty Ltd
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from ZeniMax Media Inc, ZeniMax Europe Limited and ZeniMax Australia Pty Ltd (together, ZeniMax) in relation to misleading representations in relation to the Fallout 76 game about consumers’ statutory rights under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) that were likely to contravene sections 18 and 29(1)(m).
Bromic Pty Ltd
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Bromic Pty Ltd (Bromic) in relation to resale price maintenance conduct that contravened section 48 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA).
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Target Australia Pty Ltd (Target). The undertaking is in relation to claims that between at least January 2017 and August 2017, Target’s customer service staff told some consumers who complained about faulty Sony PlayStations that they had to contact Sony directly for a remedy and were not entitled to any remedy from Target because the fault had occurred after 30 days from the date of purchase.
Woolworths Group Ltd trading as BIG W
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Woolworths Group Ltd trading as BIG W (BIG W). The undertaking is in relation to claims that between at least 30 December 2016 and 30 April 2018, BIG W representatives told consumers who complained about faulty Dyson branded products that they must deal directly with Dyson to obtain a remedy if the complaint was made more than 14 days from the date of purchase.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from NBN Co Limited (NBN Co) in relation to its conduct in supplying wholesale business grade services and related activities. The ACCC is satisfied that NBN Co has engaged in conduct that contravened its non-discrimination obligations under 152AXD of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA).
BVivid Pty Ltd
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Title: Retail Operations Associate
Location: Philadelphia, PA (USA)
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SPI 2014 - CITEL Exhibiting UL1449 "2016-Ready" PV SPD's at Solar Power International
Visit http://www.citel.us for further information
Solar Power International in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oct. 20-23rd
10/20/14, 06:44 PM | Solar & Wind | Citel USA
MIRAMAR, Fla., Oct. 16, 2014 -- CITEL, the leader in photovoltaic surge protective devices (SPD's), is pleased to announce that our 2016-ready SPD's will be featured at Solar Power International in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oct. 20-23rd. "We are excited to show the solar community the latest breakthroughs in PV SPD's," said Patrick Coyle, VP of CITEL, "Today, one can imagine the susceptibility of all systems to threats both man-made and natural. At CITEL, we do only surge protection. This means that our customers can be assured that they are choosing SPD's that are designed for the worst case scenario. That they are engineered to keep their systems ahead of the technology curve and ahead of changes to relevant standards."
By 2016, a new UL1449 3rd Edition Type will be introduced. It is called a Component Assembly (CA). This designation is available for only Type 1, Type 2 or Type 3 and will essentially replace the Type 4 for Type 1 or Type 2 category. The main difference is that the Type 1CA and Type 2CA will be required to test and publish a short circuit current rating (SCCR) in addition to passing the intermediate current tests. All these listings from every manufacturer can be found at the ul.com website in the online directory. This will make it easier to find and compare SPD's from various manufacturers.
CITEL's model DS60 and DS50 families are already up to date with the changes and are currently listed as a Type 1 Component Assembly (1CA). These models have the option to feature CITEL's patented VG Technology. VG Technology provides the key benefits of increased life expectancy, elimination of leakage current, elimination of working current, and will meet the most stringent UL standards with no conditions of acceptability.
Take advantage of our surge experts that will be on hand at the show to discuss your application needs. Just a few minutes with us and you will get clear picture about what is required not what someone wants to sell you.
CITEL is excited to be a part of SPI 2014 and to discuss changes to the UL1449 standard for Surge Protective Devices. We invite you to visit our booth #1468 and learn more!
About CITEL: Since 1937, CITEL has manufactured a complete line of surge protective devices to protect sensitive equipment from the harmful effects of lightning strikes and other line disturbances.
Tigo's New TS4-A-M (Monitoring) & TS4-A-S (Safety)
Tigo will announce the new product launch of the patented UHD-Core TS4-A (Advanced Retrofit/Add-on) Platform at SPI 2019. The new TS4-A-M (Monitoring) & TS4-A-S (Safety) units have improved lightweight hardware and lower labor costs to address a range of functions and budgets. The TS4-A-M allows module-level monitoring via Tigo's SMART Website & App. The TS4-A-S is UL-certified as a rapid shutdown solution for residential and C&I PV system. Both units join the Tigo's multivendor solution that works with almost any inverter and smart module in the global PV market. Contact sales@tigoenergy.com for pricing, shipping, and availability in Q4'19.
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