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What Is the Longest Fairway Wood in Golf?
By M.L. Rose
In golf terms, the “longest” woods or irons are the clubs that typically hit the ball the farthest. In both cases, the longer clubs have lower numbers, so a 3-wood, for example, will hit the ball farther than a 7-wood, all other things being equal. The driver is technically a 1-wood, although the numerical designation is almost never used. A driver is used almost exclusively off the tee, except by pros and amateurs who are skilled enough to hit driver in the fairway. The longest fairway wood commonly used by most golfers is the 3-wood.
A 2-wood generally has a loft of between 11 and 13 degrees and is 44 inches long. A typical 3-wood features 13 to 15 degrees of loft and is 43 inches long. All else being equal, 2-wood shots should travel about 10 yards farther than 3-wood shots. But the 3-wood’s greater loft makes it a more reliably accurate club. In the days before clubs were designated by numbers, the 2-wood was called a “brassie” and a 3-wood was called a “spoon.”
Vanishing 2-Wood
As with the 2-iron, the 2-wood has disappeared from most golf bags, in part because comparable hybrids are more forgiving of mishits. But even PGA Tour players who don’t use hybrids rarely swing 2-woods. As of April 2012, Tiger Woods uses a 3-wood as his longest fairway wood, according to his website.
Hitting Fairway Woods
When hitting a fairway wood, conventional wisdom is that you place the ball in a forward position in your stance and use a shallow downswing to sweep the ball off the fairway, rather than striking down at it as you would with an iron. Canadian PGA pro Ted Stonehouse recommends setting up with the ball a bit behind your front heel, then placing a tee in the ground 6 inches behind the ball during practice. You should hit the tee during your takeaway to insure you establish a wide enough swing arc.
Gaining Height with a Long Fairway Wood
Many golfers have difficulty hitting the ball in the air with a less-lofted fairway wood, whether it’s a 2 or a 3. To gain greater height with those clubs, golf legend Byron Nelson suggested players stand closer to the ball than normal, keep their weight back during the backswing and employ an upright swing plane. In Nelson’s ideal fairway wood swing, a player moves the club straight back from the ball on the takeaway, then raises his hands above his shoulders, while keeping the club head on the target line. The player then returns the club along the same path and strikes the ball on a downward angle, rather than using the sweeping motion that’s otherwise standard for fairway woods.
Vaughn’s Summaries: Golf Club Comparison Chart
PGA Professional: Glossary of Golf Terms and Phrases
Improve Golf Swing: How to Hit a Fairway Wood
What’s a Golfer to Do?; Ron Kaspriske and the Editors of Golf Digest
M.L. Rose has worked as a print and online journalist for more than 20 years. He has contributed to a variety of national and local publications, specializing in sports writing. Rose holds a B.A. in communications.
Use a Three-Wood Fairway Metal
Swing a Fairway Wood Left-Handed
Sweep the Fairway Woods
Hit a 48-Inch Golf Driver
Golf Digger Vs. Sweeper Vs. Hitter
Swing Titleist Irons
Tips for Using Fairway Woods Golf Clubs
How Far Can Tiger Woods Hit a Golf Ball?
Hit a 5 Wood in Golf
Hybrids Vs. Fairway Woods
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Home Playlist Latest STRAIGHT GIRL’s “UGLY” is electro-dance-punk to get your teeth into
STRAIGHT GIRL’s “UGLY” is electro-dance-punk to get your teeth into
STRAIGHT GIRL is the moniker of queer artist Holly Readman, previously known as NALA. With support from BBC Introducing, they have cut their teeth opening for Kero Kero Benito, Peaness, KRRUM, and several others, whilst also delivering raucous sets at the likes of Live At Leeds, Sound City, and Northern Electric festivals.
Readman’s background as both a compuser and producer shine bright on “UGLY”.The new single is a track that embraces the unexpected; framing Warpaint-esque vocals with off-kilter beats and acrobatic, sizzling electronic melodies. This isn’t just genre-bending – STRAIGHT GIRL laughs in the face of genre before razing it to the ground and letting an EDM-punk phoenix rise from the ashes.
Throughout “UGLY”‘s single verse, Readman’s lyrics dress self-loathing up in tortuous metaphor, winding towards a reluctant acceptance over the track’s relentless build. They explain how the idea of ugliness has informed the music they make over recent years, unpicking the narrative presented abstractly by “UGLY”‘s thunderous stomp:
“I grew up being painfully ashamed of my own singing voice, always shrinking under jealous shadows of the girls in my class who were ‘naturals’, hearing over and over that my voice was ‘ugly’. It wasn’t until I realised that what they were actually saying was that it existed outside the standards for normality that I began to look at the word ‘ugly’ not as an insult but as an appreciation of uniqueness, and turned it into a statement of pride.”
“UGLY” is out 13 September. Catch STRAIGHT GIRL on their co-headline tour with Team Picture and Flirting this October.
electrodancepunk
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Meet Lara and Terence
Itineraries, Tours & Retreats
Tsavo West
Portugal Wine Regions
Kangaroo Island, South Australia – Wildlife Watching on Australia’s Galapagos Island
Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third largest island with 450 kilometres of wild coast, a pristine undeveloped interior, and an abundance of animal and marine life, making it the perfect place for some wildlife watching.
Australia’s third largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island north of Darwin, Kangaroo Island lies just 13km off Cape Jervis on the west coast of South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula. It’s just a couple of hour’s drive or a thirty-minute flight from Adelaide, yet the unspoiled island feels far more remote.
In many ways, Kangaroo Island is a microcosm of Australia with a quintessentially Aussie interior of old growth bushland with towering eucalyptus trees, impenetrable mallee scrub, and golden pastures speckled with sheep.
The dramatic coastline is typical of Southern Australia, skirted by sheer soaring cliffs, striking rock formations that resemble public art works, and colossal boulders smoothed by the wild sea.
Aside from its rugged natural beauty, Kangaroo Island teems with native fauna and flora. There is such a wealth of wildlife that Kangaroo Island – or KI as the locals like to call it – is frequently referred to as Australia’s Galapagos Islands.
If you only get to one Australian island, make it Kangaroo Island, for its arresting geological features as much as its diverse abundant wildlife habitats.
One third of Kangaroo Island is protected – there are myriad national parks and conservation parks – and there’s a gobsmacking range of fauna here that is unscathed by predators or disease.
Kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, echidnas, goannas, possums, bandicoots, sea lions, and fur seals are everywhere you look, climbing trees, crossing roads, and lazing on beaches.
While you could get a taste of Kangaroo Island in a weekend, allow at least four days to take in all the attractions, including Seal Bay, Little Sahara, Remarkable Rocks, Flinders Chase National Park.
Seals, Sea Lions and Little Penguins
When Kangaroo Island’s beaches aren’t being beaten by pounding surf, the creamy stretches of sand, punctuated by serene bays and tranquil estuaries bobbing with fishing boats, are dotted with playful seals, sea lions and penguins.
Penneshaw’s low cliffs are home to the handsome Little Penguins, whose antics can be observed on the nightly Penneshaw Penguin Tours (daily 9pm and 10pm). These are the times when they return from feeding in the ocean and march adorably across the beach to their cliff-side burrows.
We also watch playful Australian Sea-lions and New Zealand Fur Seals, both native to Kangaroo Island, frolicking on the rocks at Cape du Couedic, and on another day visit the Seal Bay Conservation Park, home to hundreds of sea lions and one of the largest breeding populations in Australia.
At Seal Bay we get to walk quite close to the colony, accompanied by a national park guide (daily 9am–5.15pm in holidays, at other times til 4.15pm). Some 7,000 fur seals live, breed, and loll about on the splendid sandy beach at beautiful Seal Bay.
Bill, our easygoing, dreadlocked guide from Kangaroo Island Wilderness Tours, who shows us around the island for a few days, advises us to walk tentatively around a family of seals.
“They look friendly, but they can get feisty when their sleep is disrupted,” Bill warns.
Koala Spotting
After the Sydney‘s Harbour Bridge and Opera House, Uluru in the Red Centre, and Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef, most tourists visiting Australia want to see a koala. However, the cute, chubby bear-like creatures – which aren’t bears at all, but are marsupials – are next to impossible to see outside zoos and wildlife parks in Australia.
The koala’s grey-brown fur blends in with the bark and leaves of the eucalyptus trees in which they like to hide and dine, and they spend most of their time still – sleeping and eating – making them difficult to spot.
Yet on Kangaroo Island we see koalas every day, and I also spot a couple of the lazy creatures, on two different occasions, leap from the ground onto trees and energetically bound up the branches. It’s a rare sight on the mainland, but not on Kangaroo Island.
I become so hooked on spotting koala – they are so ridiculously adorable – that one day Bill takes a spontaneous detour to Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary where they are supposedly plentiful. Ironically, we see fewer of them there than we have in the wild. Not surprisingly, we arrive during their nap time.
Kangaroos and Canapés
On mainland Australia, it’s unusual to see kangaroos and wallabies outside of sunrise and sunset when they come out of their hiding places to feed, yet we see hundreds sprawled out in paddocks in the sunshine or dozing under leafy trees.
We see both the Kangaroo Island kangaroo – a smaller, darker, furrier sub-species of the Western Grey kangaroo found on the mainland – and the tiny Tammar Wallaby, which has a pretty face with fine features. Almost extinct on the mainland, there’s an abundance of Tammar on KI.
One of my most vivid memories of our Kangaroo Island trip will be seeing majestic kangaroos grazing in the golden light of sunset on a straw-coloured paddock, sprouting with the grass trees the locals call yakkas, at Kelly Hill Conservation Park.
We were with a guide from Southern Ocean Lodge, our luxurious home for a few nights, on their signature ‘Kangas and Kanapés’ tour. This must-do outing involves little more than an easy stroll to get as close as possible to the animals to silently take in the scene
If you’re lucky, you might spot a baby joey in its mother’s pouch as we did. It was the cutest thing I’d seen on the island. The experience is celebrated with glasses of sparkling wine and scrummy canapés that the guide serves from the back of the luxury four-wheel drive as the small group of guests savour the sunset.
Our Kangaroo Island Guide
How to Get to Kangaroo Island
Domestic airlines JetStar and Tiger Airways fly between Australian cities. From Adelaide Airport, Regional Express Airlines (REX) flies daily (30 minutes) to Kingscote Airport on Kangaroo Island. Planes are small so you may need to store luggage at your Adelaide hotel. You’ll need to organise airport transfers through your accommodation or tour company.
You can also hire a rental car in Adelaide and drive the 2+ hours from Adelaide to Cape Jervis, from where you can take the SeaLink ferry to Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island. This way you have a vehicle to independently explore Kangaroo Island.
If you don’t wish to drive and are planning on doing a guided tour on Kangaroo Island, then from Adelaide you can travel with SeaLink, which offers a comfortable bus that meets their ferry at Cape Jervis.
Getting Around Kangaroo Island
If you are flying from Adelaide to Kangaroo Island, you can also book a car rental with Budget or Hertz for pick up from Kingscote Airport on Kangaroo Island, and explore the island on your own wheels.
Kangaroo Island Wilderness Tours offers 1-4 day tours around Kangaroo Island and they offer pick-up from the airport, ferry, or your accommodation.
Where to Stay on Kangaroo Island
Southern Ocean Lodge, located at the southwestern tip of Kangaroo Island is one of Australia’s most luxurious lodges and one of its most eco-friendly.
Kangaroo Island Wilderness Retreat by the entrance to Flinders Chase National Park offers eco-friendly rooms, suites and self-contained apartments on 113 acres of beautiful native bushland. There’s free WiFi and a restaurant and bar.
If you prefer to be located in town, with cafes and restaurants in walking distance, the Kangaroo Island Seafront Hotel in Penneshaw has a range of sea-view rooms and villas, as well as a pool, spa, sauna and tennis court, bar and pizzeria.
Sea Dragon Lodge, just out of Penneshaw, offers self-catering accommodation with fully equipped kitchens and free WiFi, set on 250 acres just a few minutes walk from a small private sandy beach. The restaurant makes use of the excellent local island produce and wines.
Villas on the Bay at Kingscote is a complex of modern, minimalist, air-conditioned villas with fully equipped kitchens, barbecues, access to a grocery delivery service, and the friendly owners even provide a starter kit of bread, butter, bread, jam, coffee, and tea, along with airport transfers.
Kangaroo Island Bayview Villas located on a hillside near Kingscote, a 15 minute-drive from Emu Bay and Kingscote Airport, have floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Nepean Bay, well equipped kitchens, private patios, and BBQ facilities.
Where to Eat on Kangaroo Island
Feast on fresh seafood and fish and chips at Rockpool Café on gorgeous Stokes Bay, locally farmed marron with bush tucker herbs at the Marron Café, or a ten-course degustation meal (allow 2-3 hours) under the Enchanted Fig Tree (Dec-April) or in the 150 year-old Shearers Shed (April-Nov) at Hannaford & Sachs.
Kangaroo Island Essentials and Tips
If you’re not an Australian or New Zealand citizen, you need a Tourist Visa, Electronic Travel Authority or eVisitor before you travel to Australia. To determine which visa you need contact your nearest Australian embassy.
Kangaroo Island uses Australia’s currency, which is the Australian dollar. ATMs aren’t plentiful, so take lots of cash, although major credit cards are accepted. Tipping is at your discretion in Australia, but is appreciated for good service.
Kangaroo Island has a mild climate. Temperatures in summer (Dec–Feb) average 24˚C and 15˚C in winter (Jun–Aug). Summer has the least amount of rainfall.
Pack mosquito repellent, sun cream, swimwear, hat, and flip-flops for the beach, light cotton trousers, walking boots for hikes, and a fleece or sweater and lightweight wet weather jacket.
Buy a Telstra pre-paid SIM card to make local calls and access the Internet from your phone. Telstra is the only service provider that operates in remote areas.
South Australian Tourism www.tourism.sa.gov.au
South Australia National Parks www.environment.sa.gov.au
We travelled to Kangaroo Island as guests of South Australia Tourism and Southern Ocean Lodge but all our opinions are our own obviously.
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2018-11-26T21:38:37+07:00By Lara Dunston|
About the Author: Lara Dunston
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Gordie White Worldwide Hunting
AFRICA WINGSHOOTING
EUROPE WINGSHOOTING
NORTH AMERICA WINGSHOOTING
SOUTH AMERICA WINGSHOOTING
AFRICA BIG GAME HUNTING
EUROPE BIG GAME HUNTING
NORTH AMERICA BIG GAME HUNTING
SOUTH AMERICA BIG GAME HUNTING
SOUTH PACIFIC BIG GAME HUNTING
You are here: Home / Archives for Destination Highlights / Africa
[pdf height=”4500″]https://gwhunts.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Africa-2017-GWWH.pdf[/pdf]
[pdf height=”3300″]https://gwhunts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Adventure-Travel-GWWH.pdf[/pdf]
Africa – 2016
Namibia Plains Game and Leopard
Namibia - Plains Game & Leopard - GWWH
VIDEO: John X Safaris | South Africa | East Cape Hunting
Welcome to John X Safaris. We’re a second generation Safari Outfit located in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. We specialize in Plains Game and Dangerous Game Hunting with an emphasis on quality.
Wimberley, Texas
Cellular: 830-483-0796
Office Tel: 512-847-2048
gordiewhite@verizon.net
Gordie’s Book
“There are some things I knew about Gordie White before I read his book…and one important thing I did not know. I knew that he was not only an experienced hunter, but a passionate, with a genuine love for wild places and wild creatures. I knew that he’d been brought up as a hunter, and that this is, essentially, his life as well as his hobby, both his avocation and vocation. It’s my chronological misfortune to consider him young, but he’s filled his years with a tremendous amount of experience, from Canada to Africa and back again, with multiple stops in between. I knew these things because we’ve shared African campfires together…and I knew one thing more: Gordie White is one of the good guys, honest, self-deprecating, not given to the shameless self-promotion that, in this era of mass communication without accountability, turns inexperienced ‘wanna-be’s’ into self-proclaimed gurus. But there was one important thing that I did not know about Gordie White: The man can write! Although I’m sure there are more, there are two things that make a book like this worthy of reading. First, the writer must have a genuine story to tell. Second, he must be able to tell it. Gordie White passes both tests, and has given us a great story, worth telling and worth reading.”
Craig Boddington
About Gordie White Worldwide Hunting
© 2020 Gordie White Worldwide Hunting | Log in
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•November 19, 2012
•Main, News
News: Gran Habano Expands Gran Reserva Line
Gran Habano has added two new cigars to their Gran Reserva line: the Gran Reserva #3 2009 and Gran Reserva #5 2010, both of which have arrived at retail.
The Gran Habano Gran Reserva #3 2009 is available in three sizes:
Churchill (6 7/8 x 50) – $7.03 (Boxes of 20, $140.50)
Gran Robusto (6 x 54) – $7.13 (Boxes of 20, $142.50)
Pyramid (6 1/8 x 52) – $7.33 (Boxes of 20, $146.50)
Each box comes with 20 cigars, and each size was limited to 1200 boxes, meaning 24,000 cigars per size and 72,000 total cigars. The packaging has also been updated to give it a distinctive look from the Gran Reserva #3 2008.
Blended by Rico, it uses a Jalapa Habano wrapper and binder from 2003 that was grown on his family’s La Santa Cruz farm in Nicaragua, while the filler is a mix of seven-year-old Nicaraguan Criollo and Habano ligeros and a varying amount of Corojo viso leaves from La Santa Cruz and eight-year-old Colombian tobacco from their La Joya del Valle farm. The cigars were rolled over two years ago and have been aging since, which when combined with the aged tobacco gives the cigars a very rich, smooth and complex smoke, according to Rico.
The Gran Habano Gran Reserva #5 2010, also blended by Rico, shares many of the same tobaccos as the Gran Reserva #3 2009, but a different blend of tobaccos gives it a different flavor progression, starting floral and grassy before becoming more earthy and complex and finishing with a fuller body than the other cigars in the line. The wrapper is a 2005 Corojo leaf and the binder is a 2005 Habano leaf, both from the Jalapa valley in Nicaragua. The fillers are a mix of Habano ligero from Jalapa that was picked in 2004 and Habano ligero from Esteli that was harvested in 2003.
It too is available in three sizes, each coming in 20-count boxes.
Corona Gorda (5 5/8 x 46) – $6.00 (Boxes of 20, $120.00)
Imperial (6 x 60) – $7.60 (Boxes of 20, $152.00)
Additionally, at least two prominent online retailers are offering two additional vitolas in the Gran Reserva #5 2010:
Czar (6 x 66) – $8.20 (Boxes of 20, $164.00)
Grandioso (7 x 70) – $9.00 (Boxes of 20, $180.00)
Production on the Gran Reserva #5 2010 is also limited to 1200 boxes of each size. Rico was not immediately available for comment as to whether the Czar and Grandioso sizes are online exclusives or are available to all retailers.
Both of the new additions to the Gran Reserva line are being made at the company’s GR Tabaqueras Unidas factory in Danlí, Honduras.
UPDATE: George Rico said that the sizes are not exclusive to any particular retailers, though he did mention a special event-only size in this line but did not go into specifics. He also provided additional information on the blends for both cigars.
George A. RicoGran HabanoGran Habano Gran ReservaGran Habano Gran Reserva #3 2009Gran Habano Gran Reserva #5 2010
Gran Habano Announces Gran Reserva #5 2012
IPCPR 2010: Gran Habano
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•January 29, 2014
Sindicato Emerges
The eponymous Sindicato line has emerged. Corona Cigar Co., a member of Sindicato, posted the first known photo of the cigar on its Instagram page earlier today.
After a series of delays, the cigar is expected to ship in late February. Made at TABSA, the Eduardo Fernández-owned Estelí, Nicaragua-based factory, the cigar uses AGANORSA shade grown corojo wrapper from Jalapa, which is believed to be the first time this tobacco is being used as a wrapper on a cigar.
Jim Colucci, president and ceo of Sindicato Cigar Coup, told halfwheel the cigar is a Nicaraguan puro. Three sizes are expected, 6 x 60, 5 1/2 x 48 and 6 x 54. As the picture above shows, the cigars are box-pressed with a noticeable pigtail and unfinished foot.
The company announced plans for three lines—Affinity, Casa Bella and Hex—all of which have shipped. At the 2013 IPCPR trade show and convention, the company handed out samples of the prototype Sindicato line, which would be the company’s most premium line.
The cigar is said to be limited to 100 retailers. A belicoso for the Sindicato line has been proposed and as of July, plans for a Sindicato Maduro were already in the works.
Jim ColucciSindicatoSindicato Cigar Group
Press Release: Sindicato Cigar Group - Join the Cigar Evolution
Jim Colucci Named COO & President of Gurkha Cigars (Update)
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Yardstick Assessments
Yardstick Training
Yardstick Software Inc. secures debt-funding and consolidates shareholder group
January 4, 2019 3 min. read
Inside Yardstick
Effective immediately, Yardstick Software Inc. an Edmonton based, nationally operated provider of online testing, training, and research software and consulting services, is pleased to announce a major refinancing and shareholder consolidation, marking a major milestone for the company since its inception in 2006.
“We are pleased to have secured a very competitive traditional-debt funding package with our new banking partners, Scotiabank. As our company has matured over the years, finding a banking partner that supports the vision of a SAAS-based / knowledge economy company was always a goal. This new relationship has allowed the shareholders of Yardstick Software Inc. to work together and action some mutually beneficial and meaningful changes that will both allow some of our friends and shareholders an exit, and as well, a consolidation of our ownership back to the founders, and our initial financial backer, Maggnum Ventures, a family-owned venture fund ran by Matt Grieve.”, states Chris LaBossiere, company co-founder and CEO.
With this, Yardstick Software Inc. would also like to announce the friendly departure of three individuals who have been key to the growth, strategy and culture of the organization.
Alina Martin, Greg Kureluk and Dr. Greg Sadesky have all been integral to our maturation and success, and not surprisingly they each have significant entrepreneurial capabilities. As a modestly sized $30M revenue company, we were disproportionately blessed with so many amazing entrepreneurs in our ranks. But as true entrepreneurs, they continue to seek more, something new, and with this, each of our friends are taking their equity out of Yardstick Software Inc. to pursue new business opportunities for themselves and their families.
“It was a profitable journey for everyone, and especially rich in experiences, as we all learned to scale our company, becoming a national leader in training and testing solutions for regulated industries.” adds LaBossiere.
“We have always been friends first and we wish our friends the best of success in their ventures; even though there is little doubt they will do anything but succeed. Seeing what each have planned, I’m sure their stories are only just in the earliest chapters. We are excited to see what they will build for themselves and their families and look forward to their continued success and friendships.”, says Don Riep, Yardstick Software Inc co-founder and CTO. “I’m also equally excited with our new vision and simplified shareholder and leadership structure within the company. These big changes and renewed focus paint a bright picture for our company and its people.”
After a corporate re-organization in the fall of 2018 into two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Yardstick Assessment Strategies Inc. and Yardstick Training, the companies have found strategic focus and momentum under their respective Presidents, Dr. Isabelle Gonthier and Mr. Trevor Gartner. “It’s a normal course of events as founders and entrepreneurs to cede these important roles to our professional managers and their talented teams. Don and I can stay focused on corporate strategy, external growth opportunities, new product penetration, and our recent investment in business intelligence and benchmarking tools.” says LaBossiere.
In 2018 Yardstick Software Inc. completed the acquisitions of Banister Research Limited, Grand River Occupational Health and Safety Inc., Guard Training Academy, and ProTraining. The company maintains offices in Ottawa, Toronto, and Cambridge, Ontario – plus Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta and has over 120 staff.
About Yardstick Software Inc.
www.getyardstick.com
As one of Canada’s leaders in online learning and high-stakes assessment, Yardstick Software Inc. draws on the latest developments in computer and web technology to deliver rigorous and creative online testing and training. Our experts partner with subject matter experts, employers, and industry regulators to train, certify and verify today’s workforce. The company has won numerous awards for business growth and entrepreneurship, and was recently named one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact:
Sue Broderick, EA to Co-Founders, Yardstick Software Inc.
780.850.7009, or [email protected].
10177 104 Street,
T5J 0Z9
© 2020 Copyright Yardstick.
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Surging demand for domestic violence legal services: Turnbull must reverse Abbott-era cut, boost funding by $200 million
Richard Di Natale 31 Mar 2016
With a report released today showing increased demand for domestic violence legal services in Queensland, the Greens are calling on the Turnbull Government to reverse its funding cut to community legal centres and boost long term funding.
At the Women's Legal Service in Brisbane today, Australian Greens Leader Richard Di Natale said Tony Abbott's 30 per cent cut to community legal centres due in 2017, must be abandoned in the May federal budget.
"This is really pretty basic stuff - you don't cut proven, effective services for women in the middle of a domestic violence crisis," Senator Di Natale said.
"We are arguing against these harsh cuts, but we're also calling on the government to drastically boost funding.
"Even though women are currently being turned away due to a lack of funding, the Coalition Government wants to cut 30 per cent of the existing funding for community legal centres starting in July 2017.
"Every woman who bravely reaches out for help to escape violence must receive it, which is why the Greens want this funding cut reversed and a further $200 million a year for legal assistance," Senator Di Natale said.
Senator Larissa Waters said the new report by the Queensland Association of Independent Legal Services showed casework for domestic violence matters had more than tripled since 2011.
"Once a taboo topic, domestic violence is now a high profile issue, with more and more women are bravely reaching out for the support they need to escape.
"But the Turnbull Government is failing these women. Just as the demand for domestic violence legal services surges, the government wants to cut funding by a third.
"Victims need more than just words - they need funded support to escape and move on with their lives, including legal services, crisis support, safe accommodation and domestic violence leave," Senator Waters said.
Greens move to dissolve toxic family law court inquiry
Larissa Waters 14 Oct 2019
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To see + to do
At the Museum Café we serve fresh and fair-trade products.
Come visit our permanent 'experience journey' or check out exhibitions.
How does it feel like to be a refugee? Experience the unimaginable.
A one-state solution to the Israeli-Pale...
How does film raise awareness about migr...
All information on opening hours, admission and accessibility.
Please check the additional options for groups.
Visit The Hague
There’s even more to do. Some tips for visiting The Hague.
Are you looking for an original team or group outing? Consider a package at the Humanity House.
Experience, learn to work together and broaden your view of the world.
Experience what it’s like to be caught up in a war, conflict or disaster.
Experience the meaning of peace, security and world citizenship.
The Hague Room
This room is located in the distinctive Coach House.
Geneva Room
Theatre seating and accompanying foyer.
New York Room
On the top floor with a view of The Hague.
Nairobi Room
The room is located on the ground floor of the museum.
Unique location
Vienna Room
go to humanityhouse.org
Rewatch / Relisten
Come by
Tuesday to Friday 10.00 - 17.00
Saturday and Sunday 12.00 - 17.00
(open for schools and rental on request)
2512 GA The Hague
After the experience in the museum it was nice to relax for a bit and have a cup of coffee
Feel like discussing the experience of the exhibition inside the museum? Or want to escape the commotion at the office for a while? You’re welcome to our Museum Café, where we offer fair-trade coffee and tea, pour biological wine, and serve a delicious lunch and other tasty dishes.
The Museum Café offers a free WiFi network. You can also enjoy a selection of interesting books about people, peace and justice, as well as images by various photographers who capture the theme of emergency relief and the humanitarian law of war.
The Museum Café is open from Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon to 5 p.m. The Museum Café is also open after 5 p.m. on request, as a venue for dinners with up to 20 guests, and for parties and receptions with up to 40 guests. The Museum Café can also be hired along with other rooms at the Humanity House, such as The Hague Room, New York Room or Genève Room.
Want to know more about the Museum Café? Call +31 (0)70 31 000 50 of send an email to zaalhuur.
This is a museum
Embark on a journey through the museum; see, hear and experience personally what it must feel like to flee and meet people who have experienced this themselves. You're not just an observer, but a participant.
We have renewed our permanent collection. Come and get to know our eight new 'inhabitants', each with a story unlike any other. Or check out the temporary exhibition.
The Humanity House is a place of meeting and exchange centred on humanitarian themes. A place to learn from one another and find inspiration. Check the calendar to see what’s on soon. You can also become a Facebook friend to keep up to date.
Relive programmes
At Humanity House we have debates, film nights, discussions, workshops and other events on a weekly basis. Rewatch or relisten a large part of these events.
Vacancies & internships
T +31 (0)70 31 000 50
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Archive for the ‘Moslem’ Category
New Pakistani president’s war against terror & the need to secure nuclear weapons
Pakistan enters a new phase in governance with the election of Pres. Asif Ali Zadari, 53 year old widower of slain leader Benazir Bhutto who died on December 27, 2007. His landslide win on September 6, 2008 is immediately greeted by a huge suicide explosion near Peshawar, a troubled northwest part of the country killing at least 35 and wounding many more. Militants allied with the Taliban claimed responsibility for blowing up a pick-up truck that counted a teacher, a guard and seven police officers among the dead. AP (09/07/08, Khan, R.)
Called Mr. Ten Percent for alleged corruption during the Bhutto administration, Zadari who is considered as a pro-Western liberal is expected to follow Pervez Musharraf’s anti-terrorist efforts. Hard on insurgency in this violence-prone Moslem nation, Zadari’s position is in line with the American campaign against Islamic terrorism in neighboring Afghanistan. But he faces pressure to balance the local crack-down down on militants and his support for United States which recently led a controversial assault against rebels in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
“I’ve been impressed by some of the things he has said about the challenges that Pakistan faces, about the centrality of fighting terrorism, about the fact that the terrorism fight is Pakistan’s fight and also his very strong words of friendship and alliance with the United States,” Condolezza Rice said. AP (09/07/09,Ahmad, M.)
Washington is closely concerned with the future of Pakistan with its arsenal of nuclear weapons. With the power to scrap the parliament and appoint army officers, Zadari heads the civilian-military committee which oversees Pakistan’s nuclear arms. It remains to be seen how much influence Zadari has over the powerful military and the citizenry. Photo Credits: S@jj@ad; Maxi_Leo)=0=
Posted in Afghanistan, Islam, Moslem, nuclear weapons, Pakistan, politics, President Zadari, terrorism, USA | Leave a Comment »
Land domains and the language of peace
As pretty as the sea shells that dangle in the wind along pristine shores of Gubat, Sorsogon, the sound of Bicol is as musical as Waray. It’s the language of neighbor-islands that is as wonderful as the photo of polished cowries adorning the shell décors crafted by Gubatnons in the Southern tip of Luzon.
To me, it’s not the differences in how we speak that counts, but the similarities that can help us move on as a nation. By the similar language we speak, we must be blessed in harmony the Warays.
In Apolonio Baylon’s insightful explanation why geography is important in the ultimate solution of the Mindanao strife, I find language as a plus factor for peace. Do Moslems and Christians speak the same language too? We all must seek such commonality more than our difference. We must transcend beyond ethnicity and religion to overcome the barriers of bias and hate.
Sharing a language and redefining territorial boundaries as proposed in MOA-AD may determine how much gold the earth’s bowels can give us, but in finality, the initiatives for peace between us is the way to go in coming to terms with each other— in banishing animosity in our soul. Greater than ourselves and undoubtedly more precious, we must all work for peace. =0=
Posted in Apolonio MIghty Baylon, bicol, Christians, Gubatnon, human interest, Mindanao, MOA, MOA-AD, Moslem, peace, Philippines, Sorsogon, travel, Waray | Leave a Comment »
Frog on the cross: insensitivity that they can’t do to the Moslems
In an environment of rising religious insensitivity, intolerance and persecution, a museum in northern Italy approved the display of a frog on a cross, the sacred symbol of suffering and redemption among Christians. (Photo Credit: AP/Seehauser,O.)
Negating religious sensitivity, the museum keepers insist on art freedom for showing a tasteless crappy “sculpture” that cause revulsion and sadness to many— not only to Christians worldwide, but to people of all backgrounds. They seem proudly convinced they are doing the right thing.
For fear of being nuked or killed, they couldn’t do such cowardly act and double standard with the Moslems if Islam’s Prophet Mohammed were to be portrayed in that insulting manner. Such affront to a particular religion must not be tolerated. Hyping a controversy that is likely to cause divisions, is the last thing responsible people need at a time when the world seeks unity, charity, and peace. =0=
Posted in arts, Christians, frog on the cross, human interest, intolerance, Islam, Moslem, political correctness, religion | Leave a Comment »
PAF: A lone cargo plane for a thousand brave men
The Philippine Airforce (PAF) faces a significant blow in the crashing of a C-130 cargo plane in Davao, Philippines on August 26, 2008. One of only two remaining cargo planes that fly, the craft went down while on a military mission in Southern Philippines, killing its pilot and crew under yet-to-determined circumstances. It raises the possibility of terrorism or sabotage.
The C-130 is essential in ferrying military hardware and men in the country, particularly in war-torn Mindanao where Islamic separatist MILF and Moslem rebels are waging a fight. The plane serves as an over-taxed workhorse of the air for years—- one of only five, three of which are grounded for repairs.
Believed to have died, those on board at the time of the downing of the plane are as follows: Major Manuel Sambrano, the aircraft’s pilot; Captain Adrian de Dios, co-pilot; Flight Technical Sergeant Constantino Lobregas; Staff Sergeant John Arriola; Staff Sergeant Gerry Delioso; Staff Sergeant Felix Pedro Patriarga; Staff Sergeant Patricio Claur Jr; Staff Sergeant Aldrin Ilustrisimo and Staff Sgt. Perronilo Fernandez. GMA TV NeWs (08/27/08)
The PAF, its military dependents, and civilians rely on the C-130 as means of travel in the islands. With thousands of ground airmen and personnel who are battle-ready and willing to defend the country, an acute lack of equipment, like a loss of a plane, is a crashing blow to the military which needs both force and air. It raises anew the need to upgrade the air defense of the country =(Photo Credit: Pikitbulag)=0=
Posted in accident, Accountability, Airforce, C-130, cargo, crash, death, disaster, Islam, MILF, military, Mindanao, Moro clan armies, Moslem, Philippine Airforce, Philippines | Leave a Comment »
Terror in Mindanao & the Move to Divide the Nation
First, it was 6, 500, then 80, 000, next 100,000 and now 130,000 civilians. That’s the staggering number of innocent people reportedly displaced by the ongoing conflict between Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels and Philippine government forces in Mindanao.
“Military planes pounded for the second day yesterday areas forcibly occupied by Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in North Cotabato, raising the number of displaced persons to 130,000.
At least 2,000 Army, Navy and Air Force soldiers are being used against some 500 “marauding” rebels from the 105th Base Command under Umbra Kato, said AFP vice chief Cardozo Luna, head of a task force undertaking the clearing operations.” Malaya (08/12/08, Reyes,V)
“The separatist MILF has been fighting for its own homeland in Mindanao for decades. A deal it was to have signed with the government last week on the size of its future territory fell through after the Supreme Court ordered it stopped pending a decision on its constitutionality.
Tensions have arisen as a result, with some MILF men deciding to occupy some villages in North Cotabato, including those that are predominantly Christian.“ Manila Standard Today (08/11/08, Panares, JP; Solmerin, FS.)
Mixing abuse of discretion, ulterior motives, incompetence, and questionable sense of nationhood, MILF leaders and government negotiators have made the Moslem problem worse, in spite of well-publicized maneuvers to bring peace to Mindanao. At the expense of innocent people including non-Moslem ethnic Filipinos and Christians, Islamic rebels demand concessions that are difficult to reconcile with the constitution. To grant them, some say, is tantamount to treason.
Amidst protests from lawmakers and concerned Filipinos and contrary to the law, they nurture separatist ambition whose goal is to establish their territory and break away from the country in total disregard of other Filipinos living in the region. As a result, the signing of the controversial memorandom of agreement (MOA) on ancestral domain (AD) between MILF and the government in Kuala Lumpur has been put on hold by the Supreme Court.
For the erratic handling of conciliation—ineffectual diplomatic moves, on-and-off armed engagements, and unusual appeasements given to the rebels, the government shares the blame of the unresolved conflict. Photo Credit:Reuters
Posted in Filipinos, Islam, laws, MILF, military, Mindanao, Moslem, Philippines | Leave a Comment »
You are currently browsing the archives for the Moslem category.
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COLONIAL CUP FLASHBACK: ICEHOGS STORM OUT TO 2-0 SERIES LEAD
The Rockford IceHogs took a commanding 2-0 series lead in the Colonial Cup Championship with a 6-1 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings in Game 2 at the Rockford MetroCentre. The IceHogs scored five of their six goals in the second period en route to their Game 2 rout of the Wings.
In net, Hogs goalie Frederic Cloutier was masterful, turning away 30 of 31 shots for his sixth consecutive victory. Cloutier allowed two or fewer goals for the fifth time in six games following the Game 2 victory, and improved to 6-0-0 with a .910 save percentage during his unbeaten streak.
Kaleb Betts potted a power-play goal at 7:27 in the opening period to spot Rockford a 1-0 lead until early action in the middle frame. While on the penalty kill, the IceHogs allowed Kory Karlander to score his 10th goal of the postseason to re-tie the game at one tally apiece.
Rockford’s offense caught fire from that point, scoring five unanswered goals on just 15 shots in the second period. Rookie Betts netted his second power-play goal of the game after slipping the puck past goaltender Ryan Nie while being dragged down to the ice.
Hogs defenseman Luke Frishaw then laid out Kalamazoo’s Nick Bootland on an open-ice hit that forced Bootland to cough up the puck. Nicolas Corbiel pursued the play down the ice, and after picking up a rebound from Chaz Johnson, fired the puck past Nie to give Rockford a 3-1 advantage.
Blueliner Corey Hessler further extended the lead when he one-timed a faceoff win from Preston Mizzi, propelling the IceHogs to a 4-1 lead and chasing opposing goaltender Nie at 13:15 in the middle stanza.
Kalamazoo goaltender Tom Askey replaced Nie in net and was quickly peppered with shots from the Hogs’ unrelenting attack. Defenseman Dan Boeser completed a two-on-one rush with Betts and shelved his second goal of the playoffs, before Bruce Watson capped the second-period scoring at 19:34 when he swiped in a goal from the backside to make it 6-1 in favor of the IceHogs.
That score would stand through the third period, with Cloutier making 10 saves for Rockford and Askey turning away eight shots in the IceHogs’ 6-1 victory.
Both Corbeil (1g, 2a) and Betts (2g, 1a) finished with a game high-tying three points in the contest.
Season Tickets for 2017-18 on Sale Now: Don’t miss a moment of the action by reserving your seats for the IceHogs 19th season of professional hockey and 11th as the top AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. Opening night is Oct. 14 and ticket packages begin as low as $105 for a seven-game mini pack. Please contact us at (815) 847-6399 or by visiting icehogs.com to claim your spots for this upcoming season.
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More on: Lauren F. Winner
Forms of Desire
By Lauren F. Winner Book Review Issue 101
Katie Ford’s collection If You Have to Go was in steady rotation for me. I would finish another book, then go back and reread Ford.
Through the Ear
By Lauren F. Winner Book Review Issue 88
The Grammar of God: A Journey into the Words and Worlds of the Bible by Aviya Kushner (Spiegel & Grau, 2015) The Art of Listening in the Early Church by Carol Harrison (Oxford, 2013) God’s “I” remains the root word that sounds like a pedal note through all of revelation; it resists all attempts…
Writing in Invisible Ink
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2012) When I Was a Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2012) The Man within My Head by Pico Iyer (Knopf, 2012) My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner: A Family Memoir by Meir Shalev (Schocken, 2011) …
Middles
By Lauren F. Winner Essay Issue 72
The following passages are excerpted from Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, a “non-memoir” by Lauren Winner. © 2012 by Lauren Winner. Reprinted by permission of HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Middles might be said to be under-theorized. There is an abundance of work on opening and closure, but very little discussion of…what…
Means of Participation
The Road Behind Us Image’s Founding Generation When Image was founded in 1989, the cultural landscape looked different than it does today. Religious writers and artists felt cold-shouldered in the public square and often ill at ease within the church. The need for a journal that demonstrated the continuing vitality of contemporary art informed by…
Web Exclusive: A Conversation with Lauren F. Winner
By Mary Kenagy Mitchell Interview Issue 84
Each chapter of Lauren F. Winner’s new book, Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire, and Other Overlooked Ways of Meeting God (HarperOne), explores a single biblical image of God through a mix of exegesis, cultural history, and personal essay. The chapter excerpted in issue 84 is about bread. Image’s Mary Kenagy Mitchell recently asked Winner about her…
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Mission Solar Energy Announces Training Collaboration with ImagineSolar
Mission Solar Energy, a U.S. supplier of high-power solar modules, is proud to announce its new training collaboration with ImagineSolar, a solar training provider in sync with NABCEP job task analyses for the solar industry.
SAN ANTONIO, TX (July 17, 2018) Mission Solar Energy, a U.S. supplier of high-power solar modules, is proud to announce its new training collaboration with ImagineSolar, a solar training provider in sync with NABCEP job task analyses for the solar industry.
Mission Solar Energy has committed to providing high-efficiency solar panels and technical materials needed to complete technical and sales training offered by ImagineSolar. In addition to providing product and training materials, Mission Solar Energy’s team of engineering and sales experts will provide educational sessions as needed.
Photo: ImagineSolar advanced 5-day workshop with solar pioneers from Mission Solar, Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Illinois, India and Saudi Arabia
“We are always looking for ways to offer our support within the solar industry. Partnering with ImagineSolar is allowing us to contribute in training the current and future solar professionals and ensuring that the end consumers receive a quality solar installation experience,” said Sam Martens, Commercial Operations Director of Mission Solar Energy.
ImagineSolar provides training and advisory services to contractors, solar installers, entrepreneurs, and individuals from across the U.S. on solar and smart grid technologies. The Austin-based education provider is only a short distance from Mission Solar Energy’s headquarters in San Antonio.
“We continue to upgrade our solar lab equipment using leading edge technology,” said Michael Kuhn, founder and CEO of ImagineSolar LLC. “The Mission Solar MSE PERC 72 solar panels lead in their class with very high efficiencies and pair well with the module-level power electronics that our customers install and commission in our hands-on workshops.”
ImagineSolar will feature Mission Solar’s panels starting with its upcoming Advanced 5-day Solar Workshop. This comprehensive, hands-on workshop will be held at ImagineSolar’s state-of-the-art solar lab facility in Austin, TX, September 7th-11th, 2018. Please visit https://imaginesolar.com/ for details.
Mission Solar Energy is headquartered in San Antonio, TX with module facilities onsite. Our hardworking team calls Texas their home and is devoted to producing high quality solar products and services. Our solar modules are proudly designed, engineered and assembled in the USA. For more information about our company and products click here.
ImagineSolar’s mission is to empower people and organizations in the planning, designing, installation, business, and technical sales of solar PV systems in order to accelerate the transformation of the energy industry to a non-carbon-emitting solar and smart grid future. Since their founding in 2002, they have provided high-quality up-to-date solar industry training and advisory services to companies and the general public across the USA and internationally. ImagineSolar’s consultants, instructors, and lecturers have obtained one or more NABCEP certifications and have decades of combined experience as solar industry practitioners. ImagineSolar’s solar lab facility, classrooms, and office are co-located with the Austin Electrical Training Alliance in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit https://imaginesolar.com/.
previous post: Congratulations to our ImagineSolar Volunteer: Carol Cabbiness
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December 23, 2019 / 8:48 AM / a month ago
Russia's Novak says OPEC+ may consider easing oil output caps in March
MOSCOW (Reuters) - OPEC and other leading oil producers may consider easing oil output restrictions at their meeting in March, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview aired on Monday.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak arrives at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 6, 2019. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, known as OPEC+, this month decided to prolong its oil output restriction deal until the end of March and to deepen the cuts in order to balance out the oil market.
It agreed to convene again in early March to discuss policy.
“We can consider any options, including gradual easing of quotas, including continuation of the deal,” Novak told Russia’s RBC TV in an interview recorded last week.
“Everything will depend on how the situation develops in March and on the forecasts for the following quarters... At the moment, the situation is more or less stable on the market.”
Novak said that cooperation with OPEC will continue so far as it is “effective and brings results, until the market requires it”.
He said Russia’s 2019 oil output was seen at a record-high 560 million tonnes (11.25 million barrels per day) and natural gas output at 737 billion cubic metres.
Oil output is up from a post-Soviet annual average record-high of 11.16 million bpd, or 555.838 million tonnes, it pumped in 2018.
Novak, who spoke before U.S. President Donald Trump signed a sanctions bill on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, said that the project would be completed soon.
Last week, the U.S. sanctions on Nord Stream 2 prompted Swiss-Dutch contractor Allseas to suspend pipe-laying activities.
Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; writing by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; editing by Jason Neely
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Russel T. Davies
CLASSIC TV reviews: DOCTOR WHO! STORY 13 – THE WEB PLANET !!!
This installment of IT WILL NOT BE TELEVISED we take the way back machine to the swinging and bloody early days of 1965, and look at a serial from season 2 of a little known (at the time) Brit show called Doctor Who! And the serial, the 13th Who Serial, is called THE WEB PLANET.
Onto the review:
SERIAL 13 THE WEB PLANET
Original Airdate Weekly from 13 Feb 1965- 20 Mar 1965
Doctor Who: The Web Planet (Story 13) (See all Sci-Fi & Fantasy Cult Movies)
First let’s start with a bit of back-story. What was happening in the world over the six weeks, six Fridays, this serial went out on? Well The News during this Time is… all too human:
-The first US combat troops arrive in Vietnam. By the end of the year, 190,000 American soldiers are in Vietnam.
-In the Audubon Ballroom in New york City on 21 Feb 1965 El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (perhaps better known as Malcolm X) was assassinated before a crowd of hundreds including his pregnant wife, and 3 of his 4 children.
-18th March, 1965: A Soviet cosmonaut known as Lt. Col. Alexei Leonov exited the spacecraft Voskshod II for a short “spin”. He completed a somersault, and then proceeded to take pictures of space. This took place just days before the U.S. planned to launch its first two-man spaceship and becomes the first man to walk in space.
-18th February, 1965 : An avalanche and Glacial Slide caused the deaths of 26 miners who were removing copper ore from underneath a glacier in British Columbia.
-15th February, 1965 : It was proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II of England that the Maple leaf would become Canada’s new national flag symbol.
-20th February, 1965 : The Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface
-2nd March : The Sound of Music Premier 1965
-7th March, 1965 : Troopers with night sticks, shotguns and tear-gas grenades violently confronted 600 civil rights marchers during an attempted 50-mile march from Selma to the Alabama state capitol Montgomery.
-Optical Disk —– 1965 USA by James Russell – now Compact Disk CD / DVD
-The Supremes, “Stop! In The Name Of Love” rises to the top of the charts
So that’s a look at the world 46 years ago. And for a bigger kick to put that world in perspective, here are what things cost then (US prices):
Cost of a new home: $21,500.00
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.05
Cost of a gallon of regular gas: $0.31
Cost of a dozen eggs: $0.53
Cost of a gallon of Milk: $0.95
Federal debt: $322.3 billion
Average Income per year $6,450.00 (Needless to say this average income bought you a lot more more back then, than today’s average income of $39,423.00 is going to buy you. For one thing far more of today’s money is eaten up in taxes upon taxes, and most things have multiplied faster than income… ie stamps and petrol and the price of a house are nearly 10 times 1965 levels, while income is barely 6 times 1965 levels. So income is trailing inflation by nearly 50% overtime, and that’s not even accounting for various new forms of taxation. And just think, you thought this was just a Doctor Who review! 🙂 )
While the Brits may have been watching Doctor Who (and let’s be honest, very few of them were doing that), In the States the airwaves were packed with shows eating up the ratings from THE FUGITIVE to BEWITCHED to MAN FROM UNCLE to VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA to BONANZA to ED SULLIVAN to JONNY QUEST to popular music shows such as SHINGDIG. And 1965 would only provide more programs to keep Americans occupied.
It wouldn’t be till the late 70s, and Public Broadcasting’s increased efforts going across the pond for programming… that would introduce the States to this thing called Doctor Who. And indeed give the show the added funding to keep it running, when other BBC shows of the period had given up the ghost.
And being one of the few shows of the fantastic, Doctor Who offered a cross cultural appeal that continues to… stand the test of time. So to speak. 🙂
So without further ado the review of the 13th Doctor Who story, starring William Hartnell and written by Bill Strutton, produced by Verity Lambert, and directed by Richard Martin:
THE WEB PLANET- by Bill Strutton. More shockingly bad alien costumes. Dennis Spooner graduates to script editor. This is a mysterious but not particularly satisfying series opener. Unimpressively directed by Richard Martin. C.
THE ZARBI- Strange premise with more shockingly inept alien costumes. Here’s the thing, if you don’t have the budget to do something convincingly… then don’t do it. Not without interest, but those sets and costumes… uggh. C-.
ESCAPE TO DANGER- I do like how the Menoptra move. Very elegant. It was Richard Martin’s idea to have dancers play the Menoptra, and a great idea it was. Lacking their… grace, and performances, and strangeness I would not be writing this review. Roslyn de Winter, an Australian mime, was hired to choreograph the Menoptra’s movements and speech, and also plays the central Menoptra… Vrestin. For the actress to act through all that makeup is impressive… for all the actors actually. With this episode I became interested in the serial, in spite of its constraints. B-.
CRATER OF NEEDLES- You have to give this serial points for sheer imagination. So much creativity. If I was a kid, the target audience, I would have loved this serial. It is very well written, and passionately performed. And the flying scenes, and battles are quite lovingly staged. While as an adult I could ask for better costumes, effects, sets, what they pull off is still quite impressive. The strength of Doctor Who, being the same strength of The Simpsons or any good Pixar movie, it is layered, smart writing to appeal to both adults and kids. B+.
INVASION- From a serial I almost did not finish, when I saw the first one, this has really grown on me. Beyond the questionable budget it is quite a lovely fable, and also at times quite touching, and quite dire.
THE CENTRE- All routes lead to the center, as the Doctor and his Crew and the butterfly like Menoptra battle the Animus, an eater of worlds, at the center of all things. A strong denouement, for a surprisingly good serial. B/B+.
So in summation this six part series is not, when recalled, fondly remembered by most. That said its first episode, THE WEB PLANET, originally brought in 13.5 million viewers, the most of any Doctor Who broadcast of the 60s.
Doctor Who never brought in great numbers, but it managed to be consistent, and have a passionate fan-base. Which accounts for the longevity of both the original series, and the success of the new series. If you can get past the questionable first couple episodes, and go along with the conceits, I think you’ll find a serial that is surprisingly… fun. Overall grade: B/B+.
You can pick up the DVD using the link below AND support this blog at the same time! Say it ain’t so, Joe! 🙂 ! But seriously I only recommend things I myself own, and I appreciate any purchasing you do via this blog. Thanks!
http://www.shannonsullivan.com/- Offers background info on this episode
http://www.listzblog.com- Nice overview of popular shows by period
http://www.tvparty.com/- More great overview of what’s hot in tv by year
http://oldies.about.com/od/60srockers/tp/topten1965.htm- A great overview of popular music by year
http://www.1960sflashback.com/- Helped with research on prices in 1965
http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/AWI.html- more prices over time data
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/- another great tool for prices over time
http://doctorwhoreviews.co.uk/N.htm- for a helpful scan, plus see it for another take on this serial. Good stuff.
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Doctor Who Season 5 Review: Steven Moffat’s Reign?
Steven Moffat, on the strength of some stellar self-contained DR. WHO stories in the first four seasons of the revamped WHO series (see my Best of Doctor Who posting), was rewarded in the fifth season by being promoted to lead writer/show runner, replacing Russell T. Davies.
Russell T. Davies the heart of this new WHO, was clearly running out of things to say with the character by the 4th season, so Moffat would seem to be the perfect choice to replace him (the episode BLINK written by Moffat and directed by Hettie MacDonald being arguably the finest hour of Dr. Who done to date).
Particularly when you consider between season 4 and season 5, (specials not counted) was an almost 2 year delay, you would have thought Season 5 would have had all the kinks worked out and been a solid season… ready to… wow.
Unfortunately that is not the case.
Season 5 sporting a new Doctor, a new companion, a new look and a new lead writer, is a season I was rooting for to be great, but it just isn’t. It’s not even good.
I mean the first two episodes show promise, THE ELEVENTH HOUR is a good into to the new Doctor, though almost immediately the character of Amy begins to annoy me. Still overall an okay B- episode.
Next is THE BEAST BELOW which was a good episode, and was one of the only times all season I thought the character of Amy was remotely helpful/interesting. It’s solid writing by Moffat that elevates this episode to a B/B+.
However, after this episode from the VICTORY OF THE DALEKS on, Amy and her boyfriend, and their whole angsty issues just like the Mickey/Rose subplot, annoyed. And the shows felt like chores to get through rather than entertainment, all the way up to the mess of a two part season finale.
And while a lot of this is the writing, a lot is the casting (There are exceptions such as the character of River Song, played by the brilliant Alex Kingston [of ER fame] , who was fantastic last season, and is even better this season. And I also quite like the character of the Bloody Queen played wonderfully by Sophie Okenedo).
The new Doctor is okay, Matt Smith is likeable enough, but his companion and her boyfriend are “turn the channel people”. When I see them on the screen, I want to change the channel. That’s harsh I know, unfortunately… it’s not untrue.
We’ll get back to that in a bit, but all this adds up to not good omens for the 5th season, because Matt Smith is filling big, and overwhelmingly liked and respected shoes in David Tennant’s Doctor, and Matt won’t fill those shoes on his personality/performance alone. He’ll need everything working with him in this season, including the cast, the scripts the direction, all working at full steam… and unfortunately for the most part it doesn’t.
And as stated one of the big hangups this season is the casting. One of the weaknesses of RTD ‘s reign was the horrendous writing of the character Mickey, however this was made up for by the great character of Rose and a stellar, endearing, effervescent performance by Billie Piper, and the great dynamic between her and the great actors that played the Doctor, Eccleston and Tennant. Martha, played by the wonderful Freema Agyeman was likewise a fantastically written and performed character (In fact my personal favorite of the companions).
Unfortunately the character of Amy is no Rose or Martha, she is as annoying as those characters were charming. She and her boyfriend/fiance are this season’s Mickey, largely annoying characters.
Evidently BBC is skewing younger for this season of Doctor Who, a British Dawson’s Creek feel, and I think that is to this season’s detriment.
And on top of the irritating characters, this season suffers largely un-compelling scripts and tired plot-lines.
Example: Daleks AGAIN!??
Are you going to use them every other episode?? Come on, really?!
The Daleks have built up fleets and been destroyed seemingly half a dozen times in the last couple of seasons. It cheapens and weakens the “ultimate’ enemy, for it be pulled out and dispatched like a parlor trick every other episode.
And the season seemed replete with such retreading of RTD plotlines, and “ultimate enemy” storylines. Moffet seemingly trying to outdo RTD in the universe shaking event, and for my money fails. Universe destroying event after event, becomes meaningless and boring when not used sparingly. Moffat forgetting that the intimate smaller stories is what got him the job as lead writer, that’s his strength, and in this season he completely fails to play to those strengths. Epic is what RTD does, trying to follow him up with more epic, to out epic him,… was not a wise decision.
Watching the season, it was hard to believe the innovative writer behind BLINK could helm a season so lacking in innovation or interest. It felt like a redo of other/better seasons.
Season 5 did the one thing a Dr. Who season should never do… it bored me.
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03/04/2018 • Art • London • The Scene
vFd: The Femme Renaissance of Vogue Fabrics
Having played home to some of most playful, subversively creative and shining creatures of London’s LGBT scene, Vogue Fabrics Dalston has plans to rock the existing club landscape with a relaunch. It will see Vogue Fabrics reborn as vFd, an intentionally femme-centred nightlife space which will also host their first ever regular in-house night, Femmetopia.
We caught up with Kat Hudson, contemporary pop-surrealist artist and independent curator, one of the masterminds behind vFd’s radical femme renaissance.
|Kat Hudson at vFd
As we’ve already established, Vogue Fabrics is relaunching as ‘vFd’—Why the relaunch, and what’s the new ethos?
vFd is coming up to it’s 10th year in 2018 and has entered into a sort of natural transition. Lyall invited Phoebe (Patey-Ferguson) and myself to join him in running the space a few months ago with a view to hosting more arts and live performance events. All three of us soon got to talking about the state of the current queer club scene. In the decade since vFd first opened, LGBTQ+ nightlife in London has suffered significant blows with 58% of our venues closing since 2006! Of those remaining venues, most are white male led, gay masc focused spaces and, whilst they provide a much-needed sanctuary of their own, we have been left sorely short of alternatives. The need for more predominantly femme-led, femme-centred spaces, as we face continued oppression and harassment of our sisters, was obvious and something we’ve been craving for ourselves for a long time. We looked at each other and said ‘We’re a bunch of queer femmes, we can do this, let’s run with it!’
Our new ethos really centres around intersectional feminism and creating a safe space for queer-femme-identifying people from all backgrounds; femmeX, female, trans, non-binary, QTIPOC, radically queer, you name it. Of course friends are welcome too but it’s primarily about creating a safe space with femmes at its heart. A place where we can not only let our hair down without fear of unwanted attention but feel accepted, share ideas, and celebrate each other and our self-expression in our own way.
As far as the name comes into it, we were actually put under pressure by Vogue a few years ago, when Charles’ night LOVERBOY really took off, to lose ‘Vogue’ from our official name and abbreviate to V.F.D. (Vogue Fabrics Dalston). All we’ve done for the relaunch is emphasise the F in our new logo as a nice little nod to our new femme-centred ethos.
|by Emily Rose England
As well as being a space for nightlife, it’s also going to be offering residencies are taking shape as something of an exhibition space/creative hub, can you tell us a bit more about that?
Yes! We’re really excited about our new arts programme. I’m especially excited to be working on this having met so many of my creative friends in this sweaty little basement! Our Creative Director and owner of vFd, Lyall Hakaraia, has been mentoring and working with artists, fashion designers, performers, and all kinds of creatives for many years. Our window exhibit on Stoke Newington Road had been a great success and Lyall really wanted us to build on what he started with all of that.
Going forward we will be working with more artists and performers, hosting more arts events in general as well as running a couple of weekend-long arts festivals (first one coming up in May 2018!). We will be working with artists from all backgrounds as well as with arts schools such as Central St Martins and Goldsmiths.
We’re also making the venue available to hire seven days a week at affordable rates to creatives for rehearsals, group crits, life drawing, video and photo shoots. We want to support local artists and performers as much as we can, promote talent, and offer up our space for anyone who can make creative use of it.
Tell us more about ‘Femmetopia’, your first regular in-house club night?
Femmetopia came from this feeling of the club as a utopia for us. As we developed our new ethos, this feeling of utopia really grew and grew. I think the term ’safe space’ is thrown around a lot within the queer community, but it’s about so much more than just being safe for us. It’s about having an escape from the outside world in which we are the majority group, in which we can feel not only accepted but celebrated and adored for who we are!
Femmetopia is our take on a club night that embodies that feeling. A house party style night with different guest hosts each week, live performance, DJ’s and great music! We already have some fabulous hosts lined up including Lucy McCormick for our opening night on January 20th, Phoebe’s Femme Feral Gang take over on Feb 3rd and a special Valentines party with my gorgeous friends Jender Anomie and Joey Fourr on Feb 17th. You can get tickets for our first Femmetopia party on January 20th here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/femmetopia-feat-lucy-mccormick-tickets-41463781286?aff=es2
Does anything about London’s current queer nightlife landscape give you hope?
Yes actually! Whilst there has been a lot of not-so-positive change over the last ten years, lots of wonderful things have popped up too! For example queer femme QTIPOC nights BBZ and Pxssy Palace have really been leading the way recently. Their ideologies and the sanctuaries they create have been really inspiring to us.
We hear a lot about the closure of LGBTQ+ nightlife spaces, but so little of that conversation is about femme-centred spaces. Do you feel the scene still has much to offer people who aren’t able-bodied cis, white gay men?
Honestly, not much no. You have to look pretty hard. I was lucky that I landed on the doorstep of The Retro Bar when I first came to London. Through the friends I made there I also found vFd and the Queen Adelaide but without that link I wouldn’t have had a clue. All the printed LGBTQ+ news publications are very male focused and the scene in general is so saturated with cis white gay men it would be easy to get lost looking for your niche. Friends and I have often found ourselves in situations that feel as misogynistic, if not more so, than many straight venues. There are occasional nights across the city for others of course but no specific venues, no regularity. She Bar I think is the last lesbian bar standing and even that feels like a very binary space to be in.
Any tricks up your sleeve?
Haha a few yes! But I’m keeping them firmly tucked away for now. What fun would it be if we gave you everything at once after all? You’ll just have to wait and see.
|The vFd Team
What can revellers expect when vFd opens it’s doors this January?
As Phoebe beautifully put it in our Femmetopia manifesto, you can expect a celebration of radical visions, passionate transgressions and your wildest imagination. It is our space to prove it is possible to do things differently.
Nothing is fixed, everything can be transformed, take a risk and stretch the limits of possibility with us…
Love. Art. Magic. x
You can follow vFd on Instagram: here.
You can follow their Facebook page here.
Find out more about the first Femmetopia and grab tickets on their Facebook event.
Author: Otamere Guobadia
London • Sport
No Ball Games: We Are Gay And We Love Football Too
What I Learned Living As David Bowie For a Year
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****** * ********** trial update: Day 3
First, a word of explanation about the odd title of today’s court report. It seems that the Crown Court at Southwark is now listing this case as a series of asterisks, due to the Court Order made under s45a, Youth and Criminal Justice Act 1999, which we mentioned on Monday. We are following their lead, and will be changing the titles of the previous posts as well.
Court very nearly started on time today, with legal teams on both sides turning up only about 10 minutes late…but then it turned out that they needed just a bit more time to ensure that their evidence was in order, and so there was a brief adjournment, with court resuming at 10:47 a.m.
Once the jury was seated, the admissions were read into the record. Admissions constitute a series of facts which both prosecutor and defence agree are accurate.
In brief, the admissions consisted of joint acceptance that in 2014 two children made false allegations of SRA against various people including their father, their teachers, children and parents in their school, social workers, and police officers. Both sides agreed to the facts of the police investigation, the children being taken into protective custody, and the fact-finding hearing which led to the 19 March 2015 judgment by Mrs Justice Pauffley. It was agreed that a massive amount of information was released onto the internet, in contravention of a court order intended to protect the children in the case.
It was further agreed that the defendant was arrested in Erith, at which time his MacBook computer and external hard drive were examined by police. A GoFundMe account was discovered, which at the time contained $5,072 in contributions. In addition, a Skype conversation between Sabine McNeill and the defendant was discovered, containing a link to the website http://www.hampsteadchristchurch.com. This site contained a link which contained the names of the five witnesses in this trial, as well as a reference to one of the witnesses being “constantly on the move”. The hard drive contained an Excel spreadsheet last updated on 30 July 2016, containing the names of all five witnesses.
It was further agreed that the original version of the defendant’s first YouTube broadcast about Hampstead, in which he discussed kicking down doors and taking blood samples, was broadcast in February 2015, and that it was reposted at least once since then under a different URL.
Witness: Steve Martin
DC Steve Martin, a member of the CAIT (Child Abuse Investigation Team) took the witness stand, noting that his involvement in the Hampstead hoax went back to its genesis in 2014, and that he had continued to be involved with the accused and exonerated families. On the stand, he was questioned about three particular pieces of evidence: the original YouTube video; the defendant’s show on American Freedom Radio in which he stated that he “didn’t want to kill them, only to beat them up real good”; and the defendant’s Facebook post containing a selfie of himself outside Christ Church Primary School, which was posted on 5 September 2016.
DC Martin played the original video, in which the defendant was heard to say, “If nobody else wants to do it, I’ll do it”, stating that he would be willing to go to Hampstead, kick down doors, and take blood samples from the accused.
Next, DC Martin played the American Freedom Radio audio clip from approximately 1 hour and 2 minutes. In this clip, the defendant stated that he had seen a video of the two children at the centre of the Hampstead hoax, that he had made a response video, and that he had been trolled for it. He stated he wanted to get the names of those who had allegedly abused the children, and that he would get those people to tell the truth. During this show he stated, “I want to go the violent route. I don’t want to kill them, just beat them up real good”.
On the defendant’s public Facebook page, which had at that time approximately 5,000 friends and 7,000 followers, he posted on 5 September a photograph of himself in front of the school, with the comment, “This is what I look like at a moment of acute defiance”. Under the photo, a friend of the defendant commented, “Is there a biscuit in your pocket?” to which the defendant replied, “Knife?” The friend said, “Biscuit knife”, to which the defendant replied, “Sharp ham”.
DC Martin stated that on the defendant’s computer, a link to the HampsteadChristChurch.com site had been found, accessed via a link sent by Sabine McNeill on Skype. While the list containing the names of the five witnesses was not on the homepage of that site, someone using the defendant’s computer had visited the site on numerous occasions, either by searching on a search engine or via Facebook link.
On the hard drive recovered from the defendant’s room, a file was found marked AB, containing an Excel spreadsheet named “Cult details” and dated 16 April 2016. DC Martin showed this spreadsheet to the court onscreen. The spreadsheet contained the headings “Count” and “Parents and Children”, and contained personal details regarding numerous people.
When the defendant was arrested on 13 September 2016, said DC Martin, he was interviewed at Bethnal Green police station. At that time, his solicitor advised him not to comment. However, on the date of his bail return, he indicated to DC Martin that he wished to make a statement. He was interviewed without a solicitor, though he was reminded that should he wish to stop the interview at any time and bring in a solicitor, he could do so.
DC Martin and prosecutor Martyn Bowyer read aloud from the transcript of that interview, with DC Martin playing himself and Mr Bowyer taking the part of the defendant. During this interview, the defendant stated that he had become disillusioned with the people who had wanted him to come to the UK. “I hung out with those people, and I’d be happy to let you know more about them”, he said. Later, he noted that “the dumbest thing I did was to go to Angela Power-Disney”.
He noted that a person called “Kevin Justice” also annoyed him. “He seems to puff up, maybe to assert himself physically”, he said, adding that possibly this was because this person could tell that “I wasn’t really into what they were doing”. He stated that in respect of the “journalistic investigation” he had planned to do, “I found absolutely nothing” to incriminate any of the accused in the Hampstead case.
“When I got here I should have gone to the police and said, ‘I was funded by people I don’t like’,” he said, adding, “I was just going through the motions”. The defendant said he realised he had been wrong, and that since that realisation he had “just been trying to weasel out”.
The defendant also said he was being harassed online. He said he had gone to the church: “I was only going there to take pictures,” he said. “I was only there to show up the people who said I couldn’t”. He stated that he had not spoken to anyone while he was at the church and school.
In explanation of the conversation about the biscuit and knife under the Facebook post, the defendant said that this had arisen from a private joke between himself and his friend. This joke had originated when his friend had thrown a ham sandwich in a tinfoil wrapper at his head, which the defendant had found very funny.
The defendant said he was “aware of the collateral damage” from his activities, and noted that while he was “not asking for pity”, he had “never been taken this seriously before”. Asked whether he understood why people were scared, he said he did. “I was being a jerk online and things got out of control”, he said.
Witness: Defendant
In the afternoon, the defendant took the stand and was questioned by Mr Tom Stevens for the defence.
The defendant stated that prior to his involvement in the the events leading up to this case, he had been an hotelier in his hometown in the United States. Asked about his stint on American Freedom Radio, he said he had been broadcasting there for about a year before he made the post referring to “beating them up real good”. He admitted that he had been in conflict with the law on one previous occasion, involving a “tiny amount” of cannabis and a pipe. This occurred in 2001.
Asked about the circumstances under which he’d posted the YouTube video on 16 February 2015, he stated that he’d been made aware of the Hampstead children’s story, and that it seemed to meet the criteria for a video, due to its provocative nature. He made the video right after watching a video of the two children making their allegations, and had edited it and uploaded it an hour or two later.
Referring to the video of the children, the defendant said, “The content made me angry….Some pretty bad things were talked about. I had a sort of gutteral anger”. The reference to “kicking down doors” of churches and schools was a direct response to the video he’d seen, he said, adding, “It was hyperbolic, a figure of speech….I didn’t think it would happen”. He also said that the expression “kicking down doors” is common in America, and doesn’t imply any intention to actually do it.
“It was how I felt at the time,” he said, “I didn’t anticipate it would take on a life of its own”. Asked whether he had any intention that the accused in the case should see the video, the defendant said it had been intended for “his audience”.
Referring to the American Freedom Radio broadcast, the defendant said he had made it whilst he was in Holland. He said the people at home had wanted an update from him, and that he had also been experiencing considerable harassment online. Mr Stevens noted, “This is what you meant in your (police) interview—you’d had a negative response to your (earlier YouTube) video, and you were on the receiving end of people saying negative things about you”. The defendant agreed, stating he’d been “intimidated for about a year”, which had affected him. “I was very tense, and I was trying to maintain myself at work”.
The defendant stated that before leaving for the UK, he had received “threats about when and where people were going to meet me”.
Asked why he had made threats on the American Freedom Radio broadcast, the defendant said that this had been a response to the people who had been trying to dox and threaten him.
“Was that directed at the parents?” Mr Stevens asked.
“No,” said the defendant. “I was trying to express my frustration. I don’t know why I thought that would straighten things out. I had no intention to beat anyone up”.
Asked who would usually listen to his American Freedom Radio broadcasts, the defendant said, “Conspiracy theory buffs”. Mr Stevens asked whether the defendant had any idea that the people named in this case were listening to his broadcast. “No, only my family and the harassers”, the defendant said.
Mr Stevens asked who the main harasser was.
The defendant stated, “[The father in the Hampstead case]”.
He noted that he wanted out of his current city when he left the USA, due in part to the loss of his job and in part to the evolving political situation there. “It was an opportunity to travel”, he said. “That doesn’t happen much”. He said the first place he wanted to visit was the UK, but that he had interviewed Kevin Galalae who was going to Italy, and decided to accompany him there, to assist him whilst he was on his hunger strike in front of the Vatican.
Asked about the source of funding for his travel, the defendant said, “It was mostly from me. I sold everything”; the GoFundMe site was meant to supplement the money he was already putting into the trip. In a Skype comment, he stated, “I’m going to the UK to fight pedos. Please share”, which he characterised as a “brief way to say that it was going to be an investigation”. This message was sent to multiple people. The defendant claimed he was being sarcastic in characterising his trip this way: “It wasn’t meant to be taken literally”.
Mr Stevens asked the defendant about the £1,000 donation from Angela Power-Disney. The defendant replied, “She is…I guess you can call her an activist”. He guessed that she had contacted him because of the YouTube video he’d made about Hampstead.
Judge Griffith asked the defendant whether Angela had been actively interested in Hampstead. “Adamantly”, the defendant said. “She didn’t accept the outcome”.
The defendant said that the more he and Angela had talked, the more she had tried to take over and influence him, scheduling his itinerary and planning what he could do. “I never said yes, she just donated”, he said.
When his plane landed in the UK, he was “petrified”, due to the people trolling him online.
“Why did you come, then?” asked his barrister.
“Because I said I would, and I was at the point of no return”, the defendant said. However, he quickly realised that much of what he’d said when he was at home would not be attainable in reality. “I wanted to prove I’d looked into it, and then get out”.
The defendant travelled to the Canary Islands at Angela’s invitation, but he cut that trip short. “She was not a nice person”, he said. “I thought it would be best to put some miles between me and her”.
Once in the UK, the defendant said that at some point he went to Hampstead, for two reasons: “to prove it does exist, and because a lot of things were being said about me being a scam artist, and I wanted to be absolved from those accusations”. He said he had been told that he would be killed if he went to Hampstead. “The trolls reached a fever pitch, and I felt trapped”, he said. “My defiance was against people speaking badly about me”.
Mr Stevens asked whether he was referring to anyone mentioned in the indictment for this trial, and the defendant said he was not. He said he had no plans to meet anyone in Hampstead, and said he would have turned around and left if he’d seen anyone near the school. He said he was not aware that the day he posted the Facebook post was the first day of school.
“My motivation was that I was getting taunted, and I reacted to that”, the defendant said. “I didn’t want to release the picture but I didn’t want to be called a chicken”.
“Who did you think would view it?” Mr Stevens asked.
“I wanted my family and the people who were taunting me to see it”, the defendant said. He also said that he didn’t think anyone would interpret the “banter” about carrying a knife as a threat. “I just didn’t want to bend to the people who were harassing me”.
Asked about the Excel spreadsheet found on his hard drive, the defendant said he didn’t know how it had got to him, but that he understood that the author of the sheet was the mother of P and Q. He stated that he was not familiar with any of the names on the sheet, except one.
He stated that he had no memory of checking out the HampsteadChristChurch.com site, adding that he knew it contained a list of the accused in the case, but not what that meant.
The defendant said that when he heard the witnesses testifying in court yesterday, he found it very painful. “I had a panic attack”, he said, adding that he’d found it very upsetting.
Cross-examination of defendant
Noting that the defendant had stated that the abuse he experienced online had affected his life negatively, Mr Bowyer asked, “Before you even left (the USA), you realised the serious, devastating effects of posts online”. The defendant disagreed that this was true.
Asked about why he had published the video about Hampstead, when his usual video fare consisted of more lighthearted material, the defendant said, “Sometimes I don’t make a distinction (between lighthearted stuff and paedophilia”. Mr Bowyer asked, “Don’t you think you ought to?”
“Now, yes”, the defendant replied.
Mr Bowyer asked whether the defendant was aware that the case about which he’d made the video was in court, or whether he knew how the material he’d included in the video came to be online.
“No,” said the defendant. However, he added, “there were so many outlets doing it. It was on LiveLeak, and I thought that was a tacit green light”.
Mr Bowyer suggested that the defendant was not an “investigative journalist”, and said his degree of journalistic integrity would not match that of any actual news outlet. “No, it’s the internet”, the defendant said. “We are still discovering how it affects people”.
“To the extent that you were fearful, can you see how (your behaviour) could have affected the witnesses?” Mr Bowyer asked.
The defendant responded that this had been unintentional. “I’ve never gone over the edge like that”, he said. “I didn’t know I had, at the time”.
Mr Bowyer asked why those who the defendant claimed were harassing him had been angry with him. “It was just character assassination”, the defendant replied, adding that it “made him furious”.
“Did it cross your mind that you should leave it alone?” Mr Bowyer asked.
“Even bad press is good press”, the defendant responded, adding that he had been “angry and excited”. “There’s a saying that if you hit a nerve you must be doing the right thing”, he said.
Mr Bowyer asked whether the defendant thought any of the people named in this case had been among those harassing him. The defendant said he thought this was possible, but that it was more likely that others were doing it.
Mr Bowyer noted that having attracted a degree of attention, the defendant had begun to attract “activists” such as Angela Power-Disney and Sabine McNeill, who wanted him to campaign on their behalf. “Not specifically”, responded the defendant.
The defendant agreed that Angela disagreed “extremely” with the High Court judgment on the Hampstead case.
“Do you remember when she tried to supply you with the names of the accused?” Mr Bowyer asked. The defendant said his memory of this was hazy.
“Someone sent you an Excel sheet. Was it her?”
“Maybe, I can’t remember”.
Asked why he continued to engage with Angela, the defendant said, “She got really nasty when I started to question where she got her information”.
“If you’d been given information about how to track [the father in the case] down, would you have taken it?”
“We know his name appears on your computer, and we know you accessed a site with information as to where [the father] was alleged to be”, Mr Bowyer said.
“Yes, I might have, and put it in the file”, said the defendant.
“Did you have any reason to believe he might be in America?”
“I heard he might be in San Francisco or Los Angeles”, said the defendant.
At this point, the proceedings were adjourned for the day. The case will resume tomorrow morning at (dare we say it?) 10:00 sharp.
As we have been saying, it’s extremely important that no one on this blog speculate on the outcome of this trial in any way. In addition, it’s now equally important that the defendant not be named here, lest we find ourselves in contempt of court. Thank you all very much for your cooperation.
23/08/2017 in Legal news. Tags: criminal charges, harassment, trial
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156 thoughts on “****** * ********** trial update: Day 3”
I am confused, are we in prosecution or defense stage in court proceedings now?
Sorry, we’ve moved on to defense. I’ll try to clarify.
Excellent update and for me, the most interesting post on this case yet.
Once again, thanks, EC and your Reporter.
Ethel Aardvark says:
Thanks for the update, EC. Just about to read it now.
One thing I can say is that it’s really pissed Angela off, which is most satisfying in light of her utterly disgraceful bullying, slander and privacy invasion against an innocent social worker. So double thank you, Your Howlness 🙂
I guess Angela Power Disney is considered a ******** and a ******* by everyone in this matter. I also think she is a ***********.
Great reporting, thanks for the update. Does any one know whether there will be an outcome tomorrow?
Sir Henry Rawlinson says:
Stressing that I reference more general matters rather than the case itself; it’s always a source of great bemusement to me that those who routinely issue threats against others so often feel ‘threatened’ by the prospect of arrest and/or detention. Similarly that so many self-styled ‘investigative journalists’ adopt that pretence without a jot of training or awareness of what the job entails or the rules that genuine professionals must observe.
Incidentally, the s45a order is there to protect the children… As anyone who actually has studied media law (i.e actually Is a journalist or media professional – unlike Angie or her kind) ‘jigsaw identification’ is a concern. So, one imagines, is the public gallery filling up with baying lunatics.
Jelly Shouldn't Run says:
When declaring yourself intellectually superior to Noam Chomsky just isn’t enough…
…what’s needed is an angry, shouty video rant about how “stupid” Chomsky is a “creep”…..
By the way, her anger about Mr. Chomsky stems from his ‘failure’ to believe in her 9/11 conspiracy theories!
Yes, that woman never learns.
Some fascinating stuff coming out. Good reporting. I will keep my opinions on the content to myself for now.
Tomorrow will be the second half of the cross-examination, followed by summing up. I don’t know if the jury will be instructed, but we expect a judgment on Tuesday (because of the bank holiday).
Couldn’t have said it better myself, SV..
Frankly Debbie dimwit would struggle to establish intellectual superiority over a plastic garden gnome!
I agree, excellent reporting.
I’d like to comment about APD but will wait until after the Verdict.
It has been reported in the Mail too.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4817638/US-blogger-threatened-draw-blood-parents.html
Excellent reporting, thank you. Won’t comment on the case except to say that if I were APD I would be expecting a knock on the door sometime soon. Please delete if inappropriate.
Congratulations ********** You’re famous http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4817638/US-blogger-threatened-draw-blood-parents.html
MonsterRavingGoonies says:
One has to wonder why Angel Powered Dizzy has only copied day 1 to her FB page but not the subsequent reports, would it be perchance because she has been mentioned both days……not in the best light either if I may be so bold as to say!
Great reporting by your reporter, this is what I would call true professionalism instead of the raving lunatics reporting the rubbish they constantly copy & paste!
Slightly off-topic, but I’ve just been reminded of a case back in 2001 where one Christopher Loosemore (then 17) and another boy of 14 wandered into the Liberty Bank in Middletown (Portland) and handed a teller a note claiming they had a gun and demanding $30,000…
The police quickly caught up with the almost-appropriately named Loosemore hiding in the apartment of a girl he was apparently trying to impress with his ‘hard man’ act. There was some digging done at the time, and it seems poor Christopher was ‘one of those sad kids’ nobody took seriously, always a looser, unemployable, tried to paint pictures of himself living the life of a tough guy when the reality was he played the role of big fish to a gang of children that had the measure of him. He felt ‘egged on’ to do the robbery – couldn’t pull out for fear of losing face etc. – Oddly enough, none of that provided him with any basis for a defence; he still robbed a bank and went down for it.
With precedent like that in mind, and there’s lots of it, some people (many associates of Belinda McKenzie for instance) might find that stuff like ‘peer pressure’, ‘trying to impress people’, trying to ‘keep face’, making up shit about trillion pound liens, claiming you were ‘obliged’ to commit a crime because you couldn’t obtain lawful remedy (as claimed by Caul Grant) in relation to some other crime etc… It’s all just complete and utter bullshit.
I also find myself reflecting upon the prosecution of Robert Green. – Did he or did he not frighten the living daylights out of an ordinary Aberdeen tiler and his neighbours and thereby breach the peace? The prosecution proved he did just exactly that, and despite Green’s best efforts to deflect the court’s attention onto other matters, the clown talked his own way into jail. – Was it Einstein who said, doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is a sign of madness? I can’t help thinking the head of McKenzie Industries didn’t get that memo.
“jigsaw identification’- havent heard it called that before but thats exactly what happened a while back in a fairly local(ish) case to me- where both the victim and the accused werent allowed to be named- the victim (for obvious reasons such as her age etc) but the accused name was withheld as well because he was a relative- hence identifying him would make it trivially easy to identify her
Blimey, for the first time ever Angela’s ‘journalism’ has scored more than two stars 😀
Oh, that’s interesting, as I’ve been checking to see if they covered it in the Ham & High but they haven’t and yet it’s made it into a national tabloid paper!
How come the Mail are naming the defendant, btw?! (Not that the Mail are known for their integrity.)
Just google the phrase. It’s a ‘key concept’ in relation to what you can and cannot report and specifically taught in most of the basic media law units… For example what’s wrong with the following sentence (apart from the spelling and grammar!)…
“Goodwin Grope of 43 Poshnbex Avenue, Binworthy was today sentenced to twelve years in prison for the sexual assault of his fifteen-year old neighbour”
Given that victims of sexual assault always have anonymity – and that’s compounded by the fact his victim was a minor; how many fifteen year olds might live in Poshnbex Avenue Binworthy? – This is an example of where you probably couldn’t name the offender (and a judge might make a specific order to that effect) because it makes it very easy for the victim to be identified and their rights breached. If you dig around you’ll find examples where judges have made such orders and been accused by loonies of protecting the offender; when in fact it’s done for the victim’s sake. …For similar reasons you cannot name schools, workplaces, clubs etc.
Sorry mate but that’s incorrect – she has covered each day. I’ve been saving the screenshots – along with those of comments she’s posted elsewhere – and if it’s deemed appropriate, I’ll happily post these after the trial.
Incidentally, I’d like to reiterate that she didn’t even know about the trial at all until I PMed her on the morning of day one and she posted a comment about it within a few minutes.
Good question. We’ve sent a query to the court about it. Will let you know.
Yes, exactly. We were initially told by the judge that the witnesses were not to be identified, but now it appears that the defendant is to be anonymous as well.
They appear to have a poor record on apostrophes too. To wit:
“One of the mother’s told Southwark Crown Court…”
I’d imagine the court have adopted this ‘technique’ to minimise what any ‘disruptive’ types might easily find out and make the life of those who steward the precincts easier. There is no ‘harm’ in not naming the defendant here as far as I can see, but equally well I don’t imagine there is actually a bar on naming him.
LOL I noticed that too.
Their spelling’s iffy too:
“…to kick out doors down…”
…Has that actually been handed down in a specific order? Or is it just that the court has taken his name off the public roll?
@SV –
* ***** ****** ***** ****** ** ********** * fuddle-duddle *** * stegosaurus ** ********* ** **** ******. * **** ***** *** ** * walrus-face.
I blame the cheep doggy tipwritterz they supply jurno lists with these days!
Well, it’s all a bit puzzling to be honest. Yesterday his name was published in full on the court schedule, but by last night it had changed to the all-asterisk format. It remained that way today, and when our reporter asked the reply was that it might be better to anonymise the defendant’s name too. I tend to think it’s excessive, but unlike an accredited journalistic site we rely upon the goodwill of the court officials who allow us to take notes in court (subject to the judge’s approval), so felt it best to go the extra mile.
How long before we get an angry video rant about all this from Mad Moo, I wonder. The Daily Mail article will annoy her further, of course. Ditto APD.
Both. The order itself says that no one may be named whose identity might allow identification, directly or indirectly, of any child mentioned in this case. And the court has anonymised his name online.
If that was the only thing they had a bad record for. The comments section is a hoot though or can be depressing, I tend towards the latter recently.
No worries,, I had only looked at her FB page & was surprised she wasn’t posting it all there, but I see now she is twisting things again on there to make herself look super important. 😏 Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
EC, I’m not sure which schedule you’re viewing but the name was printed in full on this one:
http://xhibit.justice.gov.uk/southwark.htm
However, it was “frozen” at 10:57 and not updated at any point afterwards.
Please delete this link and comment if you deem it inappropriate.
Sorry but to reiterate, it is her Facebook page I’m referring to. She has posted about each day on there.
I think the Mail will argue that the order applies to the parents of children and the teachers; if you you know their names you know who their kids are… It’s not unknown in cases that might attract attention for the defendant to be anonymised like this; that way they can ‘filter’ enquiries as to which court when at the front bar. – But from the blog’s point of view there’s certainly no harm in being cautious; the Mail have lawyers to hand to argue their corner!
The extra mile is well worth travelling. Whatever the outcome I’d expect the blog to come under attack from the lunatic fringe after the trial; no point in enabling them to any degree.
This is what I’m going by, Ethel. Honestly, as I say I find it a bit confusing as I’ve never known of a public trial that anonymised the name of the defendant, but I’m not an expert in court reporting either, so I’m proceeding with (perhaps too much) caution.
…Not long Liza, and that might be an issue.
Another possibility is that the police have intelligence that some sort of disruption might be being planned by certain parties. The conversation here may be contained and the management anxious to ensure fair pay; but that won’t necessarily be the case in the darker corners of electric looneyland.
Haha He looks like a right yob in those photos. And to all the satanic hoaxers, take note of the part where it says “The children were taken into TEMPORARY care” Haha!
Oh for feck’s sake, who let Alan ‘Sieg heil’ Alanson out of his cage?
listen with mother says:
Great bit of reporting here, so interesting to hear the details, the police work, forensics, ‘his’ story.
My apologies for misleading anyone, I myself can only see Day 1. Mind you, that could be due to my old eyes. Thank you for the clarification.
it wasn’t me what did it Guvner, honestly.
yet pandering to the audience says:
So he went ‘not guilty’ then…
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-couple-cleared-of-satanic-abuse-claims-to-get-3-4-million/
“Texas will pay $3.4 million to a couple who were wrongfully imprisoned for more than two decades on prosecutors’ claims that they sexually abused children as part of satanic rituals at a day care they operated.
Dan and Fran Keller learned Tuesday that they’ll receive the payment from a state fund for the wrongly convicted, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
A judge in June approved a request from Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore for a declaration of innocence for the Kellers”.
Sounds oddly familiar…..
Be interesting to see what this ‘therapist’ has to say for themselves these days- do they have even a twinge of remorse for what they have put innocent people through??
(and although I’m not a big fan of the US habit of suing people- in this case I actually think the compensation being awarded is actually far less than they should be getting considering the time they spent in jail and the loss of both income and a good proportion of their lives), and of course even now there will be far too many wackjobs like APD and her ilk still willing to ‘beLIEve the children’ and making any possible return to normality for the Kellars extremely unlikely
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Hill_satanic_ritual_abuse_trial
“In the summer of 1991, the therapist of a three-year-old child being treated for behavioural problems due to her parents’ divorce alleged that the Kellers had sexually abused her. The child’s mother contacted the police, who alerted the case’s eventual prosecuting attorney, who contacted a friend whose child was also enrolled in the day care and being treated by the same therapist. During the time leading up to the trial, two other children from the day care offered similar accusations. According to the children, the couple served blood-laced Kool-Aid and forced them to have videotaped sex with adults and other children. The Kellers, they said, sometimes wore white robes and lit candles before hurting them. The children also accused the Kellers of forcing them to watch or participate in the killing and dismemberment of cats, dogs and a crying baby. Bodies were unearthed in cemeteries and new holes dug to hide freshly killed animals and, once, an adult passer-by who was shot and dismembered with a chain saw. The children recalled several plane trips, including one to Mexico, where they were sexually abused by soldiers before returning to Austin in time to meet their parents at the day care.”
Yes angie we know you like to sprout “A LOAD OF B+++”+CKS”
Nice of you to admit it for once though
(have you checked out the extradition treaties of your list of hideouts recently, you might be in for a shock)
Don’t worry Angela, Your time is gonna come.
Tis 🙂
With a lotta, lotta, luck she will be “important” soon, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more.
I’m not so sure APD will actually be annoyed.
She thinks she is UNTOUCHABLE. Mmm…
I reckon she’ll be loving it but she doesn’t really know ALL that has been said in Court, only what is reported here and that piece in the Daily Mail.
Journalist my arse!
Shut yer moosh Angela, you haven’t got a f…… clue.
Attention seeking, trouble maker you are at the very best.
Let her walk around with her head up her arse.
I’m hoping that what that VILE lump Caul Grant spouts about KARMA comes to fruition.
And from my knowledge APD is definitely not the only one treading on thin ice.
This all could get very, very interesting.
Got to also say that Belinda looked a lot more healthy Wednesday.
Best song Lennon ever wrote, that was.
I agree 100%, Captain, but I’d be a traitor to my user name and mission statement were I to comment on anything more important than grammar 😀
MRG, if you’d like to see them all, PM me on Farcebook and I’ll send you the links/screenshots 🙂
I can’t post them here, out of due deference to legal restrictions.
Babs – check out her Farcebook page – she is already annoyed. Extremely annoyed! Hehe 🙂
Now, that’s one of the screenshots I declined to post, out of deference to the legal restrictions/contempt rules. Are we sure that this one is ok to have up?
I’ve so far archived 15 screenshots of Angela and Bellender’s posts/comments about the trial, which I’ll be happy to share after the trial is over (possibly with some sensitive parts blanked out).
Mad Moo’s under starter’s orders again. Buckle up 😀
Noam Chomsky eat your heart out! 😀
Blimey, this is one of her most unhinged ones yet. Does she really believe all this crap? I do genuinely think she may have a drink/drug problem.
Next on Dave... says:
I’ve just realised that this is an old one but she’s been re-promoting it on Farcebook. I don’t recall hearing this one before, though.
David Shurter in a moment of self-reflection looked in a mirror.
With the end of this trial in sight, time to roll out the Bork.
Sergeant Sirius Crook-Hunter of the Marrakesh Fraud Squad says:
Another new scam brewing for Hopeless Girl? (And Teflon, or whatever the fuck his name is.)
Cuey Gee says:
“And Teflon, or whatever the fuck his name is.”
I think Teflon would be an appropriate nickname for all three of those dodgy fuckers.
Yep, hence why I felt sick and didn’t stay for the afternoon session.
Not on fb anymore Angiewatch, but more than happy if she is annoyed!
The fear is setting in probably.
Oh gawd!
Is Belinda posting too?
Hope she’s not in contempt of the Court!
Had forgotten all about Mad Manna. Communism failed did it? Must be my imagination that Russia & China are now 2 of the most powerful nations on earth.
Nothing scheduled today and there’s a different case in Court 7:
Scarlet Overkill says:
More phone harassment by ‘Neelu of the Chaudhari clan’, including some extremely serious slander against the SRA’s CEO (“He is an illegal slave trader of humans”) 😦
RQ was listed this morning on the system. I think a short case is being heard in room 7 whilst the powers that be are getting things together for the RQ case today.
Is Neelu saying that the solicitors are guilty of being associated with SRA? *joke*
The system at time of writing has relisted RQ allocated to room 7; waiting to begin the case.
The good news for Angie is that she hasnt got very far to fall having already descended deep into the sub basement of the human condition.She wont have to suffer the bitter wranglings of remorse either given the total absence of anything resembling genuine conscience.But that is her lot,her sparse and shallow allocation.
Still,she can be worried,be very,very worried as the past revisits its genesis.Tap,Tap,Tap. MU HA HA HA HA
Over to you Vincent:
They’ve been at it since day one, and not just on the most obvious platforms either Ethel. Their ‘plan’ will be to draw others into commenting (i.e. directly debunking them) and by that means try and either scupper the case or lay the groundwork for later vacuous ‘appeals’ and/or fundraising. I think the authorities are keeping a weather eye on them though.
Very considerate of Neelu to share with the general public regular updates of her progressive unhingement from reality.
Outlook:All rather bleak.
Gnome Chompsky is more of a burger man I think…
I thought all slave trading was illigal, but where does she get her evidence from, who has she been talking to. I bet she’s been making it up, and what is her obsession with treason, does she really know what it means, or was it just a big word she learnt from some pne else from planet Zong.
Case is now under way with witness 5 continuing to give their evidence as per
Also, discovered a Satanist who ate a yellow jelly baby. #jellybabygate
So you are feeling Satanic, its xmas, and you got some jelly babies to lawfully and without prejudice shove things up the arse, decorate and eat. Here is a nice idea to decorate your home, especially if you got a Satan Hunter visiting.
#jellybabygate
I see they’ve re-instated the full name.
Well if you are going to massively slander some one, why not pick some top lawyers?
I’m not sure if Angie, and her associates, fully appreciate their immense irrelevance to the matters in hand.
Turning first to her vacuous comments. Facts have been agreed, admitted and entered into the record; what does Angie fail to understand about this? Equally well Angie (I know you do read this) the S45a order now gives all the children involved in the Hampstead Hoax lifelong anonymity… And that effectively extends to the parents and teachers too as talking about them would lead to the ‘jigsaw identification’ scenario I mentioned earlier…
These are both things you would realise if you had even basic training as a journalist. What’s “bollocks” is your claim to that professional title as you clearly know fuck-all about the job!
Likewise, isn’t it interesting that Angie isn’t in court? Not as a witness nor as observer? – One imagines she wouldn’t be welcome as the latter; and is clearly of no relevance to the case. It’s fairly obvious she’s finding the lack of attention frustrating.
Yet again I’ll stress that the following observations relate to matters in general and NOT the case in question…
Courts operate with a laser-like focus on the matters in hand… Did individual ‘A’ commit act ‘B’ contrary to statute ‘C’. – That’s it! that’s all they are really interested in. The Robert Green case I referenced elsewhere is a good example of this at work. – Did Green’s actions frighten and alarm people and by that means breach the peace? The proof of that was easily provided and yet, for all his days of rambling, Green provided not one scrap of evidence to counter that proof.
You see that’s the thing with courts, they will often tolerate irrelevant testimony – particularly in criminal trials – in the hope that relevant matters will emerge; but there is no loss of focus… No inability to boil away the waste in order to distil the truth.
In Green’s case it’s reasonable to suggest that, by alarming and giving rise to fear among the population of a certain Aberdeen district, he hoped to raise a rabble and gain aggrandisement for himself. But of course, ‘right thinking people’ don’t generally take to the streets pitchforks at the ready! And it was proven in court that Green knew or ought to have known that his actions would cause fear and alarm and proved that they did!
By this means the ‘mens rea’ (guilty thought) and ‘actus reus’ (guilty act) are established as fact and it is proved beyond any reasonable doubt that a crime was committed. In Green’s case the ‘actus reus’ was established by something as simple as an Aberdonian Tiler giving testimony that he was made alarmed and made to feel fear for the safety of his grandchild. – All of Green’s superfluous waffle didn’t defeat that.
Let me turn now to a different example…
This fearsome weapon is made of chocolate. It’s quite amusing I think… Jolly japes.
But suppose, as a prank, you walked into a bank with it, brandished it around, walked up to a teller and demanded money. – What do you, as a reasonable person, think would happen? Viewed from twenty feet away by a member of the public who is not ‘in on the joke’ what would be made of it? – Particularly if they didn’t know you from Adam.
Does anyone seriously think they wouldn’t be charged with attempted armed robbery? Or that a Police Officer wouldn’t be justified in tazering them to the ground?
Would it be a defence to claim in court that you only indulged in this prank because your mates ‘egged you on’ to do so? – Maybe it would if you were nine or had an IQ south of about 70. But suppose you were a grown woman of 40 who laid claim (even if vacuous) to a degree-level education and a professional background? – “Big boys said I should do it, then they were horrible to me and ran away”.
But! That innocent bank-teller still nearly had a heart attack, was terrified and now lives with PTSD! – who knew that could happen? …Well, anybody with enough sense in their heads to be walking about the streets on their own should. Ignorance is not a defence, nor is stupidity (no matter what Belinda says).
So – What’s your next idiotic fairy story Angie?
Confuseddotcom says:
The memories these therapists come up with show who the real perverts are. What a sicko to introduce those ludicrous claims of murder, mutilation, sex tapes and the rest to the minds of very young children. What a minute, sounds like child grooming Abraham Christie did exactly the same in his sexually perverse month long torture sessions to two children he had only met months earlier.
To think Angie downplays Abe’s role to that of a patsy! Only a dirty paedophile supporter would claim Abe is innocent when all the medical evidence, the childrens own words and rest of the details all name Abe as a bully and child abuser.
Angie showing us all that she cannot read or deliberately taking things out of context. The blog post clearly stated that the joint acceptance of the SRA claims being false Referred to a point the prosecution and defence BOTH agreed on. Is angie claiming that is incorrect and disputing that FACT.
Abe Christie has a very long criminal history… I’ve often wondered if there is some old association between him and APD from her ‘London days’? For there seems to be some credible evidence she was part of a particular ‘set’ back then.
Hmm vid not playing here.
For the record ,Vincent Price reading of Edgar Allan Poes poem “The Raven”.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
The rule is know your shit. The noob journalist takes a few hours to learn the rules of the game, and longer how to write like a journalist. Noob lawyers who desire to assist the unfortunate need to know the rules of court, law and procedure, and how to apply that information to any situation to leverage the advantage for their client. The track record of Belinda McKenzie, Angela Power Disney and their like is dire: clients lost 100% custody of their kids; went to jail; got sectioned; suffered unnecessary legal bills. Appeal to the public mob has its use, but has no impact upon convincing police, judge and jury to venture too far from procedure and law; the mob is useful to soften or harden judgements, rather than influence law; the outraged mob can emotionally influence a judge to harden a judgement, and the sympathetic mob, soften the judgement. At the least, a wise and knowledgeable representative of a client can win some ground for them, even in the most challenging of circumstances; the law seeks to be fair, often offering concessions to make it look it is fair.
That poor woman went off to make a cup of tea when Neelu launched into her Treason Tirade.
Seeing Neelu is suing them for fraud and operating with counterfeit currency they should respond “well send us you lien and we’ll pay you compensation with counterfeit currency”.
Poor Ved just doesn’t have the panache with these phone calls as the Late Great Irish Comedian Patrick “Talmudic Law” Cullinane. His would rise in tempo to a brilliant finish with a cutting and thigh slapping punch line like “you can stick your ambulance up your arse”.
You can’t beat the old comedians.
It’s good to see that Angie is being talked about and held in such high regard. 🙂
DragonsandKungFu says:
Pedo Protector and defamation Queen back at it again.
Queen of limbo once again. Apparently people who have met her think she is “not a nice person”.
Problem is she gets off on this shit. The fact she was named as a player in a crown court trial to do with Hampstead will go to her head, especially as she has got off scot free and let another sucker take the shit. She’ll dine out (metaphorically) on this for months
Angela Power Disney is a shepherd who whilst she is at liberty to do the things she is doing, will bring more sheep into her designs to inflict suffering on the people of Hampstead. Jake Clarke and RQ are sheep she manipulated, used, and had destroyed. The old saying, slay the shepherd, the sheep will scatter. Disney must be a top target to take down.
Regretfully I must disagree SV… Jake Clarke, I will concede, may well lack capacity – but he is exceptional in that respect. And otherwise, all of the people who involve themselves in these frauds are the unmitigated authors of their own misfortune.
She was ‘named’ yes; but consider by whom and in what context. Clearly she wasn’t considered of sufficient relevance to actually be called. One day, I’m sure, she will feel the cuffs on her wrists.
S Jones says:
I’m not surprised as 45A only applies to the names of children under 18 and not defendants:
(3) A reporting direction may be made only in respect of a person who is under the age of 18 when the proceedings commence and who is—
(a) a witness, other than an accused, in the proceedings;
(b) a person against whom the offence, which is the subject of the proceedings, is alleged to have been committed.
Though obviously it’s much wiser to follow the lead of the court as there may have been a different reason for withholding his name.
Oh do stop talking crap Angie.
Not sure that is a good idea, unless you don’t like your home.
When I met her she started telling me some tale about how her car had been sabotaged and she crashed it off the Freeway in USA!
Blamed it on something sinister, I can’t remember off hand who or what it was allegedly all about.
I thought it was a really tall tale and I didn’t warm to her.
Dressed up to the 9’s in Red with one of her trademark hats. Looked like she was off to a wedding.
Everyone else was dressed very casual.
She stood out like a sore thumb with her great nephew in tow, poor lad.
He seemed bemused.
What’s she complaining about Fostering Targets for?
She claimed she had been a Foster Parent!
He was giving evidence at 10.40 am in Court 7.
I see there is no hearing tomorrow listed for him.
That’s from Court Serve.
Haven’t a clue how to share the link.
Yes indeed, I suspect there will have been. – Although don’t the Jigsaw identification rules effectively (though not explicitly) also protect the parents and teachers?
Many thanks for offering to send me links,/screenshots. It is much appreciated. I have contacted you via pm on FB.
Wasnt able to find a copy, but WHEN (and not if) angie goes down in flames, I would love the classic Vincent Price laughter from Thriller…
Love his work, but jeez that laugh just sends shivers down your spine…
http://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/Southwark-Crown-Court.php
I had a look on this one
Before the Court status servers went down yet again, both sides were involved in technical legal issues. I understand the judge is off on Friday.
A real shame for Angie that consumer demand for sanctimonious bullshit never really took off,otherwise she would be absolutely sodding minted by now.
If Angela Power Disney had got her hands dirty with the real stuff, selling manure from local farms to the weed growers etc, she would have no need for gofund or nicking money from hungry African orphans.
What? Honest toil? Don’t you know all hoaxers hold people who actually work for a living in complete contempt?
Dr Danish-Quack! Totally unqualified for his VOLUNTARY (unpaid, because he’s not qualified to assess or treat actual trauma victims) interference in family court cases. His hero is…Colin Ross, naturally!
He believes in “aura reading” and “psychic abilities”.
Lol, anyone in need of a laugh. Abraham’s friend, commenting about Flat Earth on 3 of her alias’s.
and just a reminder to the Hoax promoters, whose side again was it that was meant to be into Satanic drug parties? Lol. Surely Evidence one of Abraham’s friends is into weird shit by their standards. Imagine if she had been a friend of RD’s? They would be naming her as the Satanic Queen.
More importantly, anyone who professes to belief that deliberately abusing children, in any way, can have a CONSTRUCTIVE impact on their development, (i.e., the creation of multiple “selves” with specialized skills & abilities), is not just a quack…they are an EVIL quack.
Deliberate, repeated abuse of a child can only have a DESTRUCTIVE impact on their development. We’ve discussed this in detail here before.
Just a thought… Could I possibly ask everyone to independently google the phrase “sharp ham” ?
btw I am not saying dressing up like that is remotely Satanic or wrong in anyway, just an example of how the Hoaxers would react if they had found something like that about one of the innocent people accused in the Hampers Hoax. They would run with those images for years. Personally I think it looks quite cool for a party.
If you are doing a google image search, may I suggest keeping the quotation marks along with the phrase.
As much as I like English Wine and Cheese 🙂
Yes indeed… Keep the quotation marks. Please resist the temptation to repost your findings though; I should have been clear on that. But it seems the phrase does have a particular meaning.
I have also just been educated as to what exactly a “biscuit knife” is… Apparently it’s a small knuckle-duster type device with a sharp serrated edge parallel with the handle. – I’m told it’s favoured in some circles because it creates a particularly nasty wound which is difficult to stitch and consequently leaves a horrific scar. – Hardly the stuff of genteel conversation inspired by the W.I.
Another one at it promoting tabloid nonsense and whatever they can no matter how pathetic. Old Mad Moo certainly spend a lot of time deflecting attention away from those involved in the Newcastle Case.
Biscuit in Rap Slang is also a gun, obviously irrelevant to anything, just interesting.
Or, apparently, in American parlance, this…
I’m told it ‘works better’ when disguised as a money clip or hidden in one’s shorts!
That’s the image I had saved, like a lock knife.
http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-worst-attempts-to-start-catchphrase-in-rap-history/
My source on this side of the pond works in A&E – Apparently the knuckle-duster type device can be had from the shadier market stalls and has various names. The American ‘version’ however seems to be marketed under just exactly that label. I stress of course that I’m simply trying to understand the general colloquial meaning of these things. – Quite interesting.
I remember years ago I had a lock knife for playing out in the woods as a kid, my friends all had army knives and even machetes. Today none of those would be legal, let alone being a 13 year old wearing army fatigues and running round the countryside carrying them. Lock knives are illegal to carry in public in the UK.
Lock knives are not classed as folding knives and are illegal to carry in public without good reason. Lock knives:
have blades that can be locked and refolded only by pressing a button
can include multi-tool knives – tools that also contain other devices such as a screwdriver or can opener”
https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives
Ah! Blue remembered hills…
I have a fishing knife; but it’s kept in a locked part of the tackle box at all times. Apart from specific sports, carrying a knife, even a penknife was always ‘frowned upon’ as something only ‘certain types’ indulged in.
Drat,there was me thinking Sir Henry was plotting to invite us all to dinner at one of his fine country mansions.Mines a half by the way.Hic.
SJones says:
I don’t think she has much of a grasp, she tried to prosecute the queen for treason a few years ago. Though she had thought that through a bit and had a reason why Mrs Mountbatten-Windsor is NOT the queen, viz. the stone of Scone is false (it’s a Welsh cake or something) and so the coronoation DIDN’T COUNT.
Narcissistic conspiracy theorists like treason though; they believe that anything which doesn’t go their way is driven by a huge conspiracy and the whole machinery of state is against them in some monstrous plot which is contrary the true interests of the people (identical to their interests of course) and thus must be treason. Also there is a freeman on the land import from the US – in the US officials swear to uphold the constitution so the argument is that by finding against the fotler the judge is in breach of his oath, not complying with the constitution and thus treasonous. This is then imported into the UK without any thought that oaths here are completely different. Roger Hayes’ mob of supporters tried to arrest the judge for treason for example as they said he was not acting under his oath.
Seems she’s a ‘one trick’ model now well past her sell-by date. The look would indeed be quite cute for a Halloween party or the like I suppose; if only the person sporting it didn’t stink like a rotten manure midden and wasn’t completely off their fucking rocker!
Half bottle by the looks of that glass!
Does she understand something rotating slowly does not create a blur? Filming the moon over a few days a month etc then speeding up footage much like how we can look at a plant growing and it does not show as blurred. Time and motion?
Oh gawd knows what the hell she’s thinking… Her few remaining braincells are a stewed as a well boiled teabag.
The problem with interpretating slang and code words, is that they have different meanings to different groups of people, depending on their circles etc.
Take the Wikileaks emails of John Podesta for example. Due to 4Chan’s history of using Cheese Pizza as code for Child Porn, a troll took that information and used various other terms to send people looking through 10 years worth of emails for supposed “code words”. TThe term Cheese Pizza itself, I do not believe was even referenced in those emails. It didn’t seem to matter how unlikely that a group of middle aged, so called elites, would even be aware of internet paedophile slang let alone be using it in emails.
Earlier I was catching up on the George Webb and Jason Goodman comedy saga, and came across an article on a site about the dirty bomb threat causing a port to be closed down.
http://www.billwarnerpi.com/2017/08/false-claims-by-george-webb-and-jason.html
Another article on that site was about an FBI most wanted man who had supposedly being sighted. The man was wanted for the honour killing of his two daughters. After the act he had apparently called one of his brothers and asked to meet up for “Coffee” which according to the site had been their code word for Trouble/Help.
“Yaser Said told daughters Aminia, 18, and Sarah, 17, he was taking them to get something to eat before he shot and killed them on January 1st, 2008. On January 2nd, 2008, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Yaser Abdel Said, in Dallas County, Dallas, Texas, on charges of Capital Murder-Multiple. On August 21, 2008, a federal Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution warrant was issued by the United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, Dallas, Texas. Uncovered cellphone records showed Yaser Said making multiple calls to family members (his brothers) immediately before and after his daughters’ deaths. Then he disappeared.”
“Yaser Abdel Said called his brother Mohsen Said on his cell phone after the murders of Amina and Sarah Said to meet for coffee (‘coffee’ meant trouble, need help)”
https://pibillwarner.wordpress.com/2016/11/14/has-fbi-top-10-most-wanted-yaser-abdel-said-been-located-in-cairo-egypt-his-kidnapped-niece-and-nephew-are-there/
Just two examples of code words meaning different things to different groups.
I was sent this Gem on Sunday about that particular incident.
But Alex Jones says he was beating up guys that weighed hundreds of pounds more than him and was really good looking, thats why the Satanists tried to recruit him. He also says in certain areas of America you cannot throw a stick without hitting a group of devil worshippers.
Those are very fair points… But there is, I think, a difference between ‘code words’ which may or may not mean something and a live vernacular. Something similar is true when a conversation is clearly moved into a particular – actually very specific – frame of reference.
Yeah, you are right. Thinks are pretty clear to me about certain phrases, in context.
What a pathetic sack of sh*t.
F*ck off, Alex!
Har-dee-har-har!
(That was actually very heartening! Nobody wants to talk to him, and everyone knows he’s a heartless child-hating racist windbag. Hooray!)
Sir Henry: to reiterate – on that listings page, the full name has never been removed. It was a different listings page where that was the case:
https://hoaxteadresearch.wordpress.com/2017/08/23/trial-update-day-3/#comment-76506
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Melanie Shaw convicted of arson charges
Following a two-day finding-of-fact trial at Leeds Crown Court, a jury took less than an hour to conclude yesterday that 48-year-old Melanie Shaw was guilty of three charges of arson.
All three incidents took place whilst Shaw was an inmate at HMP Foston Hall in Derbyshire and HMP New Hall.
Reporting for ExaminerLive, court reporter Stephanie Finnegan noted that while Shaw had a psychiatric examination and was found unfit to stand trial,
…a jury of seven women and five men spent less than an hour reaching the verdict that she committed three counts of arson being reckless as to whether property was damaged or destroyed.
During a police interview Shaw called her fire-setting a “cry for help” as well as a suicidal gesture, stating that her “human rights (were) being abused”.
She set two fires at HMP Foston Hall in February 2018.
Following the first, which damaged bedding in her locked cell, Shaw claimed that the fire had not endangered anyone, as “the building is made of steel and concrete”. She stated that she had set the fire as a “peaceful protest”.
A second fire two days later damaged bedding and Shaw’s prison cell.
She was then moved to a segregation unit at HMP New Hall. When she emerged from the locked cell, she blamed the fire on a non-existent person named “Lorraine”. While she was changing into clean clothing, she produced a lighter from her bra. At the time of the fire, New Hall allowed smoking, and lighters were available at the canteen.
A fourth charge of arson was dropped prior to the trial, and a charge of sexually assaulting a fellow prisoner was dropped during the trial, as the prosecution produced no evidence of it. Sentencing is scheduled to take place on 13 November, following a second psychiatric assessment.
‘The troof, the whole troof, and nothing like the truth’
—@ChrisGrey888, Twitter
Prior to yesterday’s verdict, conspiracy theorists had loudly proclaimed that we could expect to hear nothing of Shaw’s trial, as it had been covered up by whoever it is that usually covers such things up. Then again, perhaps not.
However, when Stephanie Finnegan, who had covered the trial, tweeted out the verdict, she received the usual response: There’s more, but you get the idea.
As the news of Shaw’s conviction spread, others jumped on the “she wuz framed” train:
Somebody named “Frances Leader – Activist” started out sound all reasonable—who wouldn’t want Shaw to get proper medical attention?
Sadly, the term “conspiracy theorist” was used, and that was the end of that: Uh-huh. Cool story, but untrue. You can check out the real story here. The term “conspiracy theorist” was used loooooong before 1960. Just sayin’.
We expect yesterday was just the beginning, and we’ll be hearing lots more about how it was all a stitch-up, how the “secret courts” are conspiring to take away people’s freedom to set their prison cells on fire, and how Tommy Robinson thinks Melanie Shaw is totes legit and therefore so should we.
Although we understand that Brian Gerrish, chief standard-bearer in the “Melanie Shaw is not a mentally ill woman but a national hero for some reason that’s not quite clear but just trust me, she is” war, has been informed of the verdict, he has not yet deigned to comment. Probably needs time to think up an explanation of why the court case was covered by media. Or something.
We’ll keep you posted.
And we really do hope that Shaw will receive the care she so urgently needs, in a secure setting.
17/10/2018 in Assorted knobheads. Tags: Brian Gerrish, trial, Twitter, UK Column
Melanie Shaw verdict rouses Tommy Robinson crew
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76 thoughts on “Melanie Shaw convicted of arson charges”
News blackout. D notice (a term not used in 25 years and only applicable to military / national security). Conspiracy. Whistleblower.
All because a mentally ill woman set fires in her prison cells after being sent to prison for setting fires.
I hope Tommy Robinson’s plan to use her backfires on him.
I see what you did there lol
He could get his fingers burnt.
Posted by Steve just after the verdict broke:
Couldn’t have put it better myself, mate. It’ll be interesting to see what fresh twist Brian the sailor man puts on this in order to, ahem, cover up his incompetence.
I’m liking Stephanie Finnegan. She’s certainly got her head screwed on when it comes to Tommy Robbingsod:
He was jailed – despite concerns for his safety – because he is a CRIMINAL who BREACHED a suspended sentence for the SAME CRIME – one that can cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds. He should have learned his lesson the first time at #CanterburyCrownCourt.
— Stephanie Finnegan (@StephanieFinneg) May 29, 2018
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/melanie-shaw-tommy-robinson-leeds-15287342
He’ll be singeing in the rain about it.
Not only that, a D-Notice is voluntary and not enforceable as PM Harold Wilson found to his chagrin when he took a newspaper to court for breaching one and he lost the case.
There is just an expectation the media will honour one when the countries security is at risk and they do. They are not, nor have ever been used to suppress information about a politician and the dimwits (Christ I’m sick of them- we never heard from morons before- now they have platforms and megaphones) ignore how Britain’s media have no qualms in exposing politicians of any stripe no matter how powerful they are or the fact in Parliament (let alone in individual parties) the enmity between some MPs is so immense they will seek to destroy each other where possibly which is why it was absurd that Edward Heath would party with Harvey Proctor when they hated each other.
Her answers are spot-on and she tells it how it is.
Refreshing and why should she put up with the Loon Squad who will be out in force about this. The Loon Squad (c) is the extended overall “cult” of which The Mob ™ belong to and I would never be so rude as to mention individual members but the names Andy Devine, Angela Power Disney and Brian Gerrish come to mind.
“Unlawful”?. Can she really be this stupid?. Perhaps she’s aiming to be a martyr. Good luck with that.
The Crying Scotsman says:
Plus if their recent rants are anything to go by, alleged child abuser Malcolm Ogilvy and convicted stalker Robert Green will be spitting feathers over this verdict, so that’s a positive.
Stop arson about.
All three of you. Now.
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I suspect she might find out how a gagging order works real soon (not that I would want to cause any issues regarding cases yet to be heard, but I think that comment is ok)
Sam, are you saying they’re fired?
Don’t tell me to leave, You’re fired !
I feel all burnt out.
The flaming cheek !
Ooh, feeling the heat are you?
Oh Gawd, who’s she fallen out with now? 🙄
Moosnight says:
Oh wow, heaveeeee 🙄
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Quantum_woo
“If a sentence has the word “quantum” in it, and if it is coming out of a non-physicist’s mouth, you can almost be certain that there’s a huge quantum of BS being dumped on your head.”
I wasn’t trying to dampen your enthusiasm.
Typical of the Loon Squad is that they NEVER bother to check the facts (which cannot be changed) rather they prefer the gossip and and created fantasy, seemingly as long as it has elements of a “elite pedo ring cover-up” and some Satanism tossed in. They are literally obsessed with pedophilia in a seemingly unhealthy way. They have an appetite for it.
Now we know why Shaw was incarcerated before her trial as she obviously breached numerous court orders (shades of Robinson). Here is one of Shaw’s victims.
I’m all fired up. Here’s one, where do gay campers roast marshmallows ? On a camp fire ! They caught Melanie with DNA evidence, it was a perfect match ! I’m here all. Week. When is a cigarette lighter funny ? When it’s a gas ! I know, I’m a real spark.
Dunny live again and sounding like a stuck record. Same lies, same script. Yawn
I was especially impressed with “Quantum Energy exists outside regular universal law of physics”. The Quantum Field Theory is the standard law of physics. So much so that it’s called the STANDARD model!
Went into the chat as Kells Bells. What was that Tom was saying about him having no problem with people questioning him or disagreeing as long at they’re polite?
If only it involved a real gag, her neighbours would be so greatful.
The Shampoo Liberation Front says:
Semolina Pilchard says:
If he says “Guys, here’s the thing” one more time, I’m going to kill myself.
Zing! 😂
@Cunning Linguist – Apologies for the missing question mark. I shall do three hail Marys immediately.
I actually kind of enjoy Thomas talking shite because then I get to expose him 🙂
Feels good!
This thread needs to be extinguished.
Great work, Rational Christian:
Oh don’t say that – I was just warming up.
*covers ears and runs away*
Yes, this is excellent!
“You can disagree with me as long as you don’t actually disagree. Also I would like your driver’s licence and a short video featuring your face so I can verify your identity. Oh, not you, JJ Youngblood House flips. You neither, Michelle in LA. I’m sure there’s only one Michelle in LA, so you’re in the clear.”
Indeed and the video description’s worth a read too:
…Ryn Tin Tin…Planeflyer21…Drea East Coast…
No don’t SP!
Send him some Head & Shoulders & Claudia Winkelman, that’ll soon shut himself up!
They’re all off the hook too, TR. Geez, you clearly don’t get how this game is played! 🙂
Right, it had nothing at all to do with the multiple death threats he sent anybody he perceived as his enemy. A mere bagatelle, think nothing of it.
“…the multiple death threats he sent anybody he perceived as his enemy”
Ah, so he has much in common with the aforementioned Mr. Ogilvy, then.
Ooh, you nasty old woman…
Cat Snot @ 1:09 – eye roll emojis at the ready…
“I will say and do exactly whatever the fuck I like and nobody will stop me. I don’t care what anybody says – I am entitled to voice my opinion. And the vast majority of the time, those that know me will know the vast majority of the time I back my opinion up with facts and evidence or reasons why I’ve come to the conclusions that I have; and I will say exactly what I like to say, when I like to say it, and nobody will stop me, pretty much. I won’t be dictated to and I won’t be controlled and I won’t be manipulated. What I do is what I do and the reason I do it is because I want to; and the reason I says some of the things I say is because I think I need said [sic]; and nobody will curtail what I say or censor me in a sense. Haha, censor me in a sense, hehe. But you know, regardless of what anybody thinks or whether I offend people or whether they like it or not, I don’t care – I say what I say for a reason; I don’t just make shit up for the fun of it. And like I say, I won’t be controlled or manipulated or censored, so that’s that.”
“I will say and do exactly whatever the fuck I like…and the reason I do it is because I want to”
Oh, you do it because you want to. That’s ok, then 🙄
“Nobody will stop me”
Hmmm, we’ll see 😜
“I am entitled to voice my opinion”
…But you’re not entitled to harass, threaten, intimidate and slander. Check the law, Snotty 😏
“Those that know me will know the vast majority of the time I back my opinion up with facts and evidence”
Actually, those who know you know that you absolutely categorically do not. Thanks for asking 🙄
“I don’t just make shit up for the fun of it”
Er, yes you do. Frequently. 🙄
“Regardless of what anybody thinks or whether I offend people or whether they like it or not, I don’t care”
Yeah? So why are you practically whispering when you say it? I hear your kids playing in the background. Ashamed of what they might think if they hear you, perchance? 😏
“I’m entitled to my opinion…I won’t be…censored, so that’s that.”
But…er…you’re happy to censor others…?
I see she’s happy to start her video with a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Last I checked, they were on her paedo blacklist and were evil satanic mind control agents working for Tavistock. Oops!
Ah well then, I guess it would be okay for me to call her a sheep-shagger with black pudding where her brains ought to be, because it’s what I want to say and I feel like it. I won’t though, because I have this weird thing called “self-control”.
Aren’t they a bit stodgy about copyright?
No, the algorithm would have picked it up. In the case of publisher-owned material it would either block it, allow it, block it in specific countries or put ads on it, depending on what arrangement any given publisher has with YouTube. Once you’ve uploaded a video you get a notification on your ‘Creator Studio’ video page as to what the situation is with any songs etc. that you’ve used. It works differently to private-owned material, whereby the copyright owner would have to notify YouTube and request its removal.
Incidentally, they”re normally ok with Stones stuff. I’ve used their version of said song in a video of my own, funnily enough (one of the ‘Meme & Moody’ ones as I recall).
I’m not sure what publisher owns the Soup Dragons cover that Snotty’s used but it appears to have been uploaded multiple times to YouTube so they must be ok about it.
“Sue for torture” 🙄
That lady, the mum, she seems a straightforward unmalicous sort of person. I think they show a lot of compassion for Melanie Shaw. No one should have to put up with criminal behaviour even if the perpetrator is a survivor with serious mental health problems.
It puts a whole different light on Melanie Shaw’s behaviour.
I made the mistake of looking at the comments thread. This is me now.
One thing I learned from HR is that one “should always believe the children”. Unless the parents are a pair of Christianite gobshites pulling the whole Preacher scam, in which case one should believe them and the children are lying liars who lied.
The Nigerian couple, who claimed their kids were possessed by evil spirits, beat them with brooms, hoovers and wires and even gave their baby a morphine overdose just days after her first birthday.
The kids were finally rescued after their eldest daughter threw a heart-wrenching SOS note out of a window….
Mr Kirk is living evidence that alcoholism and Closed-Head-Injury brain damage are a bad combination. I can see why Ogilvy and Butlincat take his side.
Christopher Lee spoke some absolute shit there.
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The Musas: the case in which all Hoaxers have taken the side of the parents and which really shows them up as the bizarre hypocrites they are.
The endless mantras that “children never lie” is abandoned in this case where the children themselves threw notes from a window begging strangers to save them from their fanatical “Christian” parent’s physical abuse.
I just don’t get it.
Children “lie” all the time such as: when they say Father Christmas is a real person and they willingly go and sit on his lap in a shopping centre on the same days millions of kids around the world are doing likewise. The “tooth fairy” etc etc. They repeat the “truth”, in total innocence, that is told them by adults or other kids.
Yet in the one case where there was actually NO-ONE to force the Musa kids into inventing abuse, the Hoaxers side with the abusive parents?. It surely demonstrates that The Mob / Loon Squad have no real interest in the welfare of children, rather they are fascinated & obsessed with a belief in Satanic Pedo Cult that runs the world. Children are just merely chattels to be used in that campaign, often in a crass & vulgar manner : Thomas Dunn ( Jon Wedger) by selling tacky t-shirts or mugs. Does the money go to a real children’s charity?. Not on your life.
# Apparently the Musa children now live with adoptive parents and have changed their names and are happy.
Not that you ever hear a single word of concern about them from the Hoaxers.
Yes, much of his rage at the authorities seems to be based on his having taken umbrage at the suggestion that he might have suffered a brain injury. His response was not “slow down and take care of myself”, but “hunt down the doctor who dared suggest such a thing, along with the police officer who tried to make me stop harassing the doctor”. Unsurprisingly, he how has a MAPPA order to his credit.
I was particularly impressed by her mention that she worked for an organisation dealing with prostitutes which is how she met Shaw.
I have no problem with how people earn a living but it explains a lot.
That’s right. I think that when one puts the Musa case alongside the Hampstead SRA hoax, certain patterns become all too clear.
The excellent website Barts Notes has a piece on the Melanie Shaw conviction. It also mentions that contrary to the Fanatical Hoaxer’s endless claims she is being persecuted for being a “whistle-blower” for revealing organised abuse, there has been an extensive police investigation and it forms part of the ongoing Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
This Important Fact is ignored: if the abuse was a bad as Shaw claims ( I have no reason to dis-believe her claim she was abused as a child) : there MUST be other victims as well yet we never hear from them.
Well there probably are who have also reported to police and perhaps they will appear as witnesses at the IICSA but they prefer anonymity.
Shaw’s entire campaign is hypocritical. On one hand she claims a massive ring of abuse yet never ever presents another victim and I have no doubt there are others if her claims are true.
In what other abuse inquiry has there only been ONE victim?. In what other abuse inquiry have we heard from just one claimant? The Catholic Church abuse inquiries- hundreds have told of their history.
This is not uncommon among some victims in the unfolding scandals of abuse in residential children’s homes. Not every adult abused as a child is a Saint. We’ve seen many attempt to become the Star of an inquiry.
However Shaw undoubtedly has mental health problems (and note in the video above the mother says the judge called her a “pathological liar”) which complicates matters.
Yet the Hoaxer Mob have seized upon her attempts to be a “whistle-blower” and ignore the illogical aspects of her claims such as being incarcerated for “whistle-blowing” when clearly she has history as a dangerous arsonist and of harassing innocent people for which she has been legally restrained yet has ignored those court orders which has led to present incarceration – not unlike Tommy Robinson who ignored Court Orders.
The shallowness of the Hoaxers and their “investigations – no names (Angela Power-Disney) and inability to discover the real facts demonstrates yet again they seek out a cause and the truth is malleable.
http://barthsnotes.com/2018/10/17/melanie-shaw-jury-finds-that-woman-backed-by-tommy-robinson-and-gerard-batten-committed-arson-in-prison/
Yes, I agree. And as always, BarthsNotes’ coverage has been stellar.
But he was talking about a movie. Dunce is trying to imply that he was trying to reveal real stuff under the guise of movie chat but it was purely movie-making chat taken out of context.
And it’s a great example of Dunny’s ignorance and lack of research that by his own admission he doesn’t even know what movie Lee’s talking about!
Ok you win, now scat ! 🙂 (I don’t know what she won, but I do hope she doesn’t choke on it)
Ditto and thanks for highlighting that, GOS. I watched some of the live coverage. The videos are not released yet, for further sharing.
It crossed my mind that the Tommy promoting Melanie thing was overshadowing the actual inquiry into Beechwood……
Personally, given the repetitive mantra ‘Common purpose’ and the fact that Eddie has mirrored the Tom Dunno crap and merchandise and said he was promoting it all at the events for Tommy….. Plus the background of many of the hoaxers attempting to infiltrate the inquiry from it’s inception and their attempts to mirror it with their own freeman of the land types of independent (useless), inquiries via FSF and ITNJ……… It raises that suspicion for me.
Christopher Grey says:
Oooh. Delighted to appear in this pages for the second time
Always a pleasure to have you here! 🙂
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Len Crapsquarelli
For some reason, Redskins fans hate this guy. I dunno what their problem is--after all, who in the sportswriting world doesn't call out Cerrato/Gibbs/Snyder for their collective suckassery? No, Len has his favorites, sure--like the Pittsburgh Steelers, a real man's team--and a few that he doesn't appreciate as much.
Like my Denver Broncos.
Now, I admit that I hate the "everyone's against my team!" bullshit as strongly as my two co-bloggers. But in this case, I'm right. Pasquarelli has even admitted it.
Jim Armstrong, local sports columnist (referenced in my previous post) here in Denver and a Len-friend, said on air a few months back that Mr. 'Squarelli does indeed dislike Mike Shanahan. Which only confirmed my suspicions.
I recall seeing Len on ESPN a few years back talking about the zone-blocking scheme we employ, a few days after one of our linemen injured the Chargers' Jamal Williams (on purpose, naturally, because Bronco players are coached to injure). He was practically pissing himself in righteous indignation: "Fah! Zone-blocking pussies. Cheap shot artists. Why can't they play with some spine? What Would Cowher Do?" And on, and on, and on....
As it happens, Len is a Pittsburgher. And a proud one. A proud Pittsburgher with no problem making excuses for the Rooney family or the franchise. (See his column a few years back where he claimed that, during a clearly sparsely-attended, bad weather/late season matchup, Steelers fans did not leave their tickets for the comfort of home--no, they were standing in the aisles! It's a Pittsburgh tradition, you know. Standing. The game was a sellout. They were there. Standing.) His remarks came on the heels of Mr. Cowher's condemnation of the same injury, which were accompanied by a dismissal of the zone-blocking principle itself as unmanly.
So the porcine Pasquarelli must have felt that he, as a stand-up Pittsburgher, had to go to his boy Cowher's side. But is that why he dislikes Shanahan, and by extension our hometown squad?
Or is because, after Shanny gave his now-famous (at least in my house) presentation for the media where he showed clips of a whole passel of teams--most hilariously, Those Tough Guy Steelers--employing zone-blocking, he realized that he looked like an even bigger ass than that mug shot makes him appear?
I like to think so...but then, I'm a fucking Bronco fan. I also think the U.S. Government had something to do with Al Wilson's failed physical.
And besides: how could Len look like a bigger ass? Read more
Posted by Cecil at 2:17 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Whatever It Is, Catch It
I heard from our old friend.
Posted by old no. 7 at 1:15 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Labels: Baseball, Canada, Incurable Diseases
Other Magazines That Piss Me Off
Thanks to Ol' No. 7 for the breakdown of our beloved Ted. I have not managed--how best to say this--to avoid shitting my pants in Ted-to-Ted competition thus far. In 2005, my team was so absurdly awful (despite what I felt to be a pretty good pitching lineup at the start of the year, including a newly Yankee-fied Randy "The Ape Drape" Johnson, who everyone expected to win 40 games and grudge-fuck Anna Benson on the mound after each one, merely as a way to re-assert the American League's primacy) that I lost like the 1977 Cubs at an Atlantic City craps table. Last year was slightly better, but that's like saying losing three fingers in a Cuisinart is slightly better than having a pack of rabid Dachshunds gnaw off both feet.
Anyway. I fully expect to beat all of these losers in every single matchup. (I notice 7 didn't bring up our ancillary football/baseball league, The Nat, in which I have experienced considerably more success, including a just-barely-unsuccessful run at the baseball championship. I blame southern Colorado educational system and that wicked Durango beer.)
I have a beef to beef. So let's to it:
LOCAL SPORTS TALK RADIO
In Denver--where I live with my ferocious Lhasa Apso Colonel Steve, and my equally ferocious wife, Brandy--our options are, or should I say were, Sporting News Radio on AM 560, starring the vaguely racist, saturnine dwarf Tim Neverett, or AM 950, starring a conglomeration of insufferable douchebags who have all bounced around the local media scene for years. There's Joe Williams, an ancient crank whose claims to fame are 1. he used to constantly agitate for John Elway to be traded and once suggested the Broncos replace him with Kansas State's Chad May, and 2. he got his start, ala JT The Brick, as a caller. There's Sandy Clough, whose voice is the aural equivalent of a ratchet screwdriver in the eye, Mark Moser, whose NASCAR-dude persona endears him to men who have sex with their daughters, and Irv Brown, who...well, he's actually not that bad. He is over 100, though.
A pretty motley crew--and it's gotten worse. Neverett, at least, once shared his show with Jim Armstrong, an unapologetic cheesehead but an actual reporter, and thus 560 would, on occasion, offer sports-related programming that rose above the usual shouts. Then the folks in charge broke them up, Armstrong went on to join Williams and Brown in a clumsy on-air threeway (I totally mini-puked in my throat upon writing that) and Neverett was left to carry the show by himself.
Neverett is a hockey fan. And not just a hockey fan--one of those hockey fans. The ones who get all pissed off and defensive when people say things like, "I don't really like hockey" or "hockey? Is that even still around?" The ones who call your sports intelligence into question for not knowing of--or let's be honest, caring about--the intricacies of the Left Wing lock. The ones who puff up about fighting (it's part of the game!) but think everyone in the NBA is out to steal their wallet.
So, with Armstrong's moderating influence gone, 560 in the morning became all pucks, all the time. They even started a segment with one of our two local dailies' hockey writers and introduced it with The Offspring's "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)."
I doubt they appreciated the unintentional comedy inherent in two flabby white dudes rapping about a third-tier Canadian pastime, preceded by a bad, 10-year-old song by one of America's all-time lamest bands, but whatev. Hockey and subtlety go together like toothpaste and beer.
Even so, it was my regular morning show. And two days ago, from nowhere, it disappeared, replaced by some national product out of Atlanta featuring a couple of mumbly dudes who laugh at themselves a lot. So I had to make the switch to 950. And Clough's yells have left my eardrums feeling like Trent Green's asshole after a night out with "the boys."
Please. For God's sake, Clear Channel, or Phil Anschutz, or whoever: bring back Armstrong and Neverett. They were the best of a very, very bad bunch. Read more
Posted by Cecil at 10:15 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Lifelong Assdom
I used to be a small fan of Adam Carolla, back when Loveline was only on the radio. Now, having heard him repeatedly make fun of the Playmaker's mother, he's my new best friend. By the way, can #88 ever conduct six seconds of television without repeatedly molesting the other men around him? Effin' douche.
Posted by blairjjohnson at 11:10 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Black Supremacists, Crack Pipes
The Most Boring Post You Will Ever Read
Man nothing, and I mean nothing, is more boring than hearing about another guy’s fantasy team. I love me some fantasy sports, and I play in a lot of leagues, but the thought of hearing some hairy loser detail his depth at catcher or his sleeper tight end makes me murderous. If I’m in the league, that’s great. That’s why we play. I’ll give you shit about how bad your QB is, and you’ll remind me that I always choke and you boned my mom last night, and we laugh heartily. But tell me about some random league and I’ll stab you in the thigh, punter.
That said, I need to issue a warning to that one reader we have. I’m now going to fucking BREAK DOWN a league that you are not in. It’s going to be boring as shit. It will be so lame you may want to go and watch Around The Horn. But sit tight, pal. You will get sucked in, for two good God damned reasons:
My team kicks ass
Everyone else’s team really blows
See? You’re already loving it. I’ve created an “Us-vs.-Them” theme that we’ll see through. First, a little history:
The Ted Williams Frozen Head league was created in 2004 by me. 2004 was a pretty rad year on several fronts. It was the year I met my future wife, the year I got my dog, and my best golf year ever. I broke 90 three times that year, and at some point in the future I’ll break down every hole—that will be thrilling. But more important than any of that shit, 2004 was the year baseball’s greatest franchise broke through, toppled your boys the Yankees, and won the title.
You may have heard something about this. There was a blood-soaked sock involved.
Anyway, we’d been playing fantasy football for years and it was sweet, so we took the plunge. In that inaugural year my team was really good in the regular season and then lost in the playoffs. My buddy (whom we’ll call Asshole Yankee Fan) won the title despite a clearly inferior club.
In 2005, the exact same thing happened. And last year too. There are eight other owners in this league, including the HoG’s very own Cecil and Bank, but they don’t matter much. This is about me and my nemesis, and he’s going down this year. These are your 2007 lineups for the Ted:
MAKING NOISES FOR MOISES This is my team, and we are bad ass. We’ve got Poo Holes and Berkman and Holliday. We hate the Yankees but we’ll take their stats, so we’ve got Matsui. Just so Hideki has someone to talk to, we obtained Matsuzaka (and we did NOT take him too early). Our strengths are awesome power, huge cocks and blazing fastballs resulting in humiliating strikeouts. We don’t give a shit about stolen bases, which are for fags, or relief pitching, which is for guys with much smaller cocks. This is a man’s team.
THREE-TIME DEFENDING CHAMPIONS JaRekPosTonSheffRod This is Asshole Yankee Fan’s team. Yes, he changes it with every successive title. What a douche, right? He also composed a mashed-up acronym composed of parts of Yankee names, half of whom are no longer on the fucking team. He needs a kick in the balls. His squad this season is old and slow, but with pretty good pitching. I’m going to beat his ass repeatedly.
THE ALEX GORDON EXPRESS This team belongs to Bankmeister. Due to our newly-signed truce which prohibits ripping on fellow HoG contributors, I will say only nice things about it. Moving on…
MONKEY SWARM REVISITED This club is owned by a myopic, hopeless Cubs fan, one of many in this league. It’s the only fantasy league he participates in, and occasionally things slip by him. For instance, he selected Francisco Liriano, and fairly early to boot. The good thing about the Monkeys is they make Banky’s team look competent.
FORT LUPTON LABIATORS First of all, let’s welcome Cecil into the mix. One of these days, that kid is going to start reading a different magazine, one that pisses him off a little less. As for his team, it’s got some positive elements. The lineup is very well-rounded if not very deep, and the bullpen is fairly excellent. The starting pitching is meager at best, however.
RED TANK TOP Most fantasy leagues don’t have certified little people as owners, but we do. This owner even had a bit part on that midget reality show. I’m afraid he didn’t bring his booster seat to the draft, unfortunately. After Garrett Atkins went in the first round (?), things went from bad to worse. There are many has-beens and never-weres, and the whole thing is a huge injury waiting to happen. Bad times.
THE CHICAGO POLLUTION The Catfish did not attend the draft, due to some crazy bullshit involving a dinner party and a wife he did not want to piss off. Fuck that. I bailed on a vacation with my in-laws and sat in a hotel lobby for three hours to craft by sweet squad. The Catfish has five catchers. Who wins? Digging deeper, the offense here is not that bad, and has a number of quality youngsters and a lot of steals. But the pitching, man. Ugly. Don’t miss your draft.
BANANA HAMMERS This particular club is owned by a gentleman we’ll call Hamster. Hamster’s got a good job, hot lady, he’s not a bad looking guy, and he’s just a total flaming homo. It’s not even funny how much this kid needs to come out to friends and family. Tom Cruise is like “Dude, seriously, you’re not fooling anyone.” Anyway, what kind of team would you think a closeted gay man would draft? A swishy bunch that strikes out a lot, with a pitching staff that throws lot of backdoor sliders? That would be Hamster. Sadly, he didn’t get his hands on Piazza.
THE CHRISTOPHER MOLTISANTI EXPERIENCE There’s talent here, a definite first-division bunch. But this owner tends to fall for the hot prospect and unrealized potential more than he should, and it will once again be his downfall.
MASONVILLE MACHINES Where could one begin with Stephanie Jane Dobbs? It’s best not to get into the specifics of this owner and stick to her team. She’s old, and she’s crippled, and she’s not good. And she has a shortstop on trial for murder. Other than that, aces.
See, lone reader? Now you feel like a part of something bigger, a community of winning. This is just super. I’ll keep you posted throughout the season on how “we” are doing.
FOR OFFICE USE ONLY: I think we should personally embrace-slash-attack every individual reader we ever acquire. We'll get huge that way.
Labels: Alleged Murderers, Baseball, Moms, Poo Holes
Feasting on the Least Meast in the East, or: Why Michael Silver has Barry Switzer running down his chin
I've spent too long on this sideline. Put me in, coach. I'm ready to play. Today. Look at me--I can be another asshole spouting ill-informed opinions on the world wide webs. What took me this long? Well, if you spend as much on Thai ladyboy prostitutes as I do, you know you ain't about to get anything but your money's worth.
But Aun finally left, taking my heart and $14 with him. So I have nothing to do but comment on Michael Silver's continuing quest to be the biggest ass-kisser in major media.
If you aren't familiar with Silver--or "The Silv," as I shall hereby refer to him for reasons entirely my own--he writes about football for Sports Illustrated. Sometimes.
Mostly what he does is profile the lifestyles of the rich and athletic in columns titled "Rollin' With..." And "Bring on the Weekend." I haven't a clue why the editors at si.com bothered differentiating the two, because both share the same bootlicking conceit: athletes are cool. And rich. And they drive nice cars and eat expensive food and look! Here I am hanging with them! And calling them by their first names!
Pretty standard fare for that breed of sportswriter. Some guys just want to be around that aura of fame and don't care about J-school bullshit like "objectivity" or "reportorial responsibility." But The Silv takes the form a step further--he admits, openly, that these are his rooting interests. His boys.
A bit o' background on The Silv. He evidently grew up in the Bay Area as a Niners fan. And worked for the Sacramento Bee as a beat reporter, covering that same squad. At some point, Eddie DeBartolo let him carry some towels out of the locker room.
From that point forward, every fourth line of every piece The Silv churns out calls that mean ol' NFL power structure to task for dunning his pal Eddie out of the league. What a class act, The Silv will tell you. Gambling? Fah. Who cares? He flew me out to Las Vegas with the team and I had my own room and everything. The York family? Whores and satanists. Did I mention he gave me a hug? Because he did.
And not just DeBartolo. If you ever played for, worked for or showed even a passing interest in the team, The Silv thinks you are Awesome (capital A on purpose...we don't fuck around with capitalization mistakes at The House of Georges). You were not only underappreciated as a (player, coach, locker room assistant, "masseuse" for Mr. Rice) but possibly deserve Hall of Fame consideration. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a moron. And lying. And probably a whorish satanist.
Of course, his fawning doesn't end there. He has a few faves in other arenas as well--pretty much anyone who ever gave him an interview, actually. This week, the target of his love is that famous bumpkin, Barry Switzer.
You might have thought that Switzer was a pretty good college coach and an excellent recruiter, back when big schools employed armies of barely-concealed hookers, test-takers and 'roid dealers as line items in their athletic departments' budgets (these days, they pay 'em under the table). You might have thought that a guy who once supposedly pulled a pistol on his team IN THE HUDDLE and threatened to shoot his running backs with it if they kept fumbling was, well, a blinkered asshole. You might have felt that a guy who liked to run up scores on teams like Drake and Baylor--way, way up--was just another big-program bully. You might have thought that...whore. Satanist.
No. Actually, Barry is a genius. A coach who inspires such love and affection that he can park anywhere he wants at a school he no longer works for, who asks his daughter to give him enemas, who trades jokes with his good pal, noted non-dickface Toby Keith. You thought anyone could coach that '95 Cowboys team to the Super Bowl? You're so stupid we can barely stand the thought of you dying painfully--such a fate would be far, far better than you deserve. Barry, through a combination of brilliant motivational strategy and ol' fashioned values (why, he skipped Saturday meeting to watch his son's football games!), did something that pathetic coaches like, say, Bud Grant never could have.
And then there's the Natalie Coughlin factor. Who the fuck, you're mumbling in between bites of Totino's Pizza Roll, is Natalie Coughlin? Only America's greatest competitive swimmer EVER. She's called "The Golden Girl" by people in the know. People like The Silv. Did The Silv mention his book about Natalie Coughlin? It's called "Golden Girl: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America's Olympic Champion." That's Natalie Coughlin, golden girl, in case we hadn't mentioned it. Natalie. Golden. Champion. Book. The Silv. Buy on amazon.com right now for $13.54 (down from $24.95)
The Silv also believes that the University of California at Berkeley is the Center of the Universe (no, really, that's the title of a regular feature in his column).
Now, I lived in San Francisco for a few wonderful, hazy months as a teen, and spent a lotta time in Berkeley (and the Oakland ghetto, but that's another post, and I'd need to borrow Ol' No. 7's Greeel-pic for it). I dig Berkeley. My dad, Cecil the 1st, was kicked out of Cal back in the '40s. My mom's fam helped settle the area in the 1880s. So we have some history there.
But The Silv's maunderings about Cal this, Cal that, Cal Women's Softball(!) and Adam Duritz, who went to Cal and has dreadlocked hair extensions, are so far beyond the pale as to make the pale seem positively ruddy. As an occasional supporter of UCLA--long story, more family ties, plus my first basketball ever was the old gold-n-blue--it makes my teeth hurt to even think about. If Marshawn Lynch asked The Silv to lie face down in a pile of catshit so he and his boys could throw bones on his back, The Silv would immediately produce a well-fed cat with diarrhea. Read more
Bitchin' in the Kitchen
Real quick—all apologies for my inexcusable absence. I’ve been traveling and scouting, preparing the distended mound of awesome that is my 2007 National League Preview. While I finish that opus, I need to quickly call out a few offenders for pissing me off:
DENVER BRONCOS I can’t believe you extended the contract of Dre Bly. The beauty of that pickup was contained in Bly’s lame duck contract status. If he sucked this year, you could wash your hands of him. If he was average, you could negotiate, and if he was excellent you could franchise his ass. Now your stuck with him, at $16 million guaranteed, and I predict awful ramifications.
UNCLE CECIL Since we have apparently picked up an actual reader, it must be explained that Cecil is the most talented writer (link NSFW) here at the HoG. If you think Bly’s contract is measty you should see the compensation awarded to Mr. Superstar Spotlight Editor Guy. I’m happy to work for the league minimum, but as a teammate to this prima donna I’m getting mildly irked at his lack of output. Let’s see it, Unc.
LENDALE WHITE The Titans, after letting Travis Henry go, are expecting big things from the ex-Trojan. Concerns about his gut and character caused him to drop to the second round, and it appears that may have been generous. Lendale showed up for an offseason conditioning program weighing a svelte 260 pounds. I think we’ve solved the dilemma of that missing D-tackle the Broncos were trying to acquire from the Dolphins, Lendale ate him.
THE ONE READER Listen, dude. I’m happy that you read the blog, and I respect your hatred of Red Sox Nation. It’s true, we have a lousy and entirely well-deserved rep. I myself am not a Masshole and have never lived in New England, but I can imagine it’s overbearing and annoying. But here’s my point: KC fans are always bitching that the fans of other teams, in other cities, are mean and lame. Fine. But how do you appear to out-of-town fans that move to Kansas City? What’s that? No one willingly moves to Kansas City? I see. Apparently, your city and your teams are so fantastic that everyone leaves them, moves to actual desirable places to live and then bitches about the hometown fans. Classy.
MICHAEL RAY RICHARDSON Michael Ray is not, apparently, down with the John Amaechis and (Insert prominent Jewish basketball star)s of the world. I don’t take offense with what he said (as I’m neither Jewish nor gay) but I’m very disappointed with his lame, lame apology. Mike, that shit will get you nowhere. Have we not learned anything from Pete Rose, Tim Hardaway, Dan Issel, Janet Jackson, Kramer, etc., etc.? Notice that none of those people have jobs. The half-ass, “if I offended anyone” apology is always more offensive than whatever you said, because it means you really don’t give a shit. Own up, and say that you’re a bigot, or a degenerate gambler, or a crackhead, or a serial boob-flasher, and America will forgive you. By the way, Michael Ray was a very talented hoops star back in the day. Do you know why he is so familiar with the Tel Aviv airport? Because he had to play overseas for decades after getting banned from the NBA. For being a crackhead. Nice life.
INSOMNIA Never again will you fuck with me. I have found the cure, and it's not a pill, it's not a leafy green smokeable, it's not a distilled spirit, nor is it a good jerk into the sleeve of Mike's long-sleeve t-shirt. It's the HoG's hockey coverage. Man, that's some strong sedative. I'm getting sleepy just thinking about it. Good times.
Posted by old no. 7 at 11:12 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Labels: Big Fat People, Crazy Fuckers, Football, Incurable Diseases, White Supremacists
Quarterfinals Two Weeks Out: Western (Team Stud) Conference Preview
All but one seed is locked up in the Western Conference and this year's selection of post-season contenders has, including the East, the potential to feature -- make sure you're sitting -- five of six Canadian clubs. That's not unusual, you might say. No, I would answer. It's not. It's just that no other conglomeration of canucks has ever spelled early exit more convincingly than this year's combo. Further, there are some strong surprises slated to grapple for professional sports' oldest trophy. Some have come out of nowhere, while others have ridden steam from last year's efforts. Some still might need the luck of ol' J.C. Nope. Not the 14-year-old Denver Bronco quarterback. I mean the son of God. That guy's got a killer wrist shot. Not all of these clubs are stacked enough to go deep, though. Let's have a gander. Shall we?
Early November indicated that 'Hawks might have righted their ship and set themselves up for some ass-kicking in the Central. But it was not to be. Denis Savard's club dropped to their knees faster than Britney Spears in a home video shooting. And the Blue Jackets -- well, they were never really in it. But God bless those fans for their continued support of a team with such a masculinely named mascot. The Blues waited about 712 days too long before firing Mike Kitchen; Andy Murray appears to have turned the club's fortune around. And the RedWings. Ah, yes. When I think of the club that calls Joe Louis Arena home, I have the urge to quote Charlton Heston quoting Ice-T's dynamic track "Cop Killer." Dan Quayle's pretty riveting when he does it, too. This division's real story is of course the Nashville Preds. I refuse to type that with a "z" on the end, as it's gayness threatens to seep into my pores via my fingertips.
But take acquistions like former Sabre J.P. Losman, Peter "Where has my game gone?" Forsberg, and add them to a mix consisting of Kimmo Timonen, Darcy Hordicuk, Jason Arnott, Jordin Tootoo, and, of course, Paul Kariya, and you'd best look the fuck out. Throw the combo of Tomas Vokoun and Chris Mason in net (49 combined wins w/ save percentages at .920 or higher) and these guys are pure hope wreckers. Look for the Preds to go much further than their dismal effort a year ago.
Allow me to be the first to suggest that, after this season, we rename this group Division Disappointment. For real. These guys have sent four, often times five, of five clubs into the playoffs almost every year. Calgary will most likely clinch the eighth and final spot, but sheesh. What the eff happened? The Oilers were on Lord Stanley's doorstep last year. Colorado had won like nine consecutive division titles, and the Flames, are, well, the Flames. They'll likely continue their tradition of crumbling like under-baked graham cracker crust once they face a non-handicapped club. This leaves us with those that have already clinched. The Wild might be this season's biggest surprise. Gaborik, young Koivu, and old man Demitra are in. But not for long. Maybe even a first-round exit. Then there's the Canucks. In first place. I must admit, they play some decent stick. But a bunch of pretty-goods and some ass-lovin' gemelos ain't gonna cut it. Say good bye to Vancouver in the second round.
This pack swaps more spit than lesbian porn stars. Let's start at the bottom. The Phoenix Coyotes. Ugh. How miserable can you get? And, how can you fire the Great One? Glad I don't have to answer those questions. The Los Angeles Kings. Here's a memo for you: Dear Kings' Front Office -- Remember that one time when you thought firing Andy Murray was a good idea (see above reference to Murray's Blues)? Christ. Those guys take more sac in the face than your average (Herpes-infested or not) wrestler. The San Jose Sharks and the Dallas Stars are both in, tied today at 98 points. They're good enough to knock some opponents off in the regular season, but rarely possess the conviction to get 'er done in the post-season. That leaves us with one of the most fierce competitors in the West: Anaheim. Take heed, all foes that skate onto the pond. Rob Niedermeyer and Teemu Selanne are two tough lil' SOBs. They take more slashes, cross-checks, and boards than most little guys combined. Throw in Todd Marchant and the consistent between-the-irons play of Jean-Sebastien Giguere and count the Ducks in as Western Conference Finalists. Their Achilles' however, comes in the form of a giant vagina. If that "guy" can stay healthy, and play the clamp-down D he's capable of, the Ducks will likely face the Sabres in the Finals. Read more
Posted by blairjjohnson at 2:35 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Canada, Hockey, Playoffs
Quarterfinals Two Weeks Out: Eastern (Team Gay) Conference Preview
Most NHL teams are down to their final six or seven games in this year's regular season, and the league, as usual, is shaping up to have some mainstay post-season appearances, as well as a few surprises. HoG, in this first of a two-part series, takes a peek at what mid-April will bring to the ice. The East has managed to steal the last two cups and, while annually gay in the mouth (not that there's anything wrong with that), threatens to do so again with an array of talent and firepower.
No one has yet to clinch here, but seeing the Devils serge in the springtime is about as given as Mexicans ogling big-breasted blond American girls. Marty Brodeur continues to tantalize crease invaders in stud-like fashion, and team point leader Patrick Elias, with the help of Scott "yes, I really am from Alaska" Gomez (46 helpers) and sophomore surprise Zach Parise, their offensive forces hover above average. The Devils' D, however, has been less than attractive this year. Brian Rafalski and this guy -- oops, I meant this guy -- have got to tighten up their zone control.
But clearly, the surprise out of the Atlantic, and perhaps the league, this year, is the gelling of the top-tiered youth known as the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now that they have a handle on some new digs in the Steel City, they can focus on bursting into the race for the Cup. Now. But their youth could kill them. League points leader/Penguin phenom Sidney Crosby never ceases to amaze. Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar consistenly dish the disc to their teammates, and the grinding of Mark Recchi is always a plus. Add the toughness of Georges Laraque and the surprising output of Jordan Staal, you've got a recipe for a big batch of scary. Their D ain't half-bad either. To make a push, though, they'll need more consistency out of young netminder Marc-Andre Fleury and veteran forward Gary Roberts.
Both New York clubs could sneak in but the Rangers -- these guys thought they were cursed until Weeping Willow Messier lifted them and the Cup, wait 'til the curse of signing that pussy Lindros creeps up on six decades and makes the Bambino's curse seem like pennies -- just plain don't show up for half of their games. When they do -- see this weekend's pair of one-goal victories over the Islanders and the Bruins -- they're squrimish and unpredictable. The Islanders are right behind the Rangers, but, well, no buts, they just blow.
Two teams have clinched in this barrio. Not surprising, are the ever-unpredictable Ottawa Senators. I never know how to read these guys. They're like the playground bully that instills lifelong fear and nightmares into you while knocking you senseless, then trips over your carcass on his way inside, and cries after skinning his knee on the asphalt. On paper they should push most foes around, but traditionally, they wind up caving. For now, count them in as first-round winners. Stellar play out of the creepy-eyed, man-slaughtering Dany Heatley and Senator touchstone Daniel Alfredsson will be their driving force. The Sens' Zdeno Chara-less D can play some frightening stick. It's just a matter of how much endurance they have. And if I were Head Coach Bryan Murray, picking Ray Emery over Martin Gerber to start in net would be like picking testicle puncturing over repeated sodomy. Yikes.
The other Northeast clincher, the Buffalo Sabres, are to be feared, perhaps like no other. The perennial adult movie award finalist that leads this club not only threatens to advance to the finals with more fervor than perhaps any other, he also may overtake Bill Cowher's longest-tenured professional head coach award, as well as his chin notoriety. Last year's Sabres would not go away. They played insane hockey, and came out of this season's gate pissed off. Their O, Afinogenov, Briere, Drury, Hecht, just to name a few, dominates the attack zone. And they're physical. With Numminen and Spacek anchoring the D, and Ryan Miller between the pipes, all opponents had best look the fuck out. These guys are fast, and they will cum in your Corn Flakes after banging your sister. They're my early pick to represent the East in late May.
Montreal and Toronto are still in the hunt, too. But they're the ice hockey equivalent to the duo that "starred" in the "movie" "Dumb & Dumber." That "film" was so retarded it should've been called "Retarded & Retardeder." Second thought, what was the "sequel" called? Nevermind.
This pack is kind of a crapshoot at this point. Like the Atlantic, they have some forces, yet no one has pulled away. The Atlanta Thrashers have a slight edge at this stage, but like all Atlanta clubs, they could very well shit the bed before it's all said and done. And that would be dangerous with the two previous Cup Champions waiting to strip the pigskin on what would make this race a two-touchdown lead. Bob Hartley, just as he's done with clubs in the past, has his crew playing tough. Their stacked roster, "added to" by late-season acquistion Keith Tkachuk, has to continue to play tough together, especially when they get down early.
At the back door are the Tampa Bay Lightning. Lightning Head Coach John Tortorella, refuses to not only give up the salt-and-pepper goatee look, but to let his squad play anything less than finesse. The Lecavalier-Fedotenko-St. Louis line outwits any defensive pairing the Lightning will see once they've squeezed in. The Lightning's problem is that that's their weapon, and it's no secret. Their D is either gray or green, and still-young journeyman Marc Denis remains far from late-round-worthy material. Good luck to this club.
That leaves the defending champs. Peter Laviolette is still waving the SuFi at the monkeys that run the New York Islanders, whom thought that canning Laviolette in favor of a sideshow, including current "coach" Ted Nolan, was a good idea. Mega-oops. The often-pondered "How much does a good coach really matter?" skips right over the Carolina Hurricanes' bench boss. He's a bad ass. And a community pillar as well. His club, having lost a few players to free agency, is still playing hard-nosed, smart yet quick hockey. But they're getting old. Fast. Their team captain ain't alone in this regard either. Goalie Cam Ward might be one of five exceptions on this team. The others absolutely have to stay healthy. Or the 'Canes are doomed. They'll scrap their way in, perhaps even to the winning side of a seven-game QF, but not much further. They can match up with most any contender, but they must work doubly hard to stay in the fight 'til the end.
I suppose Florida could bribe someone and get in, but, like the rest of the league, they have no money. So that ain't happenin'. And Washington? Sheesh. They thought they were reaping the harvest when the dumped that ass clown Jagr a few years ago. Survey says? Nope. Still blowing.
Stay tuned for thoughts on the Jim Morrison Conference.
Ron Mexico Jerseys Don't Get You Free Wi-Fi in the ATL Airport
Mirroring the sentiments of my colleague, today holds no time for bullshit. Lucky for sports fans, every other day of the year does. In a brief layover en route to Cancun to attend a wedding of one of the future Mrs. Bankmeister's friends, I offer these kind sentiments.
As the always-lame National Bitch Association's season drags the holy term professional through another muddy season, hoops chatter orbits around the Mayor of Homoville. I really enjoy continuing to hear about what a "team" effort last year's 81-point outing was. And how it was totally better than Wilt's hundo. Thrilling. Seriously. With the draft around the corner (I think the four-letter network starts coverage tomorrow), NHL playoffs on the horizon, and Opening Day drawing nearer, I really hope that Dr. Douche Bag's L.A. crew makes a real streak out of these recent wins. 'Cause I be needin' me a Kobe fix like nothin' else.
In other entirely pounded-into-the-ground news, Papelbon won't start this season for the Beantowners. Who flippin' cares? Bullpens and rotations mix it up all season long every year. Make the announcement. Move on.
Tubby Smith will mark the third black man to take up residence in the state of Minnesota; New Mexico -- do they actually have sports in the Land of Enchantment -- got a new coach; Tony LaRussa agreed to help David Wells "seriously cut down on his alcohol consumption"; Royals' hurler Zach Greinke is legitimately crazy (I especially love the parts where he talks ad nauseum about Chipotle, his girlfriend's "special mouth", and Justin Timberlake); the Big XII remains represented in the tourney; and Matt Schaub is a Texan. Yes. A Texan.
For real. Nice work passing on Reggie Bush and Vince Young so that you could afford to pay David Carr more undeserved American dollars. That's some stellar business. Who's steering that ship? HoG has its ideas. Meantime, I'll have another tequila. Salud. Read more
Labels: Burritos, Gayness, Papelboners
AL East Preview: Believe It
No time for bullshit, I'm off to sunny Arizona for some Spring Training scouting and poon tang. But the big news yesterday was that the Boston Red Sox won the American League East with their decision to return Jon Papelbon to the closer role. Die, Yankees, die.
Labels: Baseball, Papelboners
AL Central Preview: How four big bucks bent KC over and did not call back
Man, this division is good. Kansas City could lose every single game, and they very well might, and it would still be the best division in baseball. The American League Central has pitching, it has powerhouse lineups, it has crusty old veterans and the next wave of superstar kids, it has a recent World Champ, and it has crazy fuckers like Ozzie and Sheff (who are guaranteed to scuffle at some point this season). Loaded.
I believe it was 1995 when baseball realigned, and Kansas City was not too far removed from being an actual major league franchise. MLB stuck the Royals in the AL Central, far from their old foes of the West and away from the powerful big-money Eastern clubs. This was a tremendous advantage for the Royals, as they were handed a schedule filled with easy ass games. So what did they do with it? Well, they pissed it all away through decisions that were cheap and stupid, and their division evolved into an insurmountable pit of death.
First, Cleveland got good and went to a couple World Series in the 90s. They wavered after the core of those teams left, but have rebuilt with new stars and little pitching. Then the Twins turned into the Oakland A’s of the Upper Midwest, a small-market club that actually thinks about how it conducts its business. The White Sox, under the maniacal leadership of HoG patron saint Ozzie Guillen, rode a stacked pitching staff to a World Series Win in 2005. And last season Detroit followed the same formula to advance to the all Classic, where they clumsily gave the title to the Cardinals (who are still celebrating, apparently).
I don’t have a gut feeling on this division, as I can legitimately see four teams winning it. Let’s break it down, with the assumption that the Royals are last in every category:
PITCHING ROTATION Minnesota 1, Detroit 2, Chicago 3, Cleveland 4. With the price of even mediocre pitching this offseason (see here and here), it’s understandable that the Tribe and the Sox didn’t go after any name arms. But at least Chicago’s Kenny Williams made some moves to get younger in the rotation, and Mark Buehrle may regain his form.
BULLPEN Minnesota 1, Detroit 2, Chicago 3, Cleveland 4. As good as Santana is, this is the strength of the Twins. Setting up Joe Nathan are reliable arms like Jesse Crain and Juan Rincon. Todd Jones is not much of a closer, but the Tigers’ pen is deep and Jim Leyland knows how to use it.
LINEUP Chicago 1, Cleveland 2, Detroit 3, Minnesota 4. This is the toughest call, but I think the White Sox have a veteran group that knows how to lay wood to leather. Sheffield makes the Tigers way better, and the Twins have a number of easy outs—placing more pressure on the pitching staff.
DEFENSE I think Ozzie might have to man short, as Juan Uribe was involved in a minor murder over the winter. Honestly, does anyone give a shit about defense these days? It’s not like it costs anyone a World Series or anything, Detroit.
RESOURCES Detroit 1, Chicago 2, Cleveland 3, Minnesota 4. If moves need to be made, the Tigers have shown a willingness to part with dollars and/or prospects to make it happen. They are taking advantage of their window. Williams has publicly stated that the White Sox will not engage in ludicrous spending, but they still maintain a $100 million-plus payroll. The Indians’ Mark Shapiro and the Twins’ Terry Ryan subscribe to the Bill Stoneman school of testicle-free GM’ing.
ALL IN ALL I think the White Sox still have it. Their pitching is iffy, and they could tune out their manager at any minute, but the sticks are there and I think they blew an opportunity last season. The wild card will almost certainly come from this division as well, and I see Detroit edging the Twins for that distinction.
Chicago 95 wins
Labels: Baseball, Crazy Fuckers, Don Denkinger, Prison Rape
AL West Preview: Why the Rally Monkey Willfully Bruises Your Asshole
The higher-ups here at the HoG have issued an assignement. "We need baseball previews," they say, "Every sports web site on the Internets publish baseball previews." Baseball previews are, in my humble opinion, (((gay))). But I do what I'm told, and I'll start with the easiest division to predict. These are the facts:
One, the Anaheim Angels of California will win the American League West.
Two, the management and ownership of the Angels hates the teams' fans.
Throughout baseball, you hear the age-old debate over winning now with high-priced veterans versus winning later with prospects. Some teams have this decision made for them due to their revenue. The Pirates almost universally shed salary and perpetually rebuild with youngsters. The income and recent success of the Yankees dictate that they sign top-dollar free agents and trade prospects for midseason help.
And then you have the Angels, who are in a major media market and have a rich, competitive owner, yet refuse to act as though they have the resources to compete in modern-day baseball. The AL West is lousy, and it is inexcusable that Los Anaheim is not running away with this division on an annual basis. Ever since their improbable title run in 2002, the Angels have had countless oportunities to move from one-hit wonder to perennial power, yet have shit on their fans by not doing so. They did sign big-time FAs Vladimir Guerrero and B.F. Bartolo Colon prior to the 2004 campaign, but otherwise every offseason and every trading deadline has been met with stone silence from Angels GM Bill Stoneman.
The excuses are alway the same. Los Anaheim possesses arguably the best farm system in baseball, stocked with prospects at every position that make scouts and greasy geeks drool. Stoneman steadfastly refuses to deal these potential stars for help now, resigning his team to a fate filled with borderline mediocrity.
Name any superstar who's been on the trading block over the last half-decade, and the Angels have lacked the balls to obtain him. Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, The Big Unit, Gary Sheffield all could have set up shop in th OC, but Stoneman sat on his hands and let them go. He always justified this inaction as protection of the minor leaguers, but that strategy is as full of holes as Dallas McPherson's swing.
Two years ago McPherson was the No. 1 hitting prospect in baseball, a third baseman in possession of monstrous power. Every team dangled All-Star players at Stoneman to pry him away, but the GM stood firm. In his career, Mac has shown a little pop (18 HR in 360 AB) but he doesn't hit for average, strikes out too much and is a defensive butcher. There are fifty 3Bs in the bigs better than him. He's still young, and he may eventually blossom into the next Scott Rolen or Chipper Jones or better. But it's a coin flip, while Manny Ramirez is an absolute sure thing. Yes, that sure thing includes not only a great average and power numbers but also immature goofiness and a $20 million salary, but Manny wins Major League Baseball games. Dallas McPherson exists only in the wet dreams of scouts.
Keep 'em comin'...Ervin Santana, Howie Kendrick, Francisco Rodriguez, Casey Kotchman, Brandon Wood, Jered Weaver, Kendry Morales, Robb Quinlan, Jeff Mathis, etc. All theoretical studs who may one day comprise a dynasty. More likely, one will reach superstardom, a handful more will evolve into solid big leaguers, and fully half of these kids will flame out entirely. They're coin flips. Use some, and treat the rest as the commodities they are and cash them in. Your fans, which supported you through decades of futility and fill your ballpark nightly, deserve as much.
AL WEST:
Los Anaheim 90 wins
UPDATE: Angels Fans are falling for it again. God help the children.
Labels: Baseball, Big Fat People
Blatant Queefage
I can't get the comment link to work right now; if I could, I'd be leaving Lucky Number Slevin with a comment on his overtly racist post about Caucasian wide outs. Just because Johnnie Walker Orange is upset that his brother's ancestors didn't deposit said ancestral seed in his family tree doesn't give him any grounds to plaster these walls with generalization.
Let's be real here. I know tons of NFL fans. And neither one of them is a racist. In fact, they both whack (the PC term for mulatto). Every time Wes Welker catches a pass, my homeys cheer for the oppressed white man receiver and the Randy Mosses of the world at the same time.
Now that guy can play. When he wants to. As long as he ain't mad atcha'. Or playing in California. Or Minnesota. Or hungover. Or fresh out of traffic court. But anyway, Ol' Slevin had another point in mind. He just didn't know how to voice it.
That's what I'm here for. He really, really really likes any ties the Dirty Broncos can have with the Indianapolis Clowns. Especially if in some tangential way, it reflects upon Eli-esque (don't forget Daddy) behavior. He's secretly Stoke-leyd about the acquistion. But enough about that. I ain't tryin' to bring up old shit. Or new shit. Just shit, really.
What I is tryin' to bring up is the black quarterback. And its synonymity with general suckdom. Okay. Sure. Warren Moon -- great. Kind of. Randall Cunningham -- pretty damn good. Usually. Donovan "Chunky Soup" McNabb -- wouldn't mind having him on my team. If he could stay healthy and not lose three consecutive conference championships followed by a Super Bowl. Michael Vick -- whatever. Go ahead. Play the Doug Williams card while I take a quick nap and dream of ridiculous statements. Like the one at the top of this post.
Anyhoo. I'm pretty excited about Casey Printers continuing to occupy a spot on the Chiefs' roster. That guy's pretty good. If you like 6'2", 222-pound, CFL leftover, fumble-prone quarterbacks. I like how the Chiefs cut Printers more times that a side of deli pastrami, only to bring him back from the practice squad when Trent Green went down. Good times. I don't care how razzled Green's noggin was, how long it had been since Damon Huard had started a game, or how many times Brodie Croyle broke his leg in Tuscaloosa. I'd sew together pieces of each of those guys before ever giving Printers the reins. And I'm pretty sure his suckiness is attributable to one factor: his blackness.
Seriously. Maybe if some slave owner would've knocked up his grandmama mama out behind the shed, that guy could, how do you say, take a snap and not totally blow.
This all ties together nicely, really. Lets keep whitey under center and blackey runnin' routes. But only in games. We ain't tryin' to talk about practice, here. By the way, anyone wanna buy a seldom-worn Marc Boerigter jersey? It's a steal. Oh. Nevermind. I'ma keep that one. He's white. I'm racist. And for my money, those two adjectives are like peanut butter and jelly.
Labels: Football, Giant Babies, Whiners
I hate WRs (white receivers)
My Denver Broncos took the entirely unwelcome step of signing Brandon Stokely today, a move that will be heralded by the mainstream press as "smart." That's because the mainstream press knows about as much about winning football as the gum on my shoe (Juicy Fruit, by the viscosity).
At one point I was a fan of the white receiver. Not that I was one of these a-holes that would cheer just a bit louder when Steve Watson or Ed McCaffrey made a play--those guys are racist pricks. Rather, I was truly color-blind when it came to one of the NFL's most traditionally "black" positions. If a kid could play, he could play. Race had nothing to do with it.
But in the hypercompetitive world of salary-cap-dictated football, white receivers are the kiss of death. Because of their higher-than-justified profile among the aforementioned racist prick fan base, they demand higher-than-justified salaries, mucking up the competitive stew on their respective teams.
Scouts Inc. provided this list of the 2007 free agent class. You need to be an Insider of the four-letter network to see their grades, but I'll give you the pertinent info. The best WRs were listed as Donte' Stallworth (70 out of 100), Drew Bennett (68), Kevin Curtis (67), Antonio Bryant (66), Joe Horn (65), Eric Moulds (63), and Wes Welker (63). This is not a good class, and none of these guys are going to make a huge impact in terms of winning games for their teams. But the pattern of their signings indicates an overreliance on pale-faced pass-catchers, and these multi-million-dollar mistakes will hurt teams years into the future.
Stallworth, the troubled yet talented ex-Eagle and -Saint, got $3.6 million guaranteed from the Patriots. Welker, the diminutive erstwhile Dolphin, signed a contract guaranteeing him $9 million. Now I know that Welker is a force in the return game and Stallworth is a lazy pothead, but the dark receiver is three times the receiver that the light one is, yet Whitey gets three times the cash.
Likewise, Drew Bennett got $10 mil guaranteed from the Rams while the Eagles gave Kevin Curtis 9.5. Joe Horn inked a contract with the Falcons guaranteeing him $7.5 million. Bennett and Curtis are of the caucasian variety, while Horn is of African descent. Again, when you look at on-field performance, Horn is head and shoulders above his white brothers.
Unfortunately, the root cause of this travesty is the fan. Just as the overwhelmingly white fan bases of NBA teams simply adore their John Barrys, Fred Hoibergs and Tim Leglers, NFL fans are big on their white receivers with absoultely no justification. How do these cats help you win games? If they're getting paid the league minimum that's one thing, but the money Welker, Curtis and Bennett are bringing in is legitimate dough that could go to actual players.
Which all brings us to Stokely. I do not hate him per se, I'm sure he's nice to his mom and all. But there's no room on this team for him. We've already got one fragile return specialist in Quincy Morgan, one honky overachiever in David Kircus, and one aging pizza salesman in Rod Smith. Signing Stokely is nothing more than throwing a bone to the racist prick fan, and he's still satisfied that we got rid of Ray Rhodes. Brandon Stokely, you're not welcome in Colorado.
Labels: Ex-Colts, Football, Juicy Fruit, White Supremacists
Pujols is a fun word to say, as is (redacted)
Man, I guess I'd best quit dicking around and actually earn a paycheck around here. My tenure at the HoG is starting to resemble when I worked at Go-Go Magazine for Uncle Cecil and sold dozens of ads. And by dozens I mean none, but I did write a review of a Moroccan restaurant that gave me a case of Edgar Renteria in Albert's Pujols.
Um, that called for the drummer to do the little ba-dum-cha! on his high hat. And I heard no high hat. What kind of site are we running here?
Seriously, I think we need a little staff meeting, and we're out of tomato juice in the darkroom. What is to be the modus operandi, the calling card, the God damned mission statement of this undertaking? I have two main concerns, nay, make that three.
The Blizzard of Nair already knows how to format shit, make links, and for fuck's sake he put a YouTube clip in today. That is totally unfair. I did not purchase my copy of Blogging For Dummies and I hate being behind the curve.
I feel as though we need some rough, basic guidelines on style. A common font and font size, for instance, would improve readability. But beyond that, what are the ground rules? Obviously, we're cussing, but are we cussing in such a way that if the Blizzard's mom were to read the HoG she would be mildly disappointed in her boy? Or repulsed by the vulgarity? Will we publish smutty photos? Of hot chicks only, or of the scrotal variety as well?
Most important, what is it we're trying to say and to whom are we saying it? I have apparently addressed this post not to my buddies but some anonymous third party. Are we trying to do what KSK, With Leather and Deadspin do, only better? Worse? Worse is OK, but if we go there I think we should celebrate our worstness. I am tremendously concerned about originality. I wouldn't ever want to type in the royal we because that's Leitch's schtick and it's sublimely brilliant. I am not completely comfortable with the "tits & sports" in the tagline--only because on With Leather's "Saint Andrew's Net" dump link it says "expect sports and tits." Finally, I have the tiniest of nits to pick about the name of our baby. The original inside joke was Houses of George. Now House of Georges is not bad, and it's even more inside, and when the Wife asked what it meant I was able to pass it off as "some hockey term of (redacted)." It sound vaguely French or something.
Anyway, there it is. These discussions could have easily taken place in the e-mail, but my massive laziness dictated a post here.
Labels: Moms, Poo Holes, The Blizzard of Nair
Breaking News from Cherished Sports Figure formerly of The Monkees
House of Georges is delighted that Micky Dolenz offered the media his top five pet peeves of the sporting world. That is 100% of awesome. Just what sports needed: a washed-up wanker that used to offer percussion to the stellar quartet The Monkees. Before we get to Mickey's sports irks, let's peek at some gems from his web site.
Here's a cute little poem:
"Love is a Verb"
Love isn't a place you will find some sunny day.
Love isn't a thing you can keep or give away.
Love isn't a person that will make your dreams come true.
Love isn't something you find it's something you do.
Fabulous. Almost as moving as my bowels after Old #7's biscuits and gravy.
Interesting tidbits in Micky's bio include "Circus Boy," the name of the first television show he starred in as a 10-year old. Highlights of the show's two-year run include the episode where the young actor finds himself to be the receptacle of a Zeppelin/Stones bukkake-off. More recent news finds Dolenz directing "Boy Meets World" with everyone's favorite actor's brother Ben Savage. Fred, by the way, has really gone places since never nailing Winnie Cooper. Nice work on that, Kev'. I also really, really like that Micky "got the job" of Monkees drummer as an actor who had to then learn to play the drums. Electric musicianship always works in that order, no? Micky's site also has some rockin' photos, like the one where he's wearing a Daisy Duke top and taking a leak on his kid sister. Savory.
Nevertheless, the list, courtesy of Union-Tribune News Services.
Former Monkees drummer and big sports fan Micky Dolenz gives The Atlanta Journal-Constitution five things that tick him off about sports today:
1. Intentional fouling has become an accepted strategy in basketball. There is something fundamentally anti-American about that.
Uh, what? Basketball=American. Fouling=synonymous with violence, a favorite American pasttime (just ask Tank Johnson). Intentionally stopping the clock to prevent time from expiring which results in you losing=intelligent. Try again, Davy. I mean Micky. You fags have something against "e"s by the way?
2. Hockey has become a barroom brawl thinly disguised as a sport. There is something immoral about that.
Shut the fuck up. Hockey hasn't "become" anything. You (regardless of your days disguised as Peter the Puck) are just paying attention to it more. They've always brawled in it. They're just better at it now. Wanker. Not to mention the fact that, in your photos, your wardrobe leaves you "thinly disguised" as a man.
3. Soccer can't get any mainstream television coverage because there are no forced, unnatural commercial breaks.
What's soccer? I thought you were complaining about sports.
4. The natural flow of American football is corrupted by forced, unnatural commercial breaks.
You ever heard of a little concept known as currency? Sometimes people say dollars, or even muh-nay. Moron.
5. Televisions showing endless sports programs in sports bars is cool. Televisions showing endless sports programs in other restaurants and bars is distracting, annoying and inconsiderate.
No it's not. It's nice to watch the game or catch some SportsCenter without wasted meatheads hollering. You don't like it? Order take-out for you and the boyfriend, douche bag. How 'bout sticking to what you know best? Writing songs with the word believer crammed somewhere into the title. Mm-kay?
Labels: Hockey, Poetry, Retardation
Leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama
We've yet to determine whether or not any attendees of the Pacman Jones family reunion ever found the pot of gold or the leprechaun himself. Read more
Wasted Sluts and Bracket Busters
Another St. Paddy's in the books and another smorgasbord of shitty college hoops predictions under the belt.
Over the past six or seven years, we've all come to terms with the fact that girls dress up like hookers on Halloween. And this 2007 celebration of the Americanized Irish holiday confirms that women act like complete drunken whores on St. Patrick's Day.
Now, I single out females because dudes have a year-round pass to get totally hammered and act like tools on any given day. But give this holiday to the ladies. Fa' reals. Add to that that people are completely preparing for this day now, especially when it falls on a Saturday. There were women out in packs -- packs I tell you, gettin' their eat on at 7 a.m. Why?
I'll tell you. It's so that they have some kind of substance in their taurine-saturated guts come midnight. Or later. Yes. Eating breakfast on St. Patrick's Day (about an hour prior to consumption of your first adult beverage) is like getting your Driver License Learner's Permit. That shit just turns into your license (in this case your license to act like an all-deserving ho) after you get after it for a few.
And speaking of terrine, these are my two new favorite aspects of the Irish festivity: dumbass t-shirts and truckloads (literally) of Red Bull. Nothing, and I mean nothing resembles the Emerald Isle better than a gay t-shirt (such as "Fuck Me, I'm Irish" or "5% Irish, 95% drunk" or the coveted "100% Blackish" that some brothas and sistas were sporting) and 80 quarts of sugar, terrine, and booze coursing through your veins. I can just see female preparations on the morning of. She's standing in front of the mirror telling herself "I'ma put on that sweet-ass green shirt that makes my tits stand out more than usual, get fucked up early, and make sure nobody ruin my party. This day was made for me!"
On to sports. Uh, thanks Texas and Wisconsin, for totally fucking up every bracket I filled out this year. I'm never that good at predictions and gambling and fantasy. But at least let a brotha pretend for a few. Christ. Well, at least there's fantasy baseball. I totally rock at that. The one good thing about filling out brackets with your homeys is that, if you're like me, you never pick your team to win it all. We all know that's always the double stab. So I won't win any tournaments. At least the 'Hawks are in the Sweet Sixteen. Rock Chalk, beeatches. Read more
Steel City Shenanigans?
Many images of this man and statements regarding his club have filled our sports pages and Web sites for the last two and-a-half months. And that's being generous. Of course, we don't want to drag anyone through the mud; we all love the guy not known as Super Luigi. What's not to love?
We're just a little leary of the manner in which his beloved franchise took the citizens of Kansas City, Seattle, and Las Vegas (just to name a few) on a soap-operaish roller coaster ride for the better part of this past winter. But it now appears to be all over. The Pens, currently in second place in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division, are staying in Pittsburgh. Trust me when I say that your esteemed HoG writers couldn't be happier. And by happier, I mean baffled.
Pennsylvania government officials have acted like flippin' crackheads throughout the non-development of this ordeal, ultimately giving Mario and company the finger more times than Janet Jackson didn't blame Justin Timberlake for her Super Bowl tittie exposure. You would think #66 would've taken the hint after the city of Pittsburgh constructed new digs for both the Pirates and the Steelers and told the second-greatest player of all time to take a nap in Janet's brother's bed. Ah, sweet persistence.
But, hey. To Lemieux's credit, he took one for the team (he kinda had to since they still owe him more loot than a Dr. Evil ransom demand and they can't afford to pay him), and then another, and another, and still, another. Alas, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the rest of this stacked roster see the day on their calendar when they will unlace in antiquated Mellon Arena for the last time and skate onto brand spankin' new ice. It'll cost the beloved tax payers of the steel city but what new arena doesn't these days?
Oh. Right. The under-construction Kansas City Sprint Center. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, along with Lemieux and a handful of other NHL figures, stated early on that they wanted the Pens to stay in Pittsburgh. They got their wish. Finally. Mario and crew passed up on Anschutz Entertainment Group's free-rent/share-of-the-proceeds deal and used interested cities as leverage for getting a deal for a new arena inked.
No one in the hockey world wanted the Pens to leave Pittsburgh. It sure would've been nice, however, if the Pennsylvania government wouldn't have acted like post-partum bitches and dragged this thing out longer than a Muhammed Ali speech. No fear. NHL conferences and divisions won't have to think about re-shuffling. At least not until next year when the Nashville Predators find themselves in the same boat and treat interested cities like strippers do their clientele. Game on.
Labels: Canada, Hockey, Shenanigans
This Is a Test of the Emergency-Index-Finger System
Two of America's favorite (and by favorite I mean elite, all-time winning homos to coach at redneck, raping universities) were "surprisingly" eliminated in the first round of yesterday's NCAA hoops tourney. Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight and his Red Raiders squad fell victim to the high-scoring, #7 seed Boston College (84-75) in the East Regional, while in the West, Mike Krzyzewski's Duke Blue Devils allowed Virginia Commonwealth's Eric Maynor to nail a 15-foot jumper with less than two ticks on the clock, sealing the Dukies' fate 79-77.
Al Skinner, BC head coach and brother of FBI Assistant Director Joel, said he felt confident about his team's composure from the beginning.
"I told our guys to stay relaxed," Skinner said "and reassured them that, if they didn't, I'd rufie someone random and give them a drugged-up version of a Knight/Michael Hutchence choking they wouldn't soon forget." Skinner said that his pre-game pep talk resulted in some soiled jocks in the locker room, an adverse effect he overcame by telling his squad "he was just bullshittin'."
The VCU Rams club, notching its first tournament victory since a 1985 win over "We Are Marshall", celebrated into the wee hours of the Columbus morning. Anthony Grant, in his debut season as Rams HNIC, took his players to the Gentlemen's Spot where members of the players' entourage mimicked Pacman Jones' weatherman, causing the clouds of dinero to open up like a Seattle afternoon. Rams' senior guard Jesse Pellot-Rossa told teammates in the Spot's V.I.P. Room that he "couldn't wait to get to San Anton', where (he) gon' pound some Texas pussy Duke LaCrosse style."
The Rams' next opponent comes in the form of the not-so-lady Volunteers of Tennessee that delivered a Deebo-esque beatdown of the 12th-seed Long Beach State. Skinner's Eagles will face the 47th consecutive version of John Thompson and his Hoyas.
How far can one man's seed coach a collegiate club? Look out, Sean Sutton. Your kids got lots of bangin' to do. Read more
Labels: Dumbasses, Hoops
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Media push for Hovey’s Knives and Business Book
I will be doing a major media push in Print Media, Radio and TV in coming months to promote my new company, Hovey’s Knives of China, new book, Ideas for New Businesses: Finding ideas for your million or billion dollar business and business consulting activities. Some of the radio materials have already been recorded such as two segments with Ric Bratton’s “This Week America” which is a news-format show originating in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, carried by 18 radio stations throughout the country.
Bratton was exposed to two of the gag ads that I used on my Radio Show, “Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures.” These were for Misty Mange, The hair-care product that you and your pet can share and SIN, Inc.’s red white and blue turkey made from the best of “coal tars, petroleum by-products and agricultural waste” for your holiday enjoyment. The Skype video recording may be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4CJWDhthq0
If you wish to contact me to discuss your ideas for starting a new business send me a description of what subject areas you want to discuss and I will reply. If I think that I can help you advance your plan we can set of a time for an hour-long conference call where I will discuss your concept with you. I will follow up with a written report about what we considered for a fee of $200. I can reasonably discuss consulting businesses, outdoor-related businesses, inexpensive promotion methods and locating a suitable foreign partner.
I recorded both shows at my writing station in my office after doing a mucking out. As one might suspect, I had accumulated years worth of print photos, 35mm slides and old printed-out stories and photos that needed to be cleared out and recording the Skype video was a good-enough excuse.
As commercial items the old prints and slides are now nearly useless. Few of the editors that I write for will accept prints or slides, and those who still do will have them only if they are the photos of some historic event that I reference in the text. Authors have limited use of these old materials when they write their books and want to show some photos of their former selves or activities. I have already done that with my books and E-books on bowfishing, crossbow hunting and muzzleloading, and can no longer justify hanging on to these dusty folders of long-gone life events.
By hoveysmith September 9, 2017 September 15, 2017 409 WordsLeave a comment
Hovey Wins First Place Business Award at Southeastern Outdoor Writers Conf.
Hovey Shoots a Bullseye with SEOPA Outdoor Entrepreneur Project Award
Lakeland, Florida, Oct. 6. Hovey’s Knives of China, a new knife-making company based in Sandersville, Georgia, won the First Place Award for an Outdoor Entrepreneur Project at the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association’s (SEOPA) annual meeting in Lakeland, Florida.
This award is sponsored by Mossy Oak Brand Camo and includes a plaque along with a cash prize. The award is part of SEOPA’s Excellence in Crafts competition where members compete in categories for the best newspaper, magazine, book, video and other media published during the contest period. The Outdoor Entrepreneur Project is unusual in that it is, “Any original activity, product or service created between the contest dates by the entrant and related to the outdoors demonstrating creativity and risk-taking, and designed to produce a profit…”
The creative aspects of the new company is that more than 15 patterns of cooking knives have been made based on ancient designs used during the Chinese Bronze Age and now made of modern materials for today’s Chefs and cooks. The designs had undergone hundreds of years of development and were used as inspiration for a series of cooking knives that are more efficient than any in use today.
Risks in launching any new product in the culinary market are that knives are durable tools, a wide variety of styles are already available at sometimes nearly give-away prices and low-volume production custom-made knives must command premium prices in order to be profitable. For those who cannot afford costly hand-made products, many low-cost substitutes are readily available.
New cooking knives must have distinctive designs, high quality, be demonstrably functional and aggressively marketed to be successful in today’s market. A low-volume maker cannot hope to compete in price against inexpensive unlicensed copies made in China and elsewhere. Patents offer no protection in today’s knife market, as even most minor variation in design or materials may be claimed to be a new knife, and the cost of lengthy court battles would quickly consume any profit from the products.
Considering these realities, the business plan for Hovey’s Knives of China is to produce the knives and license their designs to anyone who wishes to make them for a small royalty. The knives are so distinctive as to be unmistakable, regardless of who makes them. Hovey’s Knives will recognize, display and publicize knives made under license by custom makers and larger manufacturers at trade shows and other events. This way these eminently useful knife patterns will be quickly available worldwide to anyone who wishes to make dishes of quality and character using effective tools that have ancient cultural roots.
Low cost publicity about these knives is being produced through social medial including some 30 YouTube videos about the knives on a dedicated channel, blogs (www.hoveysknivesofchinablog.co), Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other outlets. Added publicity on these knives will also result from reviews in magazines, newspapers and TV outlets.
Prototype production has begun at a new shop located in Sandersville, Georgia, and custom production of stainless steel designs will start in January, 2017, following an extensive period of product testing.
According to Hovey Smith, the company’s founder and owner, “We are now testing designs, hardening techniques, evaluating steels and production methods in the field and kitchen to make these designs. Each knife will be custom made. We have a variety of patterns and sizes to fit the users’ hands and satisfy their needs. The new designs include left and right-handed versions of chopping knives, fish-cleaning knives, utility knives, paring knives, cleavers and sushi and lox-cutting knives along with a special design for caterers.
“This isn’t all. We also have the “Billy Joe Rubideoux” line of forged knives, such as might have been made in the Lower Louisiana Delta by a fictional cook and entrepreneur from whatever materials he had at hand to make the tools he needed. Included in this group are a Chef’s and bread knife along with a sharpening steel made from an 150-year-old scythe blade and a rib flipper and forge cleaner made from a piece of lawnmower steel. A version of the “rib flipper” will be produced as a commercial product.
“We have an exciting adventure ahead of us, in bringing these eminently useful new knives to market, and I look forward to showing people how to use them to make some dishes that may not been seen for 1000 years.”
For additional information contact Hovey Smith at hoveysmith@bellsouth.net or call (478) 552-7455. Cooking demonstrations with the knives and media visits to the shop are available to media representatives by prior arrangement along with limited overnight housing.
By hoveysmith October 22, 2016 October 22, 2016 780 WordsLeave a comment
Billy Joe’s Knives and Tools Made from Found Steels
A rustic Chef’s knife made from a section of a scythe blade more than a century old and handled in Tea Olive, an uncommon American wood.
Rustic cooking tools and knives have been produced from old steel tool parts as a result of testing a new forge and other knife-making equipment at Hovey’s Knives of China’s shop in Georgia. A rib flipper and forge tool have been made from a piece of lawnmower steel, and a Chef’s knife was cut from a 100-year-old blade from a scythe.
Rib flipper being heated in the author’s homemade forge.
These Billy Joe Rubideoux products are named after a fictional character from Plaquemine Parish in the Louisiana Delta. Raised in the water-logged swamps below Lafitte, Billy Joe had a hard-scrabble existence where trips to town were infrequent. If he needed a tool, he had to make it or do without. Working in this tradition, a rib flipper was made for turning meat on a charcoal grill and the rounded piece of left-over steel was used to pound out a forge-cleaning tool.
This improvised, but useful tool has a grip that is thicker on one side so that it can be comfortably held in a horizontal position in the hand and the dogleg-shaped blade allows meat on a grill to be efficiently moved and turned.This grip is also made of Tea Olive, as are all the Billy Joe knives and tools.
The rib flipper
Anyone who cooks on a grill must turn their meat. The most commonly use tools to flip ribs, turn chickens and move chops are spatulas, tongs and forks. None of these are very efficient. A piece of steel from the bottom of a riding lawnmower had a curved shape and appeared that if it was straightened and handled would be ideal for that purpose.
The steel was heated on the forge to the point where it could be pounded flat, cut and ground. The result proved to be a somewhat dogleg-shaped object that only needed a handle to be functional. I used a piece of salvaged wormy tea olive as a fitting grip for this tool and designed an asymmetrically – shaped grip that could be held horizontally in the hand. This grip proved ideal for turning ribs and other objects on the grill and outperformed anything I had used.
As the carbon steel in the flipper easily rust, I polished it with a steel wheel and coated it with canola oil to provide a non-toxic protective coating. Square holes in the flipper’s blade provide a handy means for hanging on the sides of my smoker. More custom flippers will be made in the Billy Joe style will be made along with stainless steel adaptations for commercial use.
The forge cleaner
After the Rib Flipper was completed a piece of steel remained which had a distinctively curved profile, similar in shape of a flattened spoon. I used this piece to clean the ashes out of my forge, which has a steel tire rim as a fire-box. This worked and needed only a longer grip to make it efficient. I wire-brushed it down to bright metal, dressed the edges with grinding wheels and drilled it for a grip. This grip would be firmly attached by four pins made from cut-off nails. The result was an efficient forge-cleaning tool that I protected from further rust by giving the blade a coating of black enimal paint. Thus, both pieces of salvaged lawnmower steel were put to beneficial use to make new-to-the-world tools that performed beneficial functions.
The Chef’s knife
I had been saving the blade from an old scythe from the 1800s that was given to me over 30-year-ago. It had been exposed to rust and was well-pitted, but was nonetheless sound. The steel used in this scythe was among the highest quality steels available in the day and similar to that used to make straight razors. The shape of the blade was wide enough to provide sufficient steel to make a Chef’s knife. After the basic shape had been drawn on the blade, a torch was used to profile of the blade. Rough shaping was done using a grinder and final edging was completed on a 72-inch knife-making machine, which is basically a 72-inch variable-speed belt grinder with a 2-inch wide belt. To preserve the blade’s rustic look, the deep brown rust patina on the sides of the blade was left intact.
Once the blade was ground and holes drilled for the scales, the forge was used to re-temper the blade, as heat from the cutting torch had heated the steel sufficient to soften the steel. The tempering process served to stiffen the blade and harden the edge. A video showing how the knife was made is at: https://youtu.be/maFAogwdrcw.
Wood from the tea olive, a native American tree whose fragrant-smelling blossoms caused it to be planted around many antebellum plantations, was selected as the handle material. This wood is harder than pine, ivory colored, commonly spalted and worm-holed when it has been on the forest floor. The natural holes and contrasting colors proved to be complementary to the over-all look of the knife. Although the finished knife is fully functional and has a sharp edge, it would appear to be hundreds of years old. Closer inspection would reveal that its cutting edge is brightly finished, the grips are coated with a tough polyurethane and the back of the blade exposes bright metal.
In a video the Billy Joe Chef’s knife competed in a cooking test with a commercial knife from the discount table at a mass-market outlet.
Billy Joe’s knife was compared to a $7.00 Chef’s knife from a mass-market-outlet’s discount table during cutting tests using bond paper and vegetables as I prepared some soup. Although Billy Joe’s knife had the advantages of having a sharper, deeper and longer blade, the pitted sides of the blade produced much more friction. In most cases the commercial knife was superior as a usable kitchen knife, although the rustic Rubideoux knife felt better, worked better as a chopping blade and kept its edge during the test. In short it proved itself to be a usable Chef’s knife, although not as good as the inexpensive commercial product.
The Billy Joe Rubideoux knife is more art than functional knife, but it will work for its intended purposes in a home setting. Its design is superior to the commercial knife. The longer, deeper blade and long grip with the stag-like feel imparted by the worm holes give it a distinctive feel while the light-weight wood of the grips provide a desirable weight-forward balance for the knife. Only the roughness and perhaps the slight lip at the top of the blade made the Billy Joe knife function less well than the commercial blade. The wooden grips, which provide an artistic counterpoint to the blade, will also soften if immersed in water or put in a dishwasher. These grips demand careful handling, which is not likely to happen in a commercial kitchen.
A video, “A $700 Billy Joe Rubideoux Chef’s Knife Vs. a $7.00 Mass-Market Markdown Makes Soup for the Toothless,” was made when showing this knife being used to chop vegetables for a soup. While the knife felt good in the hand and handled better than the commercial knife as a chopper; overall, the slicker-sided commercial knife proved to be much more efficient. While distinctive as a piece of rustic functional art made and fine for casual use in a home kitchen, its pitted blade caused it to be inefficient. Billy Joe’s knife would be thrown out of a commercial kitchen, although it did serve to demonstrate that a functional Chef’s knife could be made from scrap materials in a home workshop. This video may be seen at:https://youtu.be/jpsLeNHNY-E.
This experiment was sufficiently successful that the decision was made to custom make knives and tools in the Billy Joe fashion using salvaged steels and handle materials furnished by the anyone who wants a custom-made, functional tool made of something that had significance to him. As long as it is a reasonable carbon steel, a useful knife or tool can probably be made by the combined processes of cutting, forging, grinding and tempering. The last is significant, because if too much heat is applied to the metal during cutting or grinding the result will be a softer steel and a weaker tool that will not hold an edge or quickly fail if exposed to heat or stress.
By hoveysmith August 24, 2016 August 24, 2016 1,452 WordsLeave a comment
A Late-Life Business to Improve Health
Retirement, freedom from the stress of the corporate world, laying back and doing noting is often viewed as the state of bliss that is supposed to come when one retires. As with most such suppositions, this statement is only part true in that you are free of the constant state of accountability to your bosses, coworkers and even life partner for your mutual success. Woe betide you should you fail, and the chances of failure from predicted and unknowable events are too numerous to mention. No wonder that you are relieved to be out from under the crushing millstone of corporate life.
A few weeks or months later, you become bored with your now mostly sedentary life and want to get back to doing something interesting, useful and intellectually challenging without falling back into the morass that you just escaped from. It may well be that starting your own business might be the key to better psychological and mental health, at a lesser costs than conventional doctors, pills and surgeries.
I found myself in this situation. I was downsized out of a corporate job of my own creation as part of the R&D arm of a multinational corporation. I was their “Information Scientist.” This job title was one that I created in that I assisted researchers in finding information, organized the company patent collection, created a searchable database, kept the company library and developed 15 new ideas for possible company products. Being continually awash with information about patents in our and related fields, I was sometimes able to offer insights into solutions to problems that might have been overlooked.
Since the 1970s, I had been selling articles to newspapers and magazines. I concentrated on the outdoor press, writing primarily about hunting. Ultimately, I focused on the more specialized area of hunting with muzzleloading guns and for the past decade have been the corresponding editor covering black-powder guns and hunting for the Gun Digest, which bills itself as “The world’s greatest gun book.” Although interesting, this was mostly a money-losing proposition. I expanded into books and published over 15 books and E-books with the same degree of economic success. I also tried a year-and-a-half of podcast radio with a variety outdoor show, but that was also an economic failure.
Even though I continued my writing after I was laid off, I found my body showing increasing signs of failure as I passed through my 60s to my mid-70s. These ills included joint pain, losing the ability to walk freely without pain in the legs, coronary by-pass surgery and apparently failing mental capacity. Except for the coronary difficulties, the remainder of my problems were generally dismissed by my doctors as the impact of normal aging. There was no ready explanation for the joint pain, but restricted circulation in the in my legs due to claudication caused by plaque in the blood vessels.
Some of the usual medications were prescribed, but I found that Lipitor caused me more pain than benefit. When I increased the dose, the level of pain in my legs also increased, further restricted mobility.
A New Business As a Solution
In my previous experience I found that the key to good mental and physical health was to be interested in something that involved risks and rewards and incorporated physical activity. A degree of risk taking has been part of my life since I served in the military as an Engineer Officer after college. Although I served during the Viet Nam era, the bulk of my 2.5-years of service time was spent in Alaska. Although a stateside assignment, working in an Sub-Arctic environment where temperatures, weather and accidents could kill a man provided a challenge. One of my fellow Engineer Officers died as a result of a bad weather caused plane crash on St. Laurence Island in mid-winter – a trip that I later made myself under similar circumstances.
I did my MS Geology thesis by spending all summer largely alone mapping an area of the 40-Mile District, near Chicken, Alaska. As an exploration Geologist in Alaska, we worked every day from helicopters where we were out all Summer hundreds of miles away from any cities and often weathered in for days at the time. I worked on glaciers and mountains, had encounters with black, brown and grizzly bears as well as momma moose, who will fearsely protect their young. All of this was exciting, interesting stuff for a young guy in his 20s and 30s. For a number of years I geologized during the Summer months in Alaska and wintered, and wrote, in Tucson, during the Winter.
Mineral and oil exploration are cyclic markets and when metal prices fell during the early 1980s, I found my self out of work, returned home to Georgia to write, produced a number of books which were not particularly successful and was ultimately hired by a multinational kaolin-mining company, English China Clays, where I became their Information Scientist.
Past retirement age, I continued my writing and did some industrial Public Relations work and occasionally made some money, but my writing was mostly an economic drain, rather than a revenue producer. As a result I found myself looking for something that had the potential of making significant money.
Parameters for a Successful Retirement Business
Retail trade in small town America is a dying proposition. Independent stores cannot compete against the larger chains and increasingly easy on-line buying opportunities. While offering the comforts of being in a community of fellow merchants and interacting with the public, I could think of nothing that I could sell locally that would potentially return investment, much less make money from – not even in the area of muzzleloading guns and knives where I was an acknowledged expert.
I needed to develop products that were proven, had world-wide sales potential, were sufficiently new to attract a lot of free publicity, relatively easy to make, would allow my personal input into design and not require my setting up a large factory to make them or have a large staff to sell them. My ideal would be a company consisting of a few people with million-dollar sales potential. One way to reach this goal was to conceive of a concept where I designed and demonstrated a class of objects and licensed production to others on a royalty basis. I developed this concept in print, in one of my books Ideas for New Businesses: How to start your own million or billion dollar business, which is available from Amazon.com and other sources.
All new businesses, from the largest to the smallest start with an idea.
Hovey’s Knives of China
While in undergraduate school at the University of Georgia, I toyed with the concept of majoring in Archeology, rather than Geology. I was always interested in Archeology and while in High School spent a summer at Mesa Verde National Park working for the concessionaire. On days off I would explore the ruins myself. At the time there were few paying positions in Archeology, and Geology seemed to offer better opportunities for a successful career. The situation for Archeologist has improved somewhat, but these are mostly lower paying salvage exploration jobs requiring extreme mobility and much dull, repetitive work in uncomfortable settings.
A minor thing that attracted my attention was Chinese knife money, which was a coin shaped like a knife with a hole in the handle used as currency in central China during the Warring States Period, before the rise of Imperial China. This was put in long-term memory storage among millions of other interesting, but apparently useless, bits of information. Some 40-years later, I saw some of these knives exhibited at the International Blade Show in Atlanta. I could not afford to buy one, but arranged to take detailed photos. After forming a relationship with Bladesmith Murray Carter, which included making knives in his shop, I asked him to produce a copy of one of these knives in forged steel.
Now that I had a working knife, I used it in the field for a variety of tasks and even took it to China where I demonstrated it to a Chef at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Zhengzhou. While there, I had a chance to visit the Henan Provincial Museum, and saw some of the original knife money as well as other bronze cooking implements. I have several YouTube videos about this trip. One showing Carter’s knife is at: https://youtu.be/TCSJSbJxRMs . By the time I made my second trip to China in 2015, I had made wooden models of a dozen patterns and was considering different ways of producing them.
Hovey, center, with Chef and Hotel Manager.
These flights to China were man-killers, and 30-hours of sitting in cramped seats provided little comfort for my legs. By the time I was even partly recovered, it was time to do it again and return home. By happenstance, I ran into Paul Hjort, a knifemaker who makes Bowie-style knives, at our local Kaolin Festival. At the time he had comparatively little equipment and worked out of his trailer. We came to an arrangement, and he made prototype knives from my designs, which we exhibited at the Cobb Galleria at the International Blade Show. My knives were so different that many did not understand them or appreciate how they might be used. Nonetheless, they attracted considerable attention. I was hoping to obtain sufficient numbers of orders to finance the construction of a stand-alone knife shop, but these were not forthcoming.
The preceding events required quite a bit of mental and physical effort and even more was to come when I turned a portion of my back porch into a workshop where Paul and I could make our custom signature knives. As my activity state increased, my mental and physical health improved. I find myself regaining my physical abilities and in much less pain than formerly without taking increased amounts of medications.
Although these knives are made by stock reduction from water-jet cut blanks, rather than forging, the operation of the equipment, the labor involved in making charcoal for my forge and the general upkeep of my house, grounds and hunting land provides sufficient exercise to keep me mobile while giving me something potentially profitable to do. This works reasonably well, because I can interspersed times of physical and lest strenuous mental activities throughout the day.
My approach of taking risks with my late-life savings to found a new company with an uncertain outcome, has provided me with a business that keeps me engaged and provides a reason to continue an active existence. If successful, the business will outlive me and provide income for many others who may be associated with my namesake products. This has provided me with something that I feel is worth doing, worth the risk-taking and is providing me with an improved life experience.
By hoveysmith July 14, 2016 1,830 WordsLeave a comment
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HSA Support
Hoodie for Small Dogs October 11, 2019
Your Protection: Avast and Windows Defender September 19, 2019
How to Find the Best Antivirus for Linux June 27, 2019
Best VPN App For Android June 16, 2019
What Are the Latest Technology Trends? February 20, 2019
Best VPN App For Android
VPNs are the best web surfer security tools which one can have. By having them, you can surf the seedy public WiFi, which is private and secure. Whatever reason is, VPNs are very powerful and the popular tools. By using the VPN app for Android service, you will make sure all of the internet communication is potentially protected and encrypted from prying eyes. Also, you can use it when connected to the servers in various countries. Here is the best VPN app for Android.
It is the most secure, trusted brands in a virtual private network industry, which is the best for this reason. It is very fast and safe, boasting the SSL-secured network using 256-bit encryption, which has unlimited speed and bandwidth. ExpressVPN has the servers in about 94 countries, which include Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and others for over 145 locations all over the world. Therefore, there will be a location always near you that offer you the right experience possible. What is more, its service is known to stealth the servers. They’re to avoid the GFW precisely. It does not even appear like you are using the VPN.
Betternet
This is the best VPN app for Android, which boasts the no log policy which is loved by many people. The speed is very fast, which maintains the free model, which shows sponsored apps and video ads. There is the premium version too. They are very transparent according to the way they normally make money and also their policies. Betternet is refreshing where its features are very simple with the one-touch interface. It is the better VPN apps which are more coherent that range in prices for different features.
Among the best VPN app for Android is Hideman VPN. It cleaned up the premium version since it was launched on the website. It has the free version of 2GB with the speeds of about 512kbit/s. The version of this VPN comes with having no restrictions and also more servers when playing with. They normally have the no logs policy which has the paid subscribers. Also, they delete the logs after every 14 days for the free users. It is not the horrible trade-off. Nevertheless, there are the free options which do not keep logs when you require that option. Essentially, the paid version become the best option.
It is among the larger VPN service, which is available in the market. It essentially boasts more servers which are over 5,000 in 60 and above countries with decent speeds. The NordVPN has the usual array of the VPN goodies, which include the fast connect button for quick and easy VPN access, the strict no log policy, no geo-restrictions, and unlimited bandwidth. You will also extend the service to the VPN extensions on Chrome and Firefox along with the native desktop apps too. You will try its service free for one week. After this, the prices will be little steep when you need to commit to the long term, which saves much money when you pay it yearly.
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Kourtney Kardashian Insults Kim Kardashian’s Parenting Skills (PHOTO)
Kim KardashianKourtney Kardashian
By Siyana Riley On Oct 9, 2013
The latest issue of Life & Style Magazine deals with feud between Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian. Since Kourtney usually stays out of the family histrionics, this should definitely pique most people’s interests.
According to the report, Kourtney is not happy with the way Kim is raising North West and thinks she’s being an irresponsible mother. Kourtney is reportedly furious about how Kim left her baby after giving birth just three months ago, and how she flew more than 6000 miles away to go party and attend fashion shows. Kourtney is apparently asking Kim how she could possibly have left Nori alone so quickly, and then besieging her to act more like a mom.
You know, although the Kardashian sisters are all equally annoying in my book, Kourtney is definitely much less of a famewhore and therefore wins the round. Plus, she has somehow managed to raise Mason [Disick] in the reality circus show that is her family, and that deserves credit. Plus, everything Kourtney has said is true – Kim did leave her baby after just three months, and she did fly halfway across the world to attend fashion shows and parties. But does that make her a bad mother? I guess your answer will depend on how much you hate Kim Kardashian.
Other stories on the cover of Life & Style include Miley Cyrus supposedly dating rock royalty, Bethenny Frankel haunted by her ex-BFF, and all the secret details about Jennifer Aniston‘s past plastic surgeries. I don’t understand how there are any more secrets regarding Jennifer’s plastic surgery – don’t we know all of them by now? Nose job, nose job, check check.
What do you guys think about Kourtney insulting Kim, and the rest of Life & Style’s stories? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Siyana Riley
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Posted on November 3, 2018 November 3, 2018 by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
Modi buries India’s ‘unipolar predicament’
This weekend held out surprises on two counts. One, the spectre of a US-China New Cold War met sudden death as President Trump phoned President Xi Jinping on Thursday to turn the clock back to happier times. Trump openly sought to end the trade war and to mend fences with China. As a realist, he knows the US simply lacks the capability to impose its will on China. Beijing is visibly pleased.
Two, Trump announced on Friday the re-imposition of the US’ decades-old sanctions against Iran but giving ‘waiver’ to China, India, Turkey, etc. to buy Iranian oil. Nonetheless, Iran is hanging tough. The reaction by its Foreign Ministry suggests that nothing short of the US returning to the 2015 Iran deal will satisfy Tehran.
These two developments highlight that the US no longer has the capability to put other countries under pressure. The Modi government understands this geopolitical reality and that in turn explains the two major foreign-policy decisions taken by it recently, asserting India’s strategic autonomy vis-à-vis the US.
The decision to conclude the S-400 ABM deal with Russia (estimated to cost around $6 billion) and to bypass the dollar system to make the payment for the purchase in roubles is unmistakably an assertion of clearly defined national interests. Indeed, the threatening noises from Washington in the run-up to the S-400 ABM deal had no effect on PM Modi. This is what the venerable ‘India hand’ in the strategic community Ashley Tellis at the Carnegie wrote in August to blackmail the PM:
“The final approach worth contemplating, therefore, is offering Trump a deal. It would probably require India to move forward on one of the several major defense acquisition programs it has discussed with the United States over the years, thus enabling New Delhi to secure the capabilities it has always wanted while giving Trump an incentive to speedily issue the waiver that India needs. Both sides could thus come out ahead. For such a workaround to attract Trump’s attention, however, India’s proposal must be lucrative enough to the United States and remarkable in its potential geostrategic impact. And the details should emerge close to fully formed from a quiet dialogue between Indian and U.S. policymakers at the highest levels. Quickly resolving some of the more pressing trade disputes would only help this process further.”
Obviously, Modi didn’t heed Tellis’ advice. He did nothing by way of “giving Trump an incentive to speedily issue the waiver.” The really stunning thing about Tellis’ essay was that this Indian-American think tanker’s grasp of his native country’s foreign policy is so pedestrian. This is what Tellis wrote about India-Russia relations:
“Today, India is struggling to maintain a semblance of productive relations with Russia at a time when Putin has tilted toward India’s most consequential adversary, China; Russia has reinserted itself into Afghanistan and Pakistan in ways that are unhelpful to Indian interests; and the warmth has all but evaporated from the ties that still link Moscow to New Delhi.”
(Modi and Putin at Sochi in June, 2018)
What an assessment for a Carnegie pundit! Now, another think tanker, Jeff Smith at the neocon think tank Heritage Foundation took a retrospective view last week. And how does that look? Smith puts all the blame on India’s “nonalignment crowd”, which, to quote him, perceives that “an alliance with America is akin to a pact with the devil, one lined with costly obligations and emasculating dependency.”
Well, Smith should take timeout and visit one of these countries – Turkey, Pakistan, South Korea or Saudi Arabia – and figure out what these erstwhile allies feel today about their alliance with America. And, yet, none of these 4 countries has had anything to do with “nonalignment” in their modern history. Perhaps, they may now begin to explore the charms of nonalignment.
These Americans do not get it that Modi took a conscious decision that India needed the S-400 ABM system and Iran’s oil and his government would go ahead and meet the country’s needs. In fact, the two major developments in the weekend – Trump backtracking on trade war with China and unilaterally diluting the sanctions regime against Iran’s oil exports – only highlight how foolish it would have been for Modi to cling to the American coattail.
In a historical perspective, Modi government’s decision to push ahead with S-400 ABM system and its refusal to blink on oil imports from Iran cannot be seen as mere flashes in the pan. More such decisions involving India’s relations with Russia and Iran can be expected. Something has fundamentally changed: Modi has buried India’s post-Soviet era ‘unipolar predicament’.
TagsIran, Narendra Modi, Russia
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Archives for posts with tag: momentum of growth
Credit: bibleprophecyupdate.com
Meditations on Time Frames and Speed produced some insights which I wish to share with you. The insights are somewhat cerebral and obtuse but well worth entertaining in trying to get a sense of the nature of our Universal Essence.
Speed of light is our parameter. Someone, so to speak, has fixed the framework with light as the yardstick. Beyond the speed of light Einstein conceived of a negative, the inexplicable, the mysterious. Light, the fastest material phenomenon brightens and illumines as it falls. Other material and not so material phenomena move at their own inherent speeds. Sound, for instance, is tortoise to light’s hare. The earth’s orbital and axial movements have their own speed or rate of movement – so too jets and aircraft, automobiles and ships, birds and fish, cheetahs and horses, snails and turtles, growth in plants and flowering, chemical reactions, winds and storms. All movement at a speed. Then we have the speed of thought, the quick repartee, the healthy reflex, pulse rate, pace of economic development, the historical passage of ages – a universe of differing speeds between the inert and the supersonic. Between inertia nad the speed of light there is the entire spectrum of the known world.
Our own minds have the swiftness of light as mental activity relies on electrical pulses, which are also at the speed of light or close to it. Metabolic speed and life spans determine the play of life. Thus, the short life span of a moth or butterfly we can say is at a greater speed, where period of growth, reproduction and death are encompassed within days whereas the human has four score years for the same, at a more ‘retarded’ pace. If the butterfly’s life appears swift and ephemeral, what of some micro-organisms who may have only moments? There lives could be compared to a film in fast-forward mode.
Within us too our micro-organisms and cells work at a relatively greater ‘speed’ with short time frames to make our own longevity possible. They work ‘faster’ to maintain our relatively sluggish pace even as concentric pulleys of a clock oscillate feverishly for the imperceptible movements of its hands, or the gears of a car at idling or again the electrons of an atom within an apparently stationary piece of solid metal.
Can we conceive of a slower pace than ours wherein it may take centuries for a phase of growth, which in us may be achieved in barely two decades, in an insect in a day and in a virus in just a moment? Further, that such a phenomenon of growth may contain within itself the combined speed or pace of our racial or human effort. Picture the spirit of a people and their civilization evolving slowly while its innumerable individual constituents move at far greater speeds to maintain the slow forward momentum of their civilization. If we were to take one more anterior step it may be possible to view the even more retarded velocities of human evolution, so utterly slow as to encompass millenia, the forward movement being hardly perceptible, such as the descent of man from the arboreal world, the evolution of the human organism, the development of the cerebral cortex.
If we use this electronic microscope of conjecture further in reverse, God alone knows what speed we might arrive at in the still and leviathan macro-expanses of the universe, the fast speeds being encompassed in the structures of slower ones and these in turn becoming parts of still slower structures ad-infinitum, slower and slower, until we may arrive at a final immobility, the final immobility, which contains within itself all mobilities, an immeasurable eternity, the final unity containing all diversities, the silence that does not move like the eye of the cyclonic storm, the heart of creation which is in a state of the equilibrium of truth (Satyam), consciousness (Shivam), beauty (Sundaram) and bliss ( Anandam).
Tags momentum of growth, Mysticism, spirituality, time-frames, Universal Essence
Categories metaphysics, mysticism, New Age Thought, spirituality
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Familes threatened with fine for parking in their driveways
Filed under: 1984, Big Brother, Britain, Child Abuse, civil liberties, civil rights, Conditioning, Control Grid, Dictatorship, DNA Database, Empire, Europe, european union, Fascism, garbage police, gps, litter police, litter wardens, Media, nanny state, Oppression, orwell, pepperspray, police brutality, Police State, RNC, Sarkozy, Spy, stasi, stasi tactics, Surveillance, Texas, TSA, United Kingdom, War On Terror | Tags: East Yorkshire, Eastrington, Home Office, Jacqui Smith, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, RIPA
Council threatens families with a £1,000 fine… for parking on their own driveways
Furious residents have been left stunned after a council threatened to fine them £1,000 – for parking on their own driveways.
Homeowners in a quiet village have been told they have the wrong type of kerbs, despite having driven over them for the 50 years since the properties were built.
Councillors are using a law passed 30 years ago to stop them from parking beside their own homes.
But residents each face a £1,200 bill if they install ‘dropped kerbs’ that allow easier access to their driveways.
The council threat came in a letter delivered to 12 houses on Pinfold Street, a quiet road with smart semi-detached houses worth around £200,000 in Eastrington, East Yorkshire.
The properties were built between 1949 and 1952. Some were built with driveways and others were added years later.
Two of the houses are council-owned, but they still received the letter – including baffled Ken Laverack, whose drive was built by the council 20 years ago after the 1980 Highways Act was introduced.
Retired Ken, 61, said: ‘I just couldn’t believe it when the letter arrived.
‘The council themselves put my drive in 20 years ago and now they’re saying I can’t use it. It’s absolutely ridiculous, my car is just on the road now.
Anti-terrorism laws used to spy on noisy children
Chris Hastings
Councils are using anti-terrorism laws to spy on residents and tackle barking dogs and noisy children.
An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph found that three quarters of local authorities have used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000 over the past year.
The Act gives councils the right to place residents and businesses under surveillance, trace telephone and email accounts and even send staff on undercover missions.
The findings alarmed civil liberties campaigners. Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, said: “Councils do a grave disservice to professional policing by using serious surveillance against litterbugs instead of terrorists.”
The RIPA was introduced to help fight terrorism and crime. But a series of extensions, first authorised by David Blunkett in 2003, mean that Britain’s 474 councils can use the law to tackle minor misdemeanours.
Councils are using the Act to tackle dog fouling, the unauthorised sale of pizzas and the abuse of the blue badge scheme for disabled drivers.
Among 115 councils that responded to a Freedom of Information request, 89 admitted that they had instigated investigations under the Act. The 82 councils that provided figures said that they authorised or carried out a total of 867 RIPA investigations during the year to August
UK: Civilians Given Power To Issue Fines
Despite lacking formal police training, hundreds of civilians have been made part of the “extended police family” by the Home Office under little-known legislation.
They have not been asked to wear any special uniforms to identify themselves, but must wear only a badge that can be as small as 73mm x 80mm.
The disclosure that hundreds of civilians have been given enforcement powers drew accusations that the Government is encouraging the spread of unaccountable policing.
The Home Office revealed yesterday that more than 1,600 non-police officers have been given enforcement powers under its so-called Community Safety Accreditation Schemes.
The schemes, introduced in 2002 legislation, give chief constables the power to serve penalty notices for activities including disorder, truancy, cycling on pavements, littering and dog fouling. They can also be used for seizing alcohol from under-age drinkers and to demand people’s names and addresses.
The Home Office has carried out an audit of police use of the powers which showed that 23 police forces have Community Safety Accreditation Schemes in place.
A total of 1,406 staff from 95 “approved organizations” including local councils and private companies have been given enforcement powers.
Another 255 people have been given powers as Vehicle Operator Services Agency Inspectors, who are issued with the single power to stop vehicles for the purpose of testing.
In 2006, there were only 950 accredited workers for 71 organisations.
Dominic Grieve, the Conservative shadow home secretary, said the scheme was the latest example of the unjustified extension of surveillance powers under Labour.
He said: “The public will be angered that the Home Office is seeking to take serious powers that should be appropriately applied by the police and encouraging them to be given not just to local councils, but also to private firms.
“The public want to see real police on the streets discharging these responsibilities, not private firms who may use them inappropriately – including unnecessarily snooping on the lives of ordinary citizens.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Community Safety Accreditation Schemes enable Chief Constables to designate limited powers to employees of organisations who contribute towards community safety.
“CSAS supports Neighbourhood Policing by building links, improving communications and helping in the delivery of effective policing to neighbourhoods. Accredited Persons have a key role to play in the delivery of Neighbourhood Policing and are an important part of the extended police family.”
RNC protester yells “i love you” while assaulted, peppersprayed by police
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Xs13NhSq4
DNA Testing Expands to Lesser Crimes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-..R2008090702340.html
Now it’s the citizen snoopers: Councils recruit unpaid volunteers to spy on their neighbours
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-..ecruit-unpaid-volunteers-spy-neighbours.html
Police Using G.P.S. Units as Evidence in Crimes
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/us/31gps.html
Jacqui Smith’s ‘Stasi’: Now even more council jobsworths can demand your details and issue fines
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1..e–parking-driveways.html
No Bike Helmet? Police To Steal Your Bike
http://www.boston.com/news/local/../no_bike_helmet_lose_your_wheels/
Police sergeant resigns over excessive force (with VIDEO)
http://mparent7777-1.livejournal.com/1509622.html
UK: Fines For Placing Garbage In Wrong Bin
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknew..utting-wrong-waste-in-green-bins.html
Texas state troopers direct policing in Canada
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-../08/28/bc-rcmp-texas-troopers.html
French revolt over Edvige: Nicolas Sarkozy’s Big Brother spy computer
http://jimbovard.com/blog/2008/08/27/tsa-federal-attitude-police/
TSA agents can slap fines on Americans based on “attitude”
Police plan ’supermarket cells’ to hold shoplifters and drunks
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopi..o-hold-shoplifters-and-drunks.html
Overfilled Garbage Bins Can Lead to Fines of £110
Filed under: 1984, Big Brother, brainwashing, Britain, brownshirts, California, car tax, Communism, Conditioning, corporations, Dictatorship, eco nazi, Empire, Europe, european union, Fascism, garbage police, Global Warming, Hitler, litter police, litter wardens, nanny state, NASA, Nazi, nazi youth, Oppression, orwell, Police State, road tax, san fransisco, spain, stasi, stasi tactics, Surveillance, United Kingdom | Tags: greenshirts
MINISTERS have ordered people who overfill their bins to be punished more severely than shoplifters, drug users and dangerous drivers.
Official guidance from the Department of the Environ-ment to local councils says they must impose fines of “not less than £75” and up to £110 on taxpayers who disobey rubbish rules.
The crackdown from the so-called “Talibin” will apply to virtually all UK households.
Anyone caught leaving their wheelie-bin lid even slightly open, placing bins or rubbish out on the day before collection or putting their bin in the wrong place could get a fixed penalty or end up in court.
Tory spokesman Eric Pickles yesterday accused Labour of creating “an army of municipal bin bullies”.
He warned they were targeting “law-abiding families with massive fines while professional criminals get the soft touch. It is clear Whitehall bureaucrats are instructing town halls to target householders with fines for minor breaches.
“Yet with the slow death of weekly collections and shrinking bins, it is increasingly hard for families to dispose of their rubbish responsibly.
“It is fundamentally unfair that householders are now getting hammered with larger fines than shoplifters get for stealing.”
Eco-Nazi Youths urged to report on family’s eco-crimes
In a recent series of ads aimed at school children, a leading British energy company has assigned a controversial summer project: police their family’s global-warming crimes.
Launched last week by NPower — the country’s fourth-largest provider — the campaign is part of a larger program to educate children about global warming and the wasteful habits that might exacerbate it.
Placed in prominent newspapers such as The Sunday Times and The Telegraph, the ads offer giveaway diaries in which kids can note domestic infractions, such as leaving a mobile phone charging for too long or a Nintendo game left flickering in the dark, as well as Post-It notes, which can be left at the crime scene as a warning to the offenders. Equally important, the campaign seeks to attract kids to its controversial Web site, Climate Cops, which encourages children to monitor and report on their domestic energy crimes to their classrooms.
Some activists and marketers see the site as a clever marketing gimmick to teach children to preserve their planet. Others see excessive indoctrination tactics lifted from the pages of the George Orwell novel 1984, in which children are set against their parents, or worse, the Hitler Youth, who were encouraged to betray their loved ones for the greater glory of the state.
Last Tuesday, a satirical article on the British Web site Anorak referred to these cadets as “Greenshirts” and compared them to the young Blackshirts of yore. “NPower, the electricity people, want you, the Britisher Jungvolk, to inform on your mums and your dads if they disobey the rules on climate change.”
NASA Urged to Debunk the Current Hysteria Over Global Warming
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2..he-current-hysteria-over-global-warming.html
Old ships’ logs show temporary global warming in 1730s
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/04/ships_log_climate_change/
Drivers face higher parking charges under controversial new car tax band linked to engine emissions
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne..-car-tax-band-linked-engine-emissions.html
Spain Cuts Speed Limit To Fight Global Warming
http://www.independent.co.uk/..and–turns-out-lights-to-save-fuel-881401.html
SF Mayor Wants Fines For Unsorted Trash
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-b..2008/08/01/MN47122A98.DTL
Global Warming Hoax News Archive
Huge Orwellian Telescreens Used During 2012 Olympics
Filed under: 1984, 2012 olympics, Big Brother, brainwashing, Britain, carbon dioxide, CCTV, Co2, Conditioning, Control Grid, Europe, european union, garbage police, globlal warming, litter police, london, Media, nanny state, olympics, orwell, Spy, Surveillance, Taxpayers, thought crime, thought criminal, United Kingdom, War On Terror | Tags: DVLA, facecrime
Times Online
“It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself – anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime…“
Anyone who has lived without a television will know how hard it is to convince TV Licensing staff that is possible to exist without constant video entertainment. It is one more freedom that is to be taken from us. Like the telescreens in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four that citizens could turn down but not off, the giant screens planned for 60 towns and cities will make watching television compulsory.
When the BBC and the organising committee of the London Olympics first mooted a network of screens the assumption was that they would be there only during the Games, allowing us all to share the excitement. It turns out that they are to stay and broadcast audibly for up to 18 hours a day.
As if the intrusion were not bad enough, we will, of course, have to pay for the screens, and not just through the licence fee: residents of Middlesbrough, for example, will be paying £35,000 towards the set-up costs, plus an annual £28,000 running cost. Surely councils’ leisure budgets should be spent persuading us to get away from the TV, not to get us in front of it.
It is promised that besides showing news the screens will be used to promote culture; that they will be “digital canvases for local artists, film-makers and students”. But there is an ulterior motive, given away by Bob Belam, of Waltham Forest council. The screens, he said, would be used to “provide important information and will be able to get out messages about antisocial behaviour”.
They are less about entertaining us than about control – another part of the Orwellian machinery of the modern British city. It isn’t hard to imagine how they will be used: “We are interrupting coverage to remind you that bathing in the fountains is prohibited.”
I can foresee walking through an empty town centre, to the sound of a message, delivered with no irony from a 30kW screen: “Citizens are reminded that they can cut their carbon footprint by not leaving their TVs on standby.”
Spy Cameras For Students At Home
http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i46/46a00103.htm
Town hall spies using DVLA files to catch people dropping litter and making too much noise
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl..ople-dropping-litter-making-noise.html
UK: 1,043 laws that will let the state in your home
July 27, 2008, 9:53 am
Filed under: 1984, Big Brother, Britain, carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, Co2, Dictatorship, eco nazi, Empire, environmental taxation, Europe, european union, Fascism, garbage police, global tax, gordon brown, litter police, litter wardens, nanny state, Nazi, Oppression, Police State, police state surveillance, Raid, Surveillance, tax, United Kingdom, war on drugs | Tags: Energy Information Household Refrigerators and Freezers, Gambling Act 2005 Inspection Regulations 2007, Home Office, Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, marijuana, Plant Health England Order 2005, plant passport
The march of the Big Brother state under Labour was highlighted last night as it was revealed that there are now 1,043 laws that give the authorities the power to enter a home or business.
Nearly half have been introduced since Labour came to power 11 years ago. They include the right to:
• Invade your home to see if your pot plants have pests or do not have a ’plant passport’ (Plant Health England Order 2005).
• Survey your home and garden to see if your hedge is too high (Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003).
• Check that accommodation given to asylum seekers is not being lived in by non-asylum seekers (Immigration and Asylum Act 1999).
• Raid a house to check if unlicensed gambling is taking place (Gambling Act 2005 Inspection Regulations 2007).
• Seize fridges without the correct energy rating (Energy Information Household Refrigerators and Freezers Regulations 2004).
The rise in clipboard-wielding state inspectors flies in the face of repeated pledges by Ministers to curb the power of bureaucrats.
The full extent of the state’s ’powers of entry’ is revealed in documents slipped out quietly by the Government last week.
The information was posted on the Home Office website, but in a highly unusual move, the computer file was locked to prevent it being copied or printed. A secret Home Office password was required to access the file.
A Home Office spokeswoman denied the restrictions were an attempt to stop the state’s powers being circulated more widely.
She claimed it was a ’mistake’ and the file would be unlocked tomorrow.
Some 420 new powers of entry are the product of laws introduced since 1997. A further 16 are in laws due to be approved by Parliament in the next few weeks.
A recent study by the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank warned that the ’proliferation and variety’ of such laws mean householders can no longer ’realistically be aware’ of their rights and legal obligations.
Gordon Brown last year announced a review of ’powers of entry’ laws and said they would be subjected to a ’liberty test’ to stop abuses by the state.
However, new powers set to be approved by Parliament include inspecting for non-human genetic material, for looted cultural property from Iraq and for ’undeclared’ carbon dioxide, as well as enforcing bin tax.
Town hall ’bin police’ already have the right to enter homes, take photographs, seize contents of bins, and ’investigate as required’.
Householders can be fined up to £5,000 if they refuse entry or ’obstruct’ an official.
Shadow Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: ’Day by day under Labour, the rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens are being eroded.’
UK: Bin bureaucrats sifting and weighing your trash
Filed under: 1984, Big Brother, Britain, carbon dioxide, CCTV, Co2, eco nazi, Europe, garbage police, Global Warming, gordon brown, ice age, litter police, litter wardens, microchip, Oppression, Police State, Surveillance, tax, Taxpayers, United Kingdom
’Bin bureaucrats’ secretly taking families’ wheelie-bins to sift and weigh the food they throw out
Householders are having their rubbish secretly sifted and weighed to see how much food they are throwing away, it has emerged.
Wheelie-bins are being taken from residents without their knowledge, and spot checked to see how many scraps of food are in them and how much they weigh.
No permission is sought for the ’sampling’ exercise and the householder is simply presented with a new bin.
Council taxpayers in Sussex have reacted furiously to the latest example of ’bin bureaucracy’ and said officials had no right to snoop on the contents of their refuse.
Officials at Tory-run Mid-Sussex District Council attempted to reassure locals by telling them it is a ’fact-finding’ exercise to gauge how much food is being dumped.
But residents branded the survey – which cost £1,700 – an invasion of privacy and fear it is the first step towards charging residents who fail to meet Government recycling targets.
Mother-of-three Michelle Gregory, 46, of Haywards Heath, received a letter sent to her by the council explaining they were looking through her waste the day after her regular rubbish collection.
She said: ’It just seems to be the way the world is going with CCTV cameras, ID cards and fingerprinting at schools.
Now dustmen won’t take your rubbish away if wheelie bin is too heavy to pull with two fingers
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10..ns-lift-just-fingers.html
Homeowners Face Possible Rubbish Caps
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article..et-Government-plans.html
Lack Of Sun Activity Could Bring New Ice Age
http://www.livescience.com/space/080611-sunspot-activity.html
In praise of CO2
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=569586
Ban Bon Fires To Fight Climate Change?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/366025_bonfire06.html
Litter Police make £35 for every fine handed out
June 4, 2008, 7:21 am
Filed under: Big Brother, Britain, eco nazi, Europe, garbage police, Global Warming, gordon brown, litter police, litter wardens, microchip, Oppression, Police State, tax, United Kingdom
Litter wardens collect £35 for every fine they hand out
Wardens in one city are earning their employer £35 for every fine they dole out to those they see dropping litter.
The private company is paid on a commission-only basis by the council – and there is no limit to what it can earn.
Since the scheme was introduced last year, two wardens have raked in tens of thousands of pounds for the firm, called Xfor.
Critics last night described it as ’ outrageous’ and said it encouraged them to collar members of the public ’on the flimsiest evidence’.
Details of the scheme, which has been pioneered by Tory-run Peterborough City Council, emerged after the authority admitted handing out littering fines to 1,772 pedestrians last year, bringing a total of £62,020 in commission.
In addition, a further 119 drivers were posted penalty notices using information from the vehicle registration, adding another £4,165.
Police and community support officers can issue the tickets but the vast majority are understood to have been handed out by two environmental wardens – meaning they could have earned their employer more than £30,000 each. However, they will have been paid a flat rate of £300 a week.
Even when the £75 on-the- spot fixed penalty notice is reduced to £50 when paid within 21 days, the £35 commission remains the same.
It was not clear last night whether any other local authorities operate similar schemes but other councils are likely to adopt it.
Watched-as-you-throw: One in five wheelie bins microchipped as councils prepare for bin taxes
One in five homes has been given wheelie bins that have been fitted with microchips in preparation for pay-as-you-throw bin taxes, according to research by the Daily Mail.
It shows that a fifth of the town halls that collect household rubbish have equipped their bins with chips or have found other ways of labelling them.
The spread of microchips means that the number of councils prepared to bring in the charges has doubled over recent months.
Microchips or labels that can be read on dustcarts are key component of bin tax schemes which rely on weighing or measuring the rubbish put out by a home in order to sent the right bill to the right family.
The increase in numbers of councils equipping their bins with chips suggests that Gordon Brown’s repeated pledges to kill off bin taxes are unlikely to be fulfilled.
Local authorities are also planning tighter enforcement of bin rules and regulations.
One in four intend to bring in stricter ’bin police’ regimes against families who leave their bin lids open, put their bins out too early, or leave extra rubbish alongside them.
The policing of rubbish bins by teams of council wardens has been a cause of growing public anger.
A bus driver in Cumbria was left with a criminal record because his family left their bin lid open a few inches because it was too full, and a war veteran of 95 in Norwich had his collections stopped because he put a ketchup bottle in the wrong bin.
Garbage Police in the UK
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1022174/Bin..medical-details.html
Britan MP: Every adult should be forced to carry ’carbon ration cards’
Filed under: Al Gore, Britain, carbon credit system, carbon credits, carbon dioxide, carbon ration, Carbon Tax, Co2, David Rockefeller, environmental taxation, Europe, garbage police, gas prices, global tax, Global Warming, litter police, litter wardens, Petrol, rockefeller, UN, United Kingdom, World Bank
’Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry ’carbon ration cards’, say MP
David Derbyshire
Every adult should be forced to use a ’carbon ration card’ when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.
The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain’s CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.
Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.
Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven’t used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal done through a specialist company.
MPs, led by Tory Tim Yeo, say the scheme could be more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than green taxes.
But critics say the idea is costly, bureaucratic, intrusive and unworkable.
The Government says it supports the scheme in principle, but warns it is ’ahead of its time’.
The idea of personal carbon trading is increasingly being promoted by environmentalists. In theory it could be used to cover all purchases – from petrol to food.
For the scheme to work, the Government would need to give out 45million carbon cards – each one linked to a personal carbon account. Every year, the account would be credited with a notional amount of CO2 in kilograms.
Families are furious about plans by a council’s bin police to question them about their medical history.
Officials in Plymouth, Devon, are to send a questionnaire to every household asking them to give intimate personal details about their family.
Householders are also being asked to nominate one person who will take legal responsibility for anything put in their bins.
The council is even asking how many children families have and whether they use disposable nappies.
Site Tells Kids When They Should Die
http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23765244-5014239,00.html
Scientists starve aspen trees in global warming experiment
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Science/1057967.html8 Seeks To Cut Greenhouse Gas By 2050
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/2008052..UGBqhurTnZ5CGx439xg8F
Correlation of Carbon Dioxide with Temperatures Negative Again
http://icecap.us/images/uploads/Correla..Temperatures_Negative_Again.pdf
Global warming sceptics in an unholy row
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/05/27/do2703.xml
World Bank To Raise $5.5 For Climate Change
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/ne..sid=aufska1ueDVw&refer=home
Billions Wasted On UN’s Phony Climate Program
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/26/climatechange.greenpolitics
Rockefeller’s Urge Action On Climate Change
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b..tural_resources/article3835693.ece
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How Apple Drew Design Inspiration from ‘Star Wars’
by Nick Kolakowski July 27, 2017 2 min read
AppleDesignEarbudsJony IveStar Wars
For months, people have jokingly referred to Apple’s new headquarters in Cupertino, California as the “spaceship” or the “Death Star,” alluding both to its imposing size and sleek, glass-heavy design.
Those “Death Star” references are perhaps closer to the mark than those jokesters assumed. No, the building doesn’t shoot planet-destroying lasers from its center (which would be pretty cool, come to think of it, unless Tim Cook decided to become Emperor of Earth). But Apple design guru Jony Ive has confirmed that “Star Wars” inspired the company’s aesthetics in at least one notable way: its earbuds are reportedly modeled after the stormtroopers from those movies.
“Luke… these are your earbuds.”
According to The Wall Street Journal (and re-reported by tech publications like The Verge, if you don’t have a WSJ subscription), Ive told J.J. Abrams, director of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” that he designed the earbuds with “the original stormtroopers in mind.”
And yes, it’s obvious: the earbuds, like the stormtroopers, are white, sleek, and sheathed in plastic. Neither can hit a target—although earbuds at least have an excuse, lacking arms, hands, and eyes. Both are produced in massive numbers in order to fulfill the strategies of huge organizations bent on total domination.
There’s also a bit of design quid pro quo here; as The Verge helpfully pointed out, costume designer Michael Kaplan took some inspiration from Apple when designing the stormtrooper uniforms for “The Force Awakens.” As he told Vanity Fair back in 2015: “Maybe subconsciously, but with the stormtroopers it was more of a simplification, almost like, ‘What would Apple do?’”
Indeed, if Apple ever got into military contracting, the hardware would probably end up looking pretty sleek and shiny. That’s not something to consider at the moment, however; Ive seems more concerned with the next iPhone than designing a new generation of iTroopers.
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Nick Kolakowski
Nick Kolakowski has written for The Washington Post, Slashdot, eWeek, McSweeney's, Thrillist, WebMD, Trader Monthly, and other venues. He's also the author of "A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps" and "Maxine Unleashes Doomsday," a pair of noir thrillers.
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TOTO Opens Gallery Retail Space in C.P. Hart Showroom, London
Renowned Japanese bathroom brand, TOTO, will open its first UK gallery space within the prestigious British retailer, C.P. Hart, on Thursday, 29 October, 2009. The same evening, TOTO and C.P. Hart will celebrate the partnership with a VIP party in the C.P. Hart showroom in Waterloo, London.
TOTO’s contemporary lifestyle display will exhibit TOTO’s technologically intelligent bathroom products and will act as a UK retail base for the company’s NEOREST Series/LE range. The TOTO x C.P. Hart gallery installation is the first of its kind for TOTO in the United Kingdom, allowing consumers the chance to see products such as the WASHLET, which is already revolutionising bathroom culture around the world – over 25 million units have been sold worldwide to date.
In addition to the customised exhibit, TOTO has installed two fully functioning toilets in the C.P. Hart cloakrooms: the NEOREST Series/SE toilet and the NEOREST Series/LE toilet. C.P. Hart customers will be able to experience the benefits of TOTO’s ‘Clean Technology’ ethos and see the innovative features first-hand, such as automatically opening and closing toilet lids, Tornado Flush, an automatic power deodoriser, heated seats and automatic flushing.
Occupying 42 square metres, the TOTO gallery space at C.P. Hart exhibits a full NEOREST Series/LE suite, including a bathtub, washbasin, shower and WASHLET-integrated toilet. Designed to parallel the brand’s successful European advertising campaign, TOTO’s display features the NEOREST Series/LE suite as originally envisioned by respected German architect Philipp Mainzer of design firm e15.
The space also includes two brand walls, which feature screens playing TOTO’s specially commissioned animated film created by Kuntzel + Deygas, as well as a series of technology animations.
The NEOREST Series/LE range is part of TOTO’s luxury product range, incorporating the unique qualities of LUMINIST, a unique epoxy resin material, which has a glass-like translucent quality, excellent durability and extreme heat resistance. Visually, LUMINIST allows for new dimensions in interior lighting, as it can be lit from below, creating subtle, ambient atmospheres.
The TOTO gallery space at C.P. Hart follows the brand’s successful launch into the European market at ISH Frankfurt in March 2009 and marks the beginning of TOTO in the UK.
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Category Archives: reform
It’s been a doozy of a week for education, with Betsy DeVos confirmed as Secretary of Education on Tuesday and Governor Branstad signing SF 166, setting SSA at 1.11% (with only $40 million or $73 per student of new money), on Wednesday, and now moving on to bills to change collective bargaining for public employees in Iowa (Chapter 20).
Based on my Twitter feed, the collective bargaining bills are the hot topic at legislative forums this weekend (see Twitter #saveiaworkers, #ialegis, #iaedfuture). This tweet, apparently relaying a comment made by Rep. Rogers at one of today’s forums, caught my attention.
@waltrogersforIA They won't tell you publicly, but supt & schools boards have asked us for this (ch 20) #ialegis #iaedfuture
— UNIfy For Education (@UNIfy4ed) February 11, 2017
Comments like this are hard for the audience to verify if the alleged supporters aren’t speaking publicly, but, for what it is worth, we can check lobbyist registration information on the bills.
Chapter 20 bills are HSB84, now numbered as HF291, and SF213.
The Iowa Association of School Boards is registered as undecided on HSB84, HF291, and SF213 (click these links to see all lobbyist registrations on each bill). Despite being registered on 74 other bills, School Administrators of Iowa has not registered a position on any of these three bills. The Urban Education Network of Iowa and the Rural School Advocates of Iowa are also not registered on any of the Chapter 20 bills as of today.
Added: Sweeping changes predicted for public schools if collective bargaining bill passes (Press-Citizen)
This entry was posted in 87th GA, governor, reform, school boards, school funding on February 11, 2017 by Karen W.
Legislative Update 1/28
The House debated HF 80 (successor to HSB 58) setting percent growth of SSA at 1.25, and HF 81 (successor to HSB 57) setting the categorical state of percent growth 10 1.25 last night. After several hours of debate HF 80 as amended and HF 81 each passed on a vote of 56-42.
Representative Jorgensen opened the debate on HF 80 by acknowledging that our supplemental state aid money went, in part, to fund teacher leadership compensation programs instead:
I’ve heard a number of times, if we didn’t spend money on the education reform we would have more money for SSA. If we didn’t do the property tax reform we would have more money for SSA. That is true. But if you are going to succeed in any venture you must be willing to invest strategically into the future. If something is not working you must change it; if the competition is changing you must also change. Refusing to change will assure only one thing. Failure. Continuing to prioritize funding into a system that has seen declining enrollments and stagnant achievement results will result in future failure. That is why our investment with Education Reform AND property tax reform is so important. If we don’t spur economic development through improving our education system and lowering our tax rates we will only continue to see enrollment declines and stagnant achievement results. But that takes money and that–and for the short term creates hurt and sacrifice in other areas. But the future benefit is worth it.
[Note: the DE reports that statewide public school enrollment is up for the third year in a row, and expected to keep going up (page vii and page 3 of the 2014 Condition of Education Report).]
An amendment to HF 80, H-1002, was filed by Ruff (D-Clayton) and forty-one co-sponsors to set SSA for FY 2016 at six percent. It failed on a vote of 43-56. An amendment to HF 81, H-1003, was filed by Ruff (D-Clayton) and forty co-sponsors to set the categorical state of percent growth to six. It failed on a vote of 42-56.
This entry was posted in 86th GA, reform, school funding, teacher leadership on January 28, 2015 by Karen W.
Director Buck’s Tenure Starts With a Bang
I just posted a few days ago that I expected Director Buck’s tenure to be more of the same, largely continuing in the same vein as Director Glass. So, I’m a little surprised that he chose to get started with a controversial appointment, appointing StudentsFirst Iowa State Director Patty Link to the Council on Educator Development.
The Council on Educator Development was created in Division VI of HF 215, the major education reform bill from the 2013 legislative session. From this blog’s coverage:
Division VI: Council on Educator Development. Establishes a council on educator development to conduct a study and make recommendations regarding a statewide teacher evaluation system and performance review requirements and a statewide administrator evaluation system. In developing recommendations for any evaluation system the council shall consider, in addition to other items, the fair and balanced use of student outcome measures comprised of multiple, reliable indicators of student growth and learning that are appropriate to the curriculum and the students being taught. The measures may include gauges of higher order skills such as student research papers, science investigations, technology products, and art projects; teacher-defined objectives for individual student growth; student learning objectives; district, school, or teacher-created assessments; and high-quality standardized tests. The council shall provide for wide distribution of a preliminary draft of recommendations to teachers, administrators, and school boards by October 1, 2015 and provide a mechanism and opportunity for the submission of feedback that shall be reviewed by the council prior to making final recommendations, which are due by November 15, 2016.
Patty Link is described as serving as the parent representative on the Council. However, Patty Link is also registered as a lobbyist for StudentsFirst since June 13, 2013. (What’s with the California address and phone number–doesn’t she live in the Des Moines area?) So, it is completely unsurprising that objections are being raised about her appointment.
Why does it matter? So far, efforts to tie teacher evaluations to student test scores have been successfully resisted in Iowa. There have been good questions raised about the validity and appropriateness of using student test scores for that purpose. But here’s the StudentsFirst view on the matter:
StudentsFirst has consistently called on states to require meaningful teacher and principal evaluations based on multiple measures that are focused on student outcomes.
HT: Scott McLeod. He has more on this over at Dangerously Irrelevant.
This entry was posted in DE, HF215, reform, StudentsFirst Iowa, task forces, un-blogathon on August 31, 2013 by Karen W.
Flying Under the StudentsFirst Radar?
I came across a link to a relatively new Iowa education blog today in my Twitterfeed: The Iowa School Bell.
Despite all the local interest in the upcoming school election, it seems our facilities planning and school closure drama have failed to garner any interest from Iowa StudentsFirst.
That may not be the case in other parts of the state. The Iowa School Bell reports that Iowa StudentsFirst may have taken an interest in the Des Moines school election.
This entry was posted in elections, reform, school boards, StudentsFirst Iowa, un-blogathon on August 29, 2013 by Karen W.
HF 215 Signed
Governor Branstad signed HF 215 today. From the press release:
“The 2013 education reform bill promises to provide all Iowa schools with the support they need to significantly raise student achievement,” said Branstad. “Change is never easy. But it was particularly painful that we had to acknowledge that Iowa slipped over the past two decades from a national leader in education to the middle of the pack.”
Radio Iowa has coverage of the signing, including audio of the signing ceremony.
The Gazette has coverage of the event here, and the DE here.
And just for fun, a post from Iowa .Gif-t Shop, and one from Scott McLeod: what were they thinking at the signing ceremony?
This entry was posted in 85th GA, HF215, reform, SF423 on June 3, 2013 by Karen W.
HF 215 Signing . . .
scheduled for Monday, June 3rd at 9:00 am at North High School in Des Moines.
This entry was posted in 85th GA, HF215, reform on May 30, 2013 by Karen W.
HF 215 Conference Committee Report [updated]
Update: see note on supplemental state aid under Division II.
The conference committee report on HF 215 on education reform was filed today. The House concurred with the conference committee report [voice vote] and then passed HF 215 as amended passed [95-0]. The Senate adopted the conference committee report by voice vote and passed HF 215 as amended [40-10].
The short summary: schools are getting 2% allowable growth plus a one time 2% payment for FY14 and 4% allowable growth for FY15. The Certificate of Distinction program is out. Smarter Balanced Assessments are out for now (see Division V for details). Teacher career paths, leadership and compensation system changes are in, as are school grading/performance rankings. Student outcome measures are in but defined specifically and broadly to include more than standardized test scores. Changes to home school reporting requirements, allowing home school parents to teach driver education courses and authorizing independent private school accreditation are in.
Division I: School District Funding. Allowable growth is set at 2% for FY14 and 4% for FY15. Adds a new section 257.16B School district property tax replacement payments which has the state funding 100% of allowable growth from FY14 on. Adds a 2% school district funding supplement for FY14.
Division II: School District Funding Terminology. Replacing allowable growth with supplemental state aid. Updated to add: Unlike allowable growth, supplemental state aid will be 100% funded by the state.
Division III: Iowa Learning Online Initiative–Fees and Appropriations. Mandates that the DE establish fees payable by school districts and accredited nonpublic schools, such fees to be used to administer this section with administration including professional development for teachers to participate in the initiative. Appropriating one million five hundred thousand dollars in each of FY15 and FY16 for not more than three FTE positions.
Division IV: Training and Employment of Teachers. Directs the DE to provide for the operation of an online state job posting system that shall be used by school districts, charter schools, area education agencies and the DE, and may be used by accredited nonpublic schools. Establishes a teach Iowa student teaching pilot project that shall provide teacher candidates with a one-year student teaching experience. Establishes a teach Iowa scholar program open to both Iowa residents (get priority) and nonresidents. Applicants must be in the top twenty-five percent of their graduating class and must be preparing to teach in STEM, ESL, special education, or hard-to-staff subjects as identified by the DE. Teach Iowa scholar grants shall not exceed $4000 per year or a total of $20,000 over a five-year period.
Division V: Assessments. Moving from required assessments for grades four, eight, and eleven to end of year assessments for grades three through eleven is postponed from the 2014-15 school year to the 2016-17 school year and language requiring the assessment be developed by a consortium in which Iowa is a participant have been removed from the bill [Smarter Balanced Assessments are not being adopted at this time]. The director shall establish an assessment task force to review and make recommendations for a statewide assessment of student progress and the task force shall consider the costs to school districts and the state in providing and administering the assessment and the technical support necessary to implement the assessments. Task force recommendations are due January 1, 2015 and the task force shall include teachers, school administrators, business leaders, representatives of state agencies, and members of the general public.
Division VII: Iowa Teacher Career and Compensation Matters. Establishes a teacher leadership supplement beginning in FY15. The teacher leadership funds shall be used to increase payment for a teacher assigned a leadership role pursuant to a framework or an approved comparable system; to increase the percentage of teachers assigned leadership roles; to increase the minimum teacher starting salary to $33,500; to cover the costs for time mentor and lead teachers are not providing classroom instruction; to cover the costs of initial or career teachers observing or co-teaching with teaches assigned leadership roles; for professional development associated with career pathways leadership; and for other approved costs associated with a framework or approved comparable system. Establishes state supplemental assistance for high-need schools. Appropriates fifty million dollars each year for FY15, FY16, and FY17 for teacher leadership supplemental aid payments. Appropriates ten million dollars for FY15 and each subsequent fiscal year for supplemental assistance for high-need schools. Establishes a framework for Iowa teacher career paths, leadership roles, and compensation with option to seek approval for a comparable system of career paths and compensation for teachers that contains differentiated, multiple leadership roles. AEA-employed teachers can be part of the framework or the approved comparable system.
Initial teacher. At least $33,500 salary and shall complete a teacher residency during first year of employment that includes intensive supervision or mentoring by a mentor or lead teacher; collaboration time to observe and learn from model, mentor, and lead teachers; five additional contract days beyond career teachers to be used to strengthen instructional leadership.
Career teacher. Successful completion of initial teacher mentoring and induction program and has demonstrated competencies of a career teacher.
Model teacher. Meets requirements of career teacher, demonstrates competencies of a model teacher, has participated in a rigorous review process, and has been recommended for a one-year model teacher assignment by a site-based review council. Five additional contract days beyond career teachers and an annual salary supplement of at least $2000. Districts shall designate at least ten percent of its teachers as model teachers.
Mentor teacher. Demonstrates competencies and superior teaching skills of a mentor teacher and has been recommended for a one-year mentor teacher assignment by a site-based review council. A teaching load of not more than 75% student instruction. Ten additional contract days beyond career teachers and an annual salary supplement of at least $5000. Districts shall designate at least ten percent of its teachers as mentor teachers.
Lead teacher. Recommended for a one-year lead teacher assignment by a site-based review council based on an assertion that the teacher possesses superior teaching skills and the ability to lead adult learners. Lead teacher roles may include the planning and delivery of professional development to improve instructional strategies; facilitation of instructional leadership teams within the building, district, or other districts; mentoring other teachers; and participation in the evaluation of student teachers. A teaching load of not more than 50% student instruction. Fifteen additional contract days and an annual salary supplement of at least $10,000. Districts shall designate at least five percent of its teachers as lead teachers.
National board certified teachers who meet the requirements of section 256.44 shall continue to receive the specified award in addition to compensation set out in this section. Establishes a commission on educator leadership and compensation. Comparable system means either an instructional coach model or a system of career paths and compensation that contains differentiated, multiple leadership roles approved by the DE.
The instructional coach and curriculum and professional development model includes at a minimum: beginning teacher level, career teacher level, instructional coach level (ten additional contract days beyond career teacher and $5000 to $7000 annual stipend), curriculum and professional development leader level (fifteen additional contract days beyond model teacher and $10,000 to $12,000 annual stipend), and model teacher level (five additional contract days beyond career teacher and an annual salary supplement of at least $2000). Goal to assign at least one instructional coach per attendance center or per every five hundred students enrolled in an attendance center and assignment of at least ten percent of its teachers as model teachers.
Directs the DE to develop criteria and a process for school districts to use to establish specific performance goals and to evaluate the performance of each attendance center operated by the district to arrive at an overall school performance grade and report card for each attendance center which shall be posted on the DE’s internet site. Criteria shall include student academic growth, parent involvement, student attendance, employee turnover, and community activities and involvement. The DE shall develop an achievement score that calculates aggregate growth as well as aggregate proficiency which when combined with other academic indicators results in an overall school performance grade for each attendance center. The performance grade may also be used as one measure to rank and classify schools into six performance categories. Other academic indicators shall include graduation rates, attendance rates, and college-readiness rates and may include post-graduation data, suspension and expulsion rates, levels of student engagement, parent satisfaction, parent engagement, and staff working conditions. DE findings and recommendations due July 1, 2014.
Division VIII: Competency-based Instruction Task Force. Establishes a competency-based education grant program to award grants to not more than ten school districts annually for developing, implementing, and evaluating competency-based education pilot and demonstration projects. Final report including any recommendations due by January 15, 2019.
Division IX: Instructional Hours. School calendars shall include not less than 180 days or 1080 hours of instruction.
Division X: Private Instruction Exemption. Reporting requirements made optional for persons providing private instruction under section 299A.3 Private instruction by nonlicensed person.
Division XI: Independent Accreditation of Nonpublic Schools. Permitting nonpublic schools to be accredited by approved independent accrediting agencies instead of the state board.
Division XII: Independent Private Instruction. Establishes independent private instruction defined as not accredited, enrolling not more than four unrelated students, not charging tuition or fees, providing private or religious-based instruction, providing instruction in mathematics, reading and language arts, science, and social studies.
Division XIII: Driver Education By Teaching Parent. Allows home school parents to provide driver education instruction to their home schooled children if they meet certain requirements but without being required to meet physical classroom requirements and extra vehicle safety equipment requirements.
Division XIV: Miscellaneous Provisions. Directs the director to develop and implement a coaching and support system for teachers aligned with the framework and approved comparable systems and a coaching and support system for administrators. Establishing approved uses of preschool foundation aid funding. Iowa Early Intervention Block Grant Program repeal date extended five years to July 1, 2018. Making preschool and kindergarten assessment changes.
Establishing a school district reporting requirement task force to review a list of reports school districts are required to submit to the DE and to produce written justification for continuing, modifying, or eliminating the requirement. Report due by December 2, 2013. State board to review the written justifications and submit findings and recommendations by February 3, 2014.
Directing the DE to develop a proposed model for an extended learning time pilot project, due December 16, 2013.
This entry was posted in 85th GA, HF215, instructional time, reform, SF423, SSB1228 on May 22, 2013 by Karen W.
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Home » ICT4D Blog » Fostering the Information Society for Development in the Web 2.0 framework: from push to pull strategies — the case of Spain
Fostering the Information Society for Development in the Web 2.0 framework: from push to pull strategies — the case of Spain
By Ismael Peña-López (@ictlogist), 19 January 2008
Main categories: Cyberlaw, governance, rights, Digital Divide, ICT4D, Meetings
Other tags: e-Readiness, Information Society, policies, policy, pull, push, spain, strategies, strategy, web 2.0
When framing all the impact of ICTs in society — and not only at the economic level — it is unavoidable to speak of Manuel Castells’s work, maybe the most acknowledged scholar in this field. Summing up and focusing on what is of interest here, Castells presents a society structured in three layers — relationships of production, experience and power — that by acting over matter (i.e. nature) — the former — and establishing relationships amongst them three layers, end up shaping a culture in a specific configuration of time and space. As technology plays and important role in both the relationships amongst layers and in the creation of culture, Castells theorizes on how ICTs are actually shaping nowadays culture in a very broad sense. His thesis is that the Informational Paradigm leads to a globalized Network Society that pervades each and every aspect of human life. Besides the effect on the Economy, it affects all the way the society shaped, thus the way we work, how culture and communication take place, a redefinition of politics, and even the concepts of time and space.
We can summarize the preceding ideas in the following figure, which presents the three layered society structure in a drastically simplified way:
Concerning development, Welzel et al. (2003) describe in their work a framework that, to our appeal, is very interesting as it goes beyond economic development, overcoming the usual focus on infrastructures.
Their three tier approach is based on the three main trends in development studies. The first one is socioeconomic development, mainly based in Economy issues (translated into indicators) plus some others mainly measuring Health or Education. Socioeconomic development ends up measuring the resources the individual actually has, thus enhancing his objective means of choice. The second one is value change shifting to emancipative values. In this case, what is enhanced is not the objective but the subjective ability towards human choice. The third one is democratization that, if accompanied – as it would be expected – by an increase of freedom rights, would actually make possible the objective and subjective power of choice that the two former development trends explained.
Again, next figure tries and pictures these ideas:
If we add both frameworks, on one hand Castells’s Network Society and on the other Welzel et al.’s, we come up with the following figure, a figure that I have already presented here:
The case of Spain
If we take Ferran Sabaté’s work (2007a, 2007b) after the World Economic Forum’s Networking Readiness Index 2006 for Spain, we clearly see that infrastructures are not the problem (they are undoubtedly and still a problem, but they are far from being the problem). As it it put clear in his two articles, as a quite e-developed country, Spain has reached a certain satisfactory degree of e-readiness based on a deep and wide development of infrastructures. What is lacking, and impedes a further e-development, is everything else that should accompany the deployment of infrastructures, namely a proper political strategy, digital literacy and, above all, a strong demand driven by private (mainly individual, but also corporate) interest — it is my opinion that, at the state we are in, lack of interest and digital illiteracy are almost the same thing and can be generalized as lack of e-Awareness.
What to do about it?
Let’s take the previous figure, let’s only keep the central column and let’s put two layers on top of it: first layer is how the web (we could actually speak of ICTs in general) has developed, from 1.0 — based on infrastructures and one-way information — to 2.0 — based on content and services and participation. Second layer is about two kinds of policies, one based on push strategies (wire cities, subsidize computer acquisition), the other one based on pull strategies (make people aware of their needs and how computers can help fulfill them, empower Administrations so citizens know they can ask for more public e-Services).
It is my opinion that Spain — as many other (almost) e-developed countries — is just at the hinge between an Information Society based on infrastructures and the creation of a strong ICT sector, and another one based on highly digitally literate people that demand high quality digital content and services in an adequate regulation framework (adequate not for incumbent carriers, but for digital content and services provision: privacy, intellectual property rights, cyberlaw, etc.).
Not to stay forever at that hinge, the transition from 1.0 to 2.0 must be boosted. And it is my believe that, after a successful push strategies to set up the basements of a first phase of the Information Society, what is needed is pull strategies so that the growth, both in depth and width, of the Information Society is made socially sustainable according to citizens’ needs and, at the same time, economically sustainable according to customers’ will to pay.
I have kindly been invited to speak about this at the conference Difundir las TIC en la época 2.0: nuevos formatos, nuevos interrogantes y nuevas perspectivas [ICT diffusion in 2.0 times: new formats, new questions and new perspectives] (the event on Facebook).
Update: slides for the presentation
Update: video of the presentation
Castells, M. (2000). “Materials for an exploratory theory of the network society”. In British Journal of Sociology, Jan-Mar 2000, 51(1), 5-24. London: Routledge.
Welzel, C., Inglehart, R. & Klingemann, H. (2003). “The theory of human development: A cross-cultural analysis”. In European Journal of Political Research, 42(3), 341-379. Oxford: Blackwell.
To get the Networking Readiness Index 2006: World Economic Forum. (2007). Global Information Technology Report 2006-2007. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sabaté, F. (2007a). “¿Tan mal estamos de conectividad? [1]”. In Estrategias 2.0, 14 Noviembre 2007.
Sabaté, F. (2007b). “¿Tan mal estamos de conectividad? [2]”. In Estrategias 2.0, 16 Noviembre 2007.
Peña-López, Ismael (2005) “Digital literacy: push or pull strategies?” In ICTlogy, #19, 2005. Barcelona: ICTlogy.
Adolfo Estalella y Edgar Gómez: ¿Difundir la ‘Web 2.0?, o como pasar de la tecnología a las prácticas, video on Blip.tv
Ramón Sangüesa: Divulgación de la tecnología: ¿la construcción antes del 2.0?, video on Blip.tv
Ismael Peña-López: El papel de la TIC y la Web 2.0 en el desarrollo: de las estrategias push a las estrategias pull, video on Blip.tv
If you need to cite this article in a formal way (i.e. for bibliographical purposes) I dare suggest:
Peña-López, I. (2008) “Fostering the Information Society for Development in the Web 2.0 framework: from push to pull strategies — the case of Spain” In ICTlogy, #52, January 2008. Barcelona: ICTlogy.
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8 Comments to “Fostering the Information Society for Development in the Web 2.0 framework: from push to pull strategies — the case of Spain” »
Maria Jett on 20080119 at 21:59 said:
Fantastic argument… exactly the kind of framework I’m looking for to help inform product development.
Francisco Lupiáñez-Villanueva on 20080120 at 10:27 said:
To avoid the echo of technological deterministic of this framework, I will emphasized the continuous interaction among layers.
Ismael Peña-López on 20080120 at 13:01 said:
Technological determinism?
I guess that it is precisely the superposition over (1) technology of (2) value change towards emancipative values and (3) democratization towards freedom rights that breaks technological determinism in this framework, isn’t it?
Of course, I agree that there are continuous (back and fro) interactions between layers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_determinism
ok, ok :D
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ICTlogy Review
(ISSN 1886-5208)
Conference liveblogging
Opinion Factsheet . Local and Regional Authorities in the permanent dialogue with citizens
Ismael Peña-López on Report. Evaluation of the Open Data for Development program
Mor on Report. Evaluation of the Open Data for Development program
Veronica Pena on Personal Learning Environments and the revolution of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
Information Society:
e-Readiness
Infrastructures:
Participation, Engagement, Use
Legal Framework:
Law & Rights
Open Access, IP
Content and Services:
e-Government, Politics
Education and e-Learning
Online Volunteering
The Rise of Nerd Politics. Digital Activism and Political Change
Los laboratorios ciudadanos. Un estudio de caso: El Medialab-Prado y su impacto en el ámbito local
Laboratorios Ciudadanos y nueva institucionalidad
Wiki Last Changes
V-Dem
Category:Blogs ICT4D
EQI
Quality of Government Index
I am Ismael Peña-López.
I am Director General of Citizen Participation and Electoral Processes at the Government of Catalonia.
Formerly, and during nearly 13 years, I was professor at the School of Law and Political Science of the Open University of Catalonia.
I have also been senior researcher at Open Evidence and fellow director of Open Innovation at Fundació Jaume Bofill.
Article. Open government in new digital states: which libraries for which citizens?
Book. Shifting participation into sovereignty: the case of decidim.barcelona
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Technology, Digitalisation and Innovation
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Bhavishya Sharma
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Managing Director, Athena Executive Search & Consulting Bhavishya is the Founder Director and visionary behind Athena. He leads the Professional Services, Life Sciences, TMT (Telecom/Media/Technology) and Board Search practices for the organization. With over a decade of rich experience in C-level executive search and leadership advisory, Bhavishya has a dedicated career in executive search industry. Having worked with leading Indian and global search firms in the capacity of P&L/Geography Head, he has led the operations for a large Asian Executive Search firm in India and managed the search practice for one of the Global Top 15 Executive Search firms in India. He has steered challenging mandates such as ‘India Entry’, ‘Turnaround & Restructuring’ and ‘Redefining Business Processes and Professional Guidelines’ for some of the leading names in the executive search industry As the head of Athena’s consulting practice, he has advised a large portfolio of clients on strategic talent management issues like M&A Advisory, Persona Due-Diligence, Board level Advisory, Leadership Assessment, Compensation Benchmarking. Additionally, Bhavishya is an exclusive M&A advisor to a large diversified Media & Technology firm headquartered in Singapore and an appointed business advisor in India to a UK based process-consulting firm with operations across 22 countries. Bhavishya is an engineering graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology.
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Posts Tagged ‘ Green Party ’
Scotland’s Independence Referendum Heats Up Ahead Of Polling Day
Getting off the train at Glasgow’s Queen Street station and stepping out into George Square, it’s hard not to get swept up in the feverish excitement that is gripping the city. Yes badges seem to adorn almost every passer by. A giant banner reads ‘Bristol Greens: England says vote Yes for a fairer society.’ A band plays an open show on Buchanan Street, with saltires and Yes billboards lining the makeshift stage.
This is in stark contrast to Edinburgh, just yesterday (Saturday), when the Orange Order marched ‘to save the union’, in their biggest showing in Scotland in over fifty years. The controversial march – many on the Better Together side were well aware of the counter-productivity of a march by a group largely eschewed by most branches of Scottish civil society – was reported on positively by The Guardian as ‘a visceral show of strength for the union’ that passed by ‘largely without incident’. Continue reading →
The Rise Of Special Olympics Ireland
November 25th 1963, the eyes of the world are firmly fixed on Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. A heroic figure has been cut down in his prime. A 42 year old woman stands idly by as she watches her brother lowered into the ground. Amidst the backdrop of her sibling’s successes, it is now her time to create some history of her own.
One year prior to the death of her brother Eunice Kennedy Shriver had a vision. She invited young people with intellectual disabilities to a day camp in her own back garden, sowing the seeds for the foundation of the Special Olympics – an organisation that would grow into a global movement and change the lives of millions. Eunice, saw opportunity where others saw barriers, and despite the personal tragedies that encapsulated her family she battled valiantly and secured a brighter future for all those born with intellectual disabilities. Continue reading →
2014 Special Olympics Ireland Games
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Fintan McCarthy
Gerard O'Regan
Lucan Hedgehogs
Lucan Special Olympics
Simon Darragh
Sonya Rabbitte
Special Olympics Ireland Games
Team Ireland
University Limerick
Vicki Casserly
Vicki Casserly Fine Gael
Opinion: Abortion Debate Highlights Political Impotency of the Younger Generation
Abortion protest – Barcelona, Spain. Photo: David Berkowitz.
As I left my house to go to work yesterday I found, as I regularly do, junk mail crammed into my letter box. But, unlike the usual menu for takeaways or an estate agent trying to get me to sell my rented house, I found a leaflet for anti-abortion. It was well made with good eye-catching design; even the pictures of its featured politicians were Obama-ised like the famous ‘Change’ posters. I left it where it was and continued on my way. Two minutes down the street I met the man who was handing out the flyers. Now, I work in a place where daily I deal with large numbers of elderly and retired people, so take my word for it when I tell you; he was one of the oldest people I have ever seen. He was walking up driveways at the pace of a snail with a limp, and his liver spots were so numerous they could have been freckles on a ginger child. Never before have I seen the division of opinions between the old and the young so perfectly portrayed. And yet, despite this man’s obvious lack of vitality he was standing up and making an effort to involve himself in an issue he feels very strongly about. The same can definitely not be said of the majority of the young people in my generation.
Abortion debate
Sinn Fèin
Youth inaction
Youth vote
564 Candidates to Contest Election
A total of 564 candidates will be contesting the General Election – nearly a hundred more than in the last general election in 2007.
The number of those running as independents or for smaller parties is 233 – this compares to 108 in 2007.
Fianna Fáil has 75 candidates, down from a total of 106 in 2007. Fine Gael has 104 candidates, up from 91 in 2007.
The Labour Party is fielding 68 candidates, up from 50 in 2007.
The Green Party is fielding 43 candidates. Sinn Féin is running 41 candidates, the same number of candidates as 2007.
There is a very high number of other parties and independent candidates this year.
New Vision, a new political group of independents, is fielding 19 candidates.
Nominations may have closed but candidates can withdraw their names up to midday tomorrow.
The total number of people on the Electoral Register 2011/2012 is 3,161,854.
This compares to 3,066,517 on the register in 2007 – a rise of almost 100,000 (95,337) voters since the last election.
source:Rte.ie
Dàil
United Left Alliance
A week to forget:Green Party Quit, Leadership Battle Intensifies
The political turmoil engulfing Ireland at present shows no sign of stopping.
One day after Brian Cowen officially stepped down as leader of Fianna Fail, Green Party leader John Gormley pulled the plug on the government coalition. The decision by the Greens to withdraw from government may well bring forward the election date, which had been fixed for March 11th.
He said that the party’s patience had finally run out and that the people of Ireland had been left ‘aghast’ at recent political developments.
Mr Gormley said the ongoing ‘saga’ over the question of the Fianna Fáil leadership as well as a breakdown in communication over cabinet promotions were at the heart of the Green Party’s decision.
He said he informed the Taoiseach and other ministers of his party’s decision to pull out of Government before it was announced yesterday.
Crucially however the Greens have agreed to help the opposition get the finance bill passed in parliament. Both Fine Gael and Labour have admitted it is now time for all the parties to work together in order to get the bill passed, whihc would serve the best interests of the country and its people. However Sinn Fèin has said they will oppose the bill.
Elsewhere, the battle lines for the leadership of Fianna Fàil have been drawn in the wake of Cowen`s reisgnation. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan, former Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin and Minister for Social Protection Eamon O`Cuiv have all thrown their names into the hat.
Junior minister Conor Lenihan has revealed he will not be contesting the leadership battle and has refused to give details of who he will be supporting. Mr Lenihan is keeping his cards close to his chest, as he will be looking to work closely with the new leader, if it is his brother Brian or not.
Brian Cowen
Conor Lenihan
Eamon O`Cuiv
John Gormely
Micheal Martin
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan
Minister for Social Protection
Minister for Tourism Culture and Sport
Cowen Quits Fianna Fail but remains Taoiseach
Taoiseach Brian Cowen has stepped down as the leader of Fiànna Fàil, just days after passing a vote of confidence within the parliamentary party.
Mr Cowen, has endured one of the most turbulent weeks of his political career since he took over as Taoiseach in 2008. However despite quitting as leader of Fiànna Fàil, he has vowed to stay on as Taoiseach.
He said he felt his continued leadership of the party was distracting from the issues facing Ireland in the run-up to the election.
The prime minister – or Taoiseach – said: “I’m concerned that renewed internal criticism of Fianna Fail is deflecting attention from this important debate.
“Therefore, taking everything into account after discussing the matter with my family I have taken, on my own counsel, the decision to step down.”
He added: “The government will continue to govern the country.”
The opposition Labour party has tabled a motion of no confidence in the government and there will be a vote on it next week.
Fianna Fail will choose a new leader through an internal party vote next week, Mr Cowen said.
The front-runners to succeed him are Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and former Minister for Foreign Affairs, who resigned from government earlier this week.
The shock announcement is the latest twist in the crisis gripping the Irish government.
Mr Cowen last week tried to reshuffle his cabinet .However, the reshuffle backfired spectacularly when it was opposed by the Green party, partners in Fianna Fail’s coalition.
The move further weakened the Taoiseach`s position within his own party and within the government.
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Census 2020: Kane County, IL
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Browse: Home / 2016 / November / St. Charles Gets Pumped for New Outdoor Fitness Stations at Pottawatomie Park
St. Charles Gets Pumped for New Outdoor Fitness Stations at Pottawatomie Park
kanecountyconnects / November 1, 2016 / Leave a comment / Government, Health, Nonprofits, Parks and Recreation, Quality of Life, Quirky and Fun
From left to right: Park Commissioner James F. Cooke, Park Commissioner Trish Beckjord, Superintendent of Recreation Jeff Greenwald, Park Commissioner Jean Cabel, Athletic Supervisor Melissa Caine, Superintendent of Parks & Planning Laura Rudow, Park Board President Bob Carne Recreation Supervisor Rosie Fasching, Director of Parks & Recreation Holly Cabe. (CREDIT: St. Charles Park District)
Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles is known as a great place for mini-golf, swimming, boating, picnicking and biking. Now, thanks to a generous funding grant, the park is also home to new, and free, outdoor fitness equipment.
On Tuesday, Oct. 25, the St. Charles Park Board held an intimate ribbon cutting ceremony for this additional park asset.
There are, of course, many ways to get in shape and stay healthy, and working out with fitness equipment is a part of the wellness regimen for people of all ages. However, it’s one thing to do it in a gym; it’s another thing to be able to pump some iron in the great outdoors.
Thanks to a generous grant from Greenfields Outdoor Fitness, the Park District has added a circuit of workout equipment stations in Pottawatomie Park that brings things like chin-up bars and incline benches, leg presses and elliptical machines out of the gym and into the fresh air, Superintendent of Parks & Planning Laura Rudow said.
Despite the rain, resident Chloe Skoczen enjoyed using the new fitness equipment in Pottawatomie Park. (CREDIT: St. Charles Park District)
“People in Pottawatomie Park or participating at the Community Center in other forms of exercise, like boot camp programs or a yoga class, could easily incorporate this fitness circuit into their workout program,” Rudow said.
Many of these fitness stations are wheelchair-accessible, making them especially useful for physically or developmentally disabled individuals who would otherwise not have access to such sophisticated fitness equipment.
“Our goal was to help an underserved population,” Rudow said. “The Park District already hosts several programs, partnering with Fox Valley Special Recreation Association for both children and adults, and these workout stations will be ideal for people who are unlikely to have a gym membership.”
Designed to be used by almost anyone, regardless of ability or fitness level, eight stations will provide a complete body workout. Equipment such as the vertical press works shoulders and arms while the leg press concentrates on quadriceps and calves. A cross-country ski machine, or elliptical, strengthens leg muscles, improves cardiovascular endurance and enhances agility and coordination. A lat pull station concentrates on upper back, biceps and core muscles, while the chest press addresses shoulders, abdominals, forearms and triceps.
The equipment lets users work against their own body mass, and accompanying signage with handy QR codes instructs users on proper form and safety.
And every station is designed for two or more persons, making getting fit a fun time for friends and family. Mom and Dad can work out at the two-person back and arms combo station, while best buddies can rotate through the three-person static combo area, going from chin-up bar to incline bench to dip station. Grandma and Grandpa can compete against the grandkids at the four-person leg press. Traditional walking partners can step off the trail and onto the two-person cross country ski machine for a nice change of pace.
“It’s so much easier to get motivated and commit to working out if you can do it with a friend,” said Rudow.
The “You Go Greenfields” grant award contributed approximately one-third of the cost of the outdoor fitness station complex. A leading provider of outdoor fitness products, Greenfields Outdoor Fitness works with park districts, schools, military bases and resorts to bring exercise equipment into the fresh air and sunshine.
The Park District’s outdoor gym is situated adjacent to Gaffney Ball Field, making it a convenient drop-in location for walkers, bicyclists or users of the Community Center or Swanson Pool. Parents could get in a great workout while waiting for their children at preschool programs. Distance walkers could diversify their fitness program by including a few minutes on the vertical and chest press machines to get a total body workout.
“We are very excited to be able to offer this outdoor gym to the community,” Rudow said. “It’s free, it’s outdoors, it’s always available. What could be better?”
SOURCE: St. Charles Park District news release
Tags: Outdoor, Park District, Pottawatomie Park, Pump Iron, St. Charles, Weights, Workout
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Home > JT Archives > Miles Davis and Bill Evans: Miles and Bill in Black & White
Miles Davis and Bill Evans: Miles and Bill in Black & White
Published September 1, 2001 April 25, 2019 – By Ashley Kahn
Miles Davis and Bill Evans
Miles Davis and Bill Evans in the studio
They were musical brothers separated by skin tone. The brief, nine-month partnership of Miles Davis and Bill Evans yielded some of the most sublime and enduring jazz ever recorded. Yet it could not survive the rigors that tested the creative union almost nightly: the road, their own career momentum and, most of all, the racial forces of the day.
Had either been more laid-back, thicker-skinned or same-skinned, who’s to say further modal excursions might not have followed their ultimate cooperative statement, Kind of Blue? Then again, without the unique blend of their sensitivities perhaps such a masterpiece would not have been possible in the first place. Perhaps the same heart-on-the-sleeve vulnerability that colored their respective musical signatures fated their association to such a short life.
Or perhaps Miles might have tempered his habit of hazing his new recruits.
Davis dubbed him “Moe,” a button-down name that fit Evans’ horn-rimmed, serious appearance. It was 1958: Davis had just hired the pianist for his on-fire sextet and the taunting began. But this time, there was an uncommon twist. After years on the short end of the American racial equation, the trumpeter found himself leading one of the world’s most popular black jazz bands with a lone white sideman.
Sure, Miles had rubbed shoulders with white jazzmen in other group situations, but most had been recording efforts or one-off gigs, and none were as high profile as the Miles Davis band of ’58. Even his legendary The Birth of the Cool nonet-comprised of a white majority-had spent more time in rehearsals than on stage. Gil Evans? That was a purely in-the-studio pairing, far from public view.
But in Davis’ powerful ’58 lineup-featuring John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb-Evans was in the spotlight night after night, a minority of one. And Miles was not about to let him forget it.
“Miles used to mess with him. Not about his music or anything-he just used to call him ‘whitey’,” Adderley reported. Cobb also witnessed Davis teasing Evans. “Bill would say something and Miles would tell him, ‘Man, cool it. We don’t want no white opinions.’ They were close but Miles would just fool with him. It was good-hearted.”
Davis and Evans were close, all teasing aside. Musically, Davis was more in tune with his new pianist than anyone else in the fabled sextet. Both were masters of minimal gesture, speaking so much with so little, manipulating their respective instruments to enhance their distinctive styles. The fragility with which one worked the Harmon mute paralleled the other’s delicate facility with the “soft” piano pedal.
Both were explorers, immersed in jazz tradition yet channeling classical and world music influences, seeking a greater freedom of expression and spontaneity in a music Miles described as “thick” with clichéd chord runs.
Independently, both had been been dabbling with more flexible improvisational paths, implying root structures rather than locking into long-established harmonic patterns.
Their partnership far exceeded the leader-sideman paradigm. Evans influenced Davis’ outlook and guided his taste, introducing him to a host of modern classical composers. He then played catalyst to-and co-composer of much of the material on-the modal-jazz masterpiece Kind of Blue. “I planned that album around the piano playing of Bill Evans,” Davis admitted in 1989.
The story of how they grew together and then apart is all the more poignant given the time and place they lived in. In the late ’50s, America was witnessing the civil rights movement in its early maturity, awakening to the complexities of race relations in modern times. Black leaders were finding their voice and testing strategies for self-empowerment, pushing for voter registration and integrated education. White America was figuring out its role in the struggle, finding a place to stand on the immediate events, while considering more far-reaching issues.
The few images that caught Miles and Bill side by side-looking so different in style and skin yet so familiar and at ease-seem to defy the tenor of the time. But outside the photo frame, in the jazz world of 1958, Davis’ decision to offer Evans the piano chair forced to the surface sentiments, beliefs and preconceptions that continue to generate debate today.
Jazz integration had once been a matter of revolutionary stance and major risk-taking-think of Benny Goodman performing and recording with Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton in the ’30s. By the late ’50s, it had become a simpler matter of choice. Fewer social barriers hindered integrated jazz bands; hotels and performance venues were opening their doors, even their front doors, to blacks. Audiences, too, appeared more racially balanced. Though mixed-race couples were still seldom seen publicly (and might prove a risky venture in certain locales), most urban centers seemed comfortable with the idea of mixed crowds patronizing jazz clubs-whether downtown or up. A paying customer meant more money in the till: drink up, brother!
But other, subtler forms of segregation remained. White musicians still held a lion’s share of the best-paying, union-protected gigs in TV orchestras, Broadway shows and recording studios. And as the locks of racism loosened and lowered, so a riptide of resentment swept in, expressing itself more openly than ever before. Restricted economic opportunities drew much of the newly vocalized ire.
Take cool jazz, for example. The spate of subdued sounds that blew in from the West Coast in the mid-’50s-elevating the careers of Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Shorty Rogers and Dave Brubeck-seemed to the black community one more instance of white musicians profiting from black cultural invention. “I guess it was supposed to be some kind of alternative to bebop, or black music…but it was the same old story,” Miles maintained in his autobiography, “black shit was being ripped off all over again.”
Gerry Mulligan-active in both East and West Coast scenes of the day-later came to acknowledge the black perspective on the situation. “I suppose it was later on that I realized that there was some reaction among the musicians themselves, some of whom resented the success of cool jazz in California, and that broke down into the white guys against the hard-blowing black guys in New York.”
It was a deep rift that became deeper as the decade wore on, a rift Bill Evans could never have known he would eventually be straddling. His approach to jazz had begun innocently enough in his hometown of Plainfield, N.J. Still a youngster in the ’40s, Evans fell under the spell of Nat Cole’s piano and later found he could actually improvise on the sheet music before him. Music took him through high school and, like for Miles, was his ticket to college. But unlike Davis-who came to the big city ostensibly to study, and then dropped out-Evans traveled to the Deep South and diligently finished four years of music courses at Southeastern Louisiana College.
Davis had already been in town for 10 years when Evans first stepped into the New York jazz scene in 1955. Evans immediately discerned a stiffer, more formal code of cross-racial communication than he had experienced in Louisiana. Contrary to the general assumptions of Southern racism, Louisiana had been a pocket of racial ease.
“There was a kind of freedom down there, different from anything in the North. The intercourse between Negro and white was friendly, even intimate. There was no hypocrisy, and that’s important to me. I told this to Miles, and asked him if he understood what I meant. He said he did. Some very horrible things go on down there. But there are some good things too, and the feel of the country is one of them.”
New York City helped snap Evans back to a black/white reality. He immersed himself in jazz culture, taking a variety of sideman gigs. He dabbled in third-stream projects, recording with forward-looking groups led by George Russell and Charles Mingus. His lifestyle also took a turn away from the mainstream. His first long-term romance was with a black woman named Peri Cousins (for whom “Peri’s Scope” was named). He experimented with narcotics and by the late ’50s was hooked on heroin.
But no fanciful aspirations of achieving “white Negro” status (as Norman Mailer dubbed the cross-racial identification common to many wanna-Beats of the mid-’50s) had him hoodwinked. Evans was not looking for a “ghetto pass,” and felt disdain for those who romanticized the jazz life: “They live their full lives on the fringe of jazz and yet miss its essence entirely. They take the neuroses that are integral in every art and blow them up to where they’re the whole thing.”
In early ’58, George Russell-at Davis’ urging-drove Evans over to the Colony Club in the black, Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn to sit in with the sextet. Evans knew it was an audition and that if he played his cards-and the piano-right, one of the most prestigious positions in the jazz world could be his. Davis and Adderley had already spoken of the pianist-the former had heard him at Birdland and the latter had witnessed him sitting in with his brother Nat-and had agreed he was well worth a listen.
By the end of the night, Miles told Bill that he’d be playing their next engagement in Philadelphia.
Evans was swept away in a flurry of gigs, the majority in black nightclubs like the Colony. Though Evans had begun to make a name for himself in New York circles, it was a tough and unwelcoming audience he encountered on the road. Red Garland was a tough act to replace. The dynamic pianist had been one of the popular (though often tardy) sparkplugs in Davis’ hard-charging rhythm section for almost three years. Jazz enthusiasts-many of whom followed band lineups as closely as sportswriters knew pro team rosters-were aghast: Who was this white guy, and where was Red?
“He looked like a Harvard professor on a Harlem street corner,” is how one witness of the day described Evans. His bookish looks, white skin and quiet demeanor exacerbated the problem of ushering him into the fold. Davis-never accused of being a gracious host-watched from the wings, tossing in barbed comments when it amused him.
Evans’ more subdued playing style did not help ingratiate the young pianist to Davis’ following any more than his appearance did. He lacked the drama Garland had delivered and had generously supplied behind the other soloists in the band. Davis adored Evans’ contrasting sense of space and subtlety, but a noisy, packed jazz joint was not the ideal location for “crystal notes or sparkling water cascading down from some clear waterfall,” as the trumpeter later praised the pianist’s sound.
With mixed emotions, Evans persevered. He felt intimidated, though challenged and ecstatic: “I thought I was inadequate. I felt the group to be composed of superhumans.” But the band began to find a new, smoother groove, as Adderley noted. “When he started to use Bill, Miles changed his style from very hard to a softer approach.”
By the end of May, on Miles’ 32nd birthday, the sextet recorded a number of sides that leaned heavily on ballads, and revealed a certain tension within the band.
“Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb were getting edgy having to hold back and wanted to cook on something,” Evans recalled. After recording rather hushed versions of “Stella by Starlight” and “On Green Dolphin Street,” Miles turned and said, “Love for Sale,” and kicked it off.
Summer of ’58 found Evans increasingly comfortable in the group. He was no longer the youngest member-Jimmy Cobb had been called in to replace Philly Joe Jones a month after Evans joined-but he remained the only white musician. Miles continued to tease him, but he had stood the trumpeter’s skewering-certainly a rite of entry to the band-and earned Davis’ respect.
But the unease Evans faced in certain venues grew. “It was more of an issue with the fans. The guys in the band defended me staunchly. We were playing black clubs, and guys would come up and say, ‘What’s that white guy doing there?’ They said, ‘Miles wants him there-he’s supposed to be there’.”
Reverse or not, it was a form of racism, and Davis and Evans were of one mind about it.
Miles: “Crow Jim is what they call that. It’s [got] a lot of the Negro musicians mad because most of the best-paying jobs go to the white musicians playing what the Negroes created. But I don’t go for this, because I think prejudice one way is just as bad as the other way.”
Evans: “This is an age-old disproven theory-that white men cannot play jazz. What people who are talking that way might be saying is they want to get credit for developing the music as a tradition.”
Years later, Evans opened up a bit more, adding: “It makes me a bit angry. I want more responsibility among black people and black musicians to be accurate and to be spiritually intelligent…to say only black people can play jazz is as dangerous as saying only white people are intelligent.” But in ’58, the pianist held his tongue, while the pressures of touring-the constant travel, the long hours, the persistent questioning of Evans’ presence on the bandstand-mounted.
Takes one to know one goes the old schoolyard retort. By the end of the summer, Davis knew Evans well enough to recognize, and identify with, certain personality traits. “Bill was a very sensitive person and it didn’t take much to set him off; a lot of people were saying he didn’t play fast enough and hard enough for them, that he was too delicate,” Davis recalled. Evans was fast approaching his professional limit; a decision to depart seemed imminent.
Davis sensed that there was another factor propelling Evans to leave the group. “On top of all this shit was the thing about wanting to form his own band and play his own music.” In an ironic twist, Evans’ personal resolve and musical vision had been steeled in the fire of derision he faced almost nightly. Though he “felt exhausted in every way-physically, mentally, spiritually-it did a lot of good,” he would say, “a great deal for my confidence.”
But it went deeper than mere self-assurance. Evans’ immersion in an integrated setting, surrounded by incredibly strong, creative individuals, forced a change that transcended questions of white or black. “Being with the band and the real honest personalities involved really helped confirm my own identity, made me realize that being myself was the only place to be.”
After a few festival and special appearances-recordings of which contradict Evans’ alleged inability to “play fast [or] hard enough” -and a few more weeks with the band, he departed in November.
To Miles, their joint destiny remained unfulfilled. A few months later, despite having hired Wynton Kelly to take over the piano spot (after considering another white pianist, Joe Zawinul), Davis called Evans and set up studio time at Columbia Records’ 30th Street Studio. In August 1959, the evidence of their final effort together, and one more compelling argument for a color-blind approach to jazz-making, was delivered: Kind of Blue.
Jimmy Cobb notes that Davis’ famous sextet was so talent-packed that it was fated from the outset to fracture into a series of powerful, genre-defining bands. Within a year of Evans’ exit, that’s exactly what happened, each splinter group led by a soloist initially hand-picked by Davis while still young and largely unknown: Coltrane, Adderley, Kelly (with Chambers and Cobb) and, establishing his own trio format and returning to chord-based explorations, Bill Evans.
History did, and continues to, look upon the nine-month Davis-Evans union through the lens of race. Down Beat, in a 1960 profile on Evans, reported of the “rumbles in some quarters that the color of Bill’s skin automatically depreciated his value to the [Davis] group.” And recently, in PBS’ 10-part opus Jazz, the voluminous Ken Burns compressed Evans’ significant contributions to a few moments focused on the white guy in Miles’ band.
Even Davis, writing on his former pianist’s choice of sidemen after their split, saw Evans’ famous Scott LaFaro-Paul Motian trio not in musical terms, but as a return to a less-than-progressive, all-white situation. “It’s a strange thing about a lot of white players-not all, just most-that after they make it in a black group they always go and play with all white guys. Bill did that, and I’m not saying he could have gotten any black guys better than Scott and Paul, I’m just telling what I’ve seen happen over and over again.”
Davis did not balance his comments with the fact that among many black jazz musicians whom Evans hired over the years, Philly Joe Jones-Miles’ own longtime drummer-consistently reappeared. Nor did he mention that Jack DeJohnette figured prominently in one of Evans’ most powerful lineups, alongside bassist Eddie Gomez, before joining Davis in 1969.
But then the issue of race-as Evans learned while onstage with Davis-is often fueled by what appears, and seldom by what is. And Miles-whose penchant for self-contradiction is legendary-often approached the truth in an oblique way.
“He is a very paradoxical, many-sided person,” Evans once commented, waving away not Davis’ veracity, but the tendency to hold him to the exact letter of his words.
“If you were to take any number of things he said out of context, you could be completely on the wrong track. Because he could say one thing today, and the opposite tomorrow for reasons that have to do with momentary response or defense mechanisms or who knows what.”
For one who never hesitated being outrageous or outspoken (to the point of almost losing his voice following throat surgery), Davis must have been atypically talked out (but accurate) when he confided to Playboy in 1962: “This black-white business is ticklish to try to explain.”
As the ’60s played out and musical fashion rocked ‘n’ rolled, the pair kept in touch sporadically. Davis kept himself abreast of Evans’ music (and certainly his sidemen), while Evans noted how apart they were drifting musically. Davis’ new mid-’60s quintet-Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Tony Williams and young pianist Herbie Hancock, one of whose primary influences was Evans-increased its reliance on modal structures, unlocking and recreating the jazz vocabulary.
Meanwhile, Evans reembraced “functional harmony” (as pianist Brad Mehldau calls it), retracing his steps to and then from bebop. Over the years, he created, and continued to explore, a nuanced, texture-rich sound that became his signature, most often within an acoustic trio.
Watching as Davis introduced amplified instruments and rock rhythms into his sound, and added more and more sidemen, the pianist shook his head. Evans missed his lyrical buddy, and blamed the change on considerations of commerce.
“I would like to hear more of the consummate melodic master,” Evans commented in the late ’70s. “But I feel that big business and his record company have had a corrupting influence on his material. It’s tempting for the musician to prejudice his own views when recording opportunities are so infrequent, but I for one am determined to resist the temptation.
“It just doesn’t attract me. I’m of a certain period, a certain evolution. I hear music differently,” he confessed, adding: “I mean, for me, comparing electric bass to acoustic bass is sacrilege.”
Davis felt as strongly as Evans. But to the trumpeter, blasphemy was the idea of remaining static stylistically. He singled out the modal jazz he had pioneered with Evans.
“‘So What’ or Kind of Blue, they were done in that era, the right hour, the right day, and it happened. It’s over,” Davis told Ben Sidran in 1986. He further declared, “What I used to play with Bill Evans, all those different modes, and substitute chords, we had the energy then and we liked it. But I have no feel for it anymore-it’s more like warmed-over turkey.”
When Shirley Horn insisted in 1990 that Miles reconsider playing the gentle ballads and modal tunes of his Kind of Blue period, he demurred. “Nah, it hurts my lip,” was the excuse.
And yet, the Davis/Evans dialogue never ended. As saxophonist Dave Liebman recalls from his days with Davis at the height of Miles’ electric period: “He said Bill was really the guy who opened the doors for him musically-Bill was very special to him. He said to me, ‘I used to call Bill up and tell him to take the phone off the hook. Just leave it off and play for me because I loved the way he played.'”
As tempting as it is to sum up their joint efforts with Kind of Blue, Davis and Evans were not all about melancholy and moodiness. On Jazz at the Plaza, a simple four-song album Miles’ sextet recorded live on Aug. 9, 1958, there’s a 10-minute version of “My Funny Valentine” featuring Davis and Evans as the sole soloists; Trane and Cannonball both lay out. Muted trumpet and brightly stroked piano are alone to spar, at moments halting and punchy, then playful and flowing. It’s a lighthearted conversation between two masters totally familiar with one another, enjoying the composition and the company. It blasts apart any misperception that the two were only capable of creating sounds somber, serious and bittersweet.
Blasting misperceptions. Of the essential effects of the black-white, Miles-Bill brotherhood, that’s as accurate a definition as any. For Davis, the motivation to expose-and explode-stereotyped notions of race powered much of what he created. Having Bill Evans as his pianist only furthered his cause. As Davis once testified:
“If I hadn’t met that prejudice, I probably wouldn’t have had as much drive in my work. I have thought about that a lot. I have thought that prejudice and curiosity have been responsible for what I have done in music.”
In a less oppositional way, Evans drew strength from the same source; he certainly had ample opportunity once he hit the jazz front line in Davis’ group. No matter the racist salvos that were lofted in ’58 or later in his career, Evans, like Davis, had his eye on the prize: aspiring for those moments onstage or in the studio, when creative inspiration strikes and true and honest expression freely swings. For Miles and Moe, and for those who play and live the jazz life, it goes to the heart of why they do what they do. Evans summed it up well:
“Jazz is the most honest music I’ve come across. The really good jazz musicians only respect musicians they feel are worth respecting. There, there are no racial barriers.”
Remembering Those in Jazz Community Who Died in 2009
Jazz Series in Chicago Celebrates Armstrong, Ellington and Gillespie
NPR Hosts Nine Hour Marathon of Live Jazz on New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve Celebrated at Jazz Clubs Across the Country
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Welcome New Students
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Home / Academics / Service Learning / Student Employment and Internship Opportunities / Student Liaisons
Center for Service and Social Action
The Center for Service and Social Action provides weekly service and one time service opportunities for John Carroll University students with more than 75 community partners throughout the greater Cleveland area. To facilitate these service opportunities, the CSSA office hires work study students to serve as Student Liaisons.
Student Liaisons contribute significantly to the culture of service at JCU. These student leaders serve as ambassadors that connect the University to the community, facilitate a positive service experience for their fellow students, lead reflection, and transport students to and from community partner locations.
Become a Student Liaison
Do you have a good driving record and embrace the JCU mission of being a “man or woman for others”? Do you enjoy participating in service and interacting with students and the community? If so, become a CSSA Student Liaison!
The Center for Service and Social Action provides weekly service and one time service opportunities for John Carroll University students at over 75 community partners throughout the greater Cleveland area. Transportation to and from many of the sites is provided by John Carroll University in university-owned vans.
As a CSSA representative, Student Liaisons serve as peer service leaders and van drivers as they facilitate a positive service experience for their fellow JCU students.
participating in the service activity
serving as a CSSA ambassador for the community partner
transporting students to and from service sites
ensuring accurate attendance records
providing pertinent information to CSSA staff members
attending mandatory training sessions
facilitating reflection
Qualifications for the position include:
a passion for standing in solidarity and partnership with those who are living on the margins
a valid drivers license and a good driving record
a desire to engage in ongoing reflection, leadership, and learning.
Federal work study eligibility is preferred.
To apply for this position with CSSA, click here to complete this form.
Each academic year, eight Student Liaisons are selected to serve as part of the Student Leadership Team. In addition to their regular responsibilities, members of the Leadership Team facilitate the mentor group program, create and shape monthly liaison training sessions, facilitate and help to redesign the reflection process in service, and work as one unit to assist in guiding the programming of the office.
Liaisons are like the yolk – the binding agent – that thickens a sauce and makes it what it is intended to be. Without them, a service experience, like a sauce without a yolk, are just ingredients in a bowl.
-Dr. Ed Peck, speaking to CSSA Student Liaisons in September 2015
2019-2020 CSSA Student Leadership Team
Delaney Burns
"The world is full of light that often feels overcast by darkness. For me going into service helps me to bring light to situations that may feel hopeless or to people who may be hurting. We all suffer from the challenges and weight of the life, but by choosing to find joy and serve others—I think the world becomes a whole lot brighter. The relationships that are formed from being open to learn from each individual I meet is extremely powerful. It reminds that we all belong to each other, especially when we choose to serve by giving the love that is in our hearts and letting love flow in just as freely."
Delaney is a junior from Columbus, OH who has done service for four consecutive semesters at John Carroll. She appreciates everything it has taught her. Getting to explore new schools as an Early Childhood Education major through the Carroll Reads program has given her an outlet to get off campus and explore her passions. Working with children from underserved schools brings her joy because of the friendships that are formed with these children during service. Delaney also was a part of an immersion experience to Ecuador which gave her the opportunity to further develop her reflection skills by hearing about the lives of many diverse people. Delaney believes that service helps to deepen our thoughts, form meaningful relationships, and strengthen our gifts! She also serves the John Carroll and Cleveland community by being the president of the Dance Marathon for University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s because "dancing it out" helps to bring balance to the service she does.
Danny DiMillo
Danny is a senior from Lockport, NY and is majoring in Supply Chain Management with minors in Italian Studies and Entrepreneurship. Danny is the Vice President of the Society of Supply Chain Students and the President of Carroll Ballers, as well as a member of Take Back The Night and the Arrupe Scholars Program. Along with the Student Leadership Team, he also works in the Office of Admissions as a Tour Guide. This past summer, Danny co-lead an immersion in the Appalachian Region to Spencer, West Virginia were he learned about the social justice issues surrounding the area. At home, Danny volunteers with the Saint Vincent DePaul Society Food Pantry and organizes an annual blood drive where he has helped collect over 108 donations of blood throughout the years.
Molly Killeen
“For me, service is about opening my heart to others and experiences. It is a journey of knowledge and small differences that amount to change. It is about taking a step in someone else’s shoes and learning from them. Service has completely transformed my perspective of life and has allowed my story to be shaped by the individuals I have met. I hope that I can help impact someone else’s story as well.”
Molly is a senior from Hudson, Ohio majoring in Communication on the Integrated Marketing track and she is double minoring in Entrepreneurship and Peace, Justice and Human Rights. In her role as a liaison, Molly has served at numerous sites including CMHA's Griot Village, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry's Men's Shelter, Boys Hope Girls Hope and Eliza Bryant. Molly is also very involved on campus. She is a scholar in the Arrupe Scholars Program, a member of the Women's Entrepreneurship Advisory Board. She has also served as the previous Director of Community Service and Philanthropy of her sorority, Chi Omega, and now serves as the Sisterhood Director of Chi Omega. In summer of 2017, Molly was selected as the Marketing and Events Intern for Engage! Cleveland. In the Summer of 2018, she was selected as the Communication Fellow for Catholic Charities, Diocese of Cleveland. Most recently, Molly served as the Interim Marketing Coordinator at Catholic Charities. Through her work experience, she has learned the ins and outs of the non-profit field. Molly has also participated in John Carroll's immersion program where she traveled to Honduras. In the summer of 2019, Molly also traveled to Tanzania to teach English in remote villages of the country.
Caroline Maltese
Caroline is a Junior from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is double majoring in Biochemistry and Cell and Molecular Biology. In her role as a liaison, she has served at Julie Billiart Special Education School, CMHA's Griot Village, Hope Alliance Church, and Gearity Elementary School. Caroline is an Honors Program Scholar, an Honors Program peer mentor, a Teaching Assistant in the Chemistry department, president of Seeds of Hope, in the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization on campus, and has participated in an immersion experience to Guayaquil, Ecuador. This semester, Caroline is combining her passion for service and her career aspirations in medicine by volunteering at University Hospitals through the Rainbow Connects program. She is very excited to work with this new program in CSSA to identify and connect patients and their families with basic social needs.
Kaylee Bowersock
“I’ve always loved service, but I’m especially grateful for my service experiences through JCU. I’ve learned so much about service and social justice since working with CSSA. One thing that stands out is learning the cornerstones of service. My favorite cornerstone of service is mutuality—I love the concept of service being an equal exchange of gifts. In addition, I love sharing my passion for service with others.”
Kaylee is a senior from Ashland, Ohio and is majoring in Biology with a Pre-Health focus. Since becoming a Student Liaison her freshman year, she has served at University Hospitals, Boys Hope Girls Hope, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries, Northeast Reintegration Center, and Fatima Family Center. In addition to her work with CSSA, Kaylee is a team leader for the Department of Recreation and a Catholic Relief Services Ambassador. Kaylee participated in an immersion experience to Honduras in May 2018 and was a student coordinator for the 2019 Honduras immersion. In the summer of 2019, Kaylee was a Shepherd Intern in Savannah, Georgia at the African-American Health Information and Resource Center. Beginning in the fall of 2019, Kaylee will be working with Campus Ministry as a fair-trade intern.
Lillia Smyers
Lillia a senior from Pittsburgh, PA and is majoring in International Business with Language and Culture and minoring in Spanish and History. Lillia just spent a semester abroad in Lima, Peru. In her past semesters of being a liaison, she has worked regularly with the L'Arche Community and St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. Lillia is the Vice President of the JCU Rowing Team, a Boler Ambassador, and a Financial Coordinator for Carroll Crazies. During her freshman year, Lillia was a participant in the Immokalee Immersion, and this January, she is co-leading the US/Mexico Border-El Salvador Immersion.
Nick Hupka
"I have been involved in service since I was a freshman in high school, and being a part of the Cleveland community in this way has become part of my identity. Being from Cleveland, I have learned a lot more about my city by being a part of and sharing experiences with all the different communities within Cleveland. While it was my parents who taught me how to treat people with respect, it is my experiences within my own home city that teaches me why."
John (Nick) Hupka is a senior Accounting major from Cleveland. Nick has been a student liaison since his freshman year and has been a part of the Student Leadership Team since his sophomore year. He has served at a variety of places including Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Men's Shelter, Fatima Family Center, and YouthAbility. On campus, Nick is in ROTC, in the Boler Business Leadership Society, and in charge of financials for Labre.
Jillian Schaefer
"Service, instead of purely volunteering, is about being in solidarity with those we serve. By doing service, we are able to see a community beyond the demographics and learn the stories, the culture, and the attitudes that make up the community. When we build close relationships with those we do service with, we become better equipped to support and empower people against social injustices."
Jillian is a senior from Toledo, Ohio majoring in Human Resource Management and minoring in Spanish. As a student liaison, Jillian has served at the Juvenile Detention Center participating in the Power Source program, at Northeast Reintegration Center participating in Women’s Spirituality, and at the Domestic Violence Center. She has presented at the National IMPACT Conference with three other liaisons about John Carroll’s work at the Juvenile Detention Center as well. Jillian is also in the Arrupe Scholars Program, has gone on an immersion to the U.S./Mexico Border, and has completed the “Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty” internship at Blue Ridge Literacy being a teacher’s aide in ESOL courses. This summer, Jillian completed internships with Catholic Charities in their Human Resources Department as well as with EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute.
Kathryn Scarvelli
Become a Student Liason
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JBC adopts SC resolution on senior members
Hector Lawas
THE Judicial and Bar Council yesterday exempted senior Supreme Court justices vying for the chief justice post from public interviews.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, an ex-officio member of the JBC, confirmed that the council decided by a majority vote to adopt an SC resolution seeking to exempt senior justices from public interviews.
“The JBC thoroughly discussed the SC resolution in its last two en banc meetings. By a majority vote, the JBC agreed to dispense with the public interviews of senior SC justices vying for the chief justice position, without prejudice to closed-door interviews by members of the JBC,” he bared.
Guevarra said the majority of JBC members believed that all sitting justices “had already been publicly interviewed when they originally applied for the SC positions, and any public inquiry anew on matters pertaining to their SALNs (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth) and other personal matters in full view of the public thru live media coverage would not serve any substantially useful purpose.”
“It is significant to note that the SC justices who were recently subjected to public interviews for the CJ position also concurred in the SC resolution,” Guevarra said.
Under JBC rules, nominees who have been interviewed by the council are exempted from public interviews for another position within a one-year period.
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PM-afternoon-eNews
L.A. Council Passes Paid Sick Leave Policy
By Howard Fine
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to proceed with crafting an ordinance requiring all employers in the city to provide six days of paid sick leave a year to their workers, three days more than mandated under state law.
The council’s 13-1 vote instructs City Attorney Mike Feuer to craft the ordinance, which then will come back to the council for a final vote in a few weeks. If approved by the council and signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, the new law would go into effect on July 1 – and a year later for employers with fewer than 25 employees.
“Paid sick leave means a world of difference to working people and their families,” L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement following the vote. “That’s why it is important for L.A. to not just comply with state law, but take it a step further on behalf of our people.”
If the Council approves the final ordinance, Los Angeles would join Santa Monica, Oakland, San Francisco, and a handful of other California cities that require employers to provide paid coverage for additional sick days.
As under the state law, workers would accumulate paid sick days from their employers after July 1 at a rate if one hour for every 30 hours worked. (Workers on the job less than 90 days as of July 1 would have to wait until they complete their 90 days before accumulating paid sick time.)
The accumulation would stop after 48 hours (six days) of paid sick leave has been reached for that calendar year; unused paid sick time can be carried over into the following year, with an employer having the option to cap total paid sick time at 72 hours.
The proposal also states that retaliation by employers against workers who request or use paid sick leave days is prohibited. But a provision that would have allowed employers to provide additional payments to workers in lieu of paid sick day accruals – a practice common in the entertainment sector – was not in the proposal sent to the city attorney.
Supporters of the expanded mandate include labor unions and various health care and children’s advocacy groups. Those groups said the state’s requirement for employers to provide three days of paid sick leave does not go far enough.
But opponents, including the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the California Restaurant Association, said the mandate will force business to essentially pay two workers when having to call in substitute workers.
Read the Business Journal’s previous coverage here.
Council Separates Paid Time Off from Minimum Wage Hike Plan
Expanded Paid Sick Leave Mandate Moving Forward in L.A.
Business Groups Get Bad Feeling Over Sick Days
Paid Time Off Part of Minimum Wage Proposal?
Businesses Fear Bill for Sick Days
Better Wage Package Sought for Airport Workers
Hotels Say Wage Law Works in Favor of Labor
Governor Signs Paid Sick Leave Bill
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LOCAL FISH
4m Cod paper fish sculpture for Hull 2017 City of Culture and G.F Smith
As recently as the 1970s, the Yorkshire city of Hull was one of the world’s major fishing ports. From its perch on the banks on the Humber, fishing trawlers set sail into the North Sea and beyond bringing home catches of fish – mainly cod – from distant waters. However, due to various factors, over the past forty years the industry has been in steady decline.
“There was one fishery in the 1970s that was bringing in £750 million a year,” informs Hopkins, who researched Hull’s industrial heritage extensively before embarking on the project with GF Smith. “That’s when I thought, “Wow! This cod fish actually holds quite a lot of power.””
Wanting to pay tribute to Hull’s cod fishing industry, past and present, Hopkins and his Manchester-based practice Lazerian began the month-long process of creating a 4-metre-long anatomical codfish.
Made entirely from GF Smith’s locally produced Colorplan papers, the Cod is cut open on one side exposing its brightly-coloured organs within – a scarlet red skeleton and canary yellow brain. Meanwhile, its scaly exterior is made using realistic pale cream and brown tones of paper. To add to this life-like effect, Hopkins took advantage of Colorplan’s wide variety of embossed papers using a leathery texture for the Cod’s scales, and a granular finish for the skeleton within.
“My ethos as a designer-maker and artist is to combine digital technologies with handcraft,” says Hopkins, who used a “mixed bag” of tools and techniques to create the sculpture, including a laser cutter, a flatbed plotter, traditional scalpels, scoring aids and glue guns. “I’ve worked with paper professionally since I stated the studio 11 years ago,” he continues. “Over time, I’ve learnt ways in which to add strength to paper. It’s all about understanding its grain structure – it has a long and a short grain – much like wood.”
As well as the giant Cod, Hopkins and his team are on site during the installation serving up paper fish and chips from his mobile workshop which takes the form of a converted 1950s Citroen HY food truck van. With its corrugated sides, and service hatch, the vehicle is the perfect base from which to serve the paper meals. “The workshop is something that I’ve been creating for the last four years,” explains Hopkins who is crafting each serving from a rainbow of different Colorplan shades. “We’ve got both laser cutter CNCs and traditional cutting tools on board.”
Having learnt about the decline of Hull’s once booming fishing industry and the knock-on effect it had on the city, Hopkins was heartened to find that Hull is home to one of the best fish chip shops in the country. (Papas was named Britain’s Best Fish and Chip shop by BBC 2's Britain's Best Takeaways) “That made it a full circle,” he smiles. “The Marina is pretty close to the Humber streets and I wanted to bring that sense of community into the installation and for it to reach a new audience – not just those working in art and design.” The result is an experience that brings people from different walks of life together to share and celebrate this unlikely icon, the local cod.
Read about Local fish on Dezeen Frame Wallpaper Creative Review Hull Daily Mail BBC
Words by Ali Morris
MANCHESTER GARDEN - CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW
Maple Tree Sculpture
BUBBLE DYNAMICS - COTTONOPOLIS SCULPTURE
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Ramboll
PRINCIPAL CONTRACTOR: Mace
ARCHITECT: Herzog & de Meuron
BRICK AND SCAFFOLD CONTRACTORS: Swift Brickwork Contractors
MEP ENGINEER: Max Fordham
QUANTITY SURVEYOR: AECOM
Images: © Daniel Shearing, Kai Richter
The Tate Modern Switch House forms the second and final construction phase of the Tate Modern gallery. It is a unique building that has pushed the boundaries of modern design and engineering. Designed by Herzog and de Meuron Architects and engineered by Ramboll, it provides extraordinary spaces for Tate to present an increasingly international view of modern and contemporary art from around the world. The building successfully integrates display, learning and social functions, strengthening links between the gallery and its locality.
The Tate Modern Switch House has ten levels above ground, is 65m tall and equivalent in height of a 20 storey building, providing 65,000m2 of new space over 11 levels.
In order to provide column free spaces within the North gallery on level 04, the six storey 1700T northern façade above it had to be carried on the gallery’s long span roof structure. However, as the building above was being constructed, loads on this roof structure would increase and it would deflect, preventing achievement of the very tight tolerances required. The judges were impressed by the incorporation of a structural system that was designed to distribute loads and control, monitor and adjust movement of the gallery’s long span roof structure during this process. The jacks were used finely to adjust the levels of the roof structure whilst the building above grew larger and heavier. Once complete, the jacks were grouted solid.
With no movement joints, the 336,000 brick façade was constructed to incredible tolerances of +/- 2mm. The engineers designed a hand laid system with prefabricated blocks, dowels instead of mortar and corbels as supports, in collaboration with Cambridge University, determining the optimum arrangement of supports for the individual bricks in specially built test rigs. The design recuced a build programme of five years to 18 months, with construction possible in all weather.
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Linda Joy Stone
About Linda Joy
Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture
How Will I Know When Acupuncture Treatment is Helping Me?
Foundations of TCM
Akashic Acupuncture
August 5, 2019 By LindaJoy
Finding Home in a Foreign Country
Home is said to be where the heart is and, for some, wherever you hang your hat. For me, who doesn’t like to wear hats, home is a place and state of being in which I find sanctuary. Home for me is where I can truly be myself, where it all comes off—jewelry, face, and any restrictive clothing that are called for when taking my persona out into the world.
As an introvert, I am sensitive to environmental factors and too much stimulation. I seek a bright, open house connected to a serene and spacious external terrain. Maybe that comes from a lifetime or two having been incarcerated in a dark, dank dungeon! My Spirit, and no doubt my brain chemistry—that vast network of neurotransmitters and synapses—comes to life when exposed to beauty and sunlight.
For both my husband, Alex, and me—two curious Scorpios—home is our place of refuge to create, study and recline with our feline familiars. Panoramic views inspire us to dream, reflect and expand our perspective of the seen and unseen realms. For Alex, home is where he composes music and does his on-line academic work. For me, home is where I can untangle my thoughts and write.
Alex and I have lived in two idyllic places over our 23-year marriage—in a house in the woods of Port Townsend, Washington, overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca and in a tri-level town home overlooking Tucson, Arizona, and the surrounding mountains. External vistas have triggered and mirror the resulting internal visions from which Alex and I create our lives.
We have recently joined the burgeoning ranks of norteamericanos to move to Lake Chapala, in Central Mexico, seeking a more affordable, slower, less complicated lifestyle. We are leasing short term a lovely rustic, two-bedroom, two-story house that offers much of what we desire—a lush private garden, a garage, big balcony that overlooks the lake and vibrant neighborhood, and we are within walking distance to almost everything. However, “rustic” means the house is quite dark, being walled in on three sides. We have added orange salt lamps and our Tibetan artifacts and wall hangings, appropriately alongside Mexican milagro crosses, to warm and create a more sacred space. However, we still must contend with darkness, exacerbated by the overcast rainy season.
So, what to do? We have been looking at long-term rentals for when our lease expires the end of October. However, that’s the beginning of the high season when the U.S. and Canadian snowbirds return, and availability of furnished view houses—and places that will accept two cats—is limited.
The selection and styles of the homes that we have looked at are quite varied—from hacienda style with internal garden view, stark modern to archaic villas, from walled Mexican neighborhoods to gated gringo communities with overlooking second or third-floor miradors. We’re expanding our search to include homes on the outskirts of “gringolandia”, which can offer a wider selection with incredible views and more spaciousness for less rent. However, that move would require more driving, less English being spoken in the local towns and potential isolation.
I know that it takes time, and a village, to feel comfortable living in a foreign country learning its language and ways—and it hasn’t yet been three months! Taking Spanish classes and making new friends help us navigate this new terrain and certainly assist in the process of homecoming. I think this awkward ex-pat “resettling process” is only amplifying that I’ve always felt like a stranger in a strange land, only now it appears literally so.
I see, though may not want to admit, that my challenge continues to be about finding home within that most foreign landscape of all—within my own psyche! David Whyte’s poem below aptly speaks to this desire for belonging:
This is the bright home
in which I live,
I ask
to come,
this is where I want
to love all the things
it has taken me so long
to learn to love.
This is the temple
of my adult aloneness
and I belong
to that aloneness
as I belong to my life.
There is no house
like the house of belonging.
excerpt from The House of Belonging
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Breaking: Chrissy Teigen and John Legend Welcome Baby Girl!
The couple, who had struggled with infertility in the past, became parents for the first time on Thursday, April 14.
AceShowbiz - %cChrissy Teigen% and %cJohn Legend% are officially parents! The couple's first child together, a baby girl, was born on Thursday, April 14, she announced on Sunday.
"She's here! Luna Simone Stephens, we are so in love with you!" Teigen captioned a photo on Instagram, revealing that her daughter's weight at birth was 6 pounds and 11 ounces. "And sleepy. Very sleepy."
A photo posted by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) on Apr 17, 2016 at 7:32am PDT
Legend also shared the happy news via Twitter, writing, "Our new love is here! Luna Simone Stephens, born on Thursday, the 14th. We couldn't be happier!"
The birth was a big milestone for the couple who have been married for three years. She revealed the pregnancy in October after opening up about their struggle with infertility. They selected in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and she picked a girl as the baby's gender. "I've made this decision," Teigen told People in February. "Not only am I having a girl, but I picked the girl from her little embryo. I picked her and was like, 'Let's put in the girl'."
Olympian Shawn Johnson Marries NFL Player Boyfriend Andrew East
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Chrissy Teigen Jokes About Boosie Badazz Teaching Son Kappa Shimmy Amid Controversy
Chrissy Teigen Denies Nip-Slip in New Racy Instagram Pic
Chrissy Teigen's Parents to Be Officially Divorced Days After 37th Wedding Anniversary
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend Taken Aback at Daughter Luna's Sassiness in New Video
Chrissy Teigen Mad at John Legend for Secretly Inviting 'The Voice' Coaches to Dinner at Their Home
These Notorious Celebrity Womanizers Have Surprisingly Settled Down
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Macau News > Social Affairs > Government to consult public on LRT East section in HI: Rosário
Government to consult public on LRT East section in HI: Rosário
# Social Affairs
LRT trains to run from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.: govt
Government to consult public on Light Rail Transit law
LRT to close from Wednesday afternoon to Friday due to ‘special security measures’
LRT law takes effect before train service starts
Taipa-Barra LRT section to cost 4.5 billion patacas
Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário has announced that the government plans to launch a public consultation in the first half of this year on building the “East” section of the Light Rail Transit (LRT).
The government first revealed in January 2018 that it would study the feasibility of building a sea-crossing LRT section connecting the peninsula’s Barrier Gate border checkpoint to the Taipa Ferry Terminal, via the land reclamation area known as Zone A – also known as the “East” section, which would be 7.8 kilometres long.
Rosário made the remarks while speaking to reporters on Friday at the Macau Science Centre (MSC) in Nape on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of a popular science exhibition jointly organised by the local government and the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). Themed “Technological Innovation Makes Our Life Better”, the exhibition will run daily except Thursdays until February 28.
Rosário has indicated that the government plans to build the “East” section first before finally going ahead with the LRT peninsula section project.
LRT sea-crossing link
Rosário told reporters early last year that the planned LRT “East” section will not be built on the future fourth Macau-Taipa link – a vehicular bridge connecting the Zone A and Zone El reclamation areas – but will have its own sea-crossing link.
The government granted a consortium consisting of three construction companies a 5.27-billion- pataca contract for the design and construction of the fourth Macau- Taipa bridge late last year.
The government launched the feasibility study of the LRT “East” section project in late 2018, which will include a public consultation process.
When asked about the progress of the feasibility study of the “East” section project, Rosário noted that the government started the feasibility study in November 2018, adding that it had started to draft a public consultation document on the project before the term of the previous government ended last month.
Rosário, who was re-appointed last month, said that the government was still drafting the public consultation document and expected to launch a public consultation on the matter in the first half of this year.
Rosário said that the government will propose seven to eight stations for the LRT “East” section
project during the upcoming public consultation process, reaffirming that the government has not yet decided where the section should run, which, he said, would depend on the views to be collected during the upcoming public consultation.
Barra station ready in 2022/23
Rosário also reaffirmed that the LRT section connecting Taipa and Barra — via San Van Bridge — is slated to be completed in 2022 or 2023. The ongoing Taipa-Barra LRT section project, including the Barra station on the southernmost tip of the peninsula – is budgeted at 4.5 billion patacas. “Barra” is Portuguese for “harbour entrance”. The Chinese name of the station is Ma Kok – due to the nearby Ma Kok (A Ma) Temple.
The government still does not have a final plan for the LRT project on the peninsula.
Macau’s first LRT — the Taipa section — came into service on December 10. The government announced on December 30 that the trial run of the LRT Taipa section will be extended for another month until January 31. Passengers can continue to take free LRT rides during this additional one-month period, in the wake of the occurrence of three technical failures in less than three weeks since its operational start.
The LRT Taipa cost between 10.1 billion and 10.2 billion patacas.
The LRT service, which was initially slated to charge passengers from New Year’s Day, will now start to charge passengers from February 1.
According to the Macau Post Daily, Rosário also said on Friday that residents can buy a stored-value LRT card from January 22. He urged those using the LRT service to buy one in advance before the LRT starts to charge passenger to avoid long queues at ticket counters.
Meanwhile, the government-owned LRT operator has announced that since its operational start on December 10, the LRT Taipa section had over 820,000 passengers in the first month of its operation until January 9.
In a statement by the operator on Saturday, the LRT recorded the highest number of passengers a day on December 25, at 48,700.
LRT in Taipa to start operating in 2019 says Secretary Raimundo do Rosário
Chui stresses socio-economic progress in his 10-year term
Copyright © 2017 Macau News.
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Mockingbirds,Looking Glasses & Prejudices…
The Classic’s List
The Lecito List
Posts from the ‘Thriller’ Category
The Black Bird
Kaggsy and Stuck in the Book are hosting this absolutely fabulous event, called the 1930 Book Club; the idea being that we read a book that was published in the year 1930. Now anyone who has even remotely waded through my posts will know that I have a fascination for late 19th century – early 20th century works. Therefore there was no way I could pass this event! The most amazing thing about 1930 was the number of amazing books that were published across a host of genres, from Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, to Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, to The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield , to the very first of Nancy Drew books, to Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents, this was a prolific year of brilliant books and some of which will be handed down to posterity as classics! It was really really hard to chose and I was really tempted to read The Diary, though I have already it read it twice, in the last 1.5 years or even Vicarage which I have read like a thousand times already. But I instead, decide to read something which is out of my usual selections and instead turn towards The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. I have never been much of a fan of American Hard Boiled Detective genre’s and books like The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler left me wondering why anyone would read them. However, I wanted to keep an open mind, and I picked up a copy from the Kindle stores.
Set in the late 1920s San Francisco, the novel begins with the introduction of our main protagonist Sam Spade (oh! yes! that’s where this starts!), a private detective,who is advised by his secretary, Effie Perine, that a beautiful woman named, Miss Wonderly is here to consult him. Miss Wonderly when shown in, shares she wants to hire Sam Spade to find her runaway younger sister. She tell him that her sister is only 17 and is under the influence of a thug named, Floyd Thursby. Miles Archer, Spade’s partner, agrees to trail Thursby personally on the behest of Miss Wonderly and promises to share a report soon. However that very night, Miles is shot dead, presumably by Thursby. Sam is summoned by the local police to identify Miles and help in the investigation, and while all of this is in play, somebody shots Thursby. Soon Spade is embroiled in high stake game with all kinds of characters all of whom seemingly have different ends and means, and Sam needs to navigate this labyrinth to reach to the truth!
This is not an epic read, this is not a chunkster, but it did take me a while to get to the end. I could not like any of the characters much – Sam Spade is a product of the generation, smooth talking, hand to hand fighting, ladies man. In fact his ladies man persona put me off completely. I understand that the attitudes about woman were very different 90 years ago, but respect I thought is key, all through history. He is cool and in your face and in the end, seems to have some moral compass, which makes him, for ,e mildly redeemable. Miss Wonderly, with her large tears and babes lost in the wood and needing rescue, left me wanting to throw the book at someone. The only remotely interesting character was Mr. Gutman, a businessman with a style and Effie Perine, who seems to be the only genuine character in the book, though her taste in men leaves much to be desired. There are prejudices, a character from Levant, may not only be a villain, but also have sexual preferences, which are to deviant and therefore to be abhorred. The plot however was very interesting and though the book did lack a a-ha moment, the unraveling, peel after peel was very intriguing; and though I felt a few character’s less would made it for a slicker read, it was nevertheless a well thought through puzzle. The author builds the atmosphere beautifully, and as a reader, you are left wondering and second guessing. The language is reflective of the times and the sights and sounds of a 1920s global city with all its linkages comes alive.
All in all, I am glad to have read this one, if for nothing else, I now know. But I do not think I will be re-visiting a Sam Spade novel very soon! In fact, I gave into tempation a picked up Diary again. ( I have earned it!)
Thank You Kaggsy and Stuck in the book for an awesome event! I loved reading for this year and feel like there are so many books which I was not aware of yet again and need to get to them soon!
The 7 Views of the Death
Mary Robert Rienhart defined the genre of detective/mystery novels as two stories, saying – “The mystery story is two stories in one: the story of what happened and the story of what appeared to happen.” As I read through the Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, over the Christmas weekend, I could feel all the truism of this statement and more. It seemed to be a regular whodunnit from the era of Golden age of mystery; the very usual setting of several guests, visiting over the weekend, in a English Country House in the initial decades of 20th century where a murder happens and there are the usual suspects, with a plausible back story, linking each guest to the victim in one way or another, until the protagonist finds the actual murder. Usual stuff, except Mr. Turton, takes all of these ingredients, and turns everything on its head an to write, what I can unequivocally say is one of the best mystery novels of modern times!
Lord and Lady Hardcastle, the owners of Blackheath, an estate, in England, have invited several guests, over a weekend, to celebrate the return of their daughter, Evelyn Hardcastle, to England after her 19 years stay in Paris. The guests are all friends of the family and the only unusual fact of the celebrations is it’s dated on the 19th anniversary of the death of Lord and Lady Hardcastle’s elder son, who was killed as a boy of 7, by the then gamekeeper of the Estate, after he was fired by Lord Hardcastle. The other strange fact, is that all the guests invited are the one who were present 19 years ago, on that fated day and while the then children have now become adults, and the adults, now senior citizen, in essence most seem to stay the same. There is also one uninvited guest at the gathering, unrelated wholly from the family who, is also seeking a closure on an injustice. Then there are maids, butlers, gamekeepers and host of other who live in the premises and who all are in some way connected to the murder that is going to happen.This then is the background of the event, which will see the death of Evelyn Hardcastle, and the quest to find the killer.
My friend Helen, when reviewing this book, wrote that she could not even begin imagine how much time and effort must have gone in writing this book! I not only agree with her, but add that as an aspiring writer, I cannot even begin to fathom, how I will keep track of the times, the threads and the characters. Very often, we find novels, with great style but no real plot or a great plot, but a dull narrative, that it simply does not come together! It is a testimony of the incredible brilliance of the author, that not only could he manage to create a narrative, that is absolutely unique and totally untested until now, but somehow hold on and make all the voices come together, all the while, sticking to the basic ethos of writing a cracking good thriller! At the core, there is a murder, but whose murder and how do we find the killer and the journey with author through the eyes of several characters and their own histories, makes for a fast paced read, where, each page gradually unfolds and adds anew new layer to the story. This plot as it evolves is anything but normal, and makes the mind do all kinds of gymnastics, without slowing for even a minute, and each chapter closes with one shocker after another, each exceeding and heightening the excitement from the previous chapter! In fact, the reader from the very beginning joins the journey in the middle of the events and therefore is able to join in the narrator’s confusion and agony, as they try to piece together, the full picture. The scope of the novel, the richness in the details and how the details, integrated further and further to become one new whole, is simply scintillating. Even in mapping out the characters, nothing was left to the chance. They are all full flesh and blood creatures, who while not being all good, have their own redeeming qualities and despite not liking them, you cannot help but feel empathy and even respect for many of their qualities. This ability of the author to be able to build a connection with not wholly positive characters with the readers, in yet another point, in praise of this work! There is so much, simply so much I can write about this book, but one must read it, to actually understand what I am talking about. It seems like a chunkster, but once you start, there is no way, you cannot finish it in the earliest possible manner, in the way it draws you in!
I had read somewhere, that all stories are the same after a point; on on surface, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle does seem like that, but with it’s narrative style, the fine tuning the nuances of the usual Golden Age mysteries and a wholly innovative perspective, Mr Turton has taken a “same story” and made it into a masterful, ingenious, novel.
The Mysteries of Last Week…
It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that the week after vacation will be stressful! The events at work once again proved the very obvious theory accurate and to say I was glad that the week passed is an understatement. After 16 hrs day at work, I could not summon the courage to read Daniel Deronda or The March of Folly; great books but hardly something to lessen the exhaustion! Casting around for something easy to read, which gave a break from work reality, I found GoodReads hosting The Thriller & Mysteries week and among the various activities, they had planned, they also had listed the most popular Mysteries/Thrillers per Reader ratings! Reading through I found, Book#3 was apparently sitting in my many unread collection and this seemed a good time to get started. I finished that and wanted something more and found Book # 28 which I recollect my father had really liked and was part of his collection, so naturally, my selection for the second read became Book#28! Now at the beginning of the brand new week, I present two mini reviews of my reads of Book#2 and Book#28!
Book#3 was A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George, published in 1988 and winner of Anthony Award. The book is the first in series of now famous Inspector Lynley series and the reader is introduced to Inspector Thomas Lynley, Eton/Ozford educted Peer of the Relm, who is also one the best inspector of CID. He is drawn from the wedding of his best friend, by Sargent Barbara Havers, the infant terrible of the police department, who has finally been paired with Lanley in the last hope of having her investigative mind brought to the fore, instead of her aggressive, belligerent attitude, which got her suspended from CID and back in uniform 8 months back! Lanley and Havers make their way to Keladale, in North Yorkshire, where the body of William Teys, honorable member of the Church, devoted father and successful farmer is found, decapitated, with his daughter, the 19 year old Roberta Teys, sitting on an upturned bucket, with an aze on her lap and with the only words spoken “I did it, I am not sorry!”. It seems like an open and shut case, ezcept there are parts to tale which does not fit in, including a cousin who gets the farm on the event of William Tey’s death, a finance, a artist and the daughter of William Teys who ran away, years ago! As Lanley and Havers dig for the truth, they discover all kinds of unholy secrets, that the quiet village of Keladale holds, which not only challenges them professionally, but also confront their personal demons, to find the killer!
Book# 28 was Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith, published in 1981. This book like the previous one is the first in the series of Arkady Renko, the Chief Investigator of Moscow’s homicide squad. The novel introduces us to Arkady Renko, one of the finest and most honest investigator’s in Moscow’s Prosecutor’s office. He is the son, of a decorated War General and grew up in the privileged circles of Moscow, attending the best schools, University and Law School. The novel opens on a cold day in April in Soviet Russia, in the northern end of Gork Park, the amusement Park of Moscovites, where the militiamen, have discovered three dead bodies, now that the snow is thawing, and Arkady has been called into investigate the corpses. Two men and one woman lay dead and their faces have been mutilated and ends of the thumbs chopped off to ensure, there is no identification whatsoever! Arkady Renko sets off on a trail to find the identity of his victims as well as their killers and as he slowly unravels the mysteries, he confronts, the KGB, an American Business man, a New York City Cop and happenings much closer to home, and the chase for the killer will take him to the exiled land of Shatura and then America until he finds the very truth, that lay hidden among the obvious!
Some 100 pages into The Great Deliverance, I realized that at some point, I had read this novel and I began to vaguely recollect the end, though I hung on because of the hows and simply because it was written very well. The taut plot of the novel, is the strength of The Great Deliverance. I did not much care for the main characters – the absolutely perfect Lanley and the constantly snotty Havers (I wanted to throw a book at her), but the ensemble cast made up for the insipidity of the protagonists, who were much more life like, confronting confusion, trauma and much more, and still chalking out better lives for themselves! The ending was kind of cliched but my guess is in 1988, when such things were still not so much in the open, it must have created quite a stir and again based on the fast paced and through narration, the book must have been one thrilling read!
Gorky Park was much more to my taste! Firstly, it is set in Russia, which predisposes me to like it. The plot, unlike The Great Deliverance was not of sensationalist nature, but ran with with an equally tight narrative, which made the reading, as interesting and kept one hooked on. In Arkady Renko, the author had created a wonderful hero, who with all his flaws, comes through as someone, you would want as a hero of a novel. Wikipedia states that Renko has been called a Bryonic Hero and he may be, but I really liked the character that was capable of great intuitive thinking but at the same time having blind spots that enables them to fall and then rise again! The book was banned in Soviet Union after its initial release and I can quite understand why; the author captures the tense, suspicious atmosphere of the last years of Socialisim beautifully. Despite the change of regime and new laws, to guarantee freedom of rights and liberty, the citizens till live in the fear of losing jobs, of suddenly being denounced as dissidents and landing up in Siberia or worse dead, for as simple case of being religious. Even if you do your job and keep your head down, you may still fall under the scanner and your promotions thwarted because, you are not an “active” party member. The dull, grey lives of the Soviet citizens is wonderfully captured which brings out the psychological as well as economic deprivation succinctly! What really set this novel apart, from other books set in similar settings is lack of the chest thumping glory of Capitalism; Soviet Russia is bad, but the glorious land of free is no better. So called Radicals are put under surveillance, racism exists and there equal amount of incompetence in the institutions! Well crafted, with meticulous attention to detail and a believable cast ensemble, this book was a great read, through and through! I am so impressed that I went and bought Book#2 of the series, Polar Star!
To end, let just say, the both the book, not so good and very good, helped me make it to a stressful week and to that end, they fulfilled their aim of taking me away from reality!
Tis The Month of Joy!
December, glorious December! How I love thee! You are the only month in the calendar that helps me survive, January to November! Ok, maybe not November, but for sure January to October! And finally this glorious, wondrous, joyous month is upon us, and boy! do I have plans!
Unlike each December month, when I head out to some corner to find rest and recreation, I am staying put at home this year! Too many expenses and some future investment requires me to be sane and sensible about money matters! Oh! How I hate it, but if has to be, it has to be and I plan to make most of the time, while in town!
To start with, I have several social engagements planed through the month; in fact, I cannot help but think, its one too many. After all, all my weekends are BOOKED through January first week! I am either partying at someone’s place or playing the hostess! In addition to that, I am have exploring expeditions planned around the older parts of the city. There are many ruins and monuments to hike about in this town and December is the best month to do it. Since I am staying in town this year, I plan to use my leaves in hiking around the city, re-visiting some of the old favorites and hopefully finding some new ones! I mean there have been 7 civilizations/settlements of this city and it’s takes a lifetime to cover them all!
In terms, of reading, as has been my tradition, I suspend all challenges and the more ‘virtuous reading’ this month and read everything that I want to or that which grabs my interest and attention! In that spirit of things, I started the month with Christopher Moore’s Lamb : The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal; 100 pages into the book, I realize it attempts to be ‘irreverent’ more than it is, but it is still a good, fun read and I am enjoying it immensely! I will also hopefully get to borrow an edition of Miss Buncle’s Book by DE Stevenson, which I have been waiting to read forever and am finally the next person in the Library’s wait-list! There are a couple of historical fiction – thrillers that I would like to lay my hands on this month – A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee, a whodunit based in 1920’s Calcutta, the city of my grandparents; The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, a much talked about post World War II, finding truths, kind of novel and finally, under Penguin’s First-to-Read Program, I have a copy of yet unreleased. Last Stop in Brooklyn by Lawrence H Levy, where PI Mary Handley investigates an infidelity case turned murder, in 1894 Brooklyn! I am also planning to start, Tristram Shandy by Lawrence Stern; this has been in my TBR forever and I want to get started on the same. I doubt I will finish it in December, but I do want to get started! I also carry on with my re-reading of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyedor Dostoevsky. Finally, I am also doing a virtual read along, starting in December with a dear friend cum colleague cum keeper of my sanity cum soul sister from work, EngiNerd with Origins by Dan Brown. I am not much of a Dan Brown fan, but EngiNerd loves him and says that I started off on the wrong foot with The Da Vinci Code instead of Angels and Demons and so should not judge harshly! I guess, the very fact that this one is based in Spain has its redemption so how bad can it get? Besides, the joy of reading with dear friend, as many know outweighs all other considerations.
Phew! That is my “simple” reading plan for the remaining year! I do have two weeks planned off from work, which should help me cover a lot of reading ground and the next three weeks are being spent in plans of getting most reading time, in between hectic socialization! So, I say to you all, Happy Reading and Joy to the World!
Murder in an American Farm
As part of my Victober Reads, I decided to read The Dead Alive by Wilkie Collins as part of the Read a Victorian novel where a plot is afoot category! This novella was one of Collins’s earlier works and is supposedly based on a true story, based on the Broon Brother murder case.
The plot unlike other Collin’s plots, is based away from England and set in rural America.Philip Lefrank, an overworked and now sick lawyer is advised by his doctors to take a break from work for the sake of his health. He therefore sets off to America to visit some cousins of his who run a farm – The Medowcroft of the Morwick Farm. He arrives at Morwick station and is met my Issac Medowcroft’s eldest son – Ambrose, who appears to be a handsome and personable individual and who entertains Lefrank with interesting and candid conversation all the way to their journey to the Mrowick Farm.There he finally meets his host and the patriarch of the family Issac Medowcroft, his daughter, his daughter, a grim faced unhappy looking Miss Medowcroft and their cousin, Naomi Colebrook, with whom Ambrose seemed to be in love. The atmosphere of the house seemed strained and Lefrank was glad to retire to his own room. When he came down for dinner that night, he was introduced to the younger brother Silas and yet another person, John Jago who apparently ran the farm on behalf of Issac Medowcroft. It is soon apparent to Lefrank that things are not as they seem and there are tensions and undercurrents at play in between the Medowcroft household. The brothers do not like John Jago who seems to have the good opinion and trust of the elder Medowcroft and Miss Medowcroft for sure did not like Naomi Colebrook. After dinner, Naomi, seeks an interview with Lefrank and shares her angst about the continuing tension and unpleasantness in the household and seeks his help in trying to speak to the brothers. It is at this point John Jago approaches Naomi and requests to speak to her, to which Naomi agrees, setting of a series of events, with unforeseen results.
This is not perhaps one of the best works of Collin’s and it lacks the plot tenacity of The Moonstone or the Women in White. But it is Collin’s and till the end, you are kept guessing what and who? The ensemble of characters like all of Collin’s works have a large range -the now enfeebled patriarch, the angry woman scorned, the gentle heroine, the good brother and the weakling and the strange outsider. You name it and they are all there and they are woven so well in the plot that it seems like taking even one of them out would leave a gaping hole in the narrative.The women do seem to verge at two ends of the spectrum, but this was a Victorian man writing the novel and allowances have to be made for that day and age! The narrative without doubt the tale is kind of uni-dimensional. the length of the novella and the vivid characterization ensures that the story does not come across as flat. It straight forward no frills and no gore writing that brings the reader to the climatic end, smoothly and tries up the lose ends cleanly.
A very good one time, read it through the night novella!
The Madness Starts
Couple of minutes left to start! I am all set at the starting line. Dewey’s Readathon, Bring it on!
Me, the obsessive control freak, has made a list and checked and double checked all items.
E-Book Reader Charged – Check
Snacks set and dinner plans in place – Check
Plenty of Water Bottles – Check
Good Music – Check
Have told Dad and all friends/relations not to call me till Sunday Evening – Check
Seems like I am all-ok to make SOME dent in my reading list!
I am kind of confused as to whether to read The Girl on the Train first or The Land of the Seven Rivers to kick start the event. I will fit in Dombey and Sons somewhere after that, before I am too exhausted and drop off before I know; Dickens clearly is not at his best in this one. I have kept Christie and Austen for the difficult hours (late night and afternoons) and New York and Jerusalem come in when I have revved up my engines well and all set for some ground breaking reading. Thackeray will provide a wonderful diversionary break! Well this is the plan! And now that I am almost there, a though comes to, what the hell was I thinking????
Oh! Well! To late to ponder over those philosophical conundrums. Let’s just plunge in with the Opening Meme –
1.What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
India, New Delhi to be exact!
2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
That had to be a toss up between The Land of Seven Rivers and New York
3. Which snack are you most looking forward to?
There are these absolutely melt in your mouth shortbreads that a dear friend from England sent me! That’s not only a motivation but also an indulgence!
4.Tell us a little something about yourself!
Dedicated reader, trying to be a writer, full time Project Leader in a financial conglomerate, amateur historian, devoted blogger, born traveler, occasional exotic cuisine chef, daughter, sister, friend!
5. If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
I have read many many times through my life. But reading through 24 hours should be something else. Also I am really really impressed with all the one-world-cyber-cheering and supporting happening; from United States to the Nordics to Australia to closer home in New Delhi! This feeling is totally out of the world!
And now LET’s READ!!!
The Parisian Murders
Again, this post should have been written like anons ago, but as I have been explaining, practically in all my posts of May, that, Travel, illness, weddings and other social events kind of got me completely off tracked….however, I am back and like they say, lets get the show moving. As part of 12 Months Classical Reading Challenge, where the April theme was “A classic you’ve seen the movie/miniseries/TV show of”, I read Murders at Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe. Now, as God be my witness, with so many films and television shows based on books, I have no idea why at that point I was penning the list did I choose this one! Except, that I made the list right after the Winter holidays, where I spend another film watching marathon on every single film starring Val Kilmer. To take a minor detour from the usual book review post, let me quickly give you a background – I was 8 when I saw Top Gun….it was nearly 5 years since it had originally be released in US, but India was still playing catch up. A cousin of my best friend had gotten a VCD of film as a gift to her and we sat down to watch something that had been cool in US 6-7 years back! Oh! Well! While my best friend drooled over Tom Cruise (natually) I was completely mesmerized by the golden haired gum chewing bad boy – Val Kilmer. I feel in love and I am still in love though I know he is old and well not as happening as he used to be, but hey…this true love and true love abides! Back to present day, while I books own my soul and I do not like films too much, there are times when I indulge and Val Kilmer movie marathon was one such indulgence. For those who do not know his film credits by heart. The Murders at Rue Morgue was a made for television movie in 1986 and had a pretty impressive star cast of George C. Scott, Rebecca De Mornay, besides Kilmer. While I saw the film, I had never read the novella and it made sense to read Poe as part of this event!
The Murder at Rue Morgue begins with the narrator sharing with the readers a theory on analytic and analysis and how the latter influences the former and then introduces us to his friend Auguste Dupin, a brilliant man not particularly social with certain eccentricities with whom the narrator shares an apartment. Their daily routines of reading through the day and writing and debating and walking the streets of Paris in the night, is disturbed as the news of the gruesome double murder of Madame L’Espanaye and her daughter in the Rue Morgue, erupts in the city. The details of murder are bizarre and grotesque – the Madame L’Espanaye throat is badly cut that her head is barely attached and her daughter, after being strangled, has been stuffed into the chimney. The murder occurs in an inaccessible room on the fourth floor locked from the inside. The neighbors who heard the screams of the two women and ran into the house claim that they heard two voices talking – one in French and the other in another language, which each neighbor accounted for differently; one called it Italian, another Spanish, yet another English and another said Russian. There seemed no clear motive for murder either ; the mother and daughter were quite retiring ladies who saw very few people, but shared a mutual affection. It was an interesting fact that Madame L’Espanaye had made a withdrawal of $4000 a day before her murder, but the money was found stewen all over the chamber. The police arrested the clerk who worked in the bank and has escorted Madame L’Espanaye back to her house, after she made the withdrawal, but they are unable to establish a motive and most importantly explain the murders. Dupin who had received a favor from the bank clerk starts his investigation to clear the latter’s name and reveal a most unusual and improbable events that led to the murders.
This was the first tale where Poe had introduced his now famous Dupin and he does full justice to his character. Dupin is not flamboyant like his competitor Mr. Holmes and he does not display any habits like violin playing or indulging in drugs. He is however eccentric, anti-social, connoisseur of books, with brilliance that like a streak of bright light hurtling at you. The mental processes which Poe showcases through Dupin are steeped in psychology and human behavior and the reader has to pay very close attention to all the details to genuinely enjoy the marvels of a brilliant mind. The novella is not a nail biting mystery, where you are hanging on by each page, but a slow revelation in intellectual persistence and layer by layer, the mystery is revealed. The conclusion, I thought both for the film and book was a bit exotic and sensational – but then considering the time and audience the books were being written for, it seems to also kind of fall in place. The language is simple, but since Poe uses a lot of psychological analysis in moving his plot forward, it is not a breezy mystery read to be rushed through! A very fine read and though I have not yet given up my devotion to Holmes, I have every intention of exploring a bit more of Mr. Dupin’s mind!
A final P.S. note before I end this post – this film is the an example of very reason why I do not like watching films based on books! On reading the novella, I discovered there is no Horace (Val Kilmer) and Dupin played by Scott is an old retired police officer who was discharged from the police force for disagreeing with the chief! There is his daughter played by De Mornay who is engaged to philandering but innocent of the murder bank clerk! I understand taking artistic liberties, but this is just stretching the whole liberty to a new height!! Stick to the books I say!
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In liberal Washington, dating leaves conservatives with much to desire
A person looks at DonaldDaters, a new dating phone app, on October 17, 2018, in Los Angeles. - DonaldDaters was supposed to help lonely conservatives find each other discreetly. But the app leaked its database of users on launch day, a report said October 15, 2018. With the slogan "Make America Date Again," the app targets the "American-based singles community connecting lovers, friends, and Trump supporters alike," its website says. The app had just over 1,600 users on its first day of operations, technology news site TechCrunch reported. (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS / AFP)
Agence France-Presse / 01:45 PM November 04, 2018
A person looks at DonaldDaters, a new dating phone app, on October 17, 2018, in Los Angeles. With the slogan “Make America Date Again,” the app targets the “American-based singles community connecting lovers, friends, and Trump supporters alike,” its website says. (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS / AFP)
WASHINGTON — Dante Bucci is a 22-year-old marketing student who lives in one of Washington’s most hip neighborhoods.
The New Jersey native is clean cut, well dressed and well spoken.
But as a Republican in one of the most liberal cities in America, his political views are kryptonite in the US capital’s dating world, where he frequently finds himself attracted to Democrats.
“A lot of first dates. Not a lot of second dates,” Bucci says of his love life these days. “I think Donald Trump has a lot to do with that.”
In the 2016 presidential election, Trump earned… four percent of the vote in the District of Columbia.
It’s not exactly great math for a young, single conservative man who backed the real estate mogul.
And with November’s key midterm vote stoking political tensions, Republicans like Bucci are finding that romance is all but dead.
“They want to date someone that they can agree with on some issues,” laments Bucci, who supports abortion rights and gay marriage and calls himself a moderate Republican.
“‘I’m a Republican but…’ — I’ve started so many sentences that way.”
Website for Trump lovers
Enter: DonaldDaters.com, a website connecting those who support the Republican president.
Its slogan? “Make America Date Again,” of course.
“I felt a real need for this app,” said Emily Moreno, a 25-year-old Republican who founded the site after speaking to many of her friends.
Moreno told AFP that many people in Washington said if they mentioned working for Trump or Republican causes to a potential love match, “the date is shut down — it’s a deal-breaker.”
Four days after launching the site in mid-October, Moreno said the app had been downloaded 20,000 times.
One senior adviser for a Republican member of Congress tried the app because he has found dating as a gay Trump supporter a particular challenge.
“The gay guys in DC are really close-minded,” the 31-year-old who wished to remain anonymous told AFP, calling himself “a minority within a minority within the minority.”
He noted that the dislike goes both ways.
“If someone was super into Hillary Clinton, I would be turned off by that,” he explained.
On other widely used dating apps like Tinder or Bumble, Bucci said he found nothing but landmines.
According to a sample of several dozen Tinder profiles consulted by AFP, many women urged Republicans guys to swipe left — meaning to pass them by.
Kendall, 23, is one of those women. “Allergic to bees and Republicans” reads the bio on her Tinder profile.
“They don’t respect my autonomy. They don’t respect women. They voted for a person who openly bragged about sexually assaulting women so no,” she told AFP when asked why she was ruling out the men of the GOP.
Bucci says that so many of his first dates go off the rails with the first question: “Did you vote for Donald Trump?”
When he says yes, he gets all kinds of responses, not all of them pleasant.
“Sometimes they probe me into why I voted Trump, as if it’s a murder and I’m on trial,” he said, adding that his friends are having similar experiences. “It really is tiring.”
“Sometimes, it’s ‘Whoa, I thought you were better than that.’ Other times, it’s ‘You seemed like a nice person.'”
One of Bucci’s friends even had a drink thrown in his face.
‘Not a normal city’
As a result of the difficult dating scene, Bucci — who works for a high-profile conservative organization while pursuing his studies — is considering leaving Washington for good.
He says his lackluster love life is about 20 percent of his reason for wanting to go.
“This is not a normal city,” he says. “You can’t even go for a drink without talking about the Supreme Court or the deficit.”
Moreno, who grew up in Ohio but lives in Washington, says whenever you meet someone in the US capital, you get asked two things: “Where are you from and where do you work?”
While Moreno is now seeing someone, she said her past dating life left something to be desired.
“When you say, ‘Yes, I voted for Trump,’ you don’t get past” the first date, she said.
“I lost friends over the 2016 election.”
For Bucci, the polarization of America has basically transferred to the dating pool.
“We are in a society where you can only date or be with people that think like you,” he said.
The only other option is one he says his friends have used: lie about who they voted for.
conservativeDatingDemocratsliberalLifestyleRelationshipsRepublicanTrumpUS
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John Lennon’s round sunglasses to be sold at auction
Agence France-Presse / 05:45 PM December 01, 2019
A pair of John Lennon’s trademark round sunglasses are going up for auction along with a parking ticket given to Beatles drummer Ringo Starr — items kept for half a century by a former driver for the band.
Alan Herring, who worked as a chauffeur for Starr and bandmate George Harrison in the late 60s, said Lennon had given him the glasses after leaving them on the back seat of his Mercedes.
“When John got out of the car I noticed that he’d left these sunglasses on the back seat and one lens and one arm had become disconnected,” he said.
“I asked John if he’d like me to get them fixed for him. He told me not to worry, that they were just for the look.”
The vintage glasses and the parking ticket — issued on April 25, 1969 in London outside the band’s own label Apple Records — will be sold online by Sotheby’s with other Beatles memorabilia next month.
Herring said the decision to sell the objects was an emotional one, but that “the memories I have of this very special time in my life working with the Beatles are far more important to me”.
The brown, creased £2 parking ticket is expected to fetch £1,500 ($1,900, 1,700 euro), while the sunglasses — which Herring never did get mended — could sell for £8,000.
Other items going under the hammer between December 6 to 13 include a cigarette lighter kept in Herring’s car, shirts worn by the Fab Four and Harrison’s guitar with a predicted price of £60,000.
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The GR thematic team contributes to the LRD objectives through facilitating access to both traditional and improved agrobiodiversity. The Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) is the genebank for the Pacific region. It houses a globally unique collection of taro, conserving diversity for present and future generations. The CePaCT also plays a key role in ensuring that the countries of the Pacific have access not only to traditional diversity but also to improved crops, which can be crucial in the management of pests and diseases, and in securing food production within a changing climate. Crop diversity can also assist countries in taking advantage of market opportunities.
Genetic Resources Menu
About Genetic Resources
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Sweetpotato virus diagnostic training held at SPC
A team of sweetpotato scientists from Australia and Papua New Guinea visited SPC's Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees from 26–30 August to share their knowledge on testing of sweetpotato for disease.
The one-week training was made possible through a project funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research – Identifying appropriate strategies for reducing virus and weevil losses in sweetpotato production systems in Papua New Guinea and Australia. The project is a collaboration between the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; the Australian Sweetpotato Growers' Association; the National Agricultural Research Institute of Papua New Guinea; and SPC.
Viruses are detected in sweetpotato in several ways. One way is to graft shoots from the plants onto an indicator plant related to sweetpotato that is sensitive to virus infection. A second way is to use antibodies to ten common viruses in an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test to see if they are present in the sap; and a third way is to use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to search for virus nucleic acids. As previous training in Australia had involved the use of an indicator plant and the ELISA test, this time PCR was the focus.
At the end of the training, a protocol was agreed among the partners, based on the three methods; this protocol will be used in future to give farmers planting material that is as healthy as the tests allow.
Healthy, virus-tested, planting material has proven its worth. Field trials on research stations and in farmers’ fields have shown that yields from storage roots of virus-tested plants are much higher than yields from plants kept in the field for some years. The current project continues to quantify this, so that the value of the clean seed system can be determined accurately.
In collaboration with Biosecurity Authority of Fiji, the teams from Papua New Guinea, Australia and SPC will continue to work under the project to share knowledge and build capacity, leading to even better virus-detection methods.
Apart from developing detection methods, CePaCT will collect, conserve and distribute virus-tested material for the benefit of all countries and territories of the region.
For further information contact: Amit Sukal, Plant virus diagnostic officer, SPC, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Michael Hughes, Farming Systems Development Officer, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), Queensland, Australia. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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Rome Travel Kit
Useful Information to Help You Start Your Trip to Rome
Our Rome Travel Kit lays out the essential information you need to help planning your trip to one of the most popular destinations in Italy. No matter how frequently you travel, some questions will always need answers: What’s the weather like? How can I get from the airport to my hotel? What currency and type of plug do I need? We have all these answers plus other basic info about the best time to go, getting there, getting around, and a few useful travel tips.
It’s all compiled in this Rome Travel Kit. After reading this short and easy-to-read guide, you will be a little more prepared to start your trip in Rome.
Best time to travel to Rome (weather-wise)
Rome’s climate is Mediterranean, with average temperatures ranging from 3ºC in winter to 30ºC in summer.
Most rainfall occurs in November and December.
The sunniest time of the year being from June to September.
Summer, from June to August, is peak tourist season, when hotel and flight prices rise accordingly.
Great months to visit: May and September, as the temperatures range around 20ºC and precipitation is rare.
Rome basics
Primary language: Italian
Plug Type: Types C, F and L
Electricity: 220-240 V
Currency: Euro (€)
International Dialling code: +39 6
Getting into the city
Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino is Rome’s main airport. It receives the majority of both national and international flights. It’s quite well connected and you will be able to reach the city centre in around one hour, if not less.
Train is a fast and cheap option. The Leonardo Express, a direct train which takes 30 minutes to Termini train station, costs around €15. Then there’s the cheaper FL1 regional train for under €10 that calls at the Tiburtina and Ostiense stations. At both those stations you’ll find the Metro and plenty of buses. Coaches also go to Termini station - they take longer but are much cheaper. Taxis have a flat fare of €48 to downtown Rome.
Ciampino G.B. Pastine Airport
Unless you’re flying in on a low-cost airline from Europe, there’s little chance you’ll be using Ciampino, Rome’s second airport. But if you do, there are 2 options to directly get to Rome city centre: a taxi has a flat rate of €30 to anywhere inside the Aurelian Walls, or coaches can take you to Termini train station for around €5. It takes about 30 minutes.
Rome train stations
International Eurostar trains arrive at Roma Termini station. The capital is the central hub on Italy’s high-speed train system and, as such, it’s easy to reach the city from elsewhere in the country like Milan, Naples, Bologna, and Venice. It’s worth remembering that Rome has 2 main train stations, both served by metro and buses - Roma Termini, on the edge of the historical centre, and Roma Tiburtina, in the east of the city.
Nuotraukos autorius: DV (CC BY-SA 3.0) Pakeista
All transport in Rome is run by the ATAC transport authority. There’s a unified ticket system for all transport, with a single ticket (known as a BIT) costing under €2 for 90 minutes or a single metro ride. 24-, 48- and 72-hour passes are also available at ticket machines. If you’re not near a metro station, look out for a big 'T' sign on shops and newsagents for tickets.
Nuotraukos autorius: Mattes (CC BY-SA 3.0) Pakeista
How does the subway work?
Rome has 3 Metro lines, though 2 of them are especially worth knowing about if you're a tourist. Named A and B, they meet at Termini train station. Visitors use A for the Vatican and Spanish Steps, while the B line calls at the Colosseum. It runs until just before midnight, apart from Friday and Saturday nights, when it runs until 1.30am.
Travelling by bus and tram
The bus and tram networks are key to keeping the city moving. They’re especially useful in the historic centre where there’s no Metro. Many bus stops have an electronic screen showing real-time updates on arriving buses, especially in the central zones. Just be sure to buy a ticket before you board. The same goes for the green trams.
Rome car sharing
Romans are masters at car sharing schemes. Pick up a car on the street and leave it wherever you wish, all through an app. You’ll need to register online before you get to Rome, but after that you just pay as you go. You can book with Enjoy to drive a red Fiat 500 car, while Car2go operates Smart cars.
Nuotraukos autorius: Mariordo (CC BY-SA 4.0) Pakeista
Rome by taxi
City-authorized cabs are white and have the SPQR city coat of arms, a license number, and a taxi sign on top.
All taxis use meters
You’ll find hundreds at Termini train station and dotted across town in designated taxi ranks
You can also hail them down on the street
Get your hotel to call ahead if you want to pre-book, or download one of the well-advertised apps such as My Taxi
You can also use ride hailing apps like Uber in Rome
Rome by local train
There’s also a suburban railway network - somewhat bigger than the subway network – in Rome. It’s made up of a few lines that run to the suburbs, and regional trains which run to the surrounding towns. You might end up taking one if you go to the seaside or to some sights out of town like Tivoli, Frascati or Castel Gandolfo.
Nuotraukos autorius: Rob Dammers (CC BY 2.0) Pakeista
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LUDDITE STEREO
Best Music of 2011: Honorable Mentions
These five artists may not have made the top 20 of 2011 but are definitely worth a listen.
Honorable mention | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1
“I Don’t Want Love” – Burst Apart
Evaluating the Antlers’ Burst Apart outside of the long shadow cast by their 2009 breakthrough Hospice is nearly impossible. Hospice, a concept album about the tragic relationship between a cancer patient and her lovelorn nurse, was so emotionally grueling, sonically austere, and alien in its loveliness, it makes Burst Apart seem almost inviting by comparison. But make no mistake; while its songwriting and instrumentation are more conventional (almost radio-friendly, in fact), Burst Apart is no less devastating. Rather than tackle the subject of love doomed by terminal illness, Burst Apart explores what happens when a heart dies on the inside, corrupted by infidelity, injury, and deceit.
A thread of damaged carnality, both emotional and physical, winds through Burst Apart. Singer Peter Silberman admits “Everyone I loved/Kept me tangled in my heart” on “French Exit” (a term for a lover’s crude departure just after sex) and in more than one song claims his “teeth are falling out,” Freud’s psychoanalytical symbol for castration. But more than any one lyric, it’s the album’s lean, elegiac sound that establishes mood. From the plangent guitars of “I Don’t Want Love” to the fractured, aching throb of “Parentheses,” Burst Apart sounds like Radiohead’s Amnesiac bled through a gauze of emotional neediness. On Hospice, the Antlers showed they could break your heart; here, they’re bent on tearing it out.
“I’m God” – unreleased instrumental
Twenty-three year old Mike Volpe, aka Clams Casino, is a well-respected name in the world of hip-hop , known for producing hypnotic soundscapes for up and coming rappers like Lil B, A$AP Rocky, and Soulja Boy. But his reputation is growing in indie circles for what happens to those hazy sonic backdrops when you take the words away — addition by reduction, in a sense.
When situated beneath a rhyme like “I smoked away my brain, I think I’m going dumb/ Cocaine up on my gums, I think they’re going numb,” Volpe’s tracks sound as murky and miasmic as the weed-rap that they soundtrack. But re-released in 2011 on his mix tape Instrumentals, these songs all breathe with a new, uninhibited vitality. Tracks like “Numb” and “I’m Official” now float by with an ethereal, hypnagogic grace, characterized by supple beats, woozy synths and vocal samples that stretch out like taffy. Volpe’s at his best when blending a beatific female voice with swooning, trip-hop atmospheres like the Imogen Heap sample on “I’m God.” That song title, though originally conceived by Lil B as the ultimate expression of a rapper’s swagger, is just as fitting for Volpe, a producer who should feel supremely confident working in any genre he pleases, period.
“The Other Shoe” – David Comes to Life
“The Other Shoe” – mp3
Everything about Fucked Up necessitates an opinion. The offensive name, the band’s ear-blistering triple guitar assault, and front man Damien Abraham’s hemorrhaged-vocal cord rants are all unavoidable reminders that this is music that gets in your face. Did I mention Abraham’s onstage appearance resembles that of a slovenly, shirtless blacksmith? Indeed, Fucked Up is the kind of band my wife hates. Come to think of it, I really didn’t like them at first either. But then I heard their 78-minute rock opera, David Comes to Life, and something clicked.
Most pop music fans are not going to appreciate a hardcore-punk musical about a disgruntled light bulb factory worker who falls in love and builds a bomb. But surprisingly, some of you will. David Comes To Life is a relentless, repetitive throng of anthemic rock that lays slabs of grating noise over sugar-spiked power chords. Yeah, the album’s meta-concept storyline is convoluted, Abraham’s voice can sound like a sore rubbing against an abrasion, and his second most-recognizable lyric might be “Feeling good is such a waste.” But before you commit to hating this, listen to “The Other Shoe” at high volume (when you’re angry) and try not to feel the same mix of exhilaration, grief, and utter futility that we all do when faced with the realization that “we’re dying on the inside.”
“Alex” – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, San Francisco indie rockers Girls have dozens of bands blushing. They have the uncanny knack of digging deep into the treasure trove of pop music history and making the sounds they find their own. Front man/songwriter Christopher Owens crams other artists’ riffs and defining traits of entire musical genres into his best creations; “Honey Bunny” wraps 60’s surf rock fret play around Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome” bass line, “Die” injects the rhythm of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” into Sonic Youth-style guitar thrash, and 7-minute epic “Vomit” melds Floydian-psychedelia with gospel organ and choir.
Each transition from intro to verse, verse to chorus, and chorus to bridge offers Girls another opportunity to showcase a melody or hook that you swear you’ve heard before but can’t quite place. If there’s a criticism, it’s that Girls lean too much on their chameleonic abilities and impressive musicianship in lieu of writing enough great songs to fill a whole album (Father, Son, Holy Ghost is heavily front-loaded, and Owens reliance on 50’s pop constructs soon wears thin.) But their second full release finds them expanding creatively, sounding more self-assured, and feeling increasingly comfortable with their own identity — that of being one of today’s most promising indie rock bands.
“Bizness” – w h o k i l l
Two thousand eleven was the Year of the Protester, and no lady doth protest quite like tUnEyArDs’ Merrill Garbus. The 32-year old singer/multi-instrumentalist crafted w h o k i l l, a joyously dizzying communique of riots, social upheaval, and disillusionment, then spent the year taking her songs to the streets of Oakland, Minneapolis, Washington D.C., and New York (among others), sometimes playing in tightly-packed nightclubs and sometimes at Occupy Movement camp sites. By weaving pop hooks and ferocious rap-style lyrics around tenor saxes, fuzz bass, and Afro-beat rhythms, Garbus has created a sound that reflects both her fiery onstage physicality and the smoldering global tension of the times.
By looping percussive vocal sounds and frantic drumming into a multi-layered sonic base, Garbus is free to roam concert stages like a banshee, scatting, screaming and caterwauling melodies while simultaneously strumming a ukulele and dancing to tUnEyArDs’ blaring horn section. Her energy and message are jubilant, furious, and infectious all at once. “Gangsta” cries foul over stereotypes, “Bizness” rails against addiction, and “Powa” is an explosive feminist credo. Before concerts, Garbus dons a defiant streak of tribal face paint, almost as if she headed out to war. In a sense, she is. “My country ‘tis of thee/Sweet land of liberty/How come I cannot see my future in your arms?” belts out Garbus, but moments later slyly adds a disclaimer “Not yet.” That time is coming, and tUnEyArDs’ time is now.
5 comments on “Best Music of 2011: Honorable Mentions”
maorka
All are worthy honorable mentions, having listened to them on my Spotify premium account (love no longer having to listen to the annoying ads). As someone who has lived in Africa as a former Peace Corps volunteer and loves Afrobeat and other styles from that continent, I am particularly fond of tUnEyArDs’ crazy sound collage.
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This entry was posted on January 10, 2012 by Jeff Goodwin in Best of and tagged Alex, Antlers, bizness, Burst Apart, Clams Casino, David Comes Alive, Die, Father Son Holy Ghost, Fucked Up, gangsta, Girls, Honey Bunny, Hospice, I Don't Want Love, I'm God, Instrumentals, Lil B, Merrill Garbus, Mike Volpe, occupy movement, Parentheses, powa, The Other Shoe, Tuneyards, Vomit, whokill.
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World Party-Put the Message in the Box
“Put the Message in the Box” from Goodbye Jumbo
http://www.mediafire.com/?w2fle2z32z10o4j
It’s a pain in the ass to write long-winded meditations on whatever album stumbles into my psyche. Sometimes I just want to write about a single song. To be honest, family, fatherhood and teaching are the prime real estate in my life these days and rambling meanderings fall somewhere near the excavation of my cat litter somedays. Therefore, I plan on offering some miniature dioramas of whatever song digs a hole in my heart on a more regular basis than once a week. Considering the fact that I have disappeared for entire years from this blog, my word in swiss cheese, but optimism is my forte.
Anyhow, I always loved this song. At the time of its release in 1991, I was a misbegotten teen who somehow chased down the divergent pathways of Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. and Rakim as well as a maudlin fascination with the Smiths, Galaxie 500 and the Cocteau Twins. Those are just the good bands I listened to. I make no claims to premature cool. God knows I also owned albums by MC Hammer and the Dead Milkmen too. Anyhow, I found myself immediately transfixed by this song whenever it reared its derivative noggin on 120 Minutes on MTV one night. I purposely avoided all classic rock out of some misguided aesthetic of cool that was ill-defined and its eminently hummable 90s alt-rock take on Bob Dylan seemed like something kaleidoscopic and fantastical to my undefiled ears.
“Put the Message in the Box”is a paean to optimism. It is an ode to speaking your mind no matter the consequence. God knows it is a timely theme that should be revisited today. However, the instrumentation transforms the hippie sentiments of the band into something more transcendent than mere encouraging words set to song. World Party is basically made up of one man, Karl Wallinger, and he was quite an effective chameleon for awhile. He basically summons all of the anthemic power of early 70s Dylan and marries it to country-rock by way of 120 Minutes and it somehow works despite itself. It’s a beautiful sentiment married to an equally beautiful song. That’s all I ask for in this world.
Posted in Uncategorized, World Party | Tagged 120 minutes, Bob Dylan, boogie down productions, cocteau twins, Galaxie 500, goodbye jumbo, Karl Wallinger, mc hammer, mtv, public enemy, World Party | Leave a Comment »
World Party-Bang!
World Party Bang! (
Crysalis/EMI 1993)
http://sharebee.com/2bc56ec5
pt.2
http://sharebee.com/2d16401f
The Waterboys might not have been the sensation of their heroes, the Beatles, but what they didn’t borrow in melodic craftsmanship from the fab four–they took quite a bit actually, they mimicked in distribution of labor. With Mike Scott hooting enough to fill the shoes of a Lennon and a McCartney, it left Karl Wallinger to take the diminutive, underemployed, role of George Harrison.
Wallinger adhered to the archetype and moved ahead with his own thing. World Party recorded five albums in the wake of his departure from the Waterboys (1985-?), all with their merits. But it was his 1993 album, Bang! an eco-social concept album, that was both his best, and most continually puzzling as it eluded broader context recognition.
World Paty was pretty well established by 1993, with indie hits like “Put the Message in the Box” and “Way Down Now”, along with a critically-favored collaboration with Sinead O’Connor, but Bang! demonstrated Wallinger’s push out of staid indie jangle to a self-made pastiche of pop-rock songwriting and crate-digger exploration. The Beatles, Beach Boys, and Stones, permeated the sound, braided in with Prince, Was Not Was, and early The The.
The very notion of a political record from 1993 sounds a bit precious given all that has happened since. But Wallinger, every bit the intellectual, took the Earth Day-era sensibility and crafted some lasting music. Didn’t hurt that he could also fashion a hook and layer harmonies with the best of them.
“Is it Like Today?”, probably the best charting single of his career, was a sci-fi allegory about the end of times, a bit of wistful folk with Wallinger plying his gorgeous one man-CSNY vocal strategy to glorious effect. Like any good sci-fi the key is to humanize the story, which he did–right down to the nominal “bang”, forcefully whispered in mock compliance to T.S. Eliot’s apocalyptic vision.
And though his entreaties of Ursula K. LeGuin were (probably for the best) limited, that subtle talent for pushing human warmth into pedantic, speculative spaces proved invaluable. The cautionary, “Give it All Away” (perhaps more in line with Rachel Carson, in fact) was a tuneful and hectic nod to Paul Hardcastle’s “19”, remembered not nearly as well, and yet sounding far less dated for the trouble.
For that matter, the Prince homage, “Rescue Me” was both unlikely, and prescient. At a time when the Mtv Unplugged zeitgeist pushed a lot of artists into begrudging (and as often flat-out fake) acoustic directions, Wallinger’s nod to Prince’s synth soul-pop was an improbable, lovingly unironic, retort.
Best among the set, however, were the pretty side two ballads. “Sunshine” had the easy blues of something spun from Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti (I’m thinking, “Down By the Seaside”), or that mostly elided fourth side of the White Album. But the zen moment occurred on the smiley-faced tearjerker, “All I Gave”. It pooled the World Party resources of honeyed harmonies–here reaching dizzied Bee Gees heights, a sparkling guitar from McGuinn’s best Byrds numbers, and a lyrical sentiment that–even to the naysayers of Wallinger’s environmentalist agenda and other various lefty notions, must have been irresistable.
Bang! happened in the detente of Clinton’s America (the birthing hour of Blair’s England) when the do-gooding drive seemed only altruistic–as opposed to now when it feels positively dire. But such was Wallinger’s great moment, a romantic lull during which he, nevertheless, felt compelled to sound the alarm to warn he future. The all-wasteful, hacking blacklung in me feels as though I missed the point fifteen years ago. The overly romantic, hacking blacklung in me remains content to have enjoyed it as I did…
Posted in World Party | Tagged beatles, Bee Gees, British pop, Karl Wallinger, Waterboys, World Party | 2 Comments »
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Facebook Lets You Gamble with Real Money — in the UK [VIDEO]
By Emily Price 2012-08-07 13:45:52 UTC
A new Facebook game lets you gamble with actual cash rather than Facebook credits — so long as you're in the right location.
The first of its kind, Bingo & Slots Friendzy, is currently available for Facebook users 18 and over in UK only.
In order to gamble on the social network, you’ll need to sign up through the game’s parent company Gamesys and enter an email address as well as a physical address in the United Kingdom.
“Our Bingo Friendzy App comprises of a series of 90 Ball Bingo games which will offer the Facebook community the opportunity to play with and win real money,” reads the description on the app’s Facebook page.
”Players will enjoy a safe and trusted gaming experience with unique features like: Community Progressive Jackpots, when they pop everyone’s a winner, 'Friendzy Bonus' games which gives players chances to win free bingo tickets, ‘Friendzy Time’ offers extra ball calls meaning more winners after every Bingo game and Invite a ‘Friend Rewards’ will result in enhanced payouts when invited friends play in the same game.”
As with other Facebook games, game activity will post to your timeline. Unlike other games, however, that activity will only be able to be seen by those people who can actually use the app — Facebook users who reside in the UK and are over 18.
Zynga CEO Mark Pincus has indicated in the past that he would like to see Zynga make a real-money gambling game in the future.
While gambling laws are certainly different in the United States, the inclusion of Bingo & Slots Friendzy on the social network could be the first step in making that dream ultimately a reality.
What do you think about real-money gaming on Facebook? Would you do it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Topics: Apps and Software, Facebook, Gaming, online gambling, Social Media
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Home » NEWS » WWE » Major Update on WWE NXT Airing on the USA Network, Date Revealed
Major Update on WWE NXT Airing on the USA Network, Date Revealed
August 19, 2019 Marc Middleton 43 comments
WWE NXT is set to premiere on the USA network on Wednesday, September 18, according to a new report from Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline.com.
The big news will be announced on tonight’s RAW episode from St. Paul, Minnesota, according to the report.
NXT is scheduled to air for two hours each Wednesday night from 8-10pm ET, beginning on September 18. The Wednesday Night War will then begin on October 2 as AEW premieres on TNT, in the same timeslot.
It’s believed that the locations for the first few NXT USA episodes will be confirmed tonight as well.
Stay tuned for updates on WWE bringing NXT to the USA Network.
Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.
WWE Superstar Challenges Shinsuke Nakamura for Clash of Champions
Hart Foundation Challenges Dynasty For The MLW Tag Team Titles At War Chamber In Dallas
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Home > Business > French Tech Los Angeles
DISCOVER FRENCH TECH LOS ANGELES
A bridge for startups between Los Angeles (from the trendy Silicon Beach to the creative district of Downtown) to France!
Armelle Levy, Manager French Tech Los Angeles.
E-mail: armellelevyftla@gmail.com
Website: https://la.lafrenchtech.com
MORE ABOUT LA FRENCH TECH
In recent years, the French startup ecosystem has enjoyed incredible momentum, driven by a new generation of entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, designers and many other talented individuals. France has been called a new “Startup Republic”, dotted with thriving hubs and talent that are vehicles for a robust entrepreneurial mindset.
This domestic momentum has a name – “French Tech” – and French startups are rallying around this emblematic moniker. The ecosystem is developing very quickly and there is no doubt that France has now reached a tipping point.
“French Tech” is a term used to describe the French startup community: everyone who works in or for a startup in France or for a French startup abroad. Entrepreneurs of course, but also investors, engineers, designers, developers, accelerators, incubators, media, public organisations, research institutions, etc. All these players are committed to the growth and prosperity of startups as well as their international influence.
The French Tech has a strong international presence through its 22 French Tech hubs: New York, Israel, Tokyo, San Francisco, Montreal, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Moscow, Barcelona, London, Abidjan, Seoul, Berlin, Dubai, Los Angeles, Milan, Beijing, São Paulo, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Website: http://meetlafrenchtech.com/home/
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Former Spring Arbor Univ. women’s soccer standout, Bethany Balcer, named to U.S. U-23 Women’s National Team
Museum Honors Former Detroit Tiger Ron Leflore
March Madness In Michigan!
Saginaw Valley State Athletics Announces The Retirement Of 2 Head Coaches.
U-D Mercy To Retire Uniform Of Former NBA World Champion and Titan, Earl Cureton!
Michigan Vs Alabama Provides An Opportunity For U-M To Put An Exclamation Point On The 2019 Football Season!
It’s Western Kentucky versus…Western Michigan In The 2019 First Responder’s Bowl!
MSU’s Spartans Can Salvage Dismal Season With A Pre-New Years Day Game In The Pinstripe Bowl.
With A 2019 Quick Lane Bowl Appearance, EMU Continues It’s Rise.
Central Mich.’s New Mexico Bowl Clash With SDSU Looks Like A Close Game
UD Titans Basketball Falls Short To Visiting Toledo, 80 – 72
MI Football Nirvana(c)
Watch MISPORTS-TV(c)
Mich. Tech. Football Moves To 2-0 With Second Straight Road Win 24 – 19
By misportstv September 15, 2019
From MICHIGANTECHHUSKIES.COM
LEBANON, Ill. – The Michigan Tech football team held back McKendree University for a 24-19 non-conference win Saturday afternoon on the road. The Huskies used all three phases of the game to secure their second consecutive road win to start the year. The defense had two more interceptions which led to 10 points on the scoreboard.
“It wasn’t a pretty game, but to go on the road for the second week in a row and get a win was huge for our team,” Michigan Tech Head Coach Steve Olson said. “I’m extremely happy to be 2-0 and proud of our players for overcoming some adversity. We had a number of players step up and make some outstanding plays against a good McKendree team to close out the game and get the win.
“On the offensive side of the ball I thought we ran the ball effectively at times and put together some solid drives, especially the one to start the second half. Turnovers are always a big key in any football game in terms of taking care of the football on offense while creating takeaways on the defensive side of the ball. When you are able to do that it gives you the best shot to win and that was the case today. We also had a solid effort on special teams as well, with Evan Gornick connecting on a key field goal in the second half. Overall, there were a lot of positives to take away from this game going into next week’s contest at Saginaw Valley State.”
Mich Tech Football
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MISPORTS-TV (TM) is wholly owned by Dixon Media Group in Ypsilanti, MI. It is the next generation of the original Dark Elf Entertainment outlet WDEE-TV(c) that began operation in 2012.
Copyright © 2019 MI Sports TV.
The Ash Wednesday Selfie Trend Has Patriots Debating
3 Outfits That Will Amaze You on Coming Holiday
Amazing Things You May Have Missed Growing up
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Digital Wayfinding
Prepare for the Voice Search Revolution with These Voice Search Statistics
We’ve all heard the prediction: Voice is about to take over. But when exactly? And how much will it account for in consumer spending? Although adoption rates seem to stagger, it’s best for marketers and business owners everywhere to start to wrap their heads around how voice will transform the user experience and how it will shift commerce forever.
Here are a few important statistics that paint the whole picture to help you prepare for the voice search revolution.
50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020 (comScore)
But… According to a small (1,000 people) SUMO Heavy survey, 46 percent never use virtual assistants and only 19 percent saying they use one rarely. Six percent said they use a voice assistant monthly while 13 percent use weekly and 16 percent do so on a daily basis.
No screen – Gartner says that by 2020 about 30% of all searches will be done without a screen
Smart speaker ownership by household should be up to 55% by 2022 (OC&C Strategy Consultants) totaling 21.4 million only in the US (Activate).
One-in-six Americans own a voice-activated smart-speaker (Edison Research and NPR)
Although there are more Android phones in the world, iOS users outpace Android users in terms of voice assistant usage across the board (SUMO Heavy survey)
One billion voice searches per month, per Alpine.AI (2018)
By 2022, voice is expected to be a $40 billion channel. In 2019, voice shopping accounts for close to $2 billion in consumer spending (Source: OC&C Strategy Consultants).
Where are they? – 52% of people keep their voice-activated speakers in their living rooms. 25% keep them in their bedrooms, while 22% keep them in their kitchens. Google
22% of smart home speaker owners have made a purchase using their device. (Edison Research)
BrightLocal Study
58% consumers that have used voice search to find local business information within the last year. Of those,
46% voice search users look for a local business daily.
27% visit the website of a local business after conducting a voice search (and remember you only get one result in voice!)
6% of smart home speaker users conduct local searches at least once a week—with 53% performing daily searches.
Smart speaker shipments grew nearly 200% YOY in Q3 2018 globally, according to Strategy Analytics
The most active age group on voice is 25 to 49-year-olds with 65% speaking to their voice-enabled devices at least once per day ( PwC). Nevertheless, the 18-24 demographic is credited with helping to drive early adoption of the technology.
Also according to PwC, 71% of wearable device owners say they’ll perform more voice searches in the future.
“How” or “what” and adjectives like “best” or “easy” are some of the most popular voice search words within queries. Nearly 20% of all voice search queries are triggered by a set of 25 keywords. (seoClarity).
According to Narvar, 51% of voice shoppers use it to research products. 22% of those consumers make purchases directly through voice and 17% have used it to reorder items.
There’s no doubt about it, voice technology is revolutionizing ecommerce. The numbers don’t lie, voice is a powerful force that is only getting stronger. Make sure your business is one step ahead and prepare for the voice revolution.
4 Ways Voice Can Facilitate the OGP Process
Voice Commerce on the Rise: What Are People Purchasing?
The Role of Intent Marketing in Voice Search
How Voice Commerce is Changing the Way People Shop
Copyright text 2018 by Marley Nonami.
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Going back to that optimum movement, we can dramatically improve modern technology
Submitted by esaruoho on July 9, 2008 - 22:34
PAX Scientific
bioneer
Janine Benyus
Jay Harman
Designing the Next Golden Age
By Jay Harman
The following text is from a speech given at Bioneers 2004.
Welcome to the new Golden Age! Yes, here, today, right now, in what may feel for some of us like the darkest of times, we are creating a new Golden Age. I think we’re ready for this. We know, deep inside, that a better age for our world is absolutely crucial, and we know it’s possible. That’s why we continue to get up in the morning—to strive for a better world. For me, I know this new Golden Age is possible because of what I’ve learned from nature.
PAX Scientific - Meet Viktor Schauberger
Submitted by esaruoho on April 17, 2007 - 17:31
cavitation
centripetal
Gianluca Iaccarino
Godfrey Mungal
John Ernst Worrell Keely
Santhanam Shekar
this is a mashup of articles that detail PaxScientific, and its CEO, Harman's quotes. obviously i started doing this because it has deep connections to what Viktor Schauberger was saying all along. seems there is a huge movement of Biomimicry, that is blissfully unaware of one of its predecessors, Schauberger - with his Comprehend&Copy method. at least back in 2005, PAX Scientific had nothing to say when asked about Viktor Schauberger.
enjoy! if you can.
Vortexi.com + another vanished page
acoustophoresis
Bruce Cathie
Dale Pond
Dan A. Davidson
disassociation
Sepp Hasslberger
Dr Youds thanks the following for their comments on his paper:
'... Will read with interest ..." - Bruce Cathie, Author. See 'Harmonic Conquest of Space' at Amazon.co.uk
" I found the paper most fascinating..." - Larry Canada.
Turning nature's design into scientific breakthrough
Submitted by cybe on March 2, 2006 - 18:43
http://news.com.com/Turning+natures+design+into+scientific+breakthrough/2100-1008_3-6044461.html
When Jay Harman was a skinny 10-year-old swimming off the coral reefs of Australia's western coast, he had an insight that 37 years later would lead him to invent an industrial design that could change personal computing, aeronautics and how drinking water is purified.
As a nature-loving boy, the young Australian just wanted to swim faster, so he watched how fish moved through water and how seaweed undulated against the reef when a wave crashed.
The shape he noticed that day was a simple curve that fluidly formed into a spiral. From then on, Harman would see spirals as a common design in nature--in pinecones, whirlpools, a puff of smoke.
Now he believes spirals are a key to making a wide array of machines more energy-efficient. Through his 9-year-old company, Pax Scientific, he's trying to bring that natural form into the technological world. So far, he's invented industrial designs for fans, pumps and propellors that mimic the geometries of spiraling whirlpools. Experts believe these designs can reduce friction, wasted energy, noise and unwanted heat.
year | language | place | person | tag
Free Energy News from PESN.com
PESWiki - AltEnergy
Get this box!
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site may contain some copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to expose and advance the understanding of the issues covered here. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
The ONLY reason why free energy has been suppressed and forced out by economics, politics and bankers, is because they are operating through fraudulent man-made laws which are at odds (out of balance) with nature. There is no reason that Paul Pantone spent months upon months in a mental hospital by court order for attempting to reduce the footprint we place directly on the face of mother nature and spaceship earth. Wilhelm Reich was unlawfully harassed by FDA/court officials - this again having nothing whatsoever to do with natural law - Wilhelm Reich worked for the benefit and health of all humanity. That John Bedini, Joe Booker, Viktor Schauberger, Thomas Henry Moray and others have been attacked, vilified, threatened, purposefully forgotten and ripped off means that the society and systems that allow this to happen "legally", are frightfully wrong. Thus we need to tear this current system apart from the root and plant a new seed which is in harmony with nature and God's Law. Only by all of us working as aware crewmembers of spaceship Earth - for the benefit of every crewmember, instead of selfishly for ourselves can we ever hope to escape the slavery that we are in right now. Here is Staffan's message:
The ONLY solution is to enforce The Plan against the traitorous Free-Energy supressing N. W. O. Zion-Nazi mass-murder, inside-job perpetrators of OKC, 911, Bali, 7/7/2005 and the phoney War on Terror and Freedom, and reinstate God's Perfect Laws of Liberty and bring the perpetrators to Justice:- http://jahtruth.net/plan.htm
Time is running out:- http://jahtruth.net/signs.htm
MERLib supports
MERLib supports the Wilhelm Reich Museum / Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust through using GoodSearch / GoodShop to gather money for this non-profit-organization. In addition to running the physical museum, they are in charge of producing two full-length documentaries on Wilhelm Reich, are working on a book which will have the 1947-1957 letters, diaries and scientific studies of Wilhelm Reich, so we will better be able to comprehend the latter decade of Wilhelm Reich's life. A Biopic and a full-length documentary would be beneficial at clearing the name of Wilhelm Reich after the travesties of "W.R. - Mysteries of The Organism", and the scant footage available on Wilhelm Reich or his devices. If you know there is something to Wilhelm Reich's orgone discoveries, his orgone accumulator, orgone shooter, orgone blanket, and orgone cloud-busting devices, if you find that there should be more information on the atmospheric orgone motor, and the human orgone-energy running motor, conditioned vacuum-tubes which respond to orgone.. if you believe orgone plays a part in the nuclear energy and preservation of nature question, then please start using GoodSearch from now on and point all of your search-"income" to the "Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust Foundation". As of September 2008, 17$ has accumulated by a few persons using it. That is 0.01$ per search and use. If you use eBay via GoodSearch (GoodShop), a larger percentage will be donated to the trust. The Wilhelm Reich Museum are attempting to collect over 200,000$ for the singular production of two of these films, they also require time and funds for the research, translation and compilation purposes of the 1947-1957 followup to "American Odyssey", a previous Wilhelm Reich study compilation which featured his encounters at explaining Orgone energy to Albert Einstein. And also, they now require funding for a new roof.
Earthship Biotecture
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Home Products Tissue Imaging
Tissue Imaging
Sample Digitization, Analysis, and Sharing
Combine smart, all-round scanning solutions with outstanding flexibility.
With the slide scanning platform Metafer MetaSystems also offers an extensive toolbox to digitize, analyze, and share larger microscopic samples such as tissue sections. Using sophisticated algorithms, dedicated software for the composition of larger images (VSlide) generates high-quality digital copies of a slide. Such images can provide focus stacks, metadata such as information on the location of cells, and sub-images from different origins. In a free viewer (VSViewer) users can create their own annotations, generate snapshots from the main image, display different color channels separately on the same screen, and apply contrast enhancement algorithms. Tools within Metafer allow users to interpret tissue micro-array cores, or to match consecutive tissue sections. Neon integrates all workflow components and keeps track of the process.
Sample Digitization
VSlide combines the advantages of a motorized microscope with modern, high-quality imaging automation. The system is not restricted with respect to magnifications or contrasting modes. It can take advantage of any microscope feature, and it can combine different methods to a smart scanning workflow. Even Z-stacks are automatically acquired and stored in the image files so that the users can virtually 'focus' through the digitized sample.
Imaging with Metafer is very easy. The system automatically reads and interprets bar code labels, and configures the scan according to the information in the code. Pre-scans facilitate tissue detection in bright field, transmitted light, dark field, or any other contrasting method. A high resolution scan can be added either automatically, based on the spatial data obtained in the pre-scan, or on selected regions interactively determined by the researcher.
Metafer’s virtual slide image is generated automatically in the background while the system scans. Parameter sets define the employed color channels and the file format of the final image. Since the source image files are kept on the system, new virtual slides with other parameters can be re-created anytime. Metafer users can choose from a variety of output file formats, including the comprehensive, proprietary VSI format. VSI images contain all relevant image information including color channel details, focus stacks, and annotations. In the local network, VSI images are read with the versatile viewing software (VSViewer).
Once a VSI file is created, all the spatial information of the image tiles originally acquired remains accessible. This allows for precise relocation of any sample region under the microscope. Also subsequent acquisitions of selected regions with different techniques are possible. This unique feature allows for setting up an unlimited number of smart workflows. Regions of interest (e.g., tumor regions in an H&E section) can be easily marked in the viewing software. Once a list of target regions is available, they can be re-scanned anytime with other magnifications, contrasting methods, or other scanning parameters. The selection of regions can even be done remotely, and the tissue matching tool of Metafer facilitates the transfer of the regions to another sample, e.g., for imaging the same region in subsequent tissue sections.
The free viewing software for digital samples created by Metafer (VSViewer) can be installed on any Windows computer with network access to the image data. The simplified, modern user interface offers all customary viewing tools offered by handy toolbars which can be hidden, minimized, snapped to the window corner, or freely arranged on the desktop. Panning and zooming are done with the mouse and the mouse wheel.
The viewer has many options for displaying image metadata. For example, current Metafer coordinates can be visualized as grids on the image. Also the location of the fields of view (FOV), that are, the single original camera images, can be shown as an overlay to the image. The navigation bar at the bottom of the screen always provides information on the sample location currently shown. This includes the current magnification, the zoom factor, the focus level (if the current image contains focus stacks), and the Metafer coordinate of the window center. Quick access buttons allow for selecting a certain magnification, viewing the complete image, and accessing focus levels. Of course there is also a navigator toolbar showing a thumbnail of the whole image and an indicator of the current section.
Two annotation toolbars make it easy to highlight regions of interest. The ‘Scan Regions’ toolbar is used to prepare the next scan of a selected part of the sample. A quick selection of the target region generates an annotation file which is directly read by Metafer. The ‘Annotations’ toolbar then offers a comprehensive range of tools to annotate and highlight items in the image. If the current image originates from an object search in Metafer, it is even possible to visualize the detected objects within their original vicinity and to group them by any obtained analysis result.
The image window can be split into up to four coupled sections. With the ‘Channels’ toolbar it is then possible to assign different display parameters to each sub-window. Hence, it is possible to visualize the same part of the image with different color channels, overlays, and contrasts. Furthermore, it is possible to open two different images, e.g., from subsequent tissue sections, in two viewer software instances which can also be coupled for panning and zooming.
Any view can be exported into standard image file formats (TIFF, JPG, BMP, GIF) as a snapshot. Snapshots may contain additional data such as a magnification ruler, annotations, FOV indications, and even a comment. Additionally, extracts of the image can be interactively defined or by their coordinates, and they can then be saved as a separate image.
Tissue Analysis
MetaSystems has designed a system of hybridization and imaging tools to be integrated in the routine workflow of the pathology lab. Core of this system is the combination of dedicated DNA probes for tissue sections with the innovative platform Metafer, a flexible and robust slide scanning system with many options.
MetaSystems Probes‘ XL range of locus-specific fluorescence-in-situ DNA probes for tissue FISH gene amplifications, deletions, or translocations involved in solid tumors (e.g., ALK, EGFR, HER2/neu, MYC, and many more). Intense signals aid with the interpretation on tissue sections. The Metafer scanning platform automatically generates virtual slides in brightfield and fluorescence, acquires high resolution FISH images and provides an automatic score. Equipped with an automated bar code reader and the robust SlideFeeder x80 for up to 800 samples, it can be operated in a 24/7 mode.
As initial step a digital brightfield, e.g. H&E slide is generated by Metafer. The pathologist calls up the digital slide and selects on screen the tumor region on the virtual slide that needs to be FISH-scored.
Next, the FISH slide (from a subsequent section of the same block) is being scanned at low magnification to generate an overview. Displayed side by side to the marked digital H&E image the tumor region can easily be transferred to the FISH slide.
Metafer now has all the information to start automatic image acquisition of the FISH slide at higher magnification. Cell nuclei that are isolated or slightly connected will be separated automatically and spot-counted. Manual tools for segmentation help to separate touching nuclei for immediate automatic scoring until the preset number of cells to be analyzed has been reached. The software module can be easily set up to match the individual analysis standards. For instance, it is possible to define a minimum number of cells to be analyzed, and also to define a number of independent readers.
More on signal analysis in tissue sections can be seen here.
For final review the system presents a full synopsis to the pathologist, comprising the cell gallery with the scoring results, the virtual DAPI slide showing the positions of analyzed cells, and the corresponding H&E virtual slide. Every cell can be traced back to the tissue section to confirm its location within the preselected tumor region.
Final results can either be exported as raw data, e.g. for subsequently being processed by external software, or can be summarized in comprehensive, user-adaptable reports.
Tissue Micro-Arrays
The laborious nature of procedures, shortages of sample material, and limitations in the cost of reagents for diagnostics in routine clinical pathology has raised the interest in high throughput solutions. The tissue micro-array (TMA) technique addresses these issues by obtaining small tissue cores from regions of interest in paraffin embedded tissues, assembling them in an array-like fashion, and mounting them to a standard glass slide for microscopy. Each of these cores then represents an independent analysis case.
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The analysis of FISH signals in cell nuclei which are part of a solid tissue section requires special tools and methods. Based on the requirements of users and researchers, MetaSystems has now launched a dedicated software module for automated analysis of signals in tissues. The module is based on the powerful analysis engine of Metafer...
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Combined epithelial marker analysis of tumour budding in stage II colorectal cancer.
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A Novel Antibody Targeting Tau Phosphorylated at Serine 235 Detects Neurofibrillary Tangles.
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Characterisation of Thinopyrum bessarabicum chromosomes through genome-wide introgressions into wheat.
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Workshop by OOO MetaSystems Russia on Neuromorphology
N.N.Burdenko National Scientific and Practical Center for Neurosurgery is one of the first MetaSystems’ customers in Russia who implemented FISH on tissues into their daily practice ( in the late 90ies). Our partner in Russia, OOO MetaSystems therefore provides comprehensive support of all initiatives shown by the head of pathology lab and its staff.
MetaSystems Workshop in Dehradun, India
A “Hands-on Workshop on FISH and its application in Pathology and Clinical Medicine” was organized by MetaSystems and Department of Pathology, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences (HIMS) to demonstrate the applications of FISH in hematological malignancies and solid tumors.
New Metafer Brochure by Carl Zeiss Microscopy Co., Ltd (カールツァイスマイクロスコピー株式会社) in Japan
Our Partner in Japan, Carl Zeiss Microscopy Co., Ltd (カールツァイスマイクロスコピー株式会社), recently published a Metafer brochure in Japanese language.
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Another perspective on hypothetical Richard Armitage autographs
[Richard Armitage signs an autograph, weekend of July 14-15, 2012, San Diego, CA. Source: Me, My Thoughts and Richard Armitage]
Went out for a while to visit my favorite beer purveyor. Don’t judge. Beginning Monday at sunset I have to go for a whole week without consuming any fermented grains because G-d said so. Due to my increasing connoisseurship of Belgian fermented grains, accomplishing this will probably be the hardest this year it’s ever been. It’s not the drinking — I could switch to wine — it’s the taste of that beer. Anyway, I digress from the actual point here.
I was seated at the bar chatting with one of my favorite bartenders, Chad, and I asked him how he was, and he said he was okay except he’d been working a lot more the last week. When I asked why, he told me that he and his partner, Lisa, had just rescued a cat and that it cost them $400 to get it fixed and chipped and treated for whatever ailments it had. And they had to get kitty x*nax prescriptions for their other cats so they’d all get along from the beginning. He showed me a bunch of pictures. They were really happy, he said, because the kitten was so affectionate.
I admit I’m not a huge kitten lover but I made appropriate noises. “And,” I said. “If the cats start getting along, you can underdose them and resell some of the drugs on the street.”
He laughed. “I could use it myself, at the moment, with the extra shifts.”
“Oh,” I said, “Is that just because of the expense from the cat? I could tip you more than usual.”
[Richard Armitage signs autographs on the red carpet at the New Zealand premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, November 28, 2012. Source]
He laughed. “You already tip enough,” he said.
Then he told me that he and Lisa had gone recently to an event called Mega-Con and on top of all the other costs for transportation and lodging and food and so on, had spent $700 getting two posters with autographs from the series regulars of the ST:TOS cast, who were apparently all simultaneously present. One for him and Lisa, and another one to sell someday, he said.
“$700?” I said. “For entry to the con? Or the posters cost that much? Were they collectors’ items?”
“No,” Chad said. “For the autographs. It was $35 apiece for the autographs of the regular cast members plus $70 for Sir Patrick Stewart’s.”
[I think I remember that correctly.]
“Wow, really?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Expensive. But totally worth it. Sir Patrick Stewart is just exactly like he seems.” Then he did a kind of imitation of Stewart saying “Make it so!” Chad finished by saying, “Lisa absolutely loved meeting him, and so did I.”
I agreed it might be neat to talk to Sir Patrick Stewart face to face for three minutes, and the conversation turned to other things, like the virtues of St Bernardus vs La Trappe Quadrupel, which I am sure you care about less than I do.
I’m not in search of an autograph, as I’ve said before, but like many fans last fall, had wondered why anyone would pay for an autograph of Richard Armitage’s sold on ebay and gathered by some fairly unpleasant people, if s/he could simply write to ask for one, but suddenly this puts things into a little more perspective.
[Note that in this post, I am neither approving nor disapproving of the activities of amateur or professional autograph collectors.]
[Richard Armitage, with photograph-eager fans on the red carpet at the Tokyo premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, December 1, 2012. Source.]
Does anyone know: is this standard? Fans go to a convention and then pay for autographs of actors on top of that?
If so, then I can see why someone might want to buy one on ebay. Because presumably if someone sells his or her autograph, he isn’t giving it out for free on most occasions. I assume one signs for free on red carpets — but it’s a pain to get to a red carpet, and while it can be wonderful and transformative, as we’ve seen, the results are far from guaranteed, if you’re standing in the wrong place.
Or is the reason that Mega-Con can charge for this that they get all the regulars together in one place and so convention visitors have a hope of getting everything they want at once? Which would be especially attractive, I guess, so the organization charges the fee as a way to cut the numbers of people lining up and keep the actors from suffering too much?
I wonder if Richard Armitage will ever sell his autograph in this way?
Or the dwarves all together? Will there be conventions with all the actors who played the dwarves, each charging $40 for an autograph?
Servetus shakes her head.
[Note that I’m not saying Richard Armitage or anyone else should or shouldn’t sell his autograph. As always, I think Richard Armitage should do what he thinks he needs to do, and doing this kind of thing will neither get him into or out of heaven or my good graces — distinctly different places, I might add. I’m just wondering about everything I learned tonight from Chad.]
~ by Servetus on March 24, 2013.
Tags: autographs, fans, Richard Armitage, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
60 Responses to “Another perspective on hypothetical Richard Armitage autographs”
It varies convention by convention. Some actors aren’t big names ala Stewart/Shatner/Nimoy so they pay their own way to convention and then sell their autograph to make money. I’m not familiar with Mega-Con, but some of these bigger conventions are able to attract the big names with nice big appearance fees and then sell tickets to the attendees guaranteeing a chance to get an autograph thus making both the actor guest and the convention organizers a nice chunk of change.
Little Red said this on March 24, 2013 at 3:22 am | Reply
Wow, that was a really quick and simple answer — thank you!
Servetus said this on March 24, 2013 at 3:23 am | Reply
Hmm, that is interesting. Frankly, I’m not sure how I feel about the whole concept. I suppose, the cost can only be what the market will bear. For the record, I don’t think I’d pay for anyone’s autograph unless proceeds were going to charity, but if people are willing to pay…
obscura said this on March 24, 2013 at 3:23 am | Reply
yeah, the cost will be what people are willing to pay (Chad was satisfied with his and Lisa’s bargain, it seemed to me — he was probably more bemused by the cat anti-anxiety meds than the autograph costs). And Stewart just bought a big brownstone in Park Slope so he probably has expenses to meet … and a wedding to pay for … I’m not judging. I’m just sort of turning the question over in my mind …
Me too…what is troubling is not so much the direct market, but the kind of stuff described below that happens in search of these autographs to sell. Makes the antiquities black market seem tame by comparison. It’s kind of off my radar since I’ve never been big on memorabilia…too much commitment to keep it in one piece.
I really think you should collect the stuff b/c it means something to you, because odds that it will appreciate in value are really so low. I want to use / play with all my Hobbit toys rather than keep them in boxes. And honestly — given the thousands of autographs Armitage must have signed in his life, how much will any one be worth in the next century?
I would agree with that…I’ve picked up bits and pieces of the and that over the years from travel and what not, and that kind of stuff I’ve cherished. I haven’t been inspired to any Armitage stuff yet (beyond DVDs). although that plush Thorin was very tempting…maybe next installment.
I am of the “get it because YOU really want it and will enjoy it” school rather than in hopes of it becoming valuable one day. That’s why none of my RA-related collectibles are in boxes/have tags, etc. That’s just me. And I gotta say, plush Thorin AND plush Gandalf are just TOO cute. Trust me on this. 😉
I think you are right, Serv–RA has signed boocoodles of autographs already. Why think they will become that valuable in the future?
Of course, the autographed photo of RA that my husband got for me a few years back is very precious to me, in large part because MY HUSBAND GOT IT for me. That says something special to me. 😀
fedoralady said this on March 24, 2013 at 4:29 pm | Reply
Nerd Expert here – I’ve gone to the San Diego and the New York Comic Cons. Yes, there are actors who are not featured in any of the regular Con activities, but are just there to make money from selling autographs. Some actors don’t charge you just to talk to them, if they’re not busy. I had a lovely chat with Michelle Forbes from Star Trek and True Blood the last time I went. LOL! Some actors seem to just make their living showing up to charge for autographs (and pictures) and some are selling books or stuff. Star Wars people charge a lot. James Marsters (Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) seems to show up a lot. I think it’s vaguely creepy, but it is fun to see them signing, even if you don’t pay (like me).
marieastra8 said this on March 24, 2013 at 3:36 am | Reply
if it helps them makes ends meet ….
I used to say, when I started blogging, that i wished I could pay Richard Armitage in some proportion to the pleasure he gave me. I’ve made a point of both purchasing legal copies of everything of his I’ve seen that’s available for purchase, and of donating money to charities he’s recommended. I suppose this would be another step in that direction, hypothetically.
I can’t imagine he’d ever be at a convention and not be busy, though.
I had NO idea actors did this at conventions or other places! I mean I know they sign stuff but for money? DId that happen at Comic Con this past year with The Hobbit actors? I saw photos of them signing but assumed it was an expected event there???
But I see that as a totally different thing than what we saw in NYC. These guys didn’t care who they stepped on, hit in the face, pushed into the streets. Again…I had NO idea! Well I did with about 5 mins of heads up time from a friendly photographer. He was worried about it. I was too dumb to know take it too seriously. Altho I thought the security guys and cops could’ve handled things differently, I will have to say that the security guy was right beside RA and you can hear him i the vids saying as they worked their way down the line, “You’ve got one already.” or “He’s already signed one for you.” Not that it stopped them from whacking me one more time!! LOL!
It just galls me that these guys turn around and sell the autographs for a nice, tidy sum…yeah we all have to make a living, but at whose expense?
Again, I need to shut up about it but you can’t imagine how intense and scary those 10 seconds were. And I don’t know if this happens at “all” red carpets or it was just NYC. I’d love to get on ebay and put out a bulletin about the thugs they may potentially buy from. But would they believe it? Nah, probably not. If nothing else, my experience might be a warning to other unsuspecting old ladies! 🙂
The Queen said this on March 24, 2013 at 4:03 am | Reply
as far as I know no one paid in San Diego, but I don’t know. And they were trying really hard to promote an upcoming film there — it’s a bit different with ST:TOS, which has been off the air since … 1994?
I’m glad Armitage has an experienced guy to shield him.
No one would have been charged for an autograph at the WB’s Hobbit signing at SDCC. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of there being a charge for a studio-organized autograph session there (since the studios are trying to promote something), and the ones arranged through SDCC in the Sails Pavilion, the signees can’t charge for those either. They can charge if they have their own setup on the exhibitor floor (say, if they are the guest of a publisher maybe, or toy manufacturer, etc). Patrick Stewart always charges more than his fellow cast members. I thought it was because he attended cons less frequently than the others, but that seems to be changing in the last year (as Servetus notes he *does* have wedding expenses coming up!).
There were the One Ring Conventions (ORC) in LA a few years ago and you could buy autograph tickets and photo ops, prices varied depending on the cast member. I can’t remember, if I ever knew, what percentage went to the convention organizer and what percent went to the actor.
asilomar11 said this on March 24, 2013 at 10:08 am | Reply
At the risk of being obnoxious and pedantic, the TOS acronym refers to the show from the 60s and the subsequent movies. TNG is the acronym for the The Next Generation which did end in 1994.
Little Red said this on March 24, 2013 at 8:31 pm | Reply
Yeah, I know — I will fix it one of these days.
oh, and you’re not *old*.
I agree it’s different if the actor himself is taking the profit as opposed to an autograph collector. I guess everyone has to make their money somehow, though.
Yikes! That’s one expensive scribble!
morrighansmuse said this on March 24, 2013 at 4:11 am | Reply
I wonder if the value will appreciate and Lisa and Chad will be able to sell their additional poster at some point at a profit?
Thinking more … maybe part of what’s being paid for is indeed that two minutes of getting to say, “I really love your work and admire your talent,” not in a crowd, not in a crush, and getting to see the actor’s face reacting to your praise. (This must be excruciating to the average actor — it’s definitely something I could ever do, not that I’m in danger of that.)
I’m not sure that’s worth $70. OTOH, it might be worth $35.
I am going to write more about this, but that is one of the things that was the biggest turn-off to me about Hugh Jackman since he became a BIG STAR. It was for charity (Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids) but he was charging thousands of dollars for an opportunity to get a picture and autograph with him, and wouldn’t take pictures with fans outside the theater. When he was in the play A Steady Rain with Daniel Craig they sold their undershirts to audience members for $10,000! Seriously. Even for charity I think it’s creepy.
Had we been after autographs, I would’ve been really peeved as it was tough for “real” fans to get one! I was curious about the whole red carpet thing more than anything…and of course, seeing RA was the cherry on top.
Too sad about the Jackman attitude. I guess I had him pegged as a regular guy.
Also, the fact that each of the 6 guys had armloads of pics to throw on top of me and others…an AT the actors, was a huge clue. Ya think? Plus, we helped them with the actors’ names..they had NO idea who was who. Give me a break!
I have purchased autographed items on ebay before….a couple of Catherine Marshall’s books that she signed. I treasure them as I admire her greatly. As much as I admire RA, it’s not quite the same. For me. For others, it’s a big deal.
Well for Pete’s Sake…I just had an idea. I could raffle off my busted up Gumpaste Thorin!! Now…if I could get RA to sign it, just think… 😀
Well you may not be judging Servetus, but I am! I think selling autographs at a convention is appalling and my respect for someone like PS goes down when I hear he has done it. It it weren’t for the fans, actors wouldn’t be able to command obscene amount of money for what they do – and if signing autographs becomes a way of paying the rent its time to get a day job, in my opinion. And whilst I see no harm in a charity using an autograph as a way of raising funds, I think it is fairer to set up a raffle or competition so it doesn’t simply go to the fan who can afford the most.
The Queen wasn’t the only one put off going to a red carpet by the behaviour of the ‘professional’ autograph hunters. I saw the video and was really glad I wasn’t there. I was pleased RA seemed to be differentiating between genuine fans and scalpers by only signing RA for the latter. It’s just a shame the genuine fans got roughed up in the process. But once actors start charging for autographs, it becomes a slippery slope, in my view.
Bollyknickers said this on March 24, 2013 at 5:50 am | Reply
My issue with judging it partout, bollyknickers, is that I just don’t know enough about why anyone does what they do. PS had a terrible childhood by all accounts, and even when he had “made it” on British stages, not a very comfortable life. Maybe he has debt; maybe he wants to help out his kids; maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe he has a cocaine habit. Or is in debt to loan sharks … I just don’t know. In a capitalist world we are all selling something in one way or another. I’d rather he sell his autograph than a few other things I can think of that he might have available. And the thing is, in this particular case, Lisa and Chad were happy to pay.
I don’t really want an autograph of anyone’s, even of people who are significantly more important to me than Richard Armitage. But I could imagine paying $80 to be able to talk to Richard Armitage face to face for three minutes, without being tackled by other fans or autograph hunters, to tell him what his work had meant to me. (Not that I’m going to, I have no plans to attend any Hobbit or CA-related convention, just that I could see doing that.)
As mutch as I love Richard I could never buy his autograph, thats the most stupid thing I have heard, lol. I don’t think I would care mutch for a free autograph either, what would I do with it. I feel sorry for the actors who are writing autograps for these autograpshunters/ fake fans.
I don’t really care if actors sell their autograps, it’s up to them what to do but it actually feels a little like the same as begging for money. Myself I would have too mutch pride to do anything like that, I hope RA feels the same. It’s just a name after al.
Thora said this on March 24, 2013 at 10:46 am | Reply
I’m sure if he did it, he’d have a specific reason 🙂
OMG, I had no idea this type of activity goes on. Personally I would not pay a single red cent for anyone’s autograph and that includes Richard Armitage. To be honest I would not even want it free because what the heck am I going to do with it afterwards?
I can’t imagine Richard’s autograph ever being worth anything with the thousands already circling the globe and that number is growing.
I had heard years ago about Hugh Jackman’s huge ego so I am not surprised.
collarcitybrownstone said this on March 24, 2013 at 12:14 pm | Reply
Well, in defense of Hugh Jackman, he was doing it for charity. Don’t know about his big ego – everyone who works with him seems to think he is very nice and a lovely person. Still, the selling of autographs and picture opportunities is creepy, and not letting people take pictures with him at the stage door was wrong.
marieastra8 said this on March 24, 2013 at 5:51 pm | Reply
Not the actors sell their autographs on conventions. The responsible persons who organize the convention do to make profit with the event
Herba said this on March 24, 2013 at 1:03 pm | Reply
But surely event organizers could not do it without the OK from the actor, so it’s six of one, half dozen of the other.
obscura said this on March 24, 2013 at 1:46 pm | Reply
Sure. the actors get paid for their attendance and the organizers make moeny with that.
It sounds a little awkward but for a lot of people conventions are the only chance to see some of the actors in the flesh and if you pay for a autograph or a picture it’s your own decision…
I visited my first convention last year and had a lot of doubts about it but in the end it was a great experience (I haven’t bought a autograph but paid for a pic with one of the guests)
I get the attraction of the conventions…the chance to meet and greet, etc., and I certainly don’t begrudge anyone who attends… it’s the process itself that bugs me I guess. I mean, the fact that we live in a society that puts a price tag on virtually everything as long as someone, somewhere is willing to pay. The horse is out of the barn on that one I guess 🙂
I think one could only turn th wheel around if all fans would decide to boycott for example the third version of a dvd but like you said: someone is always willing to pay…
Looking at it from the standpoint of the economist — price is also a way to regulate access. I don’t think an actor in that setting can really say, I won’t do anything with fans. On the other hand if contact were free, he might be totally overwhelmed. Setting a price is a way to make the numbers of fans fall in terms of people self-selecting who are willing or able to pay.
I hate to think that actors can actually “make a living” from selling their signature and deigning to grace the fans with their presence. For me that really throws the whole relationship between star and fans out of kilter. I acknowledge that the balance is already tipped towards the star, anyway, but I think that the actors need to be reminded that they are nothing without the public, and that autographs and/or presence at fan events is *their* payback. – I completely understand the common practice of paying for p&p for an autograph when you send in for one, but charging on top of that just seems like a rip-off. Buying an autograph on eBay would hold no meaning for me because I would always remember that that autograph was written for someone else.
guylty said this on March 24, 2013 at 1:25 pm | Reply
Don’t you think they already know that they are nothing without the public? Armitage has more or less said this (“it’s the fans who buy all those tickets”).
I think those autographs on ebay might have their purpose. Let’s imagine a bedridden fan of Armitage who is never going to get to go to a red carpet or meet him — and a situation where a friend wants to give a wonderful present but it’s too late to be able to count on the “free” autograph getting to him. Purchasing something the fan will love in a convenient, reliable way? Seems like win/win to me.
I have to concede that in your scenarios it makes sense to have autographs for sale. What I object to is the whole money-making side of it. It just seems ludricous to me, to be paying hundreds for a signature on a photo.
I think we could differentiate between something having a price and something having value (let’s say). Here’s something that has value to some people, that probably most of us belief should (however) not have a price. But in capitalism the second something has value, a price gets assigned to it.
Servetus said this on March 30, 2013 at 9:44 pm | Reply
Yup – it’s a capitalist world that we live in… And even as a leftie I will admit that having prices can be alright – as long as they are realistic.
guylty said this on March 31, 2013 at 1:50 am | Reply
I know that some fans are disappointed that RA apparently doesn’t intend to attend any cons (except Comic Con, and I wonder if this year they won’t focus on new actors?), for example Hobbit Con in Germany, but this put it into perspective.
Jane said this on March 24, 2013 at 4:42 pm | Reply
He doesn’t seem to have the requisite personality. I mean, who knows what he’s really like, but he doesn’t really seem to have that outgoing bonhomie as an easy or natural response.
I am not sure how I feel about this. I don’t think it is right for someone to get an autograph only to sell to the highest bidder. I would need the memory attached to it to make it mean something. I just don’t know if I would even want an autograph or not, I have not really though about it. That not to say that we don’t have autographs, a friend of our family wrote a book (hopefully he will get the rest wrote soon) and we have his autograph in the book. We also had him sign the copy I sent to my friend.
katie70 said this on March 24, 2013 at 7:05 pm | Reply
I think what your comment correctly points out, katie70, is that the experience of obtaining an autograph can be a very personal one. For some of us it would be meaningful, for others not, for some of us only if we had personally met the person, for others, one requested through the mail is sufficient.
I agree with many of you about paying for autographs and have always followed this policy at the conventions I’ve attended over the years since the scribble has no intrinsic value. But there’s a new wrinkle this year since Shatner will be appearing at a fan-run convention that I attend every year. I don’t know what he charges for an autograph but I’m certain it’s going to be huge. I’d love to get my TOS dvds with Captain Kirk’s image autographed by him just like I got the Sulu and Uhura ones signed by Takei and Nichols. None of them is getting any younger after all.
I’d be interested to know what you decide, Little Red.
Conventions and autographs are weird things. I rarely attend cons as an actual attendee, since most of the time I’m working as a vendor, which has given me a somewhat different perspective. At the last big convention I worked, there was a rather wide range of big-name and lesser-known actors; Patrick Stewart was there (his autograph went for $80 that day!), along with many TOS and TNG guest stars. Many of the actors were paid directly for autographs by the fans, rather than the con runners selling autograph tickets and collecting the money. (Oh, con runners. Such an appropriate term, really.)
Of the actors that I talked to, nearly all of them were using the autograph sales as supplemental income. For them, working the convention doesn’t pay enough to really make it worthwhile, which is kind of sad considering ticket prices to the convention. (I had one actress who was interested in buying something from me, but said she needed to sell some photos and autographs first!)
On the other hand, I also worked a different convention with a slightly different set-up (same con runners, though), where the actors have no say in setting prices of autographs/photo ops, etc., and in fact have no idea how much the tickets sell for unless they do their own research. They’re just paid by the con runners and go about their business. (Some of the actors have been horrified when told how much the tickets are.)
Personally, I don’t tend to collect autographs since a scribble on a piece of paper doesn’t mean much to me; if it’s the only way to talk to an actor whose work I love, fine, but it’s not really my thing. Although I do enjoy giving them blank pieces of paper and saying “Have at it,” then watching the looks of terror or glee that cross their faces when they realise they can do more than just scribble their names…
yaaurens said this on March 26, 2013 at 11:31 pm | Reply
I can imagine that would be kind of stressful — write whatever you want? In that kind of setting I’d be grateful if people would just tell me what to write.
It’s unfortunate that the con organizers can’t get enough money together to make it worthwhile for the actors. I’ve organized many conferences myself and I know how hard it is to come up with money for honoraria, but you’d think with the entry prices being so high … then again, they could probably be higher. Look at how quickly ComicCon in San Diego sells out.
Yeah, I’m a little bit evil with the blank piece of paper thing. At least some people enjoy having a blank canvas to play with, though!
The sad thing is that the conventions (at least the ones I’ve worked) seem to be rolling in money and the entry fees just keep climbing higher and higher. Yet somehow it doesn’t quite trickle down to all of their guests…
Happy Passover, btw!
yaaurens said this on March 30, 2013 at 4:56 am | Reply
Didn’t Ringo Starr stop signing autographs for that reason? He didn’t like how he’d sign something for free to be kind to an admirer, but the “admirer” was actually just someone who wanted his autograph so they could sell it on to ACTUAL fans for lots of profit. He didn’t want to see his fans screwed out of their hard-earned cash for the benefit autograph touts.
Also, giving cats prescription meds to help them get along?! That’s wrong on so many levels and, frankly, horrifies me. There are a number of natural things you can do to help them get along – including things that are 100% free, such as a proper introduction. Sure, it takes time, but medicating perfectly healthy animals is insane. 😦
Traxy said this on March 28, 2013 at 11:43 am | Reply
Although it’s not against the comment policy on the blog, Traxy, I would be grateful if you didn’t call friends of mine “insane.” They’re doing something their vet suggested to them, and I’m sure they have reasons. It’s also something a lot of people with pets do in the U.S., whether you like it or not.
We had to start giving one of our cats anti-anxiety meds when we traveled any distance because otherwise she’d become extremely ill–vomiting and extreme diarrhea, which stressed us ALL out, including our other pets. I hated having to do it, but it kept her from being horribly sick, and it was only used short-term. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
I think it’s really hard to judge animals and people you don’t know and their decisions based on three sentences a third party writes about them over the Internet in a post that’s actually about something else. JMO.
I agree. I once was called a b*tch on my own blog for having outside animals as pets, the poster referencing something I wrote in the blurb about me at the bottom of each post. I think they were pissed off because I didn’t have nice things to say about 50 SoG but that reaction seemed a bit extreme and. in this case, had nothing to do with the post they were commenting upon, either.
I was talking about the practice of using drugs when it’s not needed being insane, not your friends, but fair enough.
Traxy said this on March 28, 2013 at 6:02 pm | Reply
the implied subject of your sentencing “giving … is wrong” was quite obviously “people,” which includes my friends.
Replied through email to not clog up comment section further.
Traxy said this on April 1, 2013 at 2:57 pm | Reply
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Richard Armitage Legenda 91: Stuff worth reading | Me + Richard Armitage said this on August 10, 2013 at 5:48 pm | Reply
[…] multiplied even the number of less predictable events where he could be viewed going and coming. We were even able to speculate about whether Armitage would participate in the common practice at fa…, again with opinions […]
me + Richard Armitage fan selfies: musings on self, presence, and the proximity quest, a beginningion | Me + Richard Armitage said this on January 21, 2014 at 6:49 am | Reply
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“we will burn, we will burn together” or: Re-reading The Crucible now — John Proctor, cruelty and betrayals
Continued from here, a series of reflections on re-reading The Crucible in the wake of Richard Armitage’s casting as John Proctor at the Old Vic. This is going to be my last post on this particular topic, as we’ll have reactions to previous available in only a few days! The time has passed really quickly. A blog has been announced to collate the experiences of Armitage fans who see the play — follow it here.
Tonight I want to write about my perception of the personal level of the play and the role cruelty plays between John Proctor, Abigail, and Elizabeth Proctor. I’ve illustrated it with a few period musical selections.
Richard Armitage and Samantha Colley in rehearsal for The Crucible, Summer 2014. Source: Old Vic Theatre on FB.
There are so many ways to be cruel, and I wonder which of them Richard Armitage will use John Proctor to plumb.
I don’t know if the notes that Miller interpolated in the script are shared with the audience in performance, but Miller introduces Proctor early on in Act I with the note that Proctor’s low tolerance for hypocrisy and foolishness made him a target of “calumny.” The key statement, however, is Miller’s notation that Proctor is a sinner against his own notion of morality. “Proctor,” he writes, “respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud.” I can only imagine the sort of ferment that that might have provoked in the mind of Richard Armitage the reader.
The lengths to which one will go to protect one’s own self-concept even against one’s awareness of how flawed it is. How cruel we can be to others in order to keep ourselves whole. I don’t know what Miller means when he says Puritan society lacked a mechanism for expiating sin; sin is not the problem here so much as Proctor’s inability to see himself as sinner in the way that counts most — from the inside.
In Act One, however, this contradiction is not yet visible, and Proctor is strong, powerful, and frightening, scaring his own hired woman when he enters the scene and flirting a little with Abigail, although, as it turns out, he has no intention of coming through despite the memories that animate the impulse to joke with her and his admiration for her “wickedness.” Here we see the basic cruelty of gender relations in the society of the play, and the way they affect the end of any intimate relationship — with the separating lover denying the telling of the common story that united lovers share. As Proctor says, Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby.
It makes me wonder what Richard Armitage dreams as John Proctor — wild nights, brief encounters, violent joinings, curt brushoffs, with Abigail Williams? And his own inability to control Abigail, his threat to resort to violence to keep these women, disobedient servant, spurned lover, under control?
And what about Proctor’s relationship to his wife? What does Armitage dream about that?
The psalter used by Parris’ congregation would have been a later edition of the Bay Psalm Book of 1640, the first book printed in North America. (You may remember that it is exceedingly rare, now, with only eleven known copies surviving, of which five are complete, and that a copy was sold last fall for $14.1 million.) Early editions of this work indicated only the melodies to which the psalms were to be sung; musical notation was not included until the 1698 edition. Below, a choir sings a setting of Psalm 23 (“The Lord to Mee a Shepherd Is”) harmonizing to the notation of the melody in the 1698 edition.
The beginning of Act Two sharpens this conflict Proctor feels between rectitude and desire, and the line he’s willing to walk to keep his notion of himself clean, with the stage direction that when Proctor walks into the house, he puts down his gun, then tastes the food cooking on the fire and seasons it. I find this a fascinating moment — it could, indeed, be comic. But then it’s clear, once Elizabeth puts the stew on the table, that it was an artifice — for as she watches him eat it, he praises it as “well seasoned” and she blushes with the compliment. Think a moment about what might be happening there. John is not willing to eat a badly seasoned stew; neither is he willing to salt it in the presence of his wife; neither is he willing to lie about it. So he salts the stew himself so he can have it as he pleases without forcing himself to suffer nor lying to his wife. (Incidentally, salt was an expensive commodity in the early modern world, so parsimony with salt signaled either a thrifty wife or a stingy one, though I don’t know whether Miller knew this.)
John has, in the end, told the truth. He has avoided something that’s apparently a bone of contention between them, but only by adjusting the circumstances to fit his later words about them. Things about the scene suggest that he feels manipulated to this end by Elizabeth — he tells he wants to please her, but she is not willing to accept his affections — and then he has to ask her for a drink, so that he appears to be criticizing her anyhow. He says he wants to please her, but he himself manipulates the situation so that he may do so without wounding his own rather casuist sense of truth-telling. His desire not to be cruel is thus a superficial move on his part, for in the end, if we take the seasoning as a synecdoche, he changes nothing about himself in his attempt to please Elizabeth. And this, one suspects, is what he most needs.
Indeed, the script suggests John thinks he’s already conceded enough, that he has no more obligation to suffer for his dalliance with Abigail, and that his wife’s suspicion of even a brief encounter with her is unfounded. As he says to Elizabeth, You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity, woman. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is gone. I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart. I cannot speak but I am doubted, every moment I am judged for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house! And yet: it’s clear, he has lied.
And still lies. Elizabeth points out that she is not the judge, but his own heart — which points to guilt he still feels for things he still does. As he has no cause to whip his wife, he then turns to Mary Wolcott, whom he threatens to whip for her absence, in her place. When Elizabeth points out something they both know, tentatively albeit it reasonably — that Abigail wants to take her place — and urges him to disabuse the girl of any fantasy she might have of becoming Goody Proctor, John puts off the indictment of his own feelings by reading Elizabeth’s insistence as further cruelty to him. Agreeing to do as his wife acts, he nonetheless replies, I see now your spirits twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free!
Elizabeth’s insistence that she will win, the curiously foreboding forecast that John will come to know that [she] will be [his] only wife, is then interrupted by the entrance of Mr. Hale. When John attempts to list the commandments, her attempt to save him by pointing out the one he’s forgotten is the prohibition on adultery thus strikes the reader as both a lifesaver and a condemnation.
At the very latest, the photos released earlier this week should have suggested the possibility that the scene that Arthur Miller omitted from the first performance of the play because it slowed down the tempo of the production, Act II, scene one, John Proctor’s encounter with Abigail Williams in the forest, will play a role in this production. (That placement doesn’t make narrative sense to me — it would work better narratively as Act III, scene one, which is why I am discussing it here.) That scene makes clear that Abigail is motivated by desire; jealousy / greed; and the desire for revenge. Miller’s script clearly adds madness to this list — or at least some kind of dissociation from the reality that Proctor is unlikely to marry the woman whose testimony hangs his wife — but this seems like overkill to me. Can a madwoman truly be cruel?
In this scene, it’s clear, Proctor’s decided — he’s going to ruin Abigail and defend Elizabeth (or try). One wonders why — out of loyalty to Elizabeth? But certainly out of a desire to preserve his own position and more importantly, his self-image. This move is, in part, a cruelty toward which his society forces him, a cruelty that Elizabeth has demanded as payment for his transgressions, but also, let us admit, a cruelty that he commits willingly or necessarily, particularly once he sees how far from reality Abigail is. To me, the more interesting thing about this scene than Abigail’s apparent madness or John’s apparent decisiveness — in essence, I think, he still gets what he wants here, if his plan works — is the bandying about of hypocrisy. Abigail’s real knowledge — the thing she knows that she can truly torture him with as no other person in the play can — is her awareness of his hypocrisy. Telling the truth about their relationship and confessing his fornication to the court, she points out quite astutely, makes him the hypocrite.
One of the tunes recommended for use in the original Bay Psalm Book (the metrical index with of tunes can be found here) is Old Hundredth — the original melody for Psalm 100 as derived from the 1551 Geneva psalter and thus one of the oldest tunes of Protestant Christianity. Here’s a performance of that psalm following the melodic and rhythmic style of the seventeenth century (without harmony), beginning at 2:30. Note that the Puritans would not have used musical instruments in worship and that pianos of the style they are using were not current until the 1720s.
Act Three of the play takes us to the courtroom, where John brings Mary Warren to the court in order to have her testify that the poppet used as evidence against his wife was given to her. The officials suspect this testimony, knowing as they do that Proctor is no friend of Parris and that his cultivation of a Christian life has suffered under this enmity. When they ask him whether his only impulse is to free his wife, and not to upset the court, he falters in his answer — on the one hand, as if he hadn’t thought they could think something of him; but on the other, I find myself asking, given the character’s history of showing that his only recourse when he loses an argument is to (threats of) violence, if there isn’t something to this charge.
I think most viewers will be inclined to sympathize with the Proctors in Act Three; Elizabeth is the target of a false accusation from Abby because Abby wants Elizabeth’s place, a false accusation that could bring Elizabeth to her death; John goes to court to prove his wife innocent and he’s fully willing to blacken his own reputation to do but even that will be insufficient. This reading, with the failure of the Proctors’ private lives made manifest as an ideological or political failure brought home at the hands of the crazed Abby, is fully in line with the Arendtian reading of the play I proposed last time and is close to Miller’s original thinking about the play. My understanding is that this is how the play is usually played, with the Proctors’ contradiction of each other seen as a sort of O. Henry paradox in which each sacrifices himself in order to save the other.
At the same time, however, the problems set up by the triangle are potentially more complex than this. Leaving aside the problem of Abby’s madness, we still have the question of she can best get payback for Elizabeth’s decision to put her out and John’s turning away; it does not matter, in the end, if John is unwilling to marry Abby, for Elizabeth’s destruction is sufficient to remedy both her social disgrace and her having been discarded as lover. All Abby can do to get what she wants is to behave cruelly — the society gives her no other choice — but the act is nonetheless malevolent. John’s willingness to proclaim in open court of Abby, repeatedly and forcefully, that she is a whore, a harlot, is a lie — everything the play tells us suggests that he was as willing as she — and cruel to her. He blackens his honor temporarily but only strengthens the picture he wishes us to see of him, as the man who clings to the truth. He admits to fornication in order to prove that he has told the truth, just like he salted the soup in order not to lie to Elizabeth — again doing exactly as he pleases to support his view of himself but not telling us the whole story.
Finally — we have to ask ourselves, based on Act Two, about the extent to which we believe John’s charge that Elizabeth will never let him free of awareness of his sin. Is this John’s defensive posture or is it an accurate description of his betrayed wife? It’s John who tells us that Elizabeth lies to save his honor. But whether she does it to save her honor or to gain her own revenge, she ends up the victor on that score (especially since we know by this point that as a pregnant woman, she will not be executed immediately), even if not on the charge of witchcraft. And when John’s attempts to insist Mary tell his version of things fails and sets loose a wave of behavior that indicates demonic possession and ends in accusations against him, John realizes the mistake of this — that it is the man who “quails,” the man who cannot tell the truth, the man he has been all this time, arranging the circumstances, telling half truths, in search of maintaining his own notion of his rectitude — only when he sees that the possessed girls’ accusation against him is now inevitable and irrevocable. He may not have possessed Mary Warren, but it’s thoroughly clear that he must have threatened her.
John may not have come in order to upset the court, but in fact he does exactly that.
Richard Armitage in rehearsal for The Crucible, Summer 2014. Source: Old Vic Theatre on FB.
And Elizabeth?
Miller disappears Abby in Act Four, conveniently, and the audience is left with the problem of how the Proctors will resolve their relationship. Hale no longer believes in what he is doing, but the maw of the machine must still be filled, and so if John is to come free, he must do so in a procedurally correct way, by confessing. Hale tries to get Elizabeth to push him to do so — and it is at this point that one wonders most, independently of John’s charges that she lacks charity (the seventeenth century idiom for the term ἀγάπη, the love referred to in 1 Corinthians 13), exactly what Elizabeth’s feelings are. John enters the scene, clear that he is no saint — as if, perhaps, he’s realized exactly what his self-image has done to himself and his family. Elizabeth, while reminding him that part of his problem has always lain in his own stubborn insistence on clinging to his image of his responsibilities — for who can forgive someone who refuses forgiveness? and is not the refusal to accept forgiveness, the refusal to forgive oneself, the height of arrogance? — now concedes her own role, that part of what he has said about her coldness is true. And while she bends in this scene on some level, still the cold quality of her principle is clear — she will not beg John to abandon the self-conception that has brought himself to this point in the first place. She will not.
The end of the play is usually read as heroic, with Porter Proctor going almost eagerly, indeed heroically, to his death. Since high school, I’ve not cared for that reading; I see the end of the play as heavily ambivalent, for it is entirely irrelevant to a society that believes in witches on the level that Miller depicts this one as doing whether the victims are innocent or guilty — they serve as examples either way. If we prefer the roman à clef reading (sustained by an excerpt in the Old Vic’s teaching guide to the play, although it’s frustrating that they reproduce only Miller’s memories of this incident and not Kazan’s, because they are strikingly different) that Proctor’s death is some kind of reproach from Miller to Elia Kazan, it’s still not entirely clear that making the arrogant hero die pointlessly is really a statement in praise of naming no names. Proctor does die.
In the end, despite his disclaimer that he is no saint, Proctor goes to his death as proudly as he scoffed at the existence of witches in Act One; in the end, as Elizabeth points out when she refuses to plead with him to change his mind about the confession and says to Hale, He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!, his picture of himself has been sustained throughout. We can read this as heroic if we want to see this play as the fate of the martyr before the totalitarian authority, I suppose. But in the end, John Proctor ends the play where he started it — a stubborn man who has maintained his notion of himself and is willing that others should suffer the consequences for him. He cannot remake his world in the way he salted the soup, but neither can he let go of the incredibly hubris of believing that he can somehow do so by dying. And Elizabeth? She supports this notion — he has his goodness now — but if she is as cold as she admits, this statement is can also be read as bitter rejoicing. She will not betray him. If this is a decision to be cruel, or to be kind — given the fact that he’s about to die — we can only leave to the actors and to the audience watching them.
And again, I wonder — I wonder so hard — how Richard Armitage dreams John Proctor’s death.
~ by Servetus on June 20, 2014.
Posted in Armitage as mirror, attempts at bravery, evil, fear, forgiveness, heterosexual dystopias, humiliation, if I could interview Mr. Armitage, John Proctor, me, morality / ethics / norms, redemption, resentment, Richard Armitage, status transactions, The Crucible, the hype, theatre theatre, thinking / feeling, Why me?
Tags: Bay Psalm Book, cruelty, John Proctor, Richard Armitage, The Crucible
32 Responses to ““we will burn, we will burn together” or: Re-reading The Crucible now — John Proctor, cruelty and betrayals”
Well said! Thanks for the primer!
Gratiana Lovelace said this on June 20, 2014 at 4:43 am | Reply
You’re welcome, but this isn’t really a primer. I’m reading against the conventional position on this play (and have been throughout the series). But I’m glad if it is useful to you!
Servetus said this on June 20, 2014 at 5:14 am | Reply
I’ve just finished leading Act II, and I believe it’s Act II, Scene 2 that is the dropped scene in the forest, right?
I don’t know what combination of reasons Proctor has for choosing to save his wife, but he did say of Elizabeth that “that goodness will not die for me!” Maybe his conscious cannot let Elizabeth be torn down as he remains safe.
I loved the line at the end of scene 1! “It is a Providence, and no great change; we are only what we always were, but naked now.”
I can’t read the rest of your comments until I read for myself how events unfold!
Thanks for this, though. Certainly a self-examining play.
trudystattle said this on June 20, 2014 at 5:15 am | Reply
the edition I have gives it as Act Two, scene one, but that can certainly be a mistake (as it doesn’t make sense there).
I wish you a lot of enjoyment with the remainder of your reading!
I’m reading this from the repeated perspective that the actors articulated regarding “cruelty”. Also, I find both John and Elizabeth seriously unsympathetic characters. I think if one had a more sympathetic view of these characters one would certainly read the play differently.
I looked it up and my (public library) Penguin edition says the missing scene is Scene 2.
Ok, you’re analyzing for cruelty.
‘Unsympathetic’ meaning these two characters express little sympathy for others or that you as a reader find little sympathy for the characters?
I don’t doubt it (I have the Bantam 1975).
Both, I suppose. I really develop very little sympathy for John. Elizabeth is harder for me to read, insofar as she starts off as the wronged party. I really don’t know how to read her in Act Four.
What you’ve written in this series is truly fascinating. There is, however, a general consensus on how this play and its characters are to be interpreted in a production. While I understand the method of your analyses and your position as a certain type of theorist, I doubt the director, or any member of the cast for that matter, will deviate much from that consensus. Your analyses, to theatre people, would inevitably lead to the conclusion that Miller’s creation of the Proctor characters is a failure; well, it isn’t normally seen that way. Characters that deserve more criticism are probably Hathorne and Danforth. They are described by some critics as puppets of evil because Miller didn’t seem to understand the nature of that particular brand of evil himself, leaving people knowing the language of theatre confused.
Harry Kennedy said this on June 20, 2014 at 6:58 am | Reply
This is not to diminish the value of your views. I’m not the most qualified to critique them. They are certainly unique, of a play quite thoroughly explored in the past. And it is very rare and refreshing to find a fan of Mr Armitage’s so well-learned and astonishingly eloquent.
Thanks for the comment and welcome. To clarify — I was hardly writing to try to influence the director, and neither she nor any member of the cast is reading this blog, so what I think is immaterial to their views.
Servetus said this on June 20, 2014 at 4:11 pm | Reply
I don’t think that I said anywhere that the Proctor character is failure — I would say, however, that it is at least arguable, if you want to look at this play from the standpoint of classic Greek tragedy, that he does not achieve the character arc of the classic Greek tragedic hero.
That I don’t like this play especially well has probably been obvious since the beginning of the series, though 🙂
to me, Danforth and Hathorne are throwaways from the standpoint of talking about cruelty — representatives of the state are encompassed by the Arendtian view (see previous post).
Du schriebst: I don’t know what Miller means when he says Puritan society lacked a mechanism for expiating sin; sin is not the problem here so much as Proctor’s inability to see himself as sinner in the way that counts most — from the inside.
Zuerst mal: Ich habe bisher keine Aufführung oder Verfilmung gesehen, auch das Stück nicht gelesen, geschweige denn Sekundärliteratur dazu – nicht mal deine Texte komplett, nur diesen hier -, und über Puritaner habe ich auch nur das (ähem) Fachwissen, das man mit einem kurzen Überfliegen des deutschen Wikipedia-Artikels erlangen kann.
Anders ausgedrückt: Ich sollte die Klappe halten.
Allerdings ging mir dein oben zitierter Satz nicht aus dem Kopf, während ich deine Gedanken über die Beziehungen der Charaktere gelesen habe, und deshalb sage ich doch was.
Sehr kurz zusammengefasst, scheint die puritanische Lehre vor allem auf der Annahme zu basieren, dass der Mensch an sich schlecht ist und nur das eiserne Festhalten am Leben nach dem Wortlaut der Bibel garantiert, dass die angeborene Verderbtheit des Menschen nicht in den Vordergrund tritt. 100%ige Einhaltung der biblischen Regeln, wenn jemand ein aufrechtes Mitglied der Gemeinde ist.
Für mich heißt das: Wer strauchelt (falsch handelt, sündigt), dem kann nicht vergeben werden. Rituelle Buße, zeremonielle Reinigung, wie es sie wohl – vermute ich – in den meisten Religionen in der einen oder anderen Form gibt, existiert bei den Puritanern nicht.
Wie kann dann ein angesehener Mann auch nur vor sich selbst eingestehen, dass er, der so stolz ist, ein vorbildliches Mitglied der Gemeinde zu sein, ein Sünder ist? Nicht nur die Sünde des Ehebruchs müsste er sich eingestehen, sondern auch noch (viel wichtiger!) die des Stolzes. Er müsste sich eingestehen, dass er ein Heuchler ist.
Ja, ich weiß: Genau das sagst du auch.
Und in einer Gesellschaft, die Buße – und die anschließende Vergebung – als normal ansieht, wäre es vielleicht möglich, dass er es sich eingesteht. Es wäre peinlich, es wäre demütigend, aber es wäre nicht der Verlust allen Ansehens. – Wäre es das bei den Puritanern?
Kurz: Ich sehe durchaus einen Zusammenhang zwischen der Nicht-Existenz von Buße-Ritualen und Proctors Unfähigkeit, sich selbst einzugestehen, ein Heuchler zu sein.
OT: Du hast einen schlechten Einfluss auf mich – dieser ganze Text nur wegen EINEM Satz von dir. gg
OT: Bin ich die einzige, deren Blick beim ersten Bild immer wieder magisch zu Richards Hand hingezogen wird?
Hedgehogess said this on June 20, 2014 at 4:54 pm | Reply
Hmmm. I hope it’s okay if I answer in English.
Part of the problem with this play from the perspective of a religious historian is that Miller makes repeated errors about religion. Most of them are not really serious, for instance, Miller refers to the Puritans singing a psalm that refers to Jesus (and the consequences for the possessed girls). Actually, the Puritans sang the psalms as religious texts, and none of them refer to Jesus, having been written centuries before. Or he has the court ask Proctor if he reads the Gospel, and when Proctor says he does, they refer to an incident that’s not in the Gospels (the story of Cain and Abel).
On this one, though, he’s just plain wrong. Puritans certainly had confession of sins — both a corporate confession of sins during worship, and the injunction to confess one’s sins privately to G-d and to the injured party, which shows up over and over again in the literature of their divines. Moreover, they had institutions of social discipline, consistories and consistory like institutions that called sinners before them in order to examine them, alter their behavior, and punish them for wrong-doing through various types of exclusion up to and including excommunication. The participation in these activities was certainly a public act. I’m not exactly sure why that fails to meet the criteria for expiation of sin.
If we want to speak theologically, Miller is in even worse shape. The Puritans did not believe in free will in the sense of capacity to affect one’s salvation by one’s actions. (They were what is sometimes sloppilly called “double predestinarians”). People could not be saved by being particularly holy. This did not mean, however, that they thought the sins of the reprobate (those who would not be saved) unimportant, nor that lacked a mechanism for people to confess them (see above). If one were a church member (see below, I’m not exactly sure what Miller understands that to be), there would be higher standards for behavior, certainly, as the Christian is supposed to gradually become sanctified in his outward actions. In essence, Calvinists of this stripe thought that (apart from the political use of the law, and the purpose of make humans aware of what awaited them) the law actually encouraged Christians in their path toward sanctification.
This failed reading on Miller’s part is why the body of historians who were expert on Puritanism in the 1950s and 60s panned this play so thoroughly — it operates on a modern understanding of “how I might feel if I lived in that society.” Miller seems to have accepted Max Weber’s reading of the meaning of predestination for Protestants generally wholesale, but a historian of that period would laugh himself silly. Protestants generally found predestination to be a comforting teaching; it was a reason to join the Reformed Church. Moreover, on this level, the question fails to meet the requirement of distinction, in that every Protestant Church was that way.
I’m not sure if Proctor was actually a church member in Miller’s eyes (or historically — I would have to look it up — but I think he was not a member of the Salem village church). Miller seems to think that all church members were created equal, so to speak. But there was a difference in Salem society between people who were professed members of the church (like Mary Sibley, whom Parris called out from the pulpit, or Rebecca Nurse — this is why her case was so particularly scandalous) and everyone else. Members of the church were subject to greater degrees of church discipline than those who were not.
Danke für die Erklärung.
Ich hab’s ja selbst gesagt: Ich sollte die Klappe halten, wenn ich keine Ahnung habe. 🙂
Da du Prädestination erwähnt hast: Ich habe nie verstanden, wie das ein ansprechender Gedanke sein konnte (kann?). Wenn du Zeit und Lust dazu hast, wäre es nett, wenn du mir (ganz grob) erklären könntest, was daran reizvoll war und welche geistige Grundeinstellung dahinter stand.
If you start from a free will supposition — G-d has enough merit available to save everyone and aspires to do so; humans have the capacity to act to save themselves, either by initiating the process (congruent merit) or cooperating in a process that G-d initiates (condign merit — both of these views were current in the medieval church and the latter becomes the official view of the Roman church after 1563); if they do not cooperate, they will not be saved — some theologians in the 1500s and 1600s argued that the struggle for salvation was unbearable because there were no guarantees that what one did was sufficient. On the one hand, you affect your own fate; on the other, you would never be certain that you were good enough to merit salvation because you cannot know the mind of G-d.
Predestination ends discussion about knowing the divine will, which is inscrutable, because G-d has already decided this (depending on your view, either before time began or shortly after the Fall into Sin.) If you start from a no free will position, then whatever you do is “good enough” because everything you do is irrelevant. G-d has already made this decision (and in the view point of an orthodox Calvinist, the saints are elected “unconditionally,” i.e., G-d elects not for merit or lack of same, but simply according to G-d’s will) and the decree is eternal and impossible to resist. Moreover, everyone is worthy of damnation, so that G-d chooses to save anyone at all is a huge gift for which humans should be grateful. As humans simply don’t know what will happen, they are free to live their lives in conformity to that divine will without anxiety.
Arguments about which of these views is philosophically more consoling have been going on for centuries; I think the answer to that depends on your own personality. But historically speaking, in multi-confessional areas in Europe where people could choose their own religious confession, we find literate people writing and preaching to each other that predestination is a consoling doctrine. Interestingly, and this is also controversial from our standpoint, we find in areas like East Frisia where Anabaptist options were available, that people left the Reformed Church because they did not think the discipline it practiced was severe enough. In our world, the Puritans stand for all that is harsh and severe in religion but in their own world that was not quite so clearly the case.
Danke. Ich glaube, ich kann jetzt nachvollziehen, wie der Gedankengang abläuft.
I grew up in a “no free will” setting and I tend to agree that it’s crushing — if I were picking a Christianity today I’d totally pick a free will Christianity — just that it’s hard to read that back onto the 17th c.
I think the point for understanding Proctor is not the spurious question of a public ritual — that could have been a throwaway for Miller — the play says clearly, or rather Elizabeth points out repeatedly, that Proctor’s problems are in his head. She says, he can’t forgive himself but my reading of it is more that he isn’t willing to change how he sees himself.
In anderen Worten: Ein verdammter sturer Esel.
Eben ein echter Mann …
Ich werde das Stück erst mal lesen, dann werde ich sehen, wie ich Proctor einstufe.
noting that what I write above is not the conventional view of the character, which sees him as a heroic man resisting the demands of his society although without any hope of success. It is, however, a possible one.
Ich halte selbst nicht viel davon, einen “conventional view” nachzuplappern, nur weil das die übliche Sicht ist.
Vielleicht werde ich Proctor als heroisch sehen, vielleicht so wie du, vielleicht habe ich eine dritte Ansicht – das wird sich zeigen.
Und jetzt verschwinde ich und lese noch was, aber ganz sicher nicht The Crucible. Schönen Abend/Tag noch. 😉
re: Richard’s hand — no I don’t think that’s strange at all!
Igelchen: Auch ich kann nicht an der Hand vorbeisehen…… YOU ARE NOT ALONE! 🙂
cRAmerry said this on June 20, 2014 at 5:43 pm | Reply
Noch eine, die mich hier “Igelchen” nennt?!
if the shoe fits …
Sorry, guylty hat’s angefangen 🙂
Besser nicht ?
Ja, Guylty war die erste. 😉
Naja, Euer königliche Hoheit Queen Hedgehogess wäre auf Dauer ja auch wirklich unpraktisch lang und umständlich, also akzeptiere ich huldvoll auch die Kurzform Igelchen.
Na dann Eure stachelige Highness (ESH)!
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[spoilers!] Richard Armitage working; John Proctor topless | Me + Richard Armitage said this on September 1, 2014 at 5:52 am | Reply
[…] After watching the play so many times, I grew to appreciate Farber’s emphasis on a sort of reflexive personal cruelty as a synecdoche for the political issues in the play even more than I had…, in part because it shows how unfair and personally motivated certain sorts of moralistic charges […]
Musings on Richard Armitage’s remarks on John Proctor: Digital Theatre interview | Me + Richard Armitage said this on December 7, 2014 at 5:55 am | Reply
[…] is that Hale is much more important for the audience as witness to the events of the play than Proctor, who changes very little from the beginning to the end of the play. Hale makes the journey that I believe the audience is supposed to trace itself, from a belief that […]
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Media Decoder | Hannity to Address Protest Video Questions
Hannity to Address Protest Video Questions
By Bill Carter
November 11, 2009 1:30 pm November 11, 2009 1:30 pm
“The Daily Show,” which has become one of the media’s prime monitors when it comes to calling out misuse or manipulation of video, caught the Fox News Channel and one of its hosts, Sean Hannity, Tuesday night, in what appeared to be a blatant example of doctoring a report with inappropriate video to enhance an argument.
Jon Stewart, the host of “The Daily Show,” presented excerpts from a segment of Mr. Hannity’s show in which he discussed the so-called tea party protests in Congress last Thursday with Representative Michele Bachmann, a Republican from Minnesota who had urged supporters to turn up at the Capitol to protest the health care bill.
Beyond questioning the crowd estimates cited by Mr. Hannity, Mr. Stewart demonstrated that the Fox News program had included several scenes of the crowd, one of which he conclusively proved had not been shot the day of the health care protest but at the much larger tea party protest in Washington last summer.
Fox News would not comment on the use of the video Wednesday beyond having a spokeswoman say: “Sean will address this on his show tonight.”
Among the ways Mr. Stewart was able to show the events were separate was shots of trees that were still green with leaves and the obvious difference in the color of the sky. He also matched the exact video Mr. Hannity had used to video from the summer event.
Mr. Stewart did not point out that Fox News had put a one-word label “earlier” on the screen when both the older and the newer footage was shown; but footage that is from an earlier date is usually described by news outlets with either the actual previous date inscribed on screen or some other description like “file footage.”
Mr. Stewart did include a comment from Mr. Hannity saying that the crowd depicted in the earlier scene was especially large “for a Thursday,” reinforcing the point that he was talking about the protest last week and not the earlier protest, which took place on a Saturday.
The segment is available below:
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Sean Hannity Uses Glenn Beck’s Protest Footage
www.thedailyshow.com
Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis
Comments are no longer being accepted.
Harry Shearer November 11, 2009 · 2:02 pm
“File footage”, date-stamping, and “earlier” have all disappeared from all three cable “news” networks as the practice of wallpapering has become commonplace–i.e., cutting away from, or split-screening, the talking heads with footage (from whenever) of what they’re talking about. That’s why outsiders still ask New Orleanians if the city is still under water….
Nancy November 11, 2009 · 2:28 pm
Hannity fakes a video? Who’d a thunk it?!?!
Abhas Gupta November 11, 2009 · 2:32 pm
Ziiiiiiiiiing! Take that Hannity.
Though nothing beats Jon Stewart’s impression of Glenn Beck from the day before!
Beth November 11, 2009 · 2:36 pm
Bwahahah.
Mike November 11, 2009 · 2:38 pm
Why does anyone care what these highly-paid actors say? They’re members of the entertainment industry and their posturing and pronouncements are shaped by viewer ratings. Their expressions of political philosophy are designed solely to secure and enhance their careers and income.
Greg, Metuchen November 11, 2009 · 2:39 pm
Will he be forced to “retire” the way Dan Rather was by CBS? Ha!
Sam November 11, 2009 · 2:39 pm
Good for John Stewart. Does anyone really think FAUX news has ANY credibility? FAUX makes the National Enquirer look like a reputable media outlet.
Matt November 11, 2009 · 2:40 pm
Who wants to bet that Hannity tries to blame Stewart and the “liberal media” for catching this. He’ll say Stewart is obsessed with him, call it “gotcha journalism” and wonder why The Daily Show doesn’t have anything better to do. If he’s feeling bold, he’ll say Stewart is disrespecting our troops by spending time on this and not on Veteran’s Day-related news.
Al Cyone November 11, 2009 · 2:41 pm
The downside is that this will probably result in more people watching Sean Hannity tonight; a fact he’ll no doubt brag about tomorrow.
Richgirl November 11, 2009 · 2:42 pm
Fox News is an embarrassment. How surprising that a show on Comedy Central catches this, while the other news outlets are falling all over themselves to attack the Obama Administration for being truthful of what Fox News is all about. Fox News is a right-wing propaganda outlet that promotes the teabaggers and their rallies on their “all-news” network.
To those who want to compare MSNBC to Fox News, I say watch MSNBC’s three hour morning show led by a conservative and a former Republican Congressman who still pushes his conservative views on his show on MSNBC.
Yeah, right November 11, 2009 · 2:43 pm
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert collectively deserve a Pulitzer Prize. No one else is doing a better job of keeping demogogic, infotainment newscasters like Hannity honest. It’s a tragic fact that Comedy Central is the only cutting edge, widely watch news station on television.
Conversely, if it weren’t for the egregious journalistic offenses of Fox News and their ilk, would there be any reason to watch Stewart and Colbert?
Andrew November 11, 2009 · 2:43 pm
Shocking!! Fox news distorting the truth, who could have thunk it.
dave m. November 11, 2009 · 2:44 pm
no surprise there. remember when faux news won a florida state court of appeals judgment that maintained their right to LIE in the news?
“During their appeal, FOX asserted that there are no written rules against distorting news in the media. They argued that, under the First Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on public airwaves. Fox attorneys did not dispute Akre’s claim that they pressured her to broadcast a false story, they simply maintained that it was their right to do so. After the appeal verdict WTVT general manager Bob Linger commented, “It’s vindication for WTVT, and we’re very pleased… It’s the case we’ve been making for two years. She never had a legal claim.”
//www.relfe.com/media_can_legally_lie.html
shalca November 11, 2009 · 2:44 pm
I’m surprised, usually Fox ignores criticisms of their “unbiased” coverage.
slakboy November 11, 2009 · 2:44 pm
“Earlier” was on all the footage (even the same day’s rally footage).
SD Erica November 11, 2009 · 2:45 pm
Jon Stewart is our hero!
Daniel November 11, 2009 · 2:47 pm
Congratulations to Stewart and the Daily Show for revealing once again how corrupt and dishonest Faux News is. I wonder what Hannity’s reply will be. I wonder also if the other networks, which rallied behind Fox when the White House criticized Fox’s tactics, will give this story the attention it deserves.
nyc_writer November 11, 2009 · 2:47 pm
Thank you to jon stewart for reaffirming the propaganda organization that goes by the name Fox News. If Stewart weren’t doing it, who would?
Terry Brennan November 11, 2009 · 2:47 pm
Rupert Murdoch is Australian, and of Scottish ancestry. He is very comfortable with tabloid journalism which is a Scottish export and indeed has not underestimated the U.S. apetite for such garbage. People who need some excitement jump at the sensationalism of FOX News just as they jump at a chance to buy the National Inquirer. Sean Hannity is no more a journalist than ..well,…John Stewart, but John doesn’t pretend to be one. Sean carries himself as if he were Edward R. Murrow when he is more like Bozo the Clown.
Merleb November 11, 2009 · 2:48 pm
Lying is what Fox does, so this is no surprise.
Arrowzone in Denver November 11, 2009 · 2:48 pm
Fox News is rigged? You’re kidding me!
Bill November 11, 2009 · 2:49 pm
As if this is the first time Faux has faked anything for propaganda purposes.
S. J. Silver November 11, 2009 · 2:50 pm
You believe Fox News? Those people wouldn’t know the truth if they tripped over it. All they do is vomit out the filth and lies of the RNC. Come on.
boomer49 November 11, 2009 · 2:51 pm
Oh this should be fun…watching Hannity try to stammer his way out of this.
liberty apples November 11, 2009 · 2:52 pm
There’s a lot of buzz surrounding Hannity’s show tonight. Everyone is interested in how he plans to account for the blatant use of doctored footage. There’s also a rumor that Hannity will be showing the Carrie Prejean “sex tape,” the tape the former beauty queen and Christian soldier described “as the worst mistake of my life.” The video is expected to show a fully-clothed Ms. Prejean, thus debunking claims that Ms. Prejean is somewhat of a hypocrite. The “worst mistake” Ms. Prejean is apparently referring to is the selection of clothes she’s wearing. They’re reportedly from Sarah Palin’s RNC Collection 2008. So Ms. Prejean is not apologizing for the “sex tape” but rather for wearing clothes that should have been returned. Hannity to the rescue.
Rupert Murdoch: Unalloyed, Unbound
Overhaul at Disney Studios Picks Up Speed
The race, ethnicity and culture reporting in NPR’s series “Changing Races” is part of the network’s strategy to “do better about mirroring America,” the chief executive says.Read more…
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General News Tue, 15 Nov 2016
NPP accuses Mark Woyongo of sharing cash
The Minister of State at the Presidency and Member of Parliament (MP) for Navrongo Central Mark Owen Woyongo has been accused by members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for alleged vote buying.
Supporters of the NPP claim the former Interior Minister as part of a scheme to buy his way to victory, has been spotted on several platforms allegedly distributing money amidst display of opulence.
A member of the party’s campaign Justin Abugah, disclosed that the minister is aware he can no longer win the seat the reason he has resorted to the latest tactic to win the support of voters; stating that it will fall flat on the face.
“You can share as much as 5 million per head…. We will spend it and will never vote corruption, ‘dumsor’ or what I call student slavery and exploitation, in all incompetence ever in the history of Ghana. Dead goats indeed….. Vote change vote NPP”, he stated.
The minister who launched his campaign last month, promised to convincingly beat his rival and former minister Joseph Kofi Adda who is standing on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the December 7 polls.
Mr Joseph Kofi Adda lost the Navrongo Central seat to the Mark Woyongo in 2008 and 2012 in what many pundits described as one of fiercest contests in the Upper East region.
Mr Wayongo who is also the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the area at his campaign launch, promised to stretch the vote margin between him and his arch rival by over 10,000 at the polls.
He believes developmental projects executed in the last four years under the John Dramani and himself for the benefit of people of the constituency is enough to earn him that number of votes to beat his closest contender.
Mark Woyongo goes to the polls with Kofi Adda of the New Patriotic Party, Susana Ayoriba Kubirizegah of the Progressive People’s Party, Pwawori Joseph Wegare of the People’s National Convention.
Source: ultimatefmonline.com
Mahama declares Akufo-Addo ministers useless
NDC begs for cash in bid to win 2020 election
Why Spio-Garbrah says NDC may have built over 1,000 factories
NPP in trouble as Q Base Koncepts pins them in NDC Campaign song Zuza 2020
Laws on political party funding too vague - Asiedu Nketia
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The natural gas takeover shakeout
By Shelley DuBois, reporterNovember 10, 2010: 2:01 PM ET
FORTUNE -- If you didn't think America's energy policy battles could get any more confusing, consider this: Some fossil fuel companies are pulling for a carbon tax. Specifically, companies that focus on cleaner-burning natural gas would benefit from subsidies for energy that generates less carbon dioxide.
But it will be almost impossible to squeeze a carbon tax through Congress in the aftermath of the midterm elections. The new Republican majority means that more politicians in power support both the coal industry and the concept of less government regulation of business.
That knocks out one strut that could have supported energy companies through a recent tough spate where they are locked into producing more gas than the market demands.
Overproduction has led to a natural gas surplus. In the United States, we produce about 24 trillion cubic feet of gas per year. In 2009, the country consumed under 23 trillion cubic feet of gas. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States had a record-setting amount of natural gas in storage this year, about 3.8 trillion cubic feet.
The makings of the surplus started in 2003 when Halliburton (HAL, Fortune 500) introduced a new well stimulation method called horizontal hydraulic fracturing to a shale play in Texas. The method enabled drillers to get much more gas out of wells, which ignited a gold rush on major gas plays in the United States. Companies scrambled to borrow money or go in on joint ventures to afford the drilling equipment and land leases. They started drilling, and producing, like crazy.
0:00 /2:33Natural gas lease wasn't worth it
Recently, natural gas prices have dropped to around $4 per Btu, making it economically competitive with coal as a power source. But natural gas needs more than a favorable cost comparison to compete with coal.
Coal's advantages
Coal was here first, after all, and the fuel has not only an infrastructure for transport and distribution, but also powerful lobbyists. "The natural gas lobby just hasn't gained enough momentum or traction to overcome the money and power that the coal industry has," says Joe Magner, an analyst with Macquarie Capital USA. They're developing it, slowly, he says, but it will be a long time until natural gas is woven into the fabric of American fuel.
We can't easily export natural gas either, says Magner. Natural gas producers would need to liquefy or compress natural gas to ship it to other countries, and there aren't enough facilities to do that yet on a massive scale.
The one market natural gas could target would be fleet vehicles, says John Segrich, analyst at financial services company and portfolio manager of a green investing fund called Gabelli SRI Green Fund Inc. Influential financier T. Boone Pickens has avidly supported an effort to replace diesel fuel for fleets of vehicles with liquefied natural gas as part of his long-term push to get Americans off of foreign oil.
But shifting fleets from diesel to natural gas won't help independent drillers in the short term. "In order to meet the current economic needs, there's still too much gas being produced," says Magner.
Production won't slow down any time soon, says Segrich. "In an efficient world, once the marginal cost of your production is equal to the price, you'd shut it down."
Many independent gas companies can't do that, he says, because they have borrowed money or gone in on joint ventures with other companies to pay for drilling equipment and land. "It's likely that they have to keep producing even if the price is below the marginal cost."
"They're locked in," says Magner. "It's defying current economic logic."
Magner thinks gas-geared companies can do a several things to survive. They're going to have to move back towards oil assets, which some are doing. More and more companies have been starting to claim that they're liquids rich in oil, Magner says. For example, Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) CEO Dan Dinges stated in the first section of the company's 2009 annual report that Cabot anticipated a diminished demand for natural gas, and prepared for that by concentrating efforts on oil plays.
Independent drillers can also prepare for a dip in gas prices by hedging, says Magner. They'll need to watch spending on new projects and have plenty of accessible cash. Or they'll need to sell to a bigger oil company.
Atlas Energy (ATLS) already did. Yesterday the company announced it was being acquired for $4.3 billion by oil giant Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500). And in December, Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) bought independent company XTO (XTO, Fortune 500) for $41 billion to boost its assets in unconventional natural gas.
Gas could actually be a valuable asset to companies Chevron's size, says Magner. They have big, diverse energy portfolios, which gives them time to buy gas plays now and wait for the fuel infrastructure to develop. A Chevron spoksperson said much the same thing, explaining the company is thinking on a 20-30 year timeframe and plans invstments over a very long horizon.
America will eventually need a non-oil fuel, says Segrich, but it's clear to see that shift will take time. The brief dip in natural gas prices made nearly the entire sector ripe for being scooped up and bought out, and mega energy companies were ready to pounce. Only the largest, most diversified energy players can afford to wait out or hedge the unpredictable policy shifts that can temporarily make one energy source more attractive than another.
"The difference between large integrated companies vs. domestic producers is that the latter are more reliant on shorter-term production targets than cash flow," Magner says. What he means is that small gas companies are contractually obligated to produce. That might be bad for natural gas companies, and bad for the immediate prospects for carbon reduction, but it's great for Big Oil.
Three reasons why energy M&A is surging
Uncertain of future regulation, businesses are paralyzed
How to play the takeover game
Subscribe to Fortune
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All You Have to Do Is Ask
How to Master the Most Important Skill for Success
Baker, Wayne E
"University of Michigan Professor and cofounder, with Adam Grant, of Give and Take Inc, shows us how to master one of life's most critical skills: the ability to ask for help. Often, there is a simple and seemingly obvious act standing between us and success: asking for the help and resources we need to succeed. Imagine you're on a deadline for a big project, and feeling overworked and overwhelmed. Or you're looking for a job, but can't seem to get your foot in the door. Or you're stuck on a challenge, and need a creative jolt. Or you're dying to score tickets to a sold out concert, a reservation at the hot new restaurant, or a referral to an expert -- and all your leads have gone cold. What do these seemingly random problems all have in common? They can all be solved simply by reaching out -- to a colleague, friend, or your wider network -- and making an ask. A bestselling book by Baker's business partner, Adam Grant explains why being a giver is the road to long-run success. But what about the benefits of making requestss? The reseach shows that asking for help makes us better and less frustrated at our jobs. It helps us find new job opportunities and new talent. It unlocks new ideas and solutions, and enhances team performance. And it helps us get the things we want outside the workplace as well. So why do we rarely give ourselves permission to ask? Sometimes we fear being turned down, or being viewed as selfish or incompetent. Other times, we just don't know who or how to ask. But the research shows that asking -- and getting -- what we need is much easier than people tend to think." -- Provided by publisher.
Publisher: New York : Currency, [2020]
Branch Call Number: 650.1 B178
Characteristics: 224 pages ; 21 cm
Read more reviews of All You Have to Do Is Ask at iDreamBooks.com
Communication in Organizations.
Interpersonal Relations.
Helping Behavior.
Teams in the Workplace.
New_600
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Once you have agreed on the details of your first lesson, your tutor will create a booking on the site. Payment can then be made via the platform. This is as simple as buying anything else online. You have the option of buying one lesson or buying a flexible block of lessons where you can receive up to 10% off.
Why Do Prices Vary?
At MusicTutors.co.uk we let our tutors set their prices depending on their own experience, demand and location. With our advice, tutors choose an appropriate price from 8 set prices. A lower price is not necessarily a sign of a lower quality teacher.
Lesson Types
Musictutors.co.uk only currently offers 1:1 lessons , but keep an eye on the website as we are planning to expand to group, and online lessons.
Can I Borrow an Instrument?
We do not offer an instrument rental service. However, our tutors can often advise you on this - so don’t hesitate to ask your tutor for help finding the right rental service.
Lessons for All Levels
Our tutors offer lessons at all levels - from beginners to advanced players. If you have specific requests such as GCSE/ A-Level tutoring, or preparation for a University audition, let us know and we can help you find the right tutor!
All of our tutors are high-quality professionals, holding either a music degree or years of relevant experience. In addition, we require that all of our tutors hold the Enhanced DBS certificate. So we can promise that your child’s lesson with one of our tutors will be high quality and safe.
If you have any questions about age and teaching approaches, you can contact the teacher directly or get in touch with our office team about finding the right tutor for your child.
Lessons for Mature Students
Are you looking to rekindle your old love of music after a long hiatus? Or looking to finally start something you’ve wanted to do your whole life? Our tutors are well equipped with stimulating lesson content for mature students as well as children, and will do all they can to make you feel comfortable and to personalise the experience for you!
Taking drum lessons in London is an awesome idea - drums are the backbone of the band. The unit that keeps everyone together, and the one that gives the groove and feel of the song. However, they have the reputation of being loud, brash and the instrument that parents fear the most! But don’t be alarmed, as well as giving monstrous rock tones, they can be played softly with brushes or mallets. Plus, you can invest in an electric kit, which gives you the option of a quiet house with the noise only coming through headphones! Drum lessons in London are a great way for your child to improve their learning in other areas, too!
Choosing the Right Kit
Choosing your first drum kit is a difficult task. It can help to understand the different parts of the drum, so you can make sure you're getting everything you need! You can talk to your drum tutor in drum lessons in London about buying the right kit!
The Bass Drum
The bass drum is the biggest drum in the kit and is played with a foot pedal. It sits at the centre of the setup. Some bass drums have a hole the size of a roll of duct tape in the front drum head. This allows the air inside the drum to escape and avoids putting too much pressure on the front drum head. This also allows for dampening the sound of the drum - try it out by folding a towel and lying it inside the bass drum, against the front or back drum head. You can change this up depending on what room you're playing in, and what best fits your sound. Your drum tutor can show you how in your drum lessons in London.
The Snare Drum
The highest pitched drum in the kit is called the snare drum. It has strands of metal called snares attached to its underside, which is what gives it its unique sound and makes it great for 'rolls'. The metal snares vibrate against the drum when struck, giving it a multidimensional sound. It's worth spending some time getting to know this drum and how it sounds when you hit it in different ways. The snare is often used as a fundamental part in a basic beat, and you'll be using this a lot in your first drum lessons in London.
The Toms
Usually, a drum kit has three toms - rack tom 1 and 2, and a floor tom. When you hear big dramatic fills in a rock song, this is usually what's used! They have a deeper, fuller sound than the snare and are usually used for fills rather than keeping a basic beat.
There are usually three types of cymbals in a standard drum kit:
The hi hat: consists of two cymbals on top of each other. The hi hat can be controlled with the foot pedal and can be struck with the drum sticks also. You can make a shorter, staccato sound by hitting a closed hi hat (with your foot all the way down on the pedal) and a stronger, fuller sound with the hi hat open (foot off the pedal). You can also play just with the pedal - try pressing your foot on the pedal and see what you can do with that sound. For beginners, the hi hat is usually left closed, as using the foot pedal can be difficult to do at the same time as playing. Once you've had a few more drum lessons in London and mastered some beats with the hi hat closed, you can start experimenting with different sounds!
Ride cymbal: the ride cymbal a single cymbal. It often plays a similar part to the hi hat but with a more open sound.
Crash cymbal: the crash cymbal is used for highlighting certain points in the music e.g. with a hard strike in the start of the chorus. It has the fullest, loudest sound of the three cymbals. It can also be used in a climactic section of music to replace the hi hat and play the same rhythm but with more sustained, full hits.
When finding the right drumsticks, it's best try out a few different styles and makes to see what's comfortable for you. Most drumsticks are made from hickory wood but they can also be made from maple, oak, aluminium, carbon fiber and plastic. It all depends on the sound you want but the most important things is making sure that they are comfortable to play with. You drum teacher can cover this with you in your drum lessons in London.
All manufacturers have a 7A model which is quite light, thin and short. These are great for children. Models 5A and 5B are quite an average size. Here you get more stick and more weight, so they're great for adults playing rock where you'll need to hit the drums harder. Ask your drum tutor about getting the right sticks for your drum lessons in London.
Drum Stands
Drums sound best if they are placed on stands so that both drum heads can resonate freely. Placing the stands properly ensures there are no other elements effecting the vibration of the drums - for example, if one was against a wall, it could dampen the sound. It's also important to make sure that the toms which sit on the bass drum are suspended without making contact with any other part of the kit. This will ensure a clean sound. The tops of cymbal stands are padded to ensure that there is no contact between the metal from the stand and the cymbal, which could damage the cymbal. There is a plastic or rubber collar on the thread and two pieces of felt which go under and over the cymbal. There is also a winged screw attached on the top so the cymbal does not fall off if gets hit hard. If you are planning to play styles of music which require more powerful playing, investing in durable stands is a good idea to protect your precious drums and cymbals! Your drum tutor can show you how to properly set up your kit in one of your first drum lessons in London.
The bass drum pedal or kick pedal is a very important part of the kit. Whilst they can be played without adjustment, it is possible to change the angle of the footplate, the speed of response via the spring and the length of the beater rod. The pedal should feel responsive, easy to play and the beater should strike on the centre line of the drum. To avoid damaging the wooden hoop of the bass drum, make sure a small piece of rubber is fitted where the pedal meets the drum. There are a few different techniques you can choose to play the bass drum - a great drum teacher will be able to talk you through these in your drum lessons. Heel up, heel down and foot and leg are just a few of the approaches you could implement to harness the full power of your leg muscles and make a deep, rich sound.
Making a Decision
Some stores will sell a beginner kit which includes the full kit (snare, toms, bass drum), hardware (all stands and pedals), as well as cymbals. Other stores will sell the kit and the cymbals separately. It’s worth going into different shops and seeing what they have available. A lot of drummers choose to buy kit separate to hardware so they can get exactly the sound they want from each part of the kit, especially with regards to cymbals. It's worth consulting your drum tutor in your drum lessons in London so you definitely make the right choice!
Learning Your First Rhythms
When first starting drum lessons in London, it's important to remember: it’s better to do a simple beat well than a complex one badly. There is a lot of coordination involved with playing the drums which is what makes the instrument so difficult. When you’re learning your first beats/grooves, try to really focus on hitting everything at the right time. Start slow and simple, then you can build up to more complex, faster beats.
Sitting at the Kit
Posture is important when playing any musical instrument, but particularly important when playing the drums as you are sitting down for long periods of time. Your drum tutor will cover this in your drum lessons, but here are a couple of tips to get you started:
The chair should be set so your thighs are completely horizontal.
The snare drum can be adjusted quite easily and should be around the same height as your belt.
The hi hat should be higher than the snare drum - so much so that you could play with crossed hands - right hand on the hi hat and left hand on the snare drum.
The toms should be adjusted so they stand at an angle where you are able to reach them without having to turn your arms.
The cymbals should be at a distance where you can reach them easily. Angling them is also important - they can be easily damaged by overloading them. They should not by horizontal but instead be at a slight angle pointing towards the drummer's belly button.
This is a great starting point to work from - learn more with some drum lessons in London.
Practise Tips
Practising between your drum lessons in London is vital - but daunting. Just think of practising a musical instrument a bit like starting to go to the gym: when you first go, you can’t lift the heaviest weight - you have to work your way up gradually! It's the same idea with music. For the first couple of months, try practising for 15-20 mins a day. After 6 months, try increasing to 30 mins a day. After a year of playing, maybe try an hour a day. It's better to practise regularly for shorter amounts of time than playing for hours on one day, then not being able to do play for the rest of the week. You don't want to injure yourself, or tire yourself out! Little and often develops your technique and helps you build movement memory.
London: A World-Renowned Music Hub
Taking drum lessons in London is a great idea - London has a world-class reputation for music. The city hosts some of the biggest venues, outstanding universities and conservatoires, and is home to hundreds of famous musicians! London has given us iconic artists such as David Bowie, The Clash, and The Rolling Stones.
London is home to countless music venues, including everything from arenas and stadiums to tiny trendy bars. Some of London's biggest venues include O2 Arena, Wembley Stadium, and Wembley Arena. These are great for watching big, well-known bands, but if you're looking for indpendant bands and upcoming talent, you can check out venues like The Old Blue Last, The Finsbury and The Lexington. For touring bands, there's also The Roundhouse, O2 Academy Brixton, and Kentish Town Forum.
But that's not all! For fans of classical and jazz, The Barbican hosts an eclectic range of concerts throughout the year. Also, The Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music regularly host evening and lunchtime concerts from students, as well as some of the most highly regarded musicians in the world.
Of course, it's almost impossible to cover everything musical that's happening in London right now - it's truly endless! Check out these guides for an in-depth look at what's on:
What's on - Music in London
TimeOut Guide to Music in London
When we start our musical journey, buying an instrument is the first hurdle to clear. There is almost a whole new language to learn and it's difficult to know where to start. However, if you go into a great music shop, there will be an expert on hand to get you started! Rose Morris is a great Central London store with a stunning selection of guitars. Similarly, Wunjo Guitars has a fantastic selection of guitars and bass guitars. If you’re interested in playing strings, The Piano Warehouse in South West London. Check out PMT for all your music technology needs, plus they have a great range of drum kits!
Want to take your music practise and make it social? Great idea! There are plenty of amateur and professional music groups that you can join in London. London City Voices is open to all those wanting to get involved - they put on annual concerts as well as great social events. Instrumentalists, click here for an extensive list of groups you can join in London.
Questions About Drum Lessons in London?
At MusicTutors, we love helping connect students with their perfect tutor. If you have any questions about drum lessons in London, call us on 07946125613 or send us an email to [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!
We are always looking for talented music tutors all over the UK. Think you're the right person for the job?
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Home / Languages / Bundjalung
Bundjalung people have been teaching their language and culture in community groups and schools for many years. Years ago, Bundjalung people were multilingual, also speaking the languages of their neighbours. Several Bundjalung speakers were recorded in the1960s and 1970s; along with today’s speakers, these recordings form the bedrock for current Bundjalung language revitalisation.
The Bundjalung language was spoken in an area that included the north-east corner of New South Wales and the south-eastern corner of Queensland. This area stretches from Grafton on the Clarence River in the south, to the Logan River in the north and inland as far as the Great Dividing Range at Tenterfield and Warwick. It includes the regional centres of Lismore, Casino, Kyogle, Woodenbong, Byron Bay, Ballina, Coolangatta-Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah, the Gold Coast, Beaudesert and Warwick.
Language Background
Bundjalung (also spelt Bandjalang or Banjalang) belongs to the Pama-Nyungan family of Australia languages. At the time of first contact with Europeans in the mid 1800s, there was up to 20 dialects of Bundjalung. ‘Bundjalung’ has been used as a general term for the whole language (covering all the different dialects) and also as a term to refer to certain individual dialects. However, each dialect has a specific name of its own. Dialects include: Wahlubal (also known as Western Bandjalang), Yugambeh, Birrihn, the Barryugil dialect, Bandjalang, Wudjebal, Wiyabal, Wuhyabal, Minyangbal, Gidhabal, Galibal and Ngarrahngbal. Many of these names point to some characteristic peculiar to that dialect. For example, Gidhabal means ‘those who say gidha (alright)’, while Wiyabal means ‘those who say wiya (you)’. It is thought that the term ‘Bandjalung’ was originally used to describe the dialect spoken around Bangawalbin Creek and that this name was later used to cover all dialects.
Although Bundjalung people slowed the stealing of tribal lands by European settlers, the European invasion had a severe impact on population, settlement and inhabitation of tradition areas, and on cultural practices, including language use. The use of Bundjalung was actively suppressed, and English emerged as a common language. Despite the forces working against Bundjalung, some dialects were still actively and widely used as late as the 1950s.
Outline of the language
Bundjalung has 4 vowels: i, a, u and e each of which can also be pronounced as a longer vowel. There are 10 consonants: b, d, dj, g, m, n, ng, ny, l, r, w and y.
Nouns take many different suffixes (tag endings) to mark such roles as subject, object, instrument, location, movement towards, possession and to make feminine from masculine nouns. Nouns can also show singular and plural in three classes: masculine, feminine, and neuter or tree nouns.
Verbs have 4 tenses: future, present, and two pasts; various suffixes also show that someone ‘keeps on’ doing something, or that people are doing something ‘to each other’ .
Word order is fairly free, although there is a tendency toward Subject – Object – Verb word order.
Language Resources and Recordings
Various people, including researchers, have been writing down information about the Bandjalung language since the late 1800s. A few Bundjalung dialects have been recorded in some detail, while for others there are limited records, or no record at all. A large collection of audio recordings of Bundjalung speakers, and researchers’ field notes are held at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Canberra.
There is now an electronic version of the Bundjalung-Yugambeh Dictionary available online here.
There are four dialects that have been described in detail:
Yugumbeh: Cunningham’s 1969 grammar is reliable;
Gidabal: the Geytenbeek’s 1971 grammar and word-list;
Wahlubal or Western Bundjalung: Crowley’s 1978 grammar and wordlist is the most detailed available;
Casino dialect: Smythe’s 1940s description first appeared in Crowley 1978;
Sharpe’s description of the ‘Yugambeh-Bundjalung dialect chain’.
There are brief sketch grammars on several Bundjalung dialects, including:
the Minjangbal dialect of Byron Bay, Livingstone (1892),
Biirin dialect of Rappville and the Baryulgil dialect, Crowley (n.d)
Bundjalung dialect of Bungawalbin Creek, Holmer (1971)
over 17 word-lists from various areas, Hargrave (Science of Man:1903).
Written examples of the language
These sentences are from Wahlubal/Western Bandjalang ( Crowley:1978).
Ngay waymalehla nganyahya nguyaya.
I am speaking my own language.
Nyarram mala behn gudjahrra.
The frilled-neck lizard fell into a hole.
Wanah yirrali-ngahyumah.
Don’t (speak in) English.
Mala baygal djehrr.
That man is big.
Djununu wudja yang giwani.
Where have you come from?
Maliyu dandaygambu yarbini.
That man sang (a song).
Mala bin-gihng birrah waybarra mala waganyngula.
Throw that turtle onto the fire, and that catfish too!
Yuh ngali yanah buyan gala djahnanah.
Let’s go later when the wind stops.
Bundjalung Language Map
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Flash Fiction—Character Actor
By Michael Dickel on Thursday, 25 July, 2013 • ( 1 Comment )
Continuing in a more conventional narrative mode, this Flash Fiction Month post gives a bit of a vignette that reveals more about the characters, probably, than anything else. The action follows a pattern in a number of these posts, of someone leaving a relationship, with some trivial insight serving as catalyst. Call me cynical. As always, I’m interested in your comments. If you like this, please share it on your social networks. If you don’t like it, feel free to say why in a comment. Just be nice about it, please.
Character Actor
He thought he was a loner, but he always liked to have a woman at his side, preferably wearing high heels and a top with a low-neck. And he wanted other men to see her there.
His mother called him in California once a week and they chatted about nothing for ten minutes or so before saying goodbye. She gave up on asking about details of his life when he was in high school.
They spoke mostly about the weather, sports, current events, and a bit of gossip about his old friends she’d picked up from the neighbors back in Hopkins, Minnesota, where the grass was always greener.
The woman sleeping next to him at the moment seemed sweet, but his heart wasn’t in it. It never was. She stirred.
He got out of bed, dragged a comb through his thinning hair, and went to the kitchen. He didn’t make her a cup of coffee, so she made herself one when she stumbled in a few minutes later.
“I think it’s time to move on,” she said as she added milk to her cup.
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“This is kind of a shallow life you live, don’t you think?”
“It suits me.”
“Must suit you, you play the game.”
“It’s a game?”
“Isn’t that what the movies call it?”
“I keep thinking maybe one of you guys will stick. The spark will ignite, you know?”
“You mean like fireworks in bed?”
“No, more like a blaze of glory—fame, fortune. I think maybe you’ll land a movie part that sets you up for stardom, all of that.”
“I don’t act.”
“Okay. But maybe you’ll write something, a book that gets optioned for a hit movie. We could have a couple of mansions, live the big life.”
“I don’t write.”
“Mostly I screw around, wait tables when I have to, do odd jobs around town for shady characters when I can.”
“Sounds like a character actor.”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
She shrugged.
“I want a leading man.”
After breakfast, and a little morning-goodbye screwing around, she clicked out of the house. Her high heels glittered. The low-cut blouse ruffled in the breeze as she wheeled her overnight bag behind her.
He watched her from his bedroom window, scratching his balls.
A character actor can get steady work, he thought, and shrugged his shoulders.
Spread this into the world:
Categories: Flash Fiction
Tagged as: creative writing, Digital Humanities, experimental writing, Fiction, Flash fiction, Flash Fiction Month, Literature, Michael Dekel, Michael Dickel, Online Writing, writing
Flash Fiction—Open Road
Flash Fiction—Political Philosophy
alexisrhonefancher says:
Friday, 26 July, 2013 at 00:45
Nice. Very nice. I love clean, sparse writing. An art in itself. Bravo.
Your turn… Cancel reply
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Why I’m No Longer Ignoring Racism As A White Person
Aspiring MidwivesQualified MidwivesStudent Midwives
You know those books that you read and feel yourself being changed? I think it's called 'internalisation'.
This is one of those. Especially if you're white.
Reni Eddo-Lodge is a journalist and author who wrote the book 'Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race'.
Her work focuses on racism and feminism. I think it's the exhaustion in her tone that gets me.
A slogan put about by the Conservative government was 'if you want a n**** as your neighbour, vote labour' - this was 1985
Black children get marked down in school
But when their work is assessed independently under a white British sounding name, they get the grades they deserve
Bristol was a slave port and the UK has a lot of its wealth from black slavery
Black and ethnic minority women are five times more likely to die during childbearing.
It's a hard one. If you're white, you might be thinking 'well I'm not racist'.
I believe you. But we live in a society that's got racism baked into it. Not our fault. Still our responsibility.
Reverse racism hits the news sometimes. White people being at a disadvantage because people from a black or ethnic minority group are discriminating against them.
The problem is that reverse racism doesn't happen in a way that takes meaningful power away from white people.
White people might find themselves in a single situation - say working for an ethnic minority family who pass them over for a promotion in favour of someone from their own background - but that white person will have more many opportunities over the course of their lifetime based on their ethnicity.
Ethnic minority groups literally do not have enough people in positions of power to even begin to level the playing field.
I think it's so important for midwives and students to be aware of the tension and inequality that black and ethnic minority people face.
I'm not saying white people don't have adversity or don't work hard. I had my first job at age 12 and I've worked ever since then. My family was often financially insecure when me and my siblings were growing up. I've faced sexism as well, in a workplace that still thought the men were more likely to be correct than the women.
It's just that there's a huge bias that black and ethnic minority people have to fight against all the time. You can't really fight against sexism without understanding racism. You miss so much of the picture.
The problem is to understand race as a white person, you need to put your own way of seeing the world on hold. This is pretty much impossible. The only way to do it is to think of a time when you've been so frustrated that someone couldn't see the inequality in a situation.
For instance, many women will have had a conversation with someone who doesn't see the point of International Women's Day as there's no International Men's Day.
I've been in a situation where I've been frustrated to tears trying to get a guy to understand why International Women's Day is important.
The risk of FGM, pay differences, the tension women face balancing having children and a career etc. It falls on deaf ears. It's like it doesn't even exist.
This is what black and ethnic minority people are trying to tell us. There's a whole existence in parallel with ours as white people. We're blind to it.
It's not for me to tell anyone what to do but I'd encourage you to read Reni Eddo-Lodge's book, listen to her podcast, or listen to Sprogcast, the episode with Doula Mars Lord.
Listening and understanding is only fair.
But also, if like me, the best bit of midwifery or caring for others is the privilege of understanding their stories: there is so much more to learn.
So many more ways of existing in the world to get to know.
I find this exciting.
Now I'd love to hear from you.
Please comment, especially if you're from a black or minority ethnic group, especially if you think I've left anything out!
Or if you're white - do you already know this?
p.s. I don't feel wise enough to write this. But I have a platform and I'm white. Even if I get it wrong I need to be trying. Feel free to correct me and please know - if I have made mistakes or caused offence, this is due to my ignorance, not malice. I'll keep learning, I'm sorry I and others haven't noticed in a meaningful way until now and I'm LISTENING.
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Where Buses Go, We Go : Tottenham Court Road Day One.
Taxis started to arrive just before 4pm. Most of the side streets leading into Tottenham Court Road (TCR) already had drivers waiting to join in.
The road soon began to fill, but marshals from the ITA kept the right hand lane clear for emergency vehicles.
Marshals were also advising the public not to enter TCR as they could be held up in the demo till 7pm. Almost all took evasive action.
The Met Traffic police, on the whole, were very cooperative and helpful at first, but after a while (probably acting on orders from above) started to let a few buses and private vehicles into the free lane.
It was explained to them that this was not the idea and if they persisted letting Buses and cars in, then all lanes would be blocked. Traffic was then diverted into Chenise Street and the outside lane was again reopened for emergency only vehicles.
One good point, a representative from UCH came out and was taking photographs which showed access was being kept open for emergency vehicles and she wished us all the best of luck
A solitary police motorcyclist officer was seen fuming cabs but never issued any form of warning or directive to move. Probably just a scare tactic. Police officers must not make any form of surveillance without an order called a RIPA.
Also, we believe a TfL representative was filming registrations and ID cards, but he ran off when challenged.
The demo went well and was well attended the whole area was at a virtual stand still for 3 hours.
Plans have been made for alternative venues should the police get difficult but it’s unlikely as the demo was extremely peaceful.
Best of all, the public appeared to be in support as was the two bus drivers caught up in the jam.
Back again tomorrow, same time same place. (Until further notice)
TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT:
While directing traffic trying to enter TCR from New Oxford Street, I was amazed at drivers with jobs in that we’re expecting me to help them get out of the congestion. Not an option I’m afraid.
Whilst there are going to be a few drivers who really don’t know what’s going on, every effort has been made to advise the trade of the demos (including times/venue etc), including posters in most trade eateries, leaflets, social media announcements and articles in trade papers.... Even the wait and see brigade have mention the demos in their emails to members.
TfL traffic cams, before they switched them off ???
from Taxi Leaks http://bit.ly/2CANkca
via IFTTT Editorial January 21, 2019 at 10:34PM Where Buses Go, We Go : Tottenham Court Road Day One. http://bit.ly/UJT069 Call 01908 263263 for airport taxi service Milton Keynes Area
Taxi Leaks
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Archive for the tag “Pensioners”
The Mugabe Clan still living large on the State Coffers!
The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) is still taking well care of the former dictator of 37 years. Robert Mugabe and Grace Mugabe are still living large, they are having a bounty of a pension. It is insane, as he was the kingpin, the one who bled the state of funds, paid the cronies and made himself wealthy. Therefore, it is very insulting that he is still living like that. That he even dares to asks for more, when he has more posh cars, can afford to have their sons in Los Angeles and cars taken to Botswana. Because they are afraid of taxes and losing their ill-gotten possessions.
Why I can say he is still living large, is that he sources to Sunday News says: “Since he resigned in November 2017, Mr Mugabe has received $80 000 in pension, while Mrs Mugabe has received $8 680. The payments to Mr Mugabe were made on January 5, 2018 ($40 000), January 29, 2018 ($20 000), and February 28, 2018. The two payments on January 5 were because Mr Mugabe had not received his pension for November and December 2017 due to administrative issues hence the double instalment to offset arrears. He got a third instalment at the end of January as his pension for that month, with the fourth also coming as scheduled in February. Mrs Mugabe received instalments of $2 170 in November and December 2017, and January and February 2018” (Sasa, 2018).
So, that they have been so open in the media last week complaining about their life and such, seems totally out of order. When ordinary people struggles to get 20 US Dollars out of the ATM. While you are earning 20,000 US Dollars per month. That is 1000 times more than what the ordinary people trying to get out of the ATM in Harare.
It is insane that a man who has eaten the state, made it bankrupt and depleted its currency gets such a bounty after the November 2017. He should be happy he isn’t in court answering for his crimes against his people. That he cannot answer for the filthy water in the taps, the lack of institutions and the cronyism who ate it all. On the alter of liberation and freedom, they took it all to themselves instead of sharing it with the public. That is the man and his family crying to the media on their lack of proper support of the former first family. Clearly, the got enough money to have sugar in their tea and beyond.
It is insulting to the Zimbabwean public, that the Mugabe family is frying foul, when they are still getting fortunes, even after been ousting. 20,000 US Dollars get you proper fed, well fed, buying clothes and whatever needs you got. No ordinary citizen in the Republic will ever get near that sort of pay. The Junta, the ZANU-PF is showing mercy on the former comrade and founder, more than what they ever did to President Canaan Banana, who never even received government pension, which Mugabe denied him!
Therefore, Mugabe should pray to whatever deity he believes in, thanks mercy for the greatness of the former comrades. That they gave him this bounty. Because, if he would have gotten the same treatment as he gave others. He would have been kicked out of his homes, lost his posh-cars and lost his estates. That would have been justice any many people’s eyes. Since he took it all and eaten it all.
Even after all of this, its still not enough. He should be grateful for his demise and that it didn’t cost him more. That it was a bloodless coup and that he didn’t catch a bullet. But he lives in the blue-roof and lives lavish. Peace.
Sasa, Mabasa – ‘Mugabe cash demands exposed: Wants $467 200 pension in cash’ (11.03.2018) link: http://www.sundaynews.co.zw/mugabe-cash-demands-exposed-wants-467-200-pension-in-cash/
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Zimbabwe: Ambrose Muthiniri letter to ZEC – “Re: National Patriotic Front (NPF)” (06.03.2018)
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Opinion: The G-40 Party, New Patriotic Front (NPF) will not matter, because Mugabe rigged the game in favor of ZANU-PF and Mnangagwa!
That Robert Mugabe and Grace Mugabe want to play decoy and be involved in the coming election was natural. That has been received the recent reports from the Blue Roof. However, this should be anticipated by the ZANU-PF and the President. Emmerson Mnangagwa should expect that, so that the resigning of Mugabe loyalist and G-40 member Ambrose Mutinhiri, whose petition to African Union and SADC to intervene because of the coup in November 2017. Nevertheless, that doesn’t seem reasonable at this point, as the gearing up to the next election is more likely.
What is weird, but natural with the Mugabe involvement is that the G-40 group of ZANU-PF, the ones who has been kicked out and the ones feels left behind after the coup. Because of the Lacoste ones got into power with the strength of the military, who is now also in the cabinet and behind the scenes. That is known and that is making these people disgruntled. That was expected and surely the ZANU-PF should have foreseen this happening. It wasn’t like he went easy and swiftly, they had to bring the guns and show the muscle before he went and the President could return.
Mugabe is a con, he has been used to using the long-con, the men around him and his family know this. What is striking is the name of the opposition party, New Patriotic Front, as if the Patriotic Front was made between Joshua Nkomo and Mugabe in 1976, as it was partnership to gain more in possible talks with the Ian Smith Government and be united towards the cause of freedom. Even in the 1970s the ZANU under Mugabe was the military support important to him, while in ZAPU’s Nkomo was unchallenged leader. Their stature was different and there was reasons so, but later he would consolidate these parties, and therefore, we have the ZANU-PF.
Now, the Mugabe has outgrown the party he consolidated and created, the liberation party that freed the country from the British, but he never released the citizens from his grip. That is why him and his cronies, so-called comrades are planning to use a New Patriotic Front, use the old term of 1970s , in that spirit to facilitate themselves in the coming elections. As they are using Cde. Mutinhiri to usher it in. Like the G-40 can re-bran itself and become opposition. After the same leaders was used to loot, take and misuse for decades. They was used that people came out of fear and loyalty, now they have to create another venue, another loyalty, as Mnangagwa has inherited the party structure and the military support. The military support that Mugabe has needed and had since 1970s.
So for me the NPF, the Patriotic Front of 2018 isn’t powerful, it is mediocre at best. Since the machinery isn’t there. It is creating headlines and they wrote petition to the SADC and AU. But not that it would change anything, the AU and SADC hasn’t said “no” to Mnangagwa, neither has South Africa or anywhere he has traveled. Mnangagwa is the legitimate president, even if it was unconstitutional. Just like so many of the elections under Mugabe. Where he rigged himself and used the army to spread fear in the community ahead of elections.
There is more likely the Movement for Democratic Change and Nelson Chamisa who taken over the mantle after Morgan Tsvangirai. He is the Chairman and Presidential Candidate for the biggest opposition party and the levels of support has been shown by the recent rallies. The NPF is still just theory, even if the people behind is used to the long-con. They are not having the military support or the steady financing like the ZANU-PF under Mugabe used too. What might happen, is that ZANU-PF might do what it did to MDC-T and others. Where the NPF will get into trouble, the leadership will be detained and their supporters might also get into legal jeopardy. This is well-known if you look into the political history and acts under Mugabe.
Mugabe should know, that the revolution he led that ate the whole country, might in turn eat him. The same monster he created for total control with support of War Veterans and the Military, has now turned on him and his G-40 Group, which now might turn into NPF. They will have the same amount of support as Acie Lumumba, might be able to make headlines, but not run anything else than a sweat-shop.
NPF seems like a far-fetched deal, seems like a dream of party, with Mugabe loyalists and disgruntled members who has fallen out with Mnangagwa. If they think they can do this, they might have to run things from Rotten Row. We can just wonder if they think they have the capacity to run against the regime, the machinery that has been made for the President and not for the opposition. The state hasn’t changed that much since Mugabe was toppled, the same mechanisms are there and they have not left the building. The ones that has left is the pictures of Mugabe and the ones who believed the words of Grace.
There are bigger possibility that Chamisa has a change, if he builds momentum and actually has causes that makes sense not only in Urban areas, but in the rural regions, where sometimes they still only see Mugabe as their President. With this in mind, Mugabe can build a new party, a New Patriotic Front (NPF), but at this moment of time, he will not succeed. They might go after his wealth, after his farms and other corrupt acts of the past. Mugabe has gotten off easy, but if he fires back. Expect ZANU-PF and the military to use things against him. It is like he has forgotten this tactic and don’t think that doesn’t apply to him.
Mugabe has made himself wealthy, also other cronies too, they we’re all eating. Suddenly the winds changed and the military supported Mnangagwa, therefore, the Lacoste won over G-40. Instead of gracefully stepping aside, as Mugabe just lost his position, but hasn’t lost properties and the family has even tried to transport their flash cars to Botswana and abroad. Clearly, they are afraid of losing their possessions.
If they start using their power and leverage, which they still have, do they think they can beat the crocodile? Do they think the ZANU-PF and the military will accept it? Do you expect them to give up their power now?
I wish Chamisa could get a chance, but just like NPF has no chance, I doubt anyone will have anything on Mnangagwa, since he knows this game and is playing invisible chess as we speak. Just like he did in the days after he got sacked and into exile in 2017. Peace.
The Goblin address the Crocodile, but he is throwing stones in a glasshouse!
Its been 100 days since 15th November 2017, the coup that wasn’t a coup, but apparently was a coup in Zimbabwe. That toppled the 37 years of rule by the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) under President Robert Mugabe. Mugabe has run the nation since 1980 and freed it from the British. However, he overstayed, and the public cheered for the fall in November with their rally for liberation from Mugabe. Now that it had gone 99 days, the Goblin showed his true face, as he will today celebrate his birthday without eating of the whole state budget this year.
So yesterday he said this to the media:
“Mugabe then said he was forced to resign under military pressure, notes reveal. “I was pressured by the army to resign; I did so in order to avoid conflict and bloodshed in my country. I was worried because it had been brought to my attention that people had been intimidated, illegally seized, attacked, homes had been raided at gunpoint and destroyed, and weapons confiscated from other state security agencies,” Mugabe said. “The army had been unconstitutionally deployed without permission of the commander-in-chief and soldiers continue to be used in this operation. So from a constitutional point of view, he (Mnangagwa) is there unconstitutionally. “Mnangagwa is in power illegally, yet some of his officials dare call me a dictator. What dictator? “Maybe a dictator for dictating that we must take over our land and give it to the people; maybe a dictator for demanding that our people must be empowered. If that’s why they call me a dictator, I have no problem with that” (…) “He the added a new dimension: “Now you want to know whether elections will be free and fair. Of course, I don’t think so. How can they be free and fair when the military is running everything?” Mugabe said the situation was worrying, adding his security was not guaranteed. “For instance, they told you, I was safe, but how can I be in this environment? My wife is crying daily. They are persecuting her; that is obviously directed at me. What am I without my wife and family? We are not safe,” Mugabe said. “We have constitutional benefits, for example, but these are being denied.” (Gagare, 2018).
It is strange and deranged to read this from the Goblin, it is unique that he talked to the press. The world should know what he said to local media. Because it shows his true heart, after he was removed. Not likely he would have gone down without pressure, since he used all tricks to stop the likes of Morgan Tsvangirai and others from power.
Me and Mugabe agree, that it was unconstitutional of the army to topple him, but not like he didn’t misuse the army and the government resources over 30 years. Not like he didn’t care for constitution or just elections, when he was the President. Mugabe is the wrong man throwing the stone, as he is casting it in a glasshouse. He is just bitter, that someone finally beat him at his game. That he wasn’t following the internal issues within the Zanu-PF and the army, before they brought him down in November.
I don’t expect free and fair elections, President Emmerson Mnangagwa might promise it in words, but his actions might differ. However, the demonstrations and memorials of Tsvangirai has been peaceful with little or no interference from the police. Other than a few others at other parties rallies in the recent months. So we have to see if they will play by common sense or prepare to rigg for Mnangagwa.
Mugabe is not the man to play those cards, he has misused his time in office, he didn’t build institutions or electoral reforms. If he did, he would have gone much sooner. Mugabe should be happy he isn’t walking in and out of the court-room answering for his crimes and acts of ill over 3 decades. He has hurt enough families and made sure they had to flee for a better life. The misuse of government funds and riches on their own. They should be happy the state hasn’t confiscated their ill-gotten gains. That would have been proper, that the stolen funds should be given back.
He is so used to power, he doesn’t see it himself. That didn’t deliver free and fair elections, he didn’t follow the constitution or the rules, he apply them only to others, just like he did when he was in power. The same kind of answers and belief. If you eat it up, your a G-40 Zanu-PF who misses the good old days of Grace spinning the wheels. If not, your are a Lacoste who has risen to power. Thirdly, your a opposition who working hard to changes and hopefully able to rip up the Zanu-PF. So the state can evolve even more and further away from the legacy of the Goblin. Peace.
Gagare, Owen – ‘Mugabe breathes fire over Mnangagwa rule’ (23.02.2018) link: https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2018/02/23/mugabe-breathes-fire-mnangagwa-rule/
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Opinion: Mugabe finally resigns, they have now cut the head of the snake; But will the Crocodile be different from the Goblin?
Today, the 37 years under the President Robert Gabriel Mugabe is over. After his resignation letter got read out loud to Parliament and the Public. This after he tricked the public and the generals this Sunday. Mugabe has done whatever he could to stay in power and used all sorts of tricks to stay. There been promise of him leaving earlier and even losing rigged elections. But that has never yielded any fruits. Therefore today is a unique day.
As this is how it started:
“In a broadcast on television tonight, Mr Mugabe said: “I wish to assure you that there can never be any return to the state of armed conflict which existed before our commitment to peace and the democratic process of election under the Lancaster House agreement.” (BBC).
So all the hope of Mugabe was there and he had it all made to become a legend, make a legacy worth a damn after fighting a liberation war against the Ian Smith and liberate the Republic from the United Kingdom. Clearly, that had to happen as the White Minority had to fall and let the people decide the fate of Zimbabwe. Therefore, that he has used the government and the army to oppress the people, detain and kill. That is what he has been doing to stay in power. Used the state to secure that his loyal cronies and clientele riches and land. That is why the Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament who has fled and detained has been taken with large amount cash, while the republic is broke and depleted. That shows that the ZANU-PF are systematic this way, in thieving and Mugabe has been the provider. Therefore, the republic need a change from that.
The one who has been the cult figure, the leader and the head. Mugabe has been the epitome of a revolutionary turned corrupt gangster in charge. The ZANU-PF Government has used violence, intimidation and rigging to stay for so long. The rotten courts and the system that has been built around Mugabe, will not go away. Lot of people have eaten and will continue to eat, unless you also take the root of the problem. The Zimbabwean people and Zimbabwean Army have now gotten rid of the top main branch, but there are more branches on tree that is rotten to the core.
President Mugabe is now an old-man and let his wife try to create a future dynasty under her. That was not accepted as they forgot the control and power with the Vice-President Edison Mnangagwa. The false-start of the Mugabe dynasty was short-lived because of the will of Grace Mugabe. Her ways and her unpopularity, was so bad and so ruthless that the ZANU-PF couldn’t even manage it. That is why the Lacoste part of the party reacted and got the military to besiege the government to show the lethal force they have.
Today, because of the wish of a dynasty, he had to pull his candidacy, even after being voted earlier this year as the candidate. Even the Woman’s League and Youth League had professed loyalty just weeks ahead for Grace as the VP. This changed and was thrown in the garbage. Since the army was besieging them and making them change their mind. The leaders of G-40 got sacked from the party and also from the government. This happen over night and within the ZANU-PF. As the same party who professed loyalty for Mugabe has now changed it’s mind. Therefore, the last few days has been special.
The Zimbabweans have all rights to celebrate and for a long time, since the ZANU-PF and Mugabe have taken the republic and ate all of its resources. That is known and to say otherwise is to blind to facts and matters at hand.
But even with him gone and his legacy left in tatters. Where his ruthless acts and his depleting state reserves. As well as possible damages to the economy, there will sudden changes that has to appear. So that the same party with the same principals grown under Mugabe will continue to prosper. As long as the army and Lacoste faction are connected, they will make sure the transition goes smooth. While they still will ask for international legitimacy for their new government.
We can wonder and wait to see if they will change or if it will be more of the same. If people will be detained for calling Mnangagwa a crocodile, instead of calling Mugabe a goblin. We can just wonder if civil activists will be taken and detained on arbitrary arrests and quell protests as it happen in the past. The Coup made it happen and peaceful demonstrations where possible.
Today there are celebrations and that is all but justified. As Mugabe has been a dictator and as an oppressor for over three decades. They have all rights to celebrate and its well deserved after all the pain. Mugabe has been the neo-colonial master and made them his subjects. Now they can continue to strive for liberation and freedom. Not just in name but in the spirit of the state. That can be possible now, as long as the civil society and the civil activist continue to push for reforms and changes within the state. That #ThisFlag Movement and others are pushing for a democratic state and not a dictatorship under ZANU-PF. ZANU-PF can be a party within a democracy, but not as a sole ruler and make sure everyone abide to their leadership.
That is the future right now, we will see if ZANU-PF has a place without Mugabe. If it isn’t made such a bitter and a rotten core. We can hope that the people will continue to demonstrate against that, even after Mugabe resigned today!
They have cut the head of the snake, the target is now gone, but will it cut of the sources of the problems within the Zimbabwean government? Or will that continue as long as the crocodile runs the nations? Will he reform the state and put into the perspective of the civil activists within the state?
Or was the change or cutting of the head, just a facade and a mere canvassing a new picture over the old one and hoping that no-one see the shade of the old one beneath it. Peace.
BBC – ‘1980: Mugabe to lead independent Zimbabwe’ Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/4/newsid_2515000/2515145.stm
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Mugabe Resigns: The resignation letter – BBC News (Youtube-Clip)
“Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has resigned, parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda has said. A letter from Mr Mugabe said that the decision was voluntary and that he had made it to allow a smooth transition of power. The surprise announcement halted an impeachment hearing that had begun against him. Lawmakers roared in jubilation and people have begun celebrating in the streets” (BBC News, 2017)
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Zimbabwe: Parliament’s Charge Sheet on Robert Gabriel Mugabe (21.11.2017)
SADC: Communique of the Summit of hte Organ Troika Plus SADC Chair on the Political Situation in the Republic of Zimbabwe (21.11.2017)
Posted in Africa, Civil Service, Development, Diplomacy, Ethics, Governance, Government, Law, Leadership, Politics, Transparency and tagged #NERADemo, #NoBondnotes, #Tajamuka, #ThisFlag, #ZimShutDown2016, Acie Lumumba, Afreximbank, Agricultural Output, Agricultural Policy, Air Force of Zimbabwe, Aman Andom, Anasthancia Ndlovu, Annabel Gerry Head, Army, Askeland Media & Advertising, Augustine Chihuri, Bank of Zimbabwe, Barclays Bank, Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe, Bishow Parajuli, Block Demonstrations, BMI Research, Bond Notes, Brazil Food Programe, Broadcasting Service Act, Budget Deficit, Caledonia, Caledonia Mining, Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc, CBD, Cheif Inspector Runganga, China Exim Bank, Chinoputsa Lovemore, Civil Servants, Communications, Communism, Coup, Credit Ranking, Cyber Warfare, Deficit, Demonstration, Derg, Development Partners, DFID Zimbabwe, Diamond FM, Dirg, Doctors, Dollar, Donor, Donor Nation, Dr. H.N. Chfamba, Dr. John Mangudya, Dr. Noah Manyika, Educational Sector, Elasto Mugwadi, Elective Lists, Electoral Alliance, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Esther Chinda, Ethiopia, EU, European Union, Evan Mawarire, Fidelity Printers and Refiners Limited, Freedom House, Gen. Augustine Chihuri, General Chihuri, George Charamba, George Mushipe, Giescke & Devrient, Gold Mining, Government Lenders, Government of Zimbabwe, Government Salaries, Government Salary, GoZIm, Grace Mugabe, Grains, H.E. Robert Mugabe, Haile Mariam Mengistu, Haile Selassie, Harare, Harare Central Business District, Harare Central Hospital, Harare Central Police District, Health Sector, Hon. Chinamasa, Hon. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Hon. Ignatious Morgan Chombo, Hon. Jessie Fungayi Majome, Hon. Joseph Chinotimba, Hon. Morgan Tsvangirai, Hon. Patrick Chinamasa, Hope Pvt Ltd, Ian Smith, Ignatious Morgan Chombo, IMF, Imperial official, Innocent Hamadishe, International Monetary Fund, J.P. Mangudya, Jessie Fungayi Majome, John Mangudya, Jonathan Moyo, Joseph Chinotimba, June Salaries, Kasukuwere, Kudzanai Chipanga, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Lectures, Lenders, Letinna Undenge, Lieut. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam, Looting, M. Malinga, M.J.M. Sibanda, M.M. Nzuwah, Makhosini Hlongwane, Mandilitawepi Chimene, Marxist State, Massacre, MDC, Ministry of Finance, Ministy of Finance and Development, Mnangagwa, Monarchy, More Food for Africa Programme, Morgan Tsvangirai, Movement for Democratic Change, Mugabe Regime, Mugabe Robert Kakyebezi, National Assembly, National Budget, National ICT Policy, Newbert Saunyama, Nicholas Mabhena, Nurses, O. Muganyura, OK Zimbabwe, OpenParly ZW, Opposition Alliance, P. Sunguro, P.A. Chinamasa, Pastor Evan Mawarire, Patrick Chinamasa, Patrick Zhuwao, Patriotic Front, Paul Chimedza, Pay Delay, Peaceful Demonstration, Pensioners, People's Own Savings Bank, PF, PhD, Phelekezela Mpoko. Ignatius Chombo, Pick n Pay, Plastic Money, POSB, Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, President Mugabe, President Robert Mugabe, PRGT, Prohibition of Demonstration, Prosper Chitambara, Public Service, Public Service Commission, Public Service Pay Dates, RBZ, Real-Time Gross Settlement system, Red Terror, Republic of Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Rest of Service, Robert Mugabe, RTGS, S. Kasizi, SADC, Salaries, Samuel Undenge, Sanctions, Sandi Moyo, Sarah Makoka, Saviour Kasukwere, Self-Cencorship, Shadreck Mashayambe, Silsawochu, Simba Chikore, Simukayi Mutamangira, Social Media, Social Security, Star FM, Sylvanos Mudzvova, Teachers, Tendai Biti, Tenders, Terrence Mukupe, This Flag, TM Supermarket, totalitarian power, Totalitarian State, Trevor Ncube, UN Sanctions, Virgina Mabiza, Viva Zimbabwe Movement, VZM, W.L. Manunga, Wages, Walter Muzembi, West, Western, Ya FM, Zanu, Zanu-PF, Zanu-PF Leadership, ZCG, ZDTU, ZHRC, Zi-FM, Zim Asset Agenda, Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe African National Union, Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front, Zimbabwe Army, Zimbabwe Bond Notes, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporations, Zimbabwe Civil Service Commission, Zimbabwe Communist Group, Zimbabwe Computer Crime, Zimbabwe CSC, Zimbabwe Cyber Crime Bill, Zimbabwe Democratic Teachers Union, ZImbabwe Development Fund, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Zimbabwe Naional Army, Zimbabwe National Army, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, Zimbabwe National Treasury, Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Service, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Republican Police, Zimbabwe Reserve Bank, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Zimbabwe Service Commission, Zimbabwe's Government, ZimPapers, ZimRights, ZNLWVA, ZRA, ZRP | Leave a comment
Zimbabwe: Press Statement by Cde. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (21.11.2017)
Posted in Africa, Civil Service, Development, Election, Ethics, Governance, Government, Law, Leadership, Politics, Transparency and tagged #NERADemo, #NoBondnotes, #Tajamuka, #ThisFlag, #ZimShutDown2016, Acie Lumumba, Afreximbank, Agricultural Output, Agricultural Policy, Air Force of Zimbabwe, Aman Andom, Anasthancia Ndlovu, Annabel Gerry Head, Army, Askeland Media & Advertising, Augustine Chihuri, Bank of Zimbabwe, Barclays Bank, Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe, Bishow Parajuli, Block Demonstrations, BMI Research, Bond Notes, Brazil Food Programe, Broadcasting Service Act, Budget Deficit, Caledonia, Caledonia Mining, Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc, CBD, Cheif Inspector Runganga, China Exim Bank, Chinoputsa Lovemore, Civil Servants, Communications, Communism, Coup, Credit Ranking, Cyber Warfare, Deficit, Demonstration, Derg, Development Partners, DFID Zimbabwe, Diamond FM, Dirg, Doctors, Dollar, Donor, Donor Nation, Dr. H.N. Chfamba, Dr. John Mangudya, Dr. Noah Manyika, Educational Sector, Elasto Mugwadi, Elective Lists, Electoral Alliance, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Esther Chinda, Ethiopia, EU, European Union, Evan Mawarire, Fidelity Printers and Refiners Limited, Freedom House, Gen. Augustine Chihuri, General Chihuri, George Charamba, George Mushipe, Giescke & Devrient, Gold Mining, Government Lenders, Government of Zimbabwe, Government Salaries, Government Salary, GoZIm, Grace Mugabe, Grains, H.E. Robert Mugabe, Haile Mariam Mengistu, Haile Selassie, Harare, Harare Central Business District, Harare Central Hospital, Harare Central Police District, Health Sector, Hon. Chinamasa, Hon. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Hon. Ignatious Morgan Chombo, Hon. Jessie Fungayi Majome, Hon. Joseph Chinotimba, Hon. Morgan Tsvangirai, Hon. Patrick Chinamasa, Hope Pvt Ltd, Ian Smith, Ignatious Morgan Chombo, IMF, Imperial official, Innocent Hamadishe, International Monetary Fund, J.P. Mangudya, Jessie Fungayi Majome, John Mangudya, Jonathan Moyo, Joseph Chinotimba, June Salaries, Kasukuwere, Kudzanai Chipanga, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Lectures, Lenders, Letinna Undenge, Lieut. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam, Looting, M. Malinga, M.J.M. Sibanda, M.M. Nzuwah, Makhosini Hlongwane, Mandilitawepi Chimene, Marxist State, Massacre, MDC, Ministry of Finance, Ministy of Finance and Development, Mnangagwa, Monarchy, More Food for Africa Programme, Morgan Tsvangirai, Movement for Democratic Change, Mugabe Regime, Mugabe Robert Kakyebezi, National Assembly, National Budget, National ICT Policy, Newbert Saunyama, Nicholas Mabhena, Nurses, O. Muganyura, OK Zimbabwe, OpenParly ZW, Opposition Alliance, P. Sunguro, P.A. Chinamasa, Pastor Evan Mawarire, Patrick Chinamasa, Patrick Zhuwao, Patriotic Front, Paul Chimedza, Pay Delay, Peaceful Demonstration, Pensioners, People's Own Savings Bank, PF, PhD, Phelekezela Mpoko. Ignatius Chombo, Pick n Pay, Plastic Money, POSB, Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, President Mugabe, President Robert Mugabe, PRGT, Prohibition of Demonstration, Prosper Chitambara, Public Service, Public Service Commission, Public Service Pay Dates, RBZ, Real-Time Gross Settlement system, Red Terror, Republic of Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Rest of Service, Robert Mugabe, RTGS, S. Kasizi, SADC, Salaries, Samuel Undenge, Sanctions, Sandi Moyo, Sarah Makoka, Saviour Kasukwere, Self-Cencorship, Shadreck Mashayambe, Silsawochu, Simba Chikore, Simukayi Mutamangira, Social Media, Social Security, Star FM, Sylvanos Mudzvova, Teachers, Tendai Biti, Tenders, Terrence Mukupe, This Flag, TM Supermarket, totalitarian power, Totalitarian State, Trevor Ncube, UN Sanctions, Virgina Mabiza, Viva Zimbabwe Movement, VZM, W.L. Manunga, Wages, Walter Muzembi, West, Western, Ya FM, Zanu, Zanu-PF, Zanu-PF Leadership, ZCG, ZDTU, ZHRC, Zi-FM, Zim Asset Agenda, Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe African National Union, Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front, Zimbabwe Army, Zimbabwe Bond Notes, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporations, Zimbabwe Civil Service Commission, Zimbabwe Communist Group, Zimbabwe Computer Crime, Zimbabwe CSC, Zimbabwe Cyber Crime Bill, Zimbabwe Democratic Teachers Union, ZImbabwe Development Fund, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Zimbabwe Naional Army, Zimbabwe National Army, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, Zimbabwe National Treasury, Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Service, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Republican Police, Zimbabwe Reserve Bank, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Zimbabwe Service Commission, Zimbabwe's Government, ZimPapers, ZimRights, ZNLWVA, ZRA, ZRP | Leave a comment
Zimbabwe: Gen. Constantion Chiwenga statement on “Operation Restore Legacy” (20.11.2017)
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Home Editorial Comments and Issues The conscience of a nation
The conscience of a nation
By Louis Odion, FNGE
The cell-phone beeped frantically. With the caller ID with-held, it was easy to surmise that it was either a foreign call or someone preferring anonymity. Pressing the receive button, my hunch was dead right. The baritone voice was unmistakable: it was the literary lion himself roaring from his den on the other side of the Atlantic.
“Hey Louis, what’s the trouble at home this time?,” he teased in his accustomed patriarchal flourish.
“Good day, Prof,” I responded and, excited that my repeated dials had finally paid off, quickly switched to the sarcastic mode Kongi had set. “It’s Maradona again o. Of all the idle pensioners left in Nigeria, the NLNG people just declared that he’s the only one fit to give keynote address at the next Prize ceremony.”
Indeed, heavy dust had been raised earlier on this day in September 2007 following the unveiling of General Ibrahim Babangida as the lead speaker at the exclusive shindig, to which the who’s who in Nigeria’s literary community get invited annually.
As editor of Sunday Sun then with a robust literary section, this writer was urgently seeking Professor Wole Soyinka’s comment, to set the agenda ahead of the presentation ceremony scheduled for the following weekend.
Without mincing words, Kongi released the expected bombshell: “Abominable!!”
His logic was simple: having been linked to the unnatural deaths of a few literary celebrities as military dictator and having presided over an order that flagrantly stifled free speech, it was simply unacceptable that the microphone be yielded to the former military dictator at a ceremony intended to celebrate the spoken or written word.
To him, that amounted to dancing on the graves of the likes of poet Mamman Vatsa (a military general summarily executed over the alleged 1985 military coup despite passionate pleas from the nation’s leading writers including Soyinka) and Dele Giwa (celebrated journalist dispatched by a letter bomb on October 19, 1986).
Almost breathless with rage, Soyinka said: “I call on ANA (Association of Nigerian Authors) to boycott the NLNG Grand Award Night unless the organizers reverse themselves on the choice of General Ibrahim Babangida as keynote speaker, mindful of his antecedents. His choice is an affront on intellectuals in the country.
“NLNG has the right to invite whoever it pleases. It should also be understood that ANA, as a democratic institution, reserves the right to boycott. Saying that invitation extended to IBB is in the exercise of freedom of expression is a distraction. It is agreed that freedom of expression is consistent with democracy. Let it also be noted that ANA has, in this regard, a responsibility of action against the man who destroyed democracy in the country, whose policies stifled intellectual growth.”
With such thunderous denunciation by Kongi, yours sincerely was left salivating with some malicious pleasure at a steaming exclusive and did not think twice before making it a front-page story with the headline, “NLNG Award: Soyinka moves against IBB.”
Predictably, Soyinka’s eruption instantly triggered a concatenation of lightning and thunder across the land. Literary icons like Professors Niyi Osundare and Okey Ndibe added to IBB’s misery with their barbs. There were a few dissenters, however. At the end, the 2007 edition of the Literature Prize organized by the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas was completely overshadowed by the debate on the propriety or otherwise of inviting a military dictator to a literary feast.
Fleeting as it may seem, the foregoing anecdote nonetheless speaks to one fact: another confirmation of Professor Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka as the conscience of a nation blighted by vanity and amnesia, with a deep moral voice whose resonance not only sends fear into the hearts of men of power but also inspires generations of men and women to stand up and be counted for good.
By and large, what truly makes Soyinka great is not so much for the monumentality of a talent that spews pithy poetry, gripping prose and transcendental drama. His greatness lies more in the courage and character he brings to bear in creativity.
At an age when no territory seems restricted any more, when many yesterday’s heroes and heroines have been exposed to be counterfeits, when more and more of the surviving statesmen would rather trade away their honour for temporary gains, Kongi remains an exemplar, distinguished from the multitude by his trademark hoary mane accentuated by an equally immaculate goatee.
My early contact with him was through the channel of the written word. Beginning from secondary school, to the polytechnic and later the university, I read tons and tons of Soyinka’s works to find my own feet as a writer. As many students will attest, Soyinka’s poems were a source of dread and torture.
But the Kongi I would later encounter as journalist was a pleasant man. Despite his world celebrity status, his humility is very numbing and, as the good teacher, he never allows any opportunity to mentor the younger ones pass.
As one of the pioneers of THISDAY back page back in mid-90s, this writer was introduced to him by a professional ‘egbon’ (senior), Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, during a flight to Abuja from Lagos.
“Oh, your face is already familiar,” he said, offering me a handshake. “You’re one of those I read on THISDAY back page.”
Coming from the owner of the word himself, the Nobel laureate, a famous name I grew up worshipping, I felt completely flattered that my own little juvenile jottings made some sense to Soyinka. I took his contact and tried to stay in touch. Thus began a relationship that grew from acquaintanceship to discipleship. He has a natural affinity, instinctive solidarity with anyone in the writing fraternity.
I have seen him deploy his awesome clout to extract better deals for fellow writers. While delivering a keynote address at the inaugural edition of the NLNG Prize for Literature many years ago, Soyinka had tactfully bad-mouthed the organizers for being too “stingy” by the amount set aside as the Prize money in view of the “fortune you daily amass from the soil of Niger Delta.”
In clear breach of protocol, he thereafter unilaterally declared that in the exercise of his “natural powers” as the “defender of writers” the amount was upped from 10,000 to 30,000 US Dollars. The Kongi’s coup elicited a standing ovation from the galaxy of writers gathered in the expansive hall that night. The rapturous applause continued when his speech ended. Reading the mood in the audience correctly, NLNG’s MD had little or no choice than announce the approval of Soyinka’s proposal.
To the younger ones like yours sincerely, Soyinka’s father-figure stature naturally makes him a guardian. But despite the wide age difference, Kongi also relates to you as a friend with incredible sense of humour. During one of his frequent visits to Nigeria, he gladly consented to an interview request I made. The only problem was time, because he had several speaking engagements already lined up.
Finally, he decided to squeeze out time in-between a lecture at the National Arts Theatre, Lagos.
On the D-Day, we were already more than thirty minutes into the session when I suddenly noticed that the tape-recorder was stuck. My heart skipped with embarrassment. I quickly demobilized the gadget and played back. Lo, not a single word was recorded!
“Haba! Louis, shame on you. You mean a journalist of your standing still carries around a counterfeit recorder,” he teased, without the slightest sign of irritation that his precious time had been wasted on account of an avoidable mechanical malfunction. Graciously, he accepted we begin afresh.
His fiery pen and caustic tongue notwithstanding, Kongi remains tender at heart; one who may disagree with you in principle, but never holds back in the fellowship of humanity or be detained by bitterness over the past. Only that could possibly explain the complicated relationship he has had over the years with his kinsman, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Feisty OBJ had decided to veer from the political turf as sitting president in 2005 to engage Soyinka in an epistolary joust. In a statement he personally signed, he took a swipe at Kongi for criticizing his policies.
But discerning observers who read the open letter could not but raise their hands in panic immediately, fearful of the approaching literary wrath on the proverbial errant native doctor who carries his ritual offering past a mosque.
While it was easily conceded that OBJ was cantankerous by nature, many had expected that his fabled native intelligence would have served him well by dissuading him from venturing into a square rope against Kongi in a literary duel.
Their worst fears were soon proved right. Soyinka’s response was an atomic bomb. By the time the smoke cleared, OBJ’s presidential garment was torn beyond recognition. For once, the Ota chicken farmer became tongue-tied. Months later, the animus that open ‘roforofo’ (dirty fight) had generated would not prevent Kongi from showing up at the funeral of OBJ’s spouse, Stella, who died suddenly following complications arising from a medical procedure in Spain.
When OBJ finally met with Kongi face to face on the aisle outside the funeral parlour, the story is told of how the president exploded in a playful rage, ‘Wole, iwo! (Wole, You!)’, raising an arm in mock threat. Defiant Kongi fired back, “Segun, Ori e!”, thumping his own head in a supreme Yoruba gesture of contempt.
Obviously more embarrassed than amused by such show of audacity, the band of guards around the President cleverly looked away.
Again, when Chief Emeka Ojukwu qualified the victory he achieved in the sham elections arranged by the Abacha junta to select delegates for the 1994 Constitutional Conference as conferring on him a mandate “superior to June 12”, vintage Soyinka gave expression to popular thinking in the country then by simply dismissing the ex-Biafran secessionist as “an expired warlord”.
That critical riposte would not prevent Kongi from attending Ojukwu’s burial in 2012 to pay last respect to a personal friend.
Same generosity of spirit is very much in evidence in his warm relationship today with General Yakubu Gowon. At the presentation of a memoir by Oba Eradiuawa of Benin in 2014, Soyinka continually poked good-natured jokes at Gowon while giving a keynote address, to the admiration of the audience. It was hard to believe that it was same Gowon who had clamped him into the gulag during the Nigerian civil war. In fact, his 20-month solitary confinement birthed the book, “The Man Died”.
When it was his turn to speak, the former head of state threw the crowd into a fresh bout of laughter by cautioning Kongi to watch his tongue: “You should remember that it was because of the same sharp tongue of yours that I sent you to prison in the 60s.”
Being the first black man to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Soyinka’s life surely sends an enduring message: the infinite possibilities of the black race and the value in character. Here is wishing him happy 85th birthday.
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December 6, 2019 Arvin Santiago
House of Marley Positive Vibrations XL (review)
The latest product from the audio brand House of Marley, the Positive Vibration XL, wants to entice not only the budget-conscious consumers but also those who want a pair of headphones that have an environmental impact. For the past few weeks, we’ve been using the Positive Vibration XL to see if this pair of eco-friendly headphones can give us a quality sound experience that lives up to the Marley name.
Structure for the headphones comes from a singular piece of aluminum that will give you durability and flexibility. The headband frame leads beautifully into the earcups that are both made out of aluminum as well. Instead of using a synthetic leather to wrap the headband and padding, the Positive Vibration XL instead uses a burlap type fabric, which opens the headphones to a more minimalistic look and offers a textural feel for when you’re holding the headphones in your hand.
The ear cups are lined with foam that has a moderate amount of thickness, which will increase the amount of comfort you’ll get when you’re wearing them. The foam provides a very pleasing pillowy feel pressed against your ears, while the thickness of it reduces the amount of pressure you’ll feel on your ears and head. The foam is then lined with synthetic leather, which gives them that standard luxury look and eliminates any possible moisture build-up.
The Positive Vibration XL embodies the minimalist feel down to its very core. The entire headphone has a streamlined design that does away with any excessive bulk or unwanted angles and lines. On the outside of both earcups, House of Marley added a touch of wood that displays their branded logo. The wood really pops with the help of the all-black colorway, which has an added layer of protection that repels any fingerprints.
Buttons and ports are also machined and fitted to seamlessly blend in with the earcups. The left earcup houses the USB-C and 3.5mm auxiliary port, which is located at the bottom so they are unseen unless in use. The right earcup stations the physical buttons that will power on/off the headphones and allow you to control your music. The buttons are tactile, rubberized, and offer a nice clicky response. There’s a small blue LED light to indicate the headphones are on, as well as a small integrated microphone to use for phone calls.
Earcups on the headphones are made to easily collapse making storage much easier. Folding inwards gives it a smaller form factor, which you can then place inside the included carrying bag for safety and travel purposes. The hinges on the earcups have a satisfying locking feel to them that lets you know that they’re properly folded or unfolded.
The Positive Vibration XL produces a great level of audio quality with the help from a pair of 40mm high definition drivers. The bass has a deep sound to it, but not too much that it comes in overwhelming. Instead, it generously fuses with the mid and highs, that are both crisp and clear. Of course, we tested out the audio performance of the headphones with some music from Bob Marley himself. With songs like “Three Little Birds” and “Could You Be Loved,” you’ll be instantly enthralled with the range and dynamics of his music. You can hear almost every instrument that he used in his music with real distinction, from the bongo drums, bass guitars, and keyboards, all the way down to the horns and clavinet. Giving you that feeling of “This is the way he would like us to hear his music.”
House of Marley boasts that the headphones have a 24-hour battery life, which during our time with the pair, we never used it for 24 hours straight. An avid listener who spends roughly two to three hours a day listening to music, such as ourselves, will realistically need to charge the headphones once every week. In our case, that’s what we needed to do. The headphones do feature quick charge technology, which means that a 10-minute charge will get you up to 4 hours of playtime, with a full charge only taking two hours.
The headphones were used mainly during the gym, which did a fantastic job of blocking the outside noise. Which is something to be said, since the headphones don’t feature active noise cancellation. The integrated buttons are easy to find and navigate since they are only three buttons that will control everything you need to do when it comes to operating your music or answering calls.
Final Reaction
When your line of audio products bear the Marley name, it’s pivotal that they deliver a satisfactory sound experience, and that’s precisely what the Positive Vibration XL does. With a sleek and simple design that’s heightened with an elegant touch of wood, the headphones hit you with a well-balanced sound that makes any music you listen to truly come alive. Add the fact that they are priced just below $100 and are an eco-friendly pair of headphones, the Positive Vibration XL will do as their name says, which is give any listener a feeling of positive vibes from head to toe.
Score: 5/5 Atoms
See House of Marley products on Amazon.
*The Positive Vibrations XL was provided by House of Marley for review purposes
Tags House of Marley
Arvin Santiago 374 posts
Photo/Video Enthusiast and Escape Room "Semi-Professional"
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Yale Chemist Receives Top Honors from Harvard
Alanna Schepartz, the Milton Harris ‘29 Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry at Yale, has been awarded the 2008-2009 Frank H. Westheimer Prize, Harvard has announced. Established in 2002 in honor of Harvard chemist Frank Westheimer, the prize is awarded annually...
Student Scientists Board NASA Aircraft for Weightless Experiment
Five Yale students have their feet firmly back on the ground after experiencing weightlessness while testing their self-designed and constructed experiment onboard a gravity-defying NASA aircraft this summer.The students - known as the Yale Drop Team -...
David McCormick Appointed the Duberg Professor of Neurobiology
David A. McCormick, recently appointed the Dorys McConnell Duberg Professor of Neurobiology, studies cellular and network mechanisms of cortical function in the brain.His laboratory uses a variety of in vitro and in vivo approaches, from patch clamp...
Extinct May Not be Forever for Some Species of Galapagos Tortoises
Yale scientists report that genetic traces of extinct species of Galapagos tortoises exist in descendants now living in the wild, a finding that could spur breeding programs to restore the species; the report appears in Proceedings of the National Academy...
'Physics of Golf' To Open Fall Science Saturdays Series
Four Yale faculty members will share their excitement and passion for science with “kids of all ages” in the fall 2008 Science Saturdays series, which begins on October 4 and will continue weekly through October 25. The talks and demonstrations are aimed...
Yale Prize To Support Eco-Ventures
An annual $25,000 Sabin Environmental Venture Prize has been established at Yale to stimulate entrepreneurial environmental ventures by the University’s faculty and students. The Sabin Prize will support the creation of new nonprofit and commercial...
Scientists Find "Redesigned Hammer" That Forged Evolution of Pregnancy in Mammals
Yale researchers have shown that the origin and evolution of the placenta and uterus in mammals is associated with evolutionary changes in a single regulatory protein, according to a report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Many past...
Astronomers Discover Most Dark Matter-Dominated Galaxy in Universe
A team led by a Yale University astronomer has discovered the least luminous, most dark matter-filled galaxy known to exist. The galaxy, called Segue 1, is one of about two dozen small satellite galaxies orbiting our own Milky Way galaxy. The ultra-faint...
DNA Sequencing Technologies To Be Examined in Symposium
Innovative applications of next-generation DNA sequencing technologies, and the societal impact of the insights gleaned from them, will be the focus of a symposium being held on Friday, Sept. 19.Organized by the graduate and postdoctoral students of the...
Media Advisory: Yale Scientists Available to Speak About Large Hadron Collider
Yale scientists involved with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be available to speak with the media about the start-up of the LHC, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, before it begins operations on Sept. 10. Keith Baker and...
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Home World News At least five dead, more than 300 injured as earthquake hits Iran
At least five dead, more than 300 injured as earthquake hits Iran
At least five people were killed and more than 300 injured as a 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit north-western Iran in the early hours of Friday morning, Iranian media reported. Reports said at least 400 houses had been damaged. The quake struck at 2:17 am (22:47 GMT) some 50 kilometres north-east of Hastrud, a city in Iran’s north-west towards the borders with Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
“Rescue teams and helicopters have been dispatched to the quake-hit areas and hospitals are on full alert to help injured people,” Iran’s emergency medical services chief Pirhossein Kolivand was quoted as saying by Press TV’s English website.
Army units have also been put on standby. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) estimated that 20 million people in the area felt the quake. President Hassan Rowhani has called the local governor and ordered all resources available to deal with the emergency, Press TV said.
Iranian officials said 80 villages were affected. The majority of the damage hit villages in the area around the city of Tark. Around 50 aftershocks have also been felt in the region, up to a magnitude of 4.8, and led to people sleeping outside in the cold due to fears of buildings collapsing.
Photographs from the scene showed masonry had fallen on top of cars and buildings had been severely damaged. Moderate to large earthquakes occur regularly in eastern Turkey and north-west Iran, the US survey added, with other areas of Iran also vulnerable. A 6.6-magnitude quake in the south-eastern Iranian city of Bam in 2003 killed around 26,000 people.
In other news – Distruction Boyz drop a new Album
He wait is finally over. Durban DJs, Distruction Boyz, released a new album today. The 14 tracks album titled, From the Street to the World, was released online.
On the album, the duo made up of Thobani “Que” Mgobhozi and Zipho “Goldmax” Mthembu worked with international star Zhao and top Mzansi musicians. Read more
Source: IOL
300 injured as earthquake hits Iran
earthquake hits Iran
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CBS2 Exclusive: City Comptroller Says Trump Tower Security Restrictions Have Done Number On Businesses
Filed Under:Marcia Kramer, Scott Stringer, small businesses, Trump Tower
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — It could be the worst holiday season ever for some small businesses near Trump Tower.
As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, the possibilities of layoffs, salary cuts and moving away from President-elect Donald Trump’s Manhattan home loom large. City Comptroller Scott Stringer spoke exclusively with Kramer about the problem.
Trump promised to make America great again, but many small business operators in the area said the Trump security bubble is making it hard for them to survive. Instead of “great,” they will settle for keeping their heads above water.
“Business has dropped like 45 percent,” said Patricia Spuri, owner of the Carlos Lobo Salon.
At the salon, 46 W. 56th St., the sinks are empty, the styling chairs are vacant, and the hairdressers are sitting on a bench with nothing to do and no clients. It tells the tale of the Trump effect – what has happened to their business since new security measures went into effect to protect the president-elect and his family down the street.
“We do a lot of tourists, you know, so then the tourists are avoiding these streets,” Spuri said.
The salon is just one of 50 businesses surveyed by Stringer in the Trump Tower area – from 53rd Street to 59th Street and from Park Avenue to Sixth Avenue.
Stringer’s survey provides the first real glimpse of how a wide swath of small businesses are faring in the new security environment.
“The bike store; the barbershop; a small pizza shop – what people are forgetting is the people who work in these stores – even the big stores – are average New Yorkers who are struggling,” Stringer said. “How are they going to get their salaries; their raises; their holiday bonuses if the business is not coming into the stores?”
The comptroller found that 80 percent of businesses were impacted. A total of 46 percent said it was severe, and 70 percent reported delayed deliveries and trash problems.
And in really grim news, 27 percent of business operators said they might slash salaries or benefits, 12 percent said they might be forced to lay off workers, and 25 percent said they will have trouble paying rent.
And then there is Jimmie Tanzy, the manager of Allen M Jewelers at 1363 Sixth Ave.
“We’re down probably 70 percent since this happened,” Tanzy said. “Nobody’s walking in on the streets. People are just rushing to get where they are. They’re making it very difficult – if you have a store here, they’re killing us.”
CBS2’s Kramer asked Tanzy about his worst day.
“My worst day was last week,” he said. “I did like $65 (the whole day). It’s like I shouldn’t even open.”
Stringer added: “That’s really incredible in the midst of the Christmas holiday shopping season. Of the small businesses in and around Trump Tower, all of them are really suffering.”
CBS2’s Kramer contacted Trump and Mayor Bill de Blasio for comment, but had not heard back from either late Wednesday.
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Is Parental Engagement Necessary For a Child’s School Success? A Personal Story.
Accountability · Finding the Right School · School Choice
February 20, 2018 March 20, 2018 Alina Adams
Celia Scott Wickham wasn’t just an HHLA board member. She was also my mother-in-law.
On Friday, February 16, 2018, Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School (for those tracking such things, one of NYC’s most diverse public schools at 36 percent White, 30 percent Black, 29 percent Hispanic) dedicated the day to celebrating their neighborhood.
Classrooms were transformed into the Apollo Theater, Lenox Lounge, urban and suburban Harlem, complete with the train that originally ran through it. Students celebrated the various waves of immigrants who took turns settling in Harlem and made historical presentations.
In the multipurpose room, with live music playing, children moved from station to station, getting their faux passports stamped for trying local foods, and learning about various healthy habits and practices.
In one corner, before a giant white cardboard heart covered in pink, yellow and blue sticky notes, was a table set up with stickers and markers. It announced the September 2018 launch of Celia’s Fund.
Celia Scott Wickham was a founding board member of HHLA, who passed away just prior to Thanksgiving 2017.
Celia’s Fund will be supported via a Caregiver Pledge, wherein the goal is to have every HHLA student matched with a parent or other interested adult who will publicly commit to supporting their academic journey, whether by attending a school event, helping the child with their homework, chairing a committee, joining the Parent/Teacher Organization, attending a meeting, or anything else they deem necessary.
The pledge will come with a financial donation of as little as $1 or more, to create a principal’s discretionary fund to help children and families as she sees fit.
HHLA Principal Lindsay Malanga elaborated,
Founding board member Celia Wickham was tirelessly devoted to the building of Harlem Hebrew and one of her top priorities that we continue to reinforce, is ensuring all families feel welcomed in our schools. To achieve this, we offer parents many opportunities to participate in our school community – by volunteering, chaperoning a school trip, or attending an event. As a diverse by design school, Harlem Hebrew has parents from many different cultures and walks of life. As such, parental involvement is encouraged to build a strong community where all cultures are embraced and celebrated. Harlem Hebrew holds various events and meetings for parents to come together and have their voices heard, including our monthly Diversity Talk series, a monthly coffee chat with the Head of School and regular Family Fun days. To accommodate parents of all faiths, we hold these meetings on different days and times of the week, so all are able to participate. Furthermore, research shows that strong parent-school partnership boosts school morale and contributes to student success.
But Celia Scott Wickham wasn’t just an HHLA board member. She was also my mother-in-law.
Let me tell you a little something about Celia Wickham:
In the 1970s, Celia Wickham was living in Harlem, the mother of three young children. She found the local public schools unacceptable. (Her husband had migrated up from Virgina, and still lamented losing the all-Black schools of his youth to integration. Find out why here.)
Unwilling to accept status quo, she battled to get her daughter and youngest son into Hunter College Elementary, the state-funded school for the gifted that even parents who swear they will only send their children to public schools are willing to make an exception for, as well as spend thousands of dollars on test prep.
This even after the woman who tested her son for admission asked, genuinely perplexed, “How can a child like this know so much?”
“He watches a lot of Sesame Street,” Celia snapped.
Celia was involved in her children’s education, and, after they grew up, in the education of thousands of other NYC children. She was a Boy Scout troop leader for many Harlem youngsters, including William Anthony Allen, now a NY Democratic District Leader. She served on Community Boards and School boards, and as Chair of Community Directed Ownership, a community empowerment organization.
When my husband complains I do too much, I tell him it’s not my fault he married his mother. And when my children complain that I’m too involved in their education – and the education of NYC’s 1.1 million school children, I tell them to… blame their grandmother.
My own parents cared about my education. But since we didn’t arrive in the US until 1977, they simply didn’t have the resources or the knowledge that Celia did.
Forty-one years later, other families don’t yet know exactly what they can do for their children when it comes to school engagement, or the benefits of involvement.
Starting in September 2018 at HHLA, Celia Scott Wickham’s legacy will be there to help.
Accountability Children of Color Diversity Equity Gifted andTalented Programs Integration Parent Voices Public Charter Schools Public School Choice Student Achievement
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Next Post “As A Parent, You Want to Cry. As A Lawyer, You Want to Sue.” A Special Needs Mom Fights for Her Son’s Inclusion in his Brooklyn School.
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Thinly sliced: Should GrubHub drivers get minimum wage and overtime? No, labor department says
by New Food Economy
Labor News Policy Systems
This is the web version of a list we publish twice-weekly in our newsletter. It comprises the most noteworthy food stories of the moment, selected by our editors. Get it first here.
On your own. What does it mean to work for Grubhub? When you drop off food at someone’s house, are you merely enlisting the app to help hungry couch potatoes use your individual delivery service? Or are you, clad in a Grubhub uniform, working Grubhub-appointed hours, and serving specific Grubhub users, more like an employee, entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay? It’s a question with huge ramifications for the future of the gig economy, and yesterday, the Department of Labor chimed in on the issue with a public letter. Spoiler: It’s not good for workers.
Zero-carb(on). The state of California is about to launch a program to verify carbon-neutral restaurants if they add a surcharge to checks that funds farmers adopting environmentally-friendly practices. The Los Angeles Times reports that this first-of-its-kind program already has over two dozen participation pledges, and preliminary feedback from customers who have encountered a carbon-neutral surcharge is promising.
A raisin in the sun. Bought any raisins recently? Neither has anyone else, but Sun-Maid’s new CEO wants to change that. The 38-year-old joined the company on Halloween of 2017 and promptly encountered an industry full of old timers who openly joked about illegal business tactics. A year and a half, several death threats, and a small coup later, he thinks he’s brought the “raisin mafia” over to his side, The New York Times reports.
Cheese police. Italian regulators are trying to crack down on knock-off versions of food tied to their country’s culinary identity. In particular, they’re scouring the internet for fake Parmigiano-Reggiano dealers, and reporting them on the e-commerce sites where they appear. In the EU, the only cheese allowed to be sold as parmesan is from specially-designated regions in Italy, including the provinces of Parma and Regio. Outside the EU, things get lawless—and that’s where the cheese cops come through. Italy’s efforts raise a timeless question: Can historic foods be replicated outside the region they’re from? Washington Post has the story.
Food for a warming world. The New York Times food section this week is devoting its coverage to climate change, and Kim Severson has a status update on 11 foods grown around the country. As we’ve reported in the past, Michigan’s tart cherries are under siege by the spotted wing drosophila. And Florida’s watermelon season is inching closer and closer to Mexico’s, putting a squeeze on the labor pool. Also on our reading list: Melissa Clark on seaweed, arguably the most climate-friendly plant we can eat.
Labor, News, Policy, SystemsDeliveryDepartment of Laborgig economyGrubhubthinly sliced
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No overtime, no workers’ comp for Grubhub drivers, says California judge
Last mileLast mile
GrubHub’s first employee wants to topple its empire
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Restaurants to eaters: Please, for the love of god, stop using Seamless
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Oil Drilling News
$65 million deal to protect Congo’s forests raises concerns
by John C. Cannon 14 October 2019
On Sept. 3, the Republic of Congo secured a stream of funding aimed at protecting forests and peatlands. The signatures of French President Emmanuel Macron and Congolese President Denis Sassou…
Congo government opens Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park to oil exploration
by John C. Cannon 18 July 2019
The government of the Republic of Congo has, according to its own maps, opened up new areas for oil exploration in sections of the world’s largest peatlands and Nouabalé-Ndoki National…
Brazil green-lights oil prospecting near important marine park
by Thais Borges 31 May 2019
The president of Brazil’s environmental regulatory agency has decided to ignore the recommendations of his own environmental team and authorize the auction of seven oil blocks located in highly sensitive…
Ecuador’s isolated indigenous tribes: Stuck between oil and state neglect
by Isabela Ponce 24 May 2019
This story originally appeared on Mongabay Latam as part of a special series on threats facing isolated indigenous peoples in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela. Other stories in the series…
Peru’s first autonomous indigenous gov’t strikes back against deforestation
by Marcio Pimenta 18 April 2019
PUERTO GALILEA, Peru — In 2009, special decrees signed by then-president Alan García opened up vast swaths of Peruvian indigenous territory to resource exploitation. Indigenous groups in the northern portion of…
Indigenous group sues Ecuador for earmarking its land for oil drilling
by Kimberley Brown 5 March 2019
PUYO, Ecuador — An indigenous community in Ecuador has filed a lawsuit against the government for failing to consult with it before putting its territory up for sale to the…
With no oil cleanup in sight, Amazon tribes harvest rain for clean water
by Dan Collyns 27 December 2018
LAGO AGRIO, Ecuador — Nemonte Nenquimo covers her face and squeezes her eyes shut as a pungent whiff of petroleum hits. She’s digging with a pole into an unmarked lagoon…
Madagascar auctioning a large swath of virgin waters for oil exploration
by Edward Carver 14 December 2018
At an oil industry event in Houston in September, representatives of Madagascar’s government went into auctioneer mode. Their message: “Let the bidding commence!” They had traveled to Texas to announce…
Brazilian regulators deny French oil giant Total license to drill near Amazon Reef
by Mongabay.com 11 December 2018
Brazil’s environmental regulatory agency, Ibama, announced last Friday that it was denying French oil company Total license to drill for oil near the Amazon Reef. The reef system, discovered off…
Trump Admin moves closer to authorizing oil and gas exploration off the Atlantic coast
by Mongabay.com 30 November 2018
The Trump Administration announced today that it will issue five Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHAs) for airgun blasting off the Atlantic coast. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stated:…
Whales and dolphins change the way they communicate in a noisy ocean
by Mongabay.com 26 October 2018
Noise from ships changes the way that whales and dolphins communicate with each other, according to two studies published this week. Marine biologists know that an increasingly cacophonous ocean, filled…
Climate leadership means keeping fossil fuels in the ground in tropical forests and beyond (commentary)
by Leila Salazar-López 7 September 2018
Protecting tropical forests is key to mitigating climate change. When California Governor Jerry Brown convenes the Global Climate Action Summit next week, he should seize the opportunity to make an…
DRC set to reclassify national parks for oil, open rainforest to logging
by John Vidal 19 July 2018
Concern is mounting for the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) vast forests and rich wildlife as logging concessions and licenses to explore for oil in protected areas are prepared ahead…
Ecuador: Waorani people map their rainforest to save it
by Daniela Aguilar 6 June 2018
After a 20-minute canoe ride down the Curaray River, past a swamp that leaves her legs caked in mud up to her knees, Obe heads toward a waterfall set amid…
Ecuador: Tribe sees how oil industry affects forest on ‘Toxic Tour’
SUCUMBÍOS PROVINCE, Ecuador — “The land is dead,” says Camilo Pauche as he surveys with consternation the devastation that the oil industry has left in Pacayacu, a village in the Ecuadorian Amazon.…
Documenting the African elephant’s ‘last stand’: Q&A with filmmakers Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson
by John C. Cannon 21 May 2018
“Walking Thunder” can feel like a family trip around the continent of Africa — if your parents were award-winning photographers and explorers. The mesmerizing film about the African elephant by…
Analysis: U.S. call to drill off all coasts, economic and ecological folly?
by Saul Elbein 14 March 2018
The Interior Dept. is holding the biggest oil lease sale ever next week, and trying to extend drilling to all U.S. coasts, but experts say Trump’s plan for “energy dominance” is economically and environmentally flawed.
Ecuador votes to reduce oil exploitation in Yasuní National Park
by Daniela Aguilar 12 February 2018
YASUNÍ NATIONAL PARK, Ecuador — A decisive battle is just beginning for Indigenous peoples and ecologists who have been watching helplessly as state-owned oil company Petroamazonas settles into Yasuní National…
Mesoamerican Reef gets improving bill of health
by Mongabay.com 22 January 2018
A recent report tracking the health of the Mesoamerican Reef indicates that conservation efforts might be helping to turn the tide for the reef itself and the people who depend…
Pope set to visit site of deforestation, indigenous struggle in Peru
Pope Francis will visit one of the Peruvian Amazon’s most threatened regions today, where the leader of the Catholic Church is expected to address escalating deforestation and uncertainty about indigenous…
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Portal IT News
The Weekly Point
By Stanciu Ionut
‘Get ready Russia,’ tweets Trump, missiles ‘will be coming’
“Get ready Russia,” tweeted US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, warning that missiles “will be coming” at Syria in retaliation for this weekend’s alleged chemical weapons attack against civilians in Syria.
While Russia has vowed to shoot down any missiles fired towards its Syrian ally, Trump’s tweet noted that the US missiles will be “nice and new and ‘smart!'”
“You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it,” he wrote, a reference to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The World Health Organization reported that 500 Syrian patients treated after Saturday’s incident in the city of Douma showed signs of suffering from a toxic chemical attack.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry responded to Trump’s threat by saying the US should focus on eliminating internationally recognized terrorist forces in Syria, not the government.
“Smart missiles should fly in the direction of terrorists and not the legitimate government, which for several years has been battling with international terrorism on its territory,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook.
She warned that a US missile strike could destroy evidence of the use of chemical weapons and thus hinder an objective investigation.
Trump said in a second tweet that the US relationship with Russia is “worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War.”
“There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race?” Trump wrote.
Zakharova agreed with Trump’s call to end the arms race, calling it an “excellent idea,” but she said the US should start by eliminating its own chemical weapons.
The Kremlin chimed in with a quip directed at Trump, saying Russia does not engage in “Twitter diplomacy.”
“We stand for serious approaches. We primarily believe that it is important to not take steps that could damage this fragile situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comments carried by state news agency TASS.
Meanwhile, Turkey, a NATO member state that has been rebuilding its relations with Russia after a dispute over Syria two and a half years ago, said the US and Russia were acting like they’re in a “street fight.
“What are they doing? They threaten each other by posting tweets,” Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in Istanbul. “That’s a street fight. They fight like street bullies.”
The US and Russia should remember, as they compete over claims about who has better rockets, that millions of lives are at stake, he said in comments carried by state news agency Anadolu.
US Defence Secretary James Mattis told reporters that the US military was still assessing the situation.
Asked whether the US was ready to conduct a retaliatory strike, Mattis said: “We stand ready to provide military options if they are appropriate as the president determines.”
Upon the threat of attack, the Syrian military has emptied major bases and airfields around the country and put its forces on full alert, said an independent monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A Syrian Foreign Ministry official accused the US of entering into a reckless escalation of the conflict, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. The US “has sponsored and is still sponsoring terrorism in Syria,” the official said.
SANA quoted al-Assad as saying “we should protect our societies against Western plans that are aimed at weakening and dividing.”
Russia’s military said it would deploy military police on Thursday to Douma, the last remaining rebel-held suburb of Syria’s capital, Damascus.
Russia, the main military backer of Syria’s leadership, has called for a thorough investigation into the incident and raised concerns that fighting against the Syrian government could lead to instability in the country.
Alexander Zasypkin, Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon, which neighbours Syria, said in comments carried by the Interfax news agency that Russia would shoot down any US missile launched at Syria and would attack the source of such a launch.
© dpa [11 April 2018]
Categories: World Tags: conflict, military, politics
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© 2018 Portalit.net
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The Progressive® International Motorcycle Shows® Announces 2019/2020 Experiential Tour Attractions Including Workshops, New Ways to Get Attendees on Two Wheels, and Much More
In its 39th year, the world’s largest consumer motorcycle show tour to be more experiential and interactive than ever
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- November 5, 2019 – The Progressive® International Motorcycle Shows® (IMS), the industry leader for connecting powersports’ top brands with enthusiasts and buyers, today announced a stellar lineup of features that will be present across the 2019/2020 IMS tour kicking off this month. Across the eight stops, each show will feature various attractions enabling attendees of all ages and skill sets to interact with the industry, including demo rides and the New Rider Course, as well as DIY workshops in Vintage, the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show, fresh new lifestyle brands debuting in SHIFT, and exciting new gear and parts in the Marketplace, among much more.
If interested in attending for free as press, please register at motorcycleshows.com/press .
“Beyond showcasing the industry’s highly anticipated new bikes and gear, a main focus of our upcoming tour is the evolution of our popular interactive and experiential show attractions,” said Tracy Harris, Senior Vice President, IMS. “Following the great success we saw from the debut of our Discover the Ride initiative last tour, which had nearly 7K participants in its first year, we’re looking forward to bringing new experiential features to each of our shows, making for a more immersive and dynamic experience.”
SHOW ATTRACTIONS:
Discover the Ride
Geared toward introducing non-riders and children to two-wheels, as well as reinforcing the importance of continued training and education to new and experienced riders, Discover the Ride will be back for its second year bringing a variety of attractions to each show. In addition to the attractions listed below, the recently announced extension of Discover the Ride, Next Steps, will provide New Rider Course participants a chance to enter and win a Next Steps course in their market for free.
New Rider Course in Partnership with Zero Motorcycles – The New Rider Course gives non-licensed IMS attendees the opportunity to ride a motorcycle for the first time on an indoor demo course while learning riding basics from expert Total Control Training instructors. A fleet of speed limited electric Zero Motorcycles will give participants the experience of riding a motorcycle in a safe and controlled environment after participants have shown the ability to balance on Yamaha electric power assist bicycles. For extra safety measures, gear will be provided by Cycle Gear.
Kids Zone – The Kids Zone, in partnership with Stacyc, will feature a closed course of battery assisted balance bikes for children to experience riding for the first time. Participants will have the option to ride the balance bikes with or without the addition of a speed limited electric motor. Stop by The Kids Zone to watch the next generation of riders experience the thrill of two wheels.
NewTo2 – NewTo2, a program that serves to educate new riders on the world of motorcycling, will feature influential industry rider hosts in each market who will answer questions, share tips, and serve as resources for new riders on how they can get more involved in motorcycling after leaving IMS. NewTo2 also provides an online catalogue of educational videos geared specifically toward non-riders. Visit www.newto2.com to check out the videos.
Dyno Experience – This feature gives IMS attendees the opportunity to get on a real motorcycle that is securely mounted to a dyno to experience starting a motorcycle, engaging the clutch and shifting through the gears, while feeling the torque of the motorcycle with the guidance of an expert. Throughout the tour, intro and new rider motorcycles will be available from Harley-Davidson, Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha for participants to become familiar with.
XDL Wheelie Experience – This wildly popular feature is for riders who want to test their wheelie skills in a controlled environment, while improving their balance and throttle skills with the help of XDL stunt pros. It also provides riders the opportunity to experience the exhilarating torque of Zero Motorcycles that have not been governed to reduce power for the New Rider Course.
Stunt Show
Expanding their presence beyond the XDL Wheelie Experience, XDL is bringing their XDL Street Jam Live Action Stunt Show to the tour’s Dallas, Denver, Washington DC, and Minneapolis stops, where America's top Street Bike Freestyle athletes will display their freestyle talents in the form of Wheelies, Stoppies, and high speed action right in the middle of the show floor. XDL Street Jam will have attendees cheering in disbelief as XDL's athletes push what is possible on one and two wheels in this family friendly 20-minute feature.
Attendees of the Long Beach show will have the added opportunity to test ride a number of new motorcycles outside via the new Demo Rides feature. New BMW, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Indian, Kawasaki, and Yamaha motorcycles will be onsite for licensed attendees to experience the thrill of gas-powered bikes right outside the Long Beach Convention Center. For unlicensed attendees, Giant Bicycles, the world’s largest producer of high-quality bikes, will be demoing the company’s advanced E-bikes outside as well.
An IMS staple, Vintage will be returning to each market enabling attendees to get up close and personal with the very best classic and retro-style motorcycles from vintage bike clubs across the country, such as the rare 1929 BMW 736cc R63 and 1982 Ducati 600SL Pantah, that will be featured in Long Beach. New to this year’s tour, Vintage will be hosting DIY workshops teaching attendees the tips and tricks of maintaining and renovating a bike with topics covering winterization, how to adjust and lubricate chains, break flushing, oil changes, and more.
Adventure Out!
Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR) is hosting the Adventure Out! space in which members of the BDR organization and volunteers will mingle with visitors, answer questions and give presentations on two-wheel exploration, adventure motorcycling for new riders, and an exclusive preview of the soon to be released North East Backcountry Route (NEBDR). Beyond receiving firsthand information about the highly-anticipated 1,400-mile, backcountry tour of the Northeast Region up to the Canadian border, attendees can hop a leg over an adventure bike, put on a pair of VR goggles, and fully immerse themselves in the BDR Virtual Reality experience encompassing fresh 360° point of view footage from the NEBDR filming expedition.
In addition to featuring leading brands in the adventure and touring segments, popular adventure riders – including world renowned ADV instructor, world traveler, and all around motorcycle guru Bret Tkacs (*attending Long Beach, New York, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Chicago) and Paul Pelland (*attending Dallas, Washington D.C., and Denver), also known as Longhaulpaul, a motivational speaker who has devoted his life to raising awareness and funds for Multiple Sclerosis and the holder of three world records for riding – will serve as guest speakers sharing stories about their experiences on two wheels.
Media partner Rider Magazine will also be in Adventure Out! providing attendees complimentary copies of Rider’s most recent publication as a source for touring, travel, and adventure on 2-wheels, in addition to showing attendees great places to ride from the pages of their Favorite Rides and Destinations issues.
J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show
Celebrating its tenth consecutive year, the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show (UBCBS), the largest and one of the most sought-after touring custom bike competitions in the nation, will hit every market featuring beautiful, one-of-a-kind custom bikes from local builders. This year’s categories include Custom Street Class, Custom Classic, People’s Choice, Best Chopper, Best Cafe/Trakker, Best Bobber, and Best Bagger. Judged by a panel of industry experts, winners in every city along the IMS tour will be invited to compete in the championship round in Chicago for a chance to be crowned “King of the Builders.”
Presented by Cycle Gear, the Marketplace will provide a one stop shop for all of the latest motorcycle parts, accessories and equipment from many of the leading brands in the industry including Arai, Arlen Ness, Bridgestone, Cycle Gear, Heidenau, HJC, K&N, Liqui Moly, Michelin Tires, National Cycle, Shark, Shoei Safety Helmet Corporation, and Yuasa.
SHIFT at IMS
SHIFT, a motorcycle-lifestyle inspired space to explore, shop, and socialize, will host a diverse selection of brands that are both new and known to the industry, many of which play across multiple channels and all of which offer a fresh prospective about life on two wheels and beyond. New to the space will be Revzilla, showcasing and selling premium brands.
To learn more about the Progressive® International Motorcycle Shows® Tour, please visit: motorcycleshows.com.
Connect with IMS (#RidersUnite):
Audrey Uchimoto, (310) 496-9423, IMSPR@ubm.com
Lauren Lloyd, (310) 266-4792, IMSPR@ubm.com
Tam Nguyen, (424) 410-9797, IMSPR@ubm.com
About Progressive® International Motorcycle Shows®
The Progressive® International Motorcycle Shows® offer enthusiasts an all-access pass to the world of motorcycling. Launched in 1982, the tour showcases hundreds of the latest street bikes, dirt bikes, cruisers, scooters, and ATVs for new and experienced riders, and gives enthusiasts the opportunity to check out the latest gear and aftermarket accessories, as well as hours of entertainment. The shows also provide the opportunity for attendees to hop on two wheels via its Discover the Ride initiative designed to introduce riding motorcycles to consumers of all ages in a safe and controlled environment. The Progressive® International Motorcycle Shows® is organized by Informa Markets, which recently acquired UBM to become a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B events and exhibitions organizer in the world. To learn more and for the latest news and information, visit www.informa.com and www.motorcycleshows.com.
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EPM Colombia Remotely Connects with Red Lion Controls to Save Time and Reduce Costs
Red Lion Controls Jan 30, 2014
Red Lion and Facelco Team to Provide Intelligent Network Control for Leading South American Multi-Utility Company
YORK, Pa. – Red Lion Controls, the global experts in communication, monitoring and control for industrial automation and networking, today announced that it has worked with distributor Facelco S.A.S. to provide a remote connectivity solution for Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM) in Colombia, a leading multi-utility and telco company focusing on power generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution, wastewater treatment, aqueducts and telecommunications. The combined Red Lion/Facelco industrial-grade remote connectivity solution provides monitoring and control throughout EPM's power distribution network, helping to save time and reduce costs.
EPM turned to Red Lion and Facelco to enable remote connectivity capabilities for its power distribution infrastructure of reclosers. With multiple locations, the multi-utility company was looking for a flexible solution to monitor and interact with legacy equipment across its distributed network infrastructure. By using a remote connectivity solution that combines Red Lion's Sixnet series industrial RTUs and cellular routers with a network analyzer from Facelco, EPM can seamlessly connect, monitor and control its existing recloser network. This upgrade enables EPM to lower overall total cost of ownership by extending the life of its infrastructure and preserving CAPEX expenditures for other projects.
"The primary benefit for EPM was implementing a solution that would extend the life of its existing recloser network. This remote connectivity solution allowed them to extend the life of existing legacy equipment, which can last 15-20 years, as well as increase control of the network," said Alejandro Arango, engineering director at Facelco. "By working with Red Lion and Facelco, EPM was able to cost-effectively improve network control, maximize availability and protect its network investment."
The remote connectivity solution includes Red Lion IndustrialPro® cellular routers that deliver wireless DNP-3 connectivity to RTUs that act as a controller. This deployment enables EPM to remotely connect and communicate with its power distribution system. In addition, Facelco network analyzers provide real-time diagnostics that allow EPM to proactively respond to conditions to ensure system integrity and network uptime.
"With a number of different types of equipment deployed throughout Colombia, EPM's power distribution system needed to be constantly monitored to ensure customers receive continuous, uninterrupted service," said Stuart Eaton, vice president of CALA sales for Red Lion. "The combined Red Lion/Facelco solution not only ensures the network is running efficiently, it also enables EPM to save time and money by eliminating expensive truck rolls to remote locations."
Power substations and electric, gas and water utilities like EPM require high-speed, high-capacity networks that enable real-time access to critical information regardless of location. Red Lion's industrial automation and networking solutions improve productivity and reliability by providing customers the ability to seamlessly connect, monitor and control operations. For more information, visit www.redlion.net/together or email info@redlion.net.
About Red Lion Controls
As the global experts in communication, monitoring and control for industrial automation and networking, Red Lion has been delivering innovative solutions for more than forty years. Our award-winning technology enables companies worldwide to gain real-time data visibility that drives productivity. Product brands include Red Lion, N-Tron and Sixnet. With headquarters in York, Pennsylvania, the company has offices across the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe. For more information, please visit www.redlion.net/together. Red Lion is a Spectris company.
Tracy Courtemanche
Red Lion Global Marketing
+1 (717) 767-6961 x6915
pr@redlion.net
www.redlion.net
Web Site: http://better.redlion.net
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Raising of the flag begins 7 days of Kwanzaa celebration
By Jay Moran • Dec 26, 2019
Holiday celebrations continue Thursday in the City of Buffalo with the start of Kwanzaa.
The Kwanzaa flag is raised in Niagara Square in 2018.
Credit File Photo / WBFO News
Mayor Byron Brown will raise the flag at noon in Niagara Square, marking the beginning of the 53rd annual Kwanzaa celebration. This year's theme is "The Afrikan Man, The Original Man In Full Effect."
Patricia Alinda Elliott, chair of the Buffalo Kwanzaa Committee, shared her thoughts on Kwanzaa.
"Kwanzaa is everything. Kwanzaa is love. Kwanzaa ia peace," she said. "Kwanzaa is being unified in everything that you do. Kwanzaa is knowing for sure that you can be everything that you were created to be. Because we're Africans and we have African ingenuity."
The raising of the Liberation Flag serves as the kickoff for seven days of events and ceremonies to celebrate family, community and culture. A complete list can be found here.
Proclamations declaring Kwanzaa week in Toronto and Brampton a first for Canada
By Nick Lippa • Dec 27, 2018
Nick Lippa / WBFO
Kwanzaa, the seven-day holiday that celebrates family, community, and culture from African and African-American origins, started Wednesday. Buffalo began celebrations by raising the Black Liberation Flag in Niagara Square. In Canada, there are two proclamations declaring Kwanzaa week in Toronto and Brampton.
Buffalo's Kwanzaa celebration moves to new home
By Mike Desmond • Dec 28, 2018
Buffalo's annual Kwanzaa celebration moves to a new location Friday night. The third night - "Ujima," Collective Work and Responsibility - shifts to Ujima Theater in the former School 77 at 429 Plymouth Ave., the theater company's new home.
The plan is for an evening of arts, entertainment and cultural activism in the new base for PUSH Buffalo.
Kwanzaa Committee Member Venetta Tashika Rhodes-Osi saidpolitical figures often show up on the Ujima evening.
Kwanzaa celebrations begin in Buffalo, beginning with "unity"
By Michael Mroziak • Dec 26, 2017
Michael Mroziak, WBFO
A seven-day celebration by the African-American community got underway in downtown Buffalo during the noon hour Tuesday. The raising in Niagara Square of the red, black and green Pan-African flag, also referred to as the Black Liberation flag, marked the local festivities marking Kwanzaa.
WBFO's Michael Mroziak reports.
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Michigan State WR Cody White says he's entering draft
Associated Press January 10, 2020
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State receiver Cody White said Friday he's forgoing his senior season and entering the 2020 NFL draft.
White made the announcement on social media.
“After a tough decision, I have decided to pursue my lifelong dream of playing in the NFL,” White said in a message posted on his Twitter account.
White was Michigan State's leading receiver this season, finishing with 66 catches for 922 yards and six touchdowns.
In three seasons, he caught 143 passes for 1,967 yards and 12 TDs for the Spartans.
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Respect. Honor. Remember
To inspire all citizens to value law enforcement.
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The Museum is an initiative of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a [501(c)(3)] organization established in 1984. Visit LawEnforcementMuseum.org.
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Hover over or click on a state to view fatalities. States in dark red have fatalities.
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This year, the names of 371 officers killed in the line of duty have been added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
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Sign up to receive the latest news and information on events from the Memorial!
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Tour the Memorial
Any time of the year, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is a beautiful – and historically significant – place to visit. The Memorial’s walls are filled with law enforcement heroes who, while not always household names, played important roles in U.S. history nonetheless. Officers such as:
J.D. Tippit of the Dallas (TX) Police Department, who stopped and was gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963, just minutes after Oswald had shot President John F. Kennedy. Officer Tippit’s actions helped lead to Oswald’s capture a short time later.
James W. Bell, Robert Beckwith, James Carlysle, George Hindman, Robert Olinger and Sheriff William Brady – all murdered between 1878 and 1881 by William H. Bonney, the notorious outlaw known as “Billy the Kid.”
The 72 brave men and women who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 – the deadliest day in U.S. law enforcement history.
Learn about these and other law enforcement heroes during your visit to the Memorial. The Memorial is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. There is no charge to visit the Memorial.
Finding Names on the Memorial
The names of the fallen officers are engraved on the Memorial walls each year in random order for the most part. To help visitors find the names of specific officers, directories are placed at each of the four entrance points. The directory lists names in alphabetical order and by state, federal and U.S. territory agencies. Each name is associated with a panel and line number. Panels on the west (W) and east (E) walls are numbered from 1 to 64 (the panel number is engraved at the bottom of each panel). Line 1 is at the top of each panel; count down to locate the line you are looking for. For example, Panel 20-W, Line 16 refers to the 16th line on the 20th panel of the west wall.
Visitors are encouraged to use the paper and pencils provided in the directory stands to do rubbings of fallen officers’ names.
Each of the four pathway entrances to the Memorial walls is adorned with a powerful statuary grouping of an adult lion protecting its cubs. Sculpted by Raymond Kaskey, the statues symbolize the protective role of our law enforcement officers and convey the strength, courage and valor that are the hallmarks of those who serve. Each adult lion figure weighs approximately 2,500 pounds.
Self-guided tour. Visitors are encouraged to pick up a Memorial brochure in one of the four directory stands at the site. The brochure includes a fold-out map with a self-guided walking tour of some of the highlights of the Memorial. A Memorial Fund staff member is often on site during regular business hours to help answer questions.
Virtual Tour. Take a 360-degree virtual tour of the Memorial.
Please note: The virtual tour has not been updated since the completion of the National Law Enforcement Museum.
Group tour. The Memorial Fund offers free group tours of the Memorial, led by knowledgeable staff or volunteers. Tours can provide both general highlights and information specific to your community or agency.
Note: group tours are not available on the weekends.
Group Tours Request Form
To schedule a group tour of the Memorial, please complete the form below or call 202.737.3400.
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HomeEvents（イベント）
Translation/Interpreting Events (General)
Rikkyo University Translation/Interpreting News/Events
Millennium Translation Group (MTG) Events
29th August 2016 – 3rd September 2016
2016 MTG Summer Translation Programme
Kick-start or further your career as a professional commercial or literary translator!
(Translate an Extract from an Akutagawa Prize Winning Book under the guidance of Professional Translators and the Author, Haruhiko Yoshimeki)
Programme Overview:
This Japanese-to-English translation programme is part of a movement to further understanding about how to equip Japanese-English language specialists with strategic and interpersonal skills/knowledge necessary to be able to pursue or enhance their careers as professional translators. The programme follows the ISO 17100 translation workflow and is informed by theory from the fields of translation, education, business and psychology. Over a period of 6 days, you will individually and collaboratively translate an extract from Yoshimeki Haruhiko’s Akutagawa Prize winning book, Sekiryōkōya under the guidance of the two programme tutors and the author, Yoshimeki Haruhiko, all of whom are university educators and experienced translators. The course is free for all participants who are willing to participate in the practice-based research project that underpins it.
*Organizers plan to take a sample of outstanding translations produced over the duration of the course to a publisher for discussion.
When and where will this programme be held?
This programme is brought to you in collaboration with Yasuda Women’s University. It will be held:
From Monday 29th August 2016 ~ Saturday 3rd September 2016 (Note: An optional welcome party will be held in the evening on Sunday 28th August)
At Yasuda Women’s University, 6-13-1, Yasuhigashi, Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima 731-0153. JAPAN (For details about how to access the campus, see: http://www.yasuda-u.ac.jp/en/access.html)
Who is this programme for?
Japanese-English language specialists* based in Japan or abroad who are:
Interested in kick-starting or enhancing their careers as professional commercial or literary translators (*Publication opportunity for outstanding participants); and
Willing to participate in the practice-based research project that underpins the programme.
*The term Japanese-English language specialists is used in this context to refer to:
Native speakers of English with N1 or N2 Japanese Language Proficiency (JLPT), or
Native speakers of Japanese with fluent or near fluent English language skills (e.g. TOEIC 850+).
What can you expect to learn on this programme?
After completing the programme, you should have an understanding about:
What a professional translation workflow (translation quality process) is—phases and objectives of each phase;
Why teams of professional translators collaborate in translation workflows;
How many team members to collaborate with in a translation workflow to be able to produce a translation that satisfies the needs/expectations of stakeholders (client, author, target audience);
What qualities each team member should have;
What role(s) each team member can perform;
What role you are best suited to performing;
How long it takes to complete a translation to professional standards;
How much to charge a client for a translation produced to professional standards; and
What measures you can take to operationalize your translation team’s collective intelligence–
How to facilitate higher levels of intragroup functional conflict while mitigating intragroup/intrapersonal dysfunctional conflict.
Who are the programme tutors?
John McLean: John is an associate professor of translation studies at Yasuda Women’s University in Hiroshima, Japan. He has more than 10 years experience as a Japanese-English professional translator/interpreter and translation/interpreting project manager. He is currently preparing to lead a team of Japanese-English interpreters at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Makoto Miyagawa McLean: Makoto is an adjunct professor at Hiroshima City University and Graduate School. She has more than 10 years experience as a Japanese-English professional translator.
Who is the guest speaker / source text author?
Yoshimeki Haruhiko: Haruhiko is an accomplished author. He is best known in Japan for his book, Sekiryōkōya, which won the 109th (1993) Akutagawa Prize and was made into the movie, Yukie. He is a professor of Japanese literature at Yasuda Women’s University in Hiroshima, Japan.
What is the objective of the research project that underpins this programme?
As with any group activity, interpersonal disputes and differences of opinion are inevitable. However, while these differences—henceforth referred to as conflict—are fundamental to both the improvement of a translation and translation team members’ development of strategic and interpersonal skills and knowledge, they can also negatively impact:
Team members’ agency—“willingness and ability to act” (Kinnunen & Koskinen, 2010, p. 6); and
Team performance—the team’s ability to produce a translation that meets stakeholders’ needs/expectations.
Working within a theoretical framework of social interdependence theory, this exploratory research aims to further understanding about how to:
Identify interpersonal conflict, intrapersonal conflict, and conflict management strategies in translation teams collaborating in a professional translation workflow (ref. ISO 17100) that employs measures to enhance group functioning; and
Assess the impact of conflict on team members’ agency and team performance.
Before deciding whether to participate in this programme and research project, please take time to read this Participant Information Sheet.
What exactly will you do on this programme?
Click on this link to see a provisional Timetable.
More information will be available soon!
What do you have to do in preparation for this programme?
All participants need to purchase a copy of the source text, Yoshimeki Haruhiko’s Sekiryōkōya before the programme commences on 29th September 2016.
Advice: If time permits, draft a translation of the first 10 pages before the programme commences.
How much does it cost to register for this programme?
This programme is free if you are willing to participate in the research project that underpins it.
What about access, accommodation, food and drink?
Participants are responsible for organizing and paying for their own transportation to and from the venue and for their own accommodation, food, and drinks during the programme:
Yasuda is approximately 20 minutes by Astramline from downtown Hiroshima (see: http://www.yasuda-u.ac.jp/en/access.html)
As this programme is underpinned by a research project, for ethical reasons, food and drink will not be provided free of charge. However, one of Yasuda’s convenience stores will be open until 3 p.m. on weekdays throughout the duration of the programme.
2016 MTG Summer Translation Programme Application Form:
Most Recent University(required)
Course of Study(required)
Which of the following best describes you?(required) I am an Undergraduate Student
I am a Postgraduate Student
I am a Japan Studies Alumni
I am a Japan Studies Faculty Member
I am an Experienced Translator/Interpreter or Japanese-English Language Specialist
Japanese Proficiency Native Speaker of Japanese
Other: Equivalent to N1
Other: Close to N2
English Proficiency Native Speaker of English
TOEIC 950+
TOEIC 900-945
Other: Equivalent to TOEIC 850+
Reason for Applying for this Programme:
Are you willing to participate in the research project that underpins this programme? Yes
Deadline for Applications:
Kinnunen, T., & Koskinen, K. (2010). Introduction. In T. Kinnunen & K. Koskinen (Eds.), Translators’ agency (pp. 4-10). Tampere Studies in Language, Translation and Culture. Series B 4. Tampere: Tampere University Press.
Millennium Translation Group Past Events
第1回：翻訳者養成集中講座
(大学生対象英日翻訳プロジェクト)
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The Multiversity Project
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With the rise of the internet, the ideological melting pot of the 20th century has gone on methamphetamine: diversity of belief has exploded, alongside ideological polarization. In the 21st century city, it's not uncommon to see black bloc, neo-nazis, vegans and carnivores living in the same apartment complex.
In this age of ideological variety, figuring out what to believe can be bewildering. Our strategy: creating conversation across reality tunnels, whether that conversation be debate, discussion, or reflection within a single mind. Our tactics: bridging the “old way” of academia, books and the intellectual cannon with the “new way” of internet culture and the Millennial perspective. In doing so, we create new links across both space and time, thereby catalyzing denser and richer networks of thought and actions.
We believe this process is crucial to navigating the disorienting times we live in, and in building the zeitgeist of tomorrow.
Is Veganism really two separate arguments?
By Arielle Friedman | November 12, 2019
Veganism is gaining traction in the world as a powerful moral argument. But is it really two arguments? This article explores the idea that veganism is actually two arguments, depending on what you make of the health claims.
Limitless Creativity: Always Find What To Write
By Kurt Robinson | September 5, 2019
Sometimes people tell me that they’d like to start writing, but they don’t know where to begin. The answer is…
How to Lucid Dream in a Week
By Arielle Friedman | September 4, 2019
A comprehensive, step-by-step guide to learning how to lucid dream in a week’s time—covers DILD, WILD and MILD types of lucid dreams.
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noorslist Dajjal, Deception, Environment, Fukushima, Health, Nuclear Diaster, Radiation, War is Peace Arny Gundersen, Dahr Jamail, fukushima, fukushima map, Gundersen, japan, japan radiation, jet stream, microsieverts, microsieverts/hour., nuclear, nuclear cores exposed, nuclear disaster in fukushima, nuclear exposure, nuclear fuel rods, nuclear rods, radiation, radiation effects, radiation jet stream, radiation level, radiation level at fukushima, Radiation Level Map of North America, radiation level maps, radiation levels interactive, radiation readings, Radiation readings in Japan Map, TEPCO, tepco lies 1 Comment
This chart provides an excellent explanation of the dangers of radiation exposure. There are also several links to radiation level maps in Japan and related videos.
Radiation Effects Fukushima Japan
Radiations Monographie Effets sante valeurs millisieverts mSv Japon
The Wall Street Journal was providing an excellent interactive map of radiation levels in Japan up until April 2011 and then stopped reporting further details. Wonder why?
A map of citizen measured radiation levels shows radioactivity is distributed in a complex pattern reflecting the mountainous terrain and the shifting winds across a broad area of Japan north of Tokyo which is in the center of the of bottom of the map. Radiation limits begin to be exceeded at just above 0.1 microsieverts/ hour blue. Red is about fifty times the civilian radiation limit at 5.0 microsieverts/hour. Because children are much more sensitive than adults, these results are a great concern for parents of young children in potentially affected areas.
Radiation readings in Japan Map
Radiation Level Map of North America
Radiation Map of North America
Real time World Map of Jet Stream
Jet Stream Map
List of Radiation And Jet Stream Forecast Monitoring Sites around the World courtesy of Rense.com
Fukushima radiation nuclear fallout map
Fukushima Japan radiation testing
The United States of Usury and the Takedown of the World Financial System – Oops!
noorslist Banking, Consumerism, Debt, Environment, Food, Health, Interest, Usury alex, Alex Jones, criminal fraud, fake, federal reserve, federal reserve system, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure gate, foreclosures, fraud, free market fraud, free markets, gold, jones, keiser, keiser report, mafia, max keiser, mortgages, physical gold, physical silver, silver, subprime mortgages, Takedown, United States of Usury, Usury Leave a comment
The United States of Usury and the Takedown of the World Financial System. Reminds a line from the Britney Spears song – Oops I did it again!
How many more insults will the world serfs take? The United States of Usury is being used and manipulated to bring down the entire world financial system. You have to wonder if Bernake and Obama are actually trying to “fix” things or if they are actually there to put the “fix in”. These agents of destruction need to be recognized and outed for what they really are. The United States of Usury is a fake economy, built on a fiat currency, run on the a financial model called fraud by the Federal Reserve. God help us all for the coming storm and serfdom…
Protect yourself – buy physical gold and silver, pray, eat healthy foods, exercise, read, become self-sufficient, stop buying garbage at the malls, and prepare.
More lucid commentary by Max Kesier
Max Keiser on Alex Jones
John Perkins and the Confessions of an Economic Hitman
Window Farms
Death from Epidemics – Islamic view
noorslist Environment, Epidemics, Flu, Health, History, Quran epidemics, flu, islamic view of flu, swine flu, SWINE FLU EPIDEMIC, vaccine, vaccines Leave a comment
The Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) declared, as only a true Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) could declare, that “death from epidemic is martyrdom for every Muslim” (Sahīh Bukhāri). A Muslim is here defined as anyone who has declared belief in the One God, i.e., the God of our father Abraham (‘alaihi al-Salām). That One God created both the male and the female, but is neither male nor female. Anyone who worships a man (or woman) or a God who appeared as a man (or woman), would be guilty of blasphemy and, unless he or she now repents, would pay a terrible price on Judgment Day for such blasphemy.
It was in consequence of that assurance of martyrdom for those who have faith in Allah Most High, that the Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) could give an order that would today evoke the envy of governments: “If you hear of an epidemic outbreak in a land, do not enter it; but if it breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place”(Sahīh Bukhāri). It should be clear that obedience of the Prophet’s (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) command would effectively quarantine the epidemic and eventually contain it and prevent its spread to other places.
Read the entire article by Imran Hosein
The $475,000 dog house
noorslist Banking, Consumerism, Debt, Environment, Real Estate, Shopping cat, cats, cats and dogs, dog, dog culture, dog day afternoon, dog house, dogs, fido, interest rate, kitten, pet, pets, real esate, Real Estate collapse, real estate market, vanity 1 Comment
The $475,000 dog house is but one sign of what went wrong with our own late, great Guilded Age of architecture
The recent era of egregious consumer and corporate excess, now crashing down around our ears, is leaving behind many architectural reminders of itself. But for sheer egregiousness, few will ever beat a new residence being built near the English town of Cirencester.
It’s a $475,000 dog house.
Designed by British architect Andy Ramos, this residence will shelter a pair of Great Danes belonging to a surgeon, whose own luxurious house is to be constructed nearby.
The kennel details, as reported by the London-based Mail on Sunday newspaper, are fascinating.
(ANDY RAMOS, ARCHITECT, NINIAN CARTER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
The three-room dog house (two bedrooms and a lounge) will be outfitted with temperature-controlled sheepskin beds, a spa, an expensive hi-fi system, and a 52-inch plasma television set.
A retina scan at the entrance will enable the owner to keep out dogs who might try to pay unauthorized visits to the Great Danes. Closed-circuit TV cameras will provide the owner with round-the-clock surveillance of the dogs’ comings and goings between their house and their adventure playground.
A spokesman for the exclusive real estate development where the dog house will stand told The Mail: “People can design their own homes and this is a bit eccentric but it’s really nice that someone appreciates their pets as much as this lady does. She’s designed their quarters with all their needs at the fore.”
It would be easy, of course, to laugh off Mr. Ramos’s dog house as another folly of the extravagant age we live (or lived) in, then forget about the matter. If, that is, the pooch palace were merely an isolated architectural instance of some rich person’s silliness. It’s not.
Since the outset of the financial boom late in the last century, the landscapes of city and country (and the pages of the architecture magazines) have been littered with over-the-top residential extravaganzas that, despite their usually huge, overscaled size, are very often puny in artistic inspiration and ambition. The dog house is one example. There are many others.
But look-at-me, ostentatious bloat is only one part of the problem. There’s the issue of our period style, which has largely been a kind of imitative bombast.
Instead of encouraging innovative solutions to the old problem of housing, nouveau-riche clients in Britain and North America put architects to work designing lifeless, inflated pastiches of country homes in Georgian, French provincial or some other supposedly “aristocratic” manner. Everything got recycled into the new rural products — ponderous columns, architraves and pediments and entablature and the other bric-a-brac of classicism — but the results rarely sang with the elegance and flair of the originals.
Hitting the cities, the impact of this parody of ye-olde styles has been especially unfortunate. Take a drive through Toronto’s Forest Hill or York Mills or any other well-off neighbourhood in the city to see what I’m talking about. Hulking monster homes mar the streetscapes of modest Edwardian buildings (in Forest Hill) or spacious, mid-20th-century bungalows (in York Mills).
Massive, pretentious facades cobbled from remnants in the Tudor or Elizabethan or Georgian scrapyard glower out at pleasant streets that ask to be lined (and were, at least until the monster houses began to intrude) by far more retiring residences.
But if the latter-day crop of millionaires and billionaires have turned out to be aficionados of the overblown, it’s not possible to draw a necessary connection between wealth and bad taste.
The grandees of the old Georgian period (roughly 1714-1830, during the reigns of the British Georges I-IV) patronized the most advanced and intelligent architects of the day, who provided them with magnificent country seats and city mansions.
Frank Lloyd Wright was wildly successful among rich American businessmen, and even the radical Le Corbusier, a few decades later in Europe, found numerous rich private clients for his splendid experiments in residential architecture.
So what went wrong in the Gilded Age of our own century? I think it was a fateful convergence of the enormous growth of personal wealth, a widespread lack of constraint — the same failure of personal discipline and acceptance of limits that has fuelled the current economic crisis — and contempt for the human scale and visual fabric of the city, especially its streetscapes and the rhythms of its ordinary built forms.
This summing-up of the situation is, I know, a minority position, and many will disagree with it. If you think there is nothing wrong with constructing a dog house for half a million dollars, or dropping an ugly Tudor castle-gate on one of Toronto’s quiet Edwardian streets, I certainly could never convince you otherwise. But it may well be that the years of building such things are now over, and I, for one, am not sorry to see them go.
by JOHN BENTLEY MAYS
From Friday’s Globe and Mail
How Farm Subsidies Harm Taxpayers, Consumers, and Farmers, Too
noorslist Consumerism, Debt, Education, Environment, Food, Health, History, Politics agricultural lobby, agricultural production, Agriculture, american corporate welfare, annual subsidies, big business, bovine, Brian M. Riedl, ChevronTexaco, chicago futures, chicken, Consumers, corn, corporate greed, corporate welfare, cotton, cow, cows, crops, David Rockefeller, diaster aid, diaster relief, DISALLOWED MATTERS, ducks umlimited, environmental working group, Europe's farm subsidies, ewg, farm economy, farm lobby, farm myths, Farm Policy, farm production, farmers, farmers income, farming, farming charts, farming myths, farming subsidies, farms, fixed payments subsidy, food costs, food prices, food production, fortune 500, inflation, Japan's farm subsidies, john hancock, ken cook, livestock, livestock subsidies, lobby, monsanto, myths, Pippen, pork, port, Representative John Salazar, rice, Scottie Pippen, Senator Charles Grassley, Senator Gordon Smith, soybeans, supermarkets, taxpayer, Taxpayers, texas farming, The Heritage Foundation, tyler farms, unsubsidized, unsubsidized, urban farmers, us cows, us government subsidies, usa farming, Washington Post, wheat Leave a comment
by Brian M. Riedl
Click here for a chart showing Top 10 Urban ‘Farmers’
This year’s expiration of federal agriculture policies gives Congress an important opportunity to take a fresh look at the $25 billion spent annually on farm subsidies. Current farm policies are so poorly designed that they actually worsen the conditions they claim to solve. For example:
Farm subsidies are intended to alleviate farmer poverty, but the majority of subsidies go to commercial farms with average incomes of $200,000 and net worths of nearly $2 million.
Farm subsidies are intended to raise farmer incomes by remedying low crop prices. Instead, they promote overproduction and therefore lower prices further.
Farm subsidies are intended to help struggling family farmers. Instead, they harm them by excluding them from most subsidies, financing the consolidation of family farms, and raising land values to levels that prevent young people from entering farming.
Farm subsidies are intended to be consumer-friendly and taxpayer-friendly. Instead, they cost Americans billions each year in higher taxes and higher food costs.
Lawmakers would be hard-pressed to enact a set of policies that are more destructive to farmers, taxpayers, and consumers than the current farm policies. For these and other reasons, organizations representing taxpayers, consumers, environmentalists, international trade, Third World countries, and even farmers themselves have united around the shared conclusion that the current farm subsidy system is failing and in dire need of reform during this year’s reauthorization.
A Solution Seeking a Problem
Before delving into the minutiae of farm policy, lawmakers should first determine what subsidies are intended to accomplish. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced farm subsidies in the 1930s, Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace called them “a temporary solution to deal with an emergency.”[1] That emergency was the collapsing farm incomes that afflicted the 25 percent of the population living on farms.
Today, farmers account for just 1 percent of the population, and farm household incomes are well above the national average, making the original justification irrelevant. What modern market failure or social problem is solved by farm programs today? Subsidy advocates offer five flawed justifications.
Myth #1: Farmer poverty.
This is the most common-and provably incorrect-justification. The average farm household earns $81,420 annually (29 percent above the national average); has a net worth of $838,875 (more than eight times the national average); and is located in a rural area with a low cost of living.[2] The farm industry’s current 11.4 percent debt-to-asset ratio is the lowest ever measured and helps to explain why farms fail at only one-sixth the rate of non-farm businesses.[3]
Overall, net farm income totaled $279 billion between 2003 and 2006-the highest four-year total ever.[4] The farm economy is thriving, and farmer incomes are soaring.
Furthermore, farm subsidy formulas are designed to benefit large agribusinesses rather than family farmers. Most farm subsidies are distributed to commercial farmers, who have an average income of $199,975 and an average net worth of just under $2 million.[5] If farm subsidies were really about alleviating farmer poverty, lawmakers could guarantee every full-time farmer an income of 185 percent of the federal level ($38,203 for a family of four) for just over $4 billion annually-one-sixth of the current cost of farm subsidies.[6]
Myth #2: Crop disaster compensation.
While farming can be very profitable, farmers are always one weather disaster away from losing their crops, but this risk can be handled with basic crop insurance rather than with expensive annual government subsidies. Washington does not address homeowners’ risks by writing each family an annual check regardless of whether or not their homes have been damaged.
Giving farmers $25 billion in annual subsidies regardless of whether or not their crops have been damaged is no more logical. Crop insurance markets, as well as futures and options markets, can balance good and bad years in a way that is cost-neutral over the long run.
Myth #3: Maintaining a cheap and stable food supply.
Some contend that food markets would fluctuate wildly without farm subsidies. In reality, food prices of both subsidized and unsubsidized crops are relatively stable. Given that the percentage of family budgets spent on food has dropped from 25 percent to 10 percent since 1933, any potential price instability would have an increasingly small impact on family budgets.[7] Even if price stabilization was necessary, price support programs have largely been replaced by commodity subsidies that stimulate overproduction rather than stabilize prices.
Nor do farm subsidies contribute to lower food costs. Two-thirds of food production is unsubsidized and thus relatively unaffected by subsidies. Of the remaining one-third, price reductions caused by crop subsidies are balanced by conservation programs that raise prices. Furthermore, food prices are based not only on crop prices, but also on food processing, transportation, and marketing costs. Bruce Babcock, professor of economics at Iowa State University, has calculated that eliminating farm subsidies would have virtually no effect on food prices.[8]
Myth #4: National security.
Proponents contend that without subsidies, American farm products would be replaced by imports, leaving the United States dangerously dependent on foreigners for food. However, the United States currently grows more food than it needs to feed itself and exports a quarter of its production.[9] The lack of subsidies has not driven all beef, poultry, pork, fruit, and vegetable production out of America, nor would it drive away production of currently subsidized crops.
Myth #5: Other countries’ agricultural policies.
Europe and Japan’s farm subsidies bring American consumers food at below-market prices. Rather than enact trade barriers to prevent this, Americans should welcome the cheap imports and allow farmers to focus on producing the crops in which the United States has a comparative advantage. Responding with U.S. subsidies and trade barriers has the net effect of raising prices for American consumers and thereby limiting any progress in free-trade negotiations. Australia largely eliminated its farm subsidies in the 1970s, and after a brief adjustment, its farm economy flourished. New Zealand implemented a similar policy in the 1980s with the same result.[10]
Two-thirds of all farm production-including fruit, vegetables, beef, and poultry-thrives despite being ineligible for farm subsidies.[11] If any of the five justifications were valid, these farmers would be impoverished, near bankruptcy, or replaced by imports, and both the supplies and prices of fruit, vegetables, beef, and poultry would fluctuate wildly. Clearly, this has not happened. In this controlled experiment comparing subsidized and unsubsidized crops, the doomsday scenarios described above have not occurred for unsubsidized crops.
The most logical explanation for the persistence of farm subsidies is simple politics. Eliminating a government program is nearly impossible because recipients form interest groups that relentlessly defend their handouts. The public paying the costs is too busy going about their lives to challenge each wasteful program. Furthermore, supporters of farm subsidies often repeat the five justifications, especially the myth that these policies aid struggling family farmers. The difference between perception and reality in farm policy is large.
How Farm Subsidies Lack Economic Sense
Farm subsidies serve no legitimate public purpose. Worse, they harm the farm economy. This section explains both how farm subsidies work and the economic incoherence embedded in U.S. farm policy. (See also the accompanying text box, “How Farm Subsidies Are Calculated.”)
The Main Commodity Programs. Farm policy is extraordinarily complex. This complexity conveniently insulates the farm policymaking process within a small group of lawmakers and interest groups who specialize in the details.
Subsidy eligibility is based on the crop. More than 90 percent of all subsidies go to just five crops-wheat, cotton, corn, soybeans, and rice- while the vast majority of crops are ineligible for subsidies. Once eligibility is established, subsidies are paid per amount of the crop produced, so the largest farms automatically receive the largest checks.
Subsidies are also quite duplicative. The names of the three different commodity subsidies do not adequately describe their purposes:
Marketing loan program. Despite being called a “loan,” this program has the net effect of reimbursing farmers for the difference between a crop’s market price and the minimum level that Congress sets every five to six years.[12]
Fixed payments. Fixed payments are given to farmers based on their farms’ historical production and are unrelated to actual production.
Countercyclical payments. This program functions somewhat similarly to the marketing loan program by subsidizing farmers up to a government-set target price. This rate is higher than the marketing loan rate and therefore represents an additional subsidy.
For farmers who grow the subsidized crop, these policies have the net effect of subsidizing them up from their crop’s market price to its countercyclical price rate, or even higher when the market price is above the countercyclical rate and they receive fixed payments.
Remedying Low Prices with Lower Prices. Farm policy is supposed to help farmers recover income lost because of low crop prices. However, farmers can increase their subsidies by planting additional acres, which increases production and drives prices down further, thereby spurring demands for even greater subsidies. In other words, subsidies merely lower prices. This is the policy equivalent of trying to use gasoline to extinguish a fire.
When the 1996 farm bill increased the marketing loan rate of soybeans from $4.92 to $5.26 per bushel (which meant larger subsidies), farmers responded by planting an additional 8 million acres of soybeans, which contributed to the 33 percent decline in soybean prices over the next two years.[13] Instead of alleviating low soybean prices, the new subsidies accelerated their fall at considerable taxpayer expense. Even the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) admits that subsidy increases have induced farmers to plant millions of new acres of wheat, soybeans, cotton, and corn.[14]
In a free market, low prices serve as an important signal that supply has exceeded consumer demand and that production should shift accordingly. By shielding farmers from low market prices, farm subsidies induce farmers to grow whatever government will subsidize, not what consumers really want. Stephen Houston Jr., a Georgia cotton farmer, recently told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “We’re just playing a game. [Market] prices don’t have anything to do with what we’re doing. We’re just looking at the government payments.”[15]
Contradictory Policies. After handing out commodity subsidies that pay farmers to plant more crops, Washington then turns around and pays other farmers not to farm 40 million acres of cropland each year-the equivalent of idling every farm in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. The Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers to sign 10-year contracts pledging not to farm their land, is often promoted as supporting environmental stewardship. In reality, removing farmland to raise crop prices has been the program’s central long-term justification. Paying some farmers to plant more crops and others to plant fewer crops simply makes no sense.
Ignoring Yields. The illogic does not end there. Businesses calculate their revenues by multiplying the product’s price by the quantity sold. Similarly, farmers calculate per-acre revenues by multiplying the crop price by the yield (crop volume per acre). However, farm subsidy formulas focus only on crop prices and simply plug in a historical yield measure for the quantity.
This makes little sense. Revenues depend as much on the quantity sold as on the price, and these two variables often move in opposite directions. In agriculture, this leads to one of two common scenarios:
Surging yields flood the market with crops and cause prices to drop. Total revenues may increase, yet farmers still receive large subsidies simply because the price fell.
Falling yields lead to crop shortages, pushing up prices. Total revenues may decline sharply, but farmers do not receive subsidies because Washington focuses only on the price increase and assumes that farmers are thriving.
These scenarios are not merely theoretical. The American Farmland Trust has observed that a large drought in 2002 cut many Midwest corn farmers’ yields in half, but many farmers did not receive subsidies because prices did not fall. The opposite situation occurred in 2005 when very large corn yields flooded the market, driving down corn prices and inducing large corn subsidies despite healthy farm revenues.[16] Consequently, Washington often wastes taxpayer dollars by subsidizing farmers when they need it the least.
Subsidizing Both Crop Insurance and Disaster Aid. In 2000, Washington tripled crop insurance subsidies in an effort to eliminate the need for farm disaster payments. The budget-busting 2002 farm bill was also promoted as being large enough to reduce the need for disaster payments.
Yet even with generous farm programs and subsidized crop insurance, Congress has passed a disaster aid bill every year since 2000 at a total cost of $40 billion.[17] Congress has even drafted legislation offering disaster aid to farmers who refuse to purchase crop insurance at taxpayer-financed discounts. With Congress continuing to pass large disaster aid packages, what crop insurance subsidies are really funding is unclear.
The federal crop insurance program currently subsidizes 60 percent of all premiums for the 242 million acres that farmers have enrolled in the program. It is run by 16 private firms that accept federal subsidies but must charge the prices set by Washington. Recently, an insurer that dared to offer farmers a discount was upbraided at a congressional hearing, and Representative Jack Kingston (R-GA) successfully authored legislation to prohibit federal subsidies for that plan.[18]
The program seems to have been designed to aid insurance companies and harm taxpayers. Insurers are allowed to pass high-risk policies on to the government while keeping for themselves the low-risk policies that are likely to be profitable. Consequently, since 1998, the participating companies have earned $3.1 billion in profits, while Washington has lost $1.5 billion. Additionally, since 1998, Washington has paid nearly $20 billion in premium subsidies and more than $6 billion to cover the insurance companies’ administrative costs.
All in all, the crop insurance program spends $3.34 for every $1 in paid claims-and it still has not prevented $40 billion in disaster aid.[19]
Driving Small Farmers out of Business. Farm subsidies are promoted as assistance to family farmers. In reality, they finance the demise of family farms and prevent young people from entering farming. Economists estimate that subsidies inflate the value of farmland by 30 percent. High farmland prices make starting a farm prohibitively expensive for younger people, who would also have other expenses, including buying expensive equipment, seeds, and pesticides. With young farmers unable to enter the industry, the average age of farmers has increased to 55.[20]
Because agribusinesses are already the most profitable, they often use their enormous farm subsidies to buy out smaller family farms. In what has been called the “plantation effect,” family farms with less than 100 acres are being bought out by larger agribusinesses, which then convert them into tenant farms. Three-quarters of rice farms have already become tenant farms, and other types of farms are trending in that same direction.[21] Since 1945, the number of farms has dropped by two-thirds, and the average farm size has more than doubled to 441 acres.[22]
This consolidation is not necessarily harmful and may improve efficiency. Large agribusinesses are not villainous. They often succeed because they can produce large quantities of food at low prices. Furthermore, the blame for the tilted distribution of farm subsidies lies with Congress, which writes the laws, rather than with the agribusinesses that cash the checks that they receive because of those laws.
Nevertheless, taxpayers should not be required to finance this consolidation through farm subsidies. By raising land values and financing consolidation, farm subsidies drive out existing small farmers and prevent new farmers from entering the industry.
The Scandalous Distribution of Farm Subsidies
One can imagine the result if Washington tried to solve poverty by creating a welfare program that applied only to workers in the fast food, cleaning, and retail industries. Everyone in those occupations would receive a government check, with the richest executives receiving the largest checks and the poorest workers receiving the smallest. Workers in other industries would receive nothing, no matter how poor they were.
Obviously, such a policy would be nonsense, yet this exemplifies how farm subsidies are distributed. The government’s solution to alleged farmer poverty is to subsidize growers of wheat, cotton, corn, soybeans, and rice while giving no subsidies to producers of fruit, vegetables, beef, poultry, and livestock. Because subsidies are paid per acre, the largest and most profitable farms receive the largest subsidies, while family farms receive next to nothing.
Thus, a large, profitable rice corporation can receive millions while a family vegetable farmer receives nothing. Overall, farm subsidies are distributed with little regard to merit or need.
Corporate Welfare. Farm subsidies are promoted as helping struggling farmers, but Washington could guarantee every full-time farmer an income of nearly $40,000 for just $4 billion annually. Instead, farm policy is designed to aid corporate agribusinesses. Among farmers eligible for subsidies, just 10 percent of recipients collect 73 percent of the subsidies-an average of $91,000 per farm. (See Chart 3.) By contrast, the average subsidy granted to the bottom 80 percent of recipients is less than $3,000 annually.[23]
According to the USDA, the majority of farm subsidies are distributed to commercial farms, which have an average household income of $199,975 and a net worth of just under $2 million.[24] Commercial farms are also among those that need subsidies the least because they are the most efficient. Former U.S. Farm Bureau President Dean Kleckner writes that the top quarter of corn farmers (usually agribusinesses with economies of scale) can produce a bushel of corn 68 percent cheaper than the bottom quarter of farms can.[25]
Multiplying this larger profit margin by their substantially larger production volume shows how large agribusinesses can be enormously profitable. Yet these agribusinesses, not small family farms, receive most of the subsidies, making farm subsidies America’s largest corporate welfare program. (See Table 1.)
That is not all. Farm subsidies over the past decade have also been distributed to:
Fortune 500 companies, such as John Hancock Life Insurance ($2,849,799); International Paper ($1,183,893); Westvaco ($534,210); and ChevronTexaco ($446,914).
Celebrity “hobby farmers” such as David Rockefeller ($553,782); Ted Turner ($206,948); and Scottie Pippen ($210,520).
Members of Congress, who vote on farm subsidies, such as Senator Charles Grassley (R- IA, $225,041); Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR, $45,400, plus a 25 percent ownership in three firms that received $2,114,622); and Representative John Salazar (D-CO, $161,084).[26]
Payment limits do exist on paper. Subsidies are restricted to farmers with incomes below $2.5 million, and an individual’s subsidy may not exceed $180,000 per farm or $360,000 for up to three farms. However, an entire industry of lawyers exploits loopholes, rendering these limits meaningless.
Farmers can simply divide their farms into numerous separate entities and then collect subsidies for each farm. For example, Tyler Farms in Arkansas has collected $37 million in farm subsidies since 1996 by dividing itself into 66 legally separate corporations to maximize its farm subsidies.[27] Other farmers evade payment limits by signing up family members, such as the Georgia farmer who reportedly collected thousands in additional subsidies by signing up his two-year-old daughter as an additional farmer, making her eligible for up to $180,000. As Chuck Hassebrook of the Center for Rural Affairs has concluded, “We have no [payment] limits today.”[28]
Eligibility Restricted to a Few Crops. Only one-third of the $240 billion in annual farm production is eligible for farm subsidies. Five crops-wheat, cotton, corn, soybeans, and rice-receive more than 90 percent of all farm subsidies. Fruits, vegetables, livestock, and poultry, which comprise two-thirds of all farm production, are generally not subsidized at all.[29] This is important for two reasons.
First, those who assert that the absence of farm subsidies would cause massive poverty, rapid price fluctuations, and the eventual demise of the agricultural industry have not persuasively explained why the two-thirds of the industry that operates without subsidies has experienced none of these problems.
Second, those who assert that farm subsidies are necessary to alleviate farmer poverty have not explained why Washington should favor one crop over another.
Farm Subsidies for Suburban Backyards. In 1996, lawmakers noticed that farm subsidies were only encouraging more planting and thereby further lowering prices, so they created a fixed payments subsidy that would pay farmers based on what had been grown on the land historically without obligating them to continue planting that crop. While designed with positive intentions to reduce market distortions, these fixed payments have ended up subsidizing land that is no longer used for farming. In fact, some homeowners are now collecting subsidies for the grass in their backyards.
A recent Washington Post investigation discovered 75 acres of Texas farmland that had been converted into a housing development. Today, the homeowners on these properties (which are worth well over $300,000 each) are eligible for fixed payments for the lawn in their backyards because of its “historical rice production.” Residents never asked for these subsidies and have even stated that as non-farmers they do not want the government mailing them checks.[30] Over the past 25 years, rice plantings in Texas have plummeted from 600,000 acres to 200,000, in part because people can now collect generous rice subsidies without planting rice. If Washington insists on subsidizing farming, subsidizing actual farmland rather than residential neighborhoods that were once farmland would make more sense.
Compensation Not Based on Actual Sale Prices. As explained in the text box, the marketing loan program (despite the “loan” misnomer) effectively pays farmers whenever crop prices fall below a government-set minimum. Amazingly, farmers are not compensated for the actual price at which they sell their crops. Instead, they can pick the market price on any day of the year and, even if they do not sell their crops at that market price, receive a subsidy based on it.
For example, in 2005, the marketing loan rate for corn in DeKalb County, Illinois, was $1.98 per bushel. In September, the market price fell to $1.52 per bushel, and local farmers walked into the local USDA field office and received a payment of $0.46 per bushel. The following January, when they finally sold their corn, the price had risen to $2.60 per bushel, well above the government-set minimum. The federal policy allowed farmers to keep the subsidies as compensation for a low market price at which they never actually sold their crops. The amounts can be substantial: DeKalb County farmer Roger Richardson received an extra $75,000 subsidy for crops that grossed $500,000.[31]
These are not isolated incidents. In 2006, national corn prices were only $0.05 below the $1.95 marketing loan rate. Nonetheless, corn farmers received an average marketing loan subsidy of $0.44 per bushel.[32] President Bush has proposed addressing this loophole by requiring that monthly average crop prices-rather than daily prices- become the basis for determining marketing loan subsidies. This would prevent a one-day drop in crop prices from causing a year-long surge in farm subsidies. Unless Congress acts, farmers will continue to be compensated for low prices that never affect them.
Aid for Questionable Disasters. Lawmakers often supplement generous farm subsidies and subsidized crop insurance with annual disaster assistance packages. The Washington Post discovered that the USDA encourages disaster declarations for counties without disasters and distributes disaster aid to farmers without requiring proof of any disaster.
Specifically, when the Livestock Compensation Program operated in 2002 and 2003 to compensate farmers for a drought, the majority of payments went to farmers in areas with either moderate drought or none at all. The USDA reportedly urged state and county officials to find anything that could be interpreted as a disaster and use it to qualify the county’s farmers for disaster aid. Consequently, more than 2,000 of the nation’s 3,141 counties were declared agriculture “disasters,” including:
Whatcom County, Washington, for a distant earthquake that registered only 3 on the local Richter scale and caused no reported damage.
All 254 counties in Texas for “farm disasters,” such as a storm two years earlier and the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion. This prompted a local farmer to tell reporters, “the livestock program is a joke, we had no losses, I don’t know what Congress is thinking sometimes.”
Fifty-three of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, many for a small storm that occurred two years earlier. This prompted local farmers to call the disaster aid an unjustified “waste of money.”
Nor were the individual farmers required to prove any losses. Washington simply sent them disaster assistance checks based on the number of livestock that they owned. In other words, disaster aid was almost completely disconnected from actual disasters.[33]
Livestock disaster assistance is not the only example of misdirected disaster aid. When sweet potatoes became eligible for crop insurance, planting quadrupled, but crop failures surged. Farmers were purposely growing sweet potato crops on unsuited land and skimping on all production costs simply to collect generous crop insurance and disaster aid-a practice known as “farming your insurance.” Accordingly, the sweet potato insurance program was paying out $16 in insurance claims for every $1 paid in premiums before Congress fixed it in 2005.[34] It is reasonable to assume that this practice continues to some degree in other crops.
The Overall Impact of Farm Policy
Although farm policies serve no legitimate purpose, they have profoundly negative effects on taxpayers, consumers, and small farmers, including:
Higher prices. James Bovard once wrote, “For almost every farm program, there is another equal but opposite farm program or provision.”[35] Commodity subsidies encourage overproduction and therefore lower prices. The Conservation Reserve Program encourages underproduction and thereby raises prices. Tariffs raise import prices. Export subsidies lower export prices. Price supports triple the price of sugar and raise the price of milk. Calculating the net effect of these contradictory programs, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that U.S. farm policy raises food prices enough to cost consumers an extra $12 billion annually-in effect, an average annual food tax of $104 per household.[36]
High taxes. As the farm economy booms, Congress is expanding farm subsidies. After averaging less than $14 billion per year during the 1990s, annual farm subsidies have topped $25 billion in the current decade since passage of the 2002 farm bill, the most expensive farm bill in American history. All federal spending must eventually be funded by taxes. Thus, these subsidies cost the average household $216 in annual taxes in addition to $104 in higher food prices.
No added rural economic growth. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City concluded that farm subsidies do not promote rural economic growth. Between 1992 and 2002, the vast majority of the 783 “farm dependent” counties experienced job growth below the national average. In fact, more of these counties suffered outright job losses than experienced job growth exceeding the national average.[37] While critics can argue that growth would have been worse without subsidies, these policies are clearly not creating new growth centers. Farm subsidies are likely funding farm consolidations, which in turn are reducing employment on farms and in related industries.
Small farmers driven out of business. Small family farmers are generally not eligible for significant levels of farm subsidies. Furthermore, subsidies to large commercial farms harm small farmers by (1) reducing crop prices[38] and, therefore, farmer incomes; (2) raising the prices of farmland, thereby preventing family farmers from expanding; and (3) subsidizing agribusiness buyouts of family farms. Small farmers receive virtually none of the subsidies, but they must endure the market distortions and financial pain caused by these policies.
Less trade. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has stated that “the increase in trade since World War II has boosted U.S. annual incomes on the order of $10,000 per household” and that “removing all remaining barriers to trade would raise U.S. incomes anywhere from $4,000 to $12,000 per household.” Yet massive tariffs and import restrictions raise food prices and make the American economy less productive. Bringing free trade to agriculture would also make free-trade agreements in other industries much more likely.[39]
If Congress takes the path of least resistance and extends current farm policies for another five years, it will have surrendered an enormous opportunity for reform. Most debates over federal programs force lawmakers to balance a program’s social benefits with the costs of financing it, but current U.S. farm policies serve no legitimate purpose. They burden American families with higher taxes and higher food prices. They harm small farmers by excluding them from subsidies, raising land prices, and financing farm consolidation. They increase trade barriers that reduce incomes in America and in lesser-developed countries. They are falsely promoted as saving the family farm and protecting the food supply. In reality, they are America’s largest corporate welfare program.
This year’s farm bill debate will test whether Congress is serious about reform or will continue business as usual by pandering to special-interest groups that are working to protect their federal largesse. Congress and President Bush should take a more sensible approach to farm policy this year. Instead of rubberstamping the status quo, they should return to the market-based approach embodied in the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act.
Click here for other charts (Powerpoint)
Brian M. Riedl is Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Ian Hinsdale, a former Heritage Foundation intern, contributed to this paper.
[1] Henry Wallace, cited in Oxfam America, “A Vision for the 2007 Farm Bill,” 2007, at www.oxfamamerica.org/resources/files/OA-Fairness_in_the_Fields.pdf (June 4, 2007).
[2 ]Ted Covey et al., “Agriculture Income and Finance Outlook,” AIS-84, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, November 2006, pp. 40 and 48, at http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/AIS/
AIS-11-30-2006.pdf (June 4, 2007).
[3] Jerome M. Stam, Daniel L. Milkove, and George B. Wallace, “Indicators of Financial Stress in Agriculture Reported by Agricultural Banks, 1982-99,” AIS-74, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, February 2000, p. 48, and Covey et al., “Agriculture Income and Finance Outlook,” p. 38.
[4] Council of Economic Advisers, Economic Report of the President (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2007), p. 342, Table B-97, at www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/2007/2007_erp.pdf (June 4, 2007).
[5] Covey et al., “Agriculture Income and Finance Outlook,” pp. 40, 48, and 63. Net worth data consist of weighted averages of large and very large farms’ net worths.
[6] U.S. Department of Agriculture, “A Safety Net for Farm Households,” Agriculture Outlook, January-February 2000, pp. 19-24. The authors estimated a cost of $7.8 billion when including everyone who reports any farm income, including “hobby farmers” who have other full-time jobs. Restricting their data to full-time farmers, defined as those working on lower-sales, higher-sales, and large family farms and the fraction of limited-resource farms that are also full-time, the total cost adds up to approximately $4 billion. The eligibility threshold for several federal income-assistance programs, such as the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, is 185 percent of the federal poverty level.
[7] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, “Food Expenditures by Families and Individuals as a Share of Disposable Personal Income data,” Table 7, at www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/CPIFoodAndExpenditures/Data/table7.htm (June 4, 2007).
[8] Bruce Babcock, “Money for Nothing: Acreage and Price Impacts of U.S. Commodity Policy for Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Cotton, and Rice,” in American Enterprise Institute, The 2007 Farm Bill and Beyond (Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 2007), pp. 41-45, at www.aei.org/docLib/20070516_Summary.pdf (June 4, 2007).
[9] The U.S. runs a trade surplus in agriculture. See Economic Research Service, “Value of U.S. Trade-Agricultural, Nonagricultural, and Total-and Trade Balance, by Fiscal Year,” May 2007, at www.ers.usda.gov/Data/FATUS/DATA/fynonag.xls (June 4, 2007).
[10] Julian Alston, “Lessons from Agricultural Policy Reform in Other Countries,” in American Enterprise Institute, The 2007 Farm Bill and Beyond, pp. 83-86.
[11] Economic Research Service, “Farm Income and Costs: Farm Sector Income Forecast,” February 14, 2007, at www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/farmincome/data/cr_t3.htm (June 4, 2007).
[12] The marketing loan program can operate in different ways. It can be a loan that must be partially repaid later in the year (called a marketing loan gain), or the benefit can be paid in a lump sum as a subsidy (called a loan deficiency payment). Despite these distinctions, the net effect is to subsidize farmers up to the marketing loan rate level.
[13] University of Tennessee, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, “An Analytical Database of U.S. Agriculture, 1950-1999,” 2001, Tables 7.1a and 7.2a.
[14] Paul C. Westcott and C. Edwin Young, “U.S. Farm Program Benefits: Links to Planting Decisions and Agricultural Markets,” U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Outlook, October 2000, pp. 12-13.
[15] Dan Chapman, Ken Foskett, and Megan Clarke, “How Your Tax Dollars Prop Up Big Growers and Squeeze the Little Guy,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 1, 2006.
[16] American Farmland Trust, “Farm and Food Policy for All-Farmers, Citizens and Communities,” 2007.
[17] Ralph Chite, “Emergency Funding for Agriculture: A Brief History of Supplemental Appropriations, FY 1989-FY 2006,” Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, updated July 3, 2006. Chite mentions a total of $36.5 billion, and approximately $3.5 billion was added in 2007.
[18] Gilbert Gaul, Dan Morgan, and Sarah Cohen, “Crop Insurers Pile Up Record Profits,” The Washington Post, October 16, 2006.
[19] Ibid. The article includes a graphic showing gains and losses since 1998. The cost of premium subsidies and administrative costs since 1998 were calculated using the 1998-2005 totals listed in the article and then projecting forward for the 2006 and 2007 totals.
[20] John Frydenlund, “Farm Subsidies: Myth and Reality,” Citizens Against Government Waste Issue Brief No. 1, April 3, 2007, at www.cagw.org/site/DocServer/2007_Farm_Bill-_
Issue_Brief_1.pdf?docID=2121 (June 4, 2007).
[21] Elizabeth Becker, “Land Rich in Subsidies, and Poor in Much Else,” The New York Times, January 22, 2002, p. A14.
[22] Council of Economic Advisers, Economic Report of the President, p. 175.
[23] See Environmental Working Group, Farm Subsidy Database, at http://www.ewg.org/farm (June 4, 2007).
[24] Covey et al., “Agriculture Income and Finance Outlook,” pp. 40, 48, and 63.
[25] Dean Kleckner, “Farm Subsidies Are Not Saving the Family Farm,” updated manuscript. Copy available upon request.
[26] For a list of subsidy totals, see Environmental Working Group, Farm Subsidy Database. Corporate totals include subsidiaries. Subsidies for lawmakers are described in detail in Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D., “How to Discourage Conflicts of Interest in the Federal Agriculture Subsidy Programs,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, forthcoming.
[27] John Lancaster, “More Subsidy Money Going to Fewer Farms,” The Washington Post, January 24, 2002, and Environmental Working Group, Farm Subsidy Database.
[28] Dan Chapman, Ken Foskett, and Megan Clarke, “How Savvy Growers Can Double, or Triple, Subsidy Dollars,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 2, 2006.
[29] Economic Research Service, “Farm Income and Costs.”
[30] Dan Morgan, Gilbert Gaul, and Sarah Cohen, “Farm Program Pays $1.3 Billion to People Who Don’t Farm,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2006.
[31] Dan Morgan, Sarah Cohen, and Gilbert Gaul, “Growers Reap Benefits Even in Good Years,” The Washington Post, July 3, 2006.
[33] Gilbert Gaul, Dan Morgan, and Sarah Cohen, “No Drought Required for Federal Drought Aid,” The Washington Post, July 18, 2006.
[34] Gilbert Gaul, “Farming Your Insurance,” The Washington Post, October 15, 2006.
[35] James Bovard, “Farm Bill Follies of 1990,” Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 135, July 12, 1990, at www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa135.html (June 8, 2007).
[36] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries: At a Glance (Paris: OECD Publishing, 2006), p. 69, Table 2.12. The 2003-2005 average annual transfer from consumers was $12.285 billion.
[37] Mark Drabenstott, “Do Farm Payments Promote Rural Economic Growth?” Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Center for the Study of Rural America, The Main Street Economist, March 2005, at www.kc.frb.org/RegionalAffairs/mainstreet/MSE_0305.pdf (June 4, 2007).
[38] Although conservation programs raise prices, it is still clear that commodity subsidies reduce prices relative to what they would be with only conservation programs.
[39] Ben S. Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman, “Embracing the Challenge of Free Trade: Competing and Prospering in a Global Economy,” remarks at the Montana Economic Development Summit 2007, Butte, Montana, May 1, 2007, at www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/Speeches/2007/
20070501/default.htm (June 4, 2007).
Cheatsheet: Phthalates or Plasticizers
noorslist Consumerism, Environment, Food, Health, Media, Politics, Shopping, Technology allergies, asthma, babies, baby, baby health, baby plastic bottles, baby toys, chemical leaching, chemicals, child, child safety, children, children's toys, chinese toys, disruptors, endocrine disruptors, kids, kids toys, Phthalates, plastic toys, Plasticizers, pvc plastics 1 Comment
Cheatsheet: Phthalates
Phthalates are a common industrial chemical used in PVC plastics, solvents, and synthetic fragrances. They’ve been around since the 1930’s, and now they’re pretty ubiquitous; when they tested 289 people in 2000, the CDC found phthalates in all of the subjects’ blood at surprisingly high levels. They’re often referred to as a plasticizer, which we think sounds rather like a kind of exercise to be done on the living-room floor in front of videos hosted by Jane Fonda. But we digress.
What are the possible health effects?
Phthalates are endocrine disruptors linked to problems of the reproductive system, including decreased sperm motility and concentration in men and genital abnormalities in baby boys. (Oh, and did you know that average sperm counts have decreased significantly since the 1940’s?) More recently they’ve also been linked to asthma and allergies.
How can I minimize my exposure?
Avoid these, and you’ll also be avoiding phthalates:
Nail polish: Dibutyl phthalate is often used to make nail polish chip-resistant. Look for it on the ingredients list, where it may be shortened to DBP.
Plastics in the kitchen: Take a critical eye to your cupboards. Phthalates may be more likely to leach out of plastic when it’s heated, so avoid cooking or microwaving in plastic.
Vinyl toys: Phthalates are what make vinyl (PVC) toys soft, so don’t give them to children. Opt instead for wooden and other phthalate-free toys, especially during that age when they put everything in their mouths!
Paint: Paints and other hobby products may contain phthalates as solvents, so be sure to use them in a well-ventilated space.
Fragrance: Diethyl phthalate (DEP) is often used as part of the “fragrance” in some products. Since DEP won’t be listed separately, you’re better off choosing personal care products, detergents, and cleansers that don’t have the word “fragrance” on the ingredients list.
Vinyl: Vinyl shows up in a lot of different products; lawn furniture, garden hoses, building materials, and items of clothing (like some raincoats) are often sources. Aside from carefully choosing materials when you’re making purchases, there is one easy change you can make: switch to a non-vinyl shower curtain. That “new shower curtain” smell (you know the one) is a result of chemical off-gassing, and it means your shower curtain is a source of phthalates in your home.
Air Fresheners: Just like fragrances in personal care products, most air fresheners contain phthalates.
Here’s a link to Phthalates in the Chemical Index.
Phthalates were just one of the hormone-disrupting chemicals we found contaminating the San Francisco Bay.
NRDC has the low-down on phthalates in air fresheners.
EWG’s Jane Houlihan discusses phthalates in children’s personal care products.
Olga explains a recent study linking phthalates to asthma and allergies.
Orginal photo by Felix63
Spain’s drought a glimpse of our future?
noorslist Consumerism, Environment, Food, Health, Politics, Real Estate, Technology, Travel barcelona, bottled water, Catalan, Catalan capital, composting, costa del sol, dam, drinking water, drought, Environment, eu, euro, europe, farming, global warming, grass, heat, irrigation, pools, rainwater, rationing water, rations, reservoir, sant roma, shipping water, spain, spain tourism, spain's drought, swimming pool, water, water ration, water shortage 2 Comments
The Independent (London), May 24, 2008 Saturday
Barcelona is a dry city. It is dry in a way that two days of showers can do nothing to alleviate. The Catalan capital’s weather can change from one day to the next, but its climate, like that of the whole Mediterranean region, is inexorably warming up and drying out. And in the process this most modern of cities is living through a crisis that offers a disturbing glimpse of metropolitan futures everywhere.
Its fountains and beach showers are dry, its ornamental lakes and private swimming pools drained and hosepipes banned. Children are now being taught how to save water as part of their school day. This iconic, avant-garde city is in the grip of the worst drought since records began and is bringing the climate crisis that has blighted cities in Australia and throughout the Third World to Europe. A resource that most Europeans have grown up taking for granted now dominates conversation. Nearly half of Catalans say water is the region’s main problem, more worrying than terrorism, economic slowdown or even the populists’ favourite – immigration.
The political battles now breaking out here could be a foretaste of the water wars that scientists and policymakers have warned us will be commonplace in the coming decades. The emergency water-saving measures Barcelona adopted after winter rains failed for a second year running have not been enough. The city has had to set up a “water bridge” and is shipping in water for the first time in the history of this great maritime city.
A tanker from Marseilles with 36 million litres of drinking water unloaded its first cargo this week, one of a mini-fleet contracted to bring water from the Rhone every few days for at least the next three months. So humbled was Barcelona when prolonged drought forced it to ship in domestic water from Tarragona, 50 miles south along the Catalan coast, 12 days ago, that city hall almost delayed shipment and considered an upbeat publicity campaign to lift morale and international prestige.
The whole country is suffering from its worst drought in 40 years and the shipments from Tarragona prompted an outcry from regions who insist they need it more. For now the clashes are being soothed by intervention from Madrid, and plans to ship water from desalination plants in parched Almeria in Andalusia are shelved until October. But there is little indication of a strategy to deal not just with an immediate emergency but an ongoing crisis. Buying water on an epic scale from France has given the controversy an international aspect as French environmentalists question whether such a scarce natural resource should be sold as a commodity to another country.
“It would be a mistake to consider this water bridge between Marseilles and Catalonia as simply an operation of solidarity,” said a group of ecologists calling themselves Robin des Bois (Robin Hood). They said the commercial deal struck between private contractors failed to consider the environmental impact on France. The organisation blamed Barcelona’s water shortage on “wasted resources and … lack of foresight by Catalan and Spanish authorities”.
What Barcelona authorities are fast discovering is that chronic water shortages are not a problem that money alone can solve.
Its 5.5 million inhabitants need a lot of the stuff: the 20 million litres/20,000 tonnes/five million gallons of water brought from Tarragona on 13 May were enough for barely 180,000 people and were consumed within minutes of being channelled through the city’s taps. Wednesday’s shipment from Marseilles was bigger, 36 million litres, but similarly short lived.
Barcelona has churned up a whirlpool of controversy over its handling of the water crisis, causing just the spray of negative publicity it hoped to avoid.
Even the arrival of rain has only made things worse. Catalonia’s regional environment minister, Francesc Baltasar, rushed to announce last week that the hosepipe ban and swimming pool restrictions imposed in February would be lifted. Tarragona – whose wells supply shipped-in water – protested furiously. “Barcelona fills its swimming pools with water from Tarragona,” local headlines screamed, and the water authority demanded a halt to pumping Tarragona’s water for the Catalan capital.
Jose Montilla, Catalonia’s regional prime minister, countermanded Mr Baltasar and insisted water-saving measures remain. “Obviously it makes little sense to lift certain measures when, if it stops raining, we’ll have to re-impose them in three weeks’ time,” he said. But Tarragona re-opened the tap only after Mr Montilla visited, and insisted that “this effort of solidarity will supply only our basic needs”.
Barcelona’s daily El Periodico called Mr Baltasar’s proposal to end unpopular water-saving measures “irresponsible and demagogic”, increasing resentments in regions supplying water to Barcelona. The shipments themselves came under fire. Importing water gives the city a “lamentable, depressing image” and spreads “alarmism”, Miguel Angel Fraile, secretary of the Catalan Trade Confederation, said.
With reservoirs now filled to 30 per cent, authorities should scrap the plan and ship in water only as a last resort, he said. But reservoirs remain two-thirds empty, half the national average and far lower than usual for May. These are dangerously low in anticipation of another dry summer, raising the ghastly prospect of water rationing – painful for residents and offputting for summer visitors.
Extreme short-term measures might have been averted had Barcelona mended leaky old pipes and filtered polluted aquifers, critics grumble. But Barcelona is among Europe’s most careful water users, better than Madrid, Milan or Paris, La Vanguardia newspaper argues. Residents adapt their loos to flush less, shower rather than bath and brush their teeth without the tap running, but such individual measures are swamped by industrial usage, and waste in the infrastructure. La Vanguardia urges an immediate public works programme to improve the creaking system.
“People are much more aware of the need to save water,” says Bridget King, a South African who settled in Barcelona 20 years ago to teach English. “We put a bucket under the shower to catch water before it heats up, and have stopped buying petunias that need a lot of watering. It’s a constant topic of conversation and we worry it’s a long-term thing. But as a South African I’m appalled to see people wash dishes under the running tap. I was brought up to be very careful with water. And although we feel relieved it’s started raining, everyone knows it’s only short term and probably not enough.”
Recent rains have sharpened conflicts, offering a foretaste of water wars to come. Aragon straddles the mighty Ebro river but is a parched desert, cultivable only by sophisticated irrigation systems managed by an Association of Irrigators. This ancient brotherhood agreed to sell the surplus from its irrigation quota, which usually flows back into the Ebro, to Barcelona as a short-term emergency measure. If rains lift reservoirs from their emergency levels, Aragon warns it will halt supplies. But Mr Montilla tweaked Catalona’s definition of “emergency” so it didn’t rely solely on reservoir levels. Then Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, ordered Aragon to keep the water flowing “because conditions aren’t sufficient to guarantee Barcelona’s water supplies”.
Water is now Catalans’ principle worry: 43 per cent considered shortage the country’s main problem. Authorities promise the crisis will ease when a huge desalination plant comes on stream next year. But they say little about how to tackle the long-term problem of water shortage afflicting the whole Mediterranean region. Catalan winemakers recognise that the change is permanent; some are planting new vineyards further north as traditional terrain becomes hotter and dryer.
Other entrepreneurs, including swimming pool manufacturers, have less room for manoeuvre. “The authorities are criminalising us,” complained Josep Sadurni, of Catalonia’s association of swimming pool manufacturers, which predicts losses of up to Euro 200m (£160m) this year. “Who’ll buy a pool if they can’t fill it?” Mr Sadurni asked.
A striking image of the seriousness of the drought is provided by the emergence of a church from the waters of a drying reservoir. For 40 years, all you could see of the drowned village of Sant Roma was the belltower of its stone church, which peeped from time to time above the surface of the artificial lake in a valley flooded in the 1960s to supply Catalonia with water. This year falling water levels have revealed the 11th-century church in its entirety for the first time, attracting curious onlookers who walk round it on the reservoir’s dusty bed. Spain’s Socialist government recognises that climate change will intensify water shortages, and favours desalination plants. One such plant, among the biggest in Europe – and 75 per cent EU funded – is being built on the outskirts of Barcelona and will supply 20 per cent of the city’s water. But it will not be ready until next year.
“It was already very important when it was planned, but now with the urgent drought, it has become indispensable,” said Tomas Azurra, the chief engineer at the plant.
Ecologists warn that desalination plants are costly in energy use, and damage the environment with high CO2 emissions. But developed European regions can afford them, and they’re preferable to diverting water from rivers, which critics say is even more damaging.
More than 70 per cent of Spain’s water goes on agriculture, much of it wasted on antiquated irrigation systems and the cultivation of thirsty crops unsuitable for arid lands. But few politicians seek confrontation with farmers already struggling to scratch a living.
High-density tourist resorts sprinkled with swimming pools, patio showers and golf courses along Spain’s desertified southern coast, especially in Murcia where it rarely rains, are also unsustainable, ecologists say.
Spain needs to capture more rainwater, says Stephanie Blencker of the Stockholm International Water Institute, as climate change will produce alternating extremes of drought and heavy rain. “Rain is the biggest resource we have, and we can make it available all year round if we have sensible storage opportunities,” she said.
Since the 1992 Olympics, Barcelona has enjoyed the reputation of being both cutting edge and user friendly. But now, as climate change overwhelms a crumbling infrastructure, proud, autonomous Catalonia has to seek help from outside.
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Story of Yajooj and Majooj – The Gog and Magog
noorslist Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israel, Muslims, Palestine, Quran anti-christ, barrier, beast, christ, dajjal, devil, end times. signs of the last day, endtimes, evil, gog, Gog and Magog, hereafter, isa, Islam, jesus, mageg, megog, Mohammad, Mohammed, Mohammed Ali Ibn Zubair Ali, Muhammed, paradise, prophet, Quran, satan, shaitan, son of adam, surah kahf, the beast, wars, Yajooj and Majooj 1 Comment
YA’JOOJ MA’JOOJ (Gog and Megog)
God created a nation called Ya’jooj and Ma’jooj. In the beginning they were free. King Zulqarnian imprisoned up behind a wall. They are still imprisoned today, and will be freed near the Day of Judgement. They will come out and create a lot of trouble. Their population is ten times larger than the world’s population.
As we know King Zulqarnain travelled from East to West and North to South. When he was travelling the world, he imprisoned the Ya’jooj Ma’jooj behind a very thick wall. Zulqarnain went East, the people said to him, “In between these mountains, there is a nation called Ya’jooj Ma’jooj, who are like animals. Their teeth are like those of wild animals. When they come out they eat snakes, scorpions, horses, mules, donkeys, vegetables and wild animals. We will give you anything if you build a wall between the Ya’jooj Ma’jooj and us so that they won’t harm us.” Zulqarnain said, “I don’t need paying, but what I would like is that you can help me by bringing me pieces of iron, wood and coal.” When they brought these things, Zulqarnain started to build the wall. After this, he started to blow on it. When it became red-hot, he said, “Bring liquid copper.” He put this liquid copper on the wall and made it very strong. Then he said, “They will come out from behind the wall, when Allah wants them to”
To this day the Ya’jooj Ma’jooj are trapped behind this wall. Everyday, they try to break this wall. When the sun sets, the wall is as thin as a sheet of paper. Their leader says, “Come on, let’s go home now. Leave it, it is like a page. We will come tomorrow and break it down.” When they come the next day, with God’s will, the wall is as strong as before. Everyday, that is what they do, but when it is time for them to come out, then that day they will try to break that wall but in the evening, the wall will be as thin as a page. The leader will say, “Leave it for today and says the words Inshallah (if it is Allah wills) we will finish it tomorrow.” When they come the next day, they will see that the wall is as thin as a page and then they will break the wall and come out. This will be the time when Hazrat Isa (alayhi salaam) will be ruling the world. Allah will order Hazrat Isa (alayhi salaam) to take all his followers to the mountain of Tur.
The Ya’jooj Ma’jooj will come and eat the people in the world. They will drink all the water from the East and all the water from Buhaira Tabria. Wherever there is water, they will drink all of it. If they find any humans they will eat them. People will be scared and will hide. When they don’t see a person on earth they will say, “We have finished all the people on earth now we will fight the people in the sky.” They will shoot arrows towards the sky. Allah will make their arrows red and send them back, and then they will be happy and say “ That we have killed the people in the sky also”. At that time, Prophet Isa (alayhi salaam) will be on the mountain. There will be a shortage of food. Prophet Isa (alayhi salaam) and the other Muslims will pray to Allah, “Oh Allah! Save us from them.”
Allah will listen to their prayers and create a spot on their necks. With that, they will all die. Then Prophet Isa (alayhi salaam) and the Muslims will come down from the mountain, they will see that all the ground is covered with bodies and a dirty smell will be spreading. They will pray to Allah, “Oh Allah! Save us from this dirty smell.” Allah will send birds whose necks are like camels’. They will take all the bodies and throw them on mount Nimbar, this mountain is in Palestine. After this, Allah will send rain. With this, all the ground will be clean. Then Prophet Isa (alayhi salaam) with his people will stay on the ground and the shortage of food will finish. Allah will send blessings in everything. There will be so much blessing that one pomegranate will be enough for one tribe, and one pomegranate’s peel will make one big tent enough for a group of people to stay under. In this way, one cow’s milk will be enough for one tribe. All these blessings will come when all the Ya’jooj Ma’jooj are dead.
Wikipedia Article with extensive links and references
Who are the Ya’jooj and Ma’jooj? Article by by Mohammed Ali Ibn Zubair Ali
The Major Signs of the Last Day (Qiyaamah)
The Dajjaal (Anti-Christ), Al-Daabbah (The Beast) and Yajooj-Majooj (Gog and Magog)
Lake Tiberias, Palestine
Dajjal /Anti-Christ by Salem Al-Amry – YouTube Video
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"Information" Kinsman Robinson Galleries didn't want you to know about (Part III)
~ Revisited
Kinsman Robinson Galleries vs. Ugo Matulic /CV-10-417123/
/CASE WON BY THE DEFENDANT/
~ All individual posts from the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG specified in KINSMAN ROBINSON GALLERIES' 'Statement of Claim' for this $1,000,000 SLAPP suit, against Blog Master UGO MATULIC, will be presented separately in future posts...
WHO ARE THE INDIVIDUALS WORKING FOR KINSMAN ROBINSON GALLERIES?
Donald Robinson (KRG), Mark Anthony Jacobson (Vancouver Artist; currently living in Nakusp, British Columbia), John MacGregor Newman (KRG) and Dr. Trudy Nicks (Senior Curator at Royal Ontario Museum, Retired
and current NMHS member)
~ Photography taken on December 21st, 2010 at "THE STRADA" in the Heart of Bloor West Village, Toronto - at an exhibition of the artworks by Mark Anthony Jacobson - Vancouver, BC, Ritchie Sinclair - Toronto, ON and John Rombough - Yellowknife, N.W.T.; only two days prior KRG's launching of $1,000,000 SLAPP suit against me - the case they LOST in April 2013
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Toronto, Ontario CANADA
Who is in the above photograph with Dr. Trudy Nicks, a Senior Curator in the World Cultures Department at Royal Ontario Museum?
Donald Robinson
> Donald Robinson in court case Hatfield vs. Artworld of Sherway, together with Ritchie Sinclair*, was discredited on all counts by the Deputy Judge Paul J Martial and his ruling backed up by the Honourable Mary Anne Sanderson of the Supreme Court of Justice - Ontario...
* - Mr. Sinclair is an individual whose alleged "efforts to identify Norval’s true artistic legacy" are recognized by Donald C. Robinson of Kinsman Robinson Galleries ["AN EXAMINATION INTO THE AUTHENTICITY OF AN ALLEGED 1970'S NORVAL MORRISSEAU PAINTING" - EXPERT REPORT; September 10th, 2009; Page 74].
... On May 7th, 2008 KRG blog published a post under the title "Will the real SpiritWalker please stand up?" If you read the text under that heading and ignore the racist slant that is, in a sense disparaging to all Canadian immigrants, including the former Governor General of Canada, one would get a feeling that to appreciate Canadian native art a person has to be either a native Canadian or Canadian born. I have posted my reply to their racial profiling almost a year later on April 24th, 2009 with a post "The Real Spirit Walker is standing up!"...
As per December 31st, 2010 post by KRG blog at
http://genuinemorrisseau.blogspot.com/ it is stated that allegations presented on the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG referring to Kinsman Robinson Galleries "are unfair and false, offensive, mean-spirited" and "were published either with the knowledge that they were false, or with conscious disregardel for the truth." (click HERE) This post has been since deleted by KRG blog editors (click HERE for the original PDF screen capture of this blog post... note that KRG praises themselves of committing "to the highest ethical standards in the conduct of business" and that they comply "with all requirements of applicable law.")
Because of that they sued me for $500,000.00 for libel in respect of the alleged defamatory words posted on my blog at http://norvalmorrisseau.blogspot.com/. Also, for punitive, aggravated, special and exemplary damages in the amount of $500,000.00.
Click HERE for detailed information about this court case Kinsman Robinson Galleries vs. Ugo Matulic /CV-10-417123/.
In any event, the Plaintiffs signed the Full and Final Release dropping all charges against me as soon as the judgement by Judge Paul J. Martial in Hatfield vs. Artworld of Sherway was announced.
Mark Anthony Jacobson
> The only individual who was signing with his full name as a commenter on Kinsman Robinson Galleries blog was Mr. Mark Anthony Jacobson who at one time operated one of the vilest blogging sites in the blogosphere where he character assassinated Mr. Goyce Kakegamic, Mr. James Simon MISHIBINIJIMA, Mr. Joseph McLeod, Mr. Gary Lamont, Mr. Joseph Otavnik, Michael Moniz (deceased), members of Norval Morrisseau biological family, myself and some other individuals.
Mark Anthony Jacobson's blog was @ rainbowthunderbird.blogspot.com
(This blog has been cancelled by Mr. Jacobson; some traces of this blog could still be seen at peychee.blogspot.com).
To read some of the opinions of the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG readers about Mr. Mark Anthony Jacobson click HERE.
"Another exploitive photo featuring Conspiracy Theorist enforcer Mark Anthony Jacobson with Norval. Mark is mostly famous for having one of the vilest websites ever to attack reputable Canadian fine art collectors and dealers. He’s a bit mixed up, not only because his father was Swedish, but because he didn’t even meet Norval till 2005. That’s the same year when in May, that Norval’s old drinking buddy Gary Lamont visited Norval in his terminal care facility, and reported in despair, that Norval couldn’t recognize him anymore. Now months later, you see Jacobson making like Norval can recognize HIM, and they are bosom buddies. Jacobson hopes it will boost his career as an artist. It does actually, as a fraud artist…" ~ John Goldi
Source (Image & text): theMorrisseauHoaxExposedBlog.com
Copyright © 2016 by John Goldi CSC: All rights reserved.
* More information about Mr. Mark Anthony Jacobson's activities in the past few years, which had been recorded and archived, will be presented on the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG soon.
Jessica Wilson curator@wwoa.ca
"Jacobson is the KRG enforcer who gave Jessica Wilson, Curator of the Elmwood Spa Gallery, the most vile, scary, and threatening phone call she said she’s ever received in her life – she told me that in person in Nov. 2010. It was piggy-backed behind another threatening phone call she said she received from Paul Robinson. She and the Elmwood Spa Gallery therefore speedily removed the Morrisseau paintings that Paul Robinson, and his enforcers, Jacobson, and Ritchie Sinclair objected to, and cancelled a Morrisseau book launch [1]. Perceived fear of physical violence can do that to people." ~ John Goldi
Source (text): theMorrisseauHoaxExposedBlog.com
[1] - Copper Thunderbird: The Art of Norval Morrisseau
* More information about the paintings which were supposed to be included in this publication, will be presented on the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG soon.
Mr. Jacobson is closely associated with Mr. Bryant Ross who is director of Coghlan Art Studio & Gallery in Aldergrove, BC. Mr. Ross is an individual who in 1989 introduced Norval Morrisseau to Mr. Donald Robinson. Also, Mr. Jacobson is associated with Mr. Gabor Vadas (Norval Morrisseau's guardian &, business manager), Mr. Ritchie Sinclair (one of Norval Morrisseau's apprenticies), Mr. John Zemanovich (former member of the NMHS), Mr. Donald Robinson (the Plaintiff in 'Kinsman Robinson Galleries vs. Ugo Matulic' (CV-10-417123); Go to: "Out of the Past... The Voice of the “Expert Witness”), Mr. Paul Robinson (the Plaintiff in 'Kinsman Robinson Galleries vs. Ugo Matulic' (CV-10-417123); Go to: "Out of the Past... The Voice of the “Expert Witness”) and Mr. John MacGregor Newman (Associate Director of KRG).
John MacGregor Newman
> The following are the posts from the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG, in May 2008, for which John MacGregor Newman placed comments under the disguised name 'herbert':
1. "Powerful Images" of Norval Morrisseau (Part I) /May 2nd, 2008/
2. Norval Morrisseau Cree Syllabics' Signature Study (Part I) /May 7th, 2008/
3. We Are All Children of Mother Earth /May 8th, 2008/
4. Norval Morrisseau Comparison Report (Part I) /May 9th, 2008/ &
5. Bill Reid Gallery - One of the biggest visual arts events of the year /May 10th, 2008/
~ Kinsman Robinson Galleries claims 'to commit to the highest ethical standards' and expresses desire to continue pursuing their "moral commitment to protect the artistic legacy of Norval Morrisseau and to preserve the value of genuine works by the artist"...
It is surprising to see that Kinsman Robinson Galleries used these comments by their Associate Director, Mr. John MacGregor Newman, who concealed his true identity, to try undermining my credibility and consequently causing devaluation of my Norval Morrisseau art collection and destroying millions of dollars worth of assets held by Canadian and international collectors, art dealers, galleries and museums.
These comments by Mr. John MacGregor Newman were posted at the same time frame when KRG Blog post with racist slant under the title "Will the real SpiritWalker please stand up?" was published. Click HERE to view screen capture of the original post with all pertaining comments including Mr. Newman's ('herbert').
If you read the last comment posted on August 10th, 2008 by "Principal Morrisseau Dealer" they were endorsing, with malicious intent, anonymous comment from the Tribal Artery Blog which states the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG, maintained by myself, "is an insult and a great shame in that it is promoting garbage made to deceive buyers" and connecting me with "promotion of this fraud as it relates to Morrisseau" and that I "should be ashamed" (click HERE & HERE).
Kinsman Robinson Galleries Blog kept this defamatory comment for almost a year until they deleted their blog in June 2009 (click HERE for KRG Blog screen capture prior to its deletion. See VERBATIM in the side bar (right side) of this anonymous comment which resided on on their blog for full ten months.
~ Among other peculiar behaviours they have chosen to completely disregard forensic science particularly when it comes to authenticity of genuine Norval Morrisseau paintings signed by the artist in black paint using drybrush (DB) technique.
Mr. John Macgregor Newman was also active in placing his comments on KRG Blog as well on Mr. Mark Anthony Jacobson's blog @ rainbowthunderbird.blogspot.com
at approximately same time period in 2008. Mr. John Macgregor Newman also concealed his true identity and he also tried to ridicule me and undermine my credibility.
* More information about Mr. John MacGregor Newman and his activities in connection with Norval Morrisseau authenticity issues will be presented on the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG soon.
“He (Joseph McLeod) demonstrated a superior depth of knowledge of Morrisseau…” (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 25)
“The testimony of Mr. Joseph McLeod is indicative of his care and the detailed effort to confirm provenance, including the hiring of a forensic expert to examine the signature on the back of the painting indicate that he took his role to provide appraisals seriously. His testimony… demonstrates his depth of knowledge of the painter due to his lengthy association with the artist.” (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 35)
"His (Ritchie Sinclair's) methodology in identifying forgeries is clearly inadequate and suspect since he testified that he does not even view the original paintings before condemning them as fakes." (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 16)
"Mr. Robinson (of Kinsman Robinson Galleries) was qualified as an expert in the area of valuation and appraisal. His testimony however overlapped into the area of handwriting and included an analysis of syllabic and English handwriting, areas for which he was not qualified.
"He has no formal training as an expert witness in handwriting analysis and his evidence is rejected. (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 37)
"Dr. Singla's forensic evidence is preferred in this regard and his finding that it is highly probable that the painting "Wheel of Life" was painted by Norval Morrisseau was supported by his detailed technical analysis of known signatures of' Norval Morrisseau. (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 37)
NOTE: Genuine Norval Morrisseau painting involved in this court case was acquired from Randy Potter Estate Auctions and appraised by Mr. Joseph McLeod.
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OSPE member Haley MacSween, EIT, is headed to Halifax!
“I hope to change the world through engineering by contributing to moving Ontarians across the GTHA #womenintransportation!” – Haley MacSween, EIT
Meet the Winner of OSPE’s Change the World Contest: Haley MacSween, EIT
One tweet about transportation is now taking OSPE member Haley MacSween, EIT, on an all-expense paid, two-night trip to Canada’s east coast. Randomly selected as the grand prize winner of OSPE’s 2017 “Change the World” contest, co-sponsored by Venngo, Haley will enjoy a trip to the Fox Harb’r Resort and Spa in Nova Scotia.
OSPE’s Change the World contest challenged members of Ontario’s engineering community to explain how they hope to change the world through engineering in fewer than 140 characters.
OSPE President and Chair Jonathan Hack, P.Eng.; Haley MacSween, EIT; John Moore, Venngo Inc.; and Bach Ly, Venngo Inc., at OSPE’s 2018 Annual General Meeting on May 8.
“Every day, our members are working hard – in every sector of the economy – to positively impact the way we live and experience the world,” says Sandro Perruzza, OSPE CEO. “This contest was a fun opportunity to recognize our members for their contributions to society and to learn more about their game-changing work.”
Haley’s engineering story started from an early age. “Both of my grandfathers were engineers, so I came to respect the profession by learning all about their local and international projects. This, coupled with my dominant left-brain, made a career in engineering an easy choice for me,” says Haley.
In 2013, Haley graduated from Queen’s University, earning a degree in geological engineering.
“I love all things related to the outdoors, so I naturally gravitated towards earth sciences,” says Haley. “The geological program was interesting because it offered so many opportunities for cross-discipline learning, including classes with the geological science and civil and mining engineering departments.”
Haley spent her summers throughout university and immediately upon graduation, working in mineral exploration. One year later, she joined the Environmental and Nuclear Business Group at CH2M, now Jacobs, where she conducted environmental and geotechnical investigations for hazardous sites, including legacy mine reclamation projects and Phase 1/Phase 2 environmental site assessment work.
“This role peaked my interest in project management, so much so that I am now working in the Project Management Office at Metrolinx Capital Projects Group,” says Haley. “I facilitate the risk management process for a subset of projects within the Regional Express Rail Program. I meet with project delivery teams monthly to identify, assess, monitor and report risks across categories from utilities, to geotechnical soil conditions.”
In the future, Haley hopes to continue working on world class infrastructure programs in Canada and abroad. “In ten or twenty years from now, I can still see myself working in engineering consulting. I like the variety that comes with this territory, but I’d like to be in a leadership role where I can mentor young engineers, especially young women, to kick-start their careers.”
Haley has found it motivating to work in what is commonly considered a male-dominated field. “I’ve spent a lot of time on sites where I was the female minority. It was nerve-wracking at first, but, after building my confidence and learning to trust myself, being one of the few females on site actually drives me to continue proving that any stereotypes about women in engineering are completely inaccurate. I think women in the profession need to continue showcasing their work, so others can identify with positive role models and say – hey, I can do that too.”
“Without greater diversity in engineering, both quality and innovation will be impacted negatively. It takes different perspectives, skill-sets and experiences to approach engineering problems from a variety of vantage points and produce the best solution.”
Haley will be travelling to Nova Scotia this summer to enjoy her prize. “It’s been an honour to participate in OSPE’s Change the World campaign. Now that I’ve officially booked my stay, I can’t wait to unwind at the resort. The countdown is on!”
Find out more about Venngo’s memberperks® program for OSPE members.
Tags: Affinity Partner, Change the World, Contest, Transportation, Venngo, women in engineering
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Maximilian Albert Thomas Mantha, P.Eng., wins an Engineering Medal in the Category of Young Engineer
It’s Time for a Culture Shift: Why allyship, equity, diversity & inclusion are the future of STEM
What happened at the Ontario Engineering Competition – OEC 2019?
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Tag: Lofts in Ottawa
Do you know the difference between a hard loft and a soft loft?
Hard Lofts
An authentic Hard Loft is a rare beast. Lofts in Ottawa are in short supply due to the nature of their origin. In order to fit this category, a former industrial or commercial use space must be converted into a residential living space. Out of this formula, some common elements arise. Old, often exposed brick, visible mechanical elements of the building such as pipes and beams, large windows and vaulted ceilings. The latter is the element from which a loft derives its name. A lofted ceiling that allows a living space to feel much larger than the square footage of the floor plan. Ceiling heights from 11 to16 ft are common.
Of special interest, will be the history of the building. The story that these conversions tell is almost as important as the design in conveying the style of the home. The original use, any subsequent commercial conversions and the date of the original construction, all contribute to setting the buildings apart. All of these factors naturally limit the height of the buildings, but not necessarily the amenities. There are Hard Lofts that also include common areas, fitness rooms and shared rooftop spaces. Of particular interest are buildings that have been reclaimed from the public domain such as schools and churches.
Soft Lofts
Soft Lofts are new builds designed to offer the space and style of a hard loft. The demand for hard lofts far exceeds availability and the costs associated with these one of a kind spaces, place them out of reach for many buyers. Here is where the Soft Loft comes to life. Builders, eager to fill the demand for open concept spaces, adopted the term loft and applied it to units which outside of the conversion elements, fit the design and style criteria of a loft.
More commonly found in low and mid-rise buildings, upper floors in high rise buildings may also have units that have been given a Soft Loft treatment. The popularity of the Soft Loft is growing along with the demand for higher ceilings, open floor plans and unique design elements. Luckily supply is high since the units are created with new builds, there is no limit on how many can hit a given market. However, due to the low supply Hard lofts are more likely to retain their value over time and suffer less vulnerability to market shifts.
One of the biggest bonuses of Soft Lofts is their inclusion in building projects that compete for best amenities. New build condos have to offer a wide and exciting range of amenities to attract potential buyers. Finding a soft loft in a building that also has the concierge, party rooms, pools, full-scale gym and rooftop BBQ’s is not uncommon. They are also not restricted by an existing structure. A soft loft can be built into any design or building, offering more options for style and layout. Developers will sometimes use the mixing of these elements. They design multiple building complexes, combining Condo units, Soft Lofts and Townhomes into a single project.
Here are our 3 favourite Hard Lofts in Ottawa: Studio Argyle, Wallis House and Warehouse Lofts
Studio Argyle:
Studio Argyle Condo Ottawa was built in 2000 by Domicile Developments. This unique low rise building contains 40 units spread out on 4 storeys. Studio Argyle Condo Ottawa is an eye-catching building with its prominent red brick and cream accents. Located in between Ottawa’s popular and well-known streets, Elgin Street and Bank Street, this building is in the heart of Ottawa’s Centretown. Enjoy a Sunday stroll down the Rideau Canal, or go afternoon shopping in the Glebe. Studio Argyle Condo Ottawa allows you easy access to Ottawa’s economic and social neighbourhoods. Perfect for the artsy modern student, professional or retiree these units are unique and stand out with their distinctive architecture. The lofts here are dramatic, pipe and/or brick exposed units with a feel you won’t find anywhere in Ottawa. Fireplaces in living areas, expansive outdoor terraces and gas in the kitchen and balconies make this building truly unique. Studio Argyle Condo Ottawa features a beautiful lobby with accent art pieces, elevator, underground and surfaced parking and private storage lockers.
Wallis House:
Wallis House Condo Ottawa is a classic heritage building unlike no other. Constructed in 1983 this building was originally one of Ottawa’s first modern hospitals. After the hospital closed in 1924 the building served as a seminary, barracks, veteran housing, an armoury and during the Second World War Canadian Military Soldiers occupied the building. In 1990, Wallis House Condo Ottawa was officially designated a Heritage Building by the City of Ottawa. Following this designation, Smallwood of Andrex Holdings in partnership with Wilberfoss Inc and Domicile acquired the property and converted the interior of the building to the current 46 authentic loft condominiums that were designed keeping in mind the Heritage significance of this amazing building. Cathedral ceilings, wide hallways, and soaring windows characterize each unit, which boast a New York-style loft feeling. Beautifully upgraded, 1-2 bedroom units feature exposed brick walls, exposed ducts, fireplaces, hardwood flooring, and open concept living, with many units featuring 2 storeys for trendy loft living. Building amenities include an exercise center, security, and a rooftop terrace. Located blocks from walking paths, parks and the Rideau River, yet is still within walking distance of everything downtown has to offer.
Warehouse Lofts:
Warehouse Lofts Condo Ottawa prior to it’s condo conversion, was a factory warehouse creating a variety of products of the years. In 2000 the building was converted into a condominium by retired Ottawa real estate lawyer, Craig Callen Jones. The condominium conversion project consisted of creating 30 open-concept unique lofts within the preexisting structure. The lofts feature inviting and well thought-out design accented by warm hardwood floors, high quality and creative built-ins, exposed brick walls, wood beams, and high cathedral ceilings! The beautiful timber beams used in the conversion project are a stand out in this building, setting it apart from other loft conversions in the city. Many units also feature exposed duct work, fire places, and beautiful staircases allowing for 2 storeys of authentic loft living. Enjoy living in Little Italy, steps away from some of Ottawa’s greatest restaurants, pubs and shops!
*Averages based off of a 5-year period
Here are our 3 favourite Soft Lofts in Ottawa: 150 Caroline Av, Lofts at Tribeca & The Dwell
150 Caroline Av:
Welcome to 150 Caroline Av Condo Ottawa, in the heart of Wellington Village. Built in 2004 by Routeburn this low rise building contains 40 units. They come in a variety of layouts containing 1 or 2 bedrooms. The units in this building offer a lofty feel with 9″ high ceilings & floor to ceiling windows, some even include natural gas or electric fireplaces. The Penthouse condos in this building boast 2 storeys for added space with 10″ high ceilings on the top level. Every unit contains 1 private balcony, many feature an additional private terrace, that features beautiful views of Ottawa and the Gatineau Hills. Amenities at 150 Caroline Av Condo Ottawa include elevators, fob security access at all exterior building doors, underground parking, visitors parking and storage lockers. There is even a Bridgehead Cafe on the main level of this great building, convenient for morning or afternoon coffees. Enjoy being in the heart of Wellington Village, shops, cafes and restaurants at your doorstep!
Lofts at Tribeca:
Lofts at Tribeca Condo Ottawa is one of Claridge Homes newest Developments. Located at 197 Lisgar St, Lofts at Tribeca Condo Ottawa is right in the heart of Centretown. Lofts at Tribeca Condo Ottawa have 1-2 bedroom lofts available to purchase, ranging in size from 900 sq ft to 1,435 sq ft. With an average price of $519/sq ft, you don’t need to give up quality or style for affordability. These modern industrial style lofts come with designer finishing packages and custom kitchens. The building holds 20 units spread over 2 stories. On the south side of the building, there is a landscaped terrace to enjoy the view of our nation’s capital. Residents of Lofts at Tribeca Condo Ottawa have access to all of the amenities located within Tribeca Condo Ottawa & Tribeca East Condo Ottawa. These buildings offer a recreational and fitness facility, including a gym, change rooms and swimming pool with kids splash pad. A community party room as well as separate meeting rooms and board rooms and 2 guest suites are also available to residents and their guests. There is also a fabulous rooftop terrace offering amazing views of Parliament Hill.
The Dwell:
The Dwell Condo Ottawa , built by Domicile in 2007, is a great urban loft building containing 35 units located in Centretown. Although located on a quiet, tree-lined street, this building is just steps from the hustle and bustle of Ottawa’s shops, restaurants, and bars. The units are characterized by high 12 ft ceilings, hardwood floors, gas fireplaces, large windows, central air, and balconies. A unique feature of this building is the units offer gas hook ups on private balconies for residents to use for their own personal bbqs. Underground parking, storage lockers, elevators, a bike room, and secure entrances are great features that this building offers. The Dwell Condo Ottawa is ideal, perfect for either relaxing or entertaining.
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What Is ‘Uberisation’?
In recent years, co-operative enterprises such as Uber, Deliveroo and Airbnb have redefined the way we conceptualise and do work. These start-ups center work flexibility and speed of service as key features of their business model. The proliferation of this business model has been termed the ‘Uberisation’ of the workplace.
Whilst many have hailed the apparent work flexibility of enterprises such as Airbnb and Uber as a positive alternative to more rigid work structures, a deeper look may paint a more negative picture. Critics of this business model have highlighted that the work flexibility espoused by these enterprises do not benefit workers, but lead to the quashing of workplace rights, no minimum wages and a lack of job security. Without regulations in place to protect both workers and customers, these apps may herald a new era of deregulated, precarious and casualised work.
PPE applicants may want to consider the economic and political implications of ‘Uberisation’ — how will this effect income disparities in big cities? Will ‘Uberisation’ result in an increase in employment, but a lowering of wages?
The universal language of happiness
Banksy removed under calls of racism
Cambridge: The Post-Colonial Predicament
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Campaigns Reports
Forest report: in the green..
Forest report: in the green or in the red?
Publication | 2009-02-12 at 7:00
This report aims to study the adequacy of environmental disclosures with regards to the current listing requirements in Hong Kong. It briefly reviews the forestry sector, related environmental issues and the main industries derived from forestry.
Private housing estates..
Private housing estates guzzling energy and Refuse to disclose electricity bill,...
Press release | 2010-06-10 at 6:00
A Greenpeace research reveals that most private housing in West Kowloon refuses to disclose the energy consumption of their public facilities (1). Among the little pool which unveils the data, the level of energy consumption exceeds the average...
The big “TIME” comes to U.S..
The big “TIME” comes to U.S. Consulate Greenpeace urges Obama to be Climate Hero at...
Two Greenpeace activists unfold a 3m x 2m imitated “Time” Magazine cover in front of the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong. The magazine captioned “Key to Copenhagen: Obama, be a Climate leader!” with a picture of U.S. President Barrack Obama,...
Four Greenpeace Climate..
Four Greenpeace Climate Activists Arrested for Unfurling a Wanted Notice at Central...
Greenpeace condemns the Hong Kong government for arresting four Greenpeace activists for taking part in a non-violent protest on climate change today. The activists unfurled a 7-storey-tall banner hoping to catch “Climate Fugitive” Donald Tsang...
Record-breaking Rainstorm..
Record-breaking Rainstorm Costs Hong Kong HKD 578 million Greenpeace urges...
Greenpeace is calling on the Hong Kong government to urgently draw up a climate change policy after a Greenpeace investigation showed that a record-breaking rainstorm last June cost the region HKD 578 million. (equivalent to EUR 54 million and...
Countdown Clock to..
Countdown Clock to Copenhagen Conference Unveiled Ticking Down to the Last Chance to...
Greenpeace unveiled a countdown clock in Tseung Kwan O’s East Point City today to welcome the UN Climate Change Conference (Copenhagen Conference) which will be open on 7 December. Greenpeace hopes to raise the awareness of Hong Kong people on...
Greenpeace Brings 7,000..
Greenpeace Brings 7,000 Signatures to Environment Bureau, Demand CO2 Caps on Power Plants
Two Greenpeace activists dressed up in eyeball costume today bring 7,000 signatures collected earlier to the Environment Bureau and covered the EB door with “surveillance eyes”. The act is to present public voices to urge the Bureau to cap carbon...
APCO Amendment Goes against..
APCO Amendment Goes against Public Opinion to Cap Power Plants CO2, says Greenpeace...
While the Hong Kong Observatory warns that winter will disappear in two decades, the government shows no sign to cap carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in its latest amendment to the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (APCO). Yet a...
Feature Story | 2005-05-03 at 6:00
Perhaps more than anyone else, Bob Hunter invented Greenpeace. His death on May 2nd 2005, of cancer, marks the passing of a true original, one of the heroes of the environmental movement.
Publication | 2016-08-11 at 23:17
Last year we achieved some remarkable breakthroughs for our planet. Your commitment and generous support enables us to safeguard valuable ecosystems in the Arctic, Pacific Ocean, Indonesia, China, Europe, and more!
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Tag Archives: Old Bakery Artist Carl Johnson
National Award For Painting – Somerset Guardian
April 11, 2013 oldbakeryartists
Paulton artist Carl Johnson has won a national art award for a life painting.
The Old Bakery Artists group member won his award in an online exhibition held by the Elderly Accommodation Council charity for his painting, Eve.
The former teacher is now a full-time painter and printer. His portrait of Eve shows a woman in her late 70s, who is the third generation of her family to pose for Mr Johnson.
He said: “I first painted her daughter at a life class, then painted her daughter when she was pregnant and then with her baby. Eve was in her late 70s when I first painted her and have painted her several times since.”
Mr Johnson received his £125 prize at a reception at the House of Lords.
His work will feature alongside other members in this year’s Old Bakery Artists art trail around Radstock, Midsomer Norton and Paulton between Friday, May 10, and Sunday, May 12.
Carl JohnsonEve PictureOld Bakery Artist Carl JohnsonOld Bakery ArtistsPaulton
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Husband-and-wife team Fillip and Jamie Hord run Horderly, which helps pack rats overhaul their crammed spaces starting at $110/hour. Horderly.com
How to declutter your home, according to professional organizers
By Christina Poletto
January 8, 2020 | 8:47pm | Updated January 10, 2020 | 3:07pm
Everyone resolves to be more organized in the new year, but let’s face it: Old habits die hard.
For those who are already backsliding in their 2020 quests to be as systematic and minimalist as Marie Kondo, fret not: It’s easy to outsource the clutter of your nightmares.
To help conquer common tendencies of excess, we tapped five experts who have seen it all, from jam-packed under-sink storage in bathrooms to the bulging doors of overstuffed walk-in closets.
They all share one superpower, and that’s the ability to visualize order and strategize what to keep — all while maximizing even the tiniest of spaces.
Spare bedroom
Horderly.com
Sometimes it’s easy to get organized, but harder to keep spaces looking pristine. Horderly — a national service that specializes in decluttering, organizing and unpacking — has a primary rule its dozens of staffers stand by: One in, one out.
“Our clients are really thinking before they purchase something,” explains Jamie Hord, who runs Horderly with her husband, Fillip. Hord encourages clients to be intentional with their purchases: “Do they love it enough to let go of anything they currently own in order to give this item a new home?”
If organizing isn’t intuitive, you’re not alone. “Organization is something that affects everyone, from all aspects of life, and yet, it isn’t always second nature,” says Hord. “When organizing for the first time, tackle one small space at a time, and make sure to pull every single item out. Absolutely nothing should be left in that space, and then all items should be sorted into categories.”
Using this approach, Hord and her team were able to bring order to a huge pile of shoes and fashion accessories that took over a spare bedroom for one client in Midtown East (above).
“They had upgraded and had a spare bedroom and wanted to display their sneaker collection,” Hord says. “So we made their shoe wall dreams come true.”
Cost: $110/hour, which goes down to $100/hour after 30 hours are used.
Playroom / living room
Stanley Silberstein
The hardest part might be knowing when to call in the organizing pros. “When a person has decided that she/he deserves a more productive lifestyle within their home, it is time to bring in a professional,” says Wendy Silberstein, owner and president of The Aesthetic Organizer.
For a recent project, Silberstein took the toy clutter out of a main living room and transformed an underutilized space for a busy Manhattan family into a dedicated playroom for the family’s two young daughters. “It was a huge success as they became the ‘go-to’ destination for playdates! Additionally, the living room became an aesthetically pleasing space where the parents were able to entertain without tripping over toys.”
Cost: $125/hour, with a one-hour consultation fee of $75 that can be applied toward any project.
Two areas that are common mess magnets are the kitchen and pantry. “Almost always people call us in for the pantry and kitchen because it just isn’t working the way they envisioned it would work,” explains Ann Lightfoot, co-founder of Done & Done Home.
According to Lightfoot, a move to the suburbs — and more space — often results in even more disorganization of food and kitchen supplies. “Many people in the tristate area are former New Yorkers, so when they left the city, they figured they left their clutter problems behind because they’d have so much more space,” says Lightfoot. It doesn’t exactly work like that: “Stuff tends to fill up the space you have. It just keeps coming and coming until, finally, the space doesn’t function well. This mom called us in because her pantry was a disaster and food kept getting lost and then repurchased and she felt she was wasting time and money on groceries and shopping.”
For this project — at Bobbi Brown’s Montclair, New Jersey, home — Lightfoot and her team removed all items from the pantry, discarding expired foods. Then they created an easy-to-follow system to group similar products together, and researched organizing products, like bins and baskets, for the space.
“We also put cans on the stadium seating type of riser so ones in the back don’t get lost. Finally, we make labels for all the bins and put everything back in a way that makes sense so the client will be able to follow the system easily,” says Lightfoot.
Cost: $175/hour per organizer with a seven-hour minimum commitment.
Dresser drawers
For those ready to dive in the deep end and enlist the spirit of popular Japanese organizer Marie Kondo — whose KonMari philosophy centers on discarding all items that don’t “spark joy” and arranging them in your home so they can all be seen easily (like folding clothes on their sides in drawers) — there are experts for that, too.
New York City-based Lisa Tselebidis, a KonMari-certified consultant, previously worked in fashion before turning to organizing as a career. She specializes in whole-home projects; each room is tackled and transformed. Clutter can take many forms, she adds.
“Visual clutter is a thing,” explains Tselebidis. “You might want to remove labels from bottles and containers. By doing that, you can remove the ‘noise’ these labels can create in your home. Your home might be tidy, but it might still feel cluttered if you have a lot of items with written information on them.”
Cost: After a free initial call, fees range from $500 to $1,000 per session.
Laundry room / storage closet
Sorted by Anna
“No one’s life or home is Pinterest perfect,” says Anna Bauer, founder of Sorted by Anna. She encourages city dwellers, or anyone with limited space, to consider how less is more when it comes to products that live behind cabinet doors. “If you can’t see it, you will likely forget you own it!”
During one recent project, Bauer did more than just tidy up and organize one Brooklyn family’s laundry space. “Given its size, they wanted to create a space and systems to hold snacks, cleaning, laundry and seasonal items as well as their shoes,” she says. To do this, Bauer reworked the entire interior configuration. “The previous shelving had limitations and could not house all of the items the family wanted to store in the space,” she adds. “Once we edited and grouped like with like, I then took measurements and designed an Elfa system from the Container Store that utilized the entire space and would better fit their needs and what they truly used daily.” The new layout is a game-changer, and has helped the family in their decluttering goals.
For one recent Upper West Side project, Bauer was tasked with bringing order to toiletries and makeup items in a client’s master bath — and making the most of that awkward space under city sinks infiltrated by a pesky central pipe. “Most of her daily items were thrown in, making it hard for her to find what she needed quickly and resulted in wasted time or rebuying items she already owned,” says Bauer, who began the job by editing down the toiletries and tossing products that were expired.
“We then grouped things in a way that made sense for her lifestyle and daily use. Based on that new system, I then took measurements and purchased solutions that would work for her and fit the space precisely.”
Consider a lazy Susan, Bauer adds, which “can be used in almost every space in your home and makes hard-to-reach corners, cabinets or under bathroom/kitchen sinks more accessible.”
Cost: $100/hour, two-hour minimum required. Flat rates offered for clients who are relocating.
Filed under cleaning , interior design , marie kondo , organization
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A poverty of compassion, Rod Oram
Child Poverty in New Zealand
Jonathan Boston and Simon Chapple
Bridget Williams Books, $50.00,
“New Zealand has the necessary resources to reduce child poverty, and equitable and efficient ways to secure these resources are available. The question is not about our capacity, it is about our political will.” This is the unequivocal conclusion of Jonathan Boston and Simon Chapple in their book Child Poverty in New Zealand. They base it on their exhaustive analysis of the scale, complexity and damage of child poverty, and the myriad ways we could tackle it.
We have to confront the scale. Between 130,000 and 285,000 of our children live in poverty, the number depending on the measure used. But any fair measure accounting for deprivation puts the number at the top end. This ranks us 18th among developed countries with 18 per cent of our children impoverished, triple the rate of the best countries, which are the Scandinavians plus Luxembourg.
We have to confront our failures. So many of our policy responses to child poverty are deeply compromised by political expedience and economic short-termism, Boston and Chapple reveal with scholarly and clinical precision. In essence, we have failed to put children first in the policies affecting them.
One of their most striking examples involves the “active employment system”: that is, the range of government programmes that help people train for and find work. The sums aren’t large – 1 per cent of GDP ranks a country in the top five of the OECD, although the biggest spender is Denmark at 2.3 per cent. Notably, these leading countries are among the most innovative and resilient.
Work matters because, as the authors note, “finding parents sufficient hours of employment, even at existing low pay rates, goes a long way to pulling children out of poverty.” Yet our spending on active labour market programmes plunged from 1 per cent of GDP in 1992 to 0.3 per cent in 2011, ranking us 22nd in the OECD. People, and the economy, are poorer for it.
We have to confront the cost of these failures. The negative impact of child poverty on wages, crime, health and welfare in New Zealand is a loss of 4.5 per cent of GDP. That completely negates the economic gains we derive from five million cows in the dairy sector, this author adds.
Yet, we need to spend only a couple of billion dollars a year to substantially reduce child poverty and mitigate some of the negative, compounding impacts on it from poor housing and inadequate education, Boston and Chapple estimate. This equates to just over 2 per cent of the government’s budget this fiscal year. Such investment would reap substantial rewards for individuals and society, such as healthier and more productive people, and reduced social and welfare costs in the years ahead.
Moreover, the authors identify four ways to fund this investment in society: raising additional revenue; shifting some government expenditure from older to younger New Zealanders; treating the investment in reducing child poverty as a capital rather an operating expense; and using some of the fiscal headroom arising from the projected fall in the relative cost of welfare expenditure over the medium term.
Theoretically, our current government is thinking along some of these lines. For example, it has set itself 10 goals in its Better Public Services programme. The first is to reduce long-term welfare dependence. The target is to “reduce the number of people continuously receiving Jobseeker Support for more than 12 months by 30 per cent, from 78,000 in April 2012 to 55,000 by June 2017.”
But while the government has programmes to help people train for and find work, the greatest determinant of success will be the vigour of the economy. Yet, forecasts show the economy is slowing, drifting down towards its long-term growth rate of around 2.5 per cent. Moreover, even work is not a panacea. Some 10 per cent of impoverished children live in working families.
“Supporting vulnerable children” is the theme for goals two to four of the programme. The targets here are to increase participation in early childhood education and immunisation programmes, and to reduce incidence of rheumatic fever and assaults on children. These are vital child-centred goals. But they are not specifically targeted to reducing child poverty. The remaining six goals – focussed on skills, employment, crime and interaction with the government – are even further removed from children.
The government is also experimenting with an investment approach to social challenges. Investing in solo teenage mothers is the single existing example the government cites. It says its newly customised, intensive support for those young women will make for better mothers and healthier children.
Long-term, society will benefit from stronger families and more productive people. Thus the cost of looking after them is dramatically reduced, representing an impressive return on the initial investment, says Finance Minister Bill English.
Paula Bennett was champion of the programme when she was Minister of Social Development. Now she is Minister of State Services tasked with applying such innovation more widely. English says this partial shift from spending to investment allocations will become the biggest change in budget architecture in a generation.
But note that the Finance Minister talks more about money than people. Where is the compassion in this? Where is the understanding of the particular circumstances and wider societal issues that laid a person low? Where is the deeply personal help they need to rebuild their lives?
That said, the investment approach is commendable, but piecemeal and not explicitly tied to eradicating child poverty. Worse, it likely lacks wider political support. Broadly speaking, parties to the right of National want less social spending and more radical innovation in, for example, education; and parties to the left want more spending and less innovation. Ample funding and effective innovation could prove politically elusive.
So how might we achieve a political consensus? How might we commit to a Child Poverty Act, as Boston and Chapple advocate, to focus our efforts, set hard targets and measure our progress?
The authors help by debunking myths about child poverty, as a way of building popular support for action. They also suggest ways to overcome politics’ left-right divide, such as common ground and policy variations with factional appeal, which together would reduce child poverty. Above all, they offer a wealth of research, analysis, recommendations and ethical reasons for why and how we can do right by our children. “All New Zealand children, regardless of the family into which they are born, ought to have a fair opportunity to thrive and belong. Such a goal should not be controversial politically,” Boston and Chapple say.
Yet, for all the power and persuasion of their work, which is the definitive primer on the sociology, economics and policy of child poverty, something is missing – as it is from the Herculean efforts of the Children’s Commissioner, the Child Poverty Action Group, churches and other advocates of social justice for children.
But the failure is ours, not theirs. As a society, we talk and lament, but we have yet to act decisively. We have lost our moral compass. Unless we find it, we will keep failing our children.
Rod Oram is a business journalist. He contributes weekly to the Sunday Star-Times, Nine to Noon, Newstalk ZB and Kiwiki, his Facebook page on the economy. He is a frequent public speaker on business and economic issues and he Tweets a bit.
Tagged with: Bridget Williams Books, Issue 108, Jonathan Boston, Rod Oram, Simon Chapple, Summer 2014
Posted in Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review, Sociology
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Is work what makes us human? Alex Beattie
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Pitts Witts
finding humor in the everyday drudgery
The 10 Memes
July 19, 2019 ~ pittswitts ~ Leave a comment
We began dinner as usual. We said our prayers and gave thanks and then, the cliche’ “tell me about your day” move.
“So how was VBS?” The boys were at Vacation Bible School this week. And this, much like school, is difficult to gauge what experiences they are really having.
“It was good,” Liam said in between bites of BBQ slathered pulled chicken sliders.
“What made it-”
“I know, I know, Dad, what made it good.” Liam interrupted. Obviously my elaboration scaffold was beginning to transfer.
“So what made it good?” I had to get it in there.
“Well, it’s kind of crazy but its fun.”
Ben piped in, “yeah, kids are running around everywhere.”
“Okay,” I inserted trying to get the image of a wild pack of kids rampaging around the church out of my mind. “So what are you learning about?”
“Ummm…you know, the Bible, singing songs.” Liam threw out, obviously wanting this daily interrogation to end.
A look of excited remembrance popped on Benjamin’s face, “There IS this really cool thing the do to teach us about the Bible. It’s called Wild Bible Adventure.”
“Oh, yeah,” Liam said, attempting to steal the spotlight as well as lick the BBQ from the side of his hand. “It’s when they have us act out parts of the Bible. It’s really interesting. Like today, we go to be the Israelites and we learned about how God sent bread from heaven.”
“Yeah,” Ben cut in attempting to regain his story, also while licking BBQ sauce but from the sides of his mouth. “They gave us Chex mix and this marshmallow birds.”
“Tweets!” Liam excitedly interjected, “Ummm, I think that’s what they were called. I couldn’t help but chuckle as the image of God sending Tweets and Retweets down to the hungry, desert-bound Israelites.
“I think you mean Peeps,” I clarified. I didn’t want to but Liam was giving me the look of “Help me out here, Dad,” and I couldn’t let him down.
“Oh yeah! And then yesterday we learned about how the Israelites got out of Egypt.”
“How did that happen?” I probed, now I was licking BBQ sauce off my fingers.
“God sent the ten memes,” Liam innocently and assuredly responded.
As I let this wash over me, my laughter bubbled into a hearty guffaw. The image of God trolling the Pharaoh on social media was too much. In Liam’s understanding of the Bible, God sends annoying memes to get Pharaoh to let his people go and when his people need some food he sends down Chex mix and tweets about it.
I needed that laughter. With all the horrible content being spewed by a man who thinks he’s god all over Twitter and the internet and anger being bred and spread all over the country, I needed to be reminded that these memes and tweets have no real power. That love always has and always will prevail, and a good laugh along the way helps, too.
In-dependence
“Can I help you with that lid, Benny?” I ventured watching as my youngest son took a metal spoon to a metal pull-top lid, trying to pry it free.
“No, Dad, I got it,” he grunted a few moments before triumphantly liberating the seal tin top. “See!” he grinned, half-proud, half-surprised at his feat.
Later that morning, I asked if he needed me to get his green sandals, the one with the “cammo strap”.
“No, Dad, I’ll get them.”
As we were leaving for the day, he was walking to the car, shuffling through the grass while carrying his stuffed animals and cinch bag to my car, hands full and barely gripping onto his water bottle and snack.
“Ben, let me take something,” I ventured again.
“Nope. I got it!” a slight smile peeked from the look of pure concerted effort he was putting into the task.
I stopped in my tracks, watched his not so little body balancing, compensating, adjusting as he made his way to the curb. I watched as my not so dependent boy made his own path into the day. I marveled at how independent he’d become.
Later that night, as I came in with his brother from walking our dog, Lilly, there was Ben fully changed into his PJs.
“I went, I washed my hands, and I wiped,” he proudly announced.
“I hope not in that order,” I quipped, still marveling in his independence.
He giggled as I walked to meet him at the bottom of the stairs. “Time for bed, Boo.”
He looked up, his face was losing that cherubic innocence and his eyes were filled with his individual and unique spirit. I smiled down at him, marveling and mourning his developing maturity.
“Daddy,” Ben chimed.
“Yeah, Boo?”
“Can you carry me up the stairs?”
“Yes. Of course.”
And as I picked up his still so little frame and slumped him over my shoulder, I could feel him relax, rest and retreat into the crook of my neck. His breath swept over the side of my face as he released his yawn, like it was written for a movie.
Maybe he wasn’t so grown up yet.
“Dad,” Liam began with that tone I knew so well, that tone that meant he wasn’t very thrilled about something. “Dad, when is baseball season over?”
He’s become more strategic in his strategies, less obvious, but I can still smell the tactic from a mile away.
“We have two games this week and then the tournament next week,” I replied, matter-of-factly, best to let him take the lead.
He was lacing up his shoes as if it he was 5 again, one lace over the other. Stop. Loop the lace under and pull through. Stop.
“Do I have to play in the playoffs?” Make a loop. Hold. Grab the other lace. Hold.
Nope. You are not pulling me down that road.
“Do you want to play in the playoffs?”
” I guess…I don’t know…” He mumbled. Wrap, pull and done. He took time standing as if he were his stiff jointed Papa and started meandering towards the ball park. His younger brother, Ben, skipping and hopping and sauntering with the level of energy befit of any summer-time child. Liam, however, seemed to get more and more tired as the field approached. Whether it was the long summer day sun or the lack of excitement for the game, I couldn’t tell but I did know that this boy was not chomping at the bit to take the field.
The game started and unfolded. His team had scored early and through a combination of strike outs, chance pop fly catches and a few plays by our head-above-the rest first baseman, we had kept the opposing team to a shut out. Though from the look on Liam’s face and sauntering manner he entered and exited the field, you would not know it. But when the final inning approached and the head coach asked for volunteers to play catcher, Liam, after six games of disinterest and laissez-faire, surprisingly piped up with a firm by quiet, “Me!”
During our next at bat, while I was out coaching at third base, I watched as he donned the catching gear. I have learned with Liam that he needs to venture out on his own, still connected but independent. I wanted badly to help, do the fatherly duty of strapping in his shin guards, the same type of gear I had once put on and taken off countless times over many summers. I knew this was an arena best left to him to explore on his own. As I came in to help transition our players from batting to fielding, I beamed at my guy, dressed head to toe in the over-sized gear. The shin guards and chest plate hung on him like a toddler dressed in his parents clothes.
“Are you ready, bud?” I asked, giving him a playful slap on the top of his helmet.
He glared and splayed his hands out to the side, “Daaaaad…” The look on his face made me want to swoop him up in a bear hug and stuck a knife in my side at the same time. A look of 8 year old indignation congealed before he turned on his heal and marched toward the plate. It was the biggest spark of life I had seen from him in the game. What Liam could not control, though, was that while our team was in the field, I had to back up whoever our catcher may be.
The score was three to zero and we were playing the final half inning to secure our second place seed by ousting our tied-for-second seed opponent. For a park district baseball, league, it had its fair share of drama.
We walked the first two batters and throughout Liam made only small stabs at trying to catch the pitcher’s delivery. I could tell he was scared but still brave enough to crouch-slash-kneel behind the batter and attempt the recoveries. With the next two hits and walk, the score was now three to one and the bases were loaded.
I ventured a bit of coaching. “Liam, if the ball is hit, you have to stand on home plate and catch the ball coming to you or go get the ball and touch home plate.”
Liam turned to me wide-eyed, yet with an air of urgency. “What’s the score? Do we get to bat?”
I gave my canned coaching response. “Don’t worry about the score, just worry about home plate.” But as I watched Liam dig in the balls of his feet and raise to a now proper catching crouch, I could see the determination, henceforth undetectable, rise to the surface.
“If the ball is hit anywhere, pop up and stand on home ready for whatever comes next. I’ll tell you if you need to get the ball and tag home.”
He nodded, locked into the game. This was the most in-game coaching he had let me give thus far.
As the pitch came in and the resulting “ping” of an aluminum bat rang, Liam shot up and stepped to home. The ball had been driven past our shortstop and stopped by our left fielder. Two runs had scored and the game was now tied.
Liam turned once again, wide eyed but determined. “Dad, do we get to bat?”
I could have countered with another coaching cliche or have been annoyed that he hadn’t been paying attention to the game thus far, or the other games thus far, but the look on his face gave me pause. He wanted to win. He wanted to know what was at stake. He wanted to be prepared to help his team.
“This is it, tiger. We don’t get another at bat. We have to hold them here. If we do, we tie and we stay tied in the league at second.”
Again, he dug in, raised his mitt and bobbed on his feet. The next batter struck out and I could hear the deep breath being released as the next batter approached. Again, he dug in, raised the mitt and bobbed.
I didn’t care what happened next. I cared that he cared. I don’t need him to be an all-star or even just a star. I just want him to explore different activities and experience what they have to offer. Baseball is unique. It’s a team sport yet still relies on a lot of individual accountability. Even the most complicated of triple plays might only involve a little more than half the team and that is on the high end of simultaneous team work. I want him to know what being on a team means. To be both highlighted and obscured, to do what you can for the benefit of your squad and to celebrate in each other’s contributions and victories. And here he was, once a shade above boredom, now with a racing heart and team-driven determination.
Ping! the sound of impending doom. A squibbler to the first baseman, fielded and tagged. Out. I looked back and there he was planted on home plate, glove out and ready.
March 31st, 2017 – Finis
March 30th, 2017 – The Best Kind of Rainy Day
showgem on March 5th, 2017 – Tank…
Akilah on March 31st, 2017 – …
tinybirdwithabigsong on March 30th, 2017 – The B…
lsmith0917 on March 28th, 2017 – Back…
Loralee on March 28th, 2017 – Back…
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Art dealer Tony Shafrazi causes a scene with epic rant at Owen Wilson and Peter Brant
August 8, 2013 | 4:00am
Owen Wilson FilmMagic
Famed art dealer Tony Shafrazi caused a scene when he threw a temper tantrum at actor Owen Wilson and billionaire art collector Peter Brant in front of diners at Da Silvano. Fellow patrons said Shafrazi seemed infuriated when he came upon his longtime friends Wilson and Brant together at an outside table of the West Village favorite on Tuesday night. One onlooker said Shafrazi — with his trademark bushy white sideburns twitching — raged, “Why didn’t you call me back? What the [bleep] is wrong with you? . . . You are on my time, you are not on Hollywood time. It is so disrespectful.” The spy said, “Shafrazi was cursing them both out, while Owen was eating a dandelion and heirloom tomato salad. As Tony went on and on, Owen looked more uncomfortable. Finally Owen decided he’d had enough and said, ‘Go [bleep] yourself,’ and stormed off.” Shafrazi then joined Brant at the table, where things simmered down and they talked for over an hour. Shafrazi, who sells work by Francis Bacon, JeanMichel Basquiat and Keith Haring, told Page Six it was a “misunderstanding.” He said, “After a long day’s work, I ended up at the wrong restaurant, Indochine. Having waited outside, I couldn’t get either of them on the telephone. I felt a little embarrassed waiting in the street. I expressed frustrated language, but they are both extremely close friends. Owen is like a son to me, and Peter was my best man. I ended up sitting and talking to Peter for a while. Owen walked away, that happens. There is nobody I hold higher in my affection than Owen and Peter.” Brant shrugged the scene off: “It was not a big deal.” A rep for Wilson declined to comment.
Wahlberg to Bieber: Pull up your pants and stop smoking we...
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Past tense of “text”
Now that text messaging has become a normal method of communication, “text” appears to have become a verb, as in “Text your vote in now”. Once that vote has been sent, what is the past tense? I don’t think that I can bring myself to use “texted”, but always saying “sent a text message” seems to be a contrived way to avoid “texted”.
Posted by seankelly
Filed in Usage
You are all wrong. Text has not become an verb, it is slang. If used as slang, the past tense of Text is Text.
Tranaut Mar-03-2006
Do you use "faxed" for the past tense of, the, now verbed, "fax"? If so, is it not the same for "text"?
M561 Sep-09-2005
I'm a grammar Nazi, so I wouldn't use it if I didn'tn think it was correct. The fax analogy serves my perspective well: I use the word "text" as a verb which I'd define as "to send an SMS text message from one mobile phone to another" and I conjugate it as a regular verb. I will text you later; I haven't texted him yet.
joannaceleftheriou Dec-04-2005
Of course it is "texted", why wouldn't it? Same as with "test/tested".
slemmet1 Sep-10-2005
I've found that when somebody says "I just texted you", even though in my head I think it's spelt "texted", people actually pronounce it the same as "text"... or maybe more accurately, "tex'd" (which then sounds almost identical to "text").
GP1 Sep-18-2005
Since text is not a verb (it's either a noun, as in "sending text")or an adjective, as in "text messaging") why not avoid the whole thing and say: "I sent you a text message?" or "I text messaged you"?
Stik Sep-25-2005
No, it's "I text him yesterday" that makes one cringe, it's so crass and vulgar! Not to
mention sloppy (lazy tongue) and ignorant to the rest of English. It seems to be
only with people who say "deteriated" instead of "deteriorated" because it's too
difficult for their poor lazy mouth. It's wrong! Now repeat 500 times: texted texted texted texted texted texted texted texted texted texted texted texted texted...
paulina Jun-07-2009
RE: fax vs. FAX
I am a technical writer, and have been for nearly 20 years, and I can tell you unequivocally that "fax" is NOT an acronym; it's merely a shortened version of the word facsimile. Check any dictionary. I looked at both the Merriam Webster online and the OED and neither one of them say its an acronym, nor do they spell it with all caps. So you folks that think it's an acronym, you need to check your facts on fax. In addition, two different style guides I checked, list it as fax and not FAX. As a matter of fact, the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications specifically states that one should never use "FAX".
Tek-wryter Feb-22-2007
I don't understand why anyone is confused about this. Text is now a verb because most of us use it as a verb, and like it or not that's how the English language evolves. In the past tense it becomes 'texted'. This is entirely regular. We should not be trying to work out irregular forms of new verbs just because some people think a regular conjugation doesn't sound right. Personally I think 'texted' sounds exactly right and is easy to pronounce so why is it a problem? And I think any new verbs that come into use in the language should always be conjugated in a regular form. Irregular verbs are there because of historical inconsistencies and although these existing irregularities make our language more interesting we should not introduce further irregularities for the sake of it.
I have noticed that in speech some people will say something that sounds like 'I texed you yesterday' but this is probably due to confusion surrounding the 't' sound at the end of the infinitive which makes it sound like 'text' is already in the past, which it is not.
Paul3 Jul-26-2008
I'm finding this discussion fascinating.
I always privately pondered whether the word should be said as "text-ted" or "text'd" (
RenegadeX1 Dec-31-2006
I think the aversion to 'texted' comes from the 't' at the end which forces an awkard two syllable jump unlike faxed. It is also less pleasant than tested because of the hardness of the 'x'. But there isn't much that can be done about it since 'textd' is completely unacceaptable. Just to let you know a variant. I've used and heard several people use 'ping' instead of text. Which comes from the computer program 'ping' which lets you find a computer on the internet. So you can 'ping bob' or say 'I pinged you about it an hour ago' which is much more comfortable to say. Though I don't think it will catch on.
rdajer Sep-16-2005
Vote for Paulina... "YOU ROCK GIRL" Let me buy you a round or 2! my email for You.. ImSoVain@Shallow.me She can be a snob if she wants... TEXTED TEXTED TEXTED TEXTED TEXTED TEXTED TEXTED TEXTED TEXTED TEXTED Lol ;)
ceo Sep-30-2009
i have to admit that i am guilty of using the word "texted" when i am telling someone that i just sent them a text message. i'd say, "i just texted you!". it is just so convenient to do that. mobile text messaging language is really not a very good source of language practice.
lush Sep-09-2005
Anyone who says it should be "texed" because "FAX" changes to "FAXed" is an IDIOT! "Text" ends in "t". "FAX" does not. There's no analogy here at all! And, by the way, it's spelled "FAX", all capitals, not "fax".
anonymous4 Jan-29-2007
test - tested, fax - faxed, text - texed. Make it happen Webster!!!
tom_duke Jan-16-2006
Why not simply "text" for a past tense? An example of other words with this rule would be "hit". The past tense of "hit" remains "hit". Personally I think it keeps it simple and sounds natural to say from an aural aspect. "Texted" just seems a little odd, as most of you have admitted to. Kudos to those with my idea who had already implied it. I just felt like sharing my idea.
Brandon1 Jul-12-2007
"Texted" will never make it into common use. Unfortunately for some, the Internet makes it easier and faster for people to define language. Anyway, I think "texxed" or "texed" (sp?) is the best solution.
As one of the previous commentors stated, it sounds like "text." However, I think there is some small difference (softer ending sound, maybe a difference of emphasis).
me Sep-26-2005
It is the pronumciation text-ed as 2 parts I dislike, texed should sould very similar to text , one does not say run -ed
m1 Jan-16-2006
Anonymous wrote: And, by the way, it's spelled "FAX", all capitals, not "fax".
That's off topic, and bogus. "Fax" is not an acronym, it's an abbreviation of the word "facsimile". Name me one other abbreviation that gets all-caps?
RenegadeX1 Feb-02-2007
Stik, the point is that it is a noun that has also become a verb. That is very common in English.
I am definitely all about saying "text" as both past and present. "Texted" is just wrong.
Cami Jun-04-2008
Douglas, we often agree, but I'm afraid I have to side with Mark this time, even on the points that he has already capitulated.
First of all, all these word lists and examples aren't particularly helpful. There is a simple, standard, consistent paradigm for pronunciation of standard past tense in English. Understand, I'm only talking about the standard past tense formed by adding -ed to the end of the present tense. It works like this:
If the present tense of the verb ends in a consonant "t" or "d" sound, then the -ed adds a syllable, ending in a voiced "d", usually pronounced something like -id, (but the vowel is really a shwa). Notice I didn't say the verb must end in a "t" or "d", but the actual final sound must be "t" or "d".
For all other verbs, the -ed does NOT add an extra syllable. It only adds either a "t" sound or "d" sound, appended to the end of the word without adding a syllable. If the present tense ends with a voiced sound then you add the voiced "d" to the past tense without adding a syllable. If the present tense ends with an unvoiced sound then you add the unvoiced "t", again, without adding a syllable.
This brings us to our first disagreement. The word "faxed" is pronounced EXACTLY as it is spelled. It is pronounced "fax't", one syllable, unvoiced "x" means the "d" is pronounced unvoiced, as "t", perfectly consistent with the standard pronunciation rule.
Next disagreement regarding "Whether it has a ‘t’ in it is not relevant." No, it is completely relevant. re-read the rule above. Words ending in "t" or "d" add a syllable. All others do not.
Debut is tricky, but it still follows the rule perfectly. It is pronounced "day-byou". The "t" is silent. It ends in a voiced, vowel sound, so you don't add a syllable and you use the voiced "d". The past tense, "debuted" is pronounced "day-byou'd", again, exactly according to the rule. Comparing text to debut is not useful. Text ends in a "t" sound. Debut does not.
Hated is two syllables, "hate-id". Corroded is three, "cor-rode-id". Pained is one, "pain'd". passed is one, "pass't". Rued is "Rue'd. See? examples of every combination according to the rule above.
Next, you haven't just listed verbs whose past tense sounds the same as the present tense. You listed verbs whose past tense IS the same at the present tense. Nowhere have you listed a verb that adds "-ed" but adds no sound at all. Technically, you have risen to Mark's challenge, but it's irrelevant to the issue of text vs. texted. These are all irregular verbs. Usually, irregular verbs retain their irregular form because they are ancient and their old form is retained from half a century or more of familiarity. It would be extremely unusual to adopt an irregular form for a new common word, especially a non-technical one.
Every single example in all the posts for this topic follows the rule I have mentioned regardless of what the posters are trying to prove. If you want to follow standard English pronunciation, then the same rule would dictate that texted should be pronounced "tekst-id", since "text" ends in a "t" sound.
I think the difficulty with some is that "text" already ends in a triply compounded consonant, quite a mouthful. Also, you'd be hard pressed to find any other verb that ends in the same triple consonant, so there really aren't any comparable verbs. Tell you what, let's do some verbification of our own. Let's invent a verb, "context", meaning, say, to put something in context. If I did it yesterday, I would have contexted it. Would you pronounce it con-text-ed, or context, same as the present tense?
porsche Oct-05-2009
We could implement a spelling change for the past tense of "text." Which, in turn, would copy an existing word and thus, create an additional meaning for this word. The past tense of "text" could be "taxed." Let us not forget that "shat" has worked wonderfully beside "shit." Although, there are no other meanings for the word "shat."
Steve1 Sep-21-2005
Yes, when "text" is a verb (i.e. send a text message), it's past tense is "texted". And I hear it quite commonly in everyday conversation.
bubbha Feb-18-2006
Yeah I am strongly evangelizing for the "text as both past and present" boat. I suggest you jump aboard.
Bonnie1 May-12-2008
"learnt" That form always bugs me. Learned. Ah, that's better.
fargrave Jan-26-2007
I think it's text.
Jessica2 Nov-13-2007
Why are people debating this? The verb is already listed in many dictionaries with its past tense noted as "texted" with two syllables.
In addition to the citations listed above, here is another: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861719421/text.html
There's no justification for a perception of the use of "texted" as uneducated. In fact, it seems the opposite may be the case.
Additionally, to accept "texted" in written form but verbally pronounce it as "texed", or any variation thereof, has no precedent. Doing so would be simply arbitrary and should be disregarded as a solution.
It's "texted". The educated already know this.
DFWDave Dec-08-2008
That's how it is. It sounds strange, but when written in a specific way based on how it sounds, it reads:
Tecksed-ed
Which is also confusing. There is an "ed-ed" sound in there, which you have been taught to never say.
mike7 Sep-27-2005
Ralliart, I cannot agree with your argument. The regular and natural way to form the simple past tense of a verb that ends in 't' is to add 'ed' at the end. Here are some examples of the regular use of the simple past tense of some other verbs that end in 't': 'he hunted', 'I inherited', 'she greeted', 'we waited', 'it melted'. Verbs like 'to hit' or 'to cut' are irregular in this respect (see http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/irregular-verbs/hit.html). We should not be adding new irregularities to the language on a whim. That would be completely arbitrary as DFWDave correctly points out.
'Texted' is the only correct and acceptable way to form the past tense of this verb. And if I hear people say something like 'I text him yesterday' it sounds like the person hasn't given any thought to what they have said. It just sounds completely wrong, and it is!
Paul3 Dec-15-2008
Found through Google Answers...
According to the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary
(available through some libraries), there has been a verb "text" since the 1500s, with a past tense of "texted" or "tex'd." The current meaning of "to send a text message" was accepted by the OED in its draft additions of June 2004, and include the example of "texted.
John4 Feb-19-2007
Whenever I hear someone "text" in the past tense, I cringe and think they're ignorant. It is akin to hearing someone say that they "aksed" you a question instead of "asked". Using the word "text" makes you sound lazy and uneducated.
Texted Sep-19-2008
"Sent" can be used in this case, as in "I sent you a message."
Don't forget that English is a living language and changes. "Fine" used to mean "thin" as in the phrase "there's a fine line between ...."
Dave3 Sep-25-2005
I think that it is true that it has become a verb, but in a different language. It is a verb in txt language so it has none of the original english rules to apply to it. Because txt is such a loose language, it would be perfectly acceptable to have three forms of the past tense. People use whatever they feel like, when they feel like, no matter who likes it or not. Though i am an extreme pedant, I have learnt this new language and so I know that in txt, the past tense of txt is txtd. It is little more than academic interest whether and how we should transliterate this into English as everyone who speaks txt will use the pronunciation (and people, please get that word right, it is one of my biggest pet peeves, pronounce is the verb pronunciation is the the noun) teck stid.
DamonTarlaei Mar-03-2006
I think it sounds strange to say 'text' for the past tense as well as the present. I always say 'texted' for the past tense, although it has prompted some debates with friends (as seems to be common by reading all the comments on here!).
I'm really hoping 'texted' makes it into the dictionary.
Vicki Jul-13-2007
I agree with Jess. Anytime I hear someone say "texted" I cringe and instantly think they are ignorant. I think the past tense of text, is text. "I text you yesterday" is short for "I sent you a text message yesterday". Why would a person say "I sent you a texted message yesterday"? Using "texted" for the past tense of text, sounds just as bad as using "thinked" for the past tense of think.
Bill1 Aug-13-2008
I'm going to stick my neck out here & say it should be texted. It's not hard to say, in spite of previous comments, and I'm more likely to cringe when I hear people say "I text him." Anyway, if there isn't a distinction, how can we tell if someone is talking in the past tense or present? It's 'texted' without a shadow of a doubt. In my experience it's the less well educated people I know who say 'text', and the better educated who say 'texted'. Proof, if proof were needed, that texted is correct. If you have corrected something, you dont say "I correct it," you say "I corrected it." It's simple really. I honestly can't see what the debate is about.
Mark2 Jun-04-2009
Google Search guy found the site that everyones talking about.. See "Texted" being used and and spoken by todays youth!!! Parents approve,Like Myself. www.ThatsNotCool.com
ceo Oct-03-2009
Present tense text
Past perfect texed
without the harse double sound and the double false sound
More Jan-16-2006
Some of my uneducated friends say the past tense of text is texted. However, my cohorts and I have written dissertations about the sound of the word "texted". As an intellectual whole, we feel it doesn't fit within the overall vernacular of the English Language. The past tense of text is taxed and it will be published in Webster's Dictionary in 2008. I just got it passed.
Dr._Peter_Bloofmiiel Dec-30-2006
NO, renegade, it IS an acronym. It stands for Facsimile Transmission (with transmission commonly abbreviated as X-mission), i.e., FAcsimile Xmission. So there. And it's NOT particularly off topic either.
anonymous4 Feb-02-2007
@Luis Valentine
TheIR!!! Not there, theIR!!
And why would you assume T-Mobil didn't catch that? They did. Texted is, obviously, correct.
McBee Apr-09-2009
I don't use "texted" either. I always say, "i text you a minute ago. it sounds the same it means the same thing. I "texted" you makes me cringe. weather im right or not it sounds sloppy.
Jess1 Aug-05-2008
I think that texted just sounds like it would come from someone who is uneducated. I cannot take anyone serious who uses it. There are alot of words that are slang. This is not a slang, it would fall more under a jargon being that it is more closely related to a technological change in the usage of a word. Which would mean there are no set guuidlines in how it is really used. However, it still brings me two other words like Hit or Cut. I Hit him, is past tense, I cut this, is past tense.. I text him.... NOW there is confusion?? Im not sure as to why. The confusion starts when the word text which orignally started as a noun which ment any of the various forms in which a writing exists. I like that meaning the best. However now text has become a verb which shows an action not the actual "thing" being sent. If we are going to change this due to technology when I send you a picture which is a noun would I have then pictured you? Sounds just as absurd right? Because when used properly as in "I sent you a picture you say just that. In that case we would say I sent you a text. And this whole confusion would be done. However we crossed over and are creating a hybrid which is noun used a verb following noun properties! These are some of the effects of the changes in technology that cause a new language or jargon. The only reason that texted has came about is because of the easability to add an 'ed, oh and the great education system that we have. If simply using a word incorrectly will make it correct then why do we even worry about having a dictionary or english class?
Ralliart403 Dec-01-2008
I'm a bit puzzled by some of the debate on this thread. First of all, the spelling of a word and its pronunciation are not independent. If indeed we were to settle on 'text' as the past tense form of 'text', it would not be spelled "texted"; it would be spelled "text". So that's irrelevant. What does matter is the rule for forming past tense verb forms in English, which was stated well by porsche back on October 5th. Irregular word forms (such as geese, built, mice, brought, cast, and many others) are very old words that have persisted through centuries of changes in English -- and they were all regular at one time.
However, the regular patterns of forming plurals, past tense, and other word forms are very well-established and part of the linguistic knowledge of every native speaker. Whenever a new word is introduced (as in the new verb "text", from the noun "text"), it follows these regular patterns, without exception. The past tense of 'text' would be 'texted' and there's absolutely no way around that because there is no optionality in the rules or wiggle room for what sounds right.
I won't call 'text' as a past tense form incorrect, in case usage of it eventually predominates, but I do see those who prefer it in two possible categories:
1) You are choosing to use "text" in the past tense because you think it sounds nicer and see precedent in verbs like cast, cut, and wed.
In this case, I say that you are probably fighting a losing battle against the extremely powerful rules of English, and that anyone who hasn't made the same aesthetic choice will probably misunderstand you.
2) You are choosing to use "text" in the past tense because it's the only way you've ever done it and it's the natural way to form the past tense for you.
In this case, I find you to be a very interesting case study, because your choice is highly unexpected for a word entering the language. As others have pointed out -xt is an unusual end to an English verb (or any English word, for that matter), and the relation of that to your unexpected grammatical choice could be interesting.
jls.junkmail Oct-27-2009
My sister and I are having this argument this minute, and I agree that it is texted, and having read all the comments, I feel justified. Thank you.
Danielle1 Jul-02-2007
could always use "im'd" like...."hey, i im'd you a bit ago"
thesplenderinice Sep-18-2005
I'm with you, Slemmet, but this happens to be one of my wife's pet peeves. She hates hearing that olympic atheletes "medal" in a particular sport. In fact, when a noun is made into a verb, she says that they "verbed a noun". See? She does it too! Personally, I love it. I think it's the dynamic nature of the language (although I do try not to use "interface" as a verb. It's such a corporate non-speak buzzword.)
I believe the past tense of text should be texted, but pronounced with the 2nd "t" silent. I've checked quite a few dictionaries, and the word "texted" does not exist. Then I came across this one:
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source text (těkst) Pronunciation Key
The original words of something written or printed, as opposed to a paraphrase, translation, revision, or condensation.
The words of a speech appearing in print.
Words, as of a libretto, that are set to music in a composition.
Words treated as data by a computer.
The body of a printed work as distinct from headings and illustrative matter on a page or from front and back matter in a book.
One of the editions or forms of a written work: After examining all three manuscripts, he published a new text of the poem.
Something, such as a literary work or other cultural product, regarded as an object of critical analysis.
A passage from the Scriptures or another authoritative source chosen for the subject of a discourse or cited for support in argument.
A passage from a written work used as the starting point of a discussion.
A subject; a topic.
A textbook.
tr.v. text·ed, text·ing, texts
To send a text message to: She texted me when she arrived.
To communicate by text message: He texted that he would be late.
Now I'm really confused!
Ginmar49 May-12-2007
Why are you confused? "text", past tense "texted", pronounced (in SAMPA) /tEkst@d/. Easy.
John4 May-12-2007
I was thinking about this while in the shower of all places and I personally say "I text him yesterday", however my grandparents (yes they can 'text') say "texted". It seems to me that as there is nothing concrete yet both "texted" and "text" can be used in the past tense and for someone to claim that either is wrong, is wrong! It is slang after all! Anyone agree?
Phil1 Nov-16-2007
Mike, clearly you are a halfwit:
Taste - Tasted
Last - Lasted
Best - Bested
Test - Tested
Bust - Busted
OK so the last one is a joke, but these words have never caused a stir for having 'ed' on the end. Moreover they've never caused anyone any difficulty with pronunciation. So why should texted seem so outlandish? I'm going to have to refer you back to the reply on the 1st of June 2009 from the writers of the Websters dictionary. I can't believe it wasn't the final word on the matter.
Mark2 Oct-01-2009
To me “Yesterday I text him” has the same feel as “Yesterday I paint the house.”
I am surprised at how many have said that the sound of “Yesterday I texted him” makes them cringe; I don’t understand why. Having skimmed the entries, above, I didn’t notice anyone explaining why this makes them cringe, either. Perhaps someone will, and my mind will be changed, though.
brian.wren.ctr Jun-02-2009
Paulina, you're wrong. Both "text" and "texted" are acceptable. It's not a lazy tongue, nor is it an opportunity for you to be a snob (sorry).
Clearly I have been unclear. Let me reiterate my four points:
First, the past tense of the verb 'text' is properly written 'texted'. In this it follows the general rules of Standard English.
Second, the word 'texted' is currently spoken as both 'texted' and 'text'.
Third, usage will determine which is to be the standard pronunciation.
Fourth, "Non-standard" does not mean "Sub-standard."
Our sparring has been fun, but neither you or I will determine the future usage of any word, old or new. We may bandy precedents all day and all night, but the language will do as it likes.
My young friends, whom you dismiss, are the same sort who created our language, back when being twenty was middle-aged. Sure, they use some crappy expressions; most will vanish in time. But I prefer their neologisms and unkempt sentences to the stiff proscriptions of antiquarians who would never split an infinitive just because Cato couldn't.
Thomas Jefferson wrote in a 1813 letter: "I have been pleased to see that in all cases you appeal to usage, as the arbiter of language; and justly consider that as giving law to grammar, and not grammar to usage." I am merely extending his principle to pronunciation. In the same letter Jefferson opposes "...Purists, who would destroy all strength and beauty of style, by subjecting it to a rigorous compliance with their rules." Again, I find this especially applicable to the spoken word. Even as an old man Jefferson was open to change, and optimistic about the future of the language.
douglas.bryant Oct-06-2009
I personally like "Taxt" as the past tense of "Text"
but i was never very good in English
Jon2 Dec-07-2005
This is kind of interesting that this topic comes up. Recently, watching day time tv I have noticed an increased amount of usage with the work "texted". I have never heard that used otherwise. Now I am watching the O.C and I see that texted made its way into their script. Its interesting how fast we can promote stupidity in our culture over the waves in the sky.
drG Feb-18-2007
I suggest that the past form is pronounced "text'd".
It should thus likely be written as "texted".
This would be in line with similar verbs like "work" and "mix".
JJMBallantyne Jun-05-2008
merriam-webster.com does list "text" as a transitive verb, therefore past tense should be "texted"
Amanda1 Jul-07-2008
From: Dan Brandon
Sent: Mon 6/01/09 1:47 PM
QUESTION: I'm sure you've been asked this before, but I need to know. What is the past tense of "to text"? And if it has not been officially decided, who decides when new words are part of the dictionary? This certainly needs to be addressed. Thanks. Sincerely, Marianne
RESPONSE: The verb "text" is conjugated according to the normal English pattern, so the past tense would be "I texted." Here at Merriam-Webster, we have a series of criteria that a word has to meet to be considered for entry in our dictionary. We spend a certain amount of time every day scouring all sorts of published material for examples of new words, and when we find them, they go into our citation database. When we revise our dictionary, we check the database to see if any of these new words have enough support to warrant their entry. For more information on the process and criteria we use to enter words in the dictionary, please visit our Web site at http://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq/words_in.htm. Daniel Brandon,Associate Editor, Merriam-Webster Inc.
shool7 Jun-01-2009
OK, OK Douglas, enough with the past tense same as present tense examples already. You've made your point, and made it with aplomb. Clearly we can see that English is an anomalous language. The main thrust of my argument though, part of which is now in tatters, is that we needn't make it any more so than it already is.
On the plus side (for me anyway), whilst you met the past/present tense challenge extremely well, you still haven't satisfactorily produced a verb ending in 't' which has a silent 'ed' in it's past tense form. 'Debut' is a bit of a cheat really since, in it's spoken form, it doesn't end in a 't' at all. This means that pronouncing texted as 'text' still has no precedent, and also confirms that I'm still right.
I know I'm going to regret saying that. Over to you Douglas.
I know I'm guilty of saying "textED," but always with the recognition that it sounds funny.
sapphicstanza Feb-01-2007
Correction: my last should have been:
I suggest that the past form is pronounced "texd."
"Texted" Messages will be in Your Daily Stressed Lives in no time... as the word I "HATE" is Bling, Bling in my "BANK ACCOUNT" $tanZe"MAN"
ownthisdomain Aug-20-2008
Am I the only person who noticed the improper use of "it's" from Garth Bryan and "weather" from Jess?
Amber2 Jan-08-2009
Meaning = use
If everybody uses 'text' as a verb, then it's a verb.
If some people use 'texted' as the past tense of 'text,' and are generally understood by the people they are communicating with, then 'texted' is a legitimate past tense form of 'text.'
Same for the other variants. Also for words like 'aksed,' as hard as it is for my own ears to adjust. I work with a guy who speaks much more formally and with more precise enunciation than I do, who nonetheless uses 'aksed' 100% of the time. I know what he means - our customers know what he means - so why should anyone bother to 'correct' him? It's a dialectical variation, not the result of 'ignorance' or 'poor education.'
Language is constantly evolving because people and cultures are constantly evolving. We still need dictionaries and english classes so we can all keep up with one another. Just because you learned that 'text' is a noun when you were in elementary school doesn't mean it can't be a verb today.
Wittgenstein Jan-08-2009
Mark, Since you insist, I will comment on your insistence that 'text' as a past tense verb must have a precedent. You will agree, then, that 'texted' needs precedent too.
You ask for "a verb ending in ‘t’ which has a silent ‘ed’ in it’s [sic] past tense form." I think a more germane test would be this: How are words ending in '-xt' typically treated?
There are very few English words that end in '-xt'. Setting aside compounds of 'text', such as 'hypertext', most are either archaic words, like 'twixt' and 'betwixt', or archaic spellings, like 'transfixt' and 'unmixt'. This leaves only three commonly-used words with the '-xt' ending: 'context', 'next' and 'pretext'. None of these are verbs (yet!). The '-xt' verbs that do exist, like 'fixt' and 'vext', are already past tense, being archaic spellings of 'fixed' and 'vexed',
So there is no precedent for either 'text' or 'texted' as a past-tense formations of an '-xt' verb. This leaves the choice to the users of the word, at least for now.
By the way, I had a conversation with a few college students recently. These students used 'text' in its past-tense sense. But when I asked them directly what the past tense of 'text' was they all said 'texted'. This supports what I wrote in my previous comment, that ",,,‘texted’ – so spelled and so pronounced – will prevail, and that the spoken word ‘text’ as a past-tense verb will either die out or become non-standard." These students understood the difference, and were perfectly – and justifiably – comfortable with using the putative non-standard in casual conversation.
Finally, I wouldn't call English anomalous, I prefer to think of it as complex. With luck, texting as a technology will pass away – as did formerly the telegraph and will soon the fax – and with it this particular conundrum. Let's all move on to the past tense of 'tweet'.
If this ends up posted twice, I apologize, but I hit the wrong key the first time.
Going back to porsche's post:
>>" If the present tense of the verb ends in a consonant “t” or “d” sound, then the -ed adds a syllable, ending in a voiced “d”, usually pronounced something like -id, (but the vowel is really a shwa).... For all other verbs, the -ed does NOT add an extra syllable. It only adds either a “t” sound or “d” sound, appended to the end of the word without adding a syllable."
If you listen carefully to folks in my area of the country, you will not hear the final "t" on "text" when people are speaking extemporaneously. You will hear they send tex' messages and are tex'ing their friends. People who pronounce the word without the final "t" sound will tend to follow the linguistic rule that says not to add an extra syllable after the "x" sound, following the same rule as is used with faxed, waxed, fixed, mixed.
Those who do pronounce the final "t" will tend to use two syllables. I am told that in the OED, "tex'd" is listed as one of the spellings for the past tense of "text." Unfortunately, I'm not home right now, or I'd go check my own copy. Can do it tonight, if anyone is that interested.
English is a living language that changes constantly. In Shakespeare's day it was common to pronounced the -ed as a separate syllable on many words that we pronounce as one syllable now:
I nurs'd her daughter that you talk'd withal.
(Romeo and Juliet 1.5.115)
I'll bet he received a lot of criticism from the linguists of his day.
Gotta love a living language. It never gets stale.
stphfplt Dec-02-2009
QUESTION: I’m sure you’ve been asked this before, but I need to know. What is the past tense of “to text”? And if it has not been officially decided, who decides when new words are part of the dictionary? This certainly needs to be addressed. Thanks. Sincerely, Al Gore/Inventor jk...
RESPONSE: The verb “text” is conjugated according to the normal English pattern, so the past tense would be “I texted.” Here at Merriam-Webster, we have a series of criteria that a word has to meet to be considered for entry in our dictionary. We spend a certain amount of time every day scouring all sorts of published material for examples of new words, and when we find them, they go into our citation database. When we revise our dictionary, we check the database to see if any of these new words have enough support to warrant their entry. For more information on the process and criteria we use to enter words in the dictionary, please visit our Web site at http://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq/words_in.htm. Daniel Brandon,Associate Editor, Merriam-Webster Inc.
ceo Nov-14-2010
@Alison - how on earth can 'ex' be a vowel sound? - If anything it's a vowel plus a double consonant sound - 'eks'. Are 'es' and 'is' also vowel sounds? Why should 'ext' in 'text' be treated any differently to 'est' in 'test / tested' or 'ist' in 'list / listed'? Sorry, that's a lot of questions, but I'm genuinely puzzled. And has already been said, new verbs (if it is indeed new) are invariably regular, and all the dictionaries I've looked at list 'text' as a regular verb:
- I texted her to arrange a time to meet. (Cambridge)
- If she was going to go she would have texted us. (Oxford)
- I texted her a little while ago. (Merriam-Webster)
- She texted me when she arrived. (American Heritage Dictionary - via The Free Dictionary)
Personally, I can't see one single linguistic reason why 'text' should be anything but regular.
Warsaw Will Jan-17-2013
The past tense of "text" is "texted", whether it sounds good to your ears or not. I never knew so many people have trouble with basic english. It's Texted you fucks.
BOBTHEBUILDER Feb-02-2013
Today I am texting my friend. Yesterday I "texted" him. Sounds absolutely right to me,
Glln Apr-23-2013
Response to John: I"m curious as to what the meaning of the verb form for "text" was in the 1500s. Can you elaborate?
Dr. Pete,
How do you get "taxed" as past tense for text?
I like "text messaged".
Bela Jun-02-2007
I hate to say it but... the OED says that texted exists from the 15th century, and not like you may think it does.
Texted
1. Skilled or learned in ‘texts’ or authors. rare.
~(In this sense texted wel (v.r. text wel) appears in one group of Chaucer MSS., where another has textuel. The latter was prob. the original reading, but the change in some MSS. perh. implies that texted was known.)
~14+ Chaucer's Manciple's T. 131 (Harl. MS.) But for I am a man not texted wel [so Corp.; Lansd. texed, Petw. text; 3 MSS. textuel] I wil not telle of textes neuer a del. Ibid. 212 But as I sayd, I am nought tixted wel [Corp., Petw., Lansd. text; 3 MSS. textuel, -eel, tixt-].
2. Written in text-hand or text-letters; engrossed.
~ 1620 Dekker Dreame 1 They beg nothing, the texted pastbord talkes all; and if nothing be giuen, nothing is spoken. 1650–66 Wharton Poems Wks. (1683) 340 To write Custodes in a Texted-hand. 1695 Lond. Gaz. No. 3125/4 Texted Indentures for Attorneys.
Tom1 Dec-01-2007
IDC what everyone says...I use TEXT as the past tense of Text. "Texted" sounds ridiculous, and appears to be grammatically incorrect. I understand that Dictionary.com and Urban Dictionary recognize the word TEXTED, but Merrier-Webster does not...not do I. It is a built in past tense, and it sounds cleaner and clearer to use TEXT as present, past and future tenses.
Claudia1 Mar-19-2009
Bill, you are the one who is ignorant. You don't say "I sent you a texted message" because the "text" there is a noun not a verb. Do you make all your nouns past tense then? E.g. Bill's cat is black. Bill's catted was black. No! It's quite simple, text, texting, texted. Very simple regular English rules applied. Just like mix, mixing, mixed, you add an "ed" on the end for past tense. In olden times you would pronounce the "ed" as another syllable e.g. mix'ed, text'ed.
razz Jun-07-2009
Mark: Let me try to clarify my comment. I am not proposing "new spelling rules." As I stated, the written form of the past tense of the verb 'text' should, according the rules of Standard English, be ‘texted’. But 'text', as a verb, is a new usage, and both 'texted' and 'text' are common pronunciations of its past tense. One will likely win out, but at this point it is premature to dismiss either: the standard form will be the one most people choose to use.
I cited 'faxed' as an comparison because it is also a new word, and one that is not pronounced as spelled. Whether it has a 't' in it is not relevant. Another example of spelling differing from pronunciation is 'debuted', which is pronounced as a two-syllable word with the 't' and 'd' combined into a single stop sound. It is written as it is for clarity, but pronounced the way it is for simplicity; the same argument could be made for 'texted', if one were so inclined.
As for other verbs where the present tense sounds exactly like the past, here is a partial list: beat, bet, burst, cast, cost, cut, fit, hit, hurt, knit, put, rid, shut, slit, split and wed. Again, I am not saying that the past tense of 'text' be spelled 'text', but that argument could be made based on the existence of these words.
I think that 'texted' – so spelled and so pronounced – will prevail, and that the spoken word 'text' as a past-tense verb will either die out or become non-standard. But non-standard is not sub-standard. Those who denigrate non-standard English speakers betray their own ignorance of the history of English.
I'm going to say TEX-tid simply because saying "text" sounds like I haven't actually finished the verb yet and I'm ending the word early. "I text you." sounds like I'm talking like a neanderthal in the present tense. "Ugh ugh, me text you!" Texted isn't that difficult to say, and it's clearer than the homonym style.
John4 Jun-11-2010
@Bart - Fascinated to know where you did your research. I've just checked ten dictionaries, and 'text' is listed as a verb in all but one of them. In any case we also have the noun 'texting', which as a gerund form must have originally come from a verb. New verbs in English are invariably regular, so I'm afraid your 'put, put, put' argument is not really appropriate.
Personally, I can't understand why anyone would have a problem with 'texted, let alone feel guilty about using it (@lush) .
Warsaw Will Aug-16-2012
@Methatica - you're obviously more imaginative than me; I doubt I could manage five.:) Except as I live in Poland, I would have to say 'I sent you an SMS'; text is not really used much in international English, at least not here. Anyway, I see texted seems to be winning the day on your Facebook page. Good sense prevails!
@the naysayers
Other newish technology verbs:
ping - pinged (not pang)
tweet - tweeted (not twet or twat)
ngram - ngrammed
google - googled
rip - ripped
All these other new techie verbs are regular, so even if AnWulf is wrong and text is a new verb, why should it be any different from these other verbs? And I bet most people say they burned a CD, not burnt a CD, even in the UK, where in the standard meaning of burn, burnt is the more popular past form.
It's not as if the alternatives put forward have much to offer. And I really can't understand why anyone would feel he had to 'admit that he was guilty of using the word "texted" when telling someone that [he] just sent them a text message' ( @lush). If we can say 'I phoned you', 'I called you', 'I emailed you', why on earth should someone feel guilty for saying 'I texted you'. It's beyond me!
Warsaw Will Sep-07-2012
I never comment on these types of things...usually just enjoy reading the mindless banter. But I can hardly believe how many people are so ignorant regarding the English language. People really, it's not that difficult. Stop and think for just a moment. Stop saying it "sounds funny" to say "texted." It is not like we are saying "he walked-ed the dog" or "she closed-ed" the door. Yes, those examples DO sound funny....because the past tense addition of "ed" was duplicated unnecessarily, and of course, incorrectly. Just because "text" ends in the letter "t" does not make it an exception in tense just because you think it sounds funny. Here are a few examples...say these words to yourself then follow up by saying "texted" maybe it won't seem so strange anymore: "The storm LASTED ten minutes." "The man EXITED the building." "I TESTED the temperature of the water. " "My dad RESTED on the sofa."
I could go on and on with verbs that end in "t" that properly transform to past tense with the simple addition of "ed" at the end of the word. So there you have it....LASTED, EXITED, TESTED, RESTED.... AND
...TEXTED. Make sense? Saying "text" as the past tense sounds lazy and uneducated, like when some people - instead of saying ASK- say "AKS" (sounding like "axe"). Don't be one of those people...don't be lazy. Use proper English. It is TEXTED. :) Get to know it.
Really?? Jun-20-2013
@Chris Beaver - why on earth 'as an English teacher' would it drive you crazy to hear a verb pronounced in its normal regular way? As an English teacher you will of course know that there are three ways of pronouncing regular past forms:
1. silent e followed by 't' - worked, hoped, dropped, pushed, slipped
these follow the voiceless consonants - p, k, s, ch, h, f, x, h
2. silent e followed by 'd' - played, called, damaged, encouraged, opened, stayed
these follow a larger group of voiced consonants and vowel sounds
3. voiced e followed by 'd' when the final consonant of the main verb form is t (as in jayles' examples - and in texted), or d, as in - sounded, graduated, hated, provided, treated
Texted is not at all like the verb worked, where the base verb form ends with the voiceless consonant k. The verb text ends with a t (sorry to state the obvious) so its past form naturally follows all other regular verbs ending in 't', and the final syllable is pronounced, just as in all others of that group.
http://esl.about.com/od/beginnerpronunciation/a/past_pronounce_3.htm
Actually, in that Shakespeare example, text is a noun, not a verb:
DON PEDRO.
But when shall we set the savage bull's horns on the sensible Benedick's head?
CLAUDIO.
Yea, and text underneath, 'Here dwells Benedick the married man!'
Clearly "...and text underneath" is a list continuation that grammatically means "...and SET text underneath..."
It's like saying, "When do we put the star on top of the Christmas tree? ...Yes, and presents under it!" Presents is a noun ("...PUT presents..." is implied) not a verb.
porsche May-30-2007
i always wanna say texd. it sounds ignorant but it feels better
ahkeelah Feb-15-2008
Okay Well i am very confused now..
I have always said"i text" for past tense...
I wouldn't know, i'm only 14..
I honestly don't know, WHAT to say now..
Do i say text or texted? Because either way SOMEONE'S going to think i'm ignorant. What is even the point of this anyway? Both sound perfectly fine to me..
The way i saw it was exactly as another person said, "i hit him, i text him, i cut him,"
Except, with some of these arguements, i am tempted to put an 'E.D' on the end because now i fear it sounds like i am talking in the present.
I TEXT HIM as in, i usually text him.
Oh, you know what, i give up!
Bonnie-Leigh Dec-28-2008
There apear to many varied academic arguments for both 'texted' and 'text' as past tense for text.
From a personal perspective, though, I can say that when I say 'texted' it seems right but sounds wrong. On the other hand, when I even think of using only 'text' as the past tense (let alone allowing the sound to materialise from my lips) I feel dirty and get a shiver like when you eat the jelly off tinned ham!
Charlatan Mar-26-2009
You've lost me now Douglas. If fax was spelled faxt you'd have a point. It isn't though, so you don't. Also, you can't say 'this is the spelling, but we're going to make up our own pronunciation.' Where would that leave us. There are already some very well set precedents for how this word should sound (see my previous post), we don't need to create another. The whole point here is that the, so called, spoken version of the past tense is being incorrectly pronounced, and as such, sounds exactly like the present tense. Perhaps, Douglas, you could let me know of another verb where the the present tense sounds exactly like the past tense when spoke?. While you are at it, you could also try to find another verb, in it's past tense form, where the 'ed' after a 't' becomes silent. Please, let us not start creating new spelling rules. Particularly ones which make no sense & don't even sound correct.
Text should join the list of irregular verbs in the English language. These include: hurt, set, cut, put, beat, cast, cost, forecast, broadcast, hit, let, upset, et al. Context dictates tense. Children who are still learning the English language often pronounce the past tense of these verbs incorrectly (e.g. hurted or cutted). IM and text messaging have gained popularity in todays mobile and online social tools. They have gained popularity with children and young adults. They have become social norms. They are also butchering the English language. Texted needs to be considered improper English.
mwpittman Jan-09-2010
The string "did you text" is not an example of "text" in the past tense. Here, "did" is an auxiliary verb, which necessarily takes a verbal complement in base form. The base form is sometimes called the infinitive. The tense of the whole question, "Did you text me last night?" is certainly past, but the word "text" is tenseless in your example.
For new words in English, transforming a verb to past tense really is simply a matter of adding "-ed" to the end. While the rules of a language do change over time, there is no evidence whatsoever that the rules for past tense formation are changing in English. I would welcome any examples of other new words which have taken past tense forms not ending in "-ed", but I sincerely doubt they exist.
jls.junkmail Jan-28-2010
Other examples may clarify
yes I texted you earlier
yes you texted me earlier
did i text you earlier?
did you text me earlier?
(both text and texted correct as past tense verbs depending on sense)
Incorrect: (Obviously)
yes I text you earlier
yes you text me earlier
did i texted you earlier?
did you texted me earlier?
So, in summary, the use of Texted as a past tense verb of to send a text/text message/whatever is correct - and defined as correct in the OED - as far as pronunciation goes, I haven't got access to the online OED but my guess would be Tex-ted, Text-ed or tek-sted as in Tes-ted or test-ed. To pronounce it Texed (which, only by coincidence, in this particualar case is phonetically similar to the "base word" text) would be incorrect - to pronounce Text-ed as Texed would be analogous to inventing a new phoenetic rule of "the second T in texted is silence and pronounced Texed" - ridiculous
That's all folks :)
m.mouse Jan-28-2010
Simply, in the english language if the word ends in a "t" then in the preterit of that word the "ed" must be pronounced, just as in the word "tested".
Interesting reading. We've been texting seriously for ten years and we still haven't figured it out.
"Texted" makes the most sense to me (and that's what I say). Someone mentioned verbs ending in triple consonant sounds; the nearest ones (other than "text") I can think of are "jinx" and "inch", and it seems we can all handle "jinxed" and "inched".
If we're going to say "text" as the past tense then logically we must also write "text". But wait! We all write "fifth" and "sixth" (some more examples of tricky consonant combinations) but they often come out like "fith" and "sickth". So we don't always say what we write.
chrisbolton20 Jul-01-2010
This is all very simple: most verbs ending in d or t (hard sound) pronounce the ted at the end. Rest is rested. Nest is nested. Head is headed. Need is needed. Story ended.
"Texted" is a word!!!!!!!
check this link, and also scroll down, I copied the whole dictionary entry for "text".
Scroll to the last part and read that part!
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/texted
text (tkst)
a. The original words of something written or printed, as opposed to a paraphrase, translation, revision, or condensation.
b. The words of a speech appearing in print.
c. Words, as of a libretto, that are set to music in a composition.
d. Words treated as data by a computer.
2. The body of a printed work as distinct from headings and illustrative matter on a page or from front and back matter in a book.
3. One of the editions or forms of a written work: After examining all three manuscripts, he published a new text of the poem.
4. Something, such as a literary work or other cultural product, regarded as an object of critical analysis.
5. A passage from the Scriptures or another authoritative source chosen for the subject of a discourse or cited for support in argument.
6. A passage from a written work used as the starting point of a discussion.
7. A subject; a topic.
8. A textbook.
1. To send a text message to: She texted me when she arrived.
2. To communicate by text message: He texted that he would be late.
Proof207 Feb-08-2012
Monocle (et al.) - do we really need to add extra irregular verbs to the language when the perfectly regular 'texted' is already in common use and understandable?
To counter your list, how about - vet / vetted - pet / petted - arrest / arrested - reflect / reflected... why not text / texted...?
The word is just TEXT! You didn't cutted your hair or letted someone in the door....It's just TEXT past, present and future...TEXT!!!!
Smashley Apr-07-2016
authorized is correct, not authorize. Oh, and it's an adjective, not a verb.
porsche Jun-07-2007
I'd go with SENT as the past tense of SEND and TEXT and MAIL and SHIP. Sent can hardly be used with verbal messages, so e-mail was sent. We used to use typed as a past tense...now we use keyboarded. Why make life more complicated?
whj_wilco Nov-19-2007
When I see:
"no woman..." meaning "no, woman..." meaning you're saying no to a woman and actually calling her "woman" like some sort of title or nickname
and compare it to:
"no woman..." meaning "you don't have a woman..."
it reminds me of a comedy country song from long ago called "My Girl Bill". The entire song sounds like it's about a girl named Bill, but then at the very end, the last line is "...she's MY girl, BILL", and it's clear that the singer is telling this to his male friend, Bill, not singing ABOUT a girl named Bill. The entire song can be understood either way, which, I guess, is what makes it funny.
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Virginia G. France
198 Commerce West
Scholarly Papers (2)
Opportunity Cost and Prudentiality: An Analysis of Futures Clearinghouse Behavior
OFOR Working Paper 96-01
Virginia G. France, Herbert L. Baer and James T. Moser
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, World Bank and American University - Kogod School of Business
An Analysis of the Profiles and Motivations of Habitual Commodity Speculators
OFOR Working Paper 97-01, University of Illinios, Urbana-Champaign
W. B. Canoles, Sarahelen Thompson, Scott H. Irwin and Virginia G. France
Merrill Lynch & Co., Purdue University - Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Scripture’s Two Senses and my Granddaughter
Posted by Nathanael Szobody on October 31, 2014
A contribution by Paul Szobody
The other day I encountered a striking, living illustration of the Church’s ancient conviction that the Scriptures possess essentially two senses—literal and spiritual—and that both are real and indivisible, both divinely intended.
In God’s book, more than one sense in a text is not non-sense. To say that it is (as one recent evangelical scholar did) reveals that our hermeneutic is too influenced by human rationalism rather than the mystery of divine superintendence over Scripture’s composition and intended meaning. A mere cursory reading of the Gospels and Epistles confirms that the traditional hermeneutic of two senses in one and the same text was already operative in the apostolic mentality.
My four-year-old granddaughter Selma was playing in the sandbox with water. She made some mud balls and was carrying them over to a concrete ledge which, presumably in her mind, was her oven. As she passed me by, I asked her: “So you’re making mud balls?” “No, grandpa, these are cookies!” she retorted with all seriousness, and then added, “Would you like some?” Certainly this was not the place or time for rational disputations. “Yes” I said, and then I leaned over and pretended to eat and enjoy scrumptious cookies. She was pleased.
Then later, after I privately related to my daughter-in-law (Selma’s mother) the story, she asked Selma: “what were you doing in the sandbox?” “Making mud balls” Selma replied to her mother, still in the same sincere tone.
Yes, on one level, a very conscious level, Selma knew all along she had literally, historically and substantially made mud balls. This was the essential meaning of her act as reported to her mother. That information (evidently, in Selma’s mind) was the essential information to communicate to her mother. But her assertion to me: “No grandpa, they’re cookies!” was no less real in her mind, no less intended. In fact, it was the teleological fullness of her act: to figure, to convey to the imagination, cookies. Two modes of consciousness, two intentions, in one act, an act interpreted in two different fashions to two different people in two different situations and relations to her.
This is exactly the Church’s traditional understanding of the two senses of Scripture, the literal (historical-grammatical) and the spiritual (figural and Christic). In the first, one encounters raw empirical literary and historical data. In the second, the God who hides himself in Scripture unveils himself to the reader in contours figuring the Person and work of Christ (we will leave off, for this brief reflection, the discussion of the expansion of the spiritual meaning into the medieval three senses). The situation of the reader, his/her spiritual condition and intentions, determine how things are read and perceived. It’s the letter and spirit dichotomy. Likewise on the author’s side: In the same creative act, Selma wanted to say one thing to Grandpa, and another later to her mother. But alas: both senses are intended, both true, both legitimate interpretations; yet, how the intention and interpretation gets worked out in each situation remains under the sovereignty of the creator, whether that person creates mud balls, cookies or canonical texts.
Nathanael Szobody
https://paradoxicalmusings.com/author/admin/
Husband, father, and working for Christ's kingdom in Chad.
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Badara
House of Orléans-Vasser-DeChambeau
Monarchy of Lourenne
Luthori Parliamentary Election August 4569
List of Prime Ministers of the Istalian Empire
Beiteynu, Religion, Hosianism
Eliyahu dying for the sins of Mankind
35 BCE
Beiteynu
Yeudi
Sarahae
Founder of Hosianism
Honored in
Hosianism, Ahmadism
Eliyahu (Luthori: Elijah) is the central figure in Hosianism. Most Hosian denominations consider him to be the Spirit of God and the Savior of mankind, and that he is currently in Hiding, to return at the end of Terra. Originally the High Priest of the Yeudish Church, Eliyahu was overthrown and exiled, and came to lead a small community of followers that was to become the Hosian Church.
Yeudism rejects the belief that Eliyahu was the Biblical Spirit of God, and considers him a heretical High Priest. In Ahmadism, Eliyahu is considered one of God's (Akim's) important prophets and a bringer of scripture, but not the Spirit of God, nor presently in Hiding.
Annunciation Account Edit
Most of the current knowledge on Eliyahu is based on the accounts of the four Annunciants , which together comprise the Annunciation , the main part of the New Word of the Hosian Bible. While the supernatural elements attributed to Eliyahu in the Annunciation are rejected by modern historical scholarship, most scholars accept the existence of a historical character named Eliyahu, who was a High Priest of the Yeudish Church before being removed and exiled.
Unless otherwise stated, the account given her draws from the accounts of the three so-called synoptical Annunciants - Julius, Theodore and Thomas.
Eliyahu preaching to his desert community
Virgin Birth Edit
According to all the Annunciation narratives, Elijah was born to the virgin Sarahae, who conceived by the will of God after an angel told her she was to beget a son who would be the Spirit of God. In the deep of winter, Sarah and her husband moved out of Yishelem to the land of their birth, and there, in the open country, Elijah was born. They sought for shelter in the dark, and found it only when a bright light lighted up the lands around them and brought them to a stable. There, a group of shepherds received them and allowed them to lay down in the straw on the stable floor, out of pure kindness, and a vision from God appeared to them explaining the significance of their kindness towards the promised child. The light settled on the stable, proclaiming Elijah's birth to all the land, and a group of wise men from Majatra, even one as far as Squibble came to worship Him and offer Him gifts.
The High Priest of the Yeudish Church received word of the miraculous birth, and after prayers received a vision which scared him greatly, for the Temple was corrupt. And he sought for Elijah in order to take him away from his parents and send him far away from Yishelem, but he found him not, and in time, he died. According to the Annunciant Theodore, this fulfilled the prophecy of Joshua: "You shall have seen the blinding Light, ye Priests - says the HIGHEST, our God - but ye who shall prefer to forget it, shall fall into darkness."
When winter disappeared, they returned to Yishelem, and there they circumcised their child as was the custom.
Elevation to the Priesthood Edit
As Elijah was growing up, He occasionally was shown to have miraculous powers. He learned to speak early, and was said to praise God with His first words. One day, when he was to become a man soon he was preferred to the priesthood, and as this was a great honour, he and his parents accepted. Rising quickly through the priesthood, Elijah first learned all there was to learn about the old scriptures, although even in this day, he made pronouncements about this that the Priests did not like, because in their eyes they came perilously close to denying the applicability of the Yeudish law.
Other actions also did not endear the young Elijah to the Priests - the most remarkable scene is where Elijah got so annoyed by merchants who sold sacrifices and other trinkets in the Temple that he chased them out, earning him a reprimand from the High Priest.
The Miracle of the Treasury marks the end of Elijah's time as a priest. One day, Elijah meets a man named Michael, who was a watcher at the Temple before - as is implied - being scapegoated by the Priests for embezzled money. Elijah calls Michael to him, tells him he is still a watcher, and then goes into the Treasury of the Temple. Waiting there through the night without fatigue, at dawn, the coffins miraculously fill to the brim with gold. The Priests see this and reinstate Michael, but Elijah says they are not done yet - they should spread the gold, he says, and they go with him into the city. The High Priest, angered by this, sends Elijah away from the Temple, cursing him for a blasphemer.
Start of Eliyahu's Ministry Edit
Elijah is joined by Michael, who leaves the Temple to follow Him. They are soon joined by Theodore, a clerk of the Temple who, after previously being involved in covering up the embezzlement of the Priests, went after Elijah into the city when he and Michael were distributing the gold to the poor, and came to realise the error of his ways. A young acolyte of the Temple named Thomas runs away from the Temple to find Him, and is miraculously led to Him, where he meets Him in time to see his baptism.
Baptism by Matthias Edit
«In that time, a man named Matthias walked in the desert,
He wore no priestly gown nor a crown of gold, but his heart was pure beneath the raw cloth of his clothing. One day, men came to seek him out, for his piousness and devotion to God were well-known. And they asked of him: "Art thou the Pious one?" And Matthias answered: "I am not the Pious one. I am the stream, roaring in the midst of the desert, as foretold by the Prophet Joshua, calling to wash away death and drink of eternal life." The men were parched, and asked for water, for they had wandered long and were weary but Matthias told them: "This water is not for the drinking of the body, but for the drinking of the soul, By this sacrifice of water, may your sins be cleansed for the coming of the Pious one." And the men understood this was so, and submitted themselves to Matthias, Who baptised them in the name of God and Spirit. It was late in the evening when Matthias baptised them, and when he did so, As by miracle, a shining light appeared above the water, and the men felt cleansed and free of thirst, for they had partaken of life eternal.
And when the word spread, many a man came to him to be baptised.»
Elijah goes to Matthias to let him and his disciples be baptised by the man. Matthias at first denies that he is worthy to baptise him, but at his insistence, he goes ahead. When he baptises Elijah with the sacrifice of Water, a shining light appears, and they hear God's voice proclaiming Elijah to be the Spirit of God. From that point in time, many flock both to Mathias and to Elijah, whose number of disciples grows soon to Twelve.
Return to Yishelem and High Priesthood Edit
Exile to the Desert Edit
Due to the perceived heresies preached by Eliyahu as High Priest, who called for love and kindness towards all humans, which he considered to be much more important than the rituals in the Katub, Eliyahu was removed from his position by the rest of the Yeudish clergy, and sent into exile in the desert. Several of his closest friends and disciples, calling themselves "the Faithful" (hoi Hosioi), followed him in exile, and became the first Hosian community.
Eliyahu liberating the righteous from Hell before he rose.
Forty-day Prayer Edit
Eliyahu, in despair because of the persecution of His community, fasted and prayed for forty days in the desert, He was tempted by Satanail in three visions involving hunger, power, and fame. Only angels could be with him during this time.
Eliyahu ascending in Heaven
Death and Resurrection Edit
On the eve of the Yeudish Passover feast, which celebrated the start of the Qedarite Migrations, Eliyahu ate with his disciples. At this Last Supper, he told them he had to leave them because of his persecution, and they were desolate, begging him to stay. In a famous scene, Eliyahu reveals that one of his disciples will betray him to his enemies. Indeed, his disiciple Onan had agreed to betray him for 30 pieces of silver, and after Eliyahu hints at Onan's intent, he leaves and returns only as Eliyahu and his disciples hold a vigil during the next night on a mount, bringing with him a group of soldiers.
Michael tries to free the captured hosioi, but he is found out and to avoid capture, he indeed denies Eliyahu three times. In the end, it is Onan, the traitor, whose remorse impels him to free his former comrades, but they disown him and refuse his pleas for forgiveness, and in despair at his deeds, Onan hangs himself as the other disciples remain with Michael.
That night he was arrested by the Yeudish high priests who handed him over to the authorities. He was later beaten and flogged and then he was sentenced to death. He was later crucified and then died. Then after 3 days in a stone tomb, his disciples found him alive and the stone rolled away. They couldn't believe that he had escaped the clutches of death but then they realized that indeed this was the Son of God. He appears to his dispiles many times for 30 days until he ascended into Heaven. He gave the disples this instruction before he left."Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Then he peacefully left their midst as he up to heaven.
Yeudish views Edit
Main article: Yeudism
Hosian views Edit
Main article: Hosianism
Hosians consider Eliyahu, whom they also refer to as Eliyahu Hosios or the Lord, to be the Spirit of God announced through Yeudi prophecies as the instrument of God's actions and the Saviour of Mankind. Under the binitarian doctrine, most Hosians hold that as the Spirit of God, Eliyahu is the same being as God, yet a different person or manifestation, sharing His divine essence but embodying especially His love, kindness and faith, and a will to save all human beings. Eliyahu was born of the virgin Sarahae through the agency of God, sent the Light of God to guide the Faithful and is currently considered to be in Hiding in Heaven until the Day of Judgment, after he commanded his disciples to spread and live His Annunciation. According to most mainstream Hosian Churches, Eliyahu freed mankind from all sins pending repentance by going willingly into exile in Hell, humiliating himself. An important Hosian doctrine surrounding Eliyahu is therefore that in Him, God loved the world so much that He would humiliate himself and send His divine spirit to Earth and even to Hell's depths to save and redeem the children of mankind, thus extending the mercy of the Yeudish God to all of Terra.
History: Semitic Migrations, World Jewish Council, World Jewish Congress, Free Beiteynu! Organisation, Snakes On A Plane | Politics: List of Heads of State, For the Homeland, Flag of Beiteynu | Demographics: Ebionite Church, Jews, Jewish Communities of the World Alliance, Pnték, Jewish Homeland Code (JHC), Terran Union for Schultzism
Political Factions
Political Organizations: National Military Organization | Political Parties: Herut (חרות), Haaretz | Former Parties: Christian Zionist Party, Democratic Socialist Party of Beiteynu, SPIDER PIG REPUBLIC
Economic Coalitions: Christian Zionist Party and The W-K-R-A Company
Ishmael I, David I, Franklin Delanovitz Rooseveltstein, Meshullam Yakov Iser Doron Eleazar
Mehozot: Padrilka, Fruskila, Kokun, Endild, Tadraki | Other Areas: Jeztadraki | Migrant's Pass | Second Jewish People's Republic of Beiteynu
History of Beiteynu, Migrant's Pass | Formerly Featured: Free Beiteynu! Organisation
Retrieved from "https://particracy.fandom.com/wiki/Eliyahu?oldid=260930"
Hosianism
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Political parties in Hutori, Political parties in Kazulia
Gods and the Kings Fighters
Guds og Konges Kjemprene
Leader Kungenes Konge Theodore XII. af Kazulia, King of Kazulia, Herra af Ulfmærr, and Duke of Islyn
Founded September 2297
Dissolved {{{dissolved}}}
Headquarters Thorgerd, Flindar
Nation Kazulia
Ideology monarchistic feudal
Political Position right
International Affiliations Aristocratic Alliance
International Monarchist League
Colours 663366
Website [1]
God's and the King's Fighters are a party in Kazulia. They are a party with quite some history in other countries, but played their surely most important role in the history of Kazulia by de-throning the Vánioka-emperor, defending Kazulia against Solentian Nunciristst, and the change of Kazulia into a monarchy in 2374. They disappeared in 2355, but reformed again in 2368. In 2385 they moved from Kazulia to Hutori, because of the unpleseant tendencies against them. In Hutori they remained for quite a long time, until their former leader Thorwulf IV. of Islyn reformed the party into first a socialist and then a communist body, that played a bigger part in the recent civil war in Hutori, and, before these reforms, an important part in the war resulting from Hutori's secession from the Macon Union. Nevertheless, after 20 years in Kazulia, the party recognised, that the grip of the anti-monarchist Kazulian parties was to strong for a revival, and it moved back into Hutori, not openly, but under the name Victor Schmöller Collective. Here it remained, supposedly under the control of Victor Schmöller sen., a close ally to the King. When Hutori, on the brink of a civil war, engaged in war with the Dovanian nations, the party had to vanish once again, in order to remain unpartial in the conflict between its home country Kazulia and its second home Hutori. However, in 2615, when Hutori was safe again, the party reappeared.
Basic Principles Edit
The basic principles were first written down in the party's founding document, the Visdom Manifest in September 2297 in Vánioka-City (today Ulfmærr) in Latin, Kazulian, and Hulstrian. The other important document concerning the party's way is the Via ex Sklaverei, written in 2320 when the party changed it's name. The principles were freedom and dignity of human life, but in 2338 the N'quissz Levia'Turak was made basic document of the party, and so then it featured the "lizardisation" of the country. However, in 2340, after the undead lizards made the party lose votes in the elections, Hayek was "revitalised", and removed all lizardness, except for one minister. Again, things changed in 2368, when the party removed all that stuff, and from now on the only official "document" was the moving speech of Thorsson I. at the refoundation celebrations. From now on, especially since the party moved to Hutori, the principles had to undergo various changes. In Hutori, it changed again into the libertarian party it had been in the beginning. Then the principles were radically altered to socialism, and then open communism. After the first civil war, the party went back to Kazulia, and became libertarian once again. When it went back to Hutori as the Victor Schmöller Collective, it certainly was liberal, but only on certain civil liberties. It took up an ideology that could probably be described best as "playful dandyism", as it was mainly if not only guided by the political genius Victor Schmöller sen. After the second civil war, the party has now come back with its old monarchistic, religious views.
The Foundation Edit
First thoughts concerning a new party in Kazulia appeared in 2295 in letters between Theodore I. Duke of Islyn, and the economist Firdrik von Hayek. Both were enemies of the communist party that was leading the country, and even more appalled when the Vániokas overtook it and installed Denis Vánioka as emperor. When this happened, they finally called the Freedom Party of Kazulia into life in September 2297. Their goal was to end the Vánioka-Regime and to reinstall freedom in Kazulia.
The Freedom Party of Kazulia Edit
In 2305 they won their first elections by gaining more than 3 quarters of the votes, and so they managed to rise a riot against the Vániokans, which led to the capture and later execution of the leaders of the Vánioka Dynasty in 2306. However, the emperor managed to stay until 2312. Shortly after the victory of freedom, the Vánioka Dynasty tried a comeback, together with a (much more dangerous) Solentian Nuncirist party.
The Hayekian Libertarians of Great Kazulia Edit
When this new threat emerged, things in the party changed. The supported Theodore I. Duke of Islyn was head of state, and decided, that as a response to the new situation, new maxims were needed. So the party came up with a binding treaty, the "New Kazulia", which would make every change of law impossible. 2320, The Solentians were fought back, and the party changed its name. Why is not fully clear. The party said that it was important to show its origins and principals, therefor they named themselves after their founder and newly appointed leader Firdrik von Hayek, but rumor has that a party from Huthori had something to do with this. Also, the duke stepped back to make place for his son and successor Theodore II. Shortly afterwards, the New Kazulia was ratified in order to ensure freedom after the Solentian attack. In 2328 the old KSP came back to Kazulia, and after they were elected, withdrew from the New Kazulia. Not long before these elections, two ministers, among them the Hulstrian aristocrat Hubertus van Hochenstolt resigned, after an inner party strife, when it was made clear by Firdrik von Hayek, that New Kazulia had to be removed.
The Lizard Glory Edit
In 2338 Firdrik von Hayek died, and in his last will he made Achfa'War N'quisszz Levia his successor. This changed the party quite thourroughly, and in general came as a big surprise. Now the party featured the partly undead lizard people, and did everything to "lizardise" the country.
Hayek "Revival" Edit
However, in 2340, Hayek was "revitalised", how exactly stayes unknown, and took the party over again. He removed all lizardness, stating that he "never mentioned those bastards in the testament", and revealed they had been a strange sect of normal humans wearing lizard costumes and using some kind of drugs.
Konges og Guds Kjemprene Edit
In 2355 the party dissolved, due to permanent anger because of the stupidity of the Kazulian voters. However, Hayek disappeared finally in 2366, and this was exactly (with only one day in between) when Theodore VII., the current leader of the House of Islyn called the old members together, and explained to them his visions for the future of Kazulia. One thing led to another, several posts had to be redistributed, and finally, in 2368, about tenthousand loyal Kazulians celebrated the reunion and refoundation of the party, which in this time, as Theodore VII. declared in his famous speech, got rid of the liberal ideas of Hayek, and would now fight for strong religion, monarchy, and Kazulianism. In 2374, the party reached its primary goal by establishing a monarchy with their leader as the king.
God's and the King's Fighters Edit
In 2385 the party decided to move to Hulstria, in order to escape the revolution making its way in Kazulia. Also they renamed their titles back. After Thorsson II.'s death the party found back to its liberal ideals, but also to an increased amount of religiousity.
Guds og Konges Kjemprene Edit
In 2474 the party, after having turned to communism, having started a civil war that turned into a communist revolution, and enduring a more than suspicious event, only called the Night of Blood, when several members including Thorsson IV., the former leader of the GKF were killed in what seemed to have been a gory ritual of no small bloodshed, the remaining party members, including Thorsson IVths sisters son and new King of Kazulia and Duke of Islyn, Theodore IX., returned to Kazulia, to introduce libertarian ideas there once again.
Victor Schmöller Collective Edit
In 2537 the party returned to Hutori, but not openly. It called itself the Victor Schmöller Collective, and all its candidates weren't traceable to Kazulia or the God's and the King's Fighters. It's new leader was the political genius Victor Schmöller sen., a dandy and professor of political science. He managed to get the party into important political posts, and even the whole Hutorian expansion finally was under the command of the party. He was a close friend and ally of the King, and, shortly before the war broke out, the real identity of the party was revealed. Unfortunately, the party soon had to stay put, as the King could not bear to be seen neither fighting against Kazulia, nor against Hutori.
Renaissance of Monarchism and Religion Edit
In 2615, the party returned once again to politics. It came back in Hutori, and favoured monarchy and religion.
Recent Election Result Edit
In the last elections in 2616, the God's and the King's Fighters got 40 seats from 300, and became the fourth-most powerful party in Hutori. Currently, the Ministries of Finance, Justice, Transport and Infrastructure, Food and Agriculture, and Trade and Industry are ruled by their candidates.
Important Members Edit
Theodore XII. Islyn, King of Kazulia, Duke of Islyn, Herra af Ulfmærr Edit
Theodore XII. is the current leader of the Islyn family, and eighth Kungenes Konge of Kazulia. After the peaceful death of his father Theodore XI. in 2576, he directly inherited the Kazulian throne. Of course, rumor has that all Islyn leaders get somewhat strange during their lead. Some believe that they have been fooling around with black magic, others say that they pray to some kind of demon, but usually such rumors die away quickly when an Islyn is near. The Islyns were a quite new aristocracy in Kazulia, and no one knew exactly where they came from and how they acclaimed the territory of Ulfmærr (where the city of Ulfmærr lies).
Prince Vincent of Islyn, Earl of Ulfried Edit
Prince Vincent of Islyn is the second son of Theodore XII., and thus Earl of Ulfried by Ulfmærr. He is the candidate for the office of By the Grace of Queen Arienne I of Athlorcaea, and King Quentin I of Hutori, Empress and Emperor of Athlorcaea-Hutori, Imperial Viceroy. He is said to fully live to the ideals of his father, as does his brother, the Archduke Theodore XIII. of Islyn, Lord of Islia.
Jón Sigurð Þorgillsón, God's Chamberlain Edit
The Kazulian catholic bishop Jón Sigurð Þorgillsón is the candidate for the head of government. He was known for his preaches against the wickedness of the sinners together with his grand-grandfather, the late Aurelianus Archemid, but nothing had been heard from him. He has lived most of his life as a monk in a monastery on Roccato, only until he was declared bishop by the Archbishop of the Kazulian Catholic Church. It was only when his grand-granduncle died, that he was called from Roccato to Bestat, to take over his grand-granduncles position. He is said to look a lot like him, but this is not very sure, as he always stays inside a large grey cloak.
Lord Erik Munin, God's Raven Edit
Lord Erik is the candidate for the ministry of foreign affairs. He is always clothed in a grey cloak, and can often be found roaming around in the countryside of Kazulia. He can be quite charming, but is merely unpopular, because he uses to sleep with married women, and has more than one child not officially belonging to him. He sometimes plays funny games with other travellers, normally with absurdly unusual prices, which he mostly gains. He has lead Hutori most successfully through a war and a secessional crisis, which earned him his ennoblement.
Archomanifestor Magnus et Horribilis qui inest omnes Potestatem, God's Guardian of the Land Edit
This is the name of the candidate for the ministry of internal affairs. He is a close friend to the Islyns, and some whisper he is some sort of spiritual leader for them. He maintained the police with an iron fist when he was minister, and it is told that he might have tortured one or two criminals to death himself. Therefor he is clearly not approved of by the people of Hutori, especially since rumor also had that he is not only arresting criminals, and the darkest rumor, which is energically fighted by the party, is, that his tortured victims have been innocent, and he used them as some sort of sacrifice in a sinister ceremony. It is remarkable that he soon must be over a thousand years old, but noone knows if he hasn't since long been succeeded by his sons, and their sons, and so on.
Dagobert the Good, God's Guardian of the Treasury Edit
Dagobert is the candidate for finance. He comes from a really old Rildanor family. He has a little hunchback a creaking voice, is bald, old, and incredibly greedy. He always has two to three of his equally old servants around him, that look like a mixture between dwarfs, grown men, and occasionally like giant bats, due to their old cloaks. He always carries a great golden coin around his neck, and is frowned upon by many nobles.
Graf Leopold XIII. von Saltzburgh, God's Officer Edit
Graf Leopold XIII. is the candidate for the minister of defense. He is an Hulstrian aristocrat and has served in the military in the rank of a "Generalleutnant". He reformed the Kazulian army largely with the new budget by Fiyllyn, and is known to be a severe but generally just leader, and a great companion after his sixth glass of "Himbeerschnaps" (a brand made of raspberries) or respectively his third bottle of wine.
Svein Arassón, God's Judge Edit
Svein Arassón is the candidate for the ministry of justice. He is Archbishop of Thorgerd, and therefore leader of the Kazulian Catholic Church for 45 years now, and is now in his end-sixties. He has a beginning baldness, and he always wears his old ornate with the traditional sheperds staff (featuring a spike-spicked mace, after an ancient Kazulian tradition, "to defend the flock"), and likes to raise his firm voice especially commenting on matters of morality.
Leif Hugin, God's Road Builder Edit
Leif is the candidate for the ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. He seems to be the cousin og Erik Munin, the candidate for foreign affairs, and is inspired by the idea to revolutionise the street and road system of Kazulia, but so long he hasn't done a thing different from renaming streets after his friends, and he has many of friends due to his attitude to give his money away freely and eagerly. Rumor has, that he's just another of the party's not so capable pesonnel.
Shsszz'ssszziss the Lizard of Societé, God's Physician Edit
The candidate for health and social services, Shsszz'ssszziss was one of those who pretended to be giant walking and talking lizards, but at least not to be undead. He came into the party together with Achfa'War N'quisszz Levia, the leader in the lizard age. He understands society as an "egg-based" community, and likes to point that out whenever it's possible. He is the only one of the strange sect that remained in the party, because of his cool and elaborate name (Lizard of Societé). Noone complained, simply because he didn't get any responsibilities but instead a representative, Håkon Leifsson, who does the whole work for him.
Hertzog Ferdinand XI. von Garz, God's Instructor Edit
The second Hulstrian high noble in the party, Hertzog Ferdinand XI., is candidate for the ministry of Education and culture, and the only candidate which hasn't had his ministry once. His enemies claim that he just bought his way in, because the von Garzes are one of the richest families in Kazulia. Therefore he hasn't done anything important by now, and there's not much to say about him.
Aud Sværtsdøden, God's Scientist Edit
Aud in an interview
One of the two female candidates in the party, Aud Sværtsdøden, is candidate for science and technology. She is, obviously, a Kazulian, and is known for her closeness with normal people. Allthough rumor says that she had various wild sexual affairs with most of the higher politicians in the party, and that this must have been her way to her current position, she is quite popular. Whenever confronted with this rumors, she normally just quotes her most beloved quotation, "fama eunda crescit", and smiles mystically.
Ridder Olof Bloodaxe, God's Farmer Edit
Ridder Olof is the candidate for the ministry of food and agriculture. He is a Ridder, a noble who is at the same time member of the pagan clergy. He is therefore in charge when someone of the party's top has to have a ritual celebrated, and he knows his rites very well. He is an offspring of the Islyn family, but he is one of the party's candidates, who earned his place by capability and not by name or family. He is not only a member of the pagan clergy, but the Góði of Þorgerð and therefore Lögmaður (Lawspeaker) of the whole Kazulian pagan community, the highest post within this community.
Baronesse Julia du Mal von Innsbrueck, God's Caretaker of the Land Edit
Baronesse du Mal is the current candidate for the ministry of environment and tourism. She is the second clearly female candidate in the party, and another noble, but at least not Hulstrian. She is Kazulian, quite young, and much more atractive than Aud. Of course that fact is used by her or the party's enemies who state that the Hayekian Libertarians only take "hot chicks" into what they call the "inner circle". She is a widow, and some folk would say that, allthough the doctors said it was exhaustion, her husband died in their wedding night after she sucked his blood out of him and "left the rest for her bats". She only likes to appear by nighttime, and always wears a classy dark cape, which has brought her the nickname "Baronesse with Cape", which is seldom used due to its lack of inspiration.
Faizal ibn Mhukkhaddin, God's Merchant Edit
The only thing people have seen from Faizal ibn Mhukkhaddin is his giant hooknose, the only thing recognisable under his grey hooded cloak. He is also arab, but surely never has been a slave. He was a close friend of Theodore II., but seems to have overthrown things with Theodore III., who is more influenced by Esterriban. He is the only one who seems to like the Archomanifestor, and is at ease with Shsszz'ssszziss.
Late Important Members Edit
Thorsson IV. of Islyn Edit
Thorsson IV. was the leader of the GKK responsible for the turn to an extreme communist position, managed to turn the Royal Guards, the original guards of the Kazulian king, into a paramilitarian force responsible for several terror attacks, lead the way to the invasion of the Red Army into Huthori, claimed the throne of the Kazulian king as his sister had disappeared, and had been viciously slaughtered in 2473.
Lord Ferinnungus de Voltigniére Edit
Lord Ferinnungus was candidate for the minister of justice. He was a foreigner, and therefore suspicious to most Kazulians. He wanted to install some kind of an inquisitional process into criminal law, which made him more unpopular, and he was said to be a homosexual. He was highly superstitious and believed in witches, which ought to be burned in his opinion. Most people wondered how he made it to his position in the party which normally features competent people. When the party was changed in July 2338 he had to go and was replaced by another lizard.
Esterriban al Hashimin Edit
The former candidate for health and social services, Esterriban was once a slave in Kafuristan, but managed to flee to Kazulia. There he met Asmodeus Duke of Islyn's father Arngrimm, the first Islyn in Kazulia, and introduced him to some culture he must have met during his journey to Kazulia. Arngrim must have granted him some favours for this, and one of them made him a top politician in the party. It was most likely that he would be the replacement for Lord Ferinnungus. It was also known that he hates Inshissszzz and Shirzzzzassszz, which might have been the reason for his resignation in July 2338.
Laurent Encilliosus II. Edit
Another noble, Laurent E. II., was candidate for food and agriculture. He was a far cousin of Theodore III., and didn't have much to do, because the party normally tried not to interfere with agriculture and food. He was quite naive, and the only time he was focus of the medial attention was because he accidentially ran over a male prostitute with his truck, which caused some rumors, which became boring very quickly. He was finally replaced by a lizard in July 2338.
Achfa'War N'quisszz Levia Edit
The "Son of the Leviathan" was once leader of the party. He was the undead leader of all lizard people, and was made party leader by the last will of Firdrik von Hayek. No one exactly knows why, but it happened certainly with the agreement of the Islyn family. He wanted to "lizardise" Kazulia in every way, but failed, when the resurrected Hayek revealed that he only was a normal human in disguise.
Firdrik von Hayek Edit
Firdrik von Hayek was the founder and first leader of the party. He was an economist, and the first person who had constant contact to the family of Islyn. He died by a heart attack in February 2338, and was followed by Theodore II. former Duke of Islyn, but only until June 2338, when his last will was read out where he named his successor. He was "revitalised" in 2340, and took the lead of the party again, and was again the first and most powerful man in the party. He finally disappeared in 2366, and either died naturally, or was murdered by Theodore VII., the latter version being just a rumor.
Forecias Geraldiosus Edit
The relatively young Forecias Geraldiosus was a friend of Hayek, and has been the candidate for the minister of foreign affairs. He has been minister for some time, and has dealt with the crisis between Gishoto and Dranland concerning the Dranish extermination of the Welsh race. He was very popular, and the face the party loved to show most. He died in 2355, the party states "because of his enourmous love to the country, which broke his heart", but the autopsy clearly showed that he died on cocain.
Henrich "der Löwe" Edit
Der Löwe was the minister of Justice. He was another noble in the party, and was known for his constant quarrels with the three main churches in Kazulia. He was Hulstrian, and his nickname "der Löwe" (the lion) was given to him because of his choleric character and his astounding hair. He was another hardliner in the chain of justice ministers, and made Kazulia a definite country of written law. He also worked out the first penal law book, the Constitutio criminalis henricia. He left the party in 2366, because he didn't like the changes, and left the country shortly afterwards heading for Solentia.
Josef "Sepp" Hofbauer Edit
Sepp was the candidate for the ministry of food and agriculture. No one knew how he could make it to this post, because he was stupid, naive, simple, and generally lazy, and had no job before he came to the party for 30 years. Most intellectuals in Kazulia still hate him, and everytime he or his face or his chicken "Erna" appear on the media, the media complain about the great loss of consumers. He was not related to anyone in the party, and didn't know anyone important before he became candidate for the ministry, and was considered too stupid to blackmail his way into the party, so everyone stood clueless when confronted with the fact that he managed to become something important. He was forced to leave the party in 2366, due to his former mentioned attitude.
Thorsson I. Islyn, King of Kazulia, Duke of Islyn and Ulfmærr Edit
Thorsson I. was the leader of the Islyn family, and first Kungenes Konge of Kazulia. Due to the unusual short time an Islyn is able to reign, he followed his father in 2360. He was the first one to install monarchy again in Kazulia, and he also lead the party to Huthori, when they were driven out.
Aurelianus Archemid, God's Chamberlain Edit
The former catholic bishop Aurelianus Archemid was the first candidate for the head of government of the party. He was known for his preaches against the wickedness of the sinners, when suddenly, after he got to know Asmodeus Duke of Islyn, the father of Theodore I., he changed completely, resigned as bishop, and became much more reasonable and also charismatic. He gave some great speeches against the Vánioka regieme, and had to hide from their executive for some months. He died in 2410, after he suffered from a heart attack in 2408.
Cardinal Flavius, God's Judge Edit
Cardinal Flavius was the candidate for the ministry of justice. He was Cardinal of Thorgerd, and therefore leader of the Kazulian Catholic Church for 30 years, and became very old. He was bald, and he always wore his red cardinal's dress, and liked to raise his croaking but firm voice especially commenting on matters of morality. He has been head of the inquisition of catholic Kazulia, an institute searching out heretics, and delivering them to the state to be punished for "spiritual terrorism", a crime that can be punished even by death, allthough that didn't occur once.
Hutori
Adelia | Falristan | Lagard | Kenai | Roccato
Royalist Party of Hutori (Conservative) | Forward Liberal Party of Hutori | Royalist Party of Hutori (Progressive) | Consumer's Party of Hutori | Socialist Party | National Liberal Party of Hutori | Free Democrat's Party | New Liberal Party of Hutori
Monarch King Charles I | Chancellor Lyn Kopp
Kazulia articles
History Christopher Dove - War for the Emperor's Protection - Hulstro-Kazulian War - Kazulian Civil War
Geography National Features: Dovani - Barrier Range - Great North Dovani Plain - Anatonese Ocean
Provinces: Flindar - Hent - Kelvon - Agatha - Dreton
Politics Administrative divisions - Elections - Judiciary - Legislature - Political parties - Supreme court - Armed Forces - Prime Minister of Kazulia
Demographics Ethnic groups: Kazulian, Mikokuzin, Dranish, Hulstrian, Luthorian
Religion: Aurorian Patriarchal Church, Luthoran, Ameliorate, Vardic Pagan, Draddwyr Pagan, Daenism, Kamism
Culture Sport - Education
Economy Kazulsk Bank
Retrieved from "https://particracy.fandom.com/wiki/Gods_and_the_Kings_Fighters?oldid=255098"
Political parties in Hutori
Political parties in Kazulia
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