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Skating Out of Paying Up
By Marianne Kushi
Published Jun 14, 2010 at 11:10 AM | Updated at 7:39 AM PST on Feb 10, 2011
Say what? How can it be that one of the world's largest wineries (E&J Gallo of Modesto) based right here in California can skate its way out of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual property taxes or a conglomerate configures a stock purchase of Mammoth Mountain and ends up not paying $4 million a year in property taxes.
If you read the OC Watchdog blog about "Your tax dollars at work," you might get the same reaction depending on whose side of Proposition 13 you're on. The now infamous Prop 13 sailed to victory in the 1970's during a time of inflation when property taxes were costing people especially older people their homes.
But take a read of this:
E & J Gallo bought Louis M. Martini in 2002. Gallo got 1,765 acres of some of the best vineyards in Napa and Sonoma counties, worth an estimated $75 million. But get this: Since Gallo split the purchase among 12 family members so that no one person owned more than 50%, the property was not reassessed for tax purposes.
So, because of how commercial property is assessed according to Prop 13 (also called a loophole by many, defined as a "means of escape"), that $75 million worth of property is still valued at less than $14 million -- which costs the state hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in property taxes. By the way, Gallo's annual sales is estimated at $2 billion.
And Mammoth Mountain. Take Intrawest of Vancouver. It obtained a majority of the stock of the popular ski resort area in 1997. But the deal was structured in a way that there was no "change in control" as far as Prop 13 was concerned, so no reassessment. And that cost Mono County $4 million in annual property taxes.
If you really want more of this, take a look at the recently released report by the California Tax Reform Association (CTRA). It contains a list of "Company Buyouts and Mergers Which Escaped Reassessment." They include properties acquired by Burger King, Washington Mutual, Hilton Hotels and more.
The CTRA says the law should be "changed to make sure that obvious changes of ownership, such as private equity buyouts and corporate takeovers, trigger a reassessment."
There's a bill in the Assembly AB 2492, sponsored by San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, which would close the loophole for commercial property owners. It would be put to a vote, but then people generally cringe when they hear of tax increases.
No one, especially seniors, should ever be forced to leave their homes because of escalating property taxes (the reason why Prop 13 was passed in the first place). Perhaps there should be a system of tax credit for senior citizens or a cap for people of a certain age, suggests Professor Steven Gill, San Diego State University accounting professor.
"Anytime you create a rule there will always be a handful of lawyers who will find a way around that. Generally speaking, we should be able to count on our legislature to develop a property tax revenue system that meets the state's revenue needs but also takes into consideration our ability to pay," adds Gill.
But given the dysfunctional state of our legislature it's like talking to a wall.
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New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon and Barry’s Events invite you to circle June 25 and 26 on your calendar to spend a day at the New Castle County Ice Cream Festival at Rockwood Park, back this year with new attractions and even more of the region’s best ice cream.
The annual festival, produced by Barry’s Events and sponsored by New Castle County government, will feature at least 10 ice cream vendors, a scintillating selection of sandwiches and snacks, two entertainment stages and lots of fun for kids of all ages. In addition, members of the Philadelphia Union will provide an inflatable field and goal for kids to practice their skills on Sunday, and team members will greet festival guests from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Rockwood’s “Best Sundae on Sunday” competition, featured in 2014 on an episode of the Food Network’s “Eating America” series, will return, with the 2015 winner, the Ice Cream Shoppe, located on nearby Philadelphia Pike, and the 2014 champs, the “Moo Crew” from the University of Delaware’s UDairy Creamery, taking on up to eight other challengers in their bids for a second trophy.
The summer kickoff celebration, named by USA Today as one of the nation’s top ten food festivals, is “Delaware’s largest family picnic,” producer Barry Schlecker says, with free admission for children 12 and under accompanied by an adult, as well as family-friendly prices for all food, and activities to keep families at the park all day long.
“We are very pleased to hold this traditional event at one of our flagship parks each summer,” said Gordon, who will present the Executive’s Bowl to the Best Sundae winner. “We are proud of the nationally renowned Ice Cream Festival, which we believe will continue to grow.”
Participating dairies and ice cream vendors include: the Ice Cream Shoppe, UDairy Creamery, Sweet Lucy’s, Caffe Gelato, HyPoint Farms, Battiatto Farms Strawberry Milkshakes, Little Baby’s, Bassett’s Ice Cream, Thyme to Eat and Nellie’s Waffles and Ice Cream. Little Baby’s offers lactose-free ice creams.
In addition to the ice cream vendors, festival visitors will be able to choose from about 30 food and snack options – burgers, ribs, cheesesteak, seafood, Greek, Italian, Polish and vegetarian, plus water ice, doughnuts, cannolis and food trucks.
The festival’s Children’s Zone will have its own entertainment stage, face painting, plenty of interactive activities and games. Live animals, trapeze artists and a stilt walker will add to the fun all around the park.
The Music Meadow will be filled with diverse sounds, with a different group performing every hour – rock, jazz, folk, classical, something to please every musical taste.
Main Street Rockwood will feature more than two dozen local businesses, including crafters, artists and retailers. Another 40 or so businesses and nonprofit organizations will be sharing tent space.
Prime festival supporters include two media sponsors, 99.5 WJBR and the News Journal Media Group; G. Fedale Roofing and Siding, which is sponsoring a shade tent, and Concord Pet Foods & Supplies, the sponsor the doggie hydration station.
“Bring your own blanket and plan to stay all day long,” Schlecker says.
For a schedule of all performances and a list of festival participants, go to rockwoodicecream.com
Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 25, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 26. Admission is $5 for adults, with children 12 and under and accompanied by an adult admitted for free.
Free shuttle bus service will be provided between Rockwood and parking lots at Merchants Square, Mount Pleasant High School and the Rockwood Office Park. The festival is dog-friendly. Friendly dogs on leashes are welcome at the festival and on our shuttle buses.
For our Facebook photo galleries of today’s press conference please visit www.Facebook.com/nccde.
About Barry’s Events
Barry’s Events, founded by Wilmington entrepreneur Barry Schlecker, produces the WilmFilm movie “one-night stands”; the New Castle County Ice Cream Festival at Rockwood, held the last weekend in June; the Brandywine Festival of the Arts, held the weekend after Labor Day; and A Taste of the Holidays, held in December.
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« What’s Good (Editorial, NYRSF 325) | Main | Audrey Taylor: “Active Time” in the Works of Patricia A. McKillip »
Steve Carper: The Women of Gnome Press
Science fiction became literature in the half decade after World War II, not because of any intrinsic rise in the quality of the works, not even because rockets and atomic energy had moved from the pages of fiction to the front pages of newspapers. Science fiction became literature purely and simply because it began being offered in hard covers rather than being confined to pulp magazines.
The availability of a book in hardback meant everything to 1940s cultural standards. Bookstores could carry them and give them the imprimatur of class. Libraries could place them on shelves next to the most respected authors. Newspapers could review them, and that very presence implied they must be taken seriously and judged by the same standards as other fiction. The New York Times started a semiregular column called “Realm of the Spacemen” in 1950, an acknowledgment of the field that it conspicuously lacks today. Though the era of Wells and Verne was long past, and before the very term science fiction had been coined, they were name-checked constantly, and the resurrection of their prescient treatment of onrushing technology conveyed an aura of respectability over a once-scorned outpost of fiction.
The mainstream publishing industry knew nothing and cared less about science fiction (a term then starting to encompass fantasy for marketing purposes, which I’ll shorten to the more modern f&sf). It had to be proven to them that such books could sell. A multitude of f&sf fans saw an opportunity and started an equal multitude of small presses. One stands out.
Gnome Press lasted longer, produced more titles, and sold more copies than any of the other small presses. It published 32 books by fourteen writers later named as SFWA Grand Masters: the first eight honorees—Robert A. Heinlein, Jack Williamson, Clifford D. Simak, L. Sprague de Camp, Fritz Leiber, Andre Norton, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov—and an additional six—Frederik Pohl, A. E. van Vogt, Poul Anderson, Hal Clement, Robert Silverberg, and James Gunn. (One other, Harry Harrison, drew a cover for a book jacket, proving mostly that his future lay as a writer.) These names define what we think of today as classic f&sf—the Golden Age.
Martin Greenberg and David A. Kyle together founded Gnome in 1948, but Kyle concentrated on the production end and left in the early 1950s; Greenberg always handled authors and decided what got printed. As with every editor he had his personal tastes and predilections; he plundered the pages of John W. Campbell’s Astounding and Unknown, which dominated and defined the decade, for dozens of stories and novels yet made sure to find material in lesser publications inside the field and out, especially in the 1950s. More, he understood both the power of a well-respected name and the need to build for the future with those just starting: several of those Grand Masters were published in the dawns of their careers. Gnome was therefore a reasonable microcosm of the field, not merely a greatest hits retrospective.
Today we can’t read that list of names without noticing that it is nearly all-male. Eighteen of the first nineteen Grand Masters were male, in fact. Most people would consider that a representation of the Golden Age as well. Gnome confounds that. Of 72 fiction titles in its fourteen-year lifespan, nine were written or cowritten by four women: C. L. Moore (under her own name and in collaboration with Henry Kuttner under the pseudonym of Lewis Padgett), Leigh Brackett, Wilmar H. Shiras, and Andrew North (a pseudonym of Andre Norton). That far higher percentage carries its own kick: none of the four (or six) names are immediately recognizable as female, and two are indisputably (and intended to be) male. Is Gnome to be commended for disproportionately publishing women or condemned because it hid women from an audience that seemingly responded only to males? Or is our entire current appraisal of the Golden Age skewed by nostalgia, biases, and faulty memory?
When the story of f&sf is recounted as told by numerous women themselves, it is of a field so overwhelmingly male that women were, deliberately or by implication, shut out from it. Editors did not want to buy stories from women; if they did, they altered or invented names to hide their femininity, doing so on the presumption—or actual sales experience or feedback from readers—that female names did not sell and might even actually repel buyers. The group memory says that women were secondary, underappreciated, discouraged, or hidden and therefore lacked the easy pathways into the field that men took for granted. The evidence for this is often from statements like those by Alice Sheldon, who admitted that she deliberately hid her real identity under the pseudonym of James Tiptree, Jr., a ruse that was successful for nearly a decade, because she’d “had too many experiences in my life of being the first woman in some damned occupation.”
We have the tools today to provide a numeric context for those feelings thanks to Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926–1965. Written by Eric Leif Davin and published in 2006, it is a masterpiece of scholarly fieldwork. He went through, page by page, literally every professional science fiction magazine published in America during those 40 years, recorded the name of every listed author of fiction, did as much digging as possible to determine their true name and sex, and checked every title page, introduction, letters section, and coming soon page to see if the female authors were referred to by their gender by either editors or readers and if those references were positive.
His findings, spread throughout a dense 315 pages and summarized in a long series of tables, belie any claims that women were excluded from the f&sf magazines. (Pure fantasy magazines, like Weird Tales, are relegated to a subsidiary set of tables. Unknown, John W. Campbell’s fantasy companion to Astounding, is, however, counted.) In fact, he found 203 female authors of 988 stories, and that does not include a few dozen names that simply cannot be traced to individuals. He separates his tables into the years 1926–49, 1950–60, and 1961–65. In 1926–49, a fortuitous grouping I’m calling the pre-Gnome era, the period from which the vast majority of Gnome authors emerged, the numbers are smaller though still far from zero: 68 authors of 288 stories, including 5 stories given female pseudonyms by male writers. Unfortunately, Davin does not provide the total number of stories published, but from other sources a quick estimate is that 50 magazines appeared in an a typical year with an average of eight stories per issue. That’s 400 stories a year of which women contributed about 12, or 3 percent.
Gnome’s numbers look pretty good against this background and even better if you dive deeper into the dataset. Those four women were about 10 percent of the 46 authors whose fiction Gnome published in book form. Of individual titles, 64 were by men, 7 by women, and 2 by the husband/wife team Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, writing as Lewis Padgett. This base of ±10% by women holds true if one checks the stories in Greenberg’s 6 anthologies (out of 63 stories, 3 were by women [E. Mayne Hull as E. M. Hull, C. L. Moore, and Judith Merril], and 2 by Lewis Padgett) or in Judith Merril’s 4 (1 by a team, again Kuttner and Moore under their real names, and 6 by women: 3 by Zenna Henderson and 1 each by Shirley Jackson, Mildred Clingerman, and Carol Emshwiller). This is a far higher percentage than any of its small press contemporaries, none of which published more than a single book by a woman.
The problem with Davin’s book is that it is a screed in a good cause, that of showing women did write f&sf. To do so it is required to take statements like Sheldon’s literally rather than metaphorically. No one else to my knowledge has asserted that women were truly completely excluded from f&sf, either among writers, readers, or editors. Davin presents the necessary numbers; readers must supply the necessary context. When he cites a long list of men and women claiming that women writers were excluded from f&sf, we should read that as a memory of a time when women were more than merely a low percentage of total authors; they were an almost certainly lower percentage of writers deemed important and memorable. They existed, they were praised, but only a handful cast the long shadows that made them come instantly to mind decades later as exemplars of the field. Out of all the 68 entries in Davin’s pre-Gnome era list of women, Moore’s is the single name that can be considered for inclusion among that handful, a true star of the field.
A standard taxonomy is almost universally deployed, by fans, by editors, and by other writers. On top are the stars, the major figures who define the field, whose names sell magazines, whose stories both adulating fans and envious competitors look forward to. On the next level are the journeymen (even the name is historically indicative), with solid work, known readability, and some immediate name recognition. And then there are everybody else: the one-shots, the short-timers, the fast-faders, the wannabes, the slumming mainstreamers, the occasionals, the oddities, the accidents. As I hope should be obvious, “everybody else” is not a euphemism for dismal. Their stories ranged from brilliant to awful; they are lumped solely by lack of sizable contributions.
Davin’s appendices reveal that of the women in his 1926–49 listing, only six published more than ten stories, a very low bar considering that C.L. Moore has 55 credits. (Serializations count as one credit but would have brought the name into more tables of contents.) Leigh Brackett, a top journeyman, is a distant second at 34. The others are the team of Dorothy and John De Courcy, Margaret St. Clair, Leslie F. Stone, and E. Mayne Hull. Only St. Clair had a name that was an immediate identifier of a solo woman. (Whether Hull should be counted is now a matter of contention. Some have argued, from Campbell’s letters, that he placed the name on A. E. van Vogt’s overflow work.) A brief mention should be made of Amelia Reynolds Long, who had exactly ten stories. When F. Orlin Tremaine edited Astounding, he ran three stories by A. R. Long before expanding her name to the full, identifiably female, appellation. Few other than dedicated fans would be able to recognize these other names in 1950.
This dominance in terms of number and reputation pops out of the Gnome data; women would be a much lower set of percentages if it were not for C. L. Moore. She accounts for five of the nine books by women, three of the five stories in Greenberg’s anthologies, and one more in Merril’s. Moore wasn’t merely good; she was instantly recognized as special. When Farnsworth Wright, the editor of Weird Tales, saw her first submitted story in 1933, he declared it C. L. Moore Day, an excuse to stop reading slush so as not to risk spoiling the moment. Sam Moskowitz, who tells this tale in Seekers of Tomorrow, also says that he handed the story to E. Hoffman Price, then a superstar of the pulps, asking him “Who is C. L. Moore? He, she, or it is colossal!” That story, “Shambleau,” would become a Gnome title and appear in an anthology on average twice a decade for the next 80 years. F&SF is not different from any other field of entertainment: it is star-driven. Publishers were more likely to put out titles by stars, anthologists were more likely to include stories by stars, and Grand Master Awards are more likely to be a listing of stars. Stars dominate contemporary perceptions and perhaps disproportionately dominate memory.
And the audience wants to know more about stars. In the 1930s–40s world of multiple pseudonyms, few fan get-togethers, and a near-total lack of book jacket information, could readers know who the person behind a story was, and did they care whether it was a man or a women? Davin insists his research proves that readers knew and didn’t care.
[Moore’s] gender became publicly known to fandom only a few months after her debut, “Shambleau,” appeared [in the November 1933 Weird Tales ]. Julius Schwartz and Mort Weisinger revealed it in the May 1934 issue of their fan magazine, The Fantasy Fan . Weird Tales itself explicitly referred to her as female in its September 1935 issue. And when Moore herself published a letter in its reader column, she made no attempt at concealment, signing herself, “Miss Catherine Moore.”
Reader reaction to Moore’s debut in Astounding [in November 1934] was warmly receptive. Among those writing letters to praise her first story were Robert A. Lowndes ... and E. E. Smith, both explicitly referring to Moore as a woman.... Similar letters praising Moore and referring to her as a woman can be found in the Astounding issues of February, April, and December 1935; February 1936; and February 1937. ( Partners in Wonder , 112)
Insiders clearly could know, but not every fan read every letter column in every magazine—even those fans who sent letters to magazines. On the archive site efanzines.com I found a 2004 reminiscence by A. Langley Searles, whose name pops up in the letter columns of Startling Stories and Unknown in 1939, admitting that “For a very long time I thought Leigh Brackett and C.L. Moore were men, and then I met them.... In those days it was commonplace to make those mistakes” [SaFari, Vol. 3 No. 2, FAPA 266, February 2004]. Davin quotes Marion Zimmer Bradley as saying that Moore used initials to disguise her work not from chauvinist editors but from her bosses at the bank where she worked as a teller. Fiction writing and most especially weird fiction writing could certainly have led to unemployment by association during the Depression. A pseudonym might have been safer, but the mere use of initials connoted a man.
What of those who might be fans without being insiders? The best evidence we have that not everyone knew comes from Henry Kuttner himself. Kuttner was a budding writer: his first published story appeared in the March 1936 Weird Tales. Nevertheless, he was such an outsider that when he wrote a fan letter to Moore he had to send it to the Weird Tales offices to be forwarded; moreover he addressed it to “Mr. C. L. Moore.” The date of the letter is unknown for certain, though one source gives it as 1938. If so, things moved fast from there: they were married in 1940, their Lewis Padgett joint pseudonym started appearing in 1941, and an alternate joint pseudonym, Lawrence O’Donnell, followed in 1943 with the result that almost all Moore’s work after the early 1940s was under other names. According to Moskowitz, this wasn’t to hide Moore’s name but Kuttner’s. His early writing had such a “tarnished reputation” that a new name was thought to be essential.
Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, four times is conspiracy, to paraphrase Ian Fleming. Did Gnome’s readership know that they were reading works by women? Publishing f&sf in hardcovers had created an entirely new audience for the genre over and above the magazine fan community, many of whom would encounter f&sf for the first time through libraries and booksellers rather than newsstands or drug stores. Although the conventional wisdom would have it that Gnome concealed this information, it actually trumpeted the news.
No observant reader could miss the fact that Gnome’s first book by Moore, Judgment Night, had been written by a woman; the front cover flap forthrightly refers to the author as “her” twice. So does the advertising copy in the Gnome 1953 catalog. Moore’s gender is even more pointedly stated on the flaps of her next Gnome collection, Shambleau and Others. There she is called Miss Moore twice as well as “the wife and collaborator of Henry Kuttner.” Her last collection, Northwest of Earth, again has her as Miss Moore on the flaps. Yet as soon as we reach out to praise Gnome, a confounding fact rears: Greenberg seemingly took care to hide her identity as half of the Lewis Padgett team. Virtually all publishers did in the ’40s and ’50s for unexplained reasons. Insiders knew. The April-May 1947 issue of Fantasy Review references matter-of-factly “Henry Kuttner and wife C.L. Moore, writing as Lewis Padgett and Lawrence O’Donnell” <efanzines.com/FR/fr02.htm>. The three Padgett titles Gnome published made it clear that Padgett was Kuttner; each had an “other books by” page that listed “Fury by Henry Kuttner” but never mentioned Moore’s name at all. The O’Donnell teaming was also passed over. Judgment Night collected four Lawrence O’Donnell stories without ever mentioning they had first appeared under that name. Some readers must have been surprised by seeing them under Moore’s authorship. True, confusion over which stories were joint and which were not reigns today. Many of the Padgett stories were Kuttner’s alone, including all the Gallagher stories collected in Gnome’s Robots Have No Tails. Those O’Donnell stories in Judgment Night are thought to be Moore’s alone, unless that’s circular reasoning from their inclusion. Even so, ascribing all the other Padgett and O’Donnell stories to Kuttner became a common convention in anthology tables of contents and probably caused the drastic dip in Moore’s status that followed. At the time, though, Moore’s name sold. Why the always desperate-for-money Greenberg would suppress a good fraction of her potential sales is one of many mysteries about Gnome’s operating procedures.
Similarly, Leigh Brackett is referred to as “Miss Brackett” on the front cover flap of The Starmen and Wilmar H. Shiras is “Mrs. Shiras” in the About the Author section on Children of the Atom’s rear flap. Both used their birth first names; there is no evidence that either sought to confuse anyone. Brackett was part of the Los Angeles fan and writing scene from 1939; she left only when she married fellow writer Edward Hamilton in 1946. They shared similar tastes in f&sf, with both writing swift-paced planetary romances of a sort that didn’t appeal to John W. Campbell and went out of style in the 1950s. Her one Gnome novel, The Starmen, received mixed reviews, reviewers finding the space opera routine at best. She was known for writing hard, “masculine” prose. Gardner Dozois, in The Good Old Stuff, cites the “legend” that her first novel, a hard-boiled mystery called No Good From a Corpse, drew a call from Hollywood after director Howard Hawks told his assistant to “get me that guy Brackett.” No quote from Hollywood can ever be assumed to be true and not the invention of some clever writer, but the source of the legend can be pinned down as John Leonard Carr does in his dissertation, Leigh Brackett: American Science Fiction Writer—Her Life and Work:
Hawks’s surprise—and one wonders, his discomfort—at discovering Brackett to be a woman was widely reported at the time, and became an item in a Hollywood gossip column. Hedda Hopper, Hollywood’s professional gossip, informed readers that Hawks told his agent, “This fellow would make a good screenwriter for The Big Sleep ; get Mr. Brackett for me.” In spite of his astonishment at being confronted by a fresh-faced young woman not yet thirty, he stuck by his decision. Brackett, naturally, told the story of her original interview with Hawks many times; it was as stapel [ sic ] of her interviews. (60)
Brackett was not quite the flower naively waiting to be plucked as this makes her out to be. Carr also notes that she had had a credit on a Republic quickie in 1944 and that Hawks contacted her through her agent, indicating she was actively pursuing more screen work. The anecdote does serve to emphasize her ambiguous name and the vast gulf between the insider fans and the outside world even within Los Angeles.
Wilmar H. Shiras—the H stands for House, her maiden name—was as quintessentially an outsider oddity as Brackett was an insider’s insider. She published a mere three stories in Astounding, to which she would add two more when Gnome published Children, comprising almost the totality of her career in the field. Her identity as a woman was apparently not known even inside fan ranks. The fanzine Fantasy Review, so quick to reveal insider pseudonyms, didn’t have a clue. In the April-May 1949 issue, reviewer Kenneth Slater looks at the issue of Astounding with “Opening Doors,” the sequel to “In Hiding,” and calls the author “he.” Conversely, the Reno Evening Gazette on October 29, 1953, reported that a book group had reviewed a book by “Wilma H. Shiras.” Her hometown newspaper in Oakland ran a feature story on her next to their review of Children, revealing that she had married at 18 and now struggled at home with “two boys, three girls, five cats (four Siamese, one ‘plain’), two dogs, and two large aviaries in the back yard.” Shiras, who was 45 at the time, also had returned to college to complete the degree she had abandoned for marriage and was doing translation for a New York publisher “on the side.” When asked “How do you cope with all this?” she responded, “By not doing housework.” Tropes are tropes for a reason. The reporter noted that the original story, “In Hiding,” a work of soft science fiction about mutated, supergenius children, had caused a “furore [sic] in the science fiction circles,” presumably because it was so, well, womanly.
If Moore, Brackett, and Shiras are forthrightly announced as women, what are we to make of the two Gnome young adult (YA) books subtitled “A Dane Thorson—Solar Queen Adventure”? Both Plague Ship and Sargasso of Space are credited to Andrew North. Neither have an About the Author section. Indeed, not a single word is said about the author. Greenberg absolutely knew the author’s identity: Andre Norton was his editorial assistant at the time. For the first time, a marketing strategy may have been involved and justified. Whatever the attitude about female writers or protagonists in the world of f&sf might been, the YA world was fixed and locked. Everybody in it, from editors and publishers to the librarians who were the most important buyers of the books, believed beyond any doubt that boys read books by men about boys. The other five YA books Gnome published—Mel Oliver and Space Rover on Mars by William Morrison; Starman’s Quest by Robert Silverberg; and the series Undersea Quest, Undersea City, and Undersea Fleet by Frederick Pohl and Jack Williamson—had male protagonists as well. It is only very recently that publishers have dared buck this trend to any significant degree. It is as certain as anything about Gnome can be that these YA books were deliberately hidden behind a male name.
Why Andrew North, though? She could logically have used Andre Norton, a name that already sounded male, that was the author’s legal name, that was picked precisely because it appeared to be male, and that she adopted because she “expected to be writing for young boys, and the male name was expected to increase her marketability,” according to her biography on her tribute web site, <andre-norton.org>. The answer is prosaic. She had already done three novels and three anthologies for World Publishing Company. It’s always been common for prolific authors to adopt pseudonyms when they worked for competitors, and that appears to be the simple answer here.
Only a small nagging fact remains. Norton’s first three science fiction short stories were published under the name of Andrew North before she became affiliated with World. The first two, “The People of the Crater” and “The Gifts of Asti” were in Fantasy Book’s first issue (late 1946 or 1947) and third issue (1948), and “All Cats are Gray” appeared in Fantastic Universe, August-September 1953. Although Fantasy Book has terrific cachet today as the first magazine to publish a Cordwainer Smith f&sf story, it was mostly a fanzine created to publish William and Margaret Crawford’s friends in Los Angeles, then figuratively even more distant from the New York center of publishing than it was literally. Crawford knew the Midwesterner Norton from back in the 1930s when she submitted a story to his Marvel Tales, which died before he could publish it. Norton perhaps wanted a separate name for her genre stories or perhaps didn’t think this piece up to her standards. Whatever the case, the North name lived on to be placed on a third Solar Queen volume, 1959’s Voodoo Planet. When the fourth book, Postmarked the Stars, appeared in 1969, her real name was too valuable to leave off, and later printings of all the titles have prominently featured the Norton name.
Gnome finally died in 1962 when the prospects for f&sf as a genre were so gloomy that writers were fleeing the field. None of the prophets of the future saw the paperback revolution about to take off or the New Wave changing the preferred subject from outer to inner space or female editors like Cele Goldsmith welcoming a new crop of female writers into Amazing and Fantastic. Gnome died because Greenberg was a poor businessman, but semiamateur insider presses couldn’t hope to battle with f&sf lines from mainstream publishers that printed up paperbacks by the millions. Golden Age writers felt extremely dated by the 1970s; to many it seemed like f&sf had rebooted and history started with SFWA and the Nebulas in 1965.
Two complementary truths emerge from the Golden Age. The field was predominantly male; writers, editors, readers, publishers, fans, artists, every possible grouping contained probably 90% men. Yet that remaining 10% was significant. Women were not singled out and marginalized by their gender, not unwelcomed, not rejected out of hand. They faced the obstacle of being a small minority and the low level of support and encouragement that resulted, but they received credit and approbation proportional to their numbers. The larger society, the one that so many insiders felt alienated from, had more to do with the infrequency of a female name in a table of contents than blackballing by the club. The meaning of those names, their fame, their influence, their respect, their legacy was as potent in their time as it is today. An equivocal victory for the field, perhaps, but not a shameful one.
Steve Carper lives in Rochester, New York.
11/11/2015 in Essay | Permalink
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Archives|JUST HOW LONG IS A TRILLION SECONDS?
https://nyti.ms/29BpnUw
JUST HOW LONG IS A TRILLION SECONDS?
September 28, 1986, Page 004024Buy Reprints The New York Times Archives
It occurred to me, reading Joseph Sawyer's letter on the national debt ceiling (Sept. 14), that I didn't know what $1 trillion is, let alone $2 trillion. Of course, I knew that a trillion is a thousand billion and that a billion is a thousand million. But I didn't really understand what that means. Knowing there are 12 zeros in a trillion didn't help much either.
Why not think of it in terms of seconds, I asked myself? A trillion seconds would have to be years, probably many years ago. I made a wild guess. As it turned out, I wasn't close. I found that 1,000 seconds ago was equal to almost 17 minutes. It would take almost 12 days for a million seconds to elapse and 31.7 years for a billion seconds. Therefore, a trillion seconds would amount to no less than 31,709.8 years.
A trillion seconds ago, there was no written history. The pyramids had not yet been built. It would be 10,000 years before the cave paintings in France were begun, and saber-toothed tigers were still prowling the planet.
I was stunned. At first I thought I must have made a mistake, but a banker friend checked my figures and pronounced them accurate.
Was I alone in not knowing how long ago a trillion seconds was? I asked some of my neighbors what they would say if they were told they could have $1 trillion in one-dollar bills, so long as they agreed to initial each bill. Their answers were very similar. ''No!'' they said. When I asked why, they said, almost without exception, ''Because it would take me the rest of my life!''
We must all of us, especially our elected officials, stop thinking of a trillion seconds as merely a long time ago and a trillion dollars as just a lot of money. The next time our senators and representatives consider the Federal deficit and the cost of the arms race, they should allow themselves briefly to think of seconds instead of dollars. They might then picture, if they would, prehistoric man hunched in a smoke-filled cave, gnawing at the bones of a woolly mammoth. DOROTHY C. MORRELL Seattle, Sept. 18, 1986
A version of this letter appears in print on September 28, 1986, on Page 4004024 of the National edition with the headline: JUST HOW LONG IS A TRILLION SECONDS?. Today's Paper|Subscribe
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Fitness & Nutrition|Exercise: Better Than the Couch, but Not Equal to the Court
Exercise: Better Than the Couch, but Not Equal to the Court
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR JAN. 1, 2008
The active video games played on the Nintendo Wii console may provide more exercise than its Microsoft rival the Xbox 360, a small British study has found, but they are not a substitute for the real thing.
Researchers studied six boys and five girls ages 13 to 15, all competent team athletes who played video games at least two hours a week. Using monitoring devices, they measured the children’s energy expenditure at rest and then as they did 15-minute sessions with Project Gotham Racing 3, a sedentary Xbox game, and the active Wii versions of bowling, tennis and boxing.
Credit Stuart Goldenberg
At rest, the children expended an average of about 72 calories per hour. Playing the Xbox game increased the average to 107. Wii tennis consumed 179 calories per hour, and Wii boxing 174 — both significant increases over the Xbox game. But a game of doubles tennis in the real world used 318 calories per hour, and punching a boxing bag 382.
The study, which was financed by Cake Media, then the British public relations consultant for Nintendo, appears in the Dec. 22 issue of BMJ.
“Wii gaming actually turns over more energy than sedentary gaming, but not as much as authentic sports,” said Gareth Stratton, a co-author of the study and a reader in pediatric exercise science at Liverpool John Moores University. “While it’s not going to replace the real thing, it’s certainly moving in the right direction.”
A version of this article appears in print on , on Page F6 of the New York edition with the headline: Better Than the Couch, But Not Equal to the Court. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
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Europe|Image of Drowned Syrian, Aylan Kurdi, 3, Brings Migrant Crisis Into Focus
Image of Drowned Syrian, Aylan Kurdi, 3, Brings Migrant Crisis Into Focus
The father of two Syrian boys, who drowned with their mother as they were trying to reach Greece, spoke before they were laid to rest in the Syrian town of Kobani.CreditCreditDicle News Agency/European Pressphoto Agency
By Anne Barnard and Karam Shoumali
ISTANBUL — The smugglers had promised Abdullah Kurdi a motorboat for the trip from Turkey to Greece, a step on the way to a new life in Canada. Instead, they showed up with a 15-foot rubber raft that flipped in high waves, dumping Mr. Kurdi, his wife and their two small sons into the sea.
Mr. Kurdi tried to keep the boys, Aylan and Ghalib, afloat, but one died as he pushed the other to his wife, Rehan, pleading, “Just keep his head above the water!”
Only Mr. Kurdi, 40, survived.
“Now I don’t want anything,” he said a day later, on Thursday, from Mugla, Turkey, after filling out forms at a morgue to claim the bodies of his family. “Even if you give me all the countries in the world, I don’t want them. What was precious is gone.”
It is an image of his youngest son, a lifeless child in a red shirt and dark shorts face down on a Turkish beach, that appears to have galvanized public attention to a crisis that has been building for years. Once again, it is not the sheer size of the catastrophe — millions upon millions forced by war and desperation to leave their homes — but a single tragedy that has clarified the moment. It was 3-year-old Aylan, his round cheek pressed to the sand as if he were sleeping, except for the waves lapping his face.
Rocketing across the world on social media, the photograph has forced Western nations to confront the consequence of a collective failure to help migrants fleeing the Middle East and Africa to Europe in search of hope, opportunity and safety. Aylan, perhaps more even than the anonymous, decomposing corpses found in the back of a truck in Austria that shocked Europe last week, has personalized the tragedy facing the 11 million Syrians displaced by more than four years of war.
A Turkish gendarme prepared to carry the body of Aylan Kurdi, 3, who drowned off Turkey's coast on Wednesday.CreditTurkish News Agency
The case of this young boy’s doomed journey has landed as a political bombshell across the Middle East and Europe, and even countries as far away as Canada, which has up to now not been a prominent player in the Syria crisis. Canadian officials were under intense pressure to explain why the Kurdi family was unable to get permission to immigrate legally, despite having relatives there who were willing to support and employ them. So far, the government has only cited incomplete documents, an explanation that has done little to quiet the outrage at home and abroad.
Mr. Kurdi, a Syrian Kurdish barber, and his brother Mohammad wanted to immigrate under the sponsorship of their sister, Tima Kurdi, 43, who lives in a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia. She had invited Mr. Kurdi to live in her basement with his family and work in her hair salon.
“They can work with me, doing hair, I can find them a job, and then when they are financially O.K., they can move out and be their own,” she said by phone on Thursday.
Mr. Kurdi, too, said his sister had told Canadian authorities that she would be “responsible for our expenses,” but that “they didn’t agree.”
In fact, Ms. Kurdi said, she had applied at first only for Mohammad’s family, teaming up with friends and relatives to make bank deposits to prove she could support the family.
But in June, she said, Mohammad’s application was rejected for lack of a required document proving he had refugee status. But under Turkish refugee policies, such documents are nearly impossible for Syrians to come by. In any case, the experience persuaded the family that neither brother would ever get a Canadian visa.
Abdullah Kurdi, the father of Aylan, 3, and Galip, 5, who both drowned attempting to flee from Syria, tells the story of their harrowing journey and the moment he lost his family.CreditCreditMurad Sezer/Reuters
That, Ms. Kurdi said, was when she offered to help her brothers finance the boat trip — something, she said through tears, “I really regret.”
Now, she said, “All what I really need is to stop the war. That’s all. I think the whole world has to step in and help those Syrian people. They are human beings.”
Aylan was named after a cousin, Ms. Kurdi’s son Alan, she said. She had never met Aylan or his brother Ghalib, 5, but saw and talked to them often on video chat. Aylan’s father grew up in Damascus, the Syrian capital, in the neighborhood of Rukineddine, but was originally from the Kurdish city of Kobani near the Turkish border. A year or so ago, he said in a telephone interview, he moved his family to Kobani because of increasing strains in Damascus. But he said it was not safe there either, with the Islamic State increasingly attacking the area.
The family eventually moved to Istanbul, but it was difficult for Mr. Kurdi to support himself, and he had to borrow money from his sister for rent.
Ms. Kurdi turned to her local member of Parliament, Fin Donnelly, who hand-delivered a letter appealing for help to Chris Alexander, the citizenship and immigration minister.
“We waited and waited, and we didn’t have any action,” he said.
In Canada, a country that has long prided itself on openness to refugees but has shifted that policy under a conservative government, this amounts to a campaign issue; Mr. Alexander had promised to admit 10,000 refugees from Syria, just over 1,000 had arrived by late August, and opposition parties like Mr. Donnelly’s say more should be welcomed. On Thursday, Mr. Alexander rushed back from the campaign trail to Ottawa, the capital, to deal with the family’s case, declaring that it “broke hearts around the world.”
Tima Kurdi, the aunt of two Syrian boys who drowned off the coast of Turkey, said that their mother told her she didn’t know how to swim before the family attempted to cross the Mediterranean.CreditCreditBen Nelms/Reuters
Mr. Kurdi said he tried several times to cross to Europe on his own. He almost drowned trying to cross the river at Edirne, in Turkey, he said, “and once from the borders with Bulgaria and I got caught and sent back.”
Then he paid 4,000 euros, about $4,450, for the sea crossing — paying extra supposedly to avoid using a rubber raft.
“Of course we were afraid of drowning,” he said, “but the Turkish smuggler said it was going to be a yacht.”
Mr. Kurdi said the family had life jackets that were lost in the accident, but a senior Turkish security official said they were unavailable.
“Instead of focusing on the real issues, people blame the father for not putting a life jacket on his children,” the official said, noting that Turkish patrols have seen countless similar tragedies pass unnoticed. “Well, I’ll tell you this: Life jackets in sizes that small simply aren’t available here.” Indeed, many refugees buy plastic beach toys for flotation.
The voyage started in the middle of the night, around 3 a.m. in five-foot seas, he said. It is the season of the relentless Meltemi winds, when the waves can be 15 feet high.
Choking back emotion as he spoke, Mr. Kurdi described how he had flailed about while trying to find his children as his wife held on to the capsized boat.
“I started pushing them up to the surface so they could breathe,” he said. “I had to shift from one to another. I think we were in the water for three hours trying to survive.”
He watched helplessly as one exhausted child drowned, spitting up a white liquid, he said, then pushed the other toward the mother, “so he could at least keep his head up.”
Mr. Kurdi then apologized, saying he could no longer speak, and ended the conversation with one parting message.
“What I really want now is for the smuggling to stop, and to find a solution for those people who are paying the blood of their hearts just to leave,” he said.
“Yesterday I went to one of the smuggling points and told people trying to get smuggled at least not to take their kids on these boats. I told them my story, and some of them changed their minds.”
Karam Shoumali reported from Istanbul, and Anne Barnard from Beirut, Lebanon. Reporting was contributed by Ceylan Yeginsu from Istanbul; Ben Hubbard, Hwaida Saad and Maher Samaan from Beirut; and Ian Austen from Canada. Bernadette Murphy contributed research.
A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Image of a Small, Still Boy Brings a Global Crisis Into Focus . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
Aylan Kurdi’s Death Resonates in Canadian Election Campaign
Brutal Images of Syrian Boy Drowned Off Turkey Must Be Seen, Activists Say
Exodus of Syrians Highlights Political Failure of the West
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Deputy Mayor of London for Business Visits Paddington
On Wednesday 8 May, the Deputy Mayor of London for Business, Rajesh Agrawal, visited PaddingtonNow BID. He took the time to meet local businesses across a range of sectors in order to hear about some of the main issues they are facing in the area.
BID Chairman and Frontline Club Owner, Vaughan Smith and Hotel and Pub Owner, Paul Charalambous as well as BID Manager, Chris Peers and BID Operations Manager, Marisa Barrocas, took the opportunity to introduce Paddington as a thriving community on the cusp of change.
They explained that with new developments such as Paddington Square, Crossrail and The Praed Street project underway, Paddington is attracting new businesses due to its proximity to central London, it’s unique mix of restaurants, bars and hotels and as a growing international transport hub.
They also highlighted that whilst Paddington undergoes such transformation, on a day to day basis it still faces major issues. Largely due to insufficient Police and Westminster resources and despite a dedicated Community Safety Team, anti-social behaviour, begging, theft and prostitution (mainly due to organised crime gangs operating in the area) continue to affect businesses.
The Deputy Mayor was given a tour of the BID area and met with businesses along the way. He met Monkey Puzzle Pub Owner, Gary Griffin, Kingsway Park and Admiral Hotel Owner, So Shaw, Mazen and Rola Dargham from Lena’s Café and JC Decaux Managing Director, Helena Kavanaugh.
Collectively these businesses, chosen to represent a varying cross section of size and industry, also brought up concerns about the rise and inconsistency of business rates in the area and the difficulties in recruitment due to uncertainty around Brexit.
The Deputy Mayor took the time to listen to each business and their concerns. He took on board key issues about an inadequacy of resources from Westminster and Police and promised to raise them with relevant departments on a ministerial level. He also said he would be touch in the next few weeks to follow up on actions discussed during the visits.
Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor of London for Business
Rajesh Agrawal is the Deputy Mayor of London for Business. Born in India, Rajesh moved to London in 2001. As an entrepreneur he founded RationalFX in 2005, and Xendpay in 2014, both companies utilising technology to reduce the cost of international money transfer for businesses and individuals. Rajesh is passionate about promoting entrepreneurship and creating opportunities for young people. He was appointed Chair of Oxfam’s Enterprise Development Programme in 2015 and has been a Patron of the Prince’s Trust for many years. As Deputy Mayor Rajesh aims to be a strong voice for London’s business community, protecting jobs and growth, and ensuring that the capital remains the most open and attractive place to do business in the world.
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Crime Reports July 2 – 8
July 10, 2018 Bianca R. Montes 0 Comments Dallas crime, Highland Park Crime, Highland Park Department of Public Safety, hush hush tan, Park Cities crime, THE SHOPS AT HIGHLAND PARK, university park crime, University Park Police Department
SKULDUGGERY OF THE WEEK: WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
The Shops at Highland Park’s newest tenants had an unwelcoming welcome to the shopping center. Around 2:30 p.m. June 8 both a Hush Hush Tan employee and the owner reported to police their vehicles had been burglarized. The front passenger window of an employee’s 2017 Nissan Murano was busted between 12:15 p.m. and when she called the police, and two wallets were stolen. The owner of the shop also reported that the passenger door glass from her 2011 Toyota 4-Runner also was busted and her purse was stolen from the front seat.
3 Tuesday
If you saw a purple Chrysler 300 on fire just before 7 p.m. at the intersection of Airline Road and Mockingbird Lane, then we have a story to tell you. Apparently, the car had fake dealer plates and was assumed to be involved in a series of crimes. While that opinion hasn’t necessarily panned out for police, they did find out that the vehicle was involved in an earlier hit and run case. Unfortunately, the driver and passenger seen in the vehicle fled the blazing scene before police arrived.
4 Wednesday
A Park Cities resident who returned home on the Fourth of July from vacation was welcomed back by finding his home has been burglarized. Sometime between 3 p.m. June 29 and 2:30 p.m. July 4, the back door of the home in the 4300 block of Lorraine Avenue was forced open and an iMac desktop computer, MacBook laptop, and a 750 ml bottle of Louis XIII Re’my Martin Cognac were stolen.
5 Thursday
Sometime between June 26 and July 5, a red Schwinn tandem bicycle, valued at $500, was stolen from a garage in the 4400 block of Lorraine Avenue, the homeowner reported around 4:36 p.m.
8 Sunday
A Trek Navigator 600 with gray basket was stolen between 3:30 and 4 p.m. from an open garage in the 3500 block of Normandy Avenue.
2 Monday
A Trek boys bicycle, valued at $400, was stolen between 8:45 and 9:30 p.m. from the 4400 block of Lovers Lane.
Stolen before 7:15 a.m.: a 2001 white Ford F250 parked overnight in the 3500 block of Centenary Drive.
A Park Cities resident reported to police around 9 a.m. that her 2013 beige Cadillac Escalade was burglarized June 30 while taking a dip in the city’s pool. The woman said a $25 wallet holding a credit card and her identification was stolen.
A suspicious activity call around 2:20 p.m. from a Chevron station in the 8400 block of Preston Road led to the arrest of a 24-year-old Grand Prairie man on suspicious of a controlled possession (heroin).
Scratched before 8 a.m.: a 2017 gray Lexus 460 parked overnight in the 3700 block of Stanford Avenue. Damage was estimated at $500.
If you heard gunshots around 5 p.m., they came from a home in the 4100 block of Grassmere Lane. Police report the gun was “accidentally” discharged from inside the residence.
6 Friday
Sometime between 4:45 and 5:45 p.m., a package containing $50 of merchandise was stolen from the front porch of a home in the 3400 block of Milton Avenue.
7 Saturday
Stolen before 12:01 a.m.: the third-row seat, valued at $600, from a 2008 gold GMC Yukon LL parked overnight in the 4000 block of Druid Lane.
Two Trek bicycles, both valued at $200, were stolen around 9:23 p.m. from the front porch of a home in the 4300 block of Hanover Street.
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Bianca R. Montes
Bianca Montes is an award-winning journalist with a background in crime and government reporting and an obsession with all things culture and arts. She serves as the Managing Editor for Park Cities People and Preston Hollow People, curating content for the Living Well and Faith sections, as well as producing the Fall and Spring society sections and 20 Under 40. From luncheons to galas to exhibition openings to new Dallas restaurants, you can find her out and about on Instagram @Bianca_TBD or @peoplenewspapers. You can also reach her by email at [email protected]. For the latest news, click here to sign up for our newsletter.
HPDPS Holds Class to Prepare Residents for Active Shootings
June 29, 2018 Timothy Glaze 0
UPPD Seeking Owner of Found Property
October 5, 2017 Staff Report 0
Police Reports: June 12 – 18
June 19, 2017 Staff Report 0
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Sarfaraz K. Niazi, Ph.D., is the Founding Executive Chairman of Adello Biologics, LLC (ABL, formerly Therapeutic Proteins International), a global developer and manufacturer of biosimilar biologics, one of the most prominent new categories of life-altering drugs. The ABL manufactures biosimilars in Chicago, IL and Cashel, Ireland and develops products in Chicago and Piscataway, NJ.
As an entrepreneur, Niazi has raised hundreds of millions of dollars, and for these accomplishments, he received induction into Chicago Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.
Niazi is a pharmacist, who received his MS degree in biopharmaceutics from Washington State University (1971) and Ph.D. degree (1974) from the University of Illinois, where he began his career teaching pharmacy (1972-1988) and received tenure at the age of 27. He trained dozens of graduate students, published a vast volume of refereed research articles, managed research grants, wrote the first textbook on clinical pharmacokinetics, formulated many pharmaceutical products, developed mathematical and statistical models in pharmacokinetics, and taught FDA inspectors. In 2015, Niazi became honored as the Alumnus of the Year by the University of Illinois.
In 1988, Niazi left his teaching position, but not teaching, and joined Abbott International, where he established a new line of consumer and generic products and introduced many novel manufacturing technologies to reduce the COGS substantially. He became a tenured Volwiler Fellow at Abbott.
In 1995, Niazi established his consulting company. He managed FDA and EMA submissions and approval of both chemical and biological drugs; Niazi coordinated the development and commercial launch of cytokines, monoclonal antibodies, and insulin, managing budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide, on behalf of his clients. Niazi also coordinated regulatory filing of alternative medicines, a new category of drugs at the FDA. He continues to provide consulting to many regulatory agencies worldwide. He had also served in the development of the US legislature, Affordable Care Act, more particularly the BPCIA.
In 2003, Niazi established ABL with vision to make lifesaving biological drugs affordable. Realizing that starting a biological development and manufacturing operation requires hundreds of millions of dollars, a resource that he did not have, he went on to reinvent the bioprocessing technology platform from the ground up. His technology earned scores of patents for his inventions, making him the largest single owner of bioprocessing technology patents in the world. The bioprocessing technology created by Niazi significantly reduces capital investment and operational cost with potential of improving quality. His inventions are widely recognized globally. ABL utilizes some of Niazi’s technology to manufacture cost-competitive biosimilar drugs.
He is widely renowned for his technical expertise and passion to reduce cost to patients in world press; the Forbes Magazine lists him as the most interesting man in the world for his efforts in making high-cost drugs affordable across the globe; other recent mentions of Niazi include The Chicago Tribune, Crain's Business, The Express, and Diagnostico Brazil,
With over 50 ISBNs under his name, Niazi has authored many landmark books: the first textbook in the field of clinical pharmacokinetics that remains a primary teaching tool for 40 years, the longest running edition of any book in the pharmaceutical sciences; a 6-volume series of pharmaceutical manufacturing formulations, the largest such book ever published on the topic; the first book on biosimilars; the most comprehensive book on bioequivalence testing; a handbook of pre-formulation; online filing of patents; a textbook on bioprocessing; a number of consumer books, and translations of Urdu and Persian poetry into English, among many others.
He currently serves as an ad hoc faculty at the University of Houston, Texas, HEJ Research Institute, Karachi, and National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad. He has also served as a Foreign Professor at the HEJ Research Institute, Karachi. He serves on the editorial board of the journal MOJ Proteomics & Bioinformatics (MOJPB) and starting 2017, as Chief Editor of International Journal of Biosimilars. He also serves as Member of National Advisory Board of the College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois. He is a Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Medical Sciences, Fellow National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and Institute of Biology. He served as a TOKTEN Fellow to India (Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriate Nationals ( UNDP, 1983-84). In 2013, he received the one of the highest civilian awards, Star of Distinction in Engineering, from the Pakistani President. He has hosted a radio show at Voice of America (US State Department) on a weekly basis for more than 5 years with audience into billions. He is an avid musician (guitar), a street photographer and a marathoner.
Niazi lives with his family in Chicago.
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Who is the most likely to become the next Prime Minister?
As the Brexit behemoth stumbles to a halt once again, who are the likely candidates for the top job?
Theresa May's future as Prime Minister is under question following the Brexit process shuddering to a halt (Photo: Getty Images)
Theresa May has held her position as prime minister since July 2016, but has promised her party's backbenchers that she will move on before the next stage of the Brexit negotiations, provided her deal passes through parliament. That deal has now been rejected three times, with parliament also unable to find a majority for any of the other alternatives. This could see a general election and, before that, a potential Conservative party leadership contest if the government loses a no confidence vote in the House of Commons. The list of potential replacements for Theresa May is long, with both former and current ministers in the running. Let us know what you think by taking part in our poll.
Environment Secretary and former Conservative leadership candidate in 2016.
Leader of the Labour party, the main opposition.
Former Health Secretary and current Foreign Secretary.
Former Brexit Secretary who resigned over Theresa May's deal. Hard Brexiteer.
Current Home Secretary who was previously in charge of the housing and local government department.
Theresa May's de facto deputy. Favoured as a stop-gap Prime Minister.
Current Health Secretary and West Suffolk MP.
Leader of the House of Commons who finished in a surprise second place in the 2016 Tory leadership contest.
Leading hard Brexiteer and back-bencher. Popular with the grassroots of the Tory party.
The Attorney General since July 2018.
Sacked as Home Secretary over the Windrush scandal, returned to cabinet as Work and Pensions secretary. Favours a soft Brexit.
International Development Secretary since November 2017.
Chancellor throughout May's premiership. Favours a soft Brexit.
The first of three Brexit Secretaries, ran for the Tory leadership in 2001 and 2005, finishing fourth and second respectively.
Leader of the Scottish Conservatives. Not an MP so would need to be elected as one before becoming Prime Minister.
Former leader of UKIP. Never elected to parliament despite running five times. Would need to be elected as an MP to have any chance of becoming Prime Minister.
Labour Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007. No longer an MP nor involved in frontline politics. Has not ruled out a return.
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LAKE ELSINORE: Fans flock to NCAA baseball…
LAKE ELSINORE: Fans flock to NCAA baseball regional game
Gracen Calica, 18, left, of San Diego and his grandmother, Dee French, 85, of Menifee, root for UCSB. The team played USC in Lake Elsinore Saturday. NEWS 17
Tailgaters toast shots of Tequila before the UCSB vs. USC baseball game in Lake Elsinore Saturday.
Shoppers buy shirts and other NCAA baseball gear before the UCSB vs. USC baseball game in Lake Elsinore Saturday.
By The Press-Enterprise |
As Tod and Colleen Severson were unloading their SUV in the parking lot of The Diamond in Lake Elsinore after a four-hour trip from Santa Barbara on Saturday, May 30, they had two pressing questions.
“What’s the deal with the traffic?” asked Tod.
“Where’s everyone going?” said Colleen.
Welcome to the Inland Empire, Gaucho fans.
When the UC Santa Barbara baseball team played itself into a position to host an NCAA Regional with a 40-win regular season, there was one problem. Its baseball field did not have lights and couldn’t meet the criteria to host the four-team, double-elimination regional – the first step on the road to the College World Series.
Eventually the school’s athletic officials settled on hosting the tournament at The Diamond, the home of the Class-A Lake Elsinore Storm, which is a good 170 miles from campus.
USC, San Diego State and Virginia filled out the four-team field which opened play on Friday.
UC Santa Barbara ended a 12-year NCAA tournament drought two years ago. This year’s team earned the right to host a regional for the first time in the 69-year history of the NCAA tournament.
“We’re pretty excited about the whole deal,” said Tod Severson, 48, who serves as the baseball team chaplain. “The bummer part is – could we just have it in our own backyard?”
Andy Graham, 30, also made the trip from Santa Barbara. A former Gaucho baseball player, he actually pitched at The Diamond when he played for Modesto in the California League in 2008.
Graham, who retired from professional baseball in 2011 and now works for the university, made the trip with his parents and a handful of former teammates.
They were part of the crowd of 3,236 that showed up Friday night for UC Santa Barbara’s opening game against San Diego State, a 4-3 loss that put them in Saturday’s 3 p.m. elmination game against USC, which lost to Virginia in the first game on Friday.
“I think this is an exciting thing for the program,” said Graham. “I think it’ll be a nice momentum boost. People will want to get behind it and realize that our team is this good – but the facilities are still lacking – so imagine how good they could be if we had the facilities. If we had lights we could host a regional like this at our home stadium.
“That being said, this had been a great venue. It’s a beautiful ballpark and we’re happy to travel down and support the team. And everybody that works here with the Storm has been great so far.”
The Storm Store was rather quiet about 30 minutes before first pitch. While just outside the store on the stadium concourse a vendor selling NCAA gear did a brisk business.
Donna Grunow, the director of merchandising for the Storm, manned the cash register in the Storm Store. She said she was getting a lot of inquiries about UC Santa Barbara, USC and San Diego State gear. (They don’t carry any.) But that some fans settled for picking up Storm gear, with the distinctive eyes logo.
“They will say, ‘I’ve seen that logo. Oh, it’s you guys.’ And then they grab a hat. So we’re making new fans, you know,” said Grunow.
Other regionals this weekend are being played at college baseball hotbeds such as Fullerton; Coral Gables, Fla.; Stillwater, Okla.; and Baton Rouge, La.
Ric Welch, 51, an Eastvale city councilman and life-long LSU fan, showed up with three of his children, all sporting LSU shirts. His 19-year-old son Austin attends LSU in Baton Rouge.
“We’re college baseball fans and our team’s obviously playing on the other side of the country, so we decided that we would find the closest one and come see who all’s playing,” said Welch.
“We come to Storm games so when we heard that they were going to pick up this tournament, we had to come.”
Contact the writer: 951-368-9682 or tsheridan@pe.com
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British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714 (Kindle)
Design Construction, Careers and Fates
Seaforth: Wooden Walls Seaforth
By Rif Winfield
File Size: 49.9 MB (.mobi)
eBook Released: 2nd November 2009
£30.00 Print price £50.00
You'll be £30.00 closer to your next £10.00 credit when you purchase British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714. What's this?
British Warships in the Age of… ePub (34.8 MB) Add to Basket £30.00
The seventeenth century saw the transformation of Britain from a minor state on the fringes of Europe into a global economic power, whose interests were protected and promoted by the largest navy in the world. The character of this navy was forged by a bloody civil war, three fiercely disputed conflicts with the Dutch, and the first of many wars with the French. In the process the ships themselves were transformed from the surviving galleons that had defeated the Spanish Armada, through huge prestige vessels like Prince Royal and Sovereign of the Seas and the lightly built frigates of the Commonwealth era into warships that were recognisably ships of the line.
These radical developments in the design and employment of warships can be followed in detail for the first time in this comprehensive new reference book, which outlines the history of every ship built, purchased or captured that saw naval service during this era. Like its companion volumes on the 1714-1792 and 1793-1817 periods, the book is organised by Rate, classification and class, with outline technical and building data, but followed by a concise summary of the careers of each ship in every class.
With its unique depth of information, this is a work of the utmost importance to every naval historian and general reader interested in the navy of the sailing era.
Only the British navy publishing industry, and the Seaforth Publishing House in particular, could give life to an absolutely definitive cyclopean work on this subject, whose overall price is amply justified by a quality never seen before in other similar works.
STORIA militare, February 2018
This book has a steep price but is cheap in comparison to what it contains and what it too to research. In mere physical terms, this is a beautifully made book, properly bound, good paper, and the kind of intelligent typesetting that helps the reader, to put it crudely, quickly distinguished what goes with what.
714 - Speedreaders.info - Oct 2011
Beautifully-produced, to a very high quality level, this is an indispensable volume for any researcher, maritime historian or serious student of the naval ships of the emerging major seapower which was the Britain of the 17th Century.
Ships in Scale, May/June 2010
This book is frankly quite superb and deserves to be included in the library of anyone interested in this period of maritime history.
David Clement- South West Maritime History Society
About Rif Winfield
Rif Winfield has worked in the shipping and computer industries, has been for many years a charity director, has operated his own retail businesses (with his wife Ann), and has been a candidate for elections to Parliament and other levels of government, including serving as an elected Councillor and being appointed to government posts in health and in local government. A life-long researcher into naval history, he lives in Mid Wales and is the author of a number of standard works on the ships of the British Navy.
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New science, old cases: Pa. State Police work to identify decades-old homicide victims
Updated Sep 28, 2016 ; Posted Sep 28, 2016
By Steve Marroni | smarroni@pennlive.com
york lebanon cases.jpg
Do you know these people? The pictured facial reconstructions are of homicide victims from Lebanon County (left) and York County (right). New evidence from the work of a forensic anthropologist may help investigators shed some light on who they were.
(Pennsylvania State Police.)
Right now, they only know her as Jane Doe.
Her partially-decomposed body was found by two game commission officers in a wooded area off of Route 443 near Fort Indiantown Gap on Oct 10, 1973.
All that police had in their investigation into the death of the Lebanon County Jane Doe was her nude body, covered with green, plastic tarps, leaves and brush.
She had been there for about three weeks.
But with the recent help of a forensic anthropologist from the University of South Florida, investigators now have more clues to go on in this 43-year-old cold case.
They now know that Jane Doe was between 13 and 19 years old and had light brown or blonde hair and likely came a state in the South or the southeastern part of the country.
And they even have a facial composite to show what she may have looked like.
Investigators hope this information might help her family or friends from so long ago identify her.
And it might just be the first step in finding out who killed her.
There are 40,000 unidentified bodies in the United States, and many of them are homicide victims who have been in graveyards for decades, Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Tom McAndrew said at a press conference on Wednesday.
But with advances in forensic technology, that is changing.
"We have reached a time when modern science can further these investigations," said McAndrew, who is part of the state police's Criminal Investigation Assessment Unit. "We now have the ability to reconstruct faces, enter DNA profiles into databases, and we can determine geographic regions where someone spent time."
State police on Wednesday released new details about not only the Lebanon County Jane Doe case, but about several other cold cases from around the state, which he hopes will ring some bells with the public, and perhaps family members who do not know what happened to their loved ones, but may be able to identify them through these new details.
And it was all done with the help of a forensic anthropologist.
With a little financial help from a federal grant, Dr. Erin Kimmerle, a forensic anthropologist from the University of South Florida, came to the area to ply her techniques to help investigators get a better idea of who some of these homicide victims were.
In some cases, all that investigators had to go on were skeletal remains. In one case, they just had a torso in a garbage bag.
Earlier this week, Kimmerle's team exhumed four bodies from two cemeteries in Luzerne County and have started a forensic analysis of those.
And on Wednesday, Kimmerle and state police released new details on five other cases from around the state, including Lebanon and York County, that they had previously been investigating.
Kimmerle explained that chemical isotope testing can give an estimate of the geographic area where the victim may have lived.
Elements found in the enamel of a victim's teeth, for instance, can pin down a region where the victim had lived as a child.
And the isotopes found in the bones can show a broad geographic area of where someone spent the last decade of his or her life.
"You truly are what you eat," she said.
Techniques in examining the remains can also recreate faces and pin down an age and someone's body type.
And the collection of DNA samples can be linked to family members of missing persons whose DNA samples have been submitted to a national database.
"The first step to finding justice for these victims is bringing back their identity," Kimmerle said. "In each case, there's family, friends and people who knew that person and may be looking for them and left in limbo, not knowing what happened to them."
And through these advances in science, some families may be able to find some closure, she said.
The Lebanon County Jane Doe case is one that, with new information and a recreation of the victim's face, could help lead to a positive identification.
State police also provided new information on a case out of York County.
In that case, a tree-trimming crew in West Manchester Township discovered a human skull on Nov. 18, 2013, which led investigators to recover additional skeletal remains and a pair of "Knocker" brand boxer shorts.
Kimmerle's investigation is now showing that the victim was probably Hispanic - or possibly white and of European descent.
He would have been between 30 and 50 years old at the time of his death, which would have been at least three years prior to his body's discovery.
The victim would have been a muscular man, too, who was involved in strenuous activity or had a job involving physical labor. He would also have had an overbite and a scar or deformity on the right side of his nose due to facial trauma.
Another case comes from Carbon County where, on Dec. 20, 1976, a teenage boy playing along the banks of the Lehigh River in East Side Borough and found the remains of a full-term pregnant woman.
She had been sexually assaulted, dismembered and placed in three suitcases, which were thrown off of a bridge on Interstate 80.
Kimmerle's new forensic analysis shows the victim was likely born and spent the early part of her childhood in western or central Europe and she had spent the last five to 10 years in the southeastern part of the United States.
She was likely between 17 and 21 years old and would have been 5-foot, 2-inches tall with brown hair, two circular birthmarks on her face and a fractured front tooth.
And yet another case involved a torso that was found in a garbage bag in Paradise Township in Monroe County in 2011.
The victim was likely a white male between 50 and 60 years old who had open heart surgery several years prior. He also likely suffered from rheumatoid arthritis or a similar ailment.
New evidence from Kimmerle shows he had a diet of wheat or rice-based products, which is common in European and Asian cultures. He may be from the region between Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee or coastal California.
McAndrew hopes that these efforts will help family members identify someone whom they thought was missing and help bring about justice.
And these cases do get solved. Several years ago, McAndrew said he was able to file charges in a 1968 murder with the suspect being found in Texas.
He also encourages law enforcement and the public to use NAMUS, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database system.
"If there are family members out there that still have not seen their loved one in 20, 30 or 40 years, they can put their DNA in that system now," he said.
And he hopes the new information and the details released Wednesday may help bring some families that closure.
And bring police one step closer to closing the case.
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/content/bd/en/destinations/country/flights-to-singapore https://www.qatarairways.com/en-bd/search-results
Flights to Singapore with Qatar Airways
Singapore may have started as a chaotic little colonial port, but the country went on to become a futuristic pristine metropolis. Travel to Singapore with Qatar Airways and discover a buzzing country that combines high-rise skyscrapers on one end and an abundance of green spaces on the other.
Singapore is awash with fascinating places to visit and activities to undertake, from elegant and colourful temples to grand old colonial buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. You’ll discover when you come here that much of the atmosphere comes from its population, an intriguing mix of Indians, Malays and Chinese. Walking from one end of the city to the other takes you on a journey through a series of cultural mixes, making a stroll along any street a real adventure in tastes, sights and smells. The range of different cuisine on offer is staggering, and attracts gourmets from all corners of the world.
The big attraction for visitors to Singapore is in fact its ethnic diversity and its distinctly unique districts. Little India is probably the most obvious one, located just to the north of the river and packed with restaurants and spice shops. Just a short distance away you’ll find Arab Street, home to the shining golden domes of the great Sultan Mosque. Chinatown, just south of the river, offers an interesting glimpse into a wide range of architectural styles and motifs.
Singapore is packed with famous sights too, including the iconic Raffles Hotel, symbol of a bygone age, and the Neo-Classical buildings of the old Colonial District. If you enjoy nature and wildlife, the zoo here is excellent, and the city’s splendid Botanic Gardens have a world-class orchid section. Visit Jurong Bird Park to marvel at the exotic species on display, and take some time to relax by the beach at nearby Sentosa Island.
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Bloodhound Puppies For Sale
Bloodhound Dog Breeders
Find Bloodhound Puppies For Sale on Pets4You.com. These famous scent hounds have their origins in England as far back as the 11th century. The white variety, which existed in medieval Europe, was named the Talbot Hound. These dogs thrive on the hunt, rather than the kill. The coat colors are black and tan, liver and tan or red. These dogs need little grooming except for the ears and eyes. They are good with children and get along with other dogs. They are not easy to obedience train. These dogs weigh 80 to 110 lbs. and stand 23-27" at the shoulders. Contact the dog breeders below for Bloodhound Puppies For Sale.
-- Select Location --CaliforniaGeorgiaMarylandMissouri
Cyclone Ridge Kennels LLC Bloodhound
Love, Wrinkles, Drool and Devotion ...
Check out our website regarding information about us and our wonderful droolin' hounds! You won't find anyone that loves and works with their hounds more than we do! We work hard with our babies to be sure you are matched with the perfect one, being there when they are born and sleeping with them until they are 4 weeks old! Bloodhound Puppies For Sale in St Louis, Missouri United States
Date Born: 01/15/2019
Price Range: $1600.00
We have completed our spring 2019 breeding and should have all 3 colors available.
AKC registration, micro chip and its registration, 3 vet visits, age appropriate shots, spay/neuter, health certificate, puppy pack and a very loved puppy
Deborah Thompson (573) 678-1199
Bloodhounds West
Puppies Available Now!
Available: Puppies, Teens, Adults & Studs service available. Call for more information & availability. Bloodhound Puppies For Sale in Laguna Beach, California United States
Champion Bloodline: Yes
Champion Sired: Yes
Show Potential: Yes
Susan LaCroix (949) 494-9506
Oakie Acres Bloodhound
Black & Tans ready for new homes.
We have 2 litters of black and tans. Pups are AKC reg. with all appropriate vaccines and worming. Ready for new homes. Bloodhound Puppies For Sale in California United States
Bloodhound Haven
Jeffersonville, GA
Puppies Available 8-14 Weeks!
Puppies Available Now! 8-14 Weeks. Special pricing available for Law Enforcement. Call Now to reserve. Reds And Black And Tans Male And Females. Great trackers & pets. Cash/Paypal Only. $800 and up. Bloodhound Puppies For Sale in Jeffersonville, Georgia United States
Ann Vinson (478) 945-2372
Lone Oak Bloodhound
Puppies Available Now! New Litter Available - liver & reds. 3 Females & 6 Males left. Shots & wormed. Vet-checked. Please call for more info! Bloodhound Puppies For Sale in Walkersville, Maryland United States
Bloodhound: Gentle, Even Meek, a Tireless Tracker
Although bloodhounds look massive and menacing, they are anything but. These large, powerful dogs are in fact gentle, meek, and loving giants.
The main thing that sets these dogs apart from other breeds is their keen ability to track by scent rather than sight or sound. Originally, they were bred for hunting purposes, but today they have been specially bred to track humans, whether escaped prisoners, for example, or to find missing people, such as children. They are also sometimes bred to track animals, such as lost pets.
The Bloodhound likely originated from France, with the first known strains of this breed appearing about 1000 A.D. At that time, monks at the St. Hubert monastery in Belgium were breeding these dogs. In about 1200 A.D., the Abbey of St. Hubert began to send pairs of black hounds to the King of France as gifts. Although King Charles IX generally preferred the larger Chien-gris dogs (now extinct), and writer Jaques de Fouilloux considered them strong but with low, short legs making them only suitable as leash hounds, King Henry IV thought highly enough of them to present a pack to King James I of England. By the time Louis XIV's reign was over, the St. Hubert bloodhounds were increasingly rare.
During the revolution, the St. Hubert monastery stopped sending dogs to the Kings of France, and hunting in general decreased in popularity until the Napoleonic wars were over. In general, writers from that time agreed that the original St. Hubert bloodhounds' breed had died out in the 19th century. The European St. Hubert bloodhound replaced the original, coming about as a specific result of modern bloodhound breeding.
Bloodhounds were well established in England by about the mid-14th century, if English literature is to be believed. It may be that the modern bloodhound's ancestors were brought over by William the Conqueror from Normandy, but it's not known whether that is true. The Normans did bring hounds from Europe, but it's not known whether these were actually bloodhounds, or ancestors from whom the modern bloodhound was developed. Today's modern "bloodhound" gets its name not from its ability to track "blood" (scent) as is commonly believed, but from a reference to its pure bloodlines.
Tracking Abilities
Bloodhounds were reportedly used to track people from the earliest times, with Robert the Bruce from medieval Scotland reporting that he was followed by sleuthhounds in 1307, as did William Wallace around the same time period.
Hunting uses, decline and resurgence in popularity
Although bloodhounds were commonly used for foxhunting and deer hunting in the 16th and 17th centuries, its popularity for this purpose nonetheless diminished. The breed was still kept by a few enthusiasts and aristocrats, and it began to reemerge as a popular show dog in the 19th century. In the later part of the 19th century, bloodhounds were imported from Britain by French enthusiasts who regretted that the St. Hubert line of bloodhounds had been allowed to become extinct. Today, the Federation Cynologique Internationale recognizes the bloodhound as the original Chiens de St Hubert bloodhound.
Bloodhounds were imported to the United States early on, although the exact year is not known. It is known that some type of "bloodhound" (although perhaps not pure) was used to track runaway slaves before the advent of the American Civil War. Truly pure bloodhounds (as opposed to those of questionable ancestry) were introduced and then bred in America beginning in the late 19th century. The American Kennel Club first recognized the breed in 1885.
Today, this dog is used extensively by law enforcement for tracking purposes and is also a beloved family pet. In fact, its ability to track by scent is deemed so accurate that it's used as evidence in courts of law.
The breed standard for the modern bloodhound goes back to medieval times. This powerful but lean dog weighs between 80 and 110 pounds, sometimes more, and stands 25 to 27 inches at the shoulder. This working dog and gentle family pet has a strong back and a long, narrow head and nose. Eyes are yellow to deep hazel, and the ears are thin, drooping and very long. The bloodhound has a lot of extra skin that makes it "wrinkled," hanging off the body. The folds of the skin are especially useful because they help the dog hold the scent while tracking. The coat is stiff, but has softer hair on the skull. Colors can be tan and liver, tan and black, tawny and red, and simply red. There may be some white patches on the chest and feet.
Perhaps the best word to describe this dog's personality is "patient," or even "long-suffering." The bloodhound's personality is gentle, lovable, exceedingly patient and mild-mannered, even meek. Bloodhounds are a children-friendly pet, so excellent with children and so patient that they'll take rough treatment without complaint, so you as the owner must be very careful not to let your small children overly "abuse" your pet. They love to receive attention from human owners, feel very much a part of the pack, and simply want to be part of the family.
Young puppies can be difficult to train because, although gentle and endlessly mild-mannered, they're also quite independent. This is especially true because of their extreme focus on scent. As scent dogs by nature, they'll follow a scent before they will listen to you! Young dogs can be boisterous and difficult to handle before the age of two, but will become much more mellow and obedient thereafter with proper training. They love and actually need an owner that has a calm, stern air. Anything else could elicit willfulness, especially from a young dog.
Above all, the bloodhound is a working dog that exists to track scents. That means that if he or she gets a scent and wants to follow it, you're going to have to be very stern if you don't want your pet to do so! They're so tenacious that they can find and then track scents that are over 100 hours old. Bloodhounds have been known to stay with trails for up to 100 miles, which means that when your dog is on a scent, he or she is in his or her element – not necessarily misbehaving, but simply "on the job." Knowing this and still providing your dog with a firm hand so that he or she will listen to you when the pull of the scent is so strong will help ensure that your pet stays well behaved.
Best Environment
Bloodhounds love everyone, and simply want to be bonded with their owners. They can actually do quite well even in small apartment settings, as long as they get plenty of physical activity including a daily walk. If you're not an owner who can physically handle a dog who wants to track a scent, though, it's best to choose a smaller breed. A very tenacious bloodhound "on a scent" can be very difficult to control indeed.
Unfortunately, the bloodhound is prone to significant health problems, including hip dysplasia, entropion (eyelids turning inward), and bloat. The most deadly of these is bloat, and it can become fatal very rapidly and without warning. Because of this, they do best with two or three small meals a day instead of one large one. Since bloat is so deadly, though, and because it can develop so rapidly, keep an eye on your pet for any digestive problems and get him or her to a vet immediately if you see any difficulty. The average lifespan for your pet will be about 10 to 12 years with proper care, exquisite attention to diet, and quick action when you see any digestive difficulties.
AKC MEET THE BREEDS®: Bloodhound.
http://www.akc.org/breeds/bloodhound/history.cfm
Retrieved February 22, 2012.
Bloodhound.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodhound
Bloodhound (St. Hubert Hound) (Chien de Saint-Hubert) (Flemish Hound).
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/bloodhound.htm
Group Classification: Hounds, Hound Group, Scenthound Breeds
Recognized By: CKC, FCI, AKC, UKC, ANKC, NKC, NZKC, APRI, ACR
Shedding: Moderate Shed
Body Size: Extra Large
Weight Male: 90-110 pounds
Height Male: 25-27 inches
Weight Female: 80-100 pounds
Height Female: 23-25 inches
Litter Size: 8-10 puppies
black and tan, liver and tan, or red. The darker colors are sometimes interspersed with lighter or badger-colored hair and some times flecked or roaned with white. White may also be found on the chest, feet and tip of stern.
While they can handle living in an apartment (they love being couch potatoes), it is best that they have a large yard to play in. They require a great deal of exercise, and play time. Leash walking is really your only option unless you are prepared to chase the dog once he has caught the scent of something that interests him. Don't over walk or run a young Hound or it will cause joint problems later. This dog will not do well being chained up all day.
Cyclone Ridge Kennels LLC
Size: Extra Large
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Preclinical Data Highlighting Therapeutic Potential of EP...
Preclinical Data Highlighting Therapeutic Potential of EPI-7386 Presented at 2019 American Urological Association Annual Meeting
HOUSTON, TX and VANCOUVER, May 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - ESSA Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: EPIX; TSX-V: EPI), a pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer, today presented new preclinical data on ESSA's lead Investigational New Drug ("IND") candidate at the 2019 American Urological Association ("AUA") Annual Meeting.
In an oral poster presentation, "A New Generation of N-terminal Domain Androgen Receptor Inhibitors in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Models", a deeper preclinical characterization of EPI-7386 was presented. The studies demonstrate that, pre-clinically, EPI-7386:
Displays similar in vitro IC50 potency compared to the 'lutamide class of antiandrogens in an in vitro androgen receptor (AR) inhibition assay.
Shows in vitro activity in several enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer cell models in which enzalutamide is resistant.
Exhibits a favorable metabolic profile across three preclinical animal species, which suggests that EPI-7386 will have high exposure and a long half-life in humans.
Provides similar antitumor activity to enzalutamide in the enzalutamide-sensitive LNCaP prostate cancer xenograft model.
Provides superior antitumor activity to enzalutamide, as a single agent or in combination with enzalutamide, in the enzalutamide-resistant VCaP prostate cancer xenograft model.
AR inhibition with both an N-terminal domain inhibitor (EPI-7386) and a ligand binding domain inhibitor (enzalutamide), induces deeper and more consistent anti-tumor responses in the enzalutamide-resistant VCaP xenograft model.
"The variety of in vitro and in vivo studies examining both antiandrogen sensitive models and antiandrogen-resistant xenograft mouse models show a favorable preclinical profile of EPI-7386. From this and an aggregate of other preclinical data, we nominated EPI-7386 as the IND candidate to be used in the clinic in mCRPC patients failing current antiandrogen therapy. EPI-7386 represents a novel approach to targeting the androgen receptor, one of the most validated targets in oncology," said Dr. David R. Parkinson, President & Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to providing further details of the preclinical profile of EPI-7386 later in the year as we move close to our anticipated IND filing in the first quarter of 2020."
About ESSA Pharma Inc.
ESSA is a pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel and proprietary therapies for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer ("CRPC") in patients whose disease is progressing despite treatment with current therapies. ESSA believes that its proprietary compounds can significantly expand the interval of time in which patients suffering from CRPC can benefit from hormone-based therapies, by disrupting the androgen receptor ("AR") signaling pathway that drives prostate cancer growth and by preventing AR transcriptional activity by binding selectively to the N-terminal domain ("NTD") of the AR. A functional NTD is essential for transactivation of the AR. In preclinical studies, blocking the NTD has demonstrated the capability to overcome the known AR-dependent mechanisms of CRPC. ESSA was founded in 2009.
ESSA proprietary compounds, otherwise known as aniten compounds, bind to the N-terminal domain of the androgen receptor ("AR"). The company is currently conducting studies on a small number of next generation compounds with higher potency and metabolic stability, longer half-life and superior pharmaceutical properties.
Prostate cancer is the second-most commonly diagnosed cancer among men and the fifth most common cause of male cancer death worldwide (Globocan, 2018). Adenocarcinoma of the prostate is dependent on androgen for tumor progression and depleting or blocking androgen action has been a mainstay of hormonal treatment for over six decades. Although tumors are often initially sensitive to medical or surgical therapies that decrease levels of testosterone, disease progression despite castrate levels of testosterone generally represents a transition to the lethal variant of the disease, metastatic CPRC ("mCRPC"), and most patients ultimately succumb to the illness. The treatment of mCRPC patients has evolved rapidly over the past five years. Despite these advances, additional treatment options are needed to improve clinical outcomes in patients, particularly those who fail existing treatments including abiraterone or enzalutamide, or those who have contraindications to receive those drugs. Over time, patients with mCRPC generally experience continued disease progression, worsening pain, leading to substantial morbidity and limited survival rates. In both in vitro and in vivo animal studies, ESSA's novel approach to blocking the androgen pathway has been shown to be effective in blocking tumor growth when current therapies are no longer effective.
Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer
This release contains certain information which, as presented, constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and/or applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information involves statements that relate to future events and often addresses expected future business and financial performance, containing words such as "look forward", "anticipate" and, "believe", and statements that an action or event "is expected", "is predicted", "should", "may" or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions and includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated pharmaceutical properties of the EPI-7386 drug candidate and anti-androgens, including potential exposure and half-life in humans, and anticipated IND filing for EPI-7386 in the first quarter of 2020.
Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of ESSA to control or predict, and which may cause ESSA's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby. Such statements reflect ESSA's current views with respect to future events, are subject to risks and uncertainties and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by ESSA as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant medical, scientific, business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. In making forward-looking statements, ESSA may make various material assumptions, including but not limited to (i) the accuracy of ESSA's financial projections; (ii) obtaining positive results of clinical trials; (iii) obtaining necessary regulatory approvals; and (iv) general business, market and economic conditions.
Forward-looking information is developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein and in ESSA's Annual Report on Form 20-F dated December 13, 2018 under the heading "Risk Factors", a copy of which is available on ESSA's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com or ESSA's profile on EDGAR at www.sec.gov, and as otherwise disclosed from time to time on ESSA's SEDAR and EDGAR profiles. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and ESSA undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as may be required by applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. Readers are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/preclinical-data-highlighting-therapeutic-potential-of-epi-7386-presented-at-2019-american-urological-association-annual-meeting-300843899.html
SOURCE ESSA Pharma Inc
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Laura Lean - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Why Western Countries Must Accept Returning Extremists
Feb 26, 2019 Bjørn Ihler , Fatima Zaman
Shamima Begum and Hoda Muthana have been denied reentry to the UK and the US, respectively, after having left to join the Islamic State. But, like it or not, they have a right to due process, which Western governments disregard at their peril.
OSLO/LONDON – Shamima Begum, a 19-year-old British woman who fled to Syria four years ago to marry an Islamic State (ISIS) fighter, wants to return home to the United Kingdom with her newborn son. Similarly, Hoda Muthana, a 24-year-old American woman who joined ISIS at age 20, has requested re-entry to the United States with her young child. Both have been rejected. But their cases continue to fuel heated debate about the rights of would-be returnees – and, more broadly, the compatibility between Muslims and the West.
In Begum’s case, the UK government has decided to revoke her citizenship, even though British law prohibits it if doing so renders a person stateless. The UK Home Office has apparently concluded that Begum’s mother’s Bangladeshi passport provides a sufficiently credible excuse to ignore this rule. Begum reportedly plans to appeal the decision.
As for Muthana, the US has argued that she was never really a citizen at all. Yes, she was born in New Jersey and received a US passport before fleeing to join ISIS. But the US State Department contends that her father was a Yemeni diplomat, and children born to active diplomats in the US do not receive birthright citizenship. Muthana, however, was born months after her father left his position, which has become the basis of a lawsuit filed by her father against US President Donald Trump’s administration.
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Bjørn Ihler
Bjørn Ihler, an Extremely Together Young Leader at the Kofi Annan Foundation, co-founder of the Khalifa Ihler Institute, and One Young World Ambassador, is an international counter extremism expert, technologist, and activist.
Fatima Zaman
Fatima Zaman, an Extremely Together Young Leader at the Kofi Annan Foundation and a One Young World Ambassador, pioneered a Countering Violent Extremism Roadshow in schools and universities across the United Kingdom.
j. von Hettlingen Mar 2, 2019
Bjørn Ihler and Fatima Zaman maintain people like Shamima Begum and Hoda Muthana, who had been radicalised by extremist ideology and joined the Islamic State at the peak of its potency, are entitled to return to their countries. They say the best way for Western democracies to defend their values is to uphold them. They should be strong enough to reabsorb the returnees and “respect the rights of a citizen to a fair trial” – allowing them be questioned, investigated or prosecuted.
There are practical and political difficulties related to repatriating them. Authorities have to think about the potential danger former IS recuits might pose to the wider public. Many in the West simply wish they had either died or just disappeared. Now that some want to return, their governments have a responsibility to address the problems after the fall of the IS. They need to look closely at what to do with their stranded citizens and why they made the choices they did.
The account made by the 19-year-old British-born Shamima Begun to a journalist in a refugee camp in Syria was horrifying. She described being unfazed by the sight of a severed head and showed no sympathy for executed hostages. She also said she had no regrets about her decision to join ISIS. Outsiders do not yet know whether she played any role within the group other than that of a wife and mother. It is very difficult to find out whether she had committed terror-related crimes.
Other western Islamists, like the 24-year-old US-born Hoda Muthana, had acted as propagandists and recruiters. She was one of ISIS most prominent agitators on social media. Not long ago she said she “deeply regrets” travelling to Syria to join ISIS and has pleaded to be allowed to return to her family in Alabama with her infant son, after losing three husbands. She is the only American among an estimated 1,500 foreign women and children inside the sprawling camp of 39,000 people.
“The United States is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 Isis fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial,” Trump said. “The caliphate is ready to fall. The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them ...” Muthana said she had not been in contact with US officials since her capture.
What does she expect from the unforgiving Americans after this tweet: “Americans wake up! Men and women altogether. You have much to do while you live under our greatest enemy, enough of your sleeping! Go on drivebys, and spill all of their blood, or rent a big truck and drive all over them. Veterans, Patriots, Memorial, etc day … Kill them.”
The UK and US have an obligation to their citizens. Should their British or American citizenship be taken away, they would be stateless. But authorities in the UK and the US argued that their priority had to be to protect their citizens. Despite the British government’s lack of concern for Begum’s plight, some said she should be allowed to return to the UK, despite her lack of contrition.
But authories fear that all these years with ISIS had made the once amateurs into seasoned terrorists or professional supporters of terrorism, and they have to make sure that they mitigate that threat once these people return.
In Begum’s case they believe if she has supported a terrorist group abroad, they will not hesitate to stop her from returning, by revoking her British citizenship. If she does manage to return, because she can’t be left stateless, she should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.
What Begum and Muthana might risk is that upon return, not only could they face prosecution on a number of grounds, like supporting a proscribed group, being a member of ISIS or using social media to encourage others to follow them to Syria, they could also potentially face their children being taken into care if there were fears they could radicalise them.
Securing prosecutions of those returning from war zones has been notoriously difficult. People are telling conflicting stories. They would try to say they were not really involved, and it is very difficult to verify their testimony. Most of them do express remorse and regret, but it is as a result of ISIS being defeated. They were all cheering on its atrocities and barbarism when they felt it was winning.
The authors are right: “Of course, the best-case scenario is to prevent radicalization in the first place.” True, but it also requires lots of resources to deradicalise people. In an era austerity measures, governments simply lack the funds and opt for spending cuts. It is extremely costly to monitor a suspect 7/24 to find out whether someone poses a threat to the public.
P. Kamath Feb 27, 2019
What would any one can do to these unfortunate victims with their babies : leave them rot in desert tents forever ? The male fighters with their beards shaven off, many of them have sneaked back to their place of origin! What an irony!
vivek iyer Feb 26, 2019
There is a right to due process but there is also a democratic right to change Laws concerning nationality. 'Heated debate' within the elite may be counterproductive because it could lead to a popular backlash against 'experts'.
The late Kofi Annan emphasized lots of things. Nobody cared. Young people who fled to ISIS were motivated by the desire to live in fine houses, own slaves, and shoot people. If ISIS had prevailed, we would all be kowtowing to these young people because they would have bags of money.
The authors warn of the danger of our 'playing into the hands of fundamentalists and extremists' who accuse Western Governments of failing to kill Jews and women who don't veil their faces despite claiming to be Christian and claiming to uphold family values. Is the best way to defend Western values to return to the days of the pogrom and the burning of witches?
Western countries don't have any responsibility to the rest of the world save in accordance with treaties they have signed. Other countries, are perfectly capable of dealing with their sociopaths.
How did the West (btw.. where is the dividing line between the West and the Rest today!) deal with volunteers who went to fight in foreign wars as volunteers with burning ideologies? Ie. Spanish Civil War, Communist revolution under Mao, WW-2 before Yanks entered the Great War, Israel-Arab Conflict , Vietnam War, Holy war in Afghanistan and so on!
What is the yard stick shall one adopt?
The yard-stick is whether they waged war- or helped others wage war- against their country of origin. In the old days, we didn't want to take away their nationality so as to be able to hang them. Leo Amery was the Secretary of State for India. His son claimed Spanish nationality. The Brits denied this and hanged the fellow. The same thing happened to William Joyce who had American nationality by birth.
We no longer hang people for treason so depriving them of citizenship and right of abode is the next best alternative.
More generally, the West- i.e Europe and North America- has moved away from 'salad bowl' multi-culturalism (though Trudeau's Canada is bucking this trend). The notion of 'universal human rights' is in retreat. With hindsight, it will appear a mere blip with the secular trend being towards 'separating equilibria' involving costly signals of loyalty and belonging.
Jonathan Engel Feb 26, 2019
Hear hear ! Few if any of these fun fellows who went to take up arms against Western Values were less than enthusiastic about the move. They may not have acted with full information, but they went out there to seek fame and fortune and death (their own, and those of their victims chosen for them by the IS hierarchy). What is clear is that we, here in the west, are poorly informed as to what exactly those former model citizens did in their participation in that cauldron of violence they chose to join. What would be totally unacceptable would be for our authorities here to put in danger the life or well being of a single person through the admission of such returnees from the camps of horror they participated in as animators in the benighted lands of Syria and Iraq.
https://prosyn.org/xAOavuv;
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Ten Leader Types - Which are you? Your Boss?
Introducing Ten "LeaderTypes" from the Recovering Leader.
From emails and web traffic, I’ve noticed a lot of interest in evaluating, assessing, and categorizing leaders. So you’ve challenged and inspired me to design my own, which I started several years ago. Since then, I’ve developed and revised my ten "LeaderTypes" based on more of my executive coaching work, interviewing many leaders and those surrounding them, my own corporate leadership experience, and additional reading and reflection.
I’ve combined them all into this one post, and present them below. For each type, I’ve included the primary mindset, how that changes when they are under stress (which I also refer to is being in “shadow”), what triggers that change, and some of the developmental challenges and opportunities for them.
My ten types stand firmly on the shoulders of the nine types in the Enneagram--a system of personality profiling developed by different researchers and practitioners over many years. To that I've added my own perspective, a tenth type, simplified the types themselves, applied them specifically to leadership, and added my own empirical research. If you're an Enneagram supporter, or it piques your interest to look into it, you will notice much similarity, and I encourage you to look more deeply into the many publications associated with it.
Also, please note that I'm NOT saying I think anyone fits precisely into any particular “type," as we are all individuals: idiosyncratic, and wonderfully unique. Therefore, you will see people who seem to be blends of several types, and/or seem to change based on conditions. That’s okay: take what you find useful here, and leave the rest.
Finally, I welcome and strongly invite you to comment. I’m always learning, and very much look forward to your thoughts, responses, reactions, and suggestions.
With thanks, and in service,
Executive Coach and President
Leadership Unleashed
LeaderType 1: The Perfectionist (Under Stress: The Stickler)
There’s a right way to do it, according to this type of leader, and that’s their way. Exhibiting strong ideals and principles, they are even-tempered and rational until conditions beyond their control don’t go their way. Frustration, anger, or clamping down even harder on their people will follow.
They believe things can be done perfectly, and are constantly holding themselves and others up to that standard, and often find shortfalls. They are goal-oriented, purposeful, and rigid, something you can tell right away when you meet one—just take a look a their all-bound-up body language.
This leader wishes they could clone themselves, and short of that, views delegating to others as a necessary evil. They operate from the belief that if they want something done right, they’d have to do it themselves. So delegating means telling someone what to do and how to do it, rather than giving them the “what,” and allowing people to do it their own way (i.e., launching their people into effective, independent action.)
In an executive post, they are all about today’s tasks / getting the job done, rather than forging strong relationships or being visionary about tomorrow. People say about them, “Not the most inspiring person to work for, but you know where you stand.” Indeed, as a project person, a fixer, or a turnaround type, they can be valuable to an organization.
Triggered by a miss, a failure, or more severe pressure, they clamp down and become “The Stickler:” they will fire someone before giving them a second chance, try to control everything and everyone—hold frequent meetings to exert their will, attempt to know everything that’s going on, and insert themselves into the smallest details. The main route out of that behavior is for the source of the stress to be removed.
Developmentally, the Perfectionists journey is one of self-awareness and moderation—ratcheting their unrealistic standards back to a more useful state: the desire to do well. Since they are so deeply purpose-driven, I’ve seen them thrive when that mission is broadened to include self-development, and embracing the 80/20 rule. They are then able to be at their best: unshakable values, and very fair decisions and assessments. They are high in integrity and ethics, and can bring an unmatched wisdom and discernment to their leadership.
LeaderType 2: The Relater (Under Stress: The Manipulator)
Driven by the need to be needed and appreciated, s/he is all about their relationships with others. When their office door is closed, you know it’s not because they’re working on next year’s budget. So-and-so from Business Strategy, whose significant other is leaving him, is having a heart-to-heart with them.
The Relater will socialize with underlings, colleagues, and, well, everyone, which can make them poor candidates for CEO or Chairman. After all, it’s lonely at the top, and Type 2’s don’t like loneliness.
Certainly they can be tremendous as heads of sales / business development. Hopefully, the organizational support is built in, as they are unlikely to be influential with the senior-most team to get the resources they need. That’s not because they’re incapable of it, but a) they tend to have poor boundaries and over-share, so trust and confidence can be withheld from them, and b) because making the case for a positive ROI/NPV to the CFO is not as important to them as is being liked and respected.
Celebrate successes? Why not! People on the Type 2 Leader’s team find the accolades and kudos abundant, but geez, another awards thing in the conference room? Didn't we just have one?
When blamed for a failure, isolated from others, or betrayed/back-stabbed the Relater goes into their shadow, the Manipulator. Their coping strategy is to do everything they can, including using coercion/manipulation, to bootstrap others into needing and appreciating them again. They become hyper-vigilant about what others think of them, and will people-please, take credit for others’ success, inflict guilt on or transfer blame to others. In this mode, others are seen as either with them or against them. Whether they express it or not, they can get a bit Scarlet O’Hara-ish: “…How could you (do / not do) that—after all I’ve done for you!” / “I’m dancing as fast as I can . . . and I’m doing it for you!”
Developmentally, the Relater’s journey is one of balancing social needs with getting the job done. They need to maximize their ability to foster teamwork, collaboration, fun in the service of specific goals and measures. Doing so will help them revel in being of service to their people, organizations, boards, and clients. They are sincere, thoughtful, humble, and warm. They are natural listeners, since they can really “understand” the other person. The Relater brings great value to an organization, because they enable others to be at their best, and in doing so, to be of great service in all they do.
LeaderType 3: The Achiever (Under Stress: The Exploiter)
When they feel valuable, impressive, and distinguish themselves from others through their accomplishments, the Achiever is smiling. American culture’s idea of a successful leader has, until recently, lionized them. Just think Trump, Gates, Welch (until that was over), Fiorina (until that was over), and the list goes on. Being known for their success fuels the fire in their belly. In return, a Type 3 leader will get the job done, and can continue at it as long as they stay out of their own shadow.
A Type 3 is usually found at the top of the house, in the corner office, the country club, or on their way up the ladder with a bullet, which others hope isn’t pointed at their back.
Competency in leadership? Sure, when they are winning, all is going well, they’re honest, ask great questions, delegate effectively, apply credit where it's due—err, as long as people really know who was in charge when that ball got knocked out of the park—and have high standards for their people and themselves.
When in shadow (less mature or healthy, or under undue stress) they are The Exploiter. The need to be noticed in their achievements gets buried under the fear of being noticed for failing—of humiliation instead of kudos. Depending on their level of self-awareness, and their conscience, many Type 3’s will, to some lesser or greater extent exploit others and compromise on values, ethics, and integrity—anything to shoehorn themselves out of their psychological panic room. They can then come across as arrogant, egotistical, devious— or just annoying and narcissistic. To escape their shadow, growing self-awareness is needed.
Typically smart and effective, the Type 3 has great potential to grow beyond the need to succeed and garner prestige when and if they find themselves wondering if there’s something more to life than winning the game. With self-development, coaching, maturity, experience and/or the type of pain that leads to reflection and change, a Type 3 can move beyond winning, and achieve something truly amazing.
At their best, Achievers build strong working relationships with people around them, and with their own people. They are clear about what they want and when they want it, and WHY they want it. They have strong integrity, achieve good results, and bring out the best in their people. They seem to keep learning, and are keen to understand their own strengths and areas for development. They are a clever and capable asset for any enterprise.
LeaderType 4: The Seeker (Under Stress: The Hermit)
As the names suggest, when at their best, and at their worst (in “shadow”), this Leader is a lone wolf. They are driven by the need to seek greater insights (about themselves, others, and the world), to turn them into something tangible, and to feel their feelings along the way. The Type 4 leader counts on their intuition and what their heart tells them as readily as other types might refer to a spreadsheet or business plan. If a proposal or project doesn’t “feel” right to them, give it up, dude, because it’s not going to happen.
Typically a Type 4 leader is in the corner office when the organization sprung from their own vision / need to create or reinvent something. As is said about artists, they don’t make art because they’re satisfied with the world as is—rather, they create from their dissatisfaction with the status quo, which they resolve by delivering their unique vision or creation to the world.
While in positions of leadership, do not ask the Type 4 to be steady-hand-on-the-tiller managers. Indeed, if they land in a non-creative role for any length of time, they will tend toward isolation and depression.
More often than not, this type of leader is better suited to create vision and to build something than they are to running it. Create it, and move on, please. Many are great artists, composers, filmmakers, and the like—struggling to minimize the need to fit themselves into someone else’s idea or vision of how things should be. They are fiercely individualistic.
The Seeker becomes the Hermit when stressed in specific ways. For example, a very negative work environment, a failure of their vision to be realized, having to be in an uncreative role, or forced into the mold of another. I say “hermit” because they will hunker and bunker, becoming paralyzed / angry /disappointed /ashamed / depressed and isolated – and much of that will be focused on themselves. In such situations they need time to “figure things out” and will do whatever they can to make that happen, whether it’s an hour, a month, or years.
At his or her best, a Type 4 leader brings to the table tremendous creativity, vision, integrity, emotional intelligence, humor, and a deeply intuitive gift for what’s needed to make the world – or an organization – a better place. They tend toward greater self-awareness than others, which means they learn, and are true to themselves and what’s meaningful to them. Most importantly, at their best, the Seeker can translate a vision into something that we can all value, which feeds their soul, even as it gives something to all of us.
LeaderType 5: The Researcher (Under Stress: The Disappeared)
Being bright and extraordinarily quiet, when the Researcher speaks (finally), it can be tremendously illuminating—and even a bona fide game-changer. S/he craves intellectual mastery over something significant, a “life’s work,” and while they’re working on that (for life), the “Do Not Disturb” sign is up, thank you very much. “Just leave me alone and let me think!”
Any output from the Researcher (unlike the Seeker) is strictly a byproduct of their deep internal struggle for their Cause Célèbre—that which fuels their mental passion. They also struggle to protect themselves from the deeply troubling intrusions of the outside world, like going out to dinner, laundry, and bills.
That said, a Researcher-Leader who has learned to come out of their shell and share what they are discovering, like Albert Einstein, can change the universe as we know it. Because of that, a Type 5 in the executive suite will typically be older, and in some kind of emeritus role. In other words, it was awarded or given to them for some type of accomplishment on their part, rather than sought by them. Yes, they’re a Nobel winner, but don’t ask them to do performance reviews or expense reports. (A Type 5 would hold such a role in contempt, not because they are arrogant, but because it’s a distraction.)
The Researcher becomes the Disappeared when barred or prevented from their life’s work for any length of time. When stress is high, when s/he is in the wrong role, and/or life’s demands get in the way (i.e., impinge on their ability to sit and think), and they can’t find a way to continue their work, they will not only disappear down the rabbit hole of extraordinary isolation, but there are serious psychological consequences for Type 5’s. Eccentric, neurotic, or downright psychotic are possible--apathy, depression, even greater social incapacity are probable. In such situations, they benefit from professional help—and make sure that therapist is bright as they come, please.
Yet at her or his best, the Researcher is a tremendous and penetrating observer / interpreter of reality—mentally acute and able to tune into details and patterns that are hidden to the rest of us. When they are protected and supported, mentally free to roam, they are cognitive Olympic athletes, able to conceptualize and imagine their way into insights that can literally move mountains. While the Researcher is not best-suited for positions of leadership, other than as figureheads, it’s in all of our interest to give them the tools and support needed to make the greatest contributions they are able to make.
LeaderType 6: The Supporter (Under Stress: The Infant)
Trust and safety are the key drivers for this type of leader. When these conditions are present, they will go out of their way to be loyal, dependable, and warm—a wonderful and true “go to” person to solve problems, work hard, be empathetic, and make sacrifices for others. With such a heavy premium in recent years on the ethical behavior of organizations (and notable examples where that’s been, ahem, lacking), the Type 6 is a breath of fresh air for the workforce.
For these reasons, the Supporter is well-suited to leadership, which, ideally, means inspiring and supporting others to do their best work. In exchange, they need to be able to trust others, and to be trusted and supported by others. Even when this is true, they remain skeptical—after all, they are giving much of themselves, and the last thing they want or need is to experience betrayal.
When a Type 6 is at the top of the house, you can expect rock-like ethics, and you could see them wearing a t-shirt that says “Play Well With Others.” They engage with and care deeply for their team and others in the organization. Along those lines, it’s challenging for a Type 6 to make decisions on their own, particularly if they lack a trusted advisor. In such situations they can appear slow to act and indecisive. Yet the Supporter is empathetic, good at bonding, and forming sustainable alliances. Clients, co-workers, direct reports, and investors alike will think positively of them when the Supporter is at her or his best.
Remember the Type 6 is always scanning relationships and situations with skepticism. If given any reason (or hint thereof) for doubt (whether or not it’s accurate), things head south. They’ll feel crossed and betrayed which result in the Supporter becoming the Infant. Then, like an angry child, they feel helpless and lash out, both at themselves and others. They will seek authority (e.g., a parent type of figure,) in what can be a clingy way, to help regain their sense of security. Yet absent that calming influence, you’ll notice a definite victim / victimizer pattern in their behavior. The Infant needs to find safety in trust in such situations, and you can be of service to them by providing that, or helping them find it as soon as possible.
At their very best, The Supporter can indeed be a great leader. They, more than most others, can weave a web of connections, relationships, and support that result in high-performing organizations—ones that pull together—and achieve great outcomes. For the people working for and with the Type 6, it’s critical they understand the high priority of loyalty and trust to their leader. Yes, they can be thorny when they feel threatened, but it’s a fair price to pay for their courage and sacrifice when it comes to being of service, and doing something important for the greater good.
LeaderType 7: The Sampler (Under Stress: The Escapist)
An intelligent and enthusiastic leader, the Sampler is focused on seeking new experiences, and keeping their options open. They bear many similarities to LeaderType 3, the Achiever—indeed the Sampler is good at getting the job done, as they tend to balance tasks and relationships well, even during tough times (unless they are blamed or it becomes a slow slog.) Yet unlike the Achiever, they are better sprinters than marathon-runners. A 7 leader makes a strong generalist, and for intense bursts of time, can accomplish great things.
A Type 7’s ideal decade would have to be the roaring 20’s, with the tech-boom bubble 90’s as a close second place.
They are best in the big office when the organization is in strong growth mode, reinventing itself, or being turned-around in a major, concerted effort. They’ll be holding “Town Hall Meetings” and employee appreciation days, and tend to be well-liked and instill loyalty in their people. Err, that is, as long as there’s no target painted on their back.
As leaders, think of them as fair-weather friends, fully engaged when there is a challenging mission to accomplish—one they find stimulating, and different from what they’ve done in the past. They love “new.”
As implied above, when under prolonged stress / anxiety, if they anticipate being blamed, when the job gets repetitive, and/or even one minute after the mission is accomplished, the Sampler can become the Escapist. Think about it: all that energy and exuberance that lit up with the “new” now becomes dark and dull, and the 7 will literally try to avoid the crashing silence, the post-project blues, or whatever may be ailing them, in any way possible. They consider negative feels anathema, and will self-medicate before they seek self-awareness and deal with their darker feelings or face darker facts. You can help the Escapist reemerge as the Sampler by showing them what a freeing new experience it can be to understand themselves better, facing grim feelings and facts alike with courage. Once they see it as an experience they can try, the Sampler comes right back up on top.
And you won’t have to wait forever. The Sampler prefers to be at their best, because negativity tends to drown out what they care about—getting on to the next thing. If you’ve got a job opening for leader of the next moon shot, I strongly suggest you consider Type 7s. At their best they can rally tremendous forces and extraordinary loyalty, applying their good cheer and many talents to getting something truly amazing done. Then, they’ll be movin’ on.
LeaderType 8: The Driver (Under Stress: The Dictator)
More than our other LeaderTypes, this person is driven by the need to make their distinctive mark, and has the ability to do it. The Driver leader is a game-changer, challenging and reframing how people think about the status quo, and effectively engaging them in producing something new, different, and usually better. Self-reliant, confident, strong, assertive, and protective of their goals, they are willing to go out on a limb for what they seek. Type 8’s may end up in the history books, the top museums, and/or become the subject of documentaries and biographies.
That said, they are fiercely pragmatic, hitting hit the ground running, sleeves rolled up whenever the need arises. Regarding those they lead, the Type 8 places a premium on commitment, smarts, and strong loyalty. They are in it to win it, and will not “waste valuable time” trying to understand someone’s apathy / ennui / lack of drive / betrayal —it’s not that the Driver lacks empathy or compassion, but rather because they just can’t tolerate any possibility of being derailed.
As you might imagine, then, the Type 8 is a great choice for being at the top of the food chain if it’s their own ideas, mission, and vision guiding the organization and its strategy, and they have the leeway to do it their way. Not one to lose any sleep contemplating competition from others, the Driver is into setting a high bar for themselves—higher than the last mountain they climbed. They are harder on themselves than anyone else can be, and are competing solely with their own idea of a personal best.
Yet when they disagree with a path or strategy and don’t feel they can change it, the Driver becomes the Dictator. Magnanimity goes out the window, and you are facing someone who’d make Machiavelli proud. Their ends justify their means, and woe to anyone who’s in the way. Their ego grabs its sword, and the Dictator will use force or subjugation to get their way. More than any other type, when threatened with domination, they will dominate, and morality / ethics are likely to take a backseat. When the Driver has become the Dictator, it’s critical the controlling influence find a way to back off and allow the Driver to feel they have regained some semblance of self-direction or control. Until then it’s going to be a rough road for everyone around them.
At his or her best, the Driver is able to instigate lasting change, and in so doing, be honorable and worthy of the trust and respect of those that follow them. Their ideas are not so much about what they need and want to feel “better than” others, but instead what’s best for its own sake. They have a vision they want to create, and that vision is something others will tend to appreciate and want to help build.
LeaderType 9: The Stabilizer (Under Stress: The Dodger)
The Stabilizer is driven by the need to be at peace, and to be the balancing force that creates stability around them. Highly attuned to people, places, and situations, they are vigilant about the ambient level of stress and conflict in order to diffuse it. Trusting, perceptive, intuitive, kind, and honest, at their best, the Stabilizer will, to avoid conflict, intervene in ways that people find reassuring.
Provided they are receptive to the Type 9’s influence, their people generally respect them, and find them particularly helpful in a crisis, as they are able to make decisions and suggestions that restore harmony to a troubled situation.
The Type 9 leader is particularly well suited to a role that demands a steady hand on the rudder, helping guide things in a planned direction, rather than as a change agent. Because change is by definition destabilizing, to guide a changing organization AND keep the peace can overload the Stabilizer.
In the corner office this leader can do a lot of good, acting as a mediating influence among opposing points of view, and blending them into a consensus without leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. Optimistic and trusting when it comes to others, the Stabilizer leader is well-suited to optimizing a leadership team, and helping unleash the talent around them. That’s typically appreciated by their people.
When peace and harmony are not possible given the situation, efforts, and skills of the Stabilizer, they become the Dodger. They are going to duck out, either emotionally, intellectually … or actually. That is, they may jump ship, as it’s intolerable for them to be in a situation they feel there’s no way to resolve to an acceptable level of stability. If they stick around, they will not even try to solve problems, and as such, become ineffective in a leadership role. In these situations, others around the Type 9 need to calm down and offer the hope for peace in the future. Without that, the Dodger will remain this leader’s dominant approach.
Perhaps other types of leaders are better-suited to all weather conditions, as the Stabilizer spends so much time and effort on keeping the peace that other tasks and issues can take a backseat. On the other hand, at their very best, the Type 9 can create a “best place to work” and therefore keep an organization in a very high-performance zone by creating an atmosphere that elicits the best from their people.
LeaderType 10: The Coach (Under Stress: The Parent)
“He was the best boss I ever had,” said one direct report of their Type 10 leader. Why? The Coach is all about empowering their people to do their own best work. The antithesis of the “command and control” type, the Coach at her or his best challenges, questions, inspires their people, and brings their talent into action. They see the potential in others—even when the person doesn’t see it in themselves—offering a clear picture of what that looks like when fully realized, and the support needed to get them there.
An incredible question-asker and listener, the Type 10 is empathetic and pragmatic at the same time. They realize more so than any other type that too much direction robs people of their creativity and ability to make their strongest contributions, while too little feedback and coaching starves them of what’s needed to grow. The Coach is clear about what motivates their people, where they are headed, and what measurements will reflect progress along the way.
In the Captain’s chair, a Coach leader is ideally suited to an organization with good talent in place, that is, for some reason, underperforming. They can turn around a situation, say, when a predecessor might have been overbearing or dictatorial, and implement the important process of returning power (decision-making, problem -solving and resource allocation) to the managers and people doing the actual work. The Coach is the champion delegator.
If, however, there is an enduring lack of capability and/or motivation among the team, or there’s not time and resources to allow for the Coach’s work to come to fruition, they will become the Parent. Directive and dominant, the Type 10 will find themselves giving orders, guidelines, and restrictions in order to get the job done. Telling, rather than asking, will be their approach, and they can actually descend into frustration and paralysis. At such times, it’s important for the Coach’s HR and OD partners a) to notice it, and b) to help them take a hard look at the talent on board, the de-motivating influences, how people are allocated to roles, and make changes accordingly.
With the right team on board, though, the Coach, more so than other leaders, is able to make the most of their human capital, and give their team developmental gifts that will serve them immediately, and from then on. Provided you are capable and desire to learn, you know when you’ve worked for a Type 10, and will find that experience to be a positive reference point for leadership throughout your career.
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Dozens Killed, Injured In Militant Raid On Kabul Government Compound
December 24, 2018 12:36 GMT Updated December 25, 2018 07:09 GMT
Afghan officials say at least 29 people were killed after militants stormed government offices in the eastern part of the capital Kabul, triggering an hours-long gun battle.
Health Ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh said another 25 people were wounded in the December 24 raid on a compound housing the Ministry of Public Works and other offices.
Militants stormed the compound after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the entrance, sending government workers running for their lives.
Interior Ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said about 350 workers were rescued after an eight-hour-long battle with the militants. He said three gunmen were killed by security forces.
he building was cleared by the security forces at about 1 a.m. on December 25, authorities say, adding that police and emergency workers were still searching for bodies there.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, although similar incidents in the past have been blamed on the Taliban or Islamic State (IS) militants.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told the AFP news agency that the attack had "nothing to do with the militants."
Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for the Kabul police, said members of the security forces were among the dead.
President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack and praised security forces for “eliminating the terrorists.”
Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah blamed the Taliban, saying “their conduct is a disgrace to the very notion of peace,” referring to recent attempts to negotiate with the militant group.
The December 24 attack was the deadliest in Kabul since a suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of a religious gathering last month, killing at least 55 people.
The incident was the 22nd attack in Kabul since January. In all, more than 500 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured in attacks in the capital this year.
The incident comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to prepare for the withdrawal of 7,000 American troops deployed in Afghanistan, about half of the U.S. contingent in the country.
Many observers warned that the partial withdrawal could further degrade security and jeopardize possible peace talks with the Taliban aimed at ending its 17-year insurgency.
U.S. forces make up the bulk of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission that is training and advising Afghan security forces in their fight against the Taliban and IS militants.
The U.S. military also has some 7,000 troops deployed in a separate U.S. counter-terrorism mission.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa
RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan
RFE/RL's Radio Azadi is the leading media outlet in Afghanistan today, reaching more than 60 percent of the Afghan population across the country with its radio and Internet programs.
webteam@rferl.org
Merkel Urges Moldova To Speed Up Reform Pace
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Sunday 17 February 2019
Purple Ink: For Many Women, A Sign Of Responsible Citizenship
By Farishte Jalalzai
Afghanistan -- An Afghan woman shows her inked finger after voting at a polling station in the northwestern city of Herat, April 5, 2014
Millions of Afghans, including an unprecedented number of women, turned out to vote in the presidential and local council elections April 5 despite torrential rain across most of the country and weeks of heightened Taliban violence.
The first thing I did early that Saturday morning was call home and try in vain to convince my mother not to go out.
The attack on Kabul’s only five-star hotel, which was followed by a series of explosions and assassinations of candidates, election workers, and civilians was proof of the Taliban’s commitment to compromise the legitimacy of the process while terrorizing the electorate.
What the Taliban ultimately wanted to achieve was low voter turnout--one last blow to democracy building efforts before international forces pull out of the country at the end of this year.
Staying home and not voting would mean a step back into darkness for the country, but was voting worth risking one’s life? Thinking about my own family venturing out to vote, I couldn’t rid my mind of the bloody images from recent Taliban attacks.
But contrary to my expectation, I found my mother quite confident in her decision to vote. In fact, all of the women in our neighborhood had decided to go together.
She explained that they decided to vote "because it is about securing our survival as human beings. Staying at home today would be an act of cowardice. It would assure our return to Taliban rule, much like a gradual death."
For many Afghans, the act of voting itself was a way to send a message to the Taliban. That message being a resounding “no.”
Women cradling babies, the elderly, and the handicapped stood for hours outside polling stations in the pouring rain waiting for their turn to send that message.
"It’s pretty cool to be given a chance to say what you like and what you don't,” said Rabia, a 22- year-old university students. “I feel quite fortunate today because over a decade ago, women of my age were beaten in the streets for simply venturing out, in this very city." Rabia then raised her inked finger and said proudly, “I voted. I did my bit.”
Rabia’s comments about life under the Taliban brought back a flood of memories for me.
In the capital Kabul, women were beaten for wearing sandals in the summer. To make a phone call, one had to travel to neighboring Pakistan. Cinemas were abandoned, music and television were censored nearly to oblivion, and soccer was considered the game of Satan. Religious minorities were forced to bear yellow marks on their foreheads. Poverty was ubiquitous. The sight of children eating out of garbage cans was quite usual. Women who stepped out of line were shot to death in public and men were decapitated. Bloody, lifeless bodies hanging from trees in Kabul’s Central Park were a casual warning to shoplifters, muggers, and others who violated Taliban law.
"Our participation in the elections is a slap in the face to oppressors and terrorists," wrote Rabia on Facebook, again showing off her inked finger in a photograph she shared. "Isn't it enough for the world to know that we, the women of Afghanistan, are democrats?"
Kabul--Rabia, a young Afghan woman who voted in the April 5 presidential election, shows off her inked finger.
People around the world knew Afghanistan as a country that fought off the Soviet invasion.
Later, it became a country associated with tales from a traumatic civil war.
By slipping into the hands of the Taliban, Afghanistan adopted the persona of a victim; of radical Islamic militancy, of terrorism, lawlessness, and violence. As the Taliban regime fell, the country opened its doors, and its people did not want to miss their chance to embrace the world.
Afghanistan's Independent Elections Commission reported that around seven million out of 12 million eligible voters cast ballots April 5 despite Taliban threats to disrupt the poll. In a country that has long suffered from ethnic and tribal divisions with virtually no exposure to pluralism, millions nevertheless showed faith in a democratic transfer of power.
They’ll have another chance to show their resolve in one year’s time, when Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held.
"The massive turnout carries a strong message for the Taliban,” said Afghan Member of Parliament Zakia Zaki. “Afghans are not going back to the Dark Ages. Now, it is for the Taliban to negotiate peace and become a part of the country's political life or lose everything all together."
Nearly 40 percent of voters in this most recent election were women, according to the Commission. Of the eight candidates vying for the office of president, none were women, though one candidate chose a woman as his running mate. Social media was overrun with women in blue burqas raising blue fingers April 5.
"It has become a fashion among women in our neighborhood,” my mother said. “It seems like to many, the blue ink has suddenly become a symbol of responsibility and consciousness."
Taliban Vows To Target Presidential Election
An Afghan woman shows her voter registration card.
Afghan officials have dismissed a Taliban threat to disrupt the April 5 presidential election as a "mere propaganda effort."
An Interior Ministry spokesman, Najib Danesh, said on March 10 that the Taliban wants to "disseminate panic" among people.
Danesh said the ministry has worked out a concrete plan to ensure security during the election.
Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission said "all election workers are ordinary civilians" and that "civilians should not be targeted."
The Taliban said in a statement e-mailed to news agencies on March 10 that "we have given orders to all our mujahedin to use all force at their disposal to disrupt these upcoming sham elections."
Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Taliban is telling clerics across the country to spread the word that the election is "an American conspiracy."
The statement said Taliban fighters would "target all workers, activists, callers, security apparatus, and offices" and that Afghans should reject the vote and not put themselves in harm's way by voting.
Previous Afghan elections have been marred by violence, with at least 31 civilians and 26 soldiers and police killed on polling day in 2009.
The April 5 election is to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who has led the country since the UN-backed Bonn deal in late 2001.
Based on reporting by AP and AFP
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THE ATLANTIC SINGLES COLLECTION 1967-1970
When Aretha Franklin joined Atlantic Records in 1967, it was the beginning of an unprecedented run that would ultimately cement her place as one of the most influential singers of all time. Within the space of just three years, her name was almost never out of U.S Pop and R&B Top 20, garnering nine gold singles, three gold albums and three Grammy Awards. THE ATLANTIC SINGLES COLLECTION 1967-1970 spotlights this historic period in her career with 34 singles in chronological order. The new 2-disc set is stacked with many of Franklin's best-known songs, including such #1 R&B hits as "Respect" (also a Pop #1), "Baby I Love You," "Chain Of Fools" and "Think." Several of the songs on THE ATLANTIC SINGLES COLLECTION are covers that underscore Franklin's exceptional skill as an interpreter; among the highlights are titanic versions of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me," The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" and Dionne Warwick's "I Say A Little Prayer."
itunes spotify amazon music unlimited
Come On Christmas
PLAYBACK: THE BRIAN WILSON ANTHOLOGY
Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul
Alive 2007
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Rick Wester
DATA MINE
CASSANDRA ZAMPINI
Opening reception: September 13, 6 - 8 p.m.
A knowledge of photography is just as important as that of the alphabet. The illiterates of the future will be ignorant of the use of camera and pen alike.
-Laszlo Moholy-Nagy in 1936, as quoted in Moholy-Nagy: Future Present
The sheer scale of this data has far exceeded human sense-making capabilities. At these scales, patterns are often too subtle and relationships too complex or multi-dimensional to observe by simply looking at the data. Data mining is a means of automating part of this process to detect interpretable patterns; it helps us see the forest without getting lost in the trees.
-Alexander Furnas, “Everything You Wanted to Know about Data Mining but Were Afraid to Ask”, The Atlantic. April 3, 2012
Rick Wester Fine Art is pleased to present the debut exhibition of Data Mine, an ongoing project by the photographer Cassandra Zampini that speaks to the complex contemporary tapestry that weaves and warps the personal obsessions of self-expression, self-identity and self-discovery through the use of the “selfie” in social media. In her first New York exhibition, Ms. Zampini is exhibiting seven large scale composite portraits comprised of thousands of images downloaded from Instagram, chosen from over the 2.5 million images she has so far collected. Carefully chosen and organized, the images are arranged by pose, processed to be monochromatic and then deliberately arranged in patterns that create a tonal range from near complete opaqueness to negative form, then transforming to positive images and back again. The titles are hashtags Ms. Zampini applies to describe the poses, followed by the amount of time it took to upload the images at a rate of approximately 750 new selfies per second. The vertical works are created in one size only ranging from 50 x 30 inches to nearly 90 x 50 inches. They are released in editions of only three examples each.
Instagram has done more for people to communicate through photography than any other media since the invention of the picture press and the massive popularity of photographically illustrated magazines from the early 20thcentury through the Post-War era, the prime difference being that it is interactive, responsive and free of charge. The simple vastness of the amount of imagery Zampini has mined is staggering but the information gleaned from the pictures is far more significant and wide ranging. Zampini’s conclusions include the revelation that despite the complete freedom allowed the sitter/photographer, people tend to mimic existing poses in environments already familiar to them, no matter their geographic location or background. In an era dominated by the omnipresence of Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, there is an urgent need for artists to explore the ramifications of such a phenomenon on our understanding of our culture and the world. Poignantly, Zampini’s categorizations of poses allows for a democratic distribution of race, gender, sexual identity and any other identifier for presenting oneself to the world, suggesting a thesis stressing a uniformity in humanity rather than one accentuating our differences. With the interconnectedness of the internet, and its ability to cross-reference and unite the world’s population, Zampini has managed to create The Family of Man for Millennials, drawing upon a global source of imagery that Edward Steichen would have never been able to fathom.
Moholy’s quote, dated 1936, came at a time when Fascism in Europe had been established and was further on the rise with limits on freedom of the press – and expression – accompanied by misinformation, inflammatory xenophobic statements and eventually, the wholesale dismissal of the rights of individuals. In this era, social media offers the public a medium for direct and peer to peer communication. The Selfie, with its universal appeal as a claim of individuality, democratizes the internet further and as Moholy would certainly revel in, gets to the essence of photography as language. Anyone, anywhere, understands this idiom now. There is nothing elitist left in self display.
Tagged: Cassandra Zampini
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Technology/Data Economy
Machine-learning teaches computers to tackle big data
Teaching a computer to learn from big data is the foundation of artificial intelligence which is poised to revolutionise business and the workplace
rcnt.eu/njg
There isn’t a day that goes by that you don’t come into contact with artificial intelligence or AI. You watch, listen or buy this on Amazon, Netflix or Spotify, so why not try that? Apple’s Siri recognises our speech, while financial institutions use robo-advisers.
“We use AI so much that we have stopped thinking of it as AI,” says Nello Cristianini, professor of artificial intelligence at the University of Bristol. “We need to step back and realise that a lot of today’s data revolution is also about artificial intelligence,” and appreciate that it’s already embedded in the world around us.
The bedrock of AI is machine-learning, a process that teaches computers to tackle vast amounts of data, pull out patterns, apply complex algorithms and make decisions about real-life problems, such as healthcare issues or money markets. And lately there’s been renewed interest in AI after it suffered a downturn some decades ago.
“The pace at which AI is developing is accelerating,” says Nitin Bhas, head of research at Juniper Research. “The building blocks for rapid learning are now in widespread use.” The technology is also more mature and providers are starting to deliver above and beyond the hype.
Funding bubble
If data from the United States is anything to go by, AI is exhibiting a funding bubble, according to CB Insights. In 2015, 397 ventures were financed to the tune of $2.3 billion, up from 196 companies and $757 million in 2013. As of June this year, 200 deals were done amounting to $1.5 billion and 2016 looks set to be a bumper year.
Machine-learning is a process that teaches computers to tackle vast amounts of data, pull out patterns, apply complex algorithms and make decisions about real-life problems
The UK has also seen activity, albeit snapping up AI startups, with the purchase of DeepMind by Google for $500 million and Swiftkey, a smart keyboard firm bought by Microsoft for $250 million. Money, expertise and economic clout now pepper this sector.
“AI has the potential to affect us in a similar way to the arrival of the printing press. We will see jobs change just as we did during the Industrial Revolution,” says Rob McInerney, co-founder of IntelligentX Brewing Company.
This London company is using AI to brew beer. It learns from experience in much the same way a human brewer learns to concoct a pint by listening to experienced experts and learning from its mistakes.
“We call it ABI – automated brewing intelligence – and it has the ability to churn out recipes. This is then given feedback from both expert human brewers and our customers. This feedback allows ABI to evolve the beer and discover new recipes,” says Dr McInerney.
Brewing company IntelligentX are using artificial intelligence to create the world’s first “self-improving” beer
This same style of machine-learning can predict the likelihood of us contracting disease by processing X-rays, MRI scans and other data more accurately than the human eye. AI can also help accelerate diagnoses and recommend therapies. It is now eyeing up drug discoveries and other bioscience applications.
“A life science paper is published every 30 seconds; PubMed publishes 10,000 new updates a day. Humans alone cannot process all this information to advance scientific research,” says Jackie Hunter, chief executive of benevolent Bio.
“We have developed a system that uses cutting-edge deep-learning techniques to analyse large quantities of very complex scientific information, and we’ve created an enormous structured, curated and qualified data lake of usable knowledge which can be applied by scientists for use in the real world.”
Challenge of implementing
Finance has also been an early adopter. AI is now driving new types of uncorrelated returns for investors, reducing exposure for insurers, and helping banks make better and safer loans. “It is a thousand times cheaper than it was and it is now a thousand times more powerful. Growth has been exponential,” says Huy Nguyen Trieu, chief executive of The Disruptive Group. “The main challenge is not on the tech side, it is about implementing it.”
There is still a lack of clean, scalable and labelled data to work on. Also corporations aren’t allocating resources fast enough. It’s the reason why it’s not been used extensively in say retail banking. “Machine-learning specialists and data scientists are a scant human resource these days,” says Jonathan Epstein, chief marketing officer of Sentient Technologies.
However, barriers to AI use have dropped significantly. It is now easy to get large amounts of computation firepower via the cloud and data requirements are declining, as algorithms become more efficient and are easier to train. This will make it more accessible for other uses.
“All companies will be AI companies in the future,” says Chris Williams, IBM Watson chief architect for Europe. “Each industry will have its version of the killer app based on its own unique requirements and the problems that need solving.”
The main issue is to do with manpower. Recruiting and training top-notch staff to work on AI will be crucial. “As with all rapid technological innovation sectors, the biggest challenge is finding the right people to support us,” explains Ms Hunter.
As new careers in this industry flourish, expect repetitive and predictable jobs in other sectors to be axed by AI, including those in the knowledge economy. “People with more common jobs will be more at risk. It’s more likely to be economical for a company to invest the resources required to automate that task,” says Miles Brundage, AI policy research fellow at the University of Oxford. “Those with more unique jobs are likely to be safer.”
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Heightened security measures in Prague to last through New Year’s celebrations
Dominik Jůn
The Czech national police force have confirmed that security measures implemented after the recent terrorist attack in Berlin will remain in place through the New Year. The anti-terrorism measures are to supplement standard precautions to deal with countless revellers partying in Prague and across the country.
Download: MP3
Photo: Czech national police An increased police presence will be evident in towns and cities across the Czech Republic on New Year’s Eve. More than 500 additional officers were stationed in public places in response to an attack in Berlin December 19 in which a truck was driven into a Christmas market. The measures, formally in place until January 2, include police officers patrolling the streets carrying semi-automatic weapons, as well as concrete barricades installed in key public places in Prague and Brno to thwart similar attacks.
Photo: Czech Radio - Radio Prague The moves supplement standard increased policing, mainly in Prague, during the New Year’s Eve celebrations. Amidst a backdrop of fireworks displays, crowds of revellers, and heavy drinking, police, medical services, pyrotechnics specialists and 180 fire-fighters will be on standby. Police will also patrol the Vltava river on dinghies, while all cars are to be banned from parking in Wenceslas Square from noon Saturday. Additional traffic restrictions are also being introduced.
Jan Čihák is a spokesperson for the Prague Metropolitan Police Service, which is contributing to the overall policing effort coordinated by the Czech police at national level. He described some of the measures implemented for New Year’s Eve:
“Naturally we are increasing our police presence, particularly in the centre of the capital. There we will have more officers in place to help maintain public order. We will also have more officers at Metro stations, particularly at stations where people switch lines where our colleagues from the patrol unit are responsible for public transport safety.”
Photo: ČT24 A special police taxi team will also be deployed to deal with potential fraudulent taxi services offered to the public. As to whether special measures were in place this year, Čihák declined to go into operational details for security reasons:
“All I can say on behalf of the Metropolitan Police is that this year’s operations follow a similar conception plan to those of previous years.”
Other locations are also beefing up their public order efforts. For example, Plzeň region is adding an additional 40 officers to the New Year’s Eve beat. Despite such precautions, Czech police say they have no intelligence regarding a specific threat to the country over the festive period.
Bohuslav Sobotka, photo: Martin Svozílek, Czech Radio The Czech Republic is currently on a “level one terrorism threat” – the lowest level alert – declared by Prime Minister Sobotka back in March, following terrorist attacks in Brussels. The state of alert is expected to be in place until next spring, and is forecast to cost an additional 30 million crowns, according to the interior ministry.
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The outgoing Czech government has moved to increase the powers of the country’s intelligence services allowing them to develop a new…
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Berks County man going to prison for bank robberies
By Peter E. Bortner / Published: July 12, 2019
A Berks County man is headed to federal prison for more than four decades after a judge sentenced him in Harrisburg for robbing four banks, including two in Schuylkill County, in 2015 and 2016, U.S. Attorney David J. Freed announced Thursday.
Derek Pelker, 29, of Reading, formerly of Wernersville, must serve 533 months in prison and pay $318,000 restitution, Senior U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane decided Wednesday.
Kane had presided over Pelker’s five-day jury trial, which ended on May 21, 2018, with him being convicted of four counts each of armed bank robbery and conspiracy and two counts each of brandishing a firearm and possession of a firearm by a felon. The jurors deliberated two days before reaching their verdict.
Federal authorities charged Pelker with robbing BB&T Bank, Valley View, about 10:30 a.m. Nov. 16, 2015, and Gratz Bank, Valley View, about 10:50 a.m. Jan. 14, 2016. In addition, they charged him with robbing Susquehanna Bank, East Prospect, on April 24, 2015, and M&T Bank, Lebanon, on April 5, 2016.
Police said Pelker used a handgun in each robbery in Valley View.
Two other men already are serving time in federal prison for participating in one of the Valley View robberies.
On June 13, 2018, Ryan Martin was sentenced to serve 100 months in prison for participating in both the BB&T Bank and Gratz Bank robberies.
On Dec. 17, 2018, Keith Pelker, Derek Pelker’s brother, was sentenced to spend 11 years in prison for participating in the Gratz Bank robbery, along with the one in Lebanon.
Six other people also went to prison for participating in either the East Prospect or Lebanon robbery.
The FBI Capital City Violent Crimes Task Force, Pennsylvania State Police, South Lebanon Township police and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott R. Ford.
In addition, police from Hegins Township, Branch-Reilly Township, Tremont and Pine Grove, along with members of the Schuylkill County sheriff’s office, assisted in the investigation at the scenes of one or both of the Valley View robberies.
Prosecutors brought the case as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve in an effort to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer.
Contact the writer: pbortner@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6014.
Defendant: Derek Pelker
Residence: Reading, formerly of Wernersville
Crimes committed: Four counts each of armed bank robbery and conspiracy and two counts each of brandishing a firearm and possession of a firearm by a felon
Prison sentence: 533 months
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January 23, 2008 / 7:34 AM / in 11 years
Ancient Maya sacrificed boys not virgin girls: study
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The victims of human sacrifice by Mexico’s ancient Mayans, who threw children into water-filled caverns, were likely boys and young men not virgin girls as previously believed, archeologists said on Tuesday.
The Kukulkan pyramid stands at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula July 7, 2007. The victims of human sacrifice by Mexico's ancient Mayans, who threw children into water-filled caverns, were likely boys and young men not virgin girls as previously believed, archeologists said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Victor Ruiz
The Maya built soaring temples and elaborate palaces in the jungles of Central America and southern Mexico before the Spanish conquest in the early 1500s.
Maya priests in the city of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan peninsula sacrificed children to petition the gods for rain and fertile fields by throwing them into sacred sinkhole caves, known as “cenotes.”
The caves served as a source of water for the Mayans and were also thought to be an entrance to the underworld.
Archeologist Guillermo de Anda from the University of Yucatan pieced together the bones of 127 bodies discovered at the bottom of one of Chichen Itza’s sacred caves and found over 80 percent were likely boys between the ages of 3 and 11.
The other 20 percent were mostly adult men said de Anda, who scuba dives to uncover Mayan jewels and bones.
He said children were often thrown alive to their watery graves to please the Mayan rain god Chaac. Some of the children were ritually skinned or dismembered before being offered to the gods, he said.
“It was thought that the gods preferred small things and especially the rain god had four helpers that were represented as tiny people,” said de Anda.
“So the children were offered as a way to directly communicate with Chaac,” he said.
Archeologists previously believed young female virgins were sacrificed because the remains, which span from around 850 AD until the Spanish colonization, were often found adorned with jade jewelry.
It is difficult to determine the sex of skeletons before they are fully matured, said de Anda, but he believes cultural evidence from Mayan mythology would suggest the young victims were actually male.
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June 26, 2019 / 3:26 PM / in 20 days
EU steel industry says it faces existential crisis, urges tougher safeguards
Barbara Lewis, Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Senior steel industry executives on Wednesday urged the European Commission to strengthen measures to protect against a surge in imports triggered by U.S. tariffs, saying the future of the European industry was under threat, particularly in Britain.
FILE PHOTO: A steel worker of Germany's industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp AG works near a blast furnace at Germany's largest steel factory in Duisburg, Germany, January 28, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo
Chief executives, including from Outokumpu, Salzgitter, and a division chief at ArcelorMittal said the EU safeguard measures have not been effective and a 5% increase in quotas from the start of July will add to pain the European industry faces.
Steel-making in Britain has particular issues as it grapples with higher energy costs than in other countries, they said, as well as the uncertainty surrounding its decision to leave the European Union.
The EU steel industry in 2018 was challenged by a 12 percent increase in imports of finished steel products in a market that grew by only 3.3 percent, industry body Eurofer said.
The increase in imports happened despite safeguard measures designed to limit incoming steel following Washington’s 25 percent import tariffs, which have effectively closed the U.S. market.
EU quotas are set at the average level of imports in 2015-2017 plus 5%, with further 5% hikes envisaged on July 1 and a year later.
The executives want the Commission, the EU executive, to scrap or postpone the 5% increase and to introduce other changes, notably to the way developing countries are treated.
“Do you want a Europe without steelmaking or do you want a Europe that is the world leader in modern steelmaking?” Geert van Poelvoorde, CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe Flat, told reporters. “Will it be with us or without us? This is what is at stake.”
Developing countries are exempt from the safeguards as long as their imports of a given product were not more than 3% of imports.
But Outokumpu chief Roeland Baan said that Indonesia had in a year transformed into a “stainless steel superpower” and seized a 28.5% share of the EU market.
The Commission is reviewing the scheme, with results expected in October.
“I do believe that in October, the Commission will take into account our points and they will put that into the revision of the safeguards,” Baan said.
The Commission had no immediate comment.
Outokumpu has operations around the world, including in Britain, which Baan said was particularly challenging because of energy costs.
“The chance of Britain not having a steel industry is real,” he said, adding that would lead not just to the loss of thousands of jobs, but to the loss of expertise.
The industry had asked the British government for a “steel deal” under which industry would invest in return for help with energy costs, he said.
The British government had no immediate comment.
Reporting by Barbara Lewis; editing by David Evans
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Read Next Imperiled Woodstock 50 Organizers Brace for Impact: ‘We’ve Tried Everything We Can’ Send Us a Tip Subscribe
April 15, 2018 3:59PM ET
Watch Beyonce Reunite With Destiny’s Child at Coachella
Trio reemerge for medley of “Lose My Breath,” “Say My Name” and “Soldier” during singer’s headlining set
Beyoncé‘s epic headlining set at Coachella Saturday featured guests like Jay-Z, Solange Knowles and, as rumored, a Destiny’s Child, with the trio reforming onstage to perform a three-song medley.
Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams rejoined Beyoncé for the first time in three years and delivered “Lose My Breath,” “Say My Name” and “Soldier” during the final segment of Beyoncé’s set.
Destiny’s Child last performed together in 2015 when Knowles, Rowland and Williams staged a surprise reunion to sing the latter’s “Say Yes” at the Stellar Awards.
The Coachella medley was the trio’s most high-profile reunion since Destiny’s Child performed together during Beyoncé’s Super Bowl headlining gig in February 2013.
“Coachella, thank you for allowing me to be the first black woman to headline,” Beyoncé said earlier in her 24-song set.
In This Article: Beyonce, Destiny's Child
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Golden State trades with New Orleans to acquire…
SportsNBAGolden State Warriors
Golden State trades with New Orleans to acquire draft rights to Serbian teen Alen Smailagić
6-foot-10 forward shined in rookie season in G League
Serbian teenager Alen Smailagic, who played his rookie season in Santa Cruz, became an NBA player for Golden State after it traded with New Orleans to acquire the rights to him. (Dan Coyro – Santa Cruz Sentinel file)
By Jim Seimas | jseimas@santacruzsentinel.com | Santa Cruz Sentinel
PUBLISHED: June 20, 2019 at 10:20 pm | UPDATED: June 20, 2019 at 10:31 pm
The Golden State Warriors announced a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night to acquire the draft rights to teenage forward Alen Smailagić, the 39th selection in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Smailagic, a 6-foot-10, 215-pounder out of Serbia, played for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League affiliate, last season. He made his NBA G League debut for the Warriors at 18 years and 77 days old, becoming the youngest player in league history.
Golden State gave New Orleans two second-round picks (2021 and ’23) and cash considerations for the rights to Smailagić. He’s expected to sign a multi-year deal with Golden State within the week.
Golden State drafted Michigan shooting guard Jordan Poole in the first round (28th overall) and Yale sooting guard Miye Oni in the second round (58th overall), though reports have the Warriors selling the latter pick to Utah. Golden State also traded with Atlanta to acquire the 41st pick, Villanova power forward Eric Paschall.
Smailagić is the third international player drafted into the NBA from the NBA G League, joining Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Greece) and Chukwudiebere Maduabum (Nigeria), and the seventh overall to play in the NBA’s official minor league before being drafted by an NBA team.
Smailagic was selected by the South Bay Lakers with the fourth overall selection in the 2018 NBA G League Draft before his rights were traded to Santa Cruz. He appeared in 47 regular season games (four starts) for the Warriors last season and averaged 9.1 points on 49.5 percent shooting from the field to go with 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists.
Smailagic joins Mike Taylor (55th overall, 2008), Latavious Williams (48th overall, 2010), Maduabum (54th overall, 2011), Glen Rice, Jr. (35th overall, 2013), P.J. Hairston (26thoverall, 2014) and Antetokounmpo (51st overall, 2014) as players with NBA G League experience to be selected in an NBA Draft.
Alen Smailagić
Jim Seimas
More in Top Headlines
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Blind to the black swan theory?
How a centralized approach to financial crime prevention can protect against the unexpected
Financial institutions worldwide are confronted by an explosion in the volume of financial crime affecting their businesses, encompassing everything from cyberthreats to market abuse, e-comms surveillance, money laundering, procurement fraud and unauthorized trading. Many have suffered significant financial losses as a result. It’s an ongoing threat, with Kaspersky Lab recently revealing details of fraud by a multinational gang of cybercriminals involving the theft of between $300 million and $1 billion from financial institutions worldwide.
Download the paper: Combating Financial Crime
Along with this upsurge in criminality, regulatory activity to maintain the integrity of the financial services sector has escalated. This is reflected in the amount of regulatory change (tracked by business intelligence organization Thomson Reuters), which has more than doubled over the past two years. This regulatory attention, and threat of financial loss, is forcing the group of large Tier 1 global banks to sit up and listen, while their smaller Tier 2 counterparts have been slower to react.
To achieve this, they need to link relevant data and apply a risk detection model that uses analytics to proactively identify activities that pose the greatest risk.
Tier 2 banks: Moving from tactical to strategic in the fight against financial crime
Many senior decision makers from the Tier 2 banks believe they are small enough to manage risk using simple control-based spreadsheets. Typically, they don’t see risk management as their number one priority, and are effectively operating in a work-around mode, sharing information among surveillance, fraud and financial crime teams without feeling any pressure to harmonize their approach.
This complacency could be due to the fact that, to date, relatively few of these smaller banks have incurred financial penalties. With little deterrent, they remain focused on short-term, tactical fixes to the strategic problem of risk management and financial crime prevention. However, while these may work in the short term, they’re unlikely to be effective against the unforeseen “black swan” event that can severely damage an organization. Often, it’s inappropriately rationalized as inevitable after the fact.
Unlike the Tier 2s, the larger Tier 1 banks recognize the threats they face, and are taking steps to counter them. Today, the more forward-thinking ones are combining units into coordinated organizational divisions. Many also have rules-based detection systems that enable them to adhere to regulatory compliance requirements. Typically, these are effective in identifying policy infringements, but struggle to identify the more sophisticated activities and are prone to generating high volumes of false positives.
Analytics can proactively identify activities that pose the greatest risk
Even the largest banks, however, have more work to do. Ultimately, the goal for both groups should be to implement a more rounded intelligence-based capability, giving decision makers an overarching view of employees and clients. However, to achieve this, they need to link relevant data and apply a risk detection model that uses analytics to proactively identify activities that pose the greatest risk.
The end goal is a single view of risk across all operational areas. To achieve this, you first need to link together the different structured and unstructured data sources that currently sit in silos within organizations and then harness, ingest and utilize external sources.
You should first use this approach to address high-priority areas of activity – such as money laundering, market abuse or cybercrime. You can then extend it to provide an all-encompassing view of the trader, counterpart or high-risk business activity being investigated, as well as ultimately providing an end-to-end view of risk across the organization.
With the data ingestion and linking process fully underway, your bank may opt to start implementing more sophisticated analytics to establish what constitutes normal behavior and highlight where behavior has deviated from that norm. This may mean investigating employees who have taken a high-volume position on trades against a deteriorating portfolio, or it could entail examining an unusually high spike in cancellations in light of a high volume of email communications between the front and back office. Whatever the scenario, it’s important to look across the breadth of the data available and combine business knowledge and understanding to most effectively find both known and unknown risks.
The next stage is empowering the business user with visualizing the available data and associated links to ensure that investigators see emerging patterns. Thanks to the latest in-memory processing, millions of lines of data can be analyzed in seconds. The results can be presented in a highly visual way so that a chief risk officer can instantly understand which products are exposing the bank to the most risk, or investigators can decide which patterns to look at in greater detail.
Data quality is key through all of this, but to avoid delays, the best practice is to run data remediation efforts in parallel with investigative processes.
Benefits aren’t restricted to Tier 1 banks
The larger banks have been first to adopt this approach, but Tier 2 banks can also benefit from it. Just as with their Tier 1 counterparts, connecting the dots remains key, but the Tier 2s may want to do this over fewer data points. Equally in the first project phase, instead of running analytics, they might opt to simply move from the data linkage to reporting, so they can begin to understand where the links are.
For both groups though, with the range of financial crime proliferating and regulatory pressure growing, adopting or retaining a siloed approach to tackling crime is no longer an option. The risk of financial and reputational loss is too severe to ignore. Today, Tier 1 banks largely understand this message, and the most forward-thinking have started on a path that will ultimately enable them to proactively tackle the threat of financial crime. For the moment, the Tier 2s are focused on expansion, rather than control, and largely continue to postpone proactive action.
Both groups must act now to achieve a holistic view of their organization, drive visibility of operational and compliance risks, and apply analytics to shape future investigations. In today’s tightly controlled process-driven banking environment, adopting a fully integrated end-to-end approach to risk management and protection against crime has become an imperative.
Laura Hutton is a Director in the banking solutions team at SAS, working across the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific region and responsible for the design, build and go-to-market of SAS’ fraud and financial crimes solutions within the advanced analytics business unit. Working with companies globally, she consults across the full client engagement process from both a technical and business perspective, ensuring that SAS® solutions continuously drive value for customers. Hutton has a First Class degree in mathematics from the University of Durham.
Combating Financial Crime: The Increasing Importance of Financial Crimes Intelligence Units in Banking.
Learn about SAS® Security Intelligence.
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In the last blog post we talked about the video formats which are nowadays commonly used. Today we want to provide you with information regarding the older generation of video formats, describe the history and point out problems of analog video formats.
The development of the first camera started in the late 1880’s. It was patented by the brothers Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean who are considered to have produced the first moving picture in the history of human mankind. Besides the two brothers there were a couple of other individuals concerned with development of motion pictures. One of the most important one was Thomas Edison. He invented the Kinetoscope which allowed a single user to see a series of individual pictures in quick succession.
Even though Edison’s endeavors lead to the first commercially successful film project: the Vitascope, which was in general a projector based device which allows a larger audience to watch a series of pictures, they could not keep up with the rapid developments of the Lumière brothers. They called their invention: Cinematograph. Their first demonstration to an audience can be seen here. It is important to mention that they used a 35mm celluloid film which was coated in an emulsion to prevent wear and tear. After experimenting, Hannibal Goodwin discovered the nitrocellulose film base which resembles the transparent film we know today. George Eastman made an additional effort to coat this film and made it ready to be mass produced.
After a very competitive start, the development of photography continued with dramatic speed. Around 1912, the movie industry started to grow and one after another achieved their first commercial success by enabling a wide audience to watch moving pictures. Movie theaters became popular and the audience was starving for new and exciting video material.
Even though the first colored movie was made in 1908, the results were far away from perfect. It took a while, about 9 years to considerably improve the quality of the film. The process termed “Technicolor” was a technique which involved capturing the colors red, blue and green on three separate negatives. It was known to show movies with highly saturated colors which included for example the highly anticipated “Wizard of Oz“.
The electrical era
This particular period in time is marked by the fact that it was now possible to add audio to a movie. This was made possible by the “sound-on-film” technology which was developed by Western Electric. Audio Signals were picked up by microphones and were transformed into a narrow band of light via photoelectric elements. A slim segment at the side of the film was used for the “soundtrack”.
Not only was video making a profitable business for companies it was also a convenient way for home enthusiasts to preserve their beloved moments for a very long time. Initially it was too cost intensive for a normal household to buy all the necessary equipment including the film. Therefore, in the early 1920s a new type of film was designed: the 16mm film. It was cheaper to produce and easier to transport which made it popular not only among hobby photographers but also for professional filmmakers.
During the Great depression the industry was forced to come up with a plan to reduce costs for users and producers of the film even more. Yet another format was introduced: the 8mm film. Basically, the 8mm film is smaller which enables it to record more frames per foot in exchange for less details in the recorded material. In addition, the 8mm was cheaper to produce and process than the 16mm, which opened the door for everyone who was passionate about making movies.
In 1965 another huge milestone in the film industry was reached: the development of the Super 8mm film. Conveniently, enough several companies released the Super 8 camera which motivated a new wave of amateur filmmakers to toy around with their new found Gadget.
Home entertainment war
After the rise of movie theaters it was about time that people could enjoy recorded entertainment at home. Companies realized that as well and around 1976 the so called “Home entertainment war” began. The two biggest players in this confrontation were Sony and JVC. Both competitors developed similar tapes with minor differences in terms of visual appearances. It can be seen that the Betamax (Sony) tape was smaller and neater in comparison to the VHS (JVC) which was bulkier. However, this was also the downfall of the Sony and the reason why JVC conquered the market in quick succession. Due to the decision of Sony to produce a smaller tape, it could hold significantly less film. To put it simple: The VHS tape could record up to two hours which is twice the length of a normal Betamax. Even though Sony tried to improve their original tape to keep up with JVC, the VHS tape was always one step ahead, which ultimately led to Sony’s decision to abandon their endeavors in this market segment.
In 1984 the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) developed the first digital video. In addition they released the first widely accepted video codec to compress and decompress video material four years later: the H.261. This herald a new era: the Digital Age. Every video format we know today under abbreviations like MP4 or AVCHD is based on the invention of the ITU. Moreover, this advancement in the video industry made all the other analog formats obsolete. From now on it was possible to store a large amount of data on handy mediums like a CD. Furthermore, unlike video tapes the content was protected from the symptoms of ageing, which brings us to the next point: the flaws of analog video formats.
The dying light
Even though the VHS tape brought us a lot of joy it is bound to the natural order. After approximately 10 years the video will start to stutter, flicker and the original sound vanishes and will be replaced by a static noise. Based on the storage conditions of the tape, this process can be accelerated drastically. The reason this happens is the fact that every time the video is played it gets hot and will be damaged by a bit due to the heat. Therefore it is essential to keep the memories alive by digitization which will allow the user to watch their originals in full glory without any compromises. If you need further information or assistance about digitization please click here.
We hope this information is useful to you and that the tour through the history of video makes you realize how far we have come in terms of convenience and technology. Stay tuned for our next blog post which will get into more detail about some of the older formats.
raja 2017-01-07T16:32:09+00:00 October 31st, 2015|Digitization, VHS to DVD, Video to DVD|0 Comments
Digital Video Formats
ScanCorner: Digitize analog video and photo formats
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Sadiq Khan to improve housing crisis, by buying land for £250million
Sadiq Khan has unveiled his draft Housing Strategy, in a bid to make the long-running housing crisis that little bit better, which has seen a mismatch between a high level of need, and a particularly worrying level of housebuilding.
Statistics surrounding the housing market in London has illustrated how the number of new homes being built every year in London has been stuck at 20,000 for some time. The strategy which was published on 6 September 2017 asserts that London is in need of enough land to build more than 50,000 new homes every year over the next 25 years. The strategy details that such a programme to expand housing in the capital requires a new structure and dynamic approach to ensure targets are met.
To make matters worse, the number and output of smaller housebuilders has dwindled since the financial crisis of 2008. According to statistics derived from the National House Building Council, there were 5,476 builders in Great Britain, building anything from one to 100 homes every year. Now the figure sits at just 1,920. And unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be slowing down as the barriers facing these smaller-scale builders continues, with issues such as raising finance and most importantly, obtaining planning permission a key problem.
Photo credit: Shoolandia/Shuttterstock
Khan’s housing strategy is hoping to rectify these problems, as well as linking small builders with anyone disposing of smaller plots of public land. Not only are members of the Federation of Master Builders applauding the news, Londoners are embracing these new micro developments, which will deliver affordable housing on a smaller scale. The draft is also urging councils to work with housing associations and small builders to oversee new housing projects.
And in a bid to prepare land for new and affordable homes, Sadiq Khan has earmarked an initial £250 million to buy new land. The money made from selling the land to housebuilders is going to be recycled to buy further land, and thus develop much-needed housing outlined. Khan plans to bring together the capital’s private tenants and landlords to develop a new model of renting. The £250 million will be used alongside the £3.15 billion affordable housing cash the government allocated to London in the Autumn Statement last year.
Photo credit: Halfpoint/Shutterstock
In a statement by Sadiq Khan he comments:
“From £250 million to kick-start my plans to secure more land for new and affordable homes, to a new model and fairer deal for millions of private renters, I want to help all Londoners facing the housing crisis. I will use my powers and resources to their fullest extent, but the government needs to play its part too by giving London the powers and resources we need to see an even greater step change in the number of homes being built. This launch marks the start of a three-month consultation – I want as many Londoners as possible to let me know their views on how we can improve housing in London.”
In the draft, Housing Strategy, there are three other significant measures which Khan is dedicated to see through:
Increasing funding for self-builds, purpose-built private rented development and community-led projects which will diversify the housing sector
Improve the skills, building methods and capacity of the construction industry
Changing the way the Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy is levied, to ensure small and medium sized builders can pay less up front
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https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Overloaded-boat-capsizes-in-Indonesia-at-least-14014010.php
Overloaded boat capsizes in Indonesia, at least 17 dead
Updated 5:47 am PDT, Tuesday, June 18, 2019
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An overloaded boat carrying people home to celebrate the end of Ramadan with their families capsized off Indonesia's main island of Java, killing at least 17 and leaving four others missing, police said Tuesday.
The Arim Jaya was traveling from Ra'as village on Madura island to nearby Kalianget when it capsized Monday after being hit by a 1-meter (3-foot) wave, East Java police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said.
The wooden boat was carrying 60 people but was designed for just 30.
Mangera said search teams and local fishermen rescued 39 people.
Extra boats joined the search after weather conditions improved Tuesday and rescuers recovered at least 17 bodies, including four children, he said. They were searching for four others who were reported missing, he said.
Television news showed grieving relatives waiting for information at a port and a nearby hospital.
Millions of Muslims across the country travel to their hometowns to celebrate the weeklong Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Boats and ferries are popular means of transportation in the archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands. Accidents caused by overcrowding and poor safety standards are common.
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Cristiano Ronaldo Eager to Bag New Real Madrid Deal Worth €1 More Than Messi to Seal 'Best' Status
Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will reportedly settle for a new contract that would see him earn just a single euro more than great Barcelona rival Lionel Messi in his quest to be recognised as the best player in the world in every respect.
Ronaldo became the highest paid player in the world when he signed his last contract renewal with Real in 2016, a status he craves for the respect and admiration rather than financial greed. But both Neymar and Messi have overtaken him after signing new contracts recently.
And Mundo Deportivo has reported that Ronaldo is so determined to be seen as the best in the world he has asked for €1 more than what Messi is currently getting to change that.
He is already the best in the world as far as the Best FIFA Football Awards and the Ballon d'Or are concerned, but it is important for that to be reflected in his contract as well.
MD suggests that Ronaldo is seeking various incentives to be included in any new deal that will reward him handsomely for particular achievements on the pitch, whether that be as a result of goals, trophies or individual awards and accolades.
Now 33 years of age, Ronaldo has been in supreme goalscoring form for Real since the turn of the calendar year. He scored the 50th hat-trick of his career against Girona last weekend and has found the net 21 times in his last 10 appearances for the club.
Five more goals will see Ronaldo reach the career milestone of 650 for club and country.
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Solace Project Exhibition
Displayed at The Hospice of St Francis
From Friday 22nd February, 4pm
All are welcome to join us for the exhibition preview in the reception area from 4pm on Friday 22nd February. Refreshments will be provided.
The Hospice of St Francis is holding an exhibition of works from The Solace Project which has been transferred from the prestigious Central Saint Martins’ School of Art in London.
The exhibition will then be available for the public to view at the Hospice between 9-5pm Monday – Friday, from Monday 25th February
The Solace Project is a participatory art project that took place across two hospices, Princess Alice Hospice in Surrey and The Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted. The aim of the project was to co-produce a work of art with terminally ill patients, their friends and family, and the bereaved, to exhibit at the hospice and elsewhere. The project intended to help participants to regain a sense of worth, purpose, identity and feelings of control at such a difficult stage in life and give them a forward vision. The participants of each Solace Project are all considered co-producers and their work, comprising of guided craft skills, is fundamental to the final artwork.
This project was set up by Sophie Alston, Ingrid Pumayalla and Irini Folerou, who graduated from MA Fine Art at Central Saint Martins in 2015. The project was conceived after Sophie’s mum had been cared for by Princess Alice Hospice during Sophie’s time at Central Saint Martins.
The Hospice of St Francis is to host a special ...
Robert Voss CBE, has become a Patron
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March 29, 2016 / Summer 2016 / Issue 83
Social Entrepreneurship by the Billions
An audacious effort to provide digital ID numbers throughout India illustrates the potential for large-scale change.
by Roger Martin, Sally R. Osberg, and Jennifer Riel
Illustration by Lars Leetaru
A version of this article appeared in the Summer 2016 issue of strategy+business.
Only a decade ago, some 400 million people in India lacked any type of formal documentation. Most were impoverished and, without even basic identification such as a birth certificate, they were marginalized and unable to alter their societal status. This condition made them, in effect, noncitizens, with no influence on or ability to participate in their country’s economic and legal systems. They couldn’t vote, open a bank account, or access government services.
Nandan Nilekani wrote about this problem in his 2008 book, Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation (Penguin Press). An engineer by training, he was one of the cofounders of Infosys, the IT services giant that helped spur India’s technology revolution. In his book, Nilekani proposed providing each of India’s approximately 1.2 billion citizens with a unique, fraud-proof identifier. The following year, India’s then prime minister, Manmohan Singh, asked Nilekani to turn this idea into reality. He appointed Nilekani chairman of a new government agency, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which was tasked with creating such an identifier. The initiative came to be called Project Aadhaar (the Hindi word for foundation or base).
India’s documentation problem was the product of a system in a miserable equilibrium. Left alone, it would continue to operate in the same way and deliver the same outcomes — hundreds of millions of people excluded from formal citizenship. Shifting such an equilibrium is no simple task. But it is the sort of challenge to which the world’s social entrepreneurs apply their resolve and creativity.
Social entrepreneurship has been variously defined over the years as any enterprise that includes social good as part of its mission, as a nonprofit that seeks to build its sustainability through market forces, and simply even as any organization working to make the world a better place. This last catch-all is the most problematic, as it suggests every organization aiming for even the smallest improvement in the status quo can be considered as being engaged in social entrepreneurship. The term thus becomes everything and nothing.
In our view, social entrepreneurs seek something beyond better. They want to change an unhappy but well-established equilibrium, and transform it into a more just or more equitable stable state. Such social entrepreneurship can be practiced within any organizational structure, including for-profit businesses, NGOs and not-for-profits, social enterprises, and even government.
A discernible pattern has emerged for endeavors that attempt equilibrium change at meaningful scale.
Nilekani’s efforts in India provide a striking example of social entrepreneurship practiced within a government context. It’s a novel and notable experiment, given the sheer size of the problem — in terms of both geography and the number of people affected. But it is not entirely unique. In many regions and in different contexts, a discernible pattern has emerged for endeavors that aim to change equilibrium at a meaningful scale. This framework can help any organizational leader, in the public, private, or not-for-profit sector, to think more clearly about the purpose and principles of social entrepreneurship. By understanding how a suboptimal equilibrium has come to be, envisioning a new future, building a model for change, and then scaling the solution, social entrepreneurs can permanently transform a miserable or unfair societal condition, rather than settle for simply ameliorating its worst effects.
A Unique Identity
When Nandan Nilekani was appointed head of the UIDAI, the businessman became a bureaucrat. But the entrepreneur in him would not be easily co-opted. Nilekani was really in the game of applying the tools and principles of business to achieve social change. As he saw it, a unique identifier program would not only enable India’s poor to gain access to civic benefits, it would reduce the country’s burden of welfare fraud. In the end, he believed, India could leapfrog Western nations in the scope and security of its identification tools.
As Nilekani told us in a 2014 interview, “At one level, you can think of [Project Aadhaar] as one of the world’s largest social inclusion projects. That’s one part of what it tries to solve. The second thing that it’s trying to solve is common to all societies that build welfare programs. When you build a welfare program in any society, you need a way to identify your residents, so that (a) you can make sure the benefits will go to the right person, and (b) [you can ensure] that the same person can be identified over time.” Given that so many of India’s poor lacked formal identification, social programs were easy targets for fraud and abuse.
As an integrative thinker unwilling to choose between the best interests of individuals and those of the government, Nilekani seized on the opportunity to serve both through the same initiative. He knew, of course, that it wouldn’t be easy. The poor had no base documents, no way to prove their identity in the first place. The initial challenge was to address that deficiency. “We had to have a fairly foolproof way of establishing uniqueness,” Nilekani explained.
“We had to have a fairly foolproof way of establishing uniqueness,” Nilekani explained.
Fortunately, in the face of global security threats, governments and businesses around the world were making great strides in using biometrics to establish uniqueness with fingerprints and iris scans. “After a little bit of research and proof of concept, we came to the conclusion that if you do multimodal biometrics, combining the irises of both eyes and the fingerprints of all 10 fingers, the digital signature — the digital pattern of these — is unique across a billion people,” said Nilekani. This approach enabled the agency to assess new registrants against its database to ensure their biometric patterns were not duplicates. It could do so with accuracy greater than 99.9 percent.
The basic strategy was to provide every citizen who registered with a 12-digit identifier tied to his or her specific biometric pattern. This “Aadhaar number” could be verified, using the biometric identifiers, when needed. It would provide individuals with access to government services and enable them to claim the rights of citizenship. But, importantly, the identifier had applications beyond voting and government programs. Financial institutions, for instance, could also use it to verify a customer’s identity. This means that the Aadhaar number promised value for a broad cross-section of citizens, even if the primary and greatest benefit was conferred on the very poor.
Going Beyond Better
Change typically comes in small steps: Somebody figures out a way to make the current state of things just a little bit better. But big, positive changes are vital to transforming equilibriums. Such shifts happen infrequently and episodically, and they make a disproportionate difference to the fate of our world. Governments have a track record of producing these equilibrium shifts through policy innovation, often in response to the dogged work of effective social activists. Businesses have a shorter but equally important track record of producing positive shifts through their innovations, which are motivated both by profit and by the opportunity to provide something new to customers and the world.
Social entrepreneurship is a much newer source of positive social change; its activities and models navigate the extensive territory between the modes of business-led and government-led transformation. At the heart of the equilibrium transformation is a unique model that social entrepreneurs design for a particular context. When we look at cases of successful social entrepreneurship such as the UIDAI — cases in which true equilibrium change was imagined, enacted, and sustained — we can discern four distinct stages.
1. Understanding the problem. The paradox of social transformation is that one has to truly understand the system as it is before any serious attempt can be made to change it. Yet those who understand the status quo best are often those most deeply invested in it, whereas those who see the imperative for change most clearly tend to sit outside the system. Effective social entrepreneurs acknowledge this dynamic and find a way to navigate it.
Linda Rottenberg’s High-Impact Endeavor
by Paula Margulies
India’s Demographic Moment
by Nandan Nilekani
Best Business Books 2009: Globalization
by Ayesha Khanna, Parag Khanna
The process of equilibrium change therefore begins with a commitment to understanding a particular status quo, how it came to be, and the forces that hold it in place. The process entails the successful negotiation of three characteristic tensions: abhorrence of the status quo versus an essential appreciation of why it persists; application of expertise from another context versus willingness to apprentice in the specifics of the context in question; and an openness to experiment with possibilities versus knowing when to commit to and drive forward a specific solution.
Nilekani knew what the problem was — he had written about the lack of ID as a fundamental challenge to an equitable and prosperous India. He also knew why the problem existed — the substantial structural, political, and economic barriers to logging each person’s identity. And he understood that traditional methods of documenting identity, including home-to-home census taking, were far too expensive, too time-consuming, and too susceptible to fraud, to be of use in his context.
As a brand-new government appointee, Nilekani was a novice bureaucrat. He refused to be co-opted by the inertia that can characterize many government agencies. But as an experienced engineer and technology CEO, he also recognized that he had much to learn about the key players in the system, and the specifics of identity. He balanced a willingness to learn in areas outside his domain with a commitment to apply his expertise to a new field.
2. Envisioning a new future. To make a positive difference, every change agent needs to set a direction. Successful social entrepreneurs place the bar high and envision fundamental equilibrium change. This vision sustains the organization through the hard work of actually producing equilibrium change.
Successful social entrepreneurs place the bar high, envisioning fundamental change.
The vision must be specific about how the dynamics of the system will change and about who will benefit from that change. Creating and articulating such a vision requires the social entrepreneur to take a systemic approach, identifying the primary stakeholder but also considering players throughout the system more holistically.
With the UIDAI, Nilekani considered not just the people without identification, but the registering agencies, local businesses, and, importantly, Indians who already had formal ID documents. He saw a world in which there were not two classes of citizenship and multiple forms of ID, but a single, elegant system that could be used to establish identity with government and businesses alike. He saw a world in which all Indians would be better off with an Aadhaar number.
3. Building a model for change. To bring a vision to life, the social entrepreneur must apply creativity and resourcefulness in building a model for change — one that is sustainable in that it reduces costs or increases value in a way that can be quantified and captured. In our view, social entrepreneurs don’t build innumerably varied models for change; success stories have recurring themes. Effective social entrepreneurs make use of a set of specific mechanisms employed across contexts to transform equilibriums.
The starting point for building a successful model is the value equation. Social entrepreneurs must find a mechanism to turn a losing value equation, in which costs are too high or value too low to produce sustainable change, into a winning one, in which the economics support sustainability over the long term. To do so, they can target either the value side of the equation (bringing more value in) or the cost side (reducing capital or operating costs).
For UIDAI, however, Nilekani tackled both dimensions. On the value side, he sought to create a market-based demand for the Aadhaar number, to provide a commercial inducement attractive enough that Nilekani could get other players to cover some of the costs of driving his model to scale. As he recalled, “different people in the system had different value propositions. Those people dealing with social issues liked the social inclusion aspect. Those people dealing with fiscal issues liked the efficiency aspect. Then we had to ensure that the banks liked the fact that more and more transactions would flow through the banking system. You’re reducing cash in the economy and increasing digital transactions. Everybody has a different value proposition. The challenge was to figure out each stakeholder, and what are the appropriate value propositions that we needed to articulate.”
On the cost side, Nilekani also thought carefully about the capital and operating expenditures of a program of this size. He was anxious to avoid crippling startup costs and overwhelming capital risk for the agency as the technology was built out across the country. The UIDAI developed a system by which enrolling agencies purchased the equipment needed to get started, and were then reimbursed a small amount for every ID issued. Nilekani explained that “the state government, banks, and post offices…all of them could act as registrars. At peak, we had more than 30,000 such enrollment stations across the country.… UIDAI was doing more than 1 million unique IDs a day.” This reduced the UIDAI’s capital costs and distributed risk across the ecosystem.
4. Scaling the solution. Scalability is a critical feature of effective social entrepreneurship. Models that require constant reapplication of the same investments regardless of scale will commonly fail to produce sustainable equilibrium change. It will typically be too expensive to achieve transformational scale, especially when the intended beneficiaries are unable to pay directly for the benefit.
Of course, scale is not measured by an organization’s size or budget. It is measured by the effectiveness of that organization in shifting the equilibrium it targets — that is, by the change’s impact. Achieving this impact is often tied to purposeful action on the part of social entrepreneurs to design for economies of scale; take a systemic approach and leverage other actors in the ecosystem in order to bolster and extend a shift; or open up their models and methodologies to others, expanding impact by inviting imitation.
Nilekani realized early on that efficient implementation would be critical to producing sustainable change. His team designed the program with scale and efficiency in mind from the outset: “Scalability at the back end through technology, scalability at the front end through technology and process, and a business model that allowed multiple organizations to become enrolling agencies.… There were more than 100,000 people in our ecosystem, but only 300 people in the main organization,” he told us with a hint of pride. “Like the brain of the system, it is highly leveraged; a small set of people design the technology, the solution, the business model.” Combined with an approach that distributed costs across partners and over time, this design made the system scalable and robust. He leveraged the assets of businesses and government agencies to get hundreds of millions of people registered in less than a decade.
Shifting the Balance
For social entrepreneurs, “good enough” simply isn’t good enough. They confront the societal structures that leave too many behind, roll up their sleeves, and undertake the hard, exhilarating, and important work of transforming what is into what can and should be.
Nilekani’s efforts to transform India by giving every resident a formal identity, and thus the opportunity to become an engaged member in the economy and to participate in society, illustrate how powerful equilibriums can be jolted off balance and supplanted by new ones. By 2014, when Nilekani stepped down as chairman of the UIDAI, more than 600 million people had been issued their unique 12-digit Aadhaar number, the numbers were tied to 60 million bank accounts, and more than 100 agencies were using the identifier for authentication. Perhaps most telling, the initiative has continued even through the 2014 Indian national government election, in which Singh was replaced by an opposition party leader, Narendra Modi. Modi met with Nilekani in July 2014, after publicly backing Aadhaar. By January 2016, it was reported that 92 percent of India’s adult population had been assigned numbers.
The program is not without its critics, some of whom raise privacy concerns or question the decision to provide the number to residents as well as citizens. But its impact in demonstrating social entrepreneurship in action is undeniable. From a world in which hundreds of millions of people had to live without formal identity, without real citizenship, without access to the formal economy, UIDAI has created a world in which every resident can be counted — a world closer to one in which every individual in India truly counts.
Roger L. Martin is a writer, a strategy advisor, and former dean and current institute director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Sally R. Osberg is CEO of the Skoll Foundation, a philanthropic organization that invests in social entrepreneurship worldwide.
Jennifer Riel is managing director of strategy and innovation at the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School.
Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Adapted from Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works. Copyright 2015 Roger L. Martin and Sally R. Osberg. All rights reserved.
Topics: social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, sustainability
How fake news can taint a brand’s image
Make the most of tax time
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Tag Web > History Tag • History News
The word history is a noun. History means (1) the discipline that records and interprets past events involving human beings, (2) all that is remembered of the past as preserved in writing; a body of knowledge, (3) a record or narrative description of past events, (4) the aggregate of past events, (5) the continuum of events occurring in succession leading from the past to the present and even into the future.
The following articles and web pages elaborate on the word history.
Watercolor Art History
The history of watercolor art is first documented in early cave dwelling paintings, but modern watercolor painting techniques emerged during the 15th century with the landscape paintings of Albrecht Durer.
http://www.watercolor-painting.com/watercolor-art-history/page/1/
Art History at Loggia
Explores the history of art with information about artists, styles, and periods. Includes resources and reference materials about art history, searchable database, and forums.
http://www.loggia.com/
Acoustic Guitar History
The acoustic guitar is a popular stringed instrument that has been used for centuries to play different types of music. Learn all about the history of the acoustic guitar.
http://www.acousticguitars.us/guitars.htm
History of Bowling
Bowling is a sport whose origins can be traced back about 4,000 years to Rome and Greece. Learn more about this popular sport with a guide to the history of bowling.
http://www.bowlingballs.us/bowling.htm
Learn about the rich history of the Caribbean and find guides for planning a relaxing getaway to some of the most popular vacation destinations within the islands.
http://www.caribbeanislands.us/history.htm
Discount Store History
This website details the history of department stores, including several key figures in discount retailing and information about retailing today.
http://www.discount-stores.us/history.htm
Aboriginal people first migrated to the continent of Australia more than 4,000 years ago from Asia. Learn more with this guide to the history and culture of Australia.
https://www.map-of-australia.us/history.htm
Europe is one of the most diverse continents in the world, comprising more than 40 languages and 40 countries, each with their own unique culture and history.
https://www.map-of-europe.us/history.htm
History of North America
The first people to come to the North American continent crossed the Bering Sea from Asia. Visit this North American history and culture overview to learn more about North America.
https://www.map-of-north-america.us/history.htm
Cartography is the art and science of making maps. Learn about the history of cartography and find helpful links to maps and directions.
http://www.mapsanddirections.us/cartography.htm
To learn about the history of the area of New England, read this informative website, which includes a history that dates back to 1000 AD.
https://www.new-england-map.com/history.htm
US Map History
This United States map site provides a history of the United States along with free printable outline, topographical, and road maps of the entire United States and regions within it.
http://www.united-states-map.com/history.htm
History of Cameras
Photography owes much to camera obscura, a medieval technology in which an outside image was displayed on to an inside wall or screen.
http://www.camerashops.us/history.htm
The earliest African people relied on hunting, fishing, and gathering, until the first African civilization was first developed in Egypt, along the Nile River.
https://www.map-of-africa.us/history.htm
Civilization was first noted in Asia about 6,000 years ago, when the Fertile Crescent area of the Middle East was initially settled and agriculture was introduced to the continent.
https://www.map-of-asia.us/history.htm
History of South America
South America was initially settled by Asians who crossed the Bering Strait approximately 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. They migrated southwards, reaching South America via the Isthmus of Panama.
https://www.map-of-south-america.us/history.htm
Chess History
Chess is a board game which involves skill and is played with various pieces on a checkered board. Learn more about the popular game of chess and its rules.
http://www.chessgames.us/history.htm
Two of the most popular toys carved in Germany, back in the early days of the toy industry - Noah's Arks and Christmas villages - are still collected today.
http://www.childrenstoys.us/toy-history.htm
History of Modular Homes
Modular homes are often popular for their cost-effectiveness. Learn about the history of modular homes and modular home building.
http://www.modular-homes.us/history.htm
History of Musical Keyboards
Keyboards are popular musical instruments that are easy to play. Learn about the history of musical keyboards and find links to music keyboard suppliers.
http://www.musickeyboards.us/history.htm
History of Ocean Surfing
Learn all about the history of surfing, and find links to surfing museums dedicated to the sport. You will also find helpful links to surf board and equipment manufacturers on the east and west coasts.
http://www.surfshops.us/surfing-history.htm
Art History Introduction
Offers an introduction to visual art history. Read about art movements, read famous artist's biographies, browse online art galleries, and find major art museums.
http://www.artinthepicture.com/
Mother of All Art and Art History Links Pages
Produced at the University of Michigan. This site is an extensive listing of art history departments, research resources, online art, fine arts schools, art museums, and more.
http://www.umich.edu/~motherha/
The following articles provide recent history-related news.
Retracing the steps of the Apollo 11 crew the morning they made history
"CBS This Morning" behind the scenes to see what the Apollo 11 crew did in the hours before they blasted off for the moon 50 years ago. Tony Dokoupil shows us everything from where they suited up, to what they ate for breakfast.
CBS News. Tuesday, 16 Jul 2019 08:58:31 -0400.
A look back at the history made by Apollo 11
Crowds are gathering at Kennedy Space Center to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch, the mission to put the first people on the moon. ...
Will Mallinckrodt (MNK) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
Mallinckrodt (MNK) has an impressive earnings surprise history and currently possesses the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely beat in its next quarterly report.
Zacks Equity Research. Zacks. Monday, 15 Jul 2019 14:10:14 GMT.
Best Biographies Of All Time: 8 Essential Reads
Essential biographies about business, history and pop culture with life lessons for all readers.
By Gene Marks, Contributor. Forbes. Sunday, 14 Jul 2019 22:00:00 +0000.
Founder Of African American History Museum Discovered Dead In Car Trunk
Sadie Roberts-Joseph was a prominent civil rights activist and community leader in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She founded the city's African American History Museum in 2001.
Shannon Van Sant. NPR. Sunday, 14 Jul 2019 15:02:18 -0400.
A 75-year-old Louisiana woman who founded an African American history museum was discovered dead in the trunk of a car.
Ap. ABC News. Sunday, 14 Jul 2019 15:03:23 +0000.
Film airing on PBS recalls city's dark deportation history
BISBEE, Ariz. (AP) - The darkest, most violent chapter in the history of Bisbee was an open secret for decades in the funky old Arizona copper town 7 miles (11 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border. ...
Anita Snow. Washington Times. Saturday, 13 Jul 2019 12:14:47 -0400.
The following pages provide more extensive history news.
Recent news stories about the topic history, aggregated from diverse, English-language news sources.
History Tweets
Recent English-language tweets that include the hashtag history.
Tag Web > History
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Townsville Economy Boosted By Manufacturing Hub
Posted on 21 December 2018 . Tags: Manufacturing Industry, Queensland
Queensland Minister for Manufacturing Cameron Dick
$10 Million Invested In Manufacturing Hub To Boost Townsville Economy
Townsville’s manufacturing sector has received a $10 Million boost, with the Palaszczuk Government teaming up with TAFE Queensland to establish a manufacturing hub to support local manufacturers to become more productive and grow their businesses.
Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick said the hub will provide a place for local manufacturing businesses to receive expert advice and support around how they can expand.
“Our government made a commitment to Queenslanders to establish manufacturing hubs in regional areas to drive this important sector while bolstering local economies, and we are delivering on that commitment.” Minister Dick said.
“This hub will provide a catalyst to promote and deliver world-leading technologies, processes and practices to manufacturers in the region and attract increased private sector investment and jobs to Townsville.”
“It will support manufacturers to develop strong links with local universities and schools to develop a workforce with strong skills in science, technology, engineering and maths.”
Minister Dick said manufacturers will have easy access to business development programs, skills and training and equipment through TAFE Queensland Townsville campus.
“My department has consulted with local businesses, local governments, unions and educational institutions to develop the best model for the Townsville region.” Minister Dick said.
Minister for Training and Skills Development Shannon Fentiman said the new hub will be a valuable asset to the Townsville region.
“This investment will assist local businesses to get the advice and support they need to grow and be able to employ more Queenslanders.” Minister Fentiman said.
“TAFE Queensland provide world class training to ensure we will have the skilled workforce the future of manufacturing.”
Member for Townsville Scott Stewart said the hub would create and sustain jobs, generate industry opportunities and bolster the local economy.
“Hub will support joint projects to strengthen key manufacturing sectors in the region. In particular, the hub will lift the capability of North Queensland’s metal manufacturers in relation to Industry 4.0 and The Internet of Things.” Mr. Stewart said.
Industry 4.0 is a term used to describe the fourth revolution in manufacturing. Industry 4.0 uses transformative technologies to connect the physical world with the digital world, and includes advanced automation and robotics, machine-to-machine and human-to-machine communication, artificial intelligence and sensor technology and data analytics.
Also known as the Industrial Internet, the Internet of Things is the connection between physical devices, such as vehicles and appliances, and the communication between them.
“Hub will also assist industry to take advantage of new technologies and connections in their own products, and related business models.” Mr. Stewart said.
“In addition, the hub will focus on food transformation, with a Centre of Excellence for Food Transformation which will create healthy food ingredients and products by converting vegetable supply chain food waste into snacks and powders for health supplements and nutraceuticals.”
“Townsville manufacturing hub will ensure the region’s manufacturing sector continues to thrive well into the future, supported by the skills, networks and jobs it needs to strengthen and evolve to meet market and industry demands.”
Business Development Manager of TEI Services Pty Ltd Adam Packer sees a lot of value in creating a strong and collaborative ecosystem to lift industry’s capability and develop regional manufacturing.
“Our business is a creative engineering company that offers solutions to the sugar, marine and mineral processing industries.” Mr. Packer said.
Chief Executive Officer of Growcom David Thomson said based on global and domestic data, 30 % of food produced is never eaten and is lost at various stages along the supply chain.
“Hub is a significant opportunity to assist in skills and training for North Queensland to turn waste into a resource through advanced manufacturing, and at the same time support regional economic aspirations.” Mr. Thomson said.
“Hub will also assist the Townsville region to take advantage of reducing food waste in the vegetable supply chain.”
Minister Dick said as at December last year, Townsville’s manufacturing sector contributed $879 Million to the state’s economy each year and represents 5.7 % of all industry employment in the region.
Minister Dick said the Palaszczuk Government is also investing $10 Million in Cairns and $10 Million in Rockhampton to establish manufacturing hubs.
“Queensland’s manufacturing sector is worth $20 Billion each year to the state economy and employs around 179,000 people. Around 15,100 more people have been employed in the sector over the past year alone an increase of almost 10 % in 12 months so we know that this sector is growing and creating jobs.” Minister Dick said.
“Manufacturing in Queensland is diverse, with the top five employing sub-sectors being food product manufacturing, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, fabricated metal production and furniture.”
“Manufacturing hub model aligns closely with our government’s $7.6 Million Advanced Manufacturing 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan.”
“This government is committed to building the state’s manufacturing industry through practical initiatives such as Made in Queensland, a suite of Industry 4.0 programs, Design in Manufacturing, Women in Manufacturing and our Hackerspaces program.” Minister Dick said.
$40 Million Made in Queensland program has, to date, awarded $18.2 Million, through 53 approved grants, helping to create an estimated 532 high-skill jobs. Regional manufacturers accounted for 22 of these approved grants totalling $6.6 Million and over 280 high-skill jobs.
Hubs will be staffed by a hub coordinator, a skills development and training officer, and a project support officer in each location. Recruitment for these positions will begin soon, to plan for the opening of the hubs in early 2019.
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Second Season of ‘Wayward Pines’ May Have All-New Cast
Posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2015 by Ethan Anderton
Is anyone out there watching M. Night Shyamalan and Chad Hodge‘s TV series Wayward Pines on Fox? The series debuted about two years after it was picked up by the network, and while it didn’t do so well when it premiered up against the season finales of The Blacklist and Scandal, it’s actually found a decent audience since then.
But while the live numbers weren’t anything to write home about, Wayward Pines gained a record percentage DVR lift of 90% for a 1.9 rating, which isn’t bad at all. In the weeks since, it’s actually gained a consistent viewership (especially after DVR numbers come in), but that could get shaken up if the show may get a second season with a whole new cast.
Find out more about Wayward Pines season two after the jump!
Deadline reports there is currently interest in a second season of the mystery series, but if Fox happens to order one, there’s a chance that cast members like Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino and Melissa Leo won’t be back. Because it took so long for the show to make it to air, the options to bring back all the actors expired awhile ago. Juliette Lewis and Terrence Howard even went on to star in Secrets and Lies and Empire respectively in the time it took for Wayward Pines to make it to air.
So as of now, the idea is to have a second season follow an entirely different set of characters, but have it set in the same world. It would be a mix of the recently popular anthology series format and the more traditional serial narratives, which could be interesting. It’s still early days though, and there’s no guarantee that Wayward Pines will actually get renewed.
Personally, I haven’t give then series a chance yet, so I can’t say whether this concept would make me less disinterested in the show, but surely viewers will have an opinion on the matter if this idea should become realized. If you haven’t watched any of Wayward Pines and you’re thinking about giving it a shot, here’s the series trailer and synopsis:
Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) drives to the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, ID, searching for two missing federal agents. Ethan is the logical choice for the mission. He’s one of the best Secret Service agents in the Seattle office. He’s also the man who knew missing agent Kate Hewson (Carla Gugino) better than anyone. They were partners. They were more than that. Their relationship nearly destroyed Ethan’s marriage.
Everything changes when a truck slams into his car…and he wakes up in the Wayward Pines Hospital, with the intense and unpredictable Nurse Pam (Melissa Leo) at his bedside. It soon appears that Pam may be more interested in harming than healing. She and Ethan grow into deadly rivals, and her role in the town proves much deeper than anyone realizes.
As the mysteries within the town pile up and clash with his own version of recent events, Ethan starts to question his own sanity. He is confronted by the mysterious and charismatic Dr. Jenkins (Toby Jones), the psychiatrist who treats him at Wayward Pines Hospital. As he begins to meet some of the local residents, including toymaker Harold Ballinger (Reed Diamond), Ethan forms a bond with Beverly (Juliette Lewis), a bartender who doesn’t mince words and is as wary of Wayward Pines as he is.
Back home in Seattle, Ethan’s wife, Theresa Burke (Shannyn Sossamon), a former Secret Service Agent trainee, gets a call from Ethan’s boss, Adam Hassler (Tim Griffin). He informs her that early testing shows Ethan was never in the car that was recovered on the side of the road outside of Wayward Pines. They’re still investigating. But this isn’t enough for Theresa. Along with their teenage son, Ben (Charlie Tahan), Theresa sets out on her own search for Ethan.
Meanwhile, Ethan is challenged at every turn by the town’s die-hard residents and especially the town’s sheriff, Sheriff Arnold Pope (Terrence Howard), who takes offense at a Secret Service agent showing up on his turf and telling him what to do. Ethan believes Pope is out of his mind, and visa versa. Ethan’s continuing investigation only turns up more and more questions, and each one leads him to the most important question of all: What’s wrong with Wayward Pines?
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Casting, Mystery/Suspense, Sci-Fi, Television, Carla-Gugino, fox, Juliette Lewis, M.-Night-Shyamalan, Matt-Dillon, Melissa Leo, Terrence-Howard, Wayward Pines
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Remote Magic
By Gerry Blackwell | Posted September 19, 2006
Low-end, Low-cost PBX for Skype
Integrate and Automate Your Business
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Small businesses can rarely afford the luxury of having trained computer people on staff. The alternatives are muddling through on their own or outsourcing network and desktop management and maintenance to a consultant. The trouble is, consultants aren't dedicated and often aren't nearby. If something goes wrong, it can take time to reach them, and even longer to get them on site. Which is why remote network monitoring and maintenance makes particularly good sense for small businesses.
Modern network server systems, such as Microsoft's Windows Small Business Server 2003, monitor their own status and can generate and then deliver alerts to to an off-site management company if something even begins to go wrong. It was one of the features of the Microsoft server platform that appealed to Judith Huck, president of Portland, Oregon-based Classique Floors Inc., when she went looking for a new computer system earlier this year.
Classique Floors is a family business launched by Huck's parents in 1977. It sells floor coverings hardwood, cork, marmoleum, carpeting and counter tops, mainly to homeowners, from a 6,000-square-foot facility in east Portland. The company employs 14 people and generated sales last year of about $2.3 million.
In early 2006, Classique's peer-to-peer network, which Huck had cobbled together herself with help from employees, was maxed out at 10 PCs. The off-site backup solution she was paying for was extremely unreliable. There were continual glitches and the service provider had recently neglected to tell her that she was out of storage space for backups a week ago.
Huck also sensed there was just a lot more that computers could do for her fast-growing business. Classique was already using Intuit's QuickBooks for accounting, Microsoft Office for job estimates (Excel), e-mail (Outlook) and correspondence (Word). But she had a vision of going paperless and putting all customer and job information on the computer to eliminate re-entry of data and reduce time spent searching for paper files at the store. This was little more than a vague, long-term vision for the future, though.
"I'm not a computer person," Huck says. "It's all I can do to run the business, keep track of customers, products and employees. And I don't really want to know about computers."
Solution: Small Business Server
So she turned to another small east Portland company, Mt. Hood Computer Services Inc., a four-person outfit owned and operated by president Tom Rich. Rich, a Microsoft Small Business Specialist, provides integration and network management and support services, mainly to small businesses. He targets companies with anywhere from three to 50 computers. The firm has 33 clients, and 16 of them use the Windows Small Business Server 2003.
Huck recalls, "I told Tom, 'My business is growing pretty quickly. What's the next step? What can I look at that will provide reliable backup, good security and that works well?'"
Rich recommended a Windows Small Business Server. It would provide all the basics she was looking for, plus Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 and Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 would make an ideal platform on which to build new paperless work flows.
Huck was convinced, but the project went on the back burner because she couldn't afford to spend anymore money or time on it at the moment. Then fate stepped in. Rich had entered Classique in a contest sponsored by Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard for innovative small business IT projects. His entry won. Huck was awarded $75,000 to spend on Microsoft and HP gear and services from Mt. Hood.
She was able to immediately buy an HP server and the Windows Small Business Server 2003 system. She also upgraded to the latest Microsoft Office applications and platforms, purchased eight Hewlett-Packard tablet PCs for staff to use to enter customer data, a new multi-function (printer/fax/scanner) device, a digital projector for showing demos to customers, a big-screen TV to use in the store to run demos and promotional messages, and integration, management and maintenance services from Mt. Hood. It was a fantastic windfall.
"I was definitely going to buy the server," Huck says. "But the prize meant I was able to do some of the other things we talked about way sooner than I ever expected."
The new paperless work processes, designed and implemented by Rich, have made her staff much more efficient, she says. Sales staff are entering all information directly into the tablet PCs and generating printed estimates at the customer's home. It means fewer home visits, often a faster turn-around on the buying decision and an easier process for the customer. Huck and her staff also love the fact that they can log on to the server and work from home, or anywhere else, as if they were in the store.
It may have been the work process re-engineering that won Classique and Mt. Hood the Microsoft/HP award, but just as important for Huck are some of the less tangible features and benefits of the new system, such as the ultra-reliable backup system, a new and stronger firewall built into the Small Business Server and the remote monitoring and maintenance services.
The Small Business Server can monitor over 100 aspects of its operation. A system manager sets acceptable operating parameters, and the system reports if it goes "out of parameter," or if something stops working. For example, you could set up the system to report when the operating temperature hits a certain threshold, or storage usage approaches capacity or the SMTP (e-mail) service stops working.
Mt. Hood uses an add-on software package from Level Platforms Inc. to manage the alerts. If a monitored item goes out of parameter, Rich receives an alert by both text message and e-mail on his Palm Treo 700w Smartphone. As soon as he gets to a computer, he can log on to the server remotely, run diagnostics and often fix the problem without ever going to the customer's site.
One client, for example, backed up all the contents of a computer to the server, including countless MPEG music and JPEG digital photo files. The server was only ever intended to back up business-essential data. The system generated an alert because the storage subsystem was suddenly approaching capacity. Rich called the client and discussed alternate arrangements for backing up non-essential data.
Another client was using an e-mail "scrubbing" appliance, a gateway device that sits between the Internet firewall and the client's Exchange server (which is on the Small Business Server). The appliance does extra spam and virus filtering. The system generated an alert when one of the services (software modules) on the appliance stopped working and mail wasn't getting through to Exchange.
"This customer is about 40 miles away from my office," Rich says. "But I was able to go in and issue a restart command that resolved the problem. I did it all remotely in about 15 minutes."
Rich has also begun offering a more proactive remote-maintenance service that makes sure, among other things, that computers on the network have all the necessary updates (security patches, virus and spam filter updates), that backups are being done properly each day and that the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) system is always working. "I've never had a customer that had any downtime from a virus outbreak since we've been doing this," Rich says.
For a package that includes both the monitoring and maintenance services, Mt. Hood charges $250 a month, plus $25 a month per PC on the network, plus a one-time fee of $450 for a network assessment. Needless to say it's a lot less than the salary and benefits you'd pay a computer staff person.
A Warm Fuzzy Feeling
Huck loves the remote monitoring and maintenance services, even though her server, installed in June, has yet to generate an alert. "It benefits me with peace of mind," she says. "I don't have to be a computer expert. Now I know I have a computer expert keeping an eye on my system all the time and alerting me if there are any problems. That's huge."
Rich is trying to convince all his clients to opt for the remote monitoring and maintenance package. Currently only six, including four of those with Small Business Servers, use it. Rich argues that clients benefit for a couple of reasons. "One part of it is that you're doing preventive maintenance so the equipment is more reliable," he says. "So you have less down time."
Also, if a small business doesn't hire somebody like Rich to perform these monitoring and maintenance functions, it means someone inside the firm has to do it. Chances are they won't do it as well because they're not properly trained and don't have the tools. It will take them away from other duties. And if it's the owner or some other senior employee spending time on computer-related chores, it may mean that costs are actually higher in the long run than if the company hired a consultant.
Of course, there are benefits to firms like Rich's as well. They can handle more clients with fewer people if they don't constantly have to go to customers' sites. But there's nothing wrong with that. You should want your suppliers or at least the good ones to prosper. It means they'll continue to provide you with excellent service.
Based in London, Canada, Gerry Blackwell has been writing about information technology and telecommunications for a variety of print and online publications since the 1980s. Just for fun, he also authors features and columns on digital photography for Here's How, a spiffy Canadian consumer technology magazine.
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China is a soccer team from China, playing in competitions such as Friendlies(2019), Asian Cup(2019). Check below for latest team statistics, team profile data, scoring minutes, latest matches played in various soccer competitions and results, team players and statistics, transfers in and out, along with historic results.
Country China
Coach Bo Fu
Stadium Beijing National Stadium
Capacity 91000
0 Chi Zhongguo Midfielder 125 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Dabao Yu Attacker 19 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Dalei Wang Goalkeeper 90 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Feng Jin Midfielder 16 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Gang Wang Defender 107 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 Guan He Defender 46 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 Junling Yan Goalkeeper 90 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Junmin Hao Midfielder 180 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Lei Li Defender 135 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
0 Linpeng Zhang Defender 90 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Lu Zhang Goalkeeper 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Muzepper Mirahmetjan Midfielder 88 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Nico Yennaris Midfielder 112 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 Wei Shihao Attacker 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Xi Wu Midfielder 106 2 2 0 2 1 0.5 0 0 0
0 Xiang Ji Midfielder 33 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 Xie Pengfei Midfielder 90 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 Xizhe Zhang Midfielder 136 2 2 0 1 1 0.5 0 0 0
0 Xu Yang Attacker 113 2 2 0 2 1 0.5 0 0 0
0 Yang Liyu Attacker 29 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Yuning Zhang Attacker 57 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Zhi Zheng Midfielder 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Zhu Chenjie Defender 147 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 Zhunyi Gao Defender 161 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 Ziming Wang Attacker 10 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
2019 2019 Friendlies Friendlies 1
2019 2019 Asian Cup Quarter-finals
2018 2018 WC Qualification Asia 3rd Round
2015 2015 Asian Cup Group stage
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Tuscarawas County Public Library hosting local author Dan Fuller
In 1968, our community rallied together to guarantee the reality of affordable and accessible higher education for area students. Now, this past September, Kent State University at Tuscarawas celebrated 50 years on University Drive because of that aspiration.
To capture the memories and history over the past half century, Emeritus Professor Dan Fuller, wrote "Kent State University at Tuscarawas — 50 Years on University Dr." It is a coffee-table style book complete with pictures and milestones of the campus through current day.
At 6:30 p.m. Feb. 6, Fuller, who has been teaching at Kent State for 48 years, will be at the Tuscarawas County Public Library’s Main Library, located at 121 Fair Avenue NW, New Philadelphia, for a book signing celebration. He will share a few words on the campus story and offer an opportunity for questions and answers.
The book features the original Founders Hall groundbreaking and growth of the campus led by deans Dr. Francis Hazzard, Harold Shade, Dr. Gregg Andrews and Dr. Brad Bielski. Highlights include student activities, athletics, art & theater, academics and construction of campus facilities.
“The 50th anniversary of Kent State Tuscarawas on University Drive is a huge milestone for the campus and the community,” said Brad Bielski, Dean and Chief Administrative Officer of Kent State Tuscarawas. “Since the opening of Founders Hall in 1968 with about 200 students, the campus has grown over the years with an enrollment today of nearly 2,200 students and the addition of the Science and Advanced Technology Center, the Performing Arts Center and the Tolloty Center. The campus has been extraordinarily successful and is an asset to the community.”
Bielski added that the community’s input and support of Kent State Tuscarawas’ past and future endeavors are invaluable assets.
The book will be available for purchase at the library for $40 during the book signing and it is also available at the university campus by call 330-308-7445 or emailing cconra1@kent.edu.
To register for this free event, visit the library’s online registration calendar at www.tusclibrary.org, or call 330-364-4474 ext. 101.
SUBMITTED BY MOLLY CALHOUN
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The 1967 Red Sox part 2: 'It's pandemonium on the field.'
Greg Sullivan
“It's pandemonium on the field.” - Red Sox broadcaster Ned Martin.
There was no army of security lining the perimeter of field at Fenway Park. No mounted police. But judging the way the fans poured out of the grandstand and bleachers after the Red Sox beat the Twins on Oct. 1, 1967, nothing was going to stop them anyway.
When Rico Petrocelli corralled Rich Rollins’ weak pop fly for the final out, he hugged third baseman Dalton Jones, and the two of them headed for the pitcher’s mound to join more teammates around pitcher Jim Lonborg.
Within a few seconds, the celebration involved more - far more - than the guys in the home uniforms. Fans, starved from a half-decade of incompetence and drunk with the success of the Impossible Dream Red Sox, started to cover the field. It didn’t matter that the pennant had not been clinched. California still needed to beat Detroit in the second game of a double-header (Detroit had won the opener) to avoid a one-game playoff for the American League pennant. But the Twins had been vanquished, and Red Sox fans, as if armed with foreknowledge of an Angels’ Game 2 win, were determined to celebrate as never before.
“They came out so fast, from all parts of the field,” Petrocelli said.
Mike Andrews didn’t get the start at second base that day, something that rankled him a bit. But when Jerry Adair got spiked late in the game, Andrews got his chance and turned a ninth-inning double play to help finish off the Twins.
When Petrocelli caught the Rollins’ looper, Andrews made a bee line for the mound.
“I ran in and picked up Jim Lonborg,” he said. “The next thing I knew, I’m hanging onto him. Then the next thing we knew, the field was swamped. We were working our way toward what we thought was the dugout. We were pushed down toward tarp alley.”
Durfee High grad Russ Gibson, the starting catcher who had been lifted for a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning, was one of the smart Sox. He charged from the dugout and joined the celebration at the mound, evaluated the situation, and did a 180.
“I ran out there. All hell was breaking loose, and we felt we should just leave (Lonborg) out there” he said. “It was a mad house. It was one pat on the back and back to the dugout.”
While concern for injury to people and property prompts team to secure their fields and stadiums from storming fans, The Impossible Dreamers don’t recall the ‘67 revelers as a crazy mob. They were just fans being fanatic.
“Jubilation,” Petrocelli said. “The fans running on the field - you could see in their eyes the joy and excitement of a team going to the World Series. That team stole the hearts of the fans.”
Lonborg wasn’t just at Ground Zero of the celebration. He was Ground Zero.
“It was awesome,” he said. “I think Mike was the first to get to me. We were all jumping and hugging. I looked around, and there were a few fans. The other guys had the sense to get off the field and into the clubhouse.
“For some reason, I stayed out there. There were hundreds of people celebrating at the moment. All of a sudden, I wasn’t going where I wanted. Thank God a couple of police officers extricated me. My hat was gone. My uniform was still there.”
Andrews said when he watches video of the pandemonium, he at first sees himself clearly. Then he sees just his head. Then he disappears amid the mass of humanity.
“But it’s not like today where so many things can happen,” he said. “They were fun-loving fans. They wanted to touch Jim, and I’m in the way. But I didn’t let him go. I knew where my bread was buttered.”
Petrocelli, who now lives in Nashua, N.H. and whose book “Rico Petrocelli: Tales of the Impossible Dream Red Sox” was published this year, said his plan was to give Lonborg the baseball at the mound. He quickly realized that wasn’t going to work. His priorities became holding onto the ball, and glove and his uniform.
“I tried to hold onto my hat,” he said. “I was pressing so hard, it must have made an indentation on my head. But someone came through and swiped it.”
While Petrocelli has never again seen or even heard of his pilfered cap, Lonborg has.
“I did come across somebody who had gotten my hat,” he said. “I asked about it, not pushing the issue. I felt like they felt they would keep it as a family heirloom. So I was fine with that. It’s great to think somebody’s thinking so much of it. The stories they’ll be able to tell will be well worth their time and will keep the legend going.”
While the Sox were taken by surprise by their fans’ reaction to the win over Minnesota, Gibson said they had gotten a preview of what their fans were capable of.
“It reminds me of when we got back from the road trip where we won 10 in a row,” he said. “The fans were out at the airport. They were tipping the bus. We were saying, ‘Let’s throw Conig out to them. Let’s throw Yaz out.’ Then the rest of us can go.”
“It was unbelievable, those people after we won it. Then we had to sit in the clubhouse listening.”
In the most nerve-wracking part of the whole day, the Sox, after celebrating at half speed (no champagne), huddled around a radio to listen to Game 2 of the Angels-Tigers doubleheader in Detroit. The Tigers of Norm Cash, Al Kaline, Mickey Lolich and Denny McLain, had won the opener 6-4, but the Angels jumped ahead in the second game. And they stayed ahead, winning 8-5.
“Every time the Tigers made an out, we cheered,” said Petrocelli. “Then Angels would score a run, and we’d think it was us. The final out, we jumped up, hugging, opening champagne. Corks were popping.”
The game ended when Detroit’s Dick McAuliffe grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. McAuliffe had hit into one double play previously in 1967.
“That’s destiny,” Andrews said.
The Angels had a great double play combination in second baseman Bobby Knoop and shortstop Jim Fregosi, so when McAuliffe grounded to second, the Sox enjoyed the exquisite flavor of anticipation.
“Dick McAuliffe didn’t hit into too many double plays. And he could hit the home run,” Petrocelli said. “Then the announcer said, ‘There’s a ground ball to second. It might be a double play.’ Boom. It was over.”
Gibson later learned of a contribution from a then future Red Sox catcher, Tom Satriano. A member of the Angels in 1967, Satriano, when he was on second base, was stealing catcher Bill Freehan’s and relaying them to the batter. Gibson said that information led to three California runs.
With the Twins and Tigers vanquished, the Red Sox still faced a considerable challenge: getting home.
Already ecstatic with the win over the Twins, Boston fans were delirious when Detroit lost. The streets around Fenway Park were electric. And crowded.
“We couldn’t get out of the park,” Andrews said. “Kenmore Square was gridlock. Finally they took our cars, I think it was to Landsdowne Street, and we went out through the left field wall hours after the game.”
Many hours, Gibson recalled. After the clubhouse celebration, the Sox went up to owner Tom Yawkey’s office, where the wives had been secured.
“We were in Mr. Yawkey’s office for two or three hours,” Gibson said. “By now, it was midnight, and there were still thousands of people standing out there. It was really a thrill.”
One key team member refused to be trapped inside Fenway. Lonborg lived near the park, and his roommate, Neil McNearney, owned Smokey Joe’s, a popular establishment in the neighborhood.
“He was having a private party in a back room,” Lonborg said. “I sneaked out of the park and walked over.”
(In one of the most overlooked performances in World Series history, Longborg won two games in the World Series against the heavily favored St. Louis Cardinals, throwing a one-hitter in Game 2 and a three-hitter in Game 5 to send the series back to Fenway. Pitching on two games rest in Game 7, Lonborg and the Red Sox lost to series MVP Bob Gibson, who beat Boston three times.)
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Walking with the Wind
In this excerpt from his book, Walking with the Wind, John Lewis describes his involvement in the sit-ins in Nashville, Tenn., in the spring of 1960.
Rigoberta Menchú
Rigoberta Menchú has dedicated her life to fighting the injustices faced by the people of Guatemala and educating the world on the concept of indigenous people and fighting for their interests.
Race & Ethnicity Class Gender & Sexual Identity
Identity Justice Action
Ela Bhatt
Ela Bhatt was a pioneer in women’s empowerment and grassroots development. In addition to establishing the Self-Employed Women’s Association in India, Bhatt also founded India’s first women’s bank, Cooperative Bank of SEWA, and served as a member of the Parliament of India from 1986 to1989.
Class Gender & Sexual Identity
Abraham Lincoln & Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship
This text explores the relationship between Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two self-made men whose lives intersected near the end of America's Civil War.
Russell Freedman
Diversity Justice Action
(A)wake
In this poem, the speaker traces the senseless killings taking place abroad and at home, with a particular focus on the African-American community. The speaker also calls communities to action to "grow our hope and heal our hearts" in order to live together in peace.
Jessica Kobe
Race & Ethnicity Religion Class Immigration Gender & Sexual Identity Rights & Activism
The Child's Defender
In this interview, Marian Wright Edelman expresses the importance of each American sending children “signals of fairness and tolerance” and helping to give them “a life that transcends boundaries of race, class, gender and other differences.”
Marian Wright Edelman and Sara Bullard
After she died of cervical cancer, doctors took a sample of Henrietta Lacks’ cancer cells to use for research without her family’s knowledge or permission. Labs have continued to reproduce the immortal “HeLa” cells for decades.
Rebecca Skloot
Understanding Jim Crow
In this transcript, David Cunningham, a prominent professor of sociology, discusses the emergence of Jim Crow laws and their legal and cultural power.
Facing History and Ourselves
Race & Ethnicity Class Gender & Sexual Identity Rights & Activism
Diversity Justice
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COMING SOON! African Children’s Choir is Ministry, Growth, Healing and Hope ---Grade-school Ambassadors Spread Joy, Escape Strife in Shreveport, World
by Marcinho Savant, Staff Writer
Childhood is hard. Especially when you are disadvantaged. Often with no prospects for a brighter future. Thanks to a Canadian Christian organization, Music for Life, African children tour the world, over ten demanding months per year--- for the most eye-opening experience of their young lives. They enlighten audiences, enmeshing them in their musical offerings. African smiles.
Music for Life also has offices in Bellingham, Washington, and in Langley, British Columbia. Their stirring, heartwarming, brand of song sharing arrives in Shreveport on November 20th, 2016.
These children are sent off away from home, with their family’s reluctant, fearful, blessings, and their gratitude. Their children get the chance of a lifetime which would likely never have come to them. An immediate, and indelible, benefit of the choir’s existence is that the members--- while spreading music from city to hamlet--- get to see a lifestyle, career opportunities, and a future they never even knew existed. Their parents recognize this rare exposure and, begrudgingly, or eagerly, send their children away into the wider world. Savvy, global, concert artists, the children are between the ages of eight and 12.
These mini-musicians serve audiences a cultural Smörgåsbord of exchange. They lovingly share a glimpse into what African children are really like. They share their pride of identity, and of their formidable achievements--- before they even make it to high school age. Founded in 1984 African Children’s Choir, has produced multiple choirs. This visiting 2016 choir marks the 45th since its inception. There are two touring groups: west coast, and east.
According to Heidi Moen, one of several volunteer Tour Chaperones, and a Tour Leader, she has been traveling with one of the two touring choirs for the past three years. She is in attendance at each of the, approximately, one hundred-fifty concerts performed by her unit each year.
No tickets are sold. The choir depends on the donations of their audiences. The funds go to feed the programs that benefit the children where they live. Audience members reap many rewards in exchange.
“So many audiences come away filled with the children’s energy, their sense of hope and joy, even though they come from very little. Abundant, however, in every case, are the smiles on their faces while experiencing the choir’s performances. Attendees are able to see a different perspective of African culture, as opposed to the abject despair, and hopelessness (often portrayed in the media). Better still, the kids present a different cultural view in spite of their difficult circumstances. They show their joy despite it all.”
“The children's eyes are opened to a bigger world, they see different jobs, and other things that they don’t even know exist. It shows them what can be possible in their future, if work hard in school.” The organization provides education through university, affording the kids an opportunity to get an education where it would, otherwise have been unobtainable, for any number of reasons.
Factors range from families which couldn’t afford to furnish this exposure, children having to work to support the family, and limited opportunities in their home communities. But, Moen states, Music For Life’s African Children's Choir endeavors to preserve the children’s essence, unaltered from their own culture.
“One of our greatest challenges is, with young people coming from African backgrounds--- is how to keep these Ugandan children as “African” as possible, as they are returning home. They all have to return home, so we try very hard to keep them as unassimilated to the West as possible. It gives the youngsters a good mix of honoring, and preserving their normalcy, and gaining worldly experiences”, Moen said.
Uganda is largely a Christian country. Further to their origins, African Children’s Choir assures that the “children are discipled toward Christianity”, according to Ms. Moen. They maintain a policy of catering to, and fostering, Christian values, and participants.
They work incessantly. A mission of music, enlightenment, and joy,
African Children’s Choir’s central goal in all of it, is generating awareness of the realities of African children, informing the public how people can help, and get involved.
”One of the biggest gifts you can give a child is an education”, Moen said.
IF YOU GO (And You'll HATE if you MISS it!):
WHEN: Sunday, November 20, 2016 (TWO PERFORMANCES)
Time: 10:30 am. Address:
543 Ockley Dr.
Venue phone: (318) 865-8414
Rose Park Baptist Church
Time: 05:30 pm.
Address: 5560 Buncombe Rd.
Marcinho Savant: (Arts & Entertainment Critic) is a classically-trained professional singer, vocal coach, conductor, and stage performer.
He is producing projects for theatre, television, and film.
African Children's Choir
Heidi Moen
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A New Way to Treat Osteoarthritis?
Michael J. Gertner
Those with the affliction currently treat it with Aspirin and Tylenol to reduce inflammation and pain, but researchers believe a drug inhibiting the complement system could be more effective
Elderly people suffering with osteoarthritis may have finally found a reason to smile and some hope on the horizon.
Contrary to current wisdom, osteoarthritis is not simply the product of wear and tear. A new study finds it is at least in part driven by the body's own immune system. This means that the painful condition -- thought by many to be irreversible -- can perhaps be prevented or cured in humans by blocking the inflammatory processes.
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Osteoarthritis, the most common joint disease in the U.S., affects nearly 27 million people, most of them elderly, and is associated with the breakdown of cartilage in joint areas, such as the knees, hips, fingers, and spine.
The study, by researchers at Stanford University of Medicine, first demonstrated that humans with osteoarthritis contain a high amount of proteins that are made when the body is under attack by a bacterial or viral infection. These proteins, called the complement system, attack the damaged joints just as they would attack a bacteria or virus. This sets off a cascade of events that result in the inflammation and severe pain associated with osteoarthritis.
The Stanford investigators used genetically-engineered lab mice to determine that the complement system is causally related to the development of osteoarthritis. They showed that if the complement system is disrupted in these mice, the mice are actually protected against osteoarthritis, even when their joints are physically damaged. If the mice contained an over-activated complement system, their arthritis became more severe.
The complement system activates a cluster of proteins called the membrane attack complex (MAC). In osteoarthritis, the MAC facilitates the secretion of enzymes and inflammatory chemicals that chew up cartilage in the joints and spaces between bone cells. The destruction of cartilage causes severe pain when humans with osteoarthritis attempt to move the damaged joint.
With their latest findings, the field of arthritis finally has a specific set of proteins to target -- the complement system. The Stanford investigators believe that by tinkering with the complement system earlier in a patient, humans with osteoarthritis could slow the disease progression and perhaps even prevent the disease altogether even before symptoms appear.
"It's a paradigm change. People in the field predominantly view osteoarthritis as a matter of simple wear and tear, like tires gradually wearing out on a car," said William Robinson, the study's senior author.
Currently, the two most popular drugs to treat osteoarthritis are Tylenol (acetaminophen) and Aspirin (ibuprofen), which alleviate some of the inflammation and pain in elderly people but do not treat the disease itself. The nutraceuticals glucosamine and chondroitin are also used by some to protect against the effects of time on joint tissues.
The problem, however, is that tinkering with the body's complement system might lead to people being more susceptible to bacterial and viral infections, an outcome that the investigators do not wish to occur. The researchers believe that brief administration of a drug that inhibits the complement system could help treat osteoarthritis without leading to more bacterial and viral infections. More research is needed to come to terms with these issues and to determine if disrupting the complement system helps humans.
This study is published online ahead of print in the journal Nature Medicine.
Image: alejandro dans neergaard/Shutterstock.
This article originally appeared on TheDoctorWillSeeYouNow.com, an Atlantic partner site.
Michael J. Gertner works for a lab in the Department of Neuroscience at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he is a Ph.D. candidate. He writes for TheDoctorWillSeeYouNow.com.
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What causes Brazil's 'Meeting of the Waters'?
SCIENCEALERT STAFF 25 JUN 2014
Image: Danocoo1/Reddit.com
Almost 10 kilometres from the inland city of Manaus in northern Brazil, ‘the Meeting of the Waters’ is the point where two of Amazon River’s largest tributaries - a smaller river that flows into a bigger ‘parent’ river - converge but never mix.
The Solimões River forms the lighter half, its ‘cafe au lait’ colouring owed to the rich sediment that runs down from the Andes Mountains, including sand, mud and silt. Known as a ‘white water river’, the Solimões River stretches over a 1600 km distance.
The darker side is the Rio Negro, and it gets its ‘black tea’ hue from leaf and plant matter that has decayed and dissolved in the water. It might look dark and murky, but the Rio Negro carries little or no sediment, and according to the European Space Agency website, is considered one of the cleanest natural waters in the world. On really clear days, water visibility in this black water river can exceed nine metres.
If this really was milky coffee and black tea, the Meeting of the Waters would require the worst’s most humungous cup. Robert Meade, who spent decades studying these rivers for the U.S. Geological Survey, told Nasa’s Space Observatory website, “Put in terms of the sheer quantities of water, what we are seeing here is a volume of water at least a dozen times greater than the total of the water falling over the Niagara, Iguassu, and Victoria Falls combined.”
The Solimões River and Rio Negro flow side-by-side over distance of six kilometres. The reason they never mix is because of the stark differences in temperature, speed and water density between the two. The Solimões is faster, cooler and denser, its waters flowing up to 6 km/h at 22 degrees Celsius, and the warmer, slower waters of the Rio Negro flow at a more leisurely 2 km/h, and maintain a temperature of around 28 degrees Celsius.
After several kilometres, the two rivers eventually converge thanks to a blast of fast-moving whitewater, and become part of the Lower Amazon River.
Here's a video of the Meeting of the Waters:
Source: NASA's Earth Observatory
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The Messenger takes grand prize at Deauville
By Nancy Tartaglione2009-09-14T06:00:00+01:00
Oren Moverman’s The Messenger was awarded the grand prize at the Deauville Festival of American Film which wrapped Sunday night. Moverman’s war drama also picked up the critics prize.
The film, about a soldier facing an ethical dilemma when he falls for the widow of another killed in Iraq, does not currently have French distribution. It will be released in the US in October via Oscilloscope Pictures.ContentFilm International is handling sales.
The jury prize was a shared affair between Cary Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre and Lee Daniels’ Precious : Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. Jury president Jean-Pierre Jeunet told the audience assembled in the Normandy beach town that the decision to split the prize “was not because we couldn’t decide. Instead, we wanted to take advantage of the fact that we could give a shared prize.” The jury, Jeunet said, would have preferred to be able to give even more prizes. Sin Nombre is being handled by Diaphana in France while Precious, a giant hit out of Sundance earlier this year, will be released via ARP.
Another Sundance title picked up the Cartier newcomer award: Lynn Shelton’s Humpday. Shelton had been in Deauville earlier in the week but by Sunday night had headed off to promote the film in Toronto.
The Michel d’Ornano prize was also awarded on Sunday to Lea Fehner for her Qu’un Seul Tienne Et Les Autres Suivront. Created by the Motion Picture Association of America, the prize is given to a first French film and is supported by the Franco-American Cultural Fund. The prize carries with it a purse of Euros 3,000 for the director, Euros 3,000 for the producers and Euros 10,000 to the French distributor, Rezo Films, to help with the film’s release.
Breathless wins big at Deauville Asian festival
South Korea's Breathless was the big winner at the 11th Deauville Festival of Asian Film which wrapped on Sunday evening. Yang Ik-June's film, a feature directorial debut in which he also stars, is a brutal look into domestic violence in South Korea. The film also took the International Critics Prize.
Deauville reveals line up for 35th edition
The Deauville Festival of American Film has unveiled its line-up for the upcoming 35th edition.
Tribeca Film Institute, RYOT Films, IDFA launch climate change short film initiative (exclusive)
$25,000 production grant and year-round mentorship to winning project.
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Noam Chomsky at 90: On Orwell, Taxi Drivers, and Rejecting Indoctrination
Political dissent
January 7, 2019, Issue
As agile as ever, he pulls no punches, decrying the flaws of capitalism and abuses of governing power, sparing few politicians and no parties.
By John NicholsTwitter
Noam Chomsky at an event in Karlsruhe, Germany, on May 30, 2014. (Uli Deck / AP)
Noam Chomsky was aptly described in a New York Times book review published almost four decades ago as “arguably the most important intellectual alive today.” He was 50 then. Now he is 90, and on the occasion of his December 7 birthday, the German international broadcasting service Deutsche Welle observed, again aptly, that Chomsky is “arguably the foremost political dissident of the last half a century.”
Chomsky reminds us that intellect and dissent go together, and that the vital challenge of our times is to maintain “an independent mind.” That’s not easy in an age of manufactured consent, but it is possible, as Chomsky so well reminds us—by continuing to speak, as consistently and as agilely as ever, about the lies of our times.
When I visited him the other day, he was as gracious, witty, and blunt as ever. He pulled no punches, decrying the flaws of capitalism and politics, sparing few politicians and no parties. The academic and activist, whose outspoken opposition to American imperialism earned him a place on former President Richard Nixon’s “enemies list,” answered a recent question (from Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman) about the approach of the Republican Party of Donald Trump and Paul Ryan to climate change with a question: “Has there ever been an organization in human history that is dedicated, with such commitment, to the destruction of organized human life on Earth?” His answer: “Not that I’m aware of.”
With a bow to George Orwell, Noam Chomsky continues to challenge manufactured consent.
Much will be said about Chomsky’s contributions to our intellectual and political life in the days and weeks to come. And new contributions will be added by the man whose statements continue to stir debates and consciences. I want to offer just a brief note today, from an extended conversation we had several years ago about the challenges facing independent thinkers in perilous times.
Chomsky on neoliberalism
Chomsky recalled a preface that George Orwell wrote for Animal Farm, which was not included in the original editions of the book.
“It was discovered about 30 years later in his unpublished papers. Today, if you get a new edition of Animal Farm, you might find it there,” he recalled. “The introduction is kind of interesting—he basically says what you all know: that the book is a critical, satiric analysis of the totalitarian enemy. But then he addresses himself to the people of free England; he says: You shouldn’t feel too self-righteous. He said in England, a free country—I’m virtually quoting—unpopular ideas can be suppressed without the use of force. And he goes on to give some examples, and, really, just a couple of common-sense explanations, which are to the point. One reason, he says, is: The press is owned by wealthy men who have every reason not to want certain ideas to be expressed. And the other, he says, essentially, is: It’s a ‘good’ education.”
Chomsky explained: “If you have a ‘good’ education, you’ve gone to the best schools, you have internalized the understanding that there’s certain things it just wouldn’t do to say—and I think we can add to that, it wouldn’t do to think. And that’s a powerful mechanism. So, there are things you just don’t think, and you don’t say. That’s the result of effective education, effective indoctrination. If people—many people—don’t succumb to it, what happens to them? Well, I’ll tell you a story: I was in Sweden a couple years ago, and I noticed that taxi drivers were being very friendly, much more than I expected. And finally I asked one of them, ‘Why’s everyone being so nice?’ He pulled out a T-shirt he said every taxi driver has, and the T-shirt had a picture of me and a quote in Swedish of something I’d said once when I was asked, ‘What happens to people of independent mind?’ And I said, ‘They become taxi drivers.’”
Or Noam Chomsky.
John NicholsTwitterJohn Nichols is The Nation’s national-affairs correspondent. He is the author of Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America, from Nation Books, and co-author, with Robert W. McChesney, of People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy.
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Posts Tagged‘metroidvania’
Supraland: Red vs Blue.
The one thing I’ve always hated about most Metroidvania games is when they show you something that you’re not able to access with your current abilities. Often this manifests extremely early on as you explore the level only to find there’s a part you can’t get to with no indication of when you’ll get the requisite ability to explore there. Quite often those areas aren’t even necessary for you to explore, just a bonus or something, so their inclusion is merely to draw you back to earlier levels. To be fair there are some examples where this is done well, the revisiting of the level being driven by story or other mechanical elements, and for those I have far more leniency. I tell you this mostly preface my thoughts on Supraland as it’s this particular mechanic, as well as a handful of other issues, that made this a game I didn’t want to play past a couple hours.
The Steam store page for Supraland proclaims, among many other things, that the story is “minimal” and that’s absolutely true. Whilst the premise is quite cool, all the characters are toys in a kid’s sandpit, the plot itself is ridiculously basic: you’re the red guys and the blue guys have shut off your water supply and it’s up to you to turn it back on. However to actually get to the blue guys you have to make your way through numerous different challenges, many of which will require you to upgrade your equipment and skills in order to do. I’ve read elsewhere that there’s a little more too the story later on in the game but it does nothing to expand upon it at all, save for having little dialogue instances between NPCs which have nothing to do with the plot at all.
The graphics of Supraland are heavily stylized and simplified, giving it a very cartoony feel. The developers have managed to avoid the typical Unreal engine game feel, keeping the use of specularity to a minimum. There’s a heavy use of depth of field which is supposed to give you the feeling that you’re a very small being in a large world. To some extent this works however it can have the effect of simply making everything disorienting like in the screenshot below. The issue here is, of course, perspective as whilst the game touts that it only has a tiny map of 9m2 that’s somewhat meaningless if you’re scaled down in size. So try as you might to make it feel like a small world with tiny people it’s going to end up feeling just like normal anyway, no matter how much you try to use depth of field or tilt shifting to change that.
Supraland bills itself as a combination of games like Portal, Zelda and Metroid which is horrendously disingenuous as it’s much more akin to the run of the mill indie puzzle platformers we’ve seen many of over the past decade. To be sure there are elements that you could say are borrowed from each game: the platforming from Portal (although that’s a stretch), the semi-open worldedness of Zelda games and the reexploration mechanic from Metroid. Realistically it’s just a bog standard first person puzzler with a tacked on RPG progression system. There’s really nothing wrong with that but the appeal to authority of titles with much greater pedigrees is what’s getting me. Honestly I was going to write this off as just your average indie puzzler until I reread the Steam page but now I feel compelled to point out all the faults given that it thinks it’s a combination between 3 of arguably the most influential titles in the puzzler space.
The combat is simple and implemented poorly. There’s really no nuance to it at all with enemies just running directly at you or standing dead still whilst they shoot from you at a distance. There’s also no way to block so you’ll likely end up dying to the first enemies since their melee range is the same as yours and there’s nothing you can do to stop them from hitting you. Once you get the gun you can basically just kite everything around but in its default form it’s annoyingly slow. Not that you’ll be wanting for upgrades for long though, even with rudimentary exploration you’ll be unlocking the upgrades in no time flat, even with the requisite barrel running task that serves no other purpose but to burn more of your time. But let’s not judge the game based on the one attribute which it doesn’t trumpet the most, let’s take a look at its puzzles and exploration.
The puzzles are incredibly simple, most of which you’ll solve pretty much straight away without too much of a thought. Others are easily solvable with emergent behaviours that the developer hasn’t taken into account, like being able to bypass entire sections of the game by walking on terrain that hasn’t been properly walled off. This only gets more ludicrous the more mechanics you have access to, giving you all sorts of means to break the game and bypass core game mechanics. This would be fun if it weren’t for the fact that it also means that there’s a certain level of gank to puzzles you can’t bypass, necessitating replaying certain puzzles over a few times in order to get them to complete properly.
Exploration is rewarded, although most of the time it’s just a few coins hidden around a corner or somewhere else rather obvious. The other parts are, of course, hidden behind mechanics you don’t yet have access to, something which will necessitate you trudging all the way back through the levels in order to get back to it. There is a rudimentary fast travel system however you can’t access it from a map (I don’t believe there is a map, actually) and it takes a good 20 seconds for it to travel you somewhere. This makes retreading ground a pretty annoying experience and, given that most of those hidden rewards are just basic upgrades, there’s no real compelling reason to do so.
It’s for these reasons that I didn’t find myself drawn back to playing Supraland after the first night I sat down with it. The fact that most of the work was done by a single developer is commendable but the marketing of it could not be further off the mark. The game is simplistic in all the wrong places, making combat a chore, puzzles easily waltzed through and the prospect of going back to retread old ground something I don’t think any sane player would want to do. Of course the reviews on Steam paint a much different picture and so it’s quite possible I’m on the wrong side of the fence for this, but in all honesty I simply cannot see what others find enjoyable in this game.
Supraland is available on PC right now for $28.95. Total play time was 2 hours with 27% of the achievements unlocked.
exploration, indie, metroidvania, pc, platformer, puzzler, supra games
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Safe in Canada, Khaled Al-Qazzaz speaks on his nightmare spent in a notorious Egyptian prison
By Olivia WardForeign Affairs Reporter
Sun., Oct. 9, 2016timer5 min. read
When the Arab Spring came to Egypt in 2011, Khaled Al-Qazzaz was full of hope for the country’s future.
Instead, he and his wife Sarah Attia were caught up in a three-year nightmare that left them and their four young children struggling to recover from emotional scars — and Al-Qazzaz from serious physical injuries that may require years of rehabilitation.
A Canadian permanent resident and University of Toronto engineering graduate, he was arrested while serving as an aide to Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted in a military-backed coup in July 2013.
Now back home in Mississauga, 37-year-old Al-Qazzaz recounted the ordeal that continued even after his release without charge in January 2015.
“The hardest parts were when I was separated from my children, not being able to make them feel safe,” he said. “And never knowing what was going to happen in the future. I was totally cut off from the outside world.”
Al-Qazzaz and Attia — a Canadian who was born in North York — met during graduate studies at U of T. Both deeply involved in human rights and social justice issues, they fell in love and married in 2004.
On the eve of Egypt’s 2011 Tahrir Square revolution they were in Cairo, helping Khaled’s ailing father to run a chain of private schools. Sarah became a school principal and ran volunteer programs in orphanages and homes for the elderly.
“So many new opportunities opened up,” said Al-Qazzaz. “What we taught in the schools had more meaning. And with our experiences across cultures we could bridge the gap between Egyptians and people in other countries.”
When the first free elections were called, in 2012, Al-Qazzaz was excited by the prospect of a new era of democracy and respect for human rights in Egypt.
Although he had not been involved in politics and was not a member of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, he believed that after deposed president Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian rule ended, “at last it was possible to have direct access to real, positive social change. Everything we hoped for we could do.”
Al-Qazzaz’s language skills and experience in Canada, as well as with social justice issues, made him an asset for the newly elected government and he agreed to became Morsi’s foreign affairs adviser and a liaison with foreign officials. He helped to start a human rights office, headed by a woman, and prepared to open a branch of the UN women’s agency.
But his dreams of a democratic future melted down as anger against Morsi rose and massive demonstrations against him began. Morsi was accused of autocratic and incompetent rule and failing to restore security. The economy declined and voters felt betrayed.
The backlash turned violent when Morsi supporters took to the streets, sparking a bloody crackdown by security forces. Hundreds were killed and more than 40,000 suspected Morsi sympathizers arrested, as well as curious bystanders.
It was a dramatic end to Al-Qazzaz’s hopes. Along with Morsi and others working for the government he was arrested, then held in a military administration building for more than five months in secret.
“When he was arrested it was his birthday, and we had a cake for him,” said Attia. “Khaled’s last message was ‘forgive me, I chose to stay.’ ”
For five months her efforts to learn her husband’s fate came to nothing and he was unable to contact her. Then he was taken to the maximum security wing of Cairo’s feared Tora Prison, known as “the Scorpion.”
It was designed especially for political prisoners, its brutal conditions widely documented. In a recent report, Human Rights Watch said that among other abuses, inmates are isolated, beaten and denied food and medicine.
For 11 months, Al-Qazzaz was locked in solitary confinement in an insect-infested, unventilated two-by-three metre cell with no natural light, his possessions taken away and even books and writing material forbidden.
At first he slept on a dirty concrete floor, which severely damaged his spine, and left him in constant pain. Later he was allowed “a sort of mattress.”
“The only thing I could do was talk to other prisoners, through (a slot) in the cell,” he said. One of them was Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy.
The conditions were so grim that even after Attia found where he was being held, she hesitated to take her children to visit him. Meanwhile, the authorities could find no case against Al-Qazzaz — but refused to release him.
“I had injuries to seven vertebrae,” said Al-Qazzaz. “The sanitary conditions were terrible and I had skin and stomach problems. My health was deteriorating.” After nearly a year of isolation and threatened by paralysis he was taken to a private hospital, but under detention.
Finally, in January 2015, he was released. But in April, when the family attempted to fly to Toronto, they were turned back. In spite of assurances that there were no charges against Al-Qazzaz, he was barred from leaving the country.
Money saved for his medical care in Canada was confiscated and the couple’s bank accounts frozen — a situation that continues in spite of court orders for the return of the funds.
The Egyptian authorities eventually allowed him to leave in August, on medical and humanitarian grounds.
Al-Qazzaz credits Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion for his return to Canada, which was granted after Dion’s diplomatic visit to Egypt in May — as well as thousands of supporters throughout the world who campaigned for his exit. “The government at different levels was very helpful,” he said. “They even escorted Sarah and the kids to make sure they were safe.”
Since his return he is struggling to regain his health. A tall man with a large frame, he lost 65 kilograms since his prison ordeal and is under medical care.
Children Abdelrahman, 10, Amena, 8, Fatema, 6, and Tahrir, 4, are also readjusting to life in Canada. “The little one, Tahrir, didn’t even know Khaled at first, because she was so small when he was taken away,” said Attia. “But they are happy here. They’re with friends and cousins, they’re back in their schools. But they still have a lot of fears.”
The couple has launched an NGO to promote democracy and human rights, the Al-Qazzaz Foundation for Education and Development.
“Our first project is to provide education as well as mental-health services for underprivileged communities that don’t have them,” said Al-Qazzaz. “That’s where the biggest need is. Going through this experience we understand that. It’s what needs to be done so that people, whoever they are, can have a better future.”
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Brain Cells, Doing Their Job With Some Neighborly Help
How does the brain process all of the information being taken in by our senses every second of every day?
A region deep in the brain called the hippocampus tracks, sorts and stores the onslaught of information pouring through the senses every waking minute. A large question in neuroscience is one a kindergartner would ask: How?
How does a dollop of tissue containing a small fraction of the brain’s neurons possibly absorb and hold so much, even temporarily?
A study published last week in the journal Nature provides the first step toward an answer, as well as a showcase for some of the most advanced methods available to study the brain.
Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland stimulated not a single cell but a single dendritic spine, one of the hairlike growths that sprout from a cell’s branching arms.
Brain cells communicate with their neighbors by sending a chemical burst from the tips of these spines, across a space called the synapse to the tip of a spine on the next cell. If the chemical bath is strong enough, the receiving spine bulges forward — strengthening the connection between the spines. This is thought to be the fundamental process underlying learning.
But the researchers, Christopher D. Harvey and Karel Svoboda, found something unusual when they stimulated a single spine. Not only did the spine bulge, but it also somehow made its neighbors more sensitive to chemical signals — standing ready, in effect, to digest any spillover of information. Imagine every neighbor on the block calling up to offer a corner of his basement for storage, just in case.
The combined effect of these helpers multiplies the capacity of any single brain cell, the authors concluded. Neuroscientists had theorized that this effect, called clustered plasticity, might help account for the tremendous capacity of the brain, but they had not seen it in action.
“The traditional view was that each synapse functioned independently, and the strength of individual connections modulated memory storage,” said Mr. Harvey, a graduate student at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island. “What we’ve shown is that neighboring synapses may function together, which leads to the idea that information is stored in a clustered manner, with related things concentrated in the same neighborhood.”
The ability to watch a synapse in action is itself a scientific accomplishment. The average human brain has about 100 billion neurons, and about 1,000 times that many synapses. To zero in on a single one, the researchers used mice that were genetically engineered so their brains produced a fluorescent protein that glowed only in specific cells of the hippocampus. Peering through a high-powered microscope at a slice of this tissue, the researchers could zero in on a single synapse.
Using a laser, they triggered a burst of glutamate, a brain chemical, into the synapse. The entire slice of brain tissue was soaked in a form of inert glutamate, and the laser activated the chemical in precisely the area the scientists were focusing on.
Previous efforts to observe this cell-to-cell communication in action used electrical stimulation, which sends a brush fire of activity through a neighborhood of cells, swamping any of the subtle effects that happen naturally.
In this study, “glutamate is delivered to individual spines located relatively deep within the brain tissue, under conditions that mimic” processes in the body, wrote Dr. Bernardo L. Sabatini, a neurobiologist at Harvard, in an editorial titled “Neighborly Synapses” accompanying the study.
After firing the synapse, the researchers found that receptors on neighboring cells remained extra sensitive to stimulation for 10 minutes. That makes sense, Mr. Harvey said, given the brief impressions that people need to process when walking into an unfamiliar room, say, or navigating a party.
“An hour or more would be too long,” he said. “There would be all sorts of information pouring in, unrelated stuff. And a few seconds would be too short, not enough time to take in something you were paying attention to. Ten minutes is just about right.”
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Game of Thrones Season 7 Finale 2017 “The Dragon and the Wolf” REVIEW
Here is our review of Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 7 "The Dragon and The Wolf," in which Kenny (@axechucker), Americ and I talk about Jon and Daenerys finally hooking up, Cersei breaking up with Jaimie...
“Game of Thrones” (Season 7): Close Encounters
Since the very beginning of the long-running HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones – way back in April of 2011 – fans have, whether they wanted to or not, become accustomed by the close encounters of...
Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 7 Trailer BREAKDOWN
In addition to our review of episode 6 of Game of Thrones, Kenny (@axechucker) and I did a breakdown of the trailer for Season 7 finale, which premieres Sunday August 27th at 9pm on HBO. You can watch...
Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 6 “Beyond The Wall” REVIEW
Here is our review of Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 6 "Beyond The Wall," in which Kenny (@axechucker) and I talk about Arya and Sansa taking it too far, the banter beyond the wall, the ice dragon reveal...
In addition to our review of episode 5 of Game of Thrones, Kenny (@axechucker) and I did a breakdown of the trailer for episode 6, which premieres Sunday August 20th at 9pm on HBO. You can watch the...
Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5 “Eastwatch” REVIEW
Here is our review of Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5 "Eastwatch," in which Kenny (@axechucker) and I talk about Cersei's big news, Arya getting played by Littlefinger, Jon touching Drogon and...
Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5 “Eastwatch” Trailer BREAKDOWN
In addition to our review of episode 4 of Game of Thrones, Kenny (@axechucker) and I did a breakdown of the trailer for episode 5 titled "Eastwatch," which premieres Sunday August 13th at 9pm on...
Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 4 “The Spoils of War” REVIEW
Here is our review of Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 4 "The Spoils of War," in which Kenny (@axechucker) and I talk about Arya returning to Winterfell, Littlefinger's meeting with Bran, the epic dragon...
Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 4 “The Spoils of War” Trailer BREAKDOWN
In addition to our review of episode 3 of Game of Thrones, Americ and I decided to do a breakdown of the trailer for episode 4 titled "The Spoils of War," which premieres Sunday August 6th at 9pm on...
Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 3 “The Queen’s Justice” REVIEW
Here is our review of Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 3 "The Queen's Justice," in which Americ and I talk about talk about Cersei getting the upper hand, Jon and Daenerys meeting and more. Game of...
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Climate Change, Health Promotion, Built Environment, Government Policy
Vulnerability of Urban Populations to Ambient Air Pollution
Marie Onakomaiya · April 17, 2016
~Written by Joann Varickanickal (Contact: joann.varickanickal@gmail.com)
Dannenberg et al. 2011
Urban populations have always been exposed to ambient (outdoor) air pollution because urban regions have high-density industries and populations (Dannenberg et al., 2011). High levels of pollution result from the concentration of sources of combustion (Dannenberg et al., 2011). There are two types of pollutants: primary and secondary. Primary pollutants are those that are directly emitted (Dannenberg et al., 2011). These include sulfur dioxide, which is released from power plants, and carbon monoxide from fossil fuel combustion (Dannenberg et al., 2011). In contrast, secondary pollutants result from the physical and secondary conversion of other pollutants (Dannenberg et al., 2011). Tropospheric ozone is one example; it forms through the chemical reactions of anthropogenic and biogenic precursors (Dannenberg et al., 2011).
Both primary and secondary pollutants lead to negative health consequences, including eye irritation, fatigue, headaches and more severe effects such as bronchoconstriction, lung impairment and neurological damage (Dannenberg et al., 2011). Certain populations are particularly vulnerable to ambient air pollution. For example, as a result of physiological and psychological factors, children are more sensitive to ambient pollution (Vanos, 2015). Furthermore, those with less education and lower socio-economic status also face a greater risk of exposure to ambient air pollution; thus, highlighting pollution an issue of environmental justice as well (Dannenberg et al., 2011).
Since air pollution is multifaceted, it is not easy to determine a solution. More research is required, to determine the severity of ambient air pollutants in different regions and how different populations are impacted. Furthermore, it is important to develop and implement policies that will reduce the prevalence of ambient air pollutants and their health consequences. For example, in order to provide evidence-based advice on the impacts of air pollution on health, the WHO Regional Office for Europe developed two projects-the “Review of Evidence on Health Aspects of Air Pollution” (REVIHAAP) and the “Health Risks of Air Pollution in Europe” (HRAPIE), which were completed in 2013 (WHO, 2013). The findings from these projects guided changes in the EU air quality policies that were implemented that same year (WHO, 2013).
The built environment also plays an important role in mitigating air pollution. Regions should employ sustainable development practices to ensure energy-efficient land use and transportation systems to reduce emissions (Dora et al., 2015). Moreover, attention should be given to the proximity of homes and schools to sources of pollution (Dannenberg et al., 2011). Urban Structure Types (USTs) is one method that could be used, as it is a spatial indicator that describes urban regions through the assessment of land use, physical properties and environmental characteristics (Réquia Júnior et al., 2015). The UST method assesses the morphology of housing, green spaces and industrial buildings which can be compared, to assess the relationship with a health risk (Réquia Júnior et al., 2015).
Like other global health problems, air pollution is complex. It is not unique to one region because it reaches across borders. As a result, governments and organizations from various regions need to work together to mitigate this problem.
Dannenberg, A. L., Frumkin, H., & Jackson, R. J. (2011). Making Healthy Places:
Designing and Building for Health, Well-Being, and Sustainability. Washington: Island Press.
Dora, C., Haines, A., Balbus, J., Fletcher, E., Adair-rohani, H., Alabaster, G., … Neira, M. (2015). Indicators linking health and sustainability in the post-2015. The Lancet, 385(9965), 380–391. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60605-X
Réquia Júnior, W. J., Roig, H. L., & Koutrakis, P. (2015). A novel land use approach for assessment of human health: The relationship between urban structure types and cardiorespiratory disease risk. Environment International, 85, 334–342. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2015.09.026
Vanos, J. K. (2015). Children’s health and vulnerability in outdoor microclimates: A comprehensive review. Environment International, 76, 1–15. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2014.11.016
World Health Organization. (2013). Health risks of air pollution in Europe-HRAPIE project
Tags: Air pollution, Environmental Impact, Secondary pollutants, Primary pollutants, Ambient pollution, Research, World Health Organization (WHO), REVIHAAP, Urban Structure Types
Is Measles Eradication Possible when the World is Still Trying to Eradicate Polio?
Part III-Your Work is Never Finished: Why Iterating after You Launch Should Be Part of Your Plan
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Rosario: On grand juries, diversity and a day…
Rosario: On grand juries, diversity and a day many won’t forget
By Rubén Rosario | rrosario@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
Things that made me ponder this past week:
Statewide probe? Coming on the heels of a scathing grand jury report in Pennsylvania that exposed a decades-long string of outlandish clergy sex-abuse cases and disturbing cover-ups, St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson called for Gov. Mark Dayton and state officials to do the same here. Anderson’s firm was recently involved in the $210 million settlement with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis following a spate of lawsuits that uncovered similar abuses and nearly 190 priests credibly accused of sexual assault and misconduct.
The more light shed on these systemic wrongdoings, not only in the church but at other institutions of public trust, the better. But here’s a problem. By statute, grand juries in Minnesota differ significantly from the one convened in Pennsylvania. Grand juries in Minnesota are used to determine probable cause or lack thereof to indict in criminal cases. The grand jury system has more investigatory muscle in Pennsylvania.
That state, along with Connecticut, abolished the use of grand juries for criminal indictments a while back. It uses grand juries now for investigations into organized crime, public corruption, health care fraud and other misdoings across jurisdictions. The grand jury system may have to be legislatively tweaked here to mimic Pennsylvania’s. The question that needs to be asked is whether a similar grand jury probe here is worth the time and resources. Consider the voluminous disclosures of clergy abuse through civil litigation in recent years that have led to settlements, in-house reforms and the church’s move to declare bankruptcy. Anderson, who has been accused of pushing such efforts to seek new clients, believes there’s more to be uncovered in other dioceses throughout Minnesota. Given Pennsylvania’s recent report, he’s probably right.
A dark day: Two St. Paul police officers and a K-9 dog were killed 24 years ago this Sunday. Officer Ron Ryan Jr. was fatally shot shortly after he found a man sleeping inside a car in the parking lot of Sacred Heart Church in the city’s Dayton Bluff neighborhood.
Hours later, K-9 officer Tim Jones and his dog, Laser, were gunned down during a large manhunt for Ryan’s killer, Guy Harvey Baker, an Iowa man wanted there for violating probation on an illegal gun possession conviction. He was later found hiding in a shed and taken into custody. He is serving a life term without parole at the state prison in Oak Park Heights. The incident took place in the midst of an unprecedented spike that year in homicides in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, largely fueled by drug and gang warfare.
I was city editor at the time. I had covered a handful of police funerals back home in New York City. I was floored by the outpouring of tributes and community support here during the sad processions that took place.
The Saintly City is indeed a big small town, I said to myself then. I’ve said it often throughout the years. I said it again after learning that Jones’ son, who was 8 when he lost his dad, became a cop and was one of two St. Paul officers who fatally shot a man armed with a gun during a confrontation earlier this month.
I’m sure I and many around here will never forget that tragic day, or that week.
Ramos knocks it out of the park: No, Miguel Ramos doesn’t play for the Minnesota Twins or bat cleanup. But he was showered with kudos last week for his behind-the-scenes work for the team. A former cop in Puerto Rico, the married father of one migrated to the Gopher State more than two decades ago in search of better opportunities. After several stints working for or directing nonprofits, he landed the job as the team’s director of diversity and inclusion.
Ramos was tasked with revamping the team’s then-feeble outreach to minority and underrepresented communities in the Twin Cities. His first “Diversity Celebration” event attracted 45 people. Eight years later, last Wednesday, more than 600 people attended, including Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. Ramos was instrumental in getting the commissioner to come. Manfred praised the club as a standout for its ongoing charitable causes, diverse employment goals and continuing efforts to foster relations with communities of color and varied sexual orientations. Ramos, along with Pohlad and other team executives, accompanied the team to Puerto Rico in April to play two games against the Cleveland Indians as a way to help out the hurricane-stricken U.S. commonwealth. The team has contributed more than $400,000 in relief efforts.
A member of the audience who plays for gay and lesbian softball leagues nationally informed Manfred and others that the Twins are the only major league club he knows of that supports the local team that plays in the Twin Cities.26
Ramos spoke about losing his father at age 17, growing up in poverty and coming here, where he began cleaning floors as a janitor because he could barely speak a word of English.
“I see the promised land that Martin Luther King Jr. saw, in this room,” Ramos said after receiving an award and being praised by club president Dave St. Peter and owner Jim Pohlad. “A land of everyone together, different races, different nationalities, different mentalities, all together as one, rich and poor, people with titles and people without titles, here in this room.”
Ruben Rosario
Rubén Rosario
From smoking crack in a Harlem drug den for a front-page exposé to covering the deaths of 86 people in a Bronx social club fire, Rubén Rosario spent 11 years as a writer for the New York Daily News before joining the Pioneer Press in 1991 as special correspondent and city editor. He launched his award-winning column in 1997. He is by far the loudest writer in the newsroom over the phone.
Follow Rubén Rosario @nycrican
More in Columnists
Rosario: Sidelined Mike Freeman returns to work — with a high-profile case
On Monday, Freeman decided to make a high-profile public return with a news conference announcing charges filed in connection with the July 8, 2016, drive-by shooting that killed 2-year-old Le'Vonte King Jason Jones in North Minneapolis.
John Kass: That waitress who spit on Eric Trump? She’s lucky I’m not king.
That Chicago waitress accused of spitting on Eric Trump at the fancy Chicago cocktail lounge The Aviary should consider herself lucky that I am not king. She should also thank her lucky stars that she didn't spit at a guest in some restaurants I know where the owners wouldn't just fire her. Mayor Lori Lightfoot branded the spitter as "repugnant"...
Rosario: This father-son road trip was one for the books
It’s summer. It's road trip time. This seasonal pastime is as inherently DNA American as munching hot dogs at a baseball game. We are an extremely mobile, jump-in-the-car-and-let's-go-somewhere society. It’s been that way for a long time because America has always been great when it comes to this iconic cultural staple and many others. Me? I like driving long distance...
Amanda Ripley: Democrats and Republicans are very bad at guessing each other’s beliefs
Last year, a group of liberal Jewish New Yorkers flew to Michigan to meet a group of conservative Christian corrections officers. It was an improbable experiment in bridging the political divide, arranged by a labor organizer from New York who happened to know both groups. I came along to see what would happen. For three days, the mostly male, all-white,...
George Will: Last century’s immigration debate makes today’s seem enlightened
"Wide open and unguarded stand our gates, And through them presses a wild motley throng ... O Liberty, white Goddess! is it well To leave the gates unguarded?" -- Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1892) WASHINGTON -- If you think we have reached peak stupidity -- that America's per-capita quantity has never been higher -- there is solace, of sorts, in Daniel...
Robert Gebelhoff: Yes, I want to pay off my student loans
Like many millennials, I have a lot of expenses coming up. I'm about to get married. I'm looking to rent a nicer apartment. And yes, I enjoy the occasional avocado in the morning. But like a lot of people my age, I spend a lot of money paying off my student loans. Of course I'm tempted by the recent proposals...
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Paula Kashtan and Sarah Yang
Uterine Fibroids During Pregnancy
Wondering about uterine fibroids and if they're cancerous? Read on. We tell you how uterine fibroids can affect your pregnancy and if they're dangerous to baby.
What are uterine fibroids during pregnancy?
They’re noncancerous (phew!) growths that appear in your uterus. Good news: They don’t increase your chances of getting uterine cancer, and fibroids usually don’t become cancerous.
What are the signs of uterine fibroids?
You might have pelvic pressure or pain, frequent urination, constipation and backaches or leg pains. Before you were pregnant, you may have had heavy or longer periods. In many cases, you might not experience any symptoms.
Are there any tests for uterine fibroids?
Your doctor might find them during a pelvic exam — larger uterine fibroids cause your uterus to change shape. Also, an ultrasound can be used to tell if you have fibroids.
How common are uterine fibroids?
According to the US National Library of Medicine, as many as one in five women get fibroids during their childbearing years. Most women don’t even know they have them because they have no symptoms!
How did I get uterine fibroids?
There is no known cause of uterine fibroids, but genetics, hormones and chemicals in your body may affect your chances of getting them.
How will uterine fibroids affect my baby?
Luckily, they usually don’t interfere with pregnancy. It’s possible that uterine fibroids can change the shape of or block your fallopian tubes, which can affect future pregnancies. In some cases, doctors may recommend removing problematic fibroids before you get pregnant. You might experience some pain in your lower abdomen — if you do, ask your doctor what you should do. Most of the time, you can take medication for the pain. In some cases, uterine fibroids can increase the risk of miscarriage, preterm birth or breech birth. You could also have a greater chance of getting a c-section or heavy bleeding after labor.
What’s the best way to treat uterine fibroids?
More often than not, fibroids are nothing more than a pain in the belly, so don’t let them worry you too much unless your symptoms grow problematic.
What can I do to prevent uterine fibroids?
There’s no specific way to prevent fibroids, but don’t worry — most fibroids are harmless and won’t need treatment.
What do other pregnant moms do when they have uterine fibroids?
“I had one with my last pregnancy. My OB told me that they’re very common and tend to grow owing to all the pregnancy hormones. Fortunately, it didn’t interfere with the pregnancy.”
"My doctor told me I had one with my second ultrasound. He told me not to freak out about it and not to go home and search on the Internet, because it shouldn’t be a big deal.”
"I have a few; the largest is three centimeters. My doctor isn’t worried at all about them. She says they aren’t a big deal at all and a lot of women have them and they’re totally fine. They might grow, but they’ll shrink after pregnancy.”
Are there any other resources for uterine fibroids?
National Uterine Fibroids Foundation
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Plus more from The Bump
What is a bicornuate uterus?
Why am I cramping during early pregnancy?
What are implantation cramps?
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How to Get Your First Bitcoin
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Charles Portis, a Journalist With True Grit
The novelist Charles Portis, best known for his novels Norwood and True Grit, was also a brilliant reporter, and with the likes of Tom Wolfe and Jimmy Breslin, helped introduce New Journalism. Jay Jennings, the editor of the new collection Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany, on the legacy of Portis’s reporting on the civil rights movement.
In his fiction and magazine pieces over more than a half-century, the novelist Charles Portis, most celebrated for True Grit and much admired by fellow writers like Roy Blount Jr., Donna Tartt, and Wells Tower, has made relentless fun of journalists of all stripes. Ray Midge, the copy editor who tracks his errant wife to Mexico in The Dog of the South, comments about the fellow copy editor who stole her away: “His dress was sloppy even by newspaper standards.” In Masters of Atlantis, newspaper people “treat as pests those who walk in off the street with inquiries, or even news.” In a New Yorker humor piece, he describes the “journalist ants” of Burma, “scurrying about on the forest floor and gathering tiny facts.” And in a long travel story about a river in Arkansas—included in the upcoming collection of his work I edited, Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany—he offers an opinion on both the climate debate and himself as a journalist: “Knowing nothing about changing weather patterns, but, being a journalist and thus having no scruples about commenting on the matter, I think they may well have changed.”
These various put-downs, especially of himself, are a dodge, because although Portis the novelist is press-shy and publicity-averse, in his early career he was a skilled, diligent, and sometimes brilliant journalist, which the selection of his best newspaper work in Escape Velocity will demonstrate. After serving in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, he studied journalism at the University of Arkansas. (Looking back at those years in an interview with fellow newspaperman Roy Reed, he said, “I must have thought it would be fun and not very hard, something like barber college. Not to offend the barbers. They probably provide a more useful service.”)
After graduating, he worked briefly at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, moved to the Arkansas Gazette in 1959 (a year after the paper had won two Pulitzer Prizes for covering the integration crisis at Little Rock Central High), and then began a four-year stint (1960-64) with The New York Herald Tribune, ending as London bureau chief before he quit to write novels. At the latter, he shared a newsroom with Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, and other reporters who were stretching their craft into what came to be known as New Journalism. In fact, in a 1972 piece in New York magazine excavating that “movement,” Wolfe cites Portis as one of the preeminent feature writers in the city who followed the philosophy that “it just might be possible to write journalism that would ... read like a novel.” Wolfe’s own flamboyant style bears little resemblance to Portis’s straightforward one, but in their reporting both showed—and eventually brought back to their respective novels—expertise in conveying “scene” and an eye for the telling detail. These qualities and other examples of Portis’s extraordinary abilities as a journalist are best seen in his brief, overlooked tenure on the civil-rights beat, particularly during a busy spring and summer in the South in 1963.
The failure of historians studying the era to acknowledge Portis’s work that year is a mystery to me. His name is absent from David J. Garrow’s Bearing the Cross (1986); Taylor Branch’s Parting the Waters (1988) and Pillar of Fire (1998); Diane McWhorter’s comprehensive history of Birmingham’s troubles, Carry Me Home (2001); and perhaps most egregiously, The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation (2006), which won the Pulitzer Prize for history. Neither is he included in the two volumes of the Library of America’s collections Reporting Civil Rights (2003), though one of his Herald Tribune colleagues, Robert J. Donovan, is.
At the time, however, his journalism was recognized for its excellence, and his account of two bombings in Birmingham that threatened to derail a desegregation agreement was reprinted in a collection published the next year, Twentieth Century Reporting at Its Best (1964), which praised it as a “crisp, tightly-written story.” More impressive still is the deadline duress under which it—and an accompanying story about a Ku Klux Klan meeting—was produced.
On the evening of Saturday, May 11, 1963, Portis went to nearby Bessemer to cover a Klan rally. The animosity toward the press in Birmingham—and especially the New York and national press from the local authorities, including the police—was significant. Earlier that month, a Life reporter and his photographer, who had captured with his camera demonstrators being pummeled by fire hoses, were arrested and had to flee the state after making bail, certain they could not get a fair trial.
Portis was aware of himself as a target for locals who despised the media. In a story filed earlier that day, he had written of a Friday night gathering in the county courthouse in which “angry white extremists” who opposed the integration of downtown stores “ejected” the newsmen. Portis added, with wry pride, “A reporter from the Herald Tribune, in particular, was booed.” It must have taken no small amount of courage to then present himself in Bessemer the following night. Fortunately for him, the Klan crowd there “was not rising to the rhetoric,” as McWhorter writes, and when it ended about 10:15 p.m., Portis headed back to the Tutwiler Hotel with some other reporters. Around midnight, he and the others heard the “dull whoomp” of an explosion and they rushed to the scene, the Gaston Motel four blocks away.
What followed was a full night of rioting, arson, and civil unrest, unquelled until 6 a.m., by which time more than a thousand policemen and state troopers had brutally subdued African-American participants and spectators both. Portis had been in some peril from the fire and from bricks and bottles thrown. The city’s reckless armored police vehicle, he writes as he dips briefly into the first-person plural, “mounted the sidewalk once and made a headlong pass down it, sending about 50 of us spectators diving for the dirt.”
The next day, no doubt on very little if any sleep, he produced a 1,900-word front-page story about the evening’s chaos, one that not only captures the scene with immediacy and concreteness but gives it context and lyricism. When he describes the attack of a Col. Lingo on defenseless black bystanders, he takes the time to remind us that “Col. Lingo and his men had been chafing all week at the moderation and restraint of Chief Moore and his city police.” When he notes that at dawn a police car announced that residents should “get off the God damn streets, get,” he adds with subdued irony, “but someone put a stop to that, evidently because it was Sunday and Mother’s Day.”
Included with the long piece was Portis’s sidebar about the Klan rally. Readers will recognize in it more clearly Portis the novelist, casting a gimlet eye on any organization or person that leans toward groupthink and messianism, much less notions of superiority underpinned by violence (see his novel Gringos). His report portrays the meeting and its participants as tedious and shabby rather than menacing, reserving the unkindest cut for the visiting grand dragon of Mississippi in what is my favorite line of the collection: “Everyone drifted away and the grand dragon of Mississippi disappeared grandly into the Southern night, his car engine hitting on about three cylinders.” For Portis, as his fans well know, any man who can’t even keep his car tuned is a man to be scorned indeed. An empathetic, unsentimental Southerner, Portis in this vein points himself in the same direction as his predecessors in fiction like William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and Flannery O’Connor, writers who understood deeply the milieu and did not blink in facing its contradictions.
To my mind, Portis’s complete coverage of that marathon evening is one of the great deadline reporting efforts of the civil-rights era and maybe of the second half of the 20th century. Why has it, along with his other work of that time, gone unrecognized?
For one thing, his coverage of civil rights was largely limited to that year; by November 1963, he had moved to the London bureau. Others on the beat, like Claude Sitton of The New York Times and the Herald Tribune’s own Donovan, who primarily covered the politics of the movement from Washington, D.C., rather than front lines, made the subject their life’s work, while Portis left it behind to write novels.
Another reason might have been the dubiousness with which the tactics of the so-called New Journalism were viewed. The Herald Tribune was known as a writers’ newspaper and its marketing slogan at the time was “Who Says a Good Newspaper Has to Be Dull?” The answer for a few critics was, We do. Walker Gibson, in his book Tough, Sweet & Stuffy: An Essay on American Prose Styles (1966), pointed to a Portis story about an earlier day’s action in Alabama and with horror accused the journalist of employing “the model of the novelist” (italics in the original). Gibson favors Sitton’s concurrent New York Times piece, though even he admits it may be “a little dull, considering the circumstances.”
Further, and perhaps ultimately more important, was the imminent demise of the Herald Tribune, which expired for good after frequent starts, stops, and strikes in 1967. That abrupt ending left the work of Portis for the paper—not to mention that of illustrious alumni in addition to Wolfe and Breslin, like Dorothy Thompson, Dick Schaap, Red Smith, Lewis Lapham, Virgil Thomson, and Art Buchwald—as an orphan of the eventual Internet age, consigned to microfilm, undigitized; and even so, the microfilm is scarce. Some Internet billionaire would do literature, history, and journalism a great service by funding a project to convert the Herald Tribune’s microfilm to a searchable digital archive.
Finally and most obviously, a significant reason for the obscurity of Portis’s journalism is the same one that caused his novels (other than True Grit) to go out of print for a time: what some have called his reclusiveness, perhaps more accurately described as his desire to do the work of fiction rather than talk about it or promote it. Since leaving the Herald Tribune and returning to Arkansas in 1964, he has toiled away at an oeuvre that led Ron Rosenbaum to call him “the most original, indescribable sui generis talent overlooked by literary culture in America.” Novelist Ed Park, in a long essay in The Believer in 2003, asserted that Portis has written “five remarkable, deeply entertaining novels (three of them surely masterpieces, though which three is up for debate).” Portis politely declines most interview requests, but when he has spoken to me of his time as a journalist, he modestly underplays his efforts (while stressing how well he was treated by his employers and fondly recalling talented colleagues). Perhaps for him, the practice of the newspaperman, despite his skill at it, was too much like that of the journalist ants, which “coat ... facts with a kind of nacreous glaze.” In the art of the novel, he better found his own imaginative, uncoated truth.
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Turkish Prosecutor Held Hostage Dies
A Turkish prosecutor held hostage for seven hours in an Istanbul courthouse died after being rescued by police on Tuesday, the foreign minister said on Twitter. Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz had been seriously injured in the rescue operation, which also resulted in the death of two gunmen holding him, according to police. Kiraz had been investigating the death of a 14-year-old boy at an anti-government protest in 2013 and it’s believed a Marxist revolutionary group plotted the kidnapping. “My son is dead, but let no one else die,” the boy’s father said, in an appeal to the hostage takers. The hostage takers demanded that a police officer confess to killing Berkin Elvan, who died when he was struck by a gas canister during protests.
Read it at ITV
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Tots on the Range
Where Kids as Young as 5 Learn to Shoot Automatic Weapons
After a 9-year-old accidentally killed an Arizona shooting instructor, we surveyed 58 U.S. gun ranges about age limits and what kinds of guns kids can shoot. The results may shock you.
Brandy Zadrozny
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
The accidental shooting death of a firearms instructor by a 9-year-old girl operating a fully automatic Uzi at a shooting range in White Hills, Arizona, raised a number of questions about children and firearms. Is a gun range any place for children in the first place? And should a child so young have access to such a powerful weapon?
In the wake of the August accident, gun enthusiasts were quick to claim that accidents on gun ranges are rare.
But in fact, injuries and deaths at gun ranges are incredibly common. Since the incident with the 9-year-old that attracted so much media attention, there have been at least five shootings at gun ranges—three accidental and two intentional—that resulted in three deaths and three injuries. In the last two weeks alone, a 65-year-old man accidentally shot and killed himself at a Massachusetts range; a 67-year-old man accidentally shot himself in the hand at a Maine range; Timothy Ramsuer Jr., 29, committed suicide with a gunshot to the head in front of witnesses at a Virginia range; two men were shot and injured at a Florida range during a failed attempt to unjam a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun; and a Georgia man fled to a gun range where he shot and killed himself after fatally stabbing his ex-wife.
Federal law prohibits children under 18 years of age from purchasing guns, but ownership and operation are different matters. For children under the supervision of parents, there are almost no regulations on when or what they can shoot.
The death of 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj, who accidentally shot and killed himself while firing an Uzi submachine gun at a Massachusetts gun show in 2008, prompted his home state of Connecticut to enact a law prohibiting the sale or transfer of a machine gun to anyone under the age of 16, including the temporary transfer for use in target shooting, on a shooting range, or for “any other purpose.”
According to Jon Griffin, a policy specialist at The National Conference of State Legislatures, “no states have pending legislation on this, but Mississippi introduced a bill in 2013 (SB 2765) that would have enacted a prohibition similar to Connecticut’s. The bill did not pass.” There have been reports that an Arizona lawmaker plans to introduce a similar bill in the next session.
Laura Cutilletta, a senior staff attorney at The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, didn’t know of any related laws, but noted, “We haven’t done a 50-state analysis of firing range laws, so there may be others.”
That’s not to say a lack of state law means there is no regulation, or that young children are lining up at gun ranges to fire fully automatic weapons. Rules are in place at most ranges—but they are self-imposed and rely more on the discretion of the man behind the counter or the child’s parent than any law.
To get an idea of policies throughout the country, we surveyed 58 ranges similar to the Last Stop outdoor shooting range where the most recent accident involving a child occurred. We used FindTheBest’s shooting range directory, then limited our pool to ranges that rented fully automatic machine guns. We then called the ranges on our list and asked two questions: “How old do you have to be to shoot?” and “Are there restrictions on what kind of gun kids can shoot?” For two of the ranges on our list that we were unable to reach by phone, we used information from their websites.
INTERACTIVE: Hover over markers for more from each range on their age and firearm restrictions for children.
In the most popular response, 21 of the ranges we surveyed reported no age restriction in order to shoot as long as a parent was present. That’s not to imply a parent could arm a 2-year-old with an Uzi on these ranges. Often, the age requirement was replaced by an experience requirement. Almost every range told me some version of “it depends on the child.” As for ranges that did have a specific age requirement, 13 of them reported a condition that shooters must be 8 years old, and eight ranges said shooters had to be 12 years old. Two ranges said that children as young as 5 years old would be able to shoot.
Some of the ranges gave a height requirement in lieu of an age cutoff. At Shooters Edge, in Piney Flats, Tennessee, (where a safety instructor was accidentally shot in the chest in 2011), the attendant said, “The cutoff is usually 8, but it depends. They need to be able to see over the bench.”
When it came to the type of gun kids would be able to shoot once they got there, the answers varied wildly. Almost every range stressed safety and experience. And several stated outright that children would not be permitted to shoot automatic weapons. At Nardis gun club in San Antonio, Texas, where kids have to be 8 years old to shoot, I was told, “They will not be shooting a machine gun, I can tell you that.” A representative for Burtzland Outfitters in Alliance, Ohio, said, “I don’t want to give him anything he can kill himself with.” At Sam’s Shooters Emporium in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, a child must be 12 years old to operate a machine gun.
Others put the onus on the parent. LAX Firing Range in Los Angeles told me, “It’s your child, ma'am.” Though most had no specific restrictions, almost all suggested a young or inexperienced shooter should start with a .22 rifle, maybe a pistol. Still there were a few that left the choice of firearm to the parent’s discretion. Bullet Hole Shooting Complex in San Antonio, Texas, said, “As long as a parent is there, they can shoot whatever you have,” and Allen Arms Indoor Range in Greenville, South Carolina, offered children with a parent the opportunity to shoot “anything up to” a .50 caliber machine gun.
Most of the ranges surveyed repeatedly stressed safety on the phone. Of course, as careful as gun ranges may be, and regardless of the safety lessons gun experts say they can impart, sites where the sole purpose is to practice the use of deadly weapons can be dangerous.
A simple Internet search shows that both accidents and suicides are common at many of the gun ranges included in our survey, all of which allowed children.
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Comic Talk and General Discussion *
categories > Comic Talk and General Discussion * > QUACKCAST 130 - needs your CONTRIBUTION! Subject:: You fave comicbook MOVIE
QUACKCAST 130 - needs your CONTRIBUTION! Subject:: You fave comicbook MOVIE
ozoneocean at 2:42AM, June 24, 2013
joined: 1-2-2004
Hello. Hello. HELLO!!!!!!
Banes and I want to hear from people about their fave comic book movies!
So, that's like movies based on comicbooks.
What are your faves?
We need to know!
can be superhero ones like Ironman, superman, batman, Spiderman… or stuff like Ghostworld, Scott Pilgrim, American Splendour… even animated stuff like Ghost In The Shell, Asterix, Corto Maltize, Heavy Metal… as long as it was a comic first. Just tell us!! ^_^
Just post your submissions in this thread or send recordings to ozoneocean at yahoo dot com.
Due date: Friday the 28th of Jun!
usedbooks at 12:34PM, June 25, 2013
joined: 2-24-2007
I've always had a soft spot for the 1990 Dick Tracy movie. I'm not sure why. I watched it as a kid, and it stuck with me, so I like to watch it again when I see it on. I think it was the comic-style cinematography, lighting, and color schemes that drew me to it. I never actually read the comic, btw. The only other exposure I had to the franchise was that Warner Bros. “Duck Tracy” cartoon.
I would also like to go on record as saying live action Garfield movies are a crime against humanity.
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Gunwallace at 1:30PM, June 25, 2013
(offline)
Ghostworld. Excellent movie, even if not a perfect translation of the comic book. It has a great soundtrack.
American Splendor was fun, and captured the essense of Pekar's comics … even if the overarching message seemed to be that a comic os only a success once it is made into a film.
Crumb.
Also a lot of anime, taken from managa …
Akira, one of the greatest animated movies of all time, and such a revelation when if was first released to Western audiences.
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
Even things like the 1970s live actions films of Lone Wolf and Cub and Lady Snowblood.
Oh, and Fritz the Cat, just for laughs.
David ‘Gunwallace’ Tulloch, www.virtuallycomics.com
last edited on June 25, 2013 1:35PM
SLK8ne at 1:29PM, June 26, 2013
Hm…hard to choose.
Comic books that have already been adapted:
V for Vendetta Hugo Weaving nailed the role perfectly. (and was a hero too!)
The Leage of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Solomon Kane did a really good job of showing how Kane could come to be Kane.
Banes did a good job of expounding on The Watchmen.
The Shadow some people hate it, but, I loved it. I think it was based on the comics by DC which combined the mythos of the radio program with the mythos of the pulps.
I also second Gunwallace on Akira and Ghost in the Shell
Duse Ex Machina
Comic books I'd love to see made into movies…
Helsing I'd love to see Alucard and Integra Helsing on the big screen!
Winter City an indi comic from Australia about a deranged vigilante who thinks he's the Grim Reaper. The artwork is /amazing/! http://www.winter-city.com/home/
Identity Crisis from DC. One of the JLA's family members are murdered and it's the story of how they find the killer, and how the members respond to that threat and the stress involved. (even Superman gets nervous and irratable)
gullas at 3:33PM, June 26, 2013
Just a few fromt he top of my head
Batman Begins: By far, the best in Nolan's trilogy. Great setup, kickass action, good story, loved the style of the city. A+
Thor: In late last september, I went to see this one in theater (the 3d didn't do much for me) because I was intrigued. The Marvel version of Thor isn't really a thing here, but mostly I went because I was bored. I quickly decided to watch it with neutral eyes, my friend didn't and hated what they did with the Norse mythology, and I was delightfully surprised with that movie.
Spawn: Kickass movie but it's ultimately crippled with the horrible CGI. How I whised this one would be remade with today's technology……
Also I'd like to see Preacher made into a tv-series, not into a movie. Roughly one series for each book ^^ I think it would help the with establishing viewer-character relationship. Also the side-plots that are in the comics, you can't really fit them or do them justice in a 2 - 2 1/2 hours long movie…
El Cid at 5:53PM, June 26, 2013
My favorite comic book movie, I didn't even realize WAS based on a comic when I first saw it: BLADE!!! It took all the best parts of my favorite genres and delivered a slick, gory, action-packed vampire bashfest. Loved it!
It's not an absolute rule, but generally speaking I hate it when directors try to make their movie look too much like the comic it's based on. Like with Joel Schumacher's “Batman & Robin,” where they completely ruined everything because they wanted it to look more like a comic than a movie. A lot of the things they do in comics, they do because it suits the medium. It doesn't always translate well to live action. Sometimes it works, like with the Sin City movie (which was awesome, but I didn't enjoy as much as I should have, because it followed the subject material virtually word-for-word, so I was able to literally say the lines along with the actors in some scenes). I think a big part of why that worked, though, is because the artwork on Sin City could be more of a cinematic style to begin with.
Abt_Nihil at 12:44PM, June 27, 2013
El Cid wrote:
It's not an absolute rule, but generally speaking I hate it when directors try to make their movie look too much like the comic it's based on. Like with Joel Schumacher's “Batman & Robin,” where they completely ruined everything because they wanted it to look more like a comic than a movie.
Well, I'm happy I've never seen a comic that looked as bad as Schumacher's Batman & Robin did! ;)
http://www.drunkduck.com/
Three things I'd like to mention:
(1) Anime and manga have more of a natural connection than Western comic book adaptations, which is why they usually work better (I could name so many of my favorites, but for brevity I'll just second Akira and Ghost in the Shell) AND are less interesting AS adaptations. Usually, if the manga is good, there'll be a good anime adaptation. Which is a far cry from Western adaptations, which are usually much more their own thing.
(2) The live-action adaptations of manga might be more interesting! Take a look at Space Battleship Yamamoto or Gantz, for instance! These basically struggle with much the same problems like Western comic book adaptations: They have to re-interpret the material in order to make it work for live-action… and usually, there are considerable shortcomings.
(3) Finally, I'd like to mention some of my favorites:
Batman Returns: Dark, cynical, nightmarish, over-the-top, with a beautiful sense of style, fantastic actors and one of my favorite scores ever, this isn't just my favorite comic book adaptation, but one of my all-time favorites, period.
The Dark Knight: This is the only one from the Nolan trilogy which really made sense to me. It's more consistent than the other two, and adds a lot of depth to two principal Batman villains, who I've never found more interesting than in this movie. Nolan's mix of serious crime drama and comic-book mythology is quite delicate, but in this instance, it works perfectly for me.
The Avengers: Probably an obvious choice, but I just couldn't imagine a more flawless and fun comic book adaptation than this one. Basically, the only shortcoming here is that the plot really has zero depth (which is why the two movies above still beat this one).
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John Mulaney Biography
John Mulaney is an American stand-up comedian and a writer. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about him.
Birthday: August 26, 1982
Famous: Comedians American Men
Sun Sign: Virgo
Also Known As: John Edmund Mulaney
Born in: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Famous as: Comedian
Spouse/Ex-: Annamarie Tendler (m. 2014)
father: Charles W. Mulaney Jr.
mother: Ellen Mulaney
siblings: Claire Mulaney
Annamarie Tendler
John Mulaney is an American stand-up comedian and a writer who is best known for his work in the American late-night live television show 'Saturday Night Live'. He is also an actor and a producer. He created and played the lead role in the American TV comedy series 'Mulaney', where he portrayed a fictionalized version of himself. The show was cancelled after one season because of poor reviews. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he got the opportunity to audition for his first film role when he was only seven. However, as his parents declined, his acting career was postponed. After completing his graduation he worked for some time at Comedy Central as an office assistant. He gained prominence after his work as a writer and a stand-up comedian on 'Saturday Night Live'. His writing was much appreciated and it earned him a nomination for the Emmy award. As a stand-up comedian he has also made appearances in other shows such as 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' and 'The Chris Gethard Show'. As an actor, he has played guest roles in a few shows such as 'Difficult People', an American comedy TV series which has been airing from 2015.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mulaney
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John Edmund Mulaney was born on 26th August 1982 in Chicago, Illinois, in the US. His mother Ellen Mulaney was a law professor at Northwestern University, and his father Charles W. Mulaney was an attorney as well as a partner in a law firm. He is the third of their four children.
Mulaney was an altar boy when he was young. At a very early age, he got the opportunity to audition for the lead role in the film ‘Home Alone’. However, his parents declined.
He studied at St. Clement School, and later did his graduation from Georgetown University, where he studied English literature.
Male Comedians
American Comedians
Virgo Men
John Mulaney moved to New York after completing his graduation in order to pursue a career as a comedian. However, for a few years, he worked as an office assistant for ‘Comedy Central.’ For some time, he also worked as a commentator in the comedy show ‘Best Week Ever’.
He later auditioned for ‘Saturday Night Live’, where he was able to secure a spot on the writing team. He worked for six seasons in the show, and his writing eventually got him nominated for a ‘Primetime Emmy Award’ for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. Along with a few other members of the show, he won the ‘Primetime Emmy Award’ for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics’.
He was then seen in the show ‘Important Things with Demetri Martin’. The show started airing from 2009 on the Comedy Central network. It starred comedian Demetri Martin, who in each episode, covered a different theme such as power, control, and money. The show, however, was cancelled after two seasons.
In 2010, he did multiple voice roles in the American comedy series ‘Ugly Americans’. Directed by Devin Clark, the show revolved around a man who moves into Manhattan, a city which is inhabited by several demonic species, along with humans. The show gained mostly positive reviews and was aired for two seasons.
John Mulaney appeared in several other shows as well, mostly in guest appearances. The shows he appeared in include ‘The Chris Gethard Show’, ‘Kroll Show’ and ‘The Peter Holmes Show’.
In 2014, he created, produced, as well as starred in the lead role in ‘Mulaney’, where he portrayed a fictionalized version of himself. The show received negative reviews, and was cancelled after just one season.
Since 2015, he has been serving as a writer, consulting producer as well as co-executive producer of the American mockumentary series ‘Documentary Now’. The show has been nominated for two Emmys. Other shows he has recently appeared in include ‘Lady Dynamite’ and ‘Comedy Bang! Bang!’
John Mulaney’s first significant work was seen in the comedy series ‘Best Week Ever’. The show started airing in 2004 and aired till 2014. Originally created by Fred Graver, the series featured comedians analyzing the developments of the previous week. They covered subjects like pop culture, recent happenings as well as celebrity gossip.
His role as a comedian and writer in ‘Saturday Night Live’ can be considered the most important work in his career. The show, which was created by Lorne Michaels, has been airing since 1975. The show is hugely popular in America, and has been ranked by TV Guide as the tenth most popular show of all time. Mulaney has been nominated for multiple awards for his work on the show.
He is a writer, consulting producer, and co-executive for the American mockumentary show ‘Documentary Now!’. The show has been airing since August 2015. It has earned two nominations for the Emmys, and has also been ranked by New York Times as one of the best shows of 2015.
John Mulaney’s work in ‘Saturday Night Live’ has got him nominated for the Emmy multiple times. He won the ‘Primetime Emmy Award’ in 2011 for ‘Outstanding Music and Lyrics’. His work in the show has also earned him seven nominations for the ‘Writers Guild of America’ Awards, out of which he has won two.
John Mulaney is married to makeup artist Annamarie Tendler. Their marriage took place in 2014.
Primetime Emmy Awards
2018 Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)
2011 Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics Saturday Night Live (1975)
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John Mulaney Movies
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Park Seo-joon Biography
Park Seo-joon is a famous South Korean actor. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about him.
Birthday: December 16, 1988
Nationality: South Korean
Famous: Actors South Korean Men
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Also Known As: Park Yong-gyu
Born in: Seoul, South Korea
Famous as: Actor
City: Seoul, South Korea
Park Hyung-sik
Nam Joo-hyuk
Ji Soo
Park Seo-joon is a South Korean actor who is best known for appearing in the TV series ‘She Was Pretty’, ‘Pots of Gold’, ‘Kill Me, Heal Me’, ‘One Warm Word’, ‘Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth’ and Fight for My Way. He has also acted in films like ‘Perfect Game’, ‘The Chronicles of Evil’, ‘Midnight Runners’ and ‘The Beauty Inside’. Besides these, Park has hosted the music program ‘Music Bank’ as well as the SBS Drama Awards. He has even worked in music videos for popular artists such as The One, and Kim Ji Soo. The South Korean actor is also known for showering love on his fans. He held his first ever fan meeting at Goyang Eoullimnuri Arts Center and greeted more than 2500 fans. Talking about Park’s awards and honours, he earned the ‘Best New Actor’ award at 2nd APAN Star Awards function for his performance in ‘Pots of Gold.’ He also won the ‘Best Style of the Year’ award at 7th Herald Donga Lifestyle Awards event. And there’s more to come! Park fetched the ‘New Star Award’ at the SBS Drama Awards function for his work in ‘One Warm Word.’ He has also received the MBC Drama Awards multiple times for his contribution to TV dramas ‘Kill Me, Heal Me’ and ‘She Was Pretty.’
https://www.soompi.com/2017/08/01/park-seo-joon-high-demand-advertisements-film-roles/
https://blog.kpopviral.com/post/175705867041/park-seo-joon-joins-a-new-agency-as-his-contract
https://www.change.org/p/everyone-bring-park-seo-joon-in-the-philippines
https://www.allkpop.com/article/2018/02/park-seo-joon-cast-in-upcoming-tvn-drama-why-secretary-kim
https://www.soompi.com/article/1056941wpp/park-seo-joon-confirmed-attend-2017-asia-artist-awards
https://www.soompi.com/2017/08/08/romantic-comedy-icon-park-seo-joon-reveals-love-life-like-college/
https://www.allkpop.com/article/2016/03/park-seo-joon-to-have-an-exclusive-fan-meeting-in-japan
Park Seo-joon
Park Seo-joon began his career in entertainment industry in 2011 when he appeared in the music clip of Bang Yong-guk's single titled ‘I Remember’. The same year, he appeared in the movie ‘Perfect Game’. After this, he did the TV series ‘Dream High 2’ and ‘Shut Up Family’. Then in 2013, the South Korean actor was cast in ‘Pots of Gold’, ‘Drama Festival’ and ‘One Warm Word’. During that year, he also hosted the music program ‘Music Bank’ for the network KBS2.
A year later, Park appeared as Yoon Dong-ha in the television drama ‘Witch's Romance’ as well as in The One’s music video. He also hosted SBS Drama Awards in 2014. In the year 2015, he did the movies ‘The Chronicles of Evil’ and ‘The Beauty Inside’ and also acted in the shows ‘Kill Me, Heal Me’ and ‘She Was Pretty’.
After this, Park worked in the TV series ‘Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth’. Then he was cast as Hwang Ki-joon in the flick ‘Midnight Runners’ and as Go Dong-man in the drama ‘Fight for My Way’ in 2017. Around this time, he also appeared in the music video for Kim Ji Soo’s song ‘Dream All Day’.
Sagittarius Actors
South Korean Actors
South Korean Film & Theater Personalities
Park Seo-joon was born on 16 December 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. He has two younger brothers. He enlisted for his obligatory military service in 2008 at the age of 19 and was discharged in 2010. Besides this, no other information regarding the South Korean actor is available to the media.
Sagittarius Men
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Park Seo-joon Bio As PDF
- Park Seo-joon Biography
- https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/park-seo-joon-33789.php
Park Seo-joon Movies
(South Korean)
Lee Jong-hyun
Seo Kang-joon
Yoo Seung-ho
Yeo Jin-goo
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Home > News > TFN Lands in Latin America
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TFN Lands in Latin America
Congratulations to our friends and colleagues from the Community Foundation of Colonia in Uruguay for organising the first ever TFN event in South America. Those who attended the July event in London will remember we hosted Florencia Roitstein from the ELLAS Women and Philanthropy Programme in Argentina and Andrés Thompson from the Community Foundation of Colonia in neighbouring Uruguay. Florencia and Andrés joined forces to organise the event on the 6th of November, which was attended by around 100 people including a representative of the UN, the Dean of the University of Colonia, the Mayor, business leaders and grassroots organisers.
The three projects that pitched at the event included an initiative to educate people about the need to use water wisely with a focus on Colonian hotels; another to reduce the use of plastic bags by using a reusable bag produced by the association of rural women of Colonia, and finally a project linking tourism and the community in Colonia through the creation of an app with the support of the Hotels Association.
In true Latin American style, the event featured some creative and highly effective innovations which we loved hearing about. For example, Napoleon and Gardioles who led the crowdfunding session prepared boxes with funny presents to award the first people to donate. The boxes included a pumpkin, chorizo, and a hat, to name a few funny prizes, and three local restaurants donated a dinner for two which were awarded randomly to people who gave to each of the three projects.
The event raised USD$2,500 which is very impressive considering the average salary in Uruguay is $8,400 (compared to the UK of $35,640), and which will go a long way to funding the start-up of the three projects.
Florencia described the event as “Super, happy and very much in the Latin style”, and Andrés says they will definitely do it again next year, so if you’re thinking about a trip to South America in 2019, let us know!
Good luck to partners in Palestine, Brazil and Albania who are all having first events in December. News of those events to follow!
See photos from the night here.
Eugenie Harvey, TFN International Director
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Behind the Scenes Scoop with Andrew Jupin at The Jacob Burns Film Center
Bo Burnham and Andrew Jupin in Eighth Grade
PHOTO BY ED CODY
Creating A Local & Cultural Mecca for Film Lovers of All Ages
Back in the day when I lived in the city and was child-free, I had plenty of options to see independent or foreign films. I could traipse downtown to the Angelika Film Center to catch the latest Merchant Ivory film or head crosstown to Lincoln Plaza Cinemas to immerse myself in the latest Pedro Almodovar release. There were a few other art houses and independent movie theaters that I could go to but the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza still stand out vividly in my mind.
Fast forward to a decade later and as a suburban mom with kids, I am lucky enough to live mere miles from the Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC), a five-screen cinema offering a full range of programming from films, events, community screenings, visiting artists and special guests. I like to think of it as an art house theater with 92 Street Y caliber lectures and classes all rolled into one. And although I don’t get to go there as often as I like, I have been known to sneak in an early movie while the kids are in school or plan a date night to catch an indie film with my husband. I’ve even taken my kids to Family Saturdays at the Media Arts Lab just a stone’s throw away where they’ve made amazing hands-on projects.
Programming Reigns Supreme
“The breadth of programming is what makes us so unique,” explains Andrew Jupin, a Senior Programmer at the JBFC who started working there in 2006 as a projectionist. The movie theater landscape has changed significantly in Westchester in recent years with the Saw Mill Multiplex in Hawthorne shutting down and an anticipated closing of the Greenburgh Multiplex in Elmsford later this year. In addition, new players such as ultra-luxe iPic in Dobbs Ferry and a recently renovated Bedford Playhouse have been attracting moviegoers.
But Jupin argues that seeing movies at these places is an “anonymous experience.” And he’s right. It is not uncommon to see people milling about in the JBFC lobby post-screening discussing a film they just saw. As a programmer, Jupin also works on planning director Q & As and curating films that engage moviegoers throughout Westchester. Each year more than 200,000 people visit the JBFC to see more than 400 films from over 40 countries. Since it opened in 2001, three million people have walked through the doors of this Spanish mission-style theater to see cutting-edge cinema.
Carefully Curated Series
One of Jupin’s responsibilities is programming an ongoing series called Retro Revival sponsored by Wine Enthusiast. It is now in its third year and Jupin is passionate about selecting the films that become part of the series. We discuss a recent showing of I Am Cuba and Jupin’s excitement about the movie which he dubs a “lost treasure” is palatable. “This movie from the former USSR was virtually unseen here.” Martin Scorcese and Francis Ford Coppola were champions of the film and Milestone Films had to fight legal battles to get it shown here.” Jupin loves introducing something like this to an audience. “They [the moviegoers] trust us and our selections.” Jupin likes to choose tried and true classics like It’s a Wonderful Life to offerings that are for “adventurous hardcore cinephiles.”
And Jupin is well-qualified to make those selections. He’s an adjunct professor at the School of Film and Media Studies at Purchase College and also teaches at Westchester Community College. In his spare time, he also hosts a popular weekly podcast called We Hate Movies with several friends where they discuss terrible movies. He’s seen hundreds of “trashy films” and likes the dichotomy of working at JBFC where he gets to “bring worthwhile films to an audience.”
Jupin laments that sell out crowds for a screening are often viewed as a barometer of success. “I’ve been to film screenings where there are ten people but those ten people are blown away and they want to see more films by that director or on a certain subject and they then tell their friends.” Jupin, along with other programmers at the theater, finds it incredibly rewarding when they can open their audience to new ideas or new films not seen in a mainstream moviehouse.
Two other ongoing series at the Burns include Global Watch: Crisis and Social Action and Remix: The Black Experience in Film, Media and Art. “The films in these series are often not the most easiest to watch,” Jupin says but they hold true to board member and curator Jonathan Demme’s vision of the JBFC “as a force for social change disguised as a movie theater.”
Thought-Provoking Q & As and Lectures
As part of his programming responsibilities, Jupin also conducts Q & As with filmmakers, actors or other movie industry veterans. This past year he particularly enjoyed meeting first time director Bo Burnham of Eighth Grade and Alex Winter, the director of the documentary film, The Panama Papers. “The Q & As were so different. Burnham was a former comedian and the discussion was funny and light-hearted. With Winter, we spoke about journalism ethics.”
An Economic Engine for 10570 and Beyond
Having worked in Pleasantville for more than a decade, Jupin loves the tight-knit community aspect of the neighborhood. The Inwood resident enjoys the restaurants, book store and small local shops nearby. The JBFC has strong relationships with several local businesses offering discounts to JBFC members through a program called Reel Partners. This past summer, the JBFC released a study The Economic Close-Up showcasing how it is a cultural magnet and economic driver in the region. As we look out the windows of the Media Arts Lab, there are several multi-unit condos being built within walking distance of the JBFC. In 2018, 80 units of transit-oriented housing were under construction in Pleasantville and six new restaurants had opened within the past year.
Senso Retro Revival
An Exciting Future
It is an exciting time for the JBFC with a recent Regional Economic Development Council initiative from Governor Cuomo providing $506,500 to the JBFC for capital improvements. The theater requires a lot of upkeep and they hope to use some of the funds for new seating and other things that will continue to make coming to the JBFC a top-notch experience. “A flat screen TV or a film being screened on Netflix still can’t compare with seeing a film on the big screen.” Throw in the fact that the JBFC is a true cultural and community hub and you’ll know why this five-screen theater continues to be one of the most successful suburban art houses in the country.
Jacob Burns Staff
Edie Demas, Executive Director
Edie joined the JBFC as executive director in May 2014. Previously, she worked with the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles and was Director of Education at New York’s New Victory Theater, where under her direction, its education programs were honored with the Americans for the Arts award for Arts Education. She also spent several years in Ireland, where she worked as an education officer with Graffiti Theatre Company, founded UnReel, an international film festival for young people, developed scripts for children’s film and television, and served as an Associate Artist for Education and Outreach at The Abbey Theatre. Edie holds an MA and PhD from NYU’s Program in Educational Theatre.
Dominick Balletta, Managing Director
Dominick joined the JBFC in May 2008, following seven years as General Manager of NYC’s Film Forum. Since 2011, he has served as an advisor to the DeVos Institute of Arts Management. As a producer his credits include Another Telepathic Thing and I’m Carolyn Parker, both directed by Jonathan Demme, and Moisés Kaufman’s 33 Variations, starring Jane Fonda (Tony Award nomination). He has served as a grant panelist for NEA, NYSCA, ArtsWestchester, and CEC/ArtsLink.
Brian Ackerman, Director of Programming
Brian joined the JBFC as the Founding Programming Director in 2001, which followed several years in an advisory capacity assisting the planning and development of the theaters. He designed the programming template that presents over 400 films annually to include special events, new releases, documentary, foreign-language, retrospective films, as well as thematic series, under one roof. He has worked for over 30 years in the New York cinema arts scene–building, programming, and operating art houses. He also serves on juries at film festivals including SXSW and Full Frame.
Judy Exton, Director of Development
Judy joined the JBFC as Director of Development in December 2001. Prior to this, she raised money for a number of nonprofits, including New York City Ballet, Caramoor, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Judy holds a B.A. in Communications from The College of Wooster.
Emily Keating, Director of Education
Emily has overseen the JBFC education programs since their inception in 2001. She has consulted for non-profit film centers on the development of their school programs, and has presented at many national education and literacy conferences. She is an adjunct faculty member at Pace University’s School of Education.
Sean Weiner, Director of Creative Culture
Sean received his M.F.A. from Hunter College in Integrated Media Arts and a B.A. in Cinema Studies from SUNY Purchase, where he is now a faculty member. At the JBFC, Sean is the director of Creative Culture, an initiative connecting emerging makers to creative careers through fellowship opportunities and residency programs.
Westchester Jewish Film Festival
Mark your calendars for one of the most popular film series featured at JBFC- the 18th Westchester Jewish Film Festival. The festival from April 2-17 features 42 entertaining, thought-provoking, and engaging film from documentaries to narratives. Plus, the festival will continue its tradition of bringing some of Israel’s fantastic television programming – 12 episodes of the hit comedy series The New Black (Shababniks) and all five episodes of the dystopian drama Autonomies.
The New Black (Shababniks)
This year for the first time, the festival will kick off with not one but two unique programs. One theater will showcase the New York premiere of award-winning Israeli filmmaker Yair Lev’s You Only Die Twice, a suspenseful documentary thriller with splashes of humor at just the right moments. At the same time, in another theater, we’ll screen the first four episodes of The New Black (Shababniks).
Goldas Balcony
Continuing to feature stunning new films from around the world, we’re also showing Shoah: Four Sisters by the late Claude Lanzmann, which reveals stunning footage not used in his epic 1985 masterpiece Shoah. The festival centerpiece is Golda’s Balcony, the Film, a cinematic event about Golda Meir’s extraordinary life and legacy, featuring a stellar performance by Tovah Feldshuh, who will appear at a post-screening discussion on April 6.
All this, plus a very special tribute to the Carl Reiner!
“This is our most popular series and several shows sell out, so book early,” advises Jupin.
Opening Night with RECEPTION
6:30 p.m. You Only Die Twice
7:00 p.m. The New Black (Shababniks)
Filed Under: Pleasantville Cover Stories Tagged With: Community Screenings, cultural mecca, Family Saturdays, film, film lovers, history, Independent, Jacob Burns Film Center, lectures, Media Arts Lab, Retro Revival, theater, Westchester Jewish Film Festival
Malcolm Pray Achievement Center Inspires Youth
August 29, 2018 by Ella Ilan
Housed within three nondescript white clapboard buildings resembling an old country church at the end of a long driveway at 16 Bedford Banksville Road is a magnificent collection of vintage cars at the Malcolm Pray Achievement Center. This is more than a car museum and serves a greater purpose that was both envisioned and executed by its entrepreneurial founder Malcolm Pray. It is both a celebration of success and an opportunity to visualize oneself reaching one’s dreams.
The Malcolm Pray Achievement Center is a non-profit organization that offers programs that inspire visitors towards success through a tour of an impressive automobile collection and the story of Malcolm Pray.
Malcolm Pray was an entrepreneur in automotive sales. He started as a car salesman in 1955 in Greenwich, Connecticut and eventually bought his own dealership and grew the business to six dealerships. After an amazing career, he sold his business in 1999 and conceptualized a place to showcase his collection to motivate kids to work hard just as he was motivated as a child when he first saw his dream car at the 1939 World’s Fair, a 1937 Delahaye, a car he later purchased. He passed away in 2013. The Pray Family Foundation continues running the center.
Inside the main building, besides the 1960 MG Model A Roadster just beyond the entryway, it feels as if you have stepped into someone’s grand living room. There are couches, a fireplace, a library off to the right, console tables and walls adorned with civic and humanitarian honors, “Best in Class” awards from car shows such as Concours d’Elegance, photos of Mr. Pray with ex-US presidents and well-known politicians, and framed family photos.
The Armonk Chamber’s Neal Schwartz inside the Malcolm Pray Achievment Center which recently hosted a Chamber meeting and included a fun tour.
Owning Your Handshake
Over seven thousand visitors have come to the center and each is personally greeted at the door with a handshake. As a former car salesman, Mr. Pray recognized the importance of a welcoming handshake and this was his first lesson to his guests. He taught them to own their handshake so that they would be treated seriously.
After visitors are welcomed into the center, they watch a two-minute video about Mr. Pray that talks about his passion for cars, his imperfect school record, and about his road to success after serving in the Air Force.
“My message is clear,” he says in the video, “There is nothing in life that you cannot achieve. No matter what you do you will be in the people business…and never forget–your reputation is the greatest asset that you have.”
That message is just one of the different steps to success that Mr. Pray hoped to teach his visitors. Some other steps include consider a career, educate yourself, respect your body, learn the value of money, and be organized.
Success Despite Struggles
The circumstances of his life lend special weight to his tips for success. A child of the Great Depression, he struggled in school and had a mild dyslexia, undiagnosed in his youth. Most tragically, he lost one of his four children, his 17-year old son, in a car accident in 1986. Achieving success despite these challenges makes an impression on young visitors, particularly those with their own struggles.
Executive Director Marikay Satryano tells visiting teens that have trouble relating to Mr. Pray’s ultimate success and wealth that his life only appears to look linear if you look at him working his way up from being a car salesman. “What you don’t see between those milestones are tough decisions, hard work, personal tragedy, and struggles. Not every path is linear. You have to make the moment and take that first step,” she says.
While Mr. Pray’s original intent was to inspire youngsters, his achievement center has hosted families, senior citizens and veterans. The life principles offered are relevant to anyone going through transition. Seniors grappling with what they will do in retirement, veterans trying to find their way after active duty, and adults seeking good advice to pass on to their children can benefit from a visit here.
After spending time in the main building, watching the video and discussing the steps to success, guests are led into the first garage where they experience their “aha” moment. In that first garage, they are met with some of the most significant American, British and German cars ever built. Ms. Satryano takes visitors through a fascinating twentieth century history lesson intertwined with a history of cars. Her props just happen to be rare world class automobiles.
Visits to the Malcolm Pray Achievement Center are free and by appointment only. “It’s a resource,” says Ms. Satryano, “and we want the community to know that we are here for them.”
Filed Under: Armonk Cover Stories Tagged With: Achiement, cars, Classic Cars, hidden gem, history, Malcolm Pray, Malcolm Pray Achievment Center, showcase
Area Teens Head South Together for an Eye Opening Civil Rights Trip
March 8, 2018 by Ari Silver
A view of the Edmund Pettus Bridge: site of the “Bloody Sunday” march
Last month high school juniors and seniors from Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester in Chappaqua and Antioch Baptist Church in Bedford Hills went on a three-day trip to the south to learn more about the civil rights movement and social justice. The leadership of both Antioch, a predominately African-American church, and Temple Beth El decided to make this trip together with the hope of sharing experiences and creating more conversations about this country’s history on civil rights and continued need for equality and justice. This trip was the first of its kind for both congregations, as teens joined hand-in-hand to visit, explore, and develop an even deeper understanding of civil rights.
Trip participants in Alabama
Upon arriving in Atlanta, the teens were introduced to Mr. Billy Planer, the head of Etgar 36, the organization responsible for planning the details of the trip. Etgar 36’s mission is to empower trip participants “to get involved politically and socially to create change in the world.”
The first stop on the itinerary was Montgomery, Alabama. There the teens met an attorney from the Equal Justice initiative (EJI) and learned about the injustice that exists for those on death row. Students were then invited to view the result of the EJI’s “Community Remembrance Project,” an archive and display that contains samples of dirt from different lynching sites. As a trip participant, I found this deeply moving and a wake up call that racism was widespread, had inflicted so much pain and touched the lives of so many.
An Emotional Journey
The trip had so many different layers of history and emotion. For lunch that day, trip participants ate at a local restaurant named Martha’s Place and dined on classic southern fare. The group later met Martha, the inspirational owner of the restaurant, who talked about how she bounced back from depression, suicide attempts and poverty, overcoming tremendous adversity and making a positive life for herself.
The next stop on the trip was the Rosa Parks Museum where the group learned about the bus boycotts and the use of nonviolence against violence. The group then headed to a nearby synagogue to spend Friday night Sabbath services with the local Jewish community.
Following in the Footsteps of the Bloody Sunday Marchers
The next day the group drove to Selma, where they learned about the historic march in which police and state troopers beat and used tear gas against peaceful marchers who were advocating against racial discrimination at the voting booth. Ms. Joanne Bland, an activist who marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday in 1965 met the group and talked about her experience. The group later walked towards the infamous bridge and suddenly, more than 30 students were following in the footsteps of the brave marchers who were attacked and beaten in their quest for freedom. The mood was somber and emotions were high at this pivotal moment of the trip.
Birmingham: A Hot Spot of the Civil Rights Movement
The journey continued to Birmingham, Alabama with a stop at the 16th Street Baptist Church, the site where four young girls were killed in a racially motivated bombing in 1963. After heading to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the group had the opportunity to meet Rev. Calvin Woods, a civil rights leader who was a close colleague to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Rev. Woods led the group in song and in words of healing.
The final stop of the trip was Atlanta where the group saw the AIDS Quilt and learned about the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community and the struggle for quality healthcare and education. The group then ventured to Dr. King’s resting place to pay their respects and concluded the trip with Sunday services at Dr. King’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.
An Eye Opening Experience
Max Brickman, a junior from Greeley and a member of Temple Beth El said, “The trip was a very eye-opening experience. I feel that the stories (that were told) really gave us a clear understanding of the severity and violence of segregation.” Josh Agee, a senior from Greeley who attends Antioch Baptist Church explained, “The reason I decided to go on this trip is because I felt that I needed to know more about my history. I felt that what we were learning at school did not really describe the struggles of African Americans during the civil rights era, and I thought that this trip would provide a greater insight into my history.
“The trip was far beyond my expectations. Traveling to the historic sites made me truly feel blessed. Experiencing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Martin Luther King’s historic church and the Rosa Parks Museum were informational and eye opening experiences that I will never forget.”
Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe from Temple Beth El commented, “My expectations for this trip were easily surpassed. I was deeply impressed by the way in which our students integrated with their counterparts from Antioch Baptist Church and the seriousness and maturity they displayed throughout the trip. Our students posed thoughtful questions and took every opportunity to soak in the learning and meaning of each site and encounter. I was slightly worried that the trip would be overly scheduled and academic, but these fears were easily assuaged and I came away inspired by the students.”
A stop at the Equal Justice Initiative
Filed Under: Cover Stories Tagged With: Antioch Baptist Church, Black History Month, Bloody Sunday, civil rights, Equal Justice Initiative, history, journey, Martha's Place, teenagers, Templet Beth El of Northern Westchester, tour
Civic Lessons from Chappaqua’s Historic Women
March 8, 2018 by Dana Y. Wu
Gabrielle Greeley Clendenin (1857-1937) & Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947)
2017 marked the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New York State. The New Castle Historical Society celebrated this centennial with an exploration of the women’s suffrage movement and the life of Carrie Chapman Catt, a leading suffragist and former New Castle resident. Visit the Horace Greeley House to view this special exhibition with displays of photographs and artifacts until May 26, 2018.
In honor of Women’s History Month, The Inside Press focuses on the contributions of these two historic Chappaqua women residents.
In her book What Happened, Hillary Rodham Clinton reflects on “the roles that gender, race an class play in our politics and the importance of empathy in our national life.” This commitment to equality and moral dignity connects her to two other famous women in our town whose civic actions years ago required fortitude, then as now. Like Secretary Clinton, Gabrielle Greeley Clendenin and Carrie Chapman Catt each shared a hope for future generations and harnessed her creative and emotional power in different ways to make tangible differences during her lifetime.
Source: New Castle Historical Society
Gabrielle Greeley Clendenin: A Generous Citizen
When Horace Greeley and his wife Mary both died in 1872, their youngest child, Gabrielle, was only 15. In 1882, her sister Ida died suddenly from diphtheria and Gabrielle became the sole owner of all 78 acres of the Greeley farm in the center of Chappaqua. Gabrielle lived as an independent, educated woman who chose to live in Chappaqua from 1881 until her death. She resided first in the Side Hill House which burned down in 1890 and then moved to a small house where the New Castle Town Hall is now. After she married Rev. Dr. Frank Clendenin, the rector of St. Peter’s Westchester (now in the Bronx) in 1891, they remodeled the concrete barn that Horace Greeley had proudly built 35 years earlier and gave their permanent home a biblical name, Rehoboth. Located on Aldridge Road, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Gabrielle could have had a socialite’s cosmopolitan lifestyle in New York City or capitalized on the celebrity legacy of being the attractive daughter of Horace Greeley, the influential New York Tribune founding editor/statesman/presidential candidate. Instead, Gabrielle was a charitable and generous neighbor, particularly to young women “in trouble” who were shunned by others, and personally aided her fellow citizens. She gave open house barn parties featuring traditional games and dances, held outdoor Sunday afternoon readings and book sharings under her father’s beloved evergreen grove and volunteered at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Pleasantville.
“Unlike her father, Gabrielle appears to have never involved herself in politics,” says Gray Williams, the town historian of New Castle. Gabrielle’s civic actions were aligned with her strong moral values and she concentrated her efforts to benefit the community where she lived. Starting in 1883, she donated part of her land for a right-of-way to connect Pleasantville and downtown Chappaqua along what is now South Greeley Avenue. In 1902, she provided the site for the current railroad station and its adjacent town park (Woodburn Avenue is named for her paternal grandmother). She supplied the four-acre property for the Church of St. Mary the Virgin to be the first Episcopal Church in Chappaqua after the 1903 tragic death of her 5-year-old daughter, Muriel, from tubercular meningitis. A Celtic cross commemorates both Gabrielle and her husband in the family’s burial plot at the back of the Church, just north of the grove of majestic evergreen trees that her father planted a half-century earlier.
Creating A Strong Educational System
Gabrielle’s commitment to local affairs influenced New Castle’s transformation from a farm town to a suburban commuter hamlet with a prized school district where students are encouraged to think critically and actively engage in the community. Most significantly, in 1926, Gabrielle either donated or sold on easy terms 10 acres of land which fundamentally changed the “common school” system of small one and two room buildings that only offered up to 8th grade instruction into a comprehensive school for elementary to high school instruction. Completed in 1928, the Horace Greeley School was a visual centerpiece of the town, built in native fieldstone like the Church of St. Mary the Virgin next door.
Source: NYS Museum http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/biographies/carrie-chapman-catt
Carrie Chapman Catt: A Leading Women’s Suffragist
Carrie Chapman Catt came to New Castle seeking a less hectic lifestyle as President of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA) following its greatest success, the passage of the 19th amendment by Congress. Having relentless determination and perseverance with the women’s suffrage movement since 1887 in Iowa, Catt was a leading activist, a dynamic organizer, fundraiser and a brilliant strategist. Catt founded the League of Women Voters in 1919, to provide women with the tools and knowledge for meaningfully exercising their right to vote. Believing that the political process should be rational and issue-oriented and dominated by citizens, not politicians, the League of Women Voters remains true to her ideals and promotes issues of public interest over partisan politics.
In 1919, Catt purchased Juniper Ledge, a 16-acre estate between North State and Ryder Roads in the west end of New Castle and was able to pursue her great love of gardening. An article in the New York Times on June 21, 1921 described a tradition Catt had established at Juniper Ledge of dedicating certain trees to famous suffragists. One tree, for example, was dedicated to Esther Morris, a leader in the passage of the Wyoming suffrage amendment. Another was dedicated to Maud Wood Park, who was instrumental in securing the passage of the 19th Amendment and the first president of the League of Women Voters. Juniper Ledge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a town landmark in 2011.
While 2017 did not bring the inauguration of a first female U.S. President, lessons from 1915, when a proposed suffrage amendment to the NYS constitution was defeated, remind us that the struggle for equal rights up through the present day requires active participation of countless individuals at local, state and national levels. When women gained the right to vote in New York State in 1917, Catt said, “I regard the New York victory as the very greatest victory this movement has ever had in any country.” Catt’s successful “Winning Plan” of a state-by-state approach used New York’s win to propel the federal amendment forward.
“It’s a great connection for New Castle that such an important figure in the suffrage movement lived here. As the leader of NAWSA, Catt was instrumental in putting political pressure on President Wilson to support the 19th Amendment and then mobilizing support for ratification in three-fourths of the states. She is part of a long tradition of women’s rights leaders from New York from Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Betty Freidan and Gloria Steinem,” says Mary Devane, Horace Greeley HS Social Studies Department Chair.
Pursuing Justice and World Peace
Though she enjoyed her country retreat, Catt remained politically active and pursued her twin interests of women’s rights and world peace. In 1927, to be closer to the regional headquarters of the League of Women Voters in New Rochelle, Catt left New Castle and moved to a home on Paine Avenue in New Rochelle where she continued to garden enthusiastically. In her last years, she founded the National Committee on the Cause and Cure of War, actively supported the League of Nations and championed the newly formed United Nations.
Elevating Women
Knowing how our lives connect to Gabrielle’s civic actions and Catt’s activism can help us, as current residents, to cultivate a new generation of informed citizens in Chappaqua who combine passions with actions against prejudice and inequality. As these notable women recognized the societal issues in their contemporary culture, today we can speak up, stand firm and act generously each in our own way. Their legacy in civics gives us templates for how to build a better world and elevate the status of women.
Filed Under: Chappaqua Community Tagged With: community, famous women, Greeley, Historic women, history, New Castle Historical Society
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The Voice Of Reason—How To Stand Up For Science
By: Christopher Reid
Last week I wrote an article in which I laid out a rhetorical strategy for dealing with friends and family members who believe in the so-called paranormal. I would like now to expand on one of the main themes I brought up in that column: namely, the importance of standing up for science and scientific thinking.
With yet another national election before us, the ongoing culture war will manifest in many of the social gatherings you are likely to attend and will intensify into pitched battles over the same old subjects that Americans have been fighting over for years. But debates over topics such as genetically modified crops, climate change, and evolution tend to be tribal. Arguments are rarely informed by actual facts, and are predicated instead on the ideology the person who gives them has pledged himself to.
As I have stated many times, I am a firm believer in political identity. It is right that you choose a side and fight your corner. But it doesn’t follow that you must be conscripted into the ranks of the ignorant and go around making claims that have been repeatedly demonstrated to be false.
The current rage for denying the findings of science is of a piece with ignoring or holding contempt for experts in general. It is believed that challenging expert opinion is a sign of manly independence. But doing so without an alternative theory that explains and accounts for the known factual relations of the world is about the most unmanly action you can take. There is nothing healthy, vital, and virtuous about refusing to face facts and retreating into a bubble of stupidity and irrationality. You will nevertheless encounter people who exhibit just this sort of attitude. When you do, you should step forward and be the voice of reason.
Even if you are someone who prefers not to get entangled in discussions about politics, there may be occasions when the people you’re with get on to the subject and stick to it. At such times, it is better to be prepared with a solid response rather than dodging your interlocutors by saying you don’t wish to discuss the matter.
To the commonly made claims that GM foods are unhealthy and dangerous, climate change is a hoax, and evolution is pseudo-science I offer below a summary of rebuttals.
The revolt against genetically-modified foods has been led mostly by the left. If you are ever in the company of Greens or Bernie Sanders supporters, you are likely to hear it criticized. Why certain factions of the left continue to make GM foods a subject of contention is beyond me. I think their real beef (no pun intended) is with agri-business. I think they see the latter as engaged in yet another corporate conspiracy against the health and well-being of the public. Their fears are not wholly unjustified, given what we have come to know about the tobacco and fizzy drink industries. But GM foods have been intensively studied, and there is absolutely no evidence that they cause harm in humans.
GM food farming is a perfectly rational way to feed a growing population on an increasingly hot planet. The studies that have been conducted on it, the majority of which are independent of Big Ag, show no evidence that GM farming leads to super bugs or that they in any way upend the ecosystem.
The attack on climate science comes mostly from the right. I have always found it bizarre the number of people willing to defend polluters; for the financing and inspiration for climate change denial originated with petroleum and gas and electric companies. It has now taken on a life of its own as an ideological force, as many of the big oil companies that once denied the science now accept it.
One of the more curious lines of criticism of climate change is the observation of record-breaking cold and the increased intensity and frequency of snow storms. First of all, it is important to note that climate and weather are two separate things. Second, the above observations actually prove the central thesis of global warming. If the Earth is warming, you would expect an increase of moisture in the atmosphere; and one of the consequences of such an addition is an intensification of storms and other weather phenomenon: summers become hotter, winters become colder; hurricanes and blizzards become more frequent and powerful.
The science of evolution is another favorite target of the right. Anti-evolutionists like to trash the scholarship and reputation of Charles Darwin—as though he discovered evolution. But this is perhaps the plainest sign of their ignorance. Charles Darwin’s great work, The Origin of Species, was in many ways a summary of the science of his day. To attack Darwin is to attack Charles Lyell, Alfred Russell Wallace, Erasmus Darwin, Jean-Baptise Lamarck, and many other scientists of his day.
For an easily digestible summary of why evolution is true please visit this blog. The evidence for the truth of evolution is too great and complex to go into here. I will only say that the main proof we have for it lies in the phenomenon of biodiversity and the findings of modern genetics. The fact that the DNA of living beings is so closely linked and interconnected goes a long way towards validating the hypotheses of modern evolutionary biology.
About Christopher Reid Chris was born in Washington, D.C. and lives in Britain. He works as a blogger, essayist, and novelist. His first book, Tea with Maureen, has just been published.
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What Is The Indian Energy Scenario Environmental Sciences Essay
3720 words (15 pages) Essay in Environmental Sciences
5/12/16 Environmental Sciences Reference this
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Economic growth the world over is driven by energy, whether in the form of finite resources such as coal, oil and gas or in renewable forms such as hydroelectric, wind, solar and biomass, or its converted form, electricity. This energy generation and consumption powers the nation’s industries, vehicles, homes and offices.
Energy Resource Base. Energy security depends, to a great extent, on the availability of an adequate resource base. The resource base is the sum of reserves and resources. Reserves are occurrences of all types and forms of hydrocarbon deposits, natural uranium, and thorium that are known and economically recoverable with present technologies. [23] Resources on the other hand are less certain, are not economically recoverable with present technologies, or are both. [24] In the future, with advances in technology and geophysics, many of today’s resources are likely to become reserves. Following paragraphs briefly discusses the resource base, consumption and forecast of consumption of energy for India.
India has relatively modest endowment of energy resources to increase access of energy services to its growing population and to fuel economic development. Coal and hydro electricity are India’s primary energy resources. Coal accounts for 55% of total energy demand and oil for 34 %. [25] Gas, hydropower and nuclear power make up the remainder.
Petroleum. India’s proven oil reserves as of January 2005 are at about 5 billion barrels, or about 4.5% of the world total. [26] Most of these reserves lie offshore near Mumbai and onshore in Assam state. However, exploration is still happening, and India’s off-shore and on-shore basins may contain as much as 11 billion barrels. India presently ranks as the 25th greatest producer of crude oil, accounting for about 1% of the world’s annual crude oil production. About 30% of India’s energy needs are met by oil, and more than 60% of that oil is imported. [27] A strong growth in oil demand has resulted in India’s annual petroleum consumption increasing by more than 75% from what it was a decade ago. Petroleum consumption is projected to climb to about 3 million barrels per day by 2010. An historical summary of petroleum production and consumption in India is at Appendix ‘A’.
Natural Gas. India’s natural gas reserves as of January 2005 are estimated at about 29-32 trillion cubic feet (tcf), or about 0.5% of the world total. Most of these reserves lie offshore northwest of Mumbai in the Arabian Sea and onshore in Assam state. [28] India does not yet rank in the top 20 of the world’s greatest natural gas consumers, but that will soon change. Natural gas has experienced the fastest rate of increase of any fuel in India’s primary energy supply, demand is growing at about 4.8 % per year and is forecast to rise to 1.2 tcf per year by 2010 and 1.6 (tcf) per year by 2015. An historical summary of natural gas production and consumption in India is shown in Appendix ‘B’.
Coal. India has huge proven coal reserves, estimated (as of January 2005) at more than 90 billion tons, or about 10% of the world’s total coal. [29] Most of this coal are relatively high ash bituminous coal and are located in Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh states. At the current level of production and consumption, India’s coal reserves would last more than two hundred years. India is currently the third-largest coal-producing country in the world (behind China and the United States), and accounts for about 8.5% of the world’s annual coal production. [30] India is also currently the third-largest coal consuming country (behind the China and the United States), and accounts for nearly 9% of the world’s total annual coal consumption. More than half of India’s energy needs are met by coal, and about 70% of India’s electricity generation is now fueled by coal. [31] The annual demand for coal has been steadily increasing over the past decade, and is now nearly 50% greater than it was a decade ago. Even though India is able to satisfy most of its coal demand through domestic production, less than 5% of its reserves is coking coal used by the steel industry. As a result, India’s steel industry imports coking coal, mainly from Australia and New Zealand, to meet about 25% of its annual needs. An historical summary of coal production and consumption in India is shown in Appendix ‘C’.
Hydroelectric Power. India’s installed capacity for power generation has tripled over the last 20 years and now exceeds 101,000 MWe. [32] Hydroelectric capacity represent about one-fourth of India’s total installed capacity, and overall, India is currently ranked sixth-largest in the world in that category (accounting for about 3.7% of the world’s generating capacity). There is a large amount of hydroelectric capacity in construction and planning stages, and in particular, hydropower development in the Brahmaputra river basin in eastern India is expected to result in six large power plants, which will add nearly 30,000 megawatts (MWe) of generating capacity. [33]
Nuclear Power. Being a zero-emission energy system, Nuclear Power is one of the best alternatives to Hydrocarbon based energy systems. As far as India is concerned, the present installed capacity is only 2770 MW from its 14 Reactors. [34] The safety record of the power plants has been good except for minor mishaps. India is going ahead with construction of eight other reactors details of which are given below:-
Tarapur
2 x 540 MW
Kaiga
Rawatbhata
Kudankulam
2 x 1000 MW
The installed capacity is being planned to be raised to 20,000 MW by 2020. [35] The Indian Reactors are based on Uranium-Plutonium and the reserves are currently about 34,000 tons, out of which only 44% are economically exploitable. The cost and safety factors are the issues affecting the increased harnessing of Nuclear Power.
Projected Energy Demand
Having seen the energy resource base, let us briefly examine the futuristic demand of energy in brief. India is presently the world’s sixth largest energy consumer and net energy importer. [36] India’s primary energy demand has grown over 3.6% between 1971 and 2002. In 2002, India’s total commercial primary energy consumption reached 538 mtoe (metric tons of oil equivalent). Yet India’s overall energy use of 317 kgoe (kilogram of oil equivalent) in year 2000 was low even when compared with other developing countries (China 51 kgoe, Brazil 700 kgoe). [37] Despite the low per capita energy consumption and excluding biomass which accounts for about 40 % of total primary consumption, in 2002 India accounted for more than 3% of world’s total demand of energy. [38]
However, the total demand is expected to increase by another 3.5 times in the next two decades, even under a best-case scenario that envisions intensified efforts to modernise power plants, improve transmission and distribution efficiency, and adopt more efficient generation technologies. [39] Appendix ‘D’ depicts power consumption by various sectors in 1997 compared to a business-as-usual (BAU) and an alternative scenario which is considered as the best-case scenario (BCS) for 2020. [40]
Energy Sources. The soaring demand for power will necessitate a tripling of the installed generation capacity from 101,000 to 292,000 MW over the next two decades. [41] The projected fuel mix for power generation from various sources is shown in appendix ‘E’. At least two-thirds of this power is likely to come from thermal sources, i.e. coal, oil and gas – even under the BCS. This will mean a spiralling cost for imported fuels, including coal, since even a doubling of domestic coal production would not be sufficient to meet the demand. It will also mean a surge in emission of environmental pollutants. Even under this alternative scenario, the contribution of renewable energy does not exceed 5 per cent of the total production. [42]
Hydrocarbons. The overall growth in demand for all forms of fuel mirrors the growth in the power sector. Even under the alternative scenario, total coal demand will nearly double, and both oil and gas demand will triple, as shown in Appendix ‘F’. Crude oil demand will be far in excess of domestic supply, driven largely by the transportation sector. There will be a growing dependence on imported crude oil imports. Expanding domestic production capacity will require substantial investments, while increasing dependence on imported forms of energy will increase vulnerability to fluctuations in global energy prices. The surging demand will also place an increased burden on the physical and social environments.
Natural gas supplies have stagnated and new finds are only likely to make up for reduced production from depleting fields. Natural gas demand is already in excess of supply. Domestic gas production is expected to meet around 20 per cent of the total demand, thereby requiring massive import of gas. The growth in demand for natural gas depicted in Appendix ‘G’ shows that the largest increases will be for power and industry, especially fertilizers.
Analysis of Energy Resources
The Growing Demand and Supply Disparity. The Integrated Energy Policy Report brought out by the Planning Commission estimates that under an 8 per cent GDP growth scenario, India’s total energy requirements would be in the range of 1536 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe) to 1887 mtoe by 2031. Electricity consumption is estimated to increase by 8.9 times over the period 2001-31. By 2031, the industry and residential sectors are expected to account for nearly 80 per cent of the total electricity consumption as compared to 63 per cent in 2001. Given the constraints on the availability of indigenous energy resources in the country and the burgeoning commercial energy requirements, it is inevitable that the dependence of the economy on imports for coal, oil, gas, and nuclear fuel would increase significantly in the future. Having seen the present consumption and future requirement of energy, let us now briefly examine the prospects of each of these major contributors to energy.
Oil and Gas. As observed in, the import dependency of gas in the BAU scenario increases from almost negligible levels in 2001 to around 67 per cent by 2031 [43] . Similarly import dependency of oil increases from 68 per cent in 2001 to 90 per cent by 2031, mainly on account of the rapid growth. [44] The magnitude of import dependency is dictated by the constraints imposed on infrastructural capacity (liquefied natural gas, LNG terminals and pipelines), but is likely to be even higher if adequate facilities for its import and distribution are made available. Natural gas is a preferred fuel at current prices as compared with coal for power generation and is also more economical for fertilizer production. The International Oil Market is characterized by its non linearity as far as pricing is concerned. The price of oil had sky rocketed to $ 140 a barrel in 2008, the highest ever recorded since 1983. The price of petrol has increased by 56% in last five years. During the same period crude oil prices have increased by 400%. [45] Government has planned massive imports of gas for power generation on the assumption that it would be competitive with coal. That is no longer the case with prices increasing more than double in last few years. In addition MNC groups are currently investing a total of $20 billion in Qatar in new technology plants to convert gas into oil. This technology is reckoned to be viable at an oil price of $25/ barrel which is phenomenally profitable today. These factors therefore are likely to reduce the supply of gas in the world market drastically making those overly dependent on gas highly vulnerable both in terms of availability as well as price.
Today close to 58% of our import bill consists of POL imports. Because of this India is spending more and more of its hard earned foreign exchange on POL. Apart from strategic issues of securing continuous supply of oil, there are complex issues of refining, transportation and distribution. All this require considerable technical and financial resources as also diplomatic skills and political assets in clinching deals. The fast rising scramble for oil and gas underlines the urgency for India to devise alternative energy strategies that do not depend on oil.
Coal. The key functions of the MoC are mainly exercised through Coal India Ltd (CIL) which is the world’s largest coal company. CIL’s operations are characterized by low productivity levels, distribution problems and increased threat from less expensive overseas coal. Demand and supply imperatives are also increasing as time goes by, forcing India to import coal. The projected demand for coal is likely to be in excess of 1020 MT by 2020 against an estimated production of 800 MT. [46] The total coal import dependency (percentage of imported fuel to total fuel consumption) increases from 3 per cent to 70 per cent from 2001-31. [47] .
The decreasing production and increasing import dependency trend is clearly discernable. The increasing environmental and ecological concerns are also affecting use of coal as an energy source. The mounting deficits will lead to production constraints in sectors that are contingent upon availability of coal. Another important factor is the minimal availability of ‘coking coal’ used by the steel industry, which is less than 5% of the Indian coal reserves. As a result, India’s basic infrastructure industry, i.e., steel is dependent on imported coking coal, mainly from Australia and New Zealand, to meet about 25% of its annual needs. [48] Hence India can hardly afford to base its future energy strategy totally on coal.
Hydroelectric Power. Hydroelectric power constitutes one of the predominant sources of renewable energy in India. As of now, about one-fifth of India’s total electricity is based on hydroelectric power and the potential is estimated to be as much as 1, 50,000 MWe, with another 90,000 MWe possible for pumped storage capacity. [49] India’s 10th five-year plan, which runs runs, cost over runs, environmental wrangles and inefficiency of the power plant operation itself. The installed capacity was only 29,625 MW as on 31 July 04 but the through 2007, calls for 10% of all new capacity to come from renewable energy sources, and almost all of it from hydroelectric. [50] The Indian hydro electric power scene is plagued by time over energy generation was only 74 BU. [51] A balance needs to be also maintained between environmental and energy requirements, which if not done is going to affect mega projects like Narmada Sagar Project in Madhya Pradesh, Tehri Project in Uttaranchal and the 11,000 MW Dihang Upper project in Arunachal Pradesh.
Non Conventional Sources of Energy
Solar Energy. Geographic location wise, India can harness solar energy in an effective way. So far, photovoltaic (PV) generation has been limited to small installations, generating a total of about 1748 MWe. [52] Most of these are stand-alone installations, but there are 17 grid-interactive PV installations that supply a total of about 1.4 MW to the electricity grid during daylight hours. PV is suitable for isolated rural areas, where access to electricity via power lines is not available. There are plans for additional PV power plants in India; the largest being the twin 60 MWe PV facilities in Bihar state. The key issue with Solar Power Generation is the cost of the PV cells which is subsidized to a great extent and their energy efficiency, which is only 15-20%. [53] Considerable amount of research and investment is required to tap the potential of solar energy; moreover it can not in itself bridge the burgeoning gap between energy demand and availability.
Wind Power. India is the fourth biggest producer of wind energy, but its contribution to total energy produced is miniscule 1.6%. [54] Wind power installed capacity is now more than 1,700 MW, with almost all of the capacity located in the South India. While the current production is about 9000 MW a year, the ministry of New and Renewable Energy has fixed a target of adding another 10,500 MW by 2012. Wind power farms are made up of numerous small units, each generating an incremental amount of electricity. The lone exception is Suzlon Energy Ltd.’s Vankusawade Wind Park, located in Maharashtra, which uses 350 KW wind generators. This Park is presently the world’s largest wind power facility. The Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources has estimated that the gross wind power potential of India at about 45,000 MW and has identified more than 200 sites, especially in the southern states. It is pertinent that in spite of having big aims, on ground there is only 6000 MW of additional generating capacity till 2012. [55] Wind Power is dependent a lot on seasonal weather and is dependent on geographical location. As seen above, it has limited ability of energy production. Further, it requires considerable capital investment and infrastructure development. This takes lot of time to fructify. Wind Power, from being a pilot technology, needs to have an integrated approach for future development.
Geothermal Power. For power generating purposes, the overall geothermal potential of India is about 10,000 MW. There are seven main geothermal regions in India, which contain a total of about 400 thermal springs. The major geothermal area is the Son-Narmada-Tapi (SONATA) rift zone, which follows the Narmada river valley from Gujarat into Madhya Pradesh, and then continues into eastern India. As far as India is concerned, the technology is at a pilot stage.
Biomass. The Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources estimates India’s biomass energy potential at nearly 20,000 MW, with 16,000 MW from biomass and 3,500 MW from cogeneration (i.e., combined heat and power) plants using bagasse from sugar mills. The emergence of ethanol extracted from molasses and biodiesel (Jatropha plant) as an alternative fuel has created a new category of energy supply, which is renewable and agriculture based but not traditionally ‘non-commercial’ as agricultural residue and biomass are considered today. [56] About 40 cogeneration projects capable of generating 280 MW and 30 biomass projects capable of generating 140 MW have been commissioned in India to date. Nearly 500 MW of additional generating capacity is under construction. [57] In spite of these advantages, bio fuel has a great disadvantage that it is crop dependent. Moreover, ethanol produced in India is made of molasses, a by product of sugar industry. This is less profitable process as compared to Brazil’s, which produces ethanol directly from sugarcane. India has potential for biomass and needs to exploit it fruitfully. This requires a change of mindset at higher political echelons, political will to bring about the change and industrial participation for development of biomass/ bio fuel based energy projects. It also requires infusion of capital. The biggest disadvantage of it is that, India has limited cultivable land and if we shift to production of biomass/ bio fuel based crops we may face food security, which is already looming large over India.
Nuclear. The development of nuclear power generation is the most important strand in India’s quest for energy security. As is clear from above statistics, India has little choice. Known fossil fuel reserves at home are limited. There is a measure of insecurity in relying inordinately on cross-border supplies for a country ocean-locked on three sides and ringed by prickly neighbours on land. Bringing more domestic hydrocarbon and renewable resources on stream will not only take time, but even in the best case scenario will not achieve self sufficiency. In the context of global warming, ‘cleaner’ nuclear power clearly has a major role in the country’s energy mix.
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Forensic Science: Busting Crimes under the Microscope
Sheri Croll December 11, 2018
Law enforcement isn’t the only sector on top of fighting crime. Outside of the immediate scene of the crime and the courtroom, much of the race to determine the true nature of a crime, the motive, and the perpetrator happens in the forensics laboratory. Popularized in the mainstream by movies like L.A. Confidential and the TV series CSI, the field of forensic science has garnered increasing interest among the general public. People have grown curious about what constitutes a forensic scientist’s job, and how he or she will solve that difficult puzzle of what truly went down at the scene of the crime.
Forensic scientists hew to this method: (1) accurately reconstructing the timeline and the circumstances in which a particular crime occurred, (2) singling out the unique traces left behind on the scene, and (3) drawing a conclusion based on thorough examination and careful analysis. Occupying a central role in all of this is modern microscopy.
Interested in zeroing in on what’s under the surface, all with the same calm and cool perspective of Gil Grissom? Read on for a clearer picture on forensic microscopy, new microscopic technologies, and how a forensic scientist develops their frame of mind.
Sleuthing with Modern Forensic Microscopy
Each of those tasked by the citizenry to combat crime will do so with special tools at their disposal. Cops typically wield pistols and bulletproof vests, while lawyers come to the courtroom with all the necessary legal work in their briefcases. Conversely, it is microscopic tools, techniques, and approaches that form a forensic scientist’s crime-busting arsenal. He or she will use the microscope as an analytical tool to study trace evidence, which can come in the form of fingerprints, used bullets, human hair, blood splatters, pieces of fabric, and the like.
In the forensic lab, trace evidence is magnified in great detail through a microscope, identified for what it is, and compared to other samples of importance. Different types of microscopes typically used in a forensic lab are a compound microscope, stereomicroscope (two compound microscopes aligned side-by-side at a fixed visual angle), and powerful polarized light microscope; the usage of these different types depends on the nature of the specimen to be studied. Moreover, modern microscopea in a forensics lab might come outfitted with motion components like linear stages for precision positioning, which allows for the accurate translation of optics and samples for proper focusing.
What accounts for this breadth of new microscopic technologies, and the corresponding need to populate a forensics lab with up-to-date implements? It’s the hard truth that criminals evolve their methods with the times, and there’s a risk that they have become even smarter about cleaning up after themselves. The various breakthroughs in microscopic technologies afford those in the lab a clearer, more magnified perspective of what could have happened in each crime scene. In such high-stakes situations, it’s the good guys who need to have the upper hand.
A Mindset for Solving Crime
It isn’t just the tool itself that matters to forensic microscopy; the solution of each mystery also lies in the skill, knowledge, and technical mastery of the forensic scientist who serves as the microscope’s operator.
Some of the knowledge that a forensic scientist would need in order to maximize this high level of microscopic technology are the following:
An understanding of optics, or the rules that govern how each image of trace evidence is formed;
Knowledge in optical crystallography and mineralogy, which enables a thorough comparison of materials like the sand and soil on the crime scene;
Mastery of microchemical analysis methods, for a study of each sample’s elemental and chemical composition;
Knowledge of the morphological characteristics, as well as chemical properties, of common forms of evidence like human hair, animal hair, fiber, pollen, and the like, and;
Absolute proficiency in preparing each kind of sample for study under the instrument.
Thus, updated microscopic technology, paired with a forensic scientist’s human expertise, are behind the true success of each crime-busting phase that takes place in the forensics lab.
Conclusion: The Power of Science, Practical Action, and Swift Justice
For the wide potential it encompasses, forensic science is only one part of the equation to solving crime. It acts as a supplement to local law enforcement and the justice system. A triumph to one sector must translate into a triumph for all.
Let’s celebrate the good work done by each of these crime-fighting parties in recreating the circumstances of each crime, bringing the perpetrators to justice, and narrowing the threshold for future occurrence of wrongdoing.
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UMAC Feature: Northwestern's Dr....
Athletics, Leadership, UNW News
UMAC Feature: Northwestern's Dr. Cureton shines in NCAA leadership role
By Sara Eisenhauer, UMAC Assistant Commissioner on Wednesday, March 22, 2017
By Sara Eisenhauer, UMAC Assistant Commissioner
In the ever-changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics, higher education and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), there are few opportunities to positively influence, shape and lead a membership of many institutions with varying philosophies and values.
This is especially difficult in Division III. Though the NCAA's largest division has proven in difficult times to adhere to its values and philosophy, having a meaningful and influential voice in the governance structure and process for creating change can feel difficult when the membership consists of 450-plus institutions and 43 conferences.
Division III has shown in recent years that strong involvement and leadership at the national level from institutional presidents and chancellors is a recipe for success, though. Fortunately, for the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), member institutions can rest easy that their voices are being heard and are helping influence change during a critical time in the history of the Association.
For the last five years, University of Northwestern President Dr. Alan S. Cureton has served as a member of the Division III Presidents Council spending the last two as the chair of the Division's most influential and highest-ranking committee. Additionally, as chair and in his previous role as vice-chair, Dr. Cureton has spent three years on the NCAA Board of Governors (BOG)— the top decision-making body in the entire Association structure.
Through these roles, Dr. Cureton has been on the forefront of making critical decisions and forming policies that impact Division III and the entire NCAA membership. Having the ability to affect change at the highest level has been the most enjoyable part of his responsibilities on both governing bodies.
"What I enjoy is being able to influence and shape policy and introduce new legislation—to be part of the discussion on what the composition of the Board of Governors could be, should be, may be," Dr. Cureton said. "I'm delighted that I have a voice at the table, that Northwestern has a voice at the table and that the UMAC has a voice at the table, which is all part of pushing forth our mission and our purpose."
While serving on the Board of Governors, Dr. Cureton was integral in the latest push to ensure fair representation for all three NCAA divisions in the Association. With recent governance and administrative restructuring at the Division I level, there was growing concern that the current composition of the Board of Governors no longer accurately and fairly represented all three divisions.
As part of a sub-committee charged with examining the composition of the Board, Dr. Cureton worked to develop a proposal that would change the number of representatives per division and ensure Division II and III had an equal voice. However, the proposal was met with resistance and, at this time, a change may not happen.
This fall, Dr. Cureton utilized connections he developed through his service on the Presidents Council to build support for a Division III proposal that would legislate a change in the composition. The UMAC co-sponsored a proposal calling for restructuring of the Board, but it was later removed due to association bylaws that only allows the BOG to recommend a change in its membership.
The momentum from the proposal and support from Division III forced the BOG to reconsider a potential change to the composition of the Board. The process is still on-going with a resolution expected at the Spring 2017 BOG meeting.
Dr. Cureton's persistence and commitment to Division III has ensured that all members and divisions of the Association will continue to have influence during a time when so much public attention and internal efforts from the Association focus on Division I.
With Dr. Cureton's involvement in this upcoming change and his leadership over the last few years, the UMAC has seen greater exposure at the national level and continues to expand its scope of influence within Division III.
"What I've been really pleased with (in being chair) is the opportunity to serve the UMAC and to let people know about the conference," said Cureton. "Since we're such a young conference within the NCAA, (it is an opportunity) to gain exposure and to be recognizable as a viable conference, as a legitimate conference and as one that is growing in stature, exposure and strength."
UMAC Commissioner Corey Borchardt also feels Dr. Cureton's role in the NCAA has helped elevate the conference on a national level and emphasizes the significance and impact of his leadership. "Dr. Cureton serving in such a critical and prominent role within the landscape of the NCAA and Division III is very significant for our conference," said Borchardt.
"There are Division III conferences that have never had a president occupy the Chair position of the NCAA Division III Council of Presidents. Thus, the UMAC is privileged to have Dr. Cureton representing our conference in this capacity. Given our league is not even a decade old in NCAA Division III membership, his leadership appointments speak volumes to the credibility and respect that Dr. Cureton carries not just regionally but nationally."
Additionally, Dr. Cureton recognizes that his service on the Presidents' Council has not only been positive for the growing UMAC, but also for Northwestern as it continues to develop and strengthen as an institution both academically and athletically.
"It's been good for me to be in this position," said Dr. Cureton, "to have that recognition of Northwestern and its role and involvement in the formation of policies, the creation of dialogue and debate of where Division III goes"... it has given Northwestern a great role and visibility and affirmation."
The UMAC and Northwestern were on full display at the annual NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, in January, as Dr. Cureton played perhaps the biggest role at the multi-day gathering of administrators, faculty, staff and presidents and chancellors for all three NCAA divisions.
As the chair of the Division III Presidents Council, Dr. Cureton was a key part of the most important sessions throughout the Convention. He kicked off the Convention on stage with NCAA President Dr. Mark Emmert at the Opening Business Session. Dr. Cureton and the chairs of both the Division I and II councils—as well as leaders from all three divisional national Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC)—participated in a question and answer session regarding the state of each division. Dr. Cureton addressed the future of Division III and a need continually commit to diversity, inclusion and improving the student-athlete experience to ensure the philosophy of the division continues to drive decisions and policy.
Throughout the Convention, Dr. Cureton engaged in numerous leadership and governance meetings leading up to the two key Division III sessions. First, Dr. Cureton provided an update from the Presidents Council at the Division III Issues Forum. He addressed the Council's work in a variety of areas including health and safety and budgeting for the division. Most importantly, Dr. Cureton addressed the work toward change in the Board of Governors during an open forum.
Dr. Cureton also led the Division III Business Session—the most critical piece of the Convention. During the session, he was responsible for introducing legislative proposals from the membership that were discussed and voted on by the membership.
Only one proposal failed to pass the membership vote, due in large part to the strong voice and influence of the Presidents Council. The group strongly opposed a proposal that would change transfer student eligibility and allow graduate students with remaining athletics eligibility to compete at an institution different from their undergraduate institution. The presidential voice felt the proposal did not fit with the Division III philosophy that emphasizes a four-year undergraduate experience.
Several institutional presidents and the Presidents Council spoke out against the proposal at the Issues Forum and on the floor of the Division III Business Session, which seemed to have a considerable impact on the final vote as it was defeated 291-179. The outcome shows the strength and importance of the presidential voice in the NCAA governance process.
"I believe it is absolutely critical for presidents to be involved with the NCAA because the membership of the Association drives the agenda," said Dr. Cureton. "We need to have presidents involved in the creation, formation and evaluation of all the policies that deal with the student-athlete experience to make sure it stays on course with the educational commitment and philosophy of the Association, especially in Division III as we accentuate the academic as well as the athletic simultaneously."
Following the conclusion of voting, the Division III membership recognized Dr. Cureton for serving in the capacity of Chair of the Presidents Council and the invaluable work and change he helped perpetuate for the division. Though the UMAC has benefitted from Dr. Cureton's leadership during his time in his NCAA role, his impact on intercollegiate athletics—at all levels—will continue for years to come.
"(Dr. Cureton) has been an incredible representative of the UMAC and the success of his leadership during his tenure as the Chair of the Division III Presidents Council has made a positive impact on the identity and advancement of our conference," said Borchardt. "The UMAC has benefited tremendously from Dr. Cureton not just leading the Division III Council of Presidents, but also from his inclusion and involvement with the NCAA Board of Governors."
"To ensure that our conference has a voice and a vote at the highest level of governance in the NCAA structure is very fortunate. Beyond the outstanding visibility Dr. Cureton has afforded the UMAC through his NCAA leadership work, our conference has also been privy to the key developments within the Association and garnered greater insight to the dialogue and decisions that continue to shape intercollegiate athletics."
The original article can be found at umacathletics.com
Also check out our UNW Athletics: Watch games, see schedules, and read about our players and coaches.
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Canada allows extradition case against Huawei CFO to proceed
TORONTO — Canada said Friday it will allow the U.S. extradition case against Chinese Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to proceed.
Canadian Department of Justice officials issued a statement saying they diligently reviewed the evidence and the case can go ahead.
Meng is due in court on March 6, at which time a date for her extradition hearing will be set. The decision to proceed is a formality and allows a judge to hear arguments on whether to grant the U.S. request.
Canada arrested the daughter of Huawei’s founder at the request of the U.S. on Dec. 1 at Vancouver’s airport. Meng is wanted on fraud charges that she misled banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran.
“There is sufficient evidence to be put before an extradition judge for decision,” the statement said.
The statement took pains to stress Canada is following its extradition laws. Ultimately, Canada’s justice minister must decide if Meng is extradited.
The case set off a diplomatic furor among the three countries, complicated high-stakes U.S.-China trade talks and damaged Beijing’s relations with Ottawa.
China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor on Dec. 10 in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng. A Chinese court also sentenced a Canadian to death in a sudden retrial, overturning a 15-year prison term handed down earlier. Kovrig and Spavor haven’t had access to a lawyer since being arrested.
Meng is out on bail in Canada and living in one of her two Vancouver mansions awaiting extradition proceedings.
David Martin, Meng’s lawyer, said in a statement: “We are disappointed that the Minister of Justice has decided to issue an Authority to Proceed in the face of the political nature of the U.S. charges and where the President of the United States has repeatedly stated that he would interfere in Ms. Meng’s case if he thought it would assist the U.S negotiations with China over a trade deal.”
Martin also said the charges against Meng are not crimes in Canada and that his client maintains her innocence.
China’s embassy in Ottawa also blasted the decision.
“The Chinese side is utterly dissatisfied,” the embassy said in a statement. “This is not a merely judicial case, but a political persecution against a Chinese high-tech enterprise. The subsequent developments have proved this. The so-called “rule of law” and “judicial independence” asserted by Canada cannot cover up the mistakes made by the Canadian side on the case of Meng Wanzhou.”
Huawei, the biggest global supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies, is a focus of U.S. security concerns. Washington has pressured other countries to limit use of its technology, warning they could be opening themselves up to surveillance and theft of information.
The U.S. and China have tried to keep Meng’s case separate from their wider trade dispute, but President Donald Trump has undercut that intent, saying he would consider intervening in the case against Meng if it would be in the interest of U.S. national security or help forge a trade deal with Beijing.
“Judging from the obvious political interference presented on this case, if Canada really abides by the principle of rule of law and judiciary independence, the Canadian side should refuse the extradition request of the United States and immediately release Ms. Meng Wanzhou in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Extradition Act of Canada,” the Chinese embassy added.
“The final result of the Canadian court to handle this case will be a touchstone for testing whether Canada adheres to the judicial independence or not. We will wait and see.”
Rob Gillies, The Associated Press
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USCIB Applauds President’s Executive Order to Streamline Imports and Exports for American Workers and Business
Washington D.C., February 20, 2014 – The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) was pleased to see an executive order from President Obama released on February 19, 2014 that will simplify the export/import process for America’s businesses by streamlining the flow of goods across borders. The order is timely as it comes on the heels of the historic World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement, in whose negotiation the U.S. played an integral role. The Trade Facilitation Agreement is a binding commitment that will precipitate quicker movement, release and clearance of goods between WTO member countries.
The Executive Order mandates the completion of an International Trade Data System (ITDS), a system that streamlines the way executive departments and agencies interact with traders, by the end of 2016. ITDS will reduce paperwork for U.S. companies in global markets and will help create new jobs at home and abroad for Americans.
“We applaud the president for issuing this executive order, which promotes job creation and paves the way for further trade facilitation,” USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson said. “In light of the WTO’s recent Trade Facilitation Agreement, we believe this action demonstrates the U.S.’ continued commitment to harmonizing the trade process and to leading the effort to implement twenty-first century changes. The executive order cuts through red tape which will allow U.S. business to be more successful in global markets.”
The executive order also creates an opportunity for Congress to pass Customs Reauthorization language that will further simplify and update customs procedures which helps American business at home and abroad. Bipartisan language was introduced in the House and Senate last year. By passing this legislation, it will further demonstrate our leadership in implementing the agreement and will set global standards that strengthen communication and transparency throughout the global customs process.
About USCIB:
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world. With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More at www.uscib.org.
Jonathan Huneke, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043 (office), +1 917.420.0039 (mobile), jhuneke@uscib.org
More on USCIB’s Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee
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Staff Contact: Jonathan Huneke
VP, Communications and Public Affairs
Jonathan Huneke is responsible for USCIB’s strategic communications, including media relations, publications, online content and high-level public events. He also manages the work of USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee.
USCIB Applauds Approval of OECD Principles on Artificial Intelligence
USCIB applauds the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) approval on May 22 of[...]
Nobody Wins in Escalation of U.S.-China Trade Fight, Says USCIB
USCIB appealed to the U.S. and China to ratchet down their trade fight after the[...]
Global Business Endorses the ICN Framework for Competition Agency Procedures
The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Association of[...]
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USCIB has put forward a business roadmap for the World Trade Organization's future.[...]
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versace: american crime story Jan. 11, 2018
The Versace Family Continues to Distance Itself From American Crime Story
By Jackson McHenry@McHenryJD
Penélope Cruz as Donatella Versace. Photo: FX Networks.
Though one might think it would be flattering to have your family members played by Penélope Cruz and Édgar Ramírez, the Versaces are no fans of the upcoming season of American Crime Story. On Monday, the family issued a statement criticizing the upcoming season, saying, “The Versace family has neither authorized nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming TV series about the death of Mr. Gianni Versace,” and slamming the book on which it is based, Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth. “This TV series should only be considered as a work of fiction,” the family wrote.
This, however, has not stopped the drama from escalating. After producer Ryan Murphy defended the series on Tuesday, insisting that “it is not a work of fiction,” the Versace family put out a second, longer statement on Wednesday condemning both the series and the “bogus” book Vulgar Favors. “The company producing the series claims it is relying on a book by Maureen Orth, but the Orth book itself is full of gossip and speculation,” the family wrote. “Orth never received any information from the Versace family and she has no basis to make claims about the intimate personal life of Gianni Versace or other family members.” In the new statement, the family criticizes one point of fact in specific, saying that Orth “makes assertions about Gianni Versace’s medical condition based on a person who claims he reviewed a post-mortem test result, but she admits it would have been illegal for the person to have reviewed the report in the first place (if it existed at all).” The phrase “medical condition” is a reference to Orth’s claim in Vulgar Favors that Gianni Versace was HIV positive at the time of his death. American Crime Story also depicts Gianni as HIV positive and has the character seek treatment in one episode.
In his previous defense of the series, Ryan Murphy stood by Orth’s reporting. “Versace is based on a non-fiction book by Maureen Orth that has been discussed and dissected and vetted for close to 20 years,” he explained. “She worked for Vanity Fair. Maureen Orth is an impeccable reporter and we stand by her reporting. Our show is based on her reporting so, in that way, it is not a work of fiction, it’s a work of non-fiction obviously with docudrama elements. We’re not making a documentary.” In a surreal twist, Murphy also added that Donatella Versace sent Penélope Cruz, who plays her in the series, a flower arrangement to say good luck before the Golden Globes this Sunday. It might be awkward the next time they see each other.
The Versace Family Continues to Condemn American Crime Story
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Washington DC Injury Lawyer Blog
Published By Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers
Vadim A. Mzhen
Angelica A. Carliner
Rebecca A. Riger
Former College Football Player Sues University for Long-Term Injuries
August 20, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen
Earlier this month, a former football player for the University of California, Berkeley, has filed suit against the regents of the University, as well as several others, seeking damages for the long-term injuries he sustained as a result of his participation in the school’s football program. According to a local California news report, Bernard Hicks played in the position of safety for the Golden Bears for a period of about four years between 2004 and 2008. In all, Hicks played 32 games with the team.
Evidently, during his tenure with the team, Hicks suffered numerous concussions during both games and practices. After leaving the team in 2008, Hicks alleges that he suffered from permanent and debilitating injuries, including depression, suicidal thoughts, memory loss, and problems with his vision.
The lawsuit, which also names the school’s head coach and athletic trainer, claims that the school should have been more proactive in educating the players regarding the long-term risks of neurological damage associated with participating in a high-impact sport such as football. Hicks claims that, had he been properly educated about the risks involved, he would have not participated or at least taken off more time in between games to allow himself to heal.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and High-Impact Sports
It has been known for some time now that repeated head or spinal cord injuries can result in long-term neurological damage. One of the more severe diagnoses that can result from repeated head traumas is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE. CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain that is often found in athletes who participated in high-impact sports. The disease can only be diagnosed post-mortem, so it is impossible to say a living person has CTE. However, doctors can provide probable diagnoses by looking for the symptoms of CTE, including:
Memory loss,
Impaired judgment,
Suicidal thoughts,
Aggression, and eventually
Dementia.
Mr. Hicks’ lawsuit is similar in nature to one filed against the National Football League by thousands of former players, many of whom claimed to have suffered similar symptoms to those alleged above. That lawsuit resulted in years of litigation and was just recently resolved earlier this year, when the NFL agreed to pay out some $765 million in damages to former players and their families.
Have You Suffered as a Result of Your Participation in a High-Impact Sport?
If you or a loved one has recently suffered similar symptoms to those listed above, and you believe that they may have been caused by participation in a high-impact sport such as football, you may be entitled to monetary compensation to help you cover the costs of the medical care you have received in the past and also what you may need in the future. The skilled personal injury advocates at the Washington D.C. injury law firm of Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers. have decades of combined experience holding negligent parties responsible for the injuries they caused to their clients. To learn more about these types of lawsuits, and to set up a free consultation with an attorney to discuss your case, call 410-654-3600 today.
More Blog Posts:
New Study Finds Washington D.C. Most Lenient Jurisdiction for Drunk Drivers, Washington DC Injury Lawyer Blog, July 9, 2015
Investigation Continues in Accident that Seriously Injured Comedian Tracy Morgan and Killed One Other, Washington DC Injury Lawyer Blog, August 13, 2015
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Will Washington D.C. Courts Uphold Releases of Liability? July 12, 2019
Do Washington, D.C. Landowners Have a Duty to Fix Obvious Hazards on Their Property? July 4, 2019
Can a Washington, D.C. Plaintiff Recover after Slipping and Falling on the Property of a Friend or Family Member? June 26, 2019
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All of the cases identified in the Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers website under Our Successes are cases that Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers has handled for its clients, sometimes with co-counsel. Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers does not represent any of the clients in cases mentioned in our blog. Our law firm is reporting on current events that will likely be of interest to our readers. The content provided is not intended as legal advice.
Our past results are not a guarantee of future results, and they should not be used to predict an outcome in any future case or matter. The merits of each case must be determined based upon the facts and the applicable law of each particular case. Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers is a law firm with lawyers licensed to practice law in the State of Maryland, and a lawyer licensed to practice law in Washington, D.C.
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Everything you need to know about the VA — and the scandals engulfing it
By Katie Zezima
Katie Zezima
National reporter covering vice
President Obama on Friday accepted the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who took responsibility for a report that confirmed allegations of long wait times and false record-keeping at the VA.
Announcing the change at the White House, Obama said that Shinseki "does not want to be a distraction, because his priority is to fix the problem and make sure our vets are getting the care that they need. That was Ric’s judgment on behalf of his fellow veterans. And I agree. We don’t have time for distractions; we need to fix the problem."
Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Sloan D. Gibson will replace Shinseki on an interim basis.
Shinseki, whom Obama lauded as "good person who’s done exemplary work on our behalf," publicly apologized hours before submitting his resignation. Shinseki said the "breach of integrity" described in the report is "indefensible and unacceptable to me."
What is the VA?
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs handles three major categories for America's veterans: medical care, benefits and burials/memorials. We will take a closer look at the medical system, the target of the report and allegations, and benefits system, which has been plagued by a significant backlog for years. Reports of problems have been dogging the VA for years, as have calls for fixing the system. Obama has been talking for years about rehabbing the VA and getting troops the care they deserve.
"This is not a new issue to the president," White House press secretary Jay Carney said. Obama first addressed the allegations last week, ordering deputies to complete a review of the system within a month and saying that he "will not stand for" veterans receiving substandard care.
How does the VA medical system work?
According to Edward Lilley, a senior field service representative at the American Legion, once a veteran is discharged from the armed services, he or she must enroll in the VA system by calling a toll-free number, going to a clinic or applying online. Veterans must have their discharge forms — known as a DD214 — to start the process. Veterans go through a means test each year — a review of financial information to determine the priority group for enrollment and whether that person is able to make a co-pay. New patients are supposed to see a doctor within 14 days after their paperwork is accepted, Lilley said, and existing patients are supposed to see a doctor between 14 and 30 days after requesting an appointment. But that does not seem to be happening in many places and is at the crux of the scandal.
Robert Petzel, the VA's top official for health affairs, resigned earlier this month. He testified that he knew health clinics were using inappropriate scheduling procedures as early as 2010.
"I cannot say many bad things about the quality of care," said Katrina J. Eagle, a San Diego veterans lawyer. "It’s access to care that does seem to be the biggest problem across the board."
What are the allegations?
An interim independent report by the VA's inspector general found that officials falsified records at a medical center in Phoenix, hiding the amount of time that veterans had to wait for medical appointments. According to the report 1,700 veterans were kept on such waiting lists and veterans waited an average of 115 days for an initial primary care appointment.
There have been claims of false record-keeping and long waiting lists for care at VA facilities across the country; the report called inappropriate scheduling "systemic" within the system. In some places, veterans have died while waiting for care, though there is no known link between the deaths and delays. Other allegations include an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at a VA hospital and a mismanaged gastroenterology program that delayed treatment to veterans.
"We didn't conclude, so far, that the delay caused the death," said VA Inspector General Richard Griffin at a Senate hearing on the state of the VA's health care. "It's one thing to be on a waiting list, it's another for that to be the cause of death."
Where have some of the allegations taken place?
The inspector general's report confirmed press and whistleblower reports that employees of the VA in Phoenix kept a secret waiting list to make it appear that veterans were accessing care more quickly than they were in reality. A doctor at the facility sent letters to the VA's inspector general in December complaining about delays in care. It has been claimed that dozens of people on the waiting list have died, but their deaths have not been conclusively tied to delays in treatment.
The initial allegations in Phoenix sparked the broader scandal. Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki called for a review of all VA facilities after the allegations surfaced. Officials at the Phoenix facility were placed on leave and President Obama said Friday that many were being fired. Obama dispatched one of his top advisers. Rob Nabors, to oversee an investigation of the VA.
Fort Collins, Colo.
USA Today reported this month that a report by the VA's Office of Medical Inspector found that clerks at a clinic in Fort Collins were instructed on how to falsify records so it appeared that doctors were seeing 14 patients a day, a number within the agency's goal to help reduce the appointment backlog.
A VA police detective told WFOR-TV last week that coverups were ingrained into the hospital's culture and that powerful prescription drugs were illegally dealt there.
According to a 2013 report by the VA's inspector general, there was gross mismanagement of the gastroenterology program at the Dorn VA Medical Center. The report said 52 patients had cancer that were "associated" with delays in diagnosis and treatment. The program also had 3,800 backlogged appointments. The report said the hospital used on;y $200,000 of $1 million designated to help reduce the glut of appointments. According to CNN, six deaths at Dorn have been tied to delays in care.
At least six veterans died after an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at a Pittsburgh VA in 2011 and 2012. CBS News reported in March that hospital officials knew about the outbreak for more than a year before informing patients and that top officials at the hospital knew human error was behind the outbreak, not faulty equipment, as Congress was told in 2013.
What is this backlog of claims that officials are talking about?
A tide of disability claims from soldiers who were injured in Iraq and Afghanistan has inundated the VA. The VA also recently made veterans suffering from additional ailments tied to exposure from Agent Orange during the Vietnam War eligible for disability claims, increasing the number of people filing claims. The claims seek financial compensation for injuries suffered during military service. About 300,000 cases were stuck in processing for more than 125 days, our colleague Greg Jaffe reported. The backlog peaked last year at 611,000 claims. Obama and Shinseki made it a point to reduce the glut.
"We launched an all out-war on the disability claims backlog, and just in the last year we’ve slashed that backlog by half," Obama said.
How does the claims system work?
Disabled service members are typically told about disability benefits before being discharged and can file for them upon leaving the military. There is no time limit for a veteran to file a claim, Eagle said. The application can be filled out by phone, where it is rerouted to a call center, online or to a representative. Oftentimes servicemembers seek help from a veterans group. If a lawyer gets involved at the start of the process, he or she must do so on a pro-bono basis; for a lawyer to be paid, he or she cannot get involved until a monetary value has been assigned to the claim or it has been denied.
If there is a 50 percent certainty or more that an injury was suffered during military service, a veteran is eligible for disability benefits.
The backlog that Congress and the public are focused on comes from when a veteran has filed a claim but the VA has not made a decision on whether to grant it, Eagle said. There is a separate backlog among cases that have been decided but appealed.
Trump’s incendiary rhetoric is met with fading resistance from Republican and corporate leaders
Dow breast implant case spotlights Elizabeth Warren’s work helping big corporations navigate bankruptcies
Opinion We need someone who can lift us up again. Enter President Obama.
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EPA sets reference dose for perchlorate in drinking water
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established an official reference dose (RfD) of 0.0007 mg/kg/day -- with a 24.5 ppb Drinking Water Equivalent Level -- for perchlorate. This is consistent with the recommended reference dose included in the National Academy of Science's January 2005 report. A reference dose is a scientific estimate of a daily exposure level that is not expected to cause adverse health effects in humans...
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 18, 2005 (U.S. Newswire) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established an official reference dose (RfD) of 0.0007 mg/kg/day of perchlorate. This level is consistent with the recommended reference dose included in the National Academy of Science's January 2005 report. A reference dose is a scientific estimate of a daily exposure level that is not expected to cause adverse health effects in humans.
The EPA's reference dose, which assumes total intake from both water and food sources, is appropriate and protective for all populations, including the most sensitive subgroups. The selected reference dose contains a full ten-fold uncertainty factor to protect the most sensitive population, the fetuses of pregnant women who might have hypothyroidism or iodide deficiency. This uncertainty factor also covers variability among other human life stages, gender and individual sensitivities, protecting not only adults, but also other sensitive subpopulations such as premature neonates, infants and developing children.
Perchlorate exposure has the potential of blocking iodide uptake to the thyroid gland. NAS identified the non-adverse effect of the inhibition of iodine uptake as the key biochemical event that precedes the occurrence of all potential adverse effects of perchlorate exposure. EPA's RfD is conservative and health protective because it is designed to prevent the occurrence of any biochemical changes that could lead to adverse health effects.
EPA's reference dose for perchlorate will be posted on the agency's online IRIS database, which contains risk information on possible human health effects from exposure to chemical substances in the environment.
EPA's new RfD translates to a Drinking Water Equivalent Level (DWEL) of 24.5 ppb. A Drinking Water Equivalent Level, which assumes that all of a contaminant comes from drinking water, is the concentration of a contaminant in drinking water that will have no adverse effect with a margin of safety. Because there is a margin of safety built into the RfD and the DWEL, exposures above the DWEL are not necessarily considered unsafe.
EPA's Superfund cleanup program plans to issue guidance based on the new RfD.
Perchlorate has been used in various items, including missile and rocket propellants, munitions and fireworks, flares, automobile airbags and pharmaceuticals. It may also occur naturally and has been found in some fertilizer. Perchlorate has been detected in drinking water in some systems around the country, as well as in certain foods.
The perchlorate summary is available on the IRIS web site at: www.epa.gov/iris and at: www.epa.gov/perchlorate.
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Groundbreaking knee surgery eases pain with fast recovery
NUsurface Meniscus Implant used at Brigham & Women's Hospital
Updated: 2:11 PM EST Dec 2, 2015
A Brockton man is the first person in New England to undergo what could be a groundbreaking knee surgery, offered at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
A Brockton man is the first person in New England to undergo what could be a groundbreaking knee surgery, offered at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.Rob Price is hoping that the surgery will help him get back to what has been a central part of his life, playing basketball.Watch NewsCenter 5's report“I played my whole life, played pickup in the driveway, always played with my uncles,” said Price.About 10 years ago, he was forced to stop playing following a game with friends.“It (the knee) went out on me. No warning, no nothing,” said Price.Doctors had to replace his ACL in his left knee. Price also tore a meniscus, which had to be removed. Years later, the pain continued.“Pain every day,” said Price. “Without the meniscus, I have bone on bone.”Price is being treated at Brigham and Women’s by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Andreas Gomoll.“There’s no meniscus, so every time they step, it’s a hard, not a cushioned, blow,” said Gomoll.He describes the meniscus as a shock absorber where the bones in the knee come together. Each knee has two, and most patients seem to have problems with the one on the inside of the knee.The meniscus can wear down as we age, and in young people they are often injured during sports or activities. However, people ages 30 to 50 do not have many treatment options because they are too young and active for a total knee replacement. Many undergo surgery to help, but they continue to live with persistent pain.This all could change thanks to the NUsurface Meniscus Implant, which is currently undergoing an FDA trial in the United States. Gomoll is the first doctor in New England to use it on a patient."It has a pretty complex shape that conforms to the shape of the knee joint," said Gomoll. "You don't have to cut bone, you don't have to permanently alter the anatomy of the knee joint itself."The plastic implant simply pops in between the bones in the knee. No screws are required to secure it.Gomoll said the recovery is fast, about two or three months."You don't need crutches for very long. It's a few weeks," said Gomoll.Dr. Gomoll said the perfect candidate for this type of implant is a person in the 30-to-50 age group, who had meniscal surgery in the past, was doing fine for a while, but is now having symptoms and pain. The patient cannot have arthritis.Price had his surgery right before Thanksgiving.He's excited to be the first patient in New England to receive the implant, and he hopes that he will soon be pain free.Price also knows that his experience can help others in the future."Hopefully this will make everything better," said Price. "I hope it works well for me and it gives other people the same opportunity."The implant is already in use in Europe, and patients there are reporting promising results.Gomoll said this isn't a permanent solution to replace the meniscus, but it can certainly help."It’s something that we previously had no treatment for," said Gomoll. "If we can have this for a bridging option that will last 5, 10, 15 years, it’s a good trade off."To be eligible for the study, you must be between the ages of 30 and 75, have pain after medial meniscus surgery and have had meniscus surgery at least six months ago. To see if you qualify for the study, please visit www.meniscus-trial.com or call (844) 680-8951.
BOSTON —
Rob Price is hoping that the surgery will help him get back to what has been a central part of his life, playing basketball.
Watch NewsCenter 5's report
“I played my whole life, played pickup in the driveway, always played with my uncles,” said Price.
About 10 years ago, he was forced to stop playing following a game with friends.
“It (the knee) went out on me. No warning, no nothing,” said Price.
Doctors had to replace his ACL in his left knee. Price also tore a meniscus, which had to be removed. Years later, the pain continued.
“Pain every day,” said Price. “Without the meniscus, I have bone on bone.”
Price is being treated at Brigham and Women’s by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Andreas Gomoll.
“There’s no meniscus, so every time they step, it’s a hard, not a cushioned, blow,” said Gomoll.
He describes the meniscus as a shock absorber where the bones in the knee come together. Each knee has two, and most patients seem to have problems with the one on the inside of the knee.
The meniscus can wear down as we age, and in young people they are often injured during sports or activities. However, people ages 30 to 50 do not have many treatment options because they are too young and active for a total knee replacement. Many undergo surgery to help, but they continue to live with persistent pain.
This all could change thanks to the NUsurface Meniscus Implant, which is currently undergoing an FDA trial in the United States. Gomoll is the first doctor in New England to use it on a patient.
"It has a pretty complex shape that conforms to the shape of the knee joint," said Gomoll. "You don't have to cut bone, you don't have to permanently alter the anatomy of the knee joint itself."
The plastic implant simply pops in between the bones in the knee. No screws are required to secure it.
Gomoll said the recovery is fast, about two or three months.
"You don't need crutches for very long. It's a few weeks," said Gomoll.
Dr. Gomoll said the perfect candidate for this type of implant is a person in the 30-to-50 age group, who had meniscal surgery in the past, was doing fine for a while, but is now having symptoms and pain. The patient cannot have arthritis.
Price had his surgery right before Thanksgiving.
He's excited to be the first patient in New England to receive the implant, and he hopes that he will soon be pain free.
Price also knows that his experience can help others in the future.
"Hopefully this will make everything better," said Price. "I hope it works well for me and it gives other people the same opportunity."
The implant is already in use in Europe, and patients there are reporting promising results.
Gomoll said this isn't a permanent solution to replace the meniscus, but it can certainly help.
"It’s something that we previously had no treatment for," said Gomoll. "If we can have this for a bridging option that will last 5, 10, 15 years, it’s a good trade off."
To be eligible for the study, you must be between the ages of 30 and 75, have pain after medial meniscus surgery and have had meniscus surgery at least six months ago. To see if you qualify for the study, please visit www.meniscus-trial.com or call (844) 680-8951.
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More Than 1,500 Animals Seized In Dog And Cockfighting Operations At A Wisconsin Home
By Sasha Ingber • Sep 6, 2018
The animals were seized from a residence in Pierce County, Wis.
Courtesy of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office
Originally published on September 7, 2018 9:59 am
Updated Friday at 9:55 a.m. ET
Police seized 20 pit bulls and about 1,500 hens and roosters, many of which were destined for fighting, from a home in western Wisconsin.
The dogs and birds were "living in deplorable conditions," according to a joint statement issued Thursday by the Pierce County Sheriff's Office and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
"You could tell they were used for fighting," Sheriff Nancy Hove told NPR.
Officers found the dogs with scars and injuries. They were attached to heavy chains, "almost logging chains."
The roosters' feet were cut, indicating razor blades had been attached to their feet, Hove said. Agents also found a square, wooden box – a fighting ring set up in one of the barns.
Two people who were living in the property, Houa Dia Yang and Senyen Vang, are in custody. It is unclear who ran the dogfighting and cockfighting operations or for how long.
Hove said the magnitude of the discovery was uncommon in their county, at least in the 35 years she has been in law enforcement. About a year ago, her agents seized some 50 dogs. "This is the second large-scale animal cruelty case we have encountered in the past two years," she said.
Tim Rickey, vice president of ASPCA's Field Investigations and Response, said animal fighting "is unfortunately common throughout the country."
Last year, authorities seized 7,000 birds in Los Angeles County. It was the largest cockfighting seizure in U.S. history, reported the Los Angeles Times.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office discovered the animals on a return trip to the property. Agents first visited the residence on August 30 with the U.S. Marshals Service, when Yang was arrested in connection with illegal drugs.
Officers noted illegal narcotics were present and returned to the house to recover indoor marijuana plants, a pound of dried marijuana and a safe with four pounds of methamphetamine. Vang, a woman living at the property, was then arrested.
Cockfighting and dogfighting are illegal across the country. In the state of Wisconsin, engaging in animal fighting is punishable with a fine of up to $10,000 and a prison sentence of up to six years.
The ASPCA said it moved all of the pit bulls and birds to emergency shelters for care and treatment until a court determines custody.
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Carol Trachsel
Retired Missionary to Kenya
Coral Trachsel was raised as a missionary kid in China and India. She served in Kenya for 41 years.
"When I Made a Full Surrender"
By Kacey Heinlein , Intern , February 2015
Growing up as the daughter of missionaries in China and India, Carol Trachsel says her family’s practice of praying for different mission fields was very influential on her life. Still, her family’s faith alone wasn’t her primary motivator for going into missions herself.
“Each person needs to get their personal directions from God,” Carol said. “I had decided when in high school that I didn’t want to be a missionary. But when I made a full surrender to Christ in my senior year, it included being a missionary if that was what God wanted. He changed my desires, and a couple of years later He said very clearly to me, ‘Yes, I want you to be a missionary.’”
Carol was born in Salem, Oregon, on Christmas Eve in 1941. At the time, her father was in China, where he had been detained and later placed in an internment camp. Carol didn’t meet him until she was almost 2. At the age of 5, she moved to Chungking, China, with her mother and two sisters, Helen and Joy, where they met her father who had gone ahead of them.
In high school, Carol had some emotional ups and downs regarding her faith, but she recommitted to Christianity while attending Mt. Carmel High School in Kentucky. Despite her former adamancy that she wasn’t going to be a missionary, she gradually became open to the idea of doing missions work. Carol received her definite call while training to be a medical technologist after studying at Marion College, now Indiana Wesleyan University. While attending the WGM National Convention in 1961, she responded to the challenge to consider missions by asking God if it was His will for her life.
“A deep peace flooded over me,” Carol shared. “I knew that this was what the Lord wanted.”
In April 1966, Carol was given a full appointment to Kenya where she served at Tenwek Hospital. Over her career, she faced many hurdles, including learning Kipsigis, the local tribal language, and updating the hospital lab’s then-simple equipment. The longer she served, the more jobs she took on: accountant, visitor coordinator, librarian, assistant field director, and field editor for WGM’s Call to Prayer magazine, now The Call. Learning and doing so many different kinds of work was a source of both challenge and growth for Carol.
While at Tenwek, Carol lived with friend and fellow daughter of missionaries, Barbara Pinkley. On one memorable occasion, Carol was asked to step in as a speaker for a district meeting when the original visiting preacher, Barbara’s father, Lester, became sick.
“The Lord really blessed that service, and when the church leader closed the service many people responded, giving control of their lives to God!” Carol said.
For Carol, the hardest thing to leave in the United States was her family. Being on the mission field, however, taught her just how important relationships could be. The support of her fellow Christians has impacted Carol even in retirement.
“I had some supporters who stuck with me for my entire time—others who increased their support and encouraged others to give,” Carol said. “I was the recipient of many generous acts. I was greatly helped after we started to recruit a personal prayer team. I compared them to ‘David’s mighty men.’”
Carol found that God could use her as an encouragement to others, just as they were an encouragement to her.
“Evelyn came into my life when she was hired by the hospital to clean the lab,” Carol said of her friend Evelyn Tonui. “When I retired and she said to me that I had had an influence on her life—I was amazed and humbled, as in so many ways she is way ahead of me in her Christian walk. I’m thankful the Lord brought her into my life.”
Carol retired in 2007 after 41 years of missionary service, but she still visits Kenya regularly, where she has recently been leading a Bible quizzing team of young students and helping out at Tenwek School of Nursing. She has also been able to make trips to her “home” country of China.
“I think the whole Christian life boils down to ‘do I trust God?’” Carol said. “And that’s what I keep working on.”
Prayer Lifeline
Heroes of the Faith
World Gospel Mission, Inc., © 2019 Privacy Policy
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Kushner
Kushner hopes Israel will look at peace plan before any West Bank moves
Ahead of elections, PM Netanyahu vowed to annex settlements; Arab officials believe the plan is likely to be decidedly pro-Israel since the Trump administration has taken a tough line toward Palestinians, cutting off aid and shuttering the PLO's office in Washington
Reuters |Published: 05.04.19 , 00:34
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said on Thursday he hopes Israel will take a hard look at President Donald Trump's upcoming Middle East peace proposal before proceeding with any plan to annex West Bank settlements.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed in the waning days of a re-election campaign he won on April 9 to annex Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in a move that would be bound to trigger condemnation from the Palestinians and the Arab world and complicate the U.S. peace effort.
Jared Kushner (Photo: Reuters)
Kushner, speaking at a dinner of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the Middle East peace proposal he has been putting together was close to release and that Israel and the Palestinians should wait to see it before making any unilateral moves.
He said the issue would be discussed with the Israeli government when Netanyahu forms a governing coalition.
"I hope both sides will take a real look at it, the Israeli side and the Palestinian side, before any unilateral steps are made," Kushner said, adding he had not discussed the issue of settlement annexation with Netanyahu.
Greenblatt and Kushner at UN with Israeli Amb. Danny Dannon
Kushner and Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt have spent the past two years developing the peace proposal in the hopes it will provide a framework for a renewed dialogue between the Israelis and Palestinians.
The Palestinians have refused to talk to the U.S. side since Trump decided to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel.
The Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, all territory Israel captured in 1967.
Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, is expected to unveil his proposals in June after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Kushner and Ivanka at embassy opening (Photo: Kobi Gideon, GPO)
"What we will be able to put together is a solution that we believe is a good starting point for the political issues and then an outline for what can be done to help these people start living a better life," Kushner said.
"I was given the assignment of trying to find a solution between the two sides and I think what we'll put forward is a framework that I think is realistic ... it's executable and it's something that I do think will lead to both sides being much better off," Kushner said.
Political, economic components
Kushner has begun to take a more public role in the Trump administration since he emerged unscathed from U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into whether the Trump presidential campaign in 2016 colluded with Russia.
Trump and Kushner in Saudi Arabia (Photo: Reuters)
Trump has relied heavily on the 38-year-old Kushner, who helped develop prison reform legislation and a new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal and is also working on a U.S. immigration proposal.
The Middle East proposal, which has been delayed for a variety of reasons over the past 18 months, has two major components. It has a political piece that addresses core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, and an economic part that aims to help the Palestinians strengthen their economy.
Kushner and Netanyahu (Photo: courtesy of the US embassy)
Kushner has said the proposal is not an effort to impose U.S. will on the region. He has not said whether it calls for a two-state solution, a goal of past peace efforts.
On Thursday night, he called on critics to hold their fire until they are able to see the plan in its entirety.
Palestinians have voiced skepticism about the effort led by Trump's son-in-law, who was a real estate developer before joining his father-in-law as a senior White House adviser.
Arab officials and analysts believe the plan is likely to be decidedly pro-Israel since the Trump administration has taken a tough line toward Palestinians, cutting off aid and ordering the PLO's office in Washington shut.
Greenblatt has said U.S. negotiators expect Israelis and Palestinians will both be critical of some parts of the plan.
See all talkbacks "Kushner hopes Israel will look at peace plan before any West Bank moves"
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7 Bollywood jodis that we will see on-screen for the first time in 2019
When it comes to Bollywood films, it is not always content which is king. The chemistry between the film's lead pair is equally important for the movie's success. From Alia Bhatt & Ranveer Singh to Kiara Advani & Shahid Kapoor, Hindi cinema saw several new pairs in the first half of this year. Let's take a look at some of the fresh pairings in Bollywood to look forward to in 2019-20.
Alia Bhatt & Ranbir Kapoor
Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, who began dating last year, will be seen together in the upcoming futuristic sci-fi film 'Brahmastra' which is being directed by Ayan Mukherji. Since the duo is already dating in real life, the audience is excited to see their chemistry on screen. The film is slated for a summer 2020 release.
(Photograph:Zee News Network)
Sidharth Malhotra & Tara Sutaria
Newcomer Tara Sutaria, who made her Bollywood debut with 'Student of The Year 2' will be seen opposite Sidharth Malhotra in the upcoming romantic drama 'Marjaavaan'. The film, which will release on October 2 this year also stars Riteish Deshmukh in a pivotal role. We are excited to see how this new pairing will play out on screens.
(Photograph:WION Web Team)
Sushant Singh Rajput & Shraddha Kapoor
Nitesh Tiwari directorial 'Chhichhore' will see Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor getting together for the first time on the big screen. The story will be set against the backdrop of an engineering college and will span across two generations. The film is slated to release in August this year.
Sonam Kapoor & Dulquer Salmaan
'The Zoya Factor' is an upcoming romantic drama film which is lightly based on Anuja Chauhan's 2008 novel of the same name. Dulquer Salmaan, who has been widely seen in Malayalam cinema will be romancing Sonam Kapoor's 'Zoya' in the film. The film will open in theatres on September 20 this year.
(Photograph:Twitter)
Deepika Padukone & Vikrant Massey
Starring Deepika Padukone & Vikrant Massey in lead roles, director Meghna Gulzar's 'Chhapaak' is based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. While Padukone will be portraying Laxmi, Massey will be seen as Amol in the film. The film is scheduled to release on January 10 next year. In the photo, the duo can be seen posing with their director.
Kartik Aaryan, Bhumi Pednekar & Ananya Panday
Coming together in the official remake of the 1978 film 'Pati, Patni aur Woh' are Kartik Aaryan, Bhumi Pednekar & Ananya Panday. While Bhumi will be playing Kartik's wife, Ananya will essay the role of his girlfriend. It will be interesting to see how the trio builds up chemistry between their characters. The film is set to release on December 6 this year.
Sushant Singh Rajput & Sanjana Sanghi
'Dil Bechara', which is an official remake of the 2014 Hollywood film, 'The Fault In Our Stars' will star Sushant Singh Rajput and debutante Sanjana Sanghi in the main roles. Earlier called 'Kizie aur Manny', the title of the film was changed recently. Directed by Mukesh Chhabra, the film will hit the screens on November 29.
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Effective date: April 30, 2019
Zaman (“us”, “we”, or “our”) operates the https://www.zaman.ae/ website (the “Service”).
We use your data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms and Conditions, accessible from https://www.zaman.ae/
Type of Data Collected
Zaman uses the collected data for various purposes:
If you are located outside United Arab Emirates and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to United Arab Emirates and process it there.
Zaman will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.
Zaman may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:
To protect and defend the rights or property of Zaman
By email: info@zaman.ae
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Zimbabwe owes airlines $196m in trapped funds, says authority
Zimbabwe owes airlines about $196m that's stuck in the country due to a shortage of hard currency, according to the International Air Transport Association.
The last payment received by the industry body was in January, regional vice president for IATA in Africa, Muhammad Ali Albakri, said in an interview on Tuesday.
The group held a meeting with Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa and will now finalise the payment plan, he added.
The country is struggling with shortages of foreign exchange including the US dollar, which is needed to transfer the proceeds of local ticket sales to airlines.
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Joe Henry (Lahorey Singh)
Submitted by: Tanveer Kalo
Joe Henry (Lahorey Singh) was born around 1893. He served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1918.
Lahorey Singh was born in either 1891 or 1893 in the Village Hiran Dist Julland, British India. He came to the United States in 1910. Singh lived under an alias, Joe Henry, from about 1910 to 1930. He worked as a cook throughout his life.
On November 9, 1917, Henry enlisted into the U.S. military in Ketchikan, Alaska. He was assigned to Company Q I Provisional Training Battalion at Camp Hill in Virginia.
On January 19, 1918, he declared his intention for U.S. Naturalization in Virginia. His declaration of intention recorded his race as white. The document stated that Henry arrived on January 10, 1910 from Sydney, Australia on the ship on India.
He was honorably discharged on March 29, 1918.
After the war, Henry went to California. He worked as a cook at the Alexander Hotel in San Pedro. On June 24, 1921, Henry filed a petition for U.S. naturalization in Los Angeles, California.
By 1930, Henry still lived and worked in California. His 1930 Merchant Seamen also recorded his race as white, place of birth as India, cook, and naturalized. During this period he worked on the ship Barbara C.
In September 1926, Henry moved to New York City and lived at 25 South Street. He worked as seamen in the city. On July 1, 1931, he filed a petition for U.S. naturalization again, but this time stated his real name in the document, Lahorey Singh. Singh also stated that he arrived to the U.S. through the port of San Francisco in August 1910 from Hong Kong under the name Lahorey Singh on the ship Korea.
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Delivery of Medical Care on the battlefield
An Introduction to the System
The United States Army began to prepare for war in 1916. Their combat doctrine stressed that they should be prepared to fight a war of movement. It was expected that all combat and support units would be organized and equipped to operate within an ever-changing battlefield environment
This concept, however, was not feasible in 1917 when the Americans arrived in Europe. The Western Front consisted of complex and multiply-layered fortified lines that ran from the North Sea to Switzerland. However, the Americans and the Allies, as well as their German enemy, all expected that a war of movement could be achieved if these lines could be ruptured. This is exactly what happened in 1918, first to the Allies and then to the Germans.
In response to the realities of the Western Front, the Medical Department established a treatment and evacuation system that could function in both static and mobile environments. Based on their history of success in the American Civil War, and on the best practices of the French and British systems, the Department created specific units designed to provide a sequence of continuous care from the front line to the rear area in what they labelled the Theater of Operations.
Schematic Diagram of Hospitalization and Evacuation System
The Medical Department implemented their system by dividing the delivery of medical care into two commands, the Zone of the Armies and the Services of Supply. The accompanying diagram from the Medical Department’s official history illustrates the two commands. The diagram shows the Zone of the Armies was an area located up to 10 miles from enemy territory. All medical units in this area were exposed to enemy weapons and air attacks. The diagram also identifies the distances and names for medical units whose purpose was to provide the delivery of medical care that were under ‘Divisional Control’ and those that were under ‘Army Control’
At 500 to 1500 yards from the front line were the three Battalion Aid Stations of the Regimental Aid Station. At 300 yards from the Battalion Aid Stations were the Ambulance Section Dressing Stations, operated by the infantry division’s Sanitary Train. Next, at 2 to 4 miles from the dressing stations, were the four Field Hospitals of the Sanitary Train. These medical units varied in size, but all acted within a system that progressively treated and evacuated the sick and wounded.
Dressing Station, 26th Division, near Samogueux, Muse, October 23, 1918
If it was determined by a physician that the sick or wounded solider must receive more care, then he would be transported from the divisional medical units via a motor or horse drawn ambulance to larger and more sophisticated medical units that operated under ‘Army Control’. These higher units, as the diagram shows, were the Evacuation Hospitals located between 5 to 10 miles from the Field Hospitals. These in turn were connected to the next level of care that was provided by the large Services of Supply base hospitals via Hospital Trains.
Unloading Wounded Patients at Field Hospital No. 28, Varennes, Muse, October 2, 1918
Gillett, Mary C. The Army Medical Department 1917-1941, Center of Military History United States Army (Washington, DC, 2009)
Jaffin, Jonathan H (Colonel). Medical Support for the American Expeditionary Forces in France during the First World War (Fort Leavenworth, 1990)
Field Operations. Volume VIII in The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War (Washington, DC, 1925)
General Surgery, Volume XI, Section I, in The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War (Washington, DC, 1925)
Regimental Aid Stations
Stretcher Bearer in TrenchMedical support at the closest point to the front line was provided by physicians and Medical Corps enlisted men who were assigned to an army infantry division. These men were identified as "Medical Department personnel on duty with division troops." Their purpose was to provide medical care for the division’s infantry and artillery regiments, their machine gun and mortar battalions, the engineers, signalmen and other supporting units.
The Regimental Aid Station was staffed by 4-7 officers and 31-43 enlisted men. It would be these men who provided the first level of professionally directed care for the regiment’s sick and wounded. However, after the infantry divisions were reorganized in August, 1918, the Regimental Aid Station personnel were disbursed to provide immediate medical support to the regiment’s infantry battalions. This resulted in the creation of three Battalion Aid Stations.
Each station was intended to support four infantry companies by locating its station to the rear of the battalion and by placing two Medical Corps enlisted men with each infantry company to man a Company Aid Post. These eight men were trained and supervised by the physician assigned to the Battalion Aid Station. The Regimental Aid Station’s role now became a headquarters to command the battalion stations and if needed could combine the dispersed stations back into one unit, if needed.
Aid Station, 7th Artillery Regiment, 1st Division, Serevillers, July 5, 1918The Company Aid Post was sited in a sheltered location very near the front line if the unit was garrisoning a trench system. However, if the company was out of its protected position making an assault or in retreat the post would move and establish a succession of posts to provide emergency medical care.
Individual Field Wound DressingIt was expected that the initial treatment of a man’s wounds would begin with his own application of his first-aid dressing. To do this each man was provided with two gauze bandages (4”x84”), two gauze compresses (3 ½” x 3 ½ “), two safety pins and was instructed on how to apply the dressing by one of the physicians assigned to his battalion. The purposes of this dressing was to protect the wound from further trauma, prevent loss of blood, and reduce the possibility of secondary infection and to give the man some physical and psychological comfort. If a wounded soldier could not care for himself, the dressing may have been applied by a comrade. More likely, this was done by stretcher bearers or by company aid post personnel, who were trained in how to apply field dressings, control hemorrhage, splint fractures and to protect the wounded from gas.
Battalion Aid Station, 101st Infantry, 26th Division, Bois de la VoisogneAbout 40% of the wounded men were able to walk to the rear. The remainder would need to be carried by regimental stretcher bearers, who were men assigned from the battalion, to the next level of care which was the Battalion Aid Station where they would be seen by a physician. The locating, marking, gathering and directing of the sick and wounded to the next level of care would have been an important patient management task performed by the two men assigned to the Company Aid Post.
The Battalion Aid Station was centrally located at 500 to 1000 yards behind the infantry companies in a building, dugout or specially constructed shelter. Its location was carefully selected because it had to be easily reached from the front by foot and on a road, if possible, to allow ambulances to pick up the patients for transport to their next level of care.
An aid station’s site could be anything from a hasty shelter to set of above or below ground rooms constructed over time that could treat from 12 to 30 patients for their injuries, project them from further harm, hold them for evacuation, plus store medical supplies for the station and company aid posts. The Battalion Aid Station was staffed by one medical officer, four to six Medical Corps enlisted men, two runners and one or more stretcher bearer squads.
Initial treatment was limited to physician-directed emergency care, and might include:
Controlling hemorrhage
Application or readjustment of field dressings and splints
Administration of the anti-tetanus serum and morphine for pain
Treatment for gas injuries
Anti-shock treatments such as warmth, hot food and drinks
The first step in a long process of sorting the sick and wounded began here with the filling out of the patient’s field card that noted whether he was:
Very slightly wounded but able to return to the line
Slightly wounded and requires evacuation
Seriously wounded
Patient with fractures
Severely wounded with attendant shock
Gassed patient
Psychoneurotic
If the patient was slightly wounded or not seriously sick he would be retained at battalion level. More seriously-wounded were evacuated. Those to be evacuated, included those with serious wounds or fractures, were likely to receive the attentions of the physician whose treatment might include:
Painting around the wound with iodine
Injection of 500 units of the anti-tetanus serum
One-fourth grain of morphine for pain to slightly to seriously wounded
Control of hemorrhage through ligature, hemostats or a tourniquet
Immobilization of fractures with wooden splints or the Thomas Splint
Shock treatment such as blankets and hot drinks
Regimental Aid Station, 29th Infantry, near CantignyPhysician directed treatment was designed to stabilize the man and prepare him for transport. This might be the divisional dressing station or field hospital. At the same time the stabilizing treatment was given the staff coordinated his evacuation with the personnel of the next level of care: the ambulance company and its dressing station.
Given that the aid station could not provide surgical procedures; retain patients for any length of time; were subject to enemy artillery fire; and were constantly receiving new patients it was essential to evacuate their patients as soon as possible. This was especially important due to the risk that the wounded could develop a life, or limb, threatening gas-gangrene infection if he did not receive a surgical intervention within 12 hours of his wounding.
Timely evacuation was a challenge due to the weather, terrain, enemy fire, how to move the patient and the patient’s condition. Weather and terrain were variables that could not be controlled. The threat from enemy fire could be mitigated by a night evacuation.The means of evacuation, by stretcher bearers, wheeled stretcher cart or ambulance and preparing the patient for movement were variables that the station’s staff focused on.
Jaffin, Colonel Jonathan H. Medical support for the American Expeditionary Forces in France during the First World War (Fort Leavenworth 1990)
Volume VIII, Field Operations, The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War (Washington, 1925)
Volume XI, Section I, General Surgery, The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War (Washington, 1925)
Ambulance Section
Aid Station, First Division, Missy-aux-Bois
After receiving emergency care from the medical corps personnel at the battalion or regimental aid station, the sick and wounded were evacuated to the next phase of physician-directed care provided by the division's sanitary train. This 950 man unit consisted of:
One headquarters
One ambulance section that was comprised of a headquarters and four companies
One Field hospital section that consisted of a headquarters and four field hospitals
Eight camp infirmaries
One divisional medical supply unit
The word ‘train’ is unique to the era. It identifies the support units assigned to an infantry division of which there four trains: ammunition, supply, engineer and sanitary. All used horse drawn wagons or motor vehicles in order to be mobile and to support the entire division’s personnel. The purpose of the sanitary train was to provide medical care to the division through its units.
The deployment of the 82nd Infantry Division’s Sanitary Train in September 1918 for the St. Mihiel offensive illustrates how a train’s units were placed in order to support the division. The map shows that at the start of the battle one unit, Ambulance Company 327 (AC 327) was placed at Dieulouard with Field Hospital 328. To the south of their position AC 325 and 328 were on alert and in reserve at Millery with the other three field hospitals, while AC 326 was further to the rear at Marbache. As the battle progressed AC 327 was moved north to Blenod on September 7th and to Norray on September 16th. The shift in locations illustrates how the ambulance company maintained contact with the moving battalion aid stations in order to provide a timely evacuation of patients to a field hospital.
The ambulance section’s four companies had a total of 48 ambulances that were distributed evenly among the four companies. One company was equipped with 12 horse drawn ambulances, while the other three had motor ambulances. By 1918 experience had proved that the motor ambulance was the most effective means to evacuate men from the front. This meant that the horse drawn company was held in reserve because although they could negotiate terrain that was impassable to motor vehicles they presented a large target, were slow and the horses quickly tired in contrast to motor vehicles. Collecting point, 3rd Division, Nantillois, Muse
The ambulance company was divided into two sections. One operated the dressing station while the other collected, coordinated and moved patients from the battalions to the dressing station and then on to a field hospital. Because the combat zone was so dangerous, evacuation from the front for the first 500 to 1500 yards was on foot by either the walking wounded or by litter bearer squads sent forward from the ambulance company. The destination of the wounded was to a collecting point where vehicles could be safely assembled to load patients.The other section of the ambulance company manned a dressing station that was at about 300 yards form the battalion aid stations which would place it at about 800 to 1800 yards from the front line. It was staffed by up to 5 officers and 25 men and was sited on a road, if possible, and housed in a dug out, cellar, building or tents. The sanitary train could deploy up to four dressing stations but in practice it was one, if the division’s front was narrow or more if wider, while one was held in reserve. If the division was engaged in mobile warfare the dressing station might be divided in order to create an advanced dressing station staffed by 1 officer and 15 men closer to the front while the main dressing station with its larger staff was further to the rear.
Dressing Station, LahayvilleThe purpose of both dressing stations was similar to the battalion aid station in that it continued to provide emergency medical care such as:
Arresting hemorrhage
Inspecting and readjusting the patient’s dressings and splints
Administering morphine and the anti-tetanus serum
Treating for shock and gas injuries
At this level more sophisticated treatment could be carried out than was possible at a battalion aid station. This might include treatment for shock and gas or even surgical procedures such as closing an aspirating chest wound or controlling hemorrhage through ligature and packing the wound. Patient management was a primary concern for the staff at this phase of care. The first evidence of this was the attention given to the design of a continuous system of evacuation by ambulances from the battlefield as performed by the ambulance company. The second was the continuation of stabilizing the patient at the dressing station for further evacuation and the first attempt at the classification of patients in order to direct them to the right care.
Dressing Station, Ambulance Co 111, 28th Division, St Gilles
The dressing station addressed these tasks by organizing itself into departments so as to efficiently manage the care of patients through the following departments:
Receiving and forwarding
The creation of these departments indicates the first step toward placing patients requiring specialized expertise, such as orthopedic and gas cases, with a staff that had experience in treating these types of injuries. The receiving and forwarding department was tasked to unload, sort and classify new patients. It was supervised by a medical officer who examined them and determined who should be returned to their unit, who needed immediate attention from the dressing, orthopedic or gas departments and who and when should be evacuated to the next level of care that would be the ‘Triage’ operated by one of the sanitary train’s field hospitals. Dressing Station, Lahayville
Sources for Ambulance Section
Triage and the Field Hospital Section
Triage, 42nd Division, near Sieppes
In 1918, the US adopted the French method of "triage". This was found to be an effective method to sort, classify, and distribute the sick and wounded during the first stage of the treatment and evacuation of soldiers from the battlefield. The decision to explore the French method meant it would have to be assigned to the field hospital section because it was the only unit in the sanitary train large enough to perform the task. This section, comprising four identical field hospitals, was staffed by a total of 25 officers and 337 men. Each hospital could accommodate 216 patients. All were equipped to be mobile so as to maintain contact with the forward medical units that they supported. In early to mid-1918 the static combat environment permitted these four hospitals to be grouped together for greater efficiency. They were placed at 2 to 4 miles on a road that linked them to the dressing sections of the ambulance sections, and to the next level medical treatment in the rear, the evacuation hospitals.
Field Hospitals, 314 and 316, 79 DivisionThe practice of deploying four hospitals to perform the same role changed in May 1918 when the 1st Infantry Division’s field hospital section at the Battle of Cantigny experimented with assigning a specific type of patient to three of their hospitals that they identified as:
Wounded and gassed
Skin and venereal diseases
The fourth hospital was tasked to be the medical reserve and a convalescent camp. At the same time the concept of ‘triage’ was explored with the technique assigned to the hospital that received the wounded and gassed. The concept of designating a type of patient to each field hospital was quickly adopted by the other field hospitals operating with the infantry divisions. In practice, however, each division’s field hospital section was free to establish what classification worked best for them.
Just how "triage" operated with multiple field hospitals and ambulance companies is illustrated in the map, showing deployment of the 82nd Infantry Division’s Sanitary Train in September 1918 for the St. Mihiel offensive. At the start of the operation Field Hospital 328 was designated as the division’s ‘triage’ and was located at Dieulouard. It remained at that location throughout the battle. It began receiving casualties eight hours after the start of the offensive on September 12th. At Millery, further south, the 325th Field Hospital was designated to receive the sick, the 326th the gassed and the 327th the wounded. This illustration also indicates the preferred site for the division’s field hospitals. Although each had tents, the preferred location was in a village. Such a site was likely to have intact buildings that could provide better shelter, a water supply, sources of fuel and perhaps even electricity.
The field hospital section was the last point for a man to receive treatment from the division medical units. Arrival and treatment at one of these hospitals did not mean the patient would be evacuated to the next level of treatment, such as an evacuation hospital. If a patient did not require prolonged care and was likely to recover within 14 days he was retained at one of the field hospitals designated for his condition. This decision illustrates the value of ‘triage’ as a method to sort, classify and determine who should be evacuated and to where and who should not be transported to the next level of care. If a patient could recover within the specified days then his contribution to the infantry division was not lost.
An example that illustrates the diagnostic procedure for a man who was classified as a possible case of ‘war neurosis’. At "triage" this patient would be examined by the division psychiatrist to determine the cause and severity of his condition. This examination, classification and a recommended treatment led to 65% of the cases seen at the division level to be retained and 35% to be evacuated to a neurological hospital. The six possible diagnostic classifications he used were:
Shell fright
Gas fright
Mental and or physical fatigue
Malingering
Triage station, 79th Division, MoutreullSorting, classification and distribution done at a "triage" station required a skilled team to determine who was transportable and who needed to be retained until they were ready to be moved. Ideally the team had a thorough knowledge of medicine, surgery and human nature, and was usually headed by a senior medical officer. Their evaluations had to be complete and unhurried but quick enough to prevent congestion caused by the arrival of new patients. Often, "complete" and "quick enough" were at odds, and the system could be overwhelmed by a large number of casualties.
The essential sorting and classifications at the "triage" focused on identifying those who were wounded, gassed or were medical cases, and who were transportable or not. In some "triage" units the mission was to sort and distribute to the nearest hospitals according to the medical diagnosis. In others there was a continuation of emergency medical care but with more sophisticated treatment as compared with the ambulance company dressing stations.
Field Hospital 1, 2nd Division, Benzu-leGueryThe treatment for shock was a top priority whether given at the "triage" or at the field hospital for the wounded and consisted of:
Removal of wet clothing
Warming through blankets, stoves and warming tables
Hot drinks and food
Morphine for pain
Adjustment of splints and bandages to reduce pain
Intravenous saline solution
Blood transfusion from matched donors
Prior to receiving treatment for shock the patient would have been seen in the receiving department of the ‘triage’ or hospital for the wounded. His condition would determine whether he would be routed to the dressing, shock or operating departments. If treatment for shock was required he would be held there until his condition permitted either evacuation or treatment by the operating department’s team.
Field Hospital 13, Vendeuil-CapryThe operating teams focused on the control of hemorrhage and stabilization of broken bones. If time permitted, wound debridement including removal of foreign material could be done. All surgical work was intended to be life-saving rather than definitive. The intent was to prepare the patient for evacuation to a rear area hospital where more time-consuming and definitive operations could be done.
At the hospital designated for the treatment of gas injuries the patient’s clothes were removed and he was bathed to remove possible contamination. This was followed by an appropriate treatment for the cause of his injury, depending on the nature of the gas injury. Mustard gas, for example, produced serious skin blistering, while chlorine gas caused lung inflammation.
Medical treatment as described at this level of physician directed care was constrained by the reality that only essential emergency procedures could be performed. It was imperative that this lifesaving care be matched by the need to maintain the best patient management system possible. Therefore, the primary mission for the staff of the ambulance and field hospital sections was first to save lives and then to prepare patients for evacuation to the next level of treatment, either an evacuation hospital or a base hospital. Evacuating a Patient, Field Hospital 14, Montreull
Corps and Army Levels
The sick and wounded who required more medical care, as identified by the physicians of the field hospitals, were transported to a hospital located at the next level of the Medical Department’s system for treatment and evacuation. As seen in the diagram below, this consisted of hospitals located within the command and control of the corps and armies. These facilities were located 5 to 10 miles from the field hospitals. Patients were generally transported by motor ambulances. Evacuation Hospital No 1, Under Canvas
This level was the intersection between the forward area medical units and the rear area’s base hospitals that were reached via hospital trains. This level was one of the most complex layers of patient care in the system. It is here that the sick and wounded received more sophisticated treatment, including both life-saving and definitive surgery, that could not be performed by the division’s field hospitals.
The transition from the division-level medical units to the corps-army facilities, and subsequently on to the base hospitals, was carried out by a detailed and comprehensive medical plan. These plans were made in advance of an offensive operation and were situational, Medical units that were assembled were done so to meet the anticipated casualties. At the conclusion of the battle they were reassigned to a new location for the next offensive. The old mililtary adage still applied: "No plan survives contact with the enemy." At best, the plans served to bring all needed medical assets to bear in the area of the battle. But extensive adaptation and improvisation was always required.
An illustration of plans for an operation was the one prepared by the First Army’s Chief Surgeon Colonel Alexander Stark for the St. Mihiel Operation from September 12-16, 1918. The accompanying map shows the medical units with their locations on the eve of the battle. For this offensive the units were at between 9 to 15 miles behind the front line and although out of range of all but long range guns, although they were vulnerable to attack from German aircraft. The figure shows placement of the following types of medical units:
Evacuation ambulance companies: 9
Corps level ambulance companies: 4
Corps level field hospitals: 4
Medical supply depots: 3
Gas hospitals: 2
Contagious disease hospital: 1
Neurological hospitals: 2
Mobile hospitals: 5
American Red Cross hospital: 1
Evacuation hospitals: 10
Base hospitals: 2
This list also illustrates how by late 1918 the Medical Department was designating certain hospitals to receive specific patients, such as gas, contagious diseases and neurological cases. The department found that by establishing hospitals for one type of patient at this level they could concentrate specialists with experience in treating these cases and thus improve their delivery of care.
Mobil Hospital 2, Loaded on TrucksThe five mobile hospitals illustrates the department’s experimentation with a new type of unit. It was based on French Auto-chir and was designed to deliver lifesaving surgery close to the front. This small mobile hospital was a dedicated surgical unit that possessed specialized equipment and vehicles, so it could be rapidly deployed where needed. This new unit was not fully integrated into the system for delivering care on the battlefield and so by the end of the war the twelve units that were created treated only 1% of the wounded. In later wars, and currently, mobile hospitals and forward surgical teams are important components of the overall medical effort, with the difference that they are now fully integrated into the casualty care system..
By contrast, the ten evacuation hospitals were fully integrated. They were tasked to receive the majority of patients evacuated from the field hospitals. These units were so essential to the task of delivering life-saving surgery, and in such short supply, that base hospitals 45, 51 and a Red Cross hospital were designated to function as evacuation hospitals.
The map also shows where the units were placed. The largest clusters were at the rear of I and IV Corps, which were to carry the main attack. It was anticipated that this action would result in 33,000 casualties over four days. And because these hospitals were not designed to retain their patients for a full recovery, they were placed on rail lines, such as at Toul, so their patients could be evacuated within fourteen days to the next level and final stage of care at a base hospital in the rear area, under the command of Services and Supply..
Sources: Corps and Army Levels
Evacuation Hospitals
The system for the delivery of medical care on the battlefield was based on the premise of providing a process of progressive treatment and evacuation. In practice this meant the sick and wounded would receive care from the infantry division’s medical units, such as aid posts, dressing stations and field hospitals. The purpose at each stage was to provide enough treatment in order to stabilize the patient and prepare him for transportation to the next level of medical care: the evacuation hospital. The system diagram below illustrates how this progressive sequence of treatment and evacuation led from medical units near the front line to the evacuation hospitals at the corps and army levels and then on to base hospitals in the rear, via hospital trains. Diagram of Hospitalization and Evacuation System
The purpose of the evacuation hospital, as first conceived of in 1916, was to support the infantry division field hospitals by receiving their patients when they moved to new locations. However, as it turned out this would not be their role when deployed to France. What changed their medical mission was the experience acquired by the department in the summer of 1917. It was discovered that the intended purpose of the field hospital to be the “emergency hospital for the battlefield” failed because the unit was too small, to close to the front line and was expected to be mobile. The department recognized that instead of performing life saving surgery they had become a “magnified and improved dressing station rather than a hospital.” What was needed was a medical unit equivalent to the British Army’s Casualty Clearing Station that could treat up to 1000 patients per day. No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station, July, 1916 (British)
The evacuation hospital evolved over the next year into a larger and more capable hospital unit. When developed in 1916 the evacuation hospital was planned to care for 432 patients through its staff of 16 medical officers and 179 men. Two evacuation hospitals were to be allocated to an infantry division. Although supplies were available to equip twenty-two hospitals, the army did not have personnel to staff them. By 1917 it was recognized hat they must solve how to deliver life saving surgery on the battlefield. The department re-thought the purpose and size of this new unit. It would be enlarged to treat up to1000 patients through a larger staff of 34 medical officers, 237 enlisted men and a complement of female nurses.
Although the size of evacuation hospitals varied, their function, general layout and location remained consistent throughout the war. Their purpose was to provide “with great rapidity” the best possible surgical care. But this was constrained by the number of casualties they could receive per day. In order to prevent congestion and over-loading of these hospitals, the army’s chief surgeon prepared a plan that deployed these hospitals and other medical units for each offensive. In the operations plan, he clustered the hospitals so they could support each other. Sites were chosen to facilitate both reception and treatment of patients and eventual evacuation to the rear area base hospitals. In practice, these hospitals were relay stations that provided significant treatment but did not retain patients any longer than necessary.
Evacuation hospitals were expected to be mobile, which meant they were housed in tents. "Mobile" was a relative concept. These units were barely mobile, and had little to no organic transport capabilities. To move one hospital unit required ninety 3-ton trucks or 30 rail cars. If possible they were placed in towns which provided buildings and access to fuel and water. They were located at 9 to 15 miles from the front on roads that linked them to forward medical units and on rail lines to connect them to base hospitals further in the rear area. Plan of Evacuation Hospitals 6 and 7, Souilly
The hospital’s layout was designed to quickly treat a large number of admissions. The ground plan shown was for Evacuation Hospitals 6 and 7, located in 1918 at Souilly. The receiving rooms and evacuation wards were adjacent to a road and rail lines, to facilitate patient arrival and evacuation. In the center were the operating rooms, x-ray rooms, and adjacent hospital wards. These hospitals were organized into two services, administrative and medical. The former dealt with records, supply, personnel and administrative matters while the medical provided patient care as directed by the Chief of Surgical Service and Chief of Medical Service.
The Chief of Surgical Service supervised the:
Receiving room
X-ray room
Pre-operative ward
Shock ward
Post-operative ward
Evacuation ward
Receiving Room, Evacuation HospitalThe Chief of Medical Service supervised the medical and gas wards and assisted the Chief of Surgical Service in the receiving ward.
The process of sorting patients began with their examination upon arrival at a receiving room which would determine where the patient should be routed. At this point an important decision would be: Should he receive an operation or could it be delayed until he arrived at a base hospital? For example, a small perforated wound, flesh wound, or small bone fracture made one eligible for re-dressing in the dressing room and on to the evacuation ward to await a hospital train. This decision was likely if 1000 casualties were received in a day. These injuries were not deemed as serious as head, chest, and abdominal wounds, fractured femurs, head injuries, or multiple injuries.
X-ray of Shoulder, with BulletThe surgical service consisted of five wards and three rooms. There were the pre-operative ward, x-ray room, shock ward, operating room, post-operative ward. These were all close together, as shown by the diagram above, to reduce the distance a patient was carried and to efficiently use staff and resources.
The pre-operative ward prepared patients for surgery through another examination, undressing, bathing, morphine, shock prevention and sorting them into head, chest, abdominal, shock and fracture cases. If a patient was in shock or on the verge of it he was moved to the shock ward for resuscitation. If an x-ray was ordered, he was transported to that room.
OR, Evacuation Hospital 2, BaccaratThe operating room was staffed by four teams using eight tables. Each team consisted of two surgeons, one anesthetist and two nurses. An experienced team could perform 35 to 40 operations per twelve-hour shift. By mid-1918 it was common during a major offensive operation for these teams to be augmented from quiet evacuation and base hospitals, expamding the service to as many as fourteen teams.
Surgical operations addressed different types and severity of injuries. A laparotomy was performed for abdominal wounds. Thoracotomies could be done for chest wounds, but simple placement of chest tube was the most common treatment. Wounds caused by bullets and shell fragments required debridement of devitalized tissue and foreign bodies. Debridement helped to prevent infection, especially gas gangrene caused by anaerobic bacteria. The wound, if there was a possibility of infection, was left open and packed or wrapped with gauze soaked in saline or Dakin's solution, in anticipation of using the Carrel-Dakin system to prevent or control infection (See Wounds and Injuries). Debridement of a Wound
Fractures were set as well as repairs to the knee or elbow. If a limb was too badly damaged, it was amputated. Even though radiology was only in its second decade of existance, x-rays were very valuable in treating extremity and joint injuries. Fracture Ward of an Evacuation Hospital
Head wounds were a challenge because they required neurosurgical skills that might not be present. If an operation was performed it prevented an immediate evacuation. Therefore, the Chief of Surgical Service might recommend a delay and evacuate the patient to a base hospital.
Upon completion the surgeon recorded his findings, the procedure and whether the patient should be ‘detained’ or ‘evacuated’. Both categories were moved to the post-operative ward for recovery. If a patient was detained he was then moved to an appropriate ward of similar injuries. All cases, however, were not retained any longer than necessary which on average was 10 to 14 days. If a patient was identified for evacuation upon recovery he was moved to the evacuation ward to join those from the receiving ward or dressing room. Here he was prepared for evacuation by being classified as a sitting or stretcher patient and whether he was a surgical, medical, infectious disease or psychiatric case.
Recovery Ward of an Evacuation HospitalAt this point the soldier passed to the next level of care, which was base hospitals in the rear areas, often via a hospital train. The coordination of this transfer was essential for the success of the entire patient management system designed by the Medical Department. It was entrusted to the Chief of Surgical Service who arranged with the army’s Regulating Officer for a hospital train to evacuate patients to their final destinations at the base hospitals.
Sources for Evacuation Hospitals
Surgery in progress in an operating theatre suite at No 3 Casualty Clearing Station, July 1916, Creator Canadian Official photographer H E Knobel, Catalogue number co 157, Part of Canadian First World War Official Exchange Collection, Imperial War Museum, London
Medicine in WW1 - Home
Diseases in World War I
Injuries in World War I
Delivery of Medical Care off the battlefield
Practice of Medicine in WW1
Further Study of Medicine in WW1
Contributors to the site
Events for Medicine in WW1
WW1 Medicine
Contact: WW1.Medicine@worldwar1centennial.org
Contributors to
American Military Medicine in World War I
This web resource has been generously contributed by and is being curated by:
Charles W. Van Way, III
W. Sanders Marble
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Operation Southern Shield: Florida among 5 southern states conducting speed enforcement
ATLANTA (AP) — Florida joins four other states in a week-long speed enforcement operation beginning Monday.
"Operation Southern Shield" will run through Sunday, July 22.
Law enforcement in Georgia and Alabama will join Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina in pulling over drivers who are traveling above legal speed limits on interstates, major highways and local roads.
Col. Mark W. McDonough, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety, says the main focus will be to encourage motorists to slow down. He says they hope the effort will reduce crashes and provide a safer experience for motorists.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says speeding killed more than 10,000 people in the United States in 2016 and was a factor in 27 percent of fatal crashes in the nation.
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Jail for 4x4 driver who ploughed into Crawley Sainsbury's and left little girl with devastating injuries
The car ploughed right into Sainsbury's in Crawley
Michael Drummond
Published: 13:39 Wednesday 15 May 2019
“An accident’s an accident. It’s over. I need to get on with my new life.”
Those are the words of a driver who ploughed his 4x4 into a Crawley supermarket and left a little girl unable to walk.
Emergency services were called to the scene
Mohsin Mohammed, 41, of Southgate Road, claimed he was in ‘blind panic’ when he lost control of his car in August last year.
His silver Kia had been parked opposite the Queensway Sainsbury’s before it crashed into a car in front, careered across the road and smashed into the store.
Judge Shani Barnes was speechless at Brighton Crown Court on Friday after being shown shocking CCTV footage of the incident.
Mohammed had pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and appeared in court for sentencing.
'Engine revving and a silver car turning directly towards them'
Prosecutor Ryan Richter described how a mum and her two daughters – who cannot be named for legal reasons – were shopping in Crawley on August 29, 2018.
He said: “It was about 4.30pm in the afternoon. Some of the shops were closing but there was still significant pedestrian traffic in the area.
“They heard an engine revving and saw a silver car turning directly towards them.”
The mum and one of her daughters ran into the store to get out of the way and the other child ran outside, the court was told.
“The vehicle followed after them and knocked the girl off to the left hand side and her mother was thrown over the top of a refrigeration unit.”
Girl suffers 'horrific injuries in crash
Burglars flee with valuable haul in Storrington break-in
The girl – then just nine years old – suffered extensive injuries including three broken bones in her left leg and a damaged spleen.
She was taken to St George’s Hospital in London for emergency surgery.
She still cannot walk properly and has had to go to school in a wheelchair, the court heard.
Her mum – who was also hurt in the crash – described how the scary incident has left her and her two daughters devastated.
She said: “My daughters often cry and scream and fear that they will be hurt by a car again.
“We are scared the perpetrator may hurt us further.”
Defendant made 'a series of mistakes'
In an interview with the probation service about the incident, Mohammed told the probation officer: “An accident’s an accident. It’s over. I need to get on with my new life.”
Defence barrister Christopher Prior said the incident was ‘a series of mistakes and failure to get back into control of the vehicle’.
He acknowledged that the results are ‘horrific’ but noted that the medical prognosis for the girl going forward ‘appears to be good’.
He argued that, despite his comments and demeanour, Mohammed is remorseful for what happened.
“There is an element of shock and not wanting to go through what he has done.
“If he were to receive an immediate custodial sentence there is going to be an enormous financial strain put on his wife and their soon to be born child.”
Judge: 'You could have at least put your foot on the brake'
Judge Barnes said: “The ongoing trauma to this family cannot be overstated.
“The two little ones have nightmares, they wake screaming.”
She rejected Mohammed’s claim that the incident was a momentary mistake.
“There was long enough time for this mother and her daughter to run into Sainsbury’s because they could see you were heading for them.
“You could have at least put your foot on the brake.”
She accepted that Mohammed was not drunk and had not set out to hurt anyone with his car.
But she added: “You did everything wrong that ended up causing the serious injuries to that little girl and her family.
“In that short space of time you clearly made a number of serious errors.”
Mohammed was jailed for 16 months and disqualified from driving for two years and eight months.
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Goldman Sachs's Profits Hit Record; Sets Stage for Possible Public Offer
Anita RaghavanStaff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Updated March 24, 1998 2:11 am ET
NEW YORK -- Goldman, Sachs & Co., Wall Street's last major private partnership, earned a record $1.02 billion in pretax profits in the fiscal first quarter, up 13% from a year ago, paving the way for the big securities firm to reconsider going public later this year.
The heady profits for the quarter ended Feb. 27 represent a third of the whopping $3 billion in pretax profits that Goldman earned during all of fiscal 1997 and come as Goldman has quietly renewed consideration of a possible public sale of the firm only two...
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For Intel, New Strategy Means A Shift to Internet Networking
Michelle LevanderStaff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Updated May 25, 2000 12:01 am ET
HONG KONG -- How does a company that prides itself on being "paranoid" survive in the Internet age, with its constant uncertainties?
Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Craig Barrett suggests -- only half in jest -- by focusing on the bad news. That may be what it takes for the Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker to contend with the biggest strategy shift in its history. Intel is trying to reposition itself from supplying the brains of the personal computer to providing the chips and networking devices that make up some...
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SE Springfield - KMOSPRIN18
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That part of the electromagnetic spectrum between 5 - 400nm.
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Xero Developer Podcast
Episode 7: Building a SaaS flywheel: Supersizing sales via platforms, with Receipt Bank
All Xero Developer Podcast episodes
Hosted by Nick Houldsworth and Dan Young
Sophie Hossack (@receipts_sophie), Strategic Partner Manager, from Receipt Bank talks to Nick (from a rather strange location) and Dan about the huge success of Receipt Bank, how to keep supernormal growth and what a successful rebrand looks like.
Sophie, one of the early team members of Receipt Bank, talks about how they have been through acquisition and the early days when Receipt Bank was finding product market fit.
Most companies might grow at 100% a year for 2-3 years in the early days. Receipt Bank has managed to keep its growth levels at 100% year on year for nearly 10 years. Nick and Dan find out what is allowing Receipt Bank to keep up this thrilling pace.
This episode has it all, so listen now.
Nick Houldsworth (@nickhouldsworth) – [NH]
Dan Young (@dethklok66) – [DY]
Sophie Hossack – [SH]
NH: Welcome to the Xero Developer Podcast. My name's Nick Houldsworth-
DY: And I'm Dan Young. ...
NH: It is great to be back here today, and I'm really excited about our guest today, Dan.
DY: Yeah, this is going to be awesome. We're joined today by Sophie Hossack, distinguished guest and Director of Strategic Partnerships at Receipt Bank. Welcome to the show, Sophie.
SH: Hi, hi hi hi. Thank you very much for having me.
DY: Now we are dialing in from three locations today. Auckland, Wellington, and, where are you dialing in from, Sophie?
SH: I'm in London, today.
DY: In London. How's London today?
SH: It is dreary and gray, and it is the 29th of August, but autumn has definitely arrived.
NH: That always makes me feel so much better to hear that it's miserable in such an otherwise exciting part of the world. Well, I'm dialing in from my wardrobe in Auckland. Dan, where are you dialing in from today?
DY: I'm actually in a webinar room in the Wellington Xero HQ office. Everyone else has gone home, the cleaners have turned the lights off, and Sophie suggested that I just probably sleep here. I may as well make a night of it, I think she said.
NH: What a great idea.
DY: It's 8pm in New Zealand, 9am in the UK. Sophie and I go a long way back, don't we, Sophie?
SH: We do. We do. I think that you were one of the first people I met in the ecosystem.
DY: Gosh. I don't want to share my age here, but, yeah, we were very early on the journey together, working with Xero when you were with Receipt Bank in the early days, and I was with Vend, and we have a lot of stories and a lot of experiences from Xerocon to share, which we may get to, today.
DY: I think before we kind of launch into our discussion, I want to give you the chance, for those that don't know Receipt Bank, to tell us a little about who is Receipt Bank, and what do you guys do.
SH: So, at Receipt Bank, we're connecting accountants, bookkeepers, and small businesses. We make it really easy and simple to capture and process all the financial transactions. Primarily things like receipts, bills, invoices, credit notes, bank statements. We turn all of that data into really useful real-time information to help businesses work smarter and grow faster.
NH: Such important space in the world today, automation of data, isn't it? And so sort of transformative for the industry, these days.
SH: Yeah, absolutely. It's one of those things that doesn't seem on the outside particularly glamorous, but it's so key, it's absolutely critical, that everything we're doing and to who we're working with, so we're very passionate about it.
NH: Now we mentioned a little bit about the early days of being in a startup. I was at Vend when there was just two of us, and when I left there was nearly 200. How many people are at Receipt Bank now, in the business?
SH: We think we're about 400 people. I think we're talking people across something like seven locations, I think. So it's a lot of colleagues, now. A lot of members of the team working.
DY: A lot of growth. A lot of growth. It tells how fast you're growing when you're not sure quite how many people there are in the business.
SH: I know, and I was always quite moral about this. I always wanted to make sure that I knew, I was always pretty adamant that I wanted to know exactly how many people there were, everyone's names, and that kind of thing. And now it's definitely coming to the point where it's becoming really difficult.
DY: Tell us when you joined Receipt Bank. I really would love to know, I'm sure our listeners would love to know the stories from the very early days. I know we've had a good discussion around it, I find that story really interesting. So, love to share more.
SH: I joined Alexis and Michael, who were the two co-founders of Receipt Bank. They'd set up the business in about August 2010. I then joined them in the January 2011, as their first employee here in London. And I've spent the last kind of seven and a half, seven and a bit years working with them in various locations, really. So the genesis of the company is, Alexis and Michael had worked together previously, and they're both fabulous men, they're both two of my favorite humans in the world.
SH: Michael is incredibly bright, but also absolutely hopeless at most life admin. Absolutely hopeless.
DY: I really hope Michael is listening today.
SH: I'll make sure-
DY: I don't know whether he is, but I'm going to confirm that is definitely the case.
SH: But he is. So he'd run a consulting company, and as a contractor for a number of other companies, he had a lot of expenses that he'd incurred, but he often lost them and would really struggle to keep up-to-date with his bookkeeping. So his accountant in the UK at the time put him on to a cloud G.L., and Michael thought that he'd solved the problem. Michael thought that that was going to help with the automation of the bookkeeping.
SH: In reality, it didn't. Because Michael still had these piles of paperwork. He had the receipts, the invoices, things stuck in his inbox. So he Googled, I think he's one of the very few people to ever Google, kind of, receipt-scanning technology.
DY: Wasn't a lot of keyword trending back in those days, was there?
SH: No, not high SEO traffic, that's for sure. So he found a company called Receipt Farm, Receipt Farm said if you post us your physical paper, we will digitize and extract the key information within seven working days. So Michael thought God, this sounds good. So he did that. He signed up for the trial.
SH: Seven days later he got his data back, in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. And he thought he'd solved the problem. He thought this was excellent. But then he really quickly realized, that morning, that actually it hadn't solved the problem, because now he'd got an Excel spreadsheet on his desktop, and he just then copy-and-pasted all this information into his cloud G.L. So he e-mailed the guys at Receipt Farm saying, really love what you're doing, have you thought about this that and the other?
SH: They e-mailed back within 15 minutes, and they e-mailed back saying thank you very much, Mr. Wood, really appreciate your feedback, but we've decided to close down today. So then he called Alexis-
DY: Today?
SH: Yeah, pretty much literally today. Your email is the final nail.
NH: Not a typical support question, or response-
SH: No!
NH: -that you would expect in 15 minutes.
SH: Never. He called Alexis and said I think that I've found the next thing for us to work on. So they bought what Receipt Farm was then, for a pound, and then-
DY: I hope it was, was it one of those comedy checks? Those really large ones that are always like one pound. Hand it over on a stage. A bingo hall, or something. A token pound.
SH: We should recreate it, even if it wasn't.
DY: Yeah. And then that was the first thing that you scanned.
SH: Yes. So then they knew, very very quickly, right at the very beginning, that going directly to small businesses was not going to be the best route for this product. So they decided to build a product instead that was focused solely on the accountant and the bookkeeper, to help them service their small businesses. So then we spent kind of the first six months working out what it was, and how they should go about doing that.
SH: Then I joined them in the January of '11, and we went commercially live as a product in February.
NH: Fantastic. And Receipt Bank partnered with Xero pretty early on, and experienced some big growth. Were you guys sort of prepared for that growth, at the time? How did that change the company mindset, at that point?
SH: It was really, really formative. We integrated with Xero. It was our third integration. We'd integrated with two UK-based cloud GLs, and Xero was our first international one. So we integrated with Xero in, I think, May 2011. And I think the international piece was the most crucial, because pretty much within the first six months, we were getting significant calls and e-mails from accountants and bookkeepers in New Zealand, and then in Australia, asking who we were, what it was we were focusing on. Were we interesting to them?
SH: At the beginning it was manageable. It was easy to do. Michael and I spent, I don't know, six, nine months doing late-night shifts, early-morning shifts, to be able to communicate and call people in their timezone. But then very quickly it was evident that if we were going to truly want to service and work with firms across the world, we'd need to move out and actually become a global organization.
SH: That was one of the really key things. And I don't think, when the initial business plan was written up, that going global, or global expansion, certainly wasn't on that business plan.
NH: Yeah, I bet. Were you actually sent to Australia at some point?
SH: It does make me sound banished, doesn't it? Banished from the kingdom. I was. I was. As I say, there were three of us in London. I was then asked to go to New Zealand. So I made two trips to New Zealand, and then moved out there for a year at the beginning of 2013.
SH: I first moved to Auckland, and then truth be told I ate my body weight in Whittaker's chocolate and became incredibly fat. Don't regret it for a moment, though. It was excellent chocolate. And then I moved to Australia, moved to Sydney at the beginning of '14, and spent just under four years kind of building the organization there.
DY: That's awesome.
NH: Eventually the quality of tea got to you, and you decided to move back to the UK though, didn't you?
DY: To become a Whittaker's importer.
SH: Oh my gosh, that is the best idea I've heard in ages. I should do that. Yeah. I moved back to London at the end of last year. To everyone's obvious criticism of "you're doing two winters in one year, you're absolutely nuts." But yeah, I moved back to London in November last year. So it's been great. It's been really, really good. I loved my time in both Australia and New Zealand. I really, really loved it. Absolutely transformative for me as a human, as well as us as a company.
NH: And if we wind forward to today, in what we are tentatively calling the vanity metric section of the show, Receipt Bank are a Future 50 company with over sixty million V.C. funding and phenomenal growth. Is there anything you can share with us about your current growth numbers and the amazing trajectory that Receipt Bank is on today?
SH: We work with something like 25,000 accountants and bookkeepers. They then have introduced our software to around 150,000, just over 150,000 small businesses around the world. We've been growing at 100% year-on-year for the last kind of six, seven years now. So those are the type of numbers that we're up to, today.
NH: In the early stages of a startup, growing 100% year-on-year is normal. When you get to the size you're at now, it's hard to appreciate how much more difficult it gets to maintain that kind of growth, isn't it? And to grow the organization around it. Is there anything you can share around how you're able to grow the organization, how you were able to keep that growth going? What do you think are some of the secrets of your success?
SH: One of the first things that we did, and this was actually definitely Michael, Michael found an article by Paul Graham, which is called "Startups = Growth."
NH: Paul Graham is the Y Combinator head founder, wasn't he? Or one of?
SH: Yeah. And so "Startups = Growth" is all about what makes startups different. What is the definition of a startup? And it's ultimately the growth, the growth rate that you need to set and maintain. In the advice he gives, it's pick a weekly growth rate. So in the very beginning, we picked 3% a week growth rate. And as you say, that wasn't necessarily super easy, but it was definitely, because you're starting from a low base, easier to hit and maintain. And as you scale up it becomes harder.
SH: But what that does, that discipline that you build into the core of the organization right at the very beginning, means that you focus consistently on how do you optimize for that growth? How do you consistently look at that growth rate? How do you make decisions and pull levers today that you know will help shape and form the growth rate in however many weeks, or indeed months, down the line?
SH: I suppose that focus, that discipline, is something that we built in really early, which is helpful. These things don't just, very rarely I presume, happen by chance or by luck or by just waking up. They genuinely happen because you are consistently trying to optimize for them.
SH: And some of the ways I suppose we've done that is expanding in both the regions that we work in. So we've now got an office here in London, and in Sydney, Washington, D.C.; we've got sales offices in both France and in South Africa now as well. And we're expanding into Canada and Singapore.
SH: So there's definitely, how can we look at different regions, and different markets, and then how do we expand the products and the SKUs that we have in market.
NH: Just to sort of touch on your growth and your size today, I don't know if this is officially true, I wasn't around at the time and Dan wasn't either. But my sense was, having competed against Receipt Bank a number of times for add-on partner of the year, back in the early days, I felt like they had to actually change the criteria for the awards to let other people have a shot, because Receipt Bank was consistently the biggest and the fastest-growing Xero partner. And you remain today, I think what you've talked about is really investing in that partnership, investing in growth.
NH: And that's something we talk about a lot on this show, and in our business. Building an integration and a partnership is not just a case of ticking off the box in the API and then crossing your fingers. It's really about investing together for growth.
NH: I wonder if there's anything you can speak to about your experience with that.
SH: Absolutely. And as I said at the beginning, actually, or earlier on, Xero was our third integration. And we'd almost made that mistake, that belief that if you build into a platform, good things happen, with out first integration. So we built this first integration, and they had tens of thousands of small businesses in the UK, and we thought, okay, that's going to be great, that's going to be super helpful for our growth.
SH: And of course it doesn't work that way. As you say, both parties have got to really invest in all sorts of areas of the partnership. It's not solely technical. Of course a huge component of it is, so you need to make sure the experience that your products are giving together, is genuinely excellent and world-class and sophisticated and improving. So that's the first thing.
SH: Then there's definitely the internal kind of sales and marketing campaigns that you need to run between both organizations to make sure that both organizations, their teams understand how the partnership works, why it's in their best interest to talk about it, and indeed how do you do explicit external marketing campaigns, as well. So something like a Xerocon; how do you work together on something like that?
DY: Absolutely. Interestingly enough, you bring up Xerocon there, Soph. We're in the middle of Xerocon season. Or actually when this actually goes out and people actually get to listen to it, we will have had Xerocon Brisbane. And one of Houldsey's tips is you must stand out from the crowd.
NH: This is a nickname which is trying to land.
SH: Is it sticky yet?
NH: It's getting out there. I'm comfortable with it, to a point. I don't believe it will last. I never believe it's got the staying power.
DY: We will see. We will see. But he had a bunch of tips, they're up on the blog as well, so it's really good. We did a video, too. And one of those tips is, at Xerocon, you must stand out from the crowd. Now, Receipt Bank know all about that. I was I San Francisco in 2016, that was the Xerocon that I was at, actually Nick might have been there as well.
DY: You see the Receipt Bank exhibitor booth, and it's just a sea of orange.
SH: Subtle. Subtle, quiet color.
DY: It's subtle. Accountants must love it, I don't know. I don't know what it is about orange, but it was pretty cool to see. Now, are you the genesis of this, Sophie?
SH: I wish that I could claim that I was. No, is the short answer. Actually, Nick has something to do with it, but I don't think he realizes it. I don't think you know this, Nick. Yeah.
DY: Do you mean Houldsey?
SH: Houldsey. Exactly. Credit it to Houldsey. Actually, our first iteration of the product and the brand was a sand, beige color. Sand and black. And anybody who was using Receipt Bank pre-2014 will know that color well. It wasn't the most compelling of colors. So we knew that when we changed the UI, that we wanted to change the branding color, as well. And we'd always been huge admirers of Vend, in general, and then Vend's green. And the power of that green color, and the complete ownership and domination of using that green.
SH: Like, nobody else could use green, because Vend had absolutely cracked it. And I just loved that, and we loved that. So Michael and I had been discussing what color to pick, and I had been very adamant that I wanted a really bright color. I wanted pink. Exactly. Didn't get very far.
DY: Also unique. Also unique, in the ecosystem.
SH: I wanted pink, didn't get it. Michael had suggested yellow, and at the eWAY, the payment gateway in Australia, was yellow, and they'd completely dominated the yellow color. So we agreed that wouldn't be a great color to choose.
SH: And then we landed on orange, because nobody else had really used it, yet. And as we continued to use it, the more and more it became, as you say, this sea of orange, this army of orange, this bright, bold color. And I genuinely think it's one of the best things we've done. Because it does stand out. And it's also such a bright and vibrant color, as well.
NH: When we're at our roadshow, I was running an event on marketing, and I asked the crowd, if I say the color orange, who do you think of? And everybody said Receipt Bank, so it's clearly worked.
SH: That's awesome.
DY: Actually, I think something's dawned on me just now. We have this amazing graphic that we put up at Xerocon, we'll be doing it again this year, which shows all of the partners in the ecosystem on a single screen. And it's the most amazing kind of rainbow or color palette. And as you describe it, I actually think it was almost a self-selecting mechanism, where everybody was trying to position and differentiate from each other, and then creating an actual kind of pure color chart, as a consequence.
SH: Yeah. I mean, Unleash owned red, so Unleash, the red color. There was definitely this, yeah, the bright, primary colors, almost. The ones to initially go for.
NH: We're actually aiming, along with the blue, we're aiming to own the beard sort of vibe.
SH: Oh, yeah. You do a good job of that, you do a good job of that.
NH: Salt-and-pepper, I believe that color is called, Dan. At my age.
NH: One of our questions is, and we're talking about partnerships, I guess, and we've touched on it a bit. What do you look for in a partnership? What does Receipt Bank look for in a strategic partnership?
SH: We integrate with around 12 different platforms and products at the moment. The majority of those are cloud general ledgers. So really working hand-in-glove with other products and platforms, and how to service accountants and bookkeepers and help them service their small business clients. So that's really, really key. Identifying the mutual customer, and the definition of your mutual customer, I think, is really important.
SH: The dexterity with which you can build and develop and improve upon the integration, that's really important. Not only does that help shape and define the experience you're giving to that customer, it also ensures the teams really enjoy the process of working on it together.
SH: And then there are some other really interesting partners that we're starting to really work with, which fall out of that bracket. Fall out of the bracket of general ledger and accounting software. So somebody like the team at Gusto. We integrate with Gusto to help consolidate the time it takes to repay expenses, reimbursable expenses, and bulk that together and attach that to the payroll that's then paid out each kind of fortnight or month, depending.
SH: So looking at which region or segment you can really work hand-in-glove in, that's really important.
NH: Absolutely. I guess taking a look back now, bit of a retro, what's the one thing that you've done at Receipt Bank that you would have done immediately if you were to start over again? Like, what's been your greatest move, do you think?
SH: That's a really good question. I think our approach to knowing to integrate early on was something that we did do early on, and that we would do again, right from the very beginning. So, knowing how to integrate, defining, then, how to partner, and working hand-in-glove together, that's been absolutely crucial, it's been crucial to our success as a company, and our continued success.
SH: It's also been really, really key in helping the accountants and bookkeepers that we work with. That is one thing that we did do, that we would do again. The thing that we didn't do early on, that if we were able to do again in this current climate, we would do again, or I would say we should do again, is definitely our pricing, and the way that we view pricing, particularly at the firm level. That's been really important.
NH: Cool. So Sophie, you mentioned a little bit there, talking about working with accounting partners, and I think a large part of the success of Receipt Bank, and certainly a large part of our successful partnership together has really been really understanding the needs of the accounting partners, and helping them on their digital journey.
NH: We've talked about this a lot, that Receipt Bank's such a strong proposition for accounting firms that are trying to move into the cloud. What's your advice for other startups, or other businesses, about how to work with accountants as channel? Because they're quite unique, aren't they, as a sales channel. They're not like your typical resellers.
SH: Yeah. Actually we never, ever viewed them as a reseller. We've never thought that accountants and bookkeepers were a reseller channel for us. So we've always tried to focus our attention on, as you say, the needs of the firm, what do they need to be able to make bookkeeping, because that's the area, obviously, we specialize in, bookkeeping efficient and profitable.
SH: One thing we used to do in the past was, we just deployed our sheer curiosity and enthusiasm and imagination around what features and products these firms wanted and indeed needed. And that was brilliant, lots of things got unearthed. When we first went out to New Zealand, the first meeting Michael and I actually had together was with Mel Morris, who had a bookkeeping firm in Christchurch. And that was really fascinating.
SH: So Mel was the first bookkeeper that we spoke to, and she then was so helpful in helping us to define and redefine that segment of customer who would be using our product, different from an accounting firm. In the early days it was all about that, as I say, curiosity and imagination. Thankfully we have become a lot more sophisticated and professional, and indeed refined around this process.
SH: So we've got a whole CX team who have researchers looking at the different regions, the different segments, the different type of firms. So in the U.S. the tax-prep firms, for example. In Australia, the bookkeeping firms. And really working out, for those different firms and companies, how it is that they use us today, and indeed how it is that they'll be using us in the years to come.
SH: So we've definitely refined our approach to building, I suppose.
NH: I'd love to continue the discussion around the years to come and the future. We've been talking to some large platforms on this show, and some really key partners. Some of those businesses, like Shopify or Slack, are reasonably young products themselves, they've only been around for eight to ten years, and they started out maybe solving one thing and doing it quite well, but over time growing into a platform. It feels like there's been a lot of development in the industry, but we're really at the early stages of what's to come.
NH: If we apply that to accounting, there's a lot of talk about disruption and change through automation. Certainly in the early days the Mel Morrises of this world really embraced it and came on board. But there's a lot of businesses, huge numbers of businesses, including accounting firms, who aren't.
NH: What do you think it's going to look like in the next five to ten years? Do you think people will come on the journey? What are the positives, what are the challenges, with that? From your experience of the landscape.
SH: Definitely. I think the journey might take longer than you anticipate. I think, at the same time, and simultaneously, they'll come quicker, actually. So there are times where I've thought moves might have been made in the industry that were quicker than they are today. But actually there are some things now which are, you can't imagine it not working that way.
SH: An example of that is when we created the mobile apps for the iPhone, that was in February, March of 2011, we genuinely couldn't really pay firms to introduce the app to their clients. You know? We tried, in one way or another, we tried to white-label it, brand it in their ways, and really tried to incentivize the firm to trust the mobile app, to deploy it within their client base. And very few, very very few, I can name them actually, the ones who did choose to use it.
SH: Now, today, using your mobile phone to take a photograph is completely normalized. And it seems peculiar that that was ever such a barrier to adoption. So there are things that I think are going to be surprising about where the adoption happens more quickly, and indeed which regions. So the lens that we've often viewed the world is very, kind of, commonwealth countries, or English-speaking countries, and I think we're going to be, over the next couple of years, really pleasantly surprised about which regions are actually the ones which become the accelerator for card adoption.
NH: I'm still disappointed that I have to pay with cash in some places. I can't believe that I'm not just paying with a microchip in my brain, by thinking about it. When did this happen?
SH: I don't mind paying for cash so much, I don't like it, but I really dislike being charged a surcharge for paying by card. That I still think is absolutely crackers.
DY: I hate it, too. That grinds my gears, big-time. Sorry.
NH: I'm upset, now.
DY: It's nearly 9pm.
NH: Tell us your problems, Dan. Tell us what's on your mind.
NH: Yeah, but you're right, like the things that- we'll be thinking about self-driving cars for a long time, then suddenly we'll just be in them. I remember the same thing with video calling. When it first came out in 2003, it was weird. I'd been waiting for it since The Jetsons, and then it finally arrived, and nobody wanted to use it because it was creepy. And it was expensive. And some point in the ten years that followed, it just became quite normal, and now I spend most of my day staring at a screen on a video call. It's just a part of the behavior. I think these things creep up on us until we realize that actually it's everyday practice, now.
SH: And it's happening across so many different things, which I think is fascinating. I'm now at the stage where lots of my friends are getting married, and it's now completely not peculiar for them to have met their partners using a dating app. The idea that dating has completely shifted and changed as well, and using technology has normalized the way that you can meet people, I find fascinating.
SH: So whether it's business or social or whatever it is, there's a tipping point where you don't even, as you say, realize that it's become apparent.
NH: Here we are, recording a podcast from three locations, including a wardrobe. It's an exciting time to be alive, Sophie and Dan, it's an exciting time to be alive.
SH: Dan, does that mean that you're the lion, I'm the witch, and Nick's the Wardrobe?
NH: Roar.
DY: I think it does, I think it does.
DY: So, one final question from me, Soph. So what does success look like, for Receipt Bank in the next sort of months and years?
SH: There are, you know, hundreds and thousands of accounting, bookkeeping firms globally. Who are servicing and looking after tens of millions of small businesses. So the opportunity to work with that scale of number is just massive. There are a lot of people who, every day, need technology to help them. Success really is about servicing that need, and being true to who it is that we're working with, and what it is that we're building for them. To help them kind of get that data, and get that financial information, quickly, accurately, and indeed effortlessly.
DY: Brilliant. Now, I did say that was my last question, but actually we're going to jump into the rapid-fire round now.
NH: My favorite segment. Everyone who have subscribed, or have listened, to the podcast before, will know exactly what is coming up.
SH: I'm really nervous.
DY: You should be sweating. Right. Now.
SH: I am! I am!
DY: These questions will be completely, you'll be completely oblivious to what I'm going to ask you, of course.
SH: Okay.
DY: Okay, so I'll go first, and then we'll alternate, Nick and I. Five questions, here we go.
DY: Gif, or Gif
SH: Gif.
NH: Human, or dancer?
SH: Dancer.
DY: I'm not sure I even understand the question.
SH: I could sing it. No, actually, don't make me sing.
DY: Okay, here's one. Narnia, or Middle-Earth?
SH: Narnia, yeah.
NH: Keyboard, or mouse?
SH: Keyboard?
DY: Trackpad or mouse?
SH: Ooh, trackpad.
DY: Trackpad.
NH: And finally, favorite emoji?
SH: I like the trumpets, you know? I really like the trumpet. ... Exactly.
NH: I think we've got our new outro, stinger.
DY: I like that. Awesome. Well, it's been a pleasure as always, Soph. Thanks a lot for joining us. Now, for those of you who are listening, if you want to know more about Receipt Bank, head over to receipt-bank.com. And similarly, if you are keep to find out about Xero, or our API and developer program, head to developer.xero.com. ...
NH: I think that's us. Thank you so much for joining, Sophie. I always love to have a chat. This has been a lot of fun. We'll see you again soon, in person.
SH: Thanks for having me.
DY: Good night. Good morning.
NH: Good day.
Xero Developer Podcast | Ep. 6
Building a SaaS flywheel: Delighting developers and users, with Slack
Bear and Paige from Slack join the Xero Developer podcast to talk on how to attract developers, keep them and delight them.
Building a SaaS Flywheel: Making ecosystems not suck, with Expensify
T.J. Ferris from Expensify talks exclusive boutique events, offshoring and SaaS company culture in this episode of The Xero Developer Podcast.
Building a SaaS flywheel: Scaling e-commerce via an ecosystem with Shopify
Shopify's ecosystem is part of their recent explosive growth, find out how they supercharge their development partners on this episode of the Xero Developer Podcast.
Get started with the XeroAPI
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Feng Chen
Submitted by whawkins on August 3, 2016 - 3:33pm
Feng Chen is a scientific visitor at the High Altitude Observatory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. His research focuses on the emergence of magnetic field from the interior of the Sun to its surface and further to the solar corona, and how the magnetic field gives rise to the brilliant structures and dynamic of the corona observed in the Extreme Ultraviolet wavelength. He uses super computers to carry out magnetohydrodynamic simulations that can produce images looking like the real Sun.
Feng Chen got his B.S. in astronomy and M.S. in astrophysics in Nanjing Univeristy. He received his PhD in physics in 2015 from University of Göttingen. The thesis work was done at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.
Scientific Visitor
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Council of Europe issues report on far-right massacre in Odessa
By David Levine
In November of last year, the International Advisory Panel (IAP) of the Council of Europe (CoE) concluded that the Ukrainian government had failed to properly investigate and prosecute those responsible for violent clashes in Odessa in May 2014 between supporters of the far-right, US-backed coup in Kiev and its opponents. At least 48 people were killed in the conflict.
The overthrow of the government of Viktor Yanukovych, which had rejected an economic alliance with the European Union (EU) in favour of closer ties with Russia, in the Maidan “revolution” resulted in the installation of a virulently anti-Russian government in Kiev. In the wake of the February 2014 coup, ultra-nationalists unleashed a wave of anti-Russian chauvinism, which continues to this day. Odessa, like Donetsk, Luhansk, and Sevastopol, historically has been a predominantly Russian-speaking city.
On May 2, 2014, 6 people were killed by gunfire, mostly on and around Odessa’s Hretska Square. At Kulykove Pole, approximately 12 blocks away, at least another 42 people—the overwhelmingly majority opponents of Kiev—died in a massacre carried out by far-right militia in the city’s trade union hall. Anti-Maidan protesters were assaulted and driven into the public building, which was then set ablaze. Hundreds were injured in the clashes. There is evidence that attackers lay in wait in the trade union hall, shooting, raping, and beating protesters as they sought cover inside.
Two days later, Right Sector, a heavily armed neo-fascist organisation that played a key role in overthrowing Yanukovych, published on its website a statement celebrating the killing of anti-Maidan activists in Odessa as “yet another bright page in our fatherland’s history.” Claiming responsibility for the slaughter, it wrote, “Bands of anti-state rebels were countered not by professional troops, but by the public, including about a hundred members of Right Sector, as well as ultras [extreme football fans] and patriotically-minded Odessa residents. … Right Sector fighters and other Ukrainian patriots sustained casualties, including some killed and some wounded. However, the losses among the Russian terrorists were much greater, and the very phenomenon of ‘separatists’ in Odessa has disappeared. All of this is attributable to a public unified in its patriotic feelings.”
Likewise, Ukrainian member of Parliament Lesya Orobets published a statement on her Facebook page on May 2 celebrating the “liquidation” of the oppositionist kolorady (a derogatory term for those who hold pro-Russian views).
Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov also made a similar statement on a television talk show on March 27, 2015. Referring to the seizure of government buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk by anti-Kiev forces, which occurred in April 2014, just a few weeks before the Odessa events, he stated, “We should have blown to pieces the building of the Donetsk regional administration. This would have killed about fifty terrorists, but then we would not have had five thousand deaths in Donetsk Region. The same would apply to the Security Council of Ukraine building in Luhansk. …” These statements suggest that the killing of anti-Maidan activists in the Odessa trade union hall was justified.
Since the May 2014 events, proponents of the new Ukrainian regime have systematically sought to cover up and deny the role of far-right groups—in particular, Right Sector—in the slaughter. They insist that anti-Maidan forces were equally, if not more, responsible for what happened. Almost all of those who have been arrested in relation to the May 2 events and currently face criminal charges belong to the anti-Maidan camp. No one has been charged yet with any crimes related to the events on Kulykove Pole and the trade union hall.
In its report, the IAP concludes that the government investigations into the “mass disorders” in the city centre and the fire in the Trade Unions Building, as well as the investigation into the conduct of the State Emergency Service (SES) staff in response to the fire, lacked “institutional and practical independence.” In other words, the same people and institutions who bear responsibility for the tragedy have been put in charge of investigating it. At the same time, the IAP report also promotes the idea that “all sides” were responsible for the bloodshed by highlighting an allegedly “independent” examination that lays substantial blame for the massacre at the feet of anti-Maidan protesters.
The IAP relies in part on evidence gathered by the May 2 Group, a nominally independent association of journalists, activists, and experts that formed shortly after the events for the purpose of conducting an investigation upon the initiative of Ihor Palitsa, chairman of the Odessa Regional State Administration. The group’s coordinator is Tetiana Herasymova, a self-declared journalist whose work apparently had never been published before her initial appearance last year as the coordinator of the May 2 Group. While its claims that its members have various political orientations, much of the material on the organisation’s website consists of news commentary justifying the actions of the Ukrainian government and nationalist organisations, while denouncing as Russian propaganda those sources that are more critical of the role of the government and its supporters.
According to the May 2 Group, a mostly spontaneous “mass disorder” occurred in 2014, in which both sides shared approximately equal responsibility for the disorder itself, the acts of violence, including the killings, and the fire. The latter supposedly broke out following a more or less equally reckless exchange of Molotov cocktails between those within the building and those outside.
Their materials generally ignore or deny the existence of evidence that groups, particularly Right Sector, conspired to incite and carry out acts of mass violence, and that Ukrainian authorities acted deliberately to create the conditions for mass violence in Odessa. Such evidence, including the quotation from the Right Sector website cited above, the testimony of survivors from the Trade Unions Building, and video materials of the events available on YouTube, is also left out of the IAP report. Indeed, the document makes no mention of Right Sector.
In mid-December, the May 2 Group refused to participate in a film festival in Berlin called “Democracy in Flames,” at which numerous films related to the Odessa massacre were being shown. They pulled out of the event on the grounds that they are engaged in a “struggle against lies discrediting Ukraine.” The film festival was planning to show “anti-Ukrainian propaganda” and “videos that clearly and maliciously distort facts about the bloody Odessa drama,” they claimed.
As an agency of the CoE, the IAP is an intergovernmental organisation dominated by NATO members that have lined up against Russia and in support of the far-right regime in Kiev. By holding up the work of the May 2 Group as a model, the CoE is essentially facilitating Kiev’s policy of allowing Right Sector and other far-right militias to commit murder and other crimes with effective impunity.
After the IAP report was published, on November 27, 2015, a three-member judicial panel at the Malinovsky Courthouse in Odessa had planned to release on bail five of the anti-Maidan activists charged in the May 2 events, including Russian citizens Yevgeny Mefyodov and Maksim Sakaurov. On that day, armed Right Sector and Samooborona (“Self Defence”) activists seized control of the courthouse, prevented the judges from issuing the order releasing the defendants on bail, and forced the three judges to sign letters of resignation.
Germany: How a right-wing conspiracy in the state apparatus is suppressing the investigation of the Lübcke murder case
Fascist Tommy Robinson jailed for jeopardising rape trial in Leeds
Syriza’s election defeat: A balance sheet of a political betrayal
Part 2: Stalinism, communism and anti-Semitism
The global war on refugees
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Big Bucks, Tiny Bubbles: Ex-Biogen Exec’s Exosome Startup Nabs $80M
Ben Fidler
@benthefidler
Xconomy Boston —
Exosomes were once thought of as cellular garbage bins, bubbles filled with waste and shipped out for elimination. But a more sophisticated view of exosomes—and a better understanding of their biological role—has led companies to exploit their diagnostic and therapeutic potential.
The latest startup is Codiak BioSciences, which has just reeled in over $80 million in venture funding to pursue its view that exosomes are the key to treating a slew of different diseases.
Codiak is launching today in Cambridge, MA, with the backing of venture firms Flagship Ventures and Arch Venture Partners, Fidelity Management & Research, the venture arm of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, and the Alaska Permanent Fund, which is the state oil revenue fund that has also invested in Arch-backed startups Juno Therapeutics and Denali Therapeutics.
The group has hired Biogen’s former R&D chief, Doug Williams, to be Codiak’s president and CEO.
Codiak is building on recent discoveries over the past decade or so that exosomes are involved in much more than cellular garbage removal. They contain DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids, and other materials, and can not only exit cells, but enter them, dump their belongings, and effectively influence how the cells they enter behave (check out this feature from The Scientist for more). Codiak aims to exploit these insights to use exosomes as a tool to develop both drugs and diagnostics. On the drug side, it’ll load up exosomes with some sort of drug—an RNA-based drug, a small molecule, or otherwise—and deliver it to the body via injection. For diagnostics, this would mean isolating exosomes from body fluids—exosomes are found in all of them—and analyzing them for potential genetic signatures of disease.
Williams says Codiak will first try to make exosome-based drugs and diagnostics for pancreatic cancer, and should be in the clinic testing its first candidate next year. But he spoke broadly of the potential of the approach. Codiak, for instance, might use the exosomes from stem cells as a potential tissue regeneration treatment. It’s considering things like graft versus host disease, immunotherapy, and infectious diseases, Williams says.
“There is a huge opportunity here to move into an entirely new area,” he says.
Williams, who will speak at our Healthcare Summit in Boston today, is a well-known biotech veteran. His resumé includes companies on both coasts, both big and small—Seattle Genetics, Amgen, Immunex, ZymoGenetics, and most recently Biogen. He was ZymoGenetics’s CEO when the company was sold to Bristol-Myers Squibb for $885 million in 2010. A year later, Williams headed to Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) to run its R&D. He held that position until last July, when Biogen announced that he had stepped down to run a startup that, at the time, had no name.
“I began thinking about my desire to go back to my roots,” he says. “When you’re the CEO of a startup or a development stage biotech company, you never very far from the science and that’s how you spend a disproportionate amount of your time. I enjoy that.”
Williams says he was recruited by Arch partner Steve Gillis, who tapped him nearly 30 years ago to join Immunex in Seattle. He thinks Biogen’s pipeline, highlighted with drug candidates for Alzheimer’s, spinal muscular atrophy, and nerve regeneration in multiple sclerosis, gives the company solid prospects.
Investors aren’t as sure. Biogen’s share price has plummeted of late, thanks to some trouble with its core multiple sclerosis business and some hesitance by investors to bet on the high-risk, high-reward pipeline Williams helped create the past four years. And Biogen has announced layoffs and a restructuring to help support an emphasis on those drugs. Williams says he had a “great run” and it was the right time to leave.
“My view is, you always want to leave and go do something else when it feels like things are in good shape,” he says. Biogen was indeed flying high when Williams left. Shares were worth about $400 on July 10 when Biogen announced his departure. They’re now at about $280.
The scientific work at Codiak that hooked Williams came from a team led by Raghu Kalluri, the chairman of Cancer Biology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Kalluri has been researching the ways in which exosomes can act as delivery vehicles not just for waste—as was once thought—but for a variety of drugs. Williams says, for instance, that Kalluri’s group will soon publish some data showing that they’ve loaded up exosomes with a certain type of RNA—he wouldn’t say which one—that can suppress the growth of pancreatic cancer in mice.
Exosomes are shed by every cell type in the body, including cancer cells. The idea that they might have more important functions than just trafficking trash isn’t new. In 2007, Jan Lotvall, who chairs the Krefting Research Center at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg, published a paper in Nature Cell Biology showing that exosomes contained genetic information in the form of RNA. Flagship acquired intellectual property related to this work last year and housed it in an entity that has become Codiak.
Yet Codiak wasn’t the first company built around exosomes. In 2008, in another study published in … Next Page »
Ben Fidler is Xconomy's Deputy Editor, Biotechnology. You can e-mail him at bfidler@xconomy.com Follow @benthefidler
Gilman’s Next CEO Trick: Taming CAR-T Cells With Obsidian
Bio Roundup: IDO Fallout, Express Scripts Dumps Amgen, Isaly Out & More
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Snoop Dogg Takes A Shots At Donald Trump Assasination In New Music Video
"I just put it out because I feel like it’s something that’s missing. Any time I drop something, I’m trying to fill in a void," Snoop Dogg said.
Posted By NewsOne Staff
West Coast rap legend Snoop Dogg takes literal shots at President Donald Trump in the visuals for his latest single, “Lavender.”
“Lavender,” produced by hitmaker Kaytranada, is a synched out, funk laced remix of “Nightfall,” originally sung by Canadian band BADBADNOTGOOD. The video released Sunday, re-imagines a world filled with clowns and provides a scathing rebuke on politics, media, police brutality and racism.
In one of the final scenes, Snoop Dogg holds a gun to the head of Ronald Klump, a caricature of Donald Trump in clown face. As Snoop raps, “This is the final call,” he pulls the trigger, emitting a small flag with the word “Bang,” from the barrel of the gun.
The video will spark serious discussions among supporters and detractors, mainly due to the usage of violence and drug paraphernalia.
In an interview with Billboard, the rapper said he aims to make “a song that was not controversial but real — real to the voice of the people who don’t have a voice.”
He continued refusing to mince words regarding the 45th president, rebuking the the divisive policies and rhetoric Trump’s administration aims to support.
“The ban that this motherf–ker tried to put up; him winning the presidency; police being able to kill motherf–kers and get away with it; people being in jail for weed for 20, 30 years and motherf–kers that’s not black on the streets making money off of it — but if you got color or ethnicity connected to your name, you’ve been wrongfully accused or locked up for it, and then you watching people not of color position themselves to get millions and billions off of it,” Snoop Dogg said.
The Doggfather enlisted YouTube prankster Jesse Wellens to direct the video. According to Billboard, Wellens and Snoop Dogg share a collaborative relationship because they share the same business manager.
Actor Michael Rapaport also makes an appearance in the video, posing as a suburban father decked out in clown gear who is eventually pulled over and fatally shot by a police officer. The scene evokes imagery from the Philando Castile shooting in July.
Snoop Dogg told the outlet he hopes the visual inspires further discussions around the current political climate.
“I feel like it’s a lot of people making cool records, having fun, partying, but nobody’s dealing with the real issue with this f–king clown as president, and the sh-t that we dealing with out here, so I wanted to take time out to push pause on a party record and make one of these records for the time being,” Snoop Dogg said.
SOURCE: Billboard
In Honor Of President's Day, Here Are Photos That Will Make You Miss Barack Obama
1. Barack Gives Daughter Malia a Kiss
2. Michelle and Barack tell the kids a story
3. Michelle and Barack Kiss
4. Michelle and Barack
5. Two Terms
6. Michelle and Barack Host a State Dinner
7. Barack Obama and Michelle Obama
8. Flashback To The Old Days
Source:Pete Souza 8 of 14
9. Candidly Awesome
10. TV Time
Source:Pete Souza 10 of 14
11. Reading Time
12. Supporting Mom
13. 50th Anniversary Of March On Selma
"The future rewards those who press on. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I'm going to press on."
-- President Barack Obama
Happy #PresidentsDay, Mr. President! We ❤️ you!@BarackObama pic.twitter.com/xhQEb4OG1U
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) February 18, 2019
Continue reading In Honor Of President’s Day, Here Are Photos That Will Make You Miss Barack Obama
Today is President's Day and we had to take a moment to honor our favorite president -- Barack Obama. SEE ALSO: Some No Name, Pitchy R&B Singer Disrespected Keith Sweat And Gets Demolished On Twitter Obama had many wins while he was president. He brought the Black unemployment rate for African Americans from 16.8 percent, due to the horror of President George W. Bush to 7.8 percent by January 2017. The poverty rate for African Americans fell faster in 2015 than in any year since 1999 -- falling 2.1 percentage points, resulting in 700,000 fewer African Americans in poverty. Teen pregnancy among Black women was at an historic low with he birth rate per 1,000 African-American teen females fell from 60.4 in 2008 to 34.9 in 2014. Pell Grant funding for HBCU students increased between 2007 and 2014, growing from $523 million to $824 million. Obama banned solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prison in January of 2016, the President of ACLU said about this in 2016, “It’s absolutely huge. We rarely have presidents take notice of prison conditions.” The incarceration rates for Black men and women fell during each year of the Obama Administration and were at their lowest points in over two decades when he left office. Not to mention, he saved our country from one of the greatest recessions since the Great Depression due to the Republican administration before him -- and now our current president tries to take all the credit. People are so happy his legacy that the people of Los Angeles were blessed to have President Barack H. Obama Highway as in December. The Mercury News reported, "Two large, green-and-white freeway signs were unveiled Thursday, one on the right shoulder of westbound State Route 134 at the beginning of the 210 Freeway at Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena, the other at the eastbound 134 in the vicinity of Route 2 in the city of Los Angeles near Glendale." The location was chosen because he attended Occidental College in nearby Eagle Rock from 1979-1981 when he lived in Pasadena. State Sen. Anthony Portantino said about the highway, “The president has often mentioned his fond memories of living in Pasadena and attending Occidental College, so it was very appropriate to name the portion of the freeway he traveled after him." Mercury News confirmed, "No taxpayer dollars were used to build or erect the signs, Bischoff confirmed, adding that the cost of the two signs and labor amounted to about $5,000 and were paid for by private donations." In honor of President's Day, check out photos of our favorite president.
Snoop Dogg Takes A Shots At Donald Trump Assasination In New Music Video was originally published on newsone.com
donald trump , kaytranada , police involved shootings , politics , racism , snoop dogg
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